Feelgood February

Do your Valentine's Day shopping at Annagrammatica.com

Mental-health tip of the day: Let a yellow Labrador lick your face
Find sample blogs on a gazillion topics at Alpha Inventions

Contents

• A Thoughtful Essay on Valentine’s Day, of Which the Profound Underlying Message Is: Buy Our Valentines at $2.25 each, $20 for 10
• Music Heals! Listen to Feelgood Music Free, Whenever You Like, Including Movie and TV Themes, Including the Great Westerns of the Late 1950s and the song from The Rockford Files (and all the other Mike Post themes we could find); Dozens of New Meditation Videos Too
• Unfamiliar Territory: Buy this Beautiful Book of Prayers, Household Hints, Poems, and Miscellany, and Get Carry Me to This Enchanted Shore (a Morning Prayer) Free!
• Subscribe to Our Blogs  — No Skin Off YOUR Back, Since We Often Forget to Write Them, or, When We Write Them, We Forget to Post Them, but When We DO Write Them AND Post Them, They Are Truly Brilliant and Entertaining
• And a Final Word, of Which the Profound Underlying Message Is: Buy Our Stuff *

Ignore all the arty magazine articles about How to Make Your Own Valentines; buy ours instead

Valentine’s Day can be a stressful time… even a cruel time. We know this from first-hand experience. (We have always wondered if there is such a thing as second-hand experience.)

"What I Love About You"

When we were in elementary school, we decorated shoe boxes to serve as Valentine “mailboxes,” and then, at the designated time, we “delivered” the Valentine cards.

Children's Valentines

This was in that long-long-ago, unenlightened era when adults believed that if a child’s feelings were hurt, the child might survive and even learn something from the experience that caused the hurt feelings. So we were not required to give a Valentine card to every child. If we didn’t like Helga, we could walk right past her stupid shoe box without even a twinge of remorse. We could even flip Helga off if we wanted to, as long as the teacher didn’t see us.

"Happy Dance"

Of course, if Chip gave a card to Hailey but not to us, as usually happened, we didn’t see how we could possibly make it through the day, or the rest of our life. But, as you can see, we have forgotten all about it, and we barely remember Hailey, who was BLOND and PRETTY and who could do CARTWHEELS in gym class whereas WE, lacking upper-body strength, consistently landed on our CHIN, and whose (Hailey’s) mother and grandmother sewed her BEAUTIFUL calico dresses and let her wear more petticoats than OUR mother let US wear, PLUS, WE wanted to be the smallest child in the class because that seemed to be the only way we could distinguish ourself, but on School Nurse Measures Your Height and Weight and Bleats the Numbers Across the Classroom to Your Teacher Day at school, it ALWAYS turned out that HAILEY was even TINIER than we were and made us feel like a PACK HORSE.

"Cherry Conditioner"

But we learned a valuable lesson from this experience. We learned that it was possible to bludgeon Hailey with a baseball bat at recess and make it look like an accident.

"Snail"

Back to Valentines: If we were a child in today’s wussy politically correct environment, we would deposit a Valentine card in every child’s mailbox but we would give MONEY to the kids we really liked, maybe a crisp $100 bill, and THEN we’d see who Chip gave a Valentine card to….

Valentine's for girls to give (Boys could give them too, of course, but all the boys WE know would refuse, absolutely REFUSE to give away Valentines featuring little boys wearing sailor suits or playing ring-around-the-rosie)

We are only joking, of course, except about the cartwheels and the baseball bat, but we really do love Valentine’s Day. We are grateful for anything, in a world that can seem cynical —  in a world in which one cannot say often enough ”I Love You” or “I Like You” or “Be My Valentine” (whatever THAT means) — for days such as Valentine’s Day that remind us to show affection to and appreciation for the people in our lives. And we are perfectly serious. We Love You, Mom and Dad

P.S. We made a silly mistake on our Valentine web page, which we hope and believe has been fixed. We were offering the $20 ten-pack for Valentine cards such as “To the Love of My Life.” Of course, if you WANT ten such cards, we will give you the $20 bargain, but we must warn you, you’re playing a dangerous game….

Wishing the World a Happy Valentine's Day!

 Music Heals! Listen to OUR Feelgood Music or Watch the Videos, Vote for Your Own

OUR Feelgood Music includes “LaBamba” (Ritchie Valens), “Down in the River to Pray” (Hayley Westenra), “Orinoco Flow” (Enya)… a banjo free-for-all featuring Steve Martin, Béla Fleck, and Tony Trischka… Alison Krauss on the fiddle… Patti LaBelle’s “soul” version of “ABC” on Sesame Street… “Jump” by Van Halen… “Jump (for My Love” by the Pointer Sisters… and a whole lot more: hours of our favorite movie and TV theme music, including tributes to Elmer Bernstein (The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird) and other great film composers.

Béla Fleck

We suggest, especially for the television-show themes, that you gather your friends and play “Guess the TV Show” (you’ll have to look away from the monitor, of course); but then, our idea of a fun evening is playing “Go to the Head of the Class” with our grandchildren.

You’ll find all this music on the Annagrammatica website, along with dozens of videos on meditation.

If you want us to add YOUR Feelgood Music, fill out the little survey. We’ll include it in our collection unless it makes US feel AWFUL.

When you take the quickie survey, we won’t place any “tracking cookies” on your computer. We’re not sure what they are, and if we were, we wouldn’t know how. We don’t even ask for your last name. You don’t even have to give us your REAL first name. You can call yourself “Sven,” unless your name IS “Sven,” in which case you could use “Raquel.” We don’t care. We just want to know what music lights you up. 

Unfamiliar Territory: A Bargain at Any Price

"The Summer of Going Barefoot"

For a limited time, you’ll receive Carry Me to This Enchanted Shore (A Morning Prayer) FREE when you buy Unfamiliar Territory. But we should not have to bribe you this way. Unfamiliar Territory is a beautiful full-color book that is CHOCK (?) FULL of whimsy, wisdom, and pretty pictures. Buy one for yourself, one for your spouse, one for each of your children, especially if you have a large family, and one as a gift for someone who brings YOU an unexpected gift. (“Oh, thank you. And I’m so glad you stopped by! I have a gift I’ve been meaning to bring over….”)

We here in the Printing Division of Annagrammatica.com tried producing Unfamiliar Territory on our own pathetic printer using 100-percent recycled paper, and the results were less than satisfactory unless you were our mother. So, at the moment, we are using the services of Lulu.com, and the product is beautiful but the paper is not recycled, and so, until Lulu.com gets with it, we are looking for another book producer.

from Unfamiliar Territory

from Unfamiliar Territory

from Carry Me to This Enchanted Shore (A Morning Prayer)

See more excerpts and download substantial portions of our books, FREE, at Annagrammatica.com. 

Subscribe to our blogs…

• The Movie Time videos posted December 20 on Sister Alma Rose Has the Last Word will give you goosebumps… in fact, we bet you cry! Plus…
• Write Light
• MAD About Annagrammatica
• Diary of an e-BaY Store

…and a Final Reminder

• We use 100%-recycled PCF (processed chlorine-free) cover stock for all our cards
• There’s always free shipping if you pay with a credit card via PayPal
• We love compliments! E-mail us your Annagrammatica happy-customer testimonials!
• Start your Amazon.com shopping on our home page
• Interested in link exchange? We’ll barter for links to our website and blogs
• Help us decide which poems to submit for contests and publications. Go to Write Light to comment and rank….

 

* We are testing the Bud Cassiday Marketing Method

—Blessings from ALL of us at Annagrammatica

Missing Meditations

It’s good karma to say ‘thanks’ in style… with an Annagrammatica Thank-You Card

Well-mannered gift recipients say “thanks” with a card; it’s traditional. It’s appreciated. It’s good karma. You can use many of our thank-you cards (probably not the one pictured here, however) as “friendship cards” to send any time.

"Nifty Gifts" cover

"Nifty Gifts" inside

25%-off sale!

Through December 23, receive 25 percent off every item in our Holiday Store… including our unique thank-you cards. Pay only $15 for a pack of 10 cards, regular price $20! Hot damn!

What happened to our meditations and our music?

Until recently, you could find eight-plus pages containing hundreds of audio (and several video) meditation and music selections, all free, no signup,  on Annagrammatica.com. Well, the pages are still there, but the audio meditation instructions, the guided meditations, and the music are… mostly… gone. We’re publishing some great meditation videos, as fast as we can find them!

We were able to provide the audio resources through the service formerly known as imeem.com, which allowed us to embed imeem playlists on our own site. We created the playlists, using meditation materials of our own and others found on imeem.com. Then all we had to do was cut and paste a little piece of html code for each playlist.

With imeem.com hosting the playlists, the number of selections we could provide was virtually unlimited, since they weren’t using valuable space on our site. (Audio files can be quite large and take a long time to load.)

Gradually, our selections became unavailable except as thirty-second samples, but you could easily log on to imeem.com to hear the full selection. A few weeks ago, the audio playlists themselves disappeared… during, we suppose, the dead of night. Now you will find the following notice on our meditation pages:

Until that happy day, we are searching for audio resources and additional videos. You’ll find, for example, four excellent instructional audio selections and an entire set of video instructions on our “How to Meditate” page. We’ll keep you posted as we, or MySpace, or both, restore the missing meditation resources.

Subscribe to our blogs…

• The Movie Time videos posted December 20 on Sister Alma Rose Has the Last Word will give you goosebumps… in fact, we bet you cry! Plus…
• Write Light
• MAD About Annagrammatica
• Diary of an e-BaY Store

…and a Final Reminder

• We use 100%-recycled PCF (processed chlorine-free) cover stock for all our cards
• There’s always free shipping if you pay with a credit card via PayPal
• We love compliments! E-mail us your Annagrammatica happy-customer testimonials!
• Start your Amazon.com shopping on our home page
• Interested in link exchange? We’ll barter for links to our website and blogs
• Find sample blogs on a gazillion topics at Alpha Inventions
• Help us decide which poems to submit for contests and publications. Go to Write Light to comment and rank….

—Blessings from ALL of us at Annagrammatica

Annagrammatica’s Cracking Up

We Crack Ourselves Up + 2 More Sale Days

Page 2, inside left

Here at the Annagrammatica Product Development Center, we love a good laugh… or, we’re not picky, we’ll take a not-so-great laugh, if we’ve had a bad day… which almost NEVER happens at the Annagrammatica Product Development Center, because someone usually has a great idea for a funny new card.

For the “Medieval Christmas” card above, we started with the stunning medieval artwork. The colors! The clothes! The pomp and circumstance! The POPE, for Pete’s sake!

But as gorgeous as the image is, it struck us as sort of a Middle Ages political cartoon, fashioned by a satirically minded peasant who was lucky to have chicken for supper now and then. So we made fun of it (the image)… but we didn’t make fun of Christmas. We take Christmas VERY seriously. 2 packs of 10 cards, $20 through December 8

Jenny Nystrom’s gnomes

We’ve also redesigned the popular “Tomte” card, which explains a lot about how Santa Claus became “a right jolly old elf.”

Inside, pages 2-3

All our fabulous Christmas and Solstice cards — 15 styles — will be sold as 2 for the price of 1, through December 8. After that, they’ll be regular-price: $20 for a pack of 10 cards with envelopes.

Or you might fall in love with our offbeat “Non-Christmas Card” instead.

It’s good karma to say ‘thanks’ in style… with an Annagrammatica Thank-You Card

Well-mannered gift recipients say “thanks” with a card; it’s traditional. It’s appreciated. It’s good karma. You can use many of our thank-you cards as “friendship cards” to send any time. (The card below will show you what we mean.) Some are funny, some are poignant, all are sincere….

“Grateful for Asparagus,” like ALL our cards, is printed on 100-percent recycled PCF (processed chlorine-free) cover stock.

And, like all our cards, it’s on sale at 2-for-the-price-of-1 through Tuesday, December 8 (that’s only two days from today, Sunday). Regular price is $2.25 each, $20 for a pack of 10 with envelopes.

…and a Final Reminder

• First 20 orders receive FREE Random Cards of Kindness
• We love compliments! E-mail us your Annagrammatica happy-customer testimonials!
• Start your Amazon.com shopping on our home page
• Interested in link exchange? We’ll barter for links to our website and blogs
• Find sample blogs on a gazillion topics at Alpha Inventions
• Help us decide which poems to submit for contests and publications. Go to Write Light to comment and rank….

Don’t go outside today

It’s way cold. Shop at Annagrammatica.com instead.

—Blessings from ALL of us at Annagrammatica

3 More Sale Days + VOTE

3 More Days—Beautiful Christmas/Solstice Cards and Gifts Now 2 for the Price of 1

• Rank the poems on Write Light
• Poetry Magazine Publishes “Swaddled in Saturday Afternoon”
• 2-for-1 PLUS sale held over: dozens of items to choose from
• First 20 orders receive FREE Random Cards of Kindness
• We love compliments!
• Find sample blogs on a gazillion topics at Alpha Inventions

Help us decide…

…which poems to submit for contests and publications. Go to Write Light to comment and rank….

Selected for Poetry Magazine

Enjoy the poem “Swaddled in Saturday Afternoon” about the adventures and comforts of neighborhood. It appeared in the August-September issue of the poetry magazine Poetsespresso, published in Stockton, California. Special thanks to Queen Jane the Inscrutable….

Read the unabridged poem on Portfolio page 4 at Annagrammatica.com

Save $$ with 2-for-1 sale, HELD OVER…

…at Annagrammatica.com through Tuesday, December 8. Beautiful Christmas and Winter Solstice cards, gifts, and more. See it all at our Holiday Store. Free shipping if you use your credit card via PayPal… and all our cards are printed on 100% recycled cover stock processed chlorine free!

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Baby Born on Christmas

Be one of the first 20 buyers…

…and receive 4 free, prestamped Random Cards of Kindness

We love compliments!

Have you bought our products or used our services? Were you more than satisfied… even delighted… ecstatic? Send a little Note Of Praise to Mary@Annagrammatica.com and let us know if we may use your comment and your name in our promotions. Thanks!

Customized Gift Books for Children

PUBLISHED!

Find sample blogs on a gazillion topics at Alpha Inventions

Beautiful Christmas/Solstice Cards and Gifts Now 2 for the Price of 1

• Poetry Magazine Publishes “Swaddled in Saturday Afternoon”
• 2-for-1 PLUS sale held over: dozens of items to choose from
• First 20 orders receive FREE Random Cards of Kindness
• We love compliments!

Selected for Poetry Magazine

Published!

Enjoy the poem “Swaddled in Saturday Afternoon” about the adventures and comforts of neighborhood. It appeared in the August-September issue of the poetry magazine Poetsespresso, published in Stockton, California. Special thanks to Jane Frovick Kenyon!

Read the unabridged poem on Portfolio page 4 at Annagrammatica.com

Save $$ with 2-for-1 sale, HELD OVER…

…at Annagrammatica.com through Tuesday, December 8. Beautiful Christmas and Winter Solstice cards, gifts, and more. See it all at our Holiday Store. Free shipping if you use your credit card via PayPal… and all our cards are printed on 100% recycled cover stock processed chlorine free!

Simple Gifts

Baby Born on Christmas

Be one of the first 20 buyers…

…and receive 4 free, prestamped Random Cards of Kindness

We love compliments!

Have you bought our products or used our services? Were you more than satisfied… even delighted… ecstatic? Send a little Note Of Praise to Mary@Annagrammatica.com and let us know if we may use your comment and your name in our promotions. Thanks!

Customized Gift Books for Children

Y’all better jump on this sale NOW

Find sample blogs on a gazillion topics at Alpha Inventions

Contents

All About Wassailing

• Zero Gravity is now Annagrammatica
• Pre-Thanksgiving 2-for-1 sale
• Pre-Thanksgiving $99 website sale
• 48-hour sale: Buy 2, get 3 free! Ends Friday, Nov. 13, 11:59 p.m.
• Now, free shipping, free gift wrap on all orders paid with PayPal
• Beautiful NEW Christmas & Winter Solstice cards
• Start your Amazon shopping spree with us

Zero Gravity is now Annagrammatica

We changed our name! Did we do focus groups? Surveys? Heck, no. It just seemed like a good idea at the time. And we got tired of getting phone calls for another “Zero Gravity” that also makes greeting cards — pretty good ones, from what we hear. But not as lovely and unusual as ours. Naturally.

The story of the Old Man of Christmas

We’ve updated most of the website and most of the cards with the Annagrammatica identification. It was tedious. We haven’t gotten to the Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards yet. If you have a Father’s Day Emergency in the next few weeks, be sure to let us know.

Buy 1, get 1 free

Buy 2, get 2 free. And so forth. Find details at our Holiday Store. Sale ends Thanksgiving Day.

Website sale

Order and pay for your basic one-page website by Thanksgiving Day and the price is just $99, not including domain registration or hosting (we’ll arrange, you pay). Additional pages, $50. We use Yahoo Sitebuilder and Yahoo hosting — flexible and economical (about $10 per month)!

48-hour sale

Baby Born on Christmas

Order and pay (with your regular credit card via PayPal) before 11:59 p.m. on Friday, November 13, and get five for the price of two. Accordingly — you’ll receive, say, 50 holiday cards instead of 20 for $40. No, wait. Is that right? One pack of 10 = $20. Two packs of 10 = $40. Plus three extra packs of 10 = 30, plus your original 20 = 50. That’s right! Fifty cards, $40.

Free shipping

That’s it. Use PayPal to pay, and everything ships free via USPS regular mail. (Not Express or Priority Mail. We didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.)

New cards, all on recycled papers

We have beautiful new cards in all categories (except Mother’s Day and Father’s Day… give us a minute)… and all cards are 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 inches (no extra postage needed)… and all cards are printed on 100-percent recycled PCF (processed chlorine-free) cover stock. New books and gifts too….

We’ve got Amazon…

You’ll find links to Amazon.com on our home page, our site directory, and several other pages on Annagrammatica.com. Convenient for you… potentially profitable for us…. See more than a dozen specially recommended books in our Bookstore, too.

Below: Wall art for a new baby girl, with poetry by Mary Campbell, framed in an 8-1.2-by-11-inch “frameless” frame

'Look what you've been given...'