Remembering Jimmy Buffett

Hello again!

I hope you’ve had a great month of September!

The first of this month marked the first anniversary of Jimmy Buffett’s passing, and if ever there was a Positive Vibes icon, it was Jimmy Buffett.

When that great legend left us last September, he left us with an unparalleled collection of unforgettable music, wisdom, fun memories, and undying inspiration.

You have only to listen to one of your favorite Buffett songs, or rediscover one you haven’t heard in ages, or even experience the delight of hearing one for the first time (and Buffett was so prolific that this is still a possibility for most of us) … to know that his legend lives on.

You can see it clearly in this post published by Zach Clayton last September (if you’ve read my book, Walk through Fire, you’ve “met” Zach Clayton). It’s an article I highly recommend, and you might even find a new Buffett song to love after reading it—as I did:

Happy listening and happy living—on sponge cake or otherwise,

Yasmine

For New Subscribers

Here are some links to prior issues you may have missed—some of the best ones 😉 :

Why Positive Vibes? (How this newsletter got its start)

A Very Good Year (Contains many of the highlights of the journey for Walk through Fire: The Train Disaster that Changed America in the year of its release, 2023)

May the Road Rise Up to Meet You (St. Patrick’s Day 2024, with an excerpt from my upcoming novel, The View from the Cliffs)

You can find all the archived issues of Positive Vibes here. (Scroll down on that page after clicking on the link.)

What I’m Feeling Good About

So, you know I had planned on releasing my novel, The View from the Cliffs, this September … but sometimes things don’t go according to plan!

There has been a production delay for that book, which will push its release back for a couple of months, most likely. As always, I will keep you updated, and I thank you for your patience!

(By the way, one of the things I’m trying to do with this book is include some pretty cool images, especially for the Kickstarter edition, so it will be an enhanced, beautiful reading experience! Stay tuned!)

If you haven’t already signed up for the Kickstarter notification—where I’ll also be offering webinar tickets for “Irish Legends & Lore” and “Around the World with the View from the Cliffs,” as well as tickets for at least one Storytelling Masterclass with me—you can do so here, on the pre-launch page (you have to register for Kickstarter, but that takes about two minutes): https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yasmineali/the-view-from-the-cliffs-a-novel/

What You’re Feeling Good About

You may recall the announcement about the Possadillo 5K in Waverly, TN, from Positive Vibes member Patti Damesworth in this previous issue. Well, the race took place as planned last Saturday, Sept. 21, even with temperatures in the 90s, and it was a success by all accounts!

According to Patti’s report:

Here are some pictures that Patti sent in:

(This section is where I’ll be featuring good news, tips, and bits of wisdom from readers—so please reply to this email and share some with me! It can be anything, big or small. Whatever you’re feeling good about.)

Keeping on the Sunny Side

In a recent newsletter, author James Clear shared the following from psychologist and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman on optimism:

"If you are allowed one wish for your child, seriously consider wishing him or her optimism. Optimists are normally cheerful and happy, and therefore popular; they are resilient in adapting to failures and hardships, their chances of clinical depression are reduced, their immune system is stronger, they take better care of their health, they feel healthier than others and are in fact likely to live longer.
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"Optimistic individuals play a disproportionate role in shaping our lives. Their decisions make a difference; they are the inventors, the entrepreneurs, the political and military leaders – not average people. They got to where they are by seeking challenges and taking risks. They are talented and they have been lucky, almost certainly luckier than they acknowledge ... the people who have the greatest influence on the lives of others are likely to be optimistic and overconfident, and to take more risks than they realize."

Source: Thinking, Fast and Slow

More Good News

Given the Jimmy Buffett theme of this issue …

And, in other news … no doubt you’ve heard of Paddington Bear, a spectacled bear—the species is listed as vulnerable, so this was welcome news:

Pawsitive Vibes

Fred Ramsey sent in this photo of his three dogs. The two Field Golden Retrievers, Rae and Ruby, are mother and sister, respectively, to my Golden, Ike. The handsome black dog on the right is Fred’s Schutzhund Champion German Shepherd Dog, Yoschy. They had all been running around for about 30 minutes, which is one of the best ways Fred can get them to sit still long enough for a group photo—if you’ve ever had a Field Golden, you will understand!

Got a pet pic you’d like to share? Please feel free to reply to this email!

Riddle Me This

This week marks the birthday of F. Scott Fitzgerald (Sept. 24, 1896 - Dec. 21, 1940), author of The Great Gatsby. After which famous relative was he named?

A) Francis Scott Key

B) Francis Bacon

C) Sir Walter Scott

D) Sir Francis Drake

Answer at the bottom of this newsletter.

For Your Playlist

Ever since I first listened to this song, inspired by Zach Clayton’s post (link above), it’s been a personal anthem for me. It might be especially timely this week:

Here’s the link if you’re on Spotify.

Last Word

Tell a Friend!

Know anyone who could use more positivity in their lives and would enjoy this newsletter? Send them the link to subscribe for free: https://yasmine-ali-author.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Fan Mail Address

How to get a signed bookplate sticker: see the intro to this post.

Answer to the trivia question: A) Francis Scott Key. The author of The Great Gatsby was born Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, named after his distant cousin Francis Scott Key, who wrote the famous poem that later became the lyrics for the American national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”