Tag: penguinate

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Penguinate now on Etsy

Pear Penguin in sweater

The Penguinate shop can now be found on Etsy! We decided to open up our Etsy shop to give people an opportunity to find us. Currently, we have Pear Penguin available for adoption there, we have 2020 calendars for digital download, and our Flat Friends: Penguins are waiting for new homes.

While you can also get Pear Penguin and our downloadable 2020 calendars from us at Penguinate.com, our Flat Friends: Penguins are available exclusively at Etsy. So, if you need an ornament, gift card accompaniment, tag addition to your present, champagne or wine bottle friend, or book mark, check out our Flat Friends. They come in two sizes!

Thank you so much for being a part of our penguin community. We hope to have some exciting news in the next year. It’ll come a lot sooner of we get more people on our Patreon.

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It’s Our Patreon Anniversary and You Get the Present

Our Patreon Anniversary is August 12! In celebration, we are giving penguin Christmas ornaments to anyone who signs up at the $10 level or higher! But you need to sign up before August 18, 2019.

The ornaments are handmade by Jenya from two layers of felt in the style of our black and white penguins. The larger ones are about 4 inches tall and the smaller are about 2.75 inches. A ribbon at the top makes them perfect for hanging from your Christmas tree.

You could also adapt these penguins to hang from almost any place, like your car’s rear view mirror or a door knob. (It might take a little ingenuity.)

Thank you to all our current Penguinators. Join the fun, and we could be thanking you, too!

penguin ornaments with patch and penny
Patch and Penny with penguin ornaments
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Is a creativity storm coming? You decide. Nine Days Left for You and Your Friends to Sign up!

The penguins are out of the box (even if the cat is still in it). A creativity storm is coming, but it can only happen with your help! For every 5 people that sign up at any level for our Patreon, I will write an additional creativity article. If you want to know more about creativity, this will get you there quickly!

Our current schedule looks like this:

  • August 1: The blog email list – this is open to anyone who has signed up for our email list at Penguinate.com and should include a summary of all the articles that we released on my blog.
  • August 2: I will post a copy of the blog email and add some tasty tidbits to it like a creativity tip.
  • August 14: Creativity Post 1 – What do 1980’s ‘Popeye,’ criticism and creativity have in common? This will be released on Penguinate.com with a reminder on Patreon sent the next day.
  • August 18: Our Patreon Anniversary!
  • August 22: Penguin of the Month photo

Join us at Patreon to make sure that I have to write something about creativity every day! The more people that sign up on or before July 31, the more articles you’ll see.

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Countdown to August’s Creativity Storm Writing: 10 Days Left to Add Your Presence

For every 5 people who join our Patreon between now and July 31, 2019, I will write an extra creativity article for Patreon members (Penguinators) only. So far, I write one article a month on creativity for Penguinators. The articles have included “The Secrets to Creativity” series, with supporting articles on Penguinate.com. You can read and work on:

  • The Real Secrets of Creativity: By the Books
  • The Secrets of Creativity: Paradox
  • The Secrets to Creativity: Deep Thinking
  • The Secrets of Creativity: Seeing for Penguinators
  • The Secrets of Creativity: Play

Those are the most recent posts, along with a breakdown of our success in June at comic conventions and with my books.

In August, I have already scheduled the first article I am writing for the creativity storm:

What Do 1980’s ‘Popeye’ and Criticism Have to Do with Creativity?

It will be released for Penguinators only on August 14. If you want to read it, you’ll need to join our Patreon at any level, even $1! Get four of your friends to join and I’ll write another creativity article! For as long as you’re a member, you’ll have access to all of the articles, great discounts at our events, and funny photos of stuffed penguins! Join us today!

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Press Release: Penguinate.com Donates to Global Penguin Society

After a successful first half of the year, Penguinate.com was able to make its first donation to the Global Penguin Society. Penguinate.com donates $1 for every adopted stuffed penguin from its website and the events the business attends.

“It feels good to do something that helps penguins,” says Jenya Engkilterra, who handmakes the plush penguins. “We’re just happy that we can do something for them.”

Penguins are a bellwether species for climate change. As the Antarctic ice melts and seal levels rise, penguins are facing a tougher environment than they may be able to survive.

The Global Penguin Society is an award-winning organization that educates people, protects habitats and observes penguin populations. It is dedicated to the conservation of the world’s 18 penguin species. The organization was the recipient of donations from the Walt Disney Company’s DisneyNature release “Penguins.”

Penguinate.com will continue to donate to the Global Penguin Society for the rest of 2019.

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Join Our Patreon Now and Get Benefits Right Away

choosing books with a penguin

During the month of July, my goal is to recruit 30 new Patreon Penguinators at any level. If you join now, at even $1, you’ll get access to the “Penguin of the Month” photo featuring our amazing stuffed penguins – usually Patch or Penny.

You’ll also get one Patreon only article about creativity. The series, which started before I left for the U.S. in May, has been called “The Secrets of Creativity” and has been written as a supplement to another article on my peguinate.com blog. While that may or may not be the case in the future, it is what I am working with now. If we make it over $200 in Patreon pledges a month, I will add a second article for members only and for every $200 after that until we reach 5 articles a month.

Donating more than $1 a month will get you different levels of rewards. Want books? Donate at $50 and get a book a month from an assortment of Indie authors – including me. These books will be curated and from authors I have enjoyed reading like Darren Lamb and Drue M. Scott.

If you love penguins, then the $200 level is the one to choose. You’ll get one penguin a year for as long as you’re a member of our Patreon!

Choose the $500 level and get a creativity box delivered to you every month. What’s a creativity box? It’s a box that is crammed full of items and ideas to help you become more creative. These items will vary from month-to-month and will inevitably include a book, something to play with, and a list of activities to engage in. As you continue your subscription and follow along with the contents, you will find that you’ll be able to put to use those principles of creativity that most suit your needs.

If you’re currently a Patreon Penguinator, thank you! Be sure to spread the word to your friends and help us grow our community. If you’re not yet a Patreon Penguinator, now is the best time to join!

Read about what Patreon is.

Join our Patreon.

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Second Chance Books in Independence, OR, Hosts Local Author

Professor Penguin studies for greater knowledge.

On Saturday, June 22, 2019 from 10 am to 2 pm, Shad Engkilterra will be signing copies of his books in front of Second Chance Books on Main Street in Independence from 10 am to 2 pm. Shad has written nine books for all ages; come by and check out the books that are right for you.

For children of all ages, “There Are No Penguins in Alaska” offers the opportunity to color while learning about the animals that people find in Alaska. The humor at the end will keep you smiling.

For those from 8 to 11 and for fans of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, the Adventures on the Amur series is two great adventure stories that take place in Far East Russia. Explore a little history and enjoy Steve and Irina’s adventures as they search for the Lost Treasure of Nikolai Nikolaevich or learn firsthand about the Curse of the Golden Kopeck.

For those in high school or older, “The Pirate Union” finds out what would happen if bureaucracy regulated pirate activities. This comedy with a 1990’s sensibility promises magic, puns, and fun as the crew of the Jolly Rogue tries to find out what the nefarious P.U. is up to.

Want to know what it was like growing up poor in the 1980s? “My Life in the Projects” is the mostly true story of how I survived living in government housing as a child.

For nonfiction fans, “Disneyland Is Creativity” and “the Haunted Mansion Is Creativity” offer looks at Disneyland and the Haunted Mansion with an eye toward creativity principles. Take a tour of the Happiest place on Earth and let Walt’s dream bring you greater joy and inspiration through greater creativity, or go through the Haunted Mansion as your Ghost Host leads you on a tour of the beloved attraction while materializing habits to become more creative.

If you need a bathroom reader or are looking for activities to improve your creativity and life, “Penguinate! Essays and Short Stories” and “Penguinate! The Disney Company” are the books for you. These collections of short stories and essays provide suggestions for activities to do after each section. Penguinating is the power of positive creativity.

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Preorder ‘Penguinate! The Disney Company’

Book cover for Penguinate! The Disney Company

On April 14, 2019, my 8th book “Penguinate! The Disney Company” will be released on Amazon Kindle. (That’s just in time for my birthday!) “Penguinate! The Disney Company” looks at aspects of the company that Walt Disney would recognize. It includes thoughts on Disney Parks, Disney creativity, and Disney movies, including “Frozen 2” plots Disney probably never considered.

This wholly unauthorized look at the Disney Company is designed to help you think deeply and share your thoughts. The more you practice deep thinking, the more creative you’ll become. Preorder the Kindle version today at Amazon, or preorder the paperback here.

The Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements    iv
 About This Book    1
 The Disney Family    3
 Walt Disney’s Road to Creativity    4
 Diane Disney Miller, Grandma and Disneyland    6
 The Disney Parks    8
 Standing in Line Is Part of the Appeal    9
 FASTPASS Is too Fast    10
 FASTPASS, Reservations and Time    11
 Why the Characters at the Parks Matter    12
 Disney Parks Don’t Need New Rides to Increase Attendance    14
 How Disney Can Save Itself and the World    16
 The Disneyland Resort    19
 The Birth of Disneyland    20
 The Submarine Voyage (1959 to 1998)    22
 Star Wars Land Vs. Tomorrowland    23
 Put the ‘Tomorrow’ Back in Tomorrowland    26
 Investing in Parks Is the Best Way to Deal with Crowds    28
 Mickey Mouse Foods and Happiness    30
 Disney California Adventure Is still No Disneyland    31
 World of Color – Winter Dreams 2013    33
 Eulogy for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror    34
 Walt Disney World    35
 Reflections on the College Program 2012    36
 Why Would Walt Want to Build a City?  A panel with Paul Anderson at Salt Lake Comic Con 2013    38
 Walt Disney World’s Internal Communication    40
 Walt Disney World’s External Communication    41
 Walt Disney World and Change    42
 Why MyMagic+ is Genius    43
 Crew Spaceship Earth with Aaron Wallace and the Rest of Humanity    45
 Critique of Epcot Misses Context    47
 The American Idol Experience Will Suck You in like the TV Show    49
 Disneyland Paris    51
 Disneyland Paris 2015 Is Like Disneyland 2000    52
 La Taniere du Dragon: Magic at Disneyland Paris    54
 Disney’s Synergy    55
 Disney Does the Dumb: No Longer Going to Infinity and Beyond    56
 Disney/Fox Merger Sounds Death Knell for Small-Time Writers and Creatives    58
 Did Disney Cut the Cord?    60
 ‘Agent Carter’ sets stage for Captain America vs. Batman and Superman    62
 Let’s Get Dangerous: Disney Dominates Movies and Music    64
 Why Fox’s Fantastic Four Flop Is Good News for Disney    65
 Disney Jumps to Light Speed with Creative Properties    66
 ESPN Fishes for Its ‘Little Mermaid’    68
 The Disney Princess Stories    72
 The Saving of Snow White: Rethinking Criticisms of Disney Films    73
 Dying Ugly: The Misguided Actions of the Evil Queen    75
 Cinderella’s Choice: Rethinking Criticisms of Disney Films    76
 ‘Frozen’    78
 ‘Frozen’ Warms the Heart    79
 Hans: Clever Schemer, Opportunist, or Love Corrupted by Power    81
 Scarcity Fuels ‘Frozen’s’ Fire    83
 Possible ‘Frozen 2’ Plots    85
 ‘You Can’t Top Pigs with Pigs’: ‘Frozen 2’ on Thin Ice    89
 ‘Frozen’ vs. the Super Bowl    92
 ‘Frozen Fever’ opens for ‘Cinderella’: What’s at Stake?    94
 The Rise of Olaf and Baymax    96
 Disneyland’s Frozen Paradise 2015    97
 How Disney Changed the Princess Story for Success in the Modern Age    100
 ‘Maleficent’: Visually Stunning, Epic Fantasy    111
 ‘Frozen’ and ‘Maleficent’ Create Instant Cliché    113
 Evil Isn’t Complicated; It’s Easy    115
 Maleficent Changes Her Character    117
 ‘Maleficent,’ Misogyny and Metaphor: Disney Hits a Cultural Nerve    118
 An Alternate Ending for ‘Maleficent’?    119
 Other Disney Films    121
 ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ Explores Ways to Fix It    122
 Why Maui is the bad guy in ‘Moana’    124
 Disney Stuck in a Rut: Sequels Rule the Box Office    126
 Keep Moving Forward with ‘Tomorrowland’    128
 ‘Tomorrowland’ Brings to Screen What Theme Park Lacks    129
 Society Needs Its Dreamers    131
 What Kid’s See in Disney Films May Not Be What Adults See    133
 Disney Products    135
 Disney Products: D23Expo 2017 Explores Past and Future    136
 Appendix 1: Other Disney Books to Consider    139
 Appendix 2: Disney Vocabulary    141
 About the Author    143
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Creativity, Self Help and Stuart Smalley

In his book “Brainstorming: Unleashing Your Creative Self,” Don Hahn says that a lot of creativity books come off sounding like a Stuart Smalley self-help quote: “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!” Maybe that should be expected. Creativity is the highest expression of a person’s humanity.

Creativity is at the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for self-actualization. Those, who believe in God, also believe that humans are formed in His image to go forth and do math or procreate, which is an act of core creation.

People are at their best when they’re being creative. They flow, they sparkle, they embrace their inner child, they play, and they laugh and find the humor. They love, they forgive, and they ultimately revel in the happiness that creativity reveals in the sore of their own being.

So, while Jen Sincero’s “You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life” is about becoming your best self, it’s also about becoming more creative. Because your best self is one that is actively participating in making something new. Go out and sing your song, paint a picture, experiment, and write up a storm. You’ll be better for it and so will the rest of the world. Penguinate!

Want to up your creative game? Get a copy of “Disneyland Is Creativity” and “Penguinate! Essays and Short Stories“