*Memo from Firgs: My lungs haven’t been feeling so good lately due to a past illness, so I am taking a day to rest. But I know that no matter what, I want this site to keep going. So, I turned to a friend of mine to help me out – someone I could trust 100% and who would be able to keep up the spirit of the Shout Out theme. Janine Smith is this person. I was so glad she said yes! And if you read below, you’ll see she came through for me with all the grace and style I was expecting. So thank you Janine!!! If you ever need me, I’ve got your back!

Shout Out – Patricia Wendt

Firgs is out of commission, today. She’s a little under the weather and I know you join with me in hoping her the best and a very quick recovery! I was quite honored when she asked me to lend a hand with the Thursday shout out, this week! Practically the minute she asked, I knew who I wanted to give a shout to, and Firgs agreed, wholeheartedly! Because this was a last minute kind of thing, this isn’t a shout out a la Firgs, with quotes from the shoutee and all, but more a musing a la Janine. So I’ll get on with today’s shout out to a lady who is just one of my favorite people!

Some of you know her as PatW, on the NAPP forum, and some know her as @patriciados on Twitter. The lady behind these names is Pat Wendt. Pat is an exceptionally sweet, kind, and, well, just classy person! She always has a kind word for everyone and makes a great straight man to my sometimes rather unfunny jokes! As has been said before, a lot of the Internet is, simply, perception. You get a “feel” of how a person is by how they post. Pat strikes me as being like that friend you have that all you need to do is look at each other and you both bust out laughing! Pat just…gets it!

Pat, with her hubby, Scott, owns Bluestem Books in Lincoln, Nebraska. They actually started Bluestem in 1975, buying and selling books via the U. S. Mail, and set down roots in an actual shop in 1984. I imagine Bluestem Books to be a wonderful place, packed with, of course, tons of good books, cozy chairs and wonderful people. Now, you must try to understand how I, having this overwhelming love of the written word (even as busy as I am, I read, on average, a book every two days) would like nothing more then to curl up in one of those chairs in that shop and commence reading!

Pat has a fascination with and a yearning to learn more about photo restoration. I mean, seriously, how can I not love her?! She’s been one of my biggest supporters, and joins me in volunteering with Operation Photo Rescue, where we attempt to restore and repair family photographs damaged in natural disasters. Pat has the patience needed to work on these photos and, from what I’ve seen, has skills she doesn’t even know she has, yet! As if all that weren’t enough, Pat is also a wonderful photographer, her photos being full of fun and whimsy, sometimes with a little help from Photoshop! I’ve included two of my personal favorites, the whimsical Squirrel as Fisherman which just makes me smile, and the classic Don Diego the Cowdog. Many of you know this photo and, by extension, Don Diego himself. Don Diego de la Bluestem is Pat’s adorable Havanese who lives with the Wendt’s, but acts as manager of customer relations at Bluestem Books, and, as you can imagine, does his job very well! Through this photo of Diego, which Pat also uses as her avatar, we all feel we know Diego, and, yes, even dare claim him, just a little, as one of our own!

If any of you don’t know Pat, yet, I suggest you Click the pics and find a way to say hi! You’ll be glad you did!