Category: lifestyle
I’ll be in Austin for the next several days at the geek spring break known as South by Southwest Interactive — all manner of people interested in the Web, mobile, social media and video games, among other things, descend on a city with the unofficial motto “Keep Austin Weird.” It’s an excellent experience because you almost can’t help but have…
I’m a little kid about birthdays — I enjoy making a fuss about other people’s birthdays and I love celebrating mine. Yes, even as a suit-wearing executive with an MBA, I have been known to take a box of cupcakes to work on my birthday, just like you might have in elementary school. As part of that, we don’t just…
My new friend Patti seems to be a kindred spirit on many things, especially food and societal needs, so when she urged me to check out Krista Tippett, that was enough for me. In Tippett’s 16-minute TED talk titled “Reconnecting with Compassion,” she argues that compassion has a public relations problem. She explains that tolerance is not a virtue, it’s…
This is an encore for one of the very first posts I wrote on this blog, reflecting on January 2001 — 10 years ago this month. One day I was laid off, the next my mom was diagnosed with cancer, which would kill her six months later. My mom has been in my dreams a lot lately, I think reminding…
After talking about it for years, I finally started beginner piano lessons last spring, in part because the approach of my 40th birthday felt like a good deadline. I fantasized about learning a song that I’d be comfortable playing in public, maybe even hosting a big 40th birthday bash with New Orleans Bingo Show headlining and with me playing my…
We took our Christmas tree down last weekend, and I think that’s got to be one of the saddest rituals of the year. When we decorate the tree in December, we’re preparing for a fun-filled season of celebrations. Taking the tree down is not only a less fun chore, it’s also the physical reminder that all that socializing and holiday…
Do you need some help working toward your 2011 goals? I think there are two separate challenges to making good New Year’s resolutions: taking the time to set thoughtful, achievable goals that align with what you really want out of life following through to achieve those goals So let’s divide and conquer together. I’ll even offer a prize to help…
Spoiler alert: This post discusses the existence of Santa Claus. If you, like me, might find this disturbing, you might want to go watch Rudolph and skip this one. When I was maybe 5 years old, Santa came to my dad’s house. We were sitting around on Christmas Eve when the back door opened and Santa waltzed in carrying a…
After a month of daily gratitude posts, it’s taking me a bit to regain my rhythm of regular content — but I do have some good stuff in the hopper: I sat down with Larry Kirshbaum, formerly CEO of Time-Warner Book Group and now head of LJK Literary, and he shared the unvarnished truth about moving from a corporate gig…
I’ve been traveling a lot lately, and rather than falling into my usual trap of reading fluffy magazines, I’ve used that travel time to dive into some good books. I pounded through Mark Bittman‘s “Food Matters” in just a few days. Much like Michael Pollan‘s books about what’s wrong with American food production, Bittman writes that how we eat is…
Margaret Yang recently won one of two Month of Thanksgiving contests here on Newvine Growing by expressing her gratitude for her daughter’s bus driver. Because Margaret won the “Who are you thankful for?” contest, I sent flowers to her house so she could give them to Miss Penny, the bus driver. Margaret sent two follow-up notes on what happened when…
I woke up just in time to hear a doctor telling my parents how I was lucky my nose had shattered because otherwise the bone would have driven up into my brain and killed me. It was hard to feel especially lucky at that moment. I had broadsided another driver who hadn’t looked to see I was approaching doing about…
Maybe some of you spent a little time going around the table at Thanksgiving dinner sharing something you’re thankful for? While the holiday is mostly about gorging on food and/or spending time with loved ones, there is this sweet notion of a holiday about counting our blessings and giving thanks. I’ve taken that a step further with Month of Thanksgiving,…
When I was a kid, Saturday mornings meant cartoons and cartoons meant Bugs Bunny. Looney Tunes anchored Saturday viewing, with a whole wonderful cast of characters including Daffy Duck, Roadrunner, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian … but the star was Bugs. Bugs taught me about pop culture, including gangster movies and hillbilly music, and of course, about opera. It was…
As part of the Month of Thanksgiving, I’m running two — TWO! — contests: what are you grateful for? who are you grateful for? Readers have submitted some excellent entries already but I’m greedy. I want more more more! The deadline is Saturday, so take a few minutes to share who or what makes your life better by going to…
I have a couple of trips planned for the rest of the year that involve air travel. I don’t mean to sound all Beverly Hillbillies marveling over the cement pond, but it’s pretty miraculous that I’m going to wake up in the cool November autumn of New York and by that very afternoon, I will be dangling my toes in…
Yesterday I asked you to tell me what you’re grateful for — you could win PRIZES! To get you thinking, here’s a sampling of some posts I’ve written in the past about things I’m grateful for: kitchen gadgets including our mandoline, automatic coffee maker and the SodaStream seltzer maker farmers markets New Orleans Jazz Fest And if you’d like a…
In New York, it’s not uncommon to meet people who don’t cook. At all. They proudly talk about using their fridge only for beverages and maybe leftovers, and keeping shoes or sweaters in their ovens. I’m thankful not to be among them. As much as I do love going out for a good meal, I take serious pleasure in the…
A guest post from the ever-fabulous Lara Zielin: I probably spend too much time online and, if my increasingly strobe-light-like brain is any indication, it might not be doing me as much good as I think. But I will say one thing about the experience: being online, and utilizing social media tools in particular, has connected me to some…