“More Babies!” — video with short rhyming poem, artwork

by New York poet NG Swett

Just a quick video post today, including a couple of extra pieces of material:

• notes about the substance of the poem

• when and how I wrote it

• creating and posting the video

The substance of the poem

The billionaires, plutocrats, oligarchs — some are calling for more babies.

Women should have more babies, some say. Women shouldn’t be able to end a pregnancy under any circumstances, some say. Life is too… precious!

Over a lifetime, families can easily shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars per person for taxes, health care, child care, education, shelter, food, transportation, weddings, and finally assisted living. The willingness to pay is only limited by our means. The value of a statistical life was estimated at $7.5 million in 2020 according to FEMA. Oh how the shareholders must drool at a number like that!

Other happy civilized countries don’t have things set up this way. Every heartstring we have is tapped for all it’s worth. Every fear stoked for our last dime.

There’s pushback on social media to this idea of women as livestock, especially among women. But the good news for the owner class is that they can mute ‘em with algorithms. (Studies show that social media is terrible for women’s mental health, especially secular liberals.)

Scientists proved that the human race is stripping the planet of resources, causing mass extinction, and polluting it to the brink of extinction. So do we really need more people? Or should we get our house in order first?

Writing the poem

So this all tickled my funny bone a little, so I jotted down this little rhyming poem, “More Babies!” just this week in a big black journal that I’ve been using lately for sketching and writing.

To illustrate the poem, I pulled up a painting I did some time ago of a made-up plutocrat, “One.” It’s from a series of a couple dozen mini acrylic paintings I made as art therapy to get me through writing and editing my first novel — a very, very challenging project! The paintings are all illustrations from scenes of the novel.

In the painting, One lounges god-like across a royal-looking chair in front of a glass window at night. You can see a bridge lit up behind him. The rug under his shiny black boots is a rough map of the Outer Lands Archipelago.

Making the videos

With the poem, the painting, and some branding basics for 4seasonshelf, I then made a short video in two formats, wide and vertical mobile. I added two audio tracks, one with the sound of a typewriter and another with the sound of an eerie lullaby…

I’m placing the wide format video here on 4seasonshelf.com first.

Then they will go on the billionaires’ platforms…

“The Best Season?” a small talkin’ one-minute love poem

Three slides of a short 1-minute mobile video for the poem “The Best Season?” by NG Swett, Outer Lands Archipelago / NY poet

This is the 1:09sec video for posting “The Best Season?” love poem from HOLD ME TIGHT poetry book.
The video and the individual slides (pngs) are for posting on social media platforms with links back here to this website at 4seasonshelf.com.
Audio is added on each platform to avoid copyright issues.

What is YOUR favorite season
-- winter, spring, summer or fall?

Here's a nice and easy one-minute short poem about a great small talk topic. Everyone cares about the seasons and the weather!

Small talk is a lost art, isn’t it? People are so shy and wary of talking to strangers. When you’re at the front desk, as I’ve been from time to time over the years, small talk is perfect for engaging with people. It’s friendly but not nosy.

People feel nostalgic for the seasons and what special things each season brings to life. Changes, cycles and transitions are in our human nature.

About this poem

The short rhyming poem, "The Best Season?", is one from my new collection of 36 poems, HOLD ME TIGHT (link to buy internationally). The book is available in hard cover and ebook formats. It’s gorgeous if I do say so myself. I love it!

Have you ever made a book? Or would you like to? It’s quite a journey, and I share it on this blog and in my enewsletter.

Minimalist aesthetic photo illustration

The poem is Illustrated here and in the book with a black and white photo of a flowering spring daffodil for a contemporary minimalist aesthetic.

In the book, each of the 36 poems shares a two-page spread with its own minimalist black and white photo collage illustration.

How did I make the book? People have been asking me, and I share all the details here in a blog post all about making and publishing the love poetry book. Here is the cover:

I’m experimenting with short mobile videos like the one above for sharing poems, blog posts and new paintings online.

Thanks for checking out my blog!

~ Nan

P.S. I invite you to keep in touch by subscribing to my email list.

~ Headquarters of 4seasonshelf and home to the New York poet NG Swett ~

The Outer Lands Archipelago is made up of all of the ancient islands along the East Coast created 30,000 years ago during the last Ice Age when the Labrador Glacier was halted by the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

The islands of the archipelago include New York’s Long Island, Block Island, Nantucket, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and many other stunning islands.

Morning Sunshine: Blueberry Pancakes

Morning Sunshine video: Nan makes blueberry pancakes

I don’t always make breakfast, but when I do, I seem to want to make a video about it and set it to music haha!

This morning, it was blueberry pancakes.

How I made the video

While I was standing around, I took some quick pix and vids.

I sat down at the dining room table with my Motorola smartphone and logged into Canva to made a 20-sec mobile video (vertical short format for social media). I picked a cool mobile video template, uploaded a few of my own images and very short video segments, cropped and trimmed things up, and once happy with it, downloaded it to my phone.

One video segment of me having a bite of pancake took several takes, and even then I had to run it through an Instagram filter and download that. I was wearing no makeup and was basically still in my PJs…

I downloaded the video from Canva to my phone and then uploaded it to multiple platforms. In each platform, I added the same music: The Devil Went Down To Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band. (Can you guess why I used that song?) I found the right fiddle section of the song and adjusted the soundtrack accordingly.

I added in some hashtags by the seat of my pants, such as #morningroutine #blueberrytiktok but hashtags is definitely an area I could spend more time on researching for optimal discovery.

What am I trying to accomplish with this video?

I don’t know! Somebody please tell me haha!

No seriously, I’m trying to learn to make videos quickly and easily so that I can do it on the fly. In general, videos are great for SEO (search engine optimization) and engagement. Making pancakes tells a little story, and storytelling is great.

Put something out there and see what happens, that’s good feedback.

Specifically with this video, the idea is (1) to give viewers some inspiration for making a yummy quick breakfast with just a couple of ingredients, (2) to show my natural habitat so that people can get to know me, and (3) to put another video out there to see what works.

So how’s the video doing?

It varies by platform. It got immediate attention on TikTok. It’s also on YouTube and Instagram.

Sometimes it takes a while for a video’s views to shape up, but sometimes it takes off right away — or dies a quick but painful death lol. It’s good to see what works and what doesn’t.

So far, the people are liking blueberry pancakes, bagels with opera, poetry, how to start a fire, how to make a seasonal wreath, daylight savings time, St. Patrick’s Day parade, plein air painting, and promotional videos for my books.

#shelfie #4seasonshelf

What's on the shelf today?

On the shelf today are early indoor planting stuff…

• seed packets

• pen & ink sketches of seed packets

• herbs in faux terracotta window planter (indoors)

• clean plastic containers for planting seeds

It's springtime, and the garden adventure begins again here in the Outer Lands Archipelago.

We still have a while until we can plant outdoors, except for certain crops that like colder temps, such as leafy greens, peas, etc., which don’t mind a little frost.

Farmstand Update: What’s In Season

It’s the end of March, and most local farmstands have only one thing as of yet: firewood (see below). But before you know it, you'll see early crops start to come in like rhubarb, asparagus, horseradish and many more bittersweet lovelies. Local chickens are already laying eggs. And fresh daffodils!

Local farm stand with firewood in early spring empty shelves.

~ Nan

P.S. The #SHELFIE short video above is part of the #100daychallenge and will be uploaded to the 4seasonshelf constellation of social media. I created it in Canva, downloaded it, and will send it up to each platform. I’ll also add gameshow sounds on those platforms because it’d be fun. Find and follow @4seasonshelf on your favorite platform!

How you dune?

Here's a photo of an ocean dune by the Incredible Mr. C, please enjoy.

Now, turn south and face the ocean.

Take a deep breath!

That gorgeous video was also captured by my husband. I invite you to take a deep breath and a little break from the news and the rest of your life from time to time. Wow, there’s a lot happening these days. Big stuff!

Fun facts

During the Ice Age of 30,000 years ago, the great Labrador Glacier came to a halt here at the ocean, leaving a ridge of moraines that form the Outer Lands Archipelago islands of Long Island, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Cape Cod, Block Island, and the many other smaller islands.

These sandy beaches have a lot of quartz — that magical stuff that pulses under pressure (e.g., see quartz watches). Combined with sea mist, it’s a very nice thing. A walk on the shore the cure, body and soul.

Many Atlantic Ocean beaches are accessible in two hours or less from major East Coast cities. Some ocean beaches are within New York City and accessible by bus or subway! (Shout out to Coney Island and the Rockaways!)

~ Nan

P.S. I shared the video on a small constellation of 4seasonshelf social media, too. If you found this post from one of those platforms, thank you for coming! Glad you could make it.

P.S.S. The video is part of the #100daychallenge, which as I’ve posted, I’m using to learn more video skills and to get 4seasonshelf (and myself) out there more.