Tag: lifestyle


Are we putting you to sleep yet?

Apparently the topic of going to bed with your mate generates a lot of interest — and truly, I’m just talking about sleeping. The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Momania blog quoted my blog post about Lucy and Ricky beds maybe being good for your marriage. Check out Theresa’s post — and the dozens of passionate comments — here. Then Information House…

Lucy and Ricky beds might help your marriage

What do you think when you watch re-runs of old TV shows where married couples retire to a bedroom with two twin beds a very safe distance from one another? You might make a joke about how Lucy got pregnant with Ricky way over there — remember, it was a time when you couldn’t even say “pregnant” on TV —…

Will ArtPrize reinvent Grand Rapids?

Today, election season kicked off in Grand Rapids, Mich. Not to choose a mayor, but to decide who will win about $450,000 in prize money up for grabs in ArtPrize. ArtPrize bills itself as a radically open art contest — some 1,200 artists have their work on display, competing for first prize of $250,000, which is chosen by votes from…

Is happiness catching? Two social scientists say yes.

Keith Ferrazzi, author of Who’s Got Your Back and Never Eat Lunch Alone, recently tweeted: Over time, we will be within 10 % of income of our closest friends. Similar for weight, health. A story in this weekend’s New York Times magazine, headlined Is Happiness Catching?, went deeper than 140 characters on the influence of our friends. The story about…

Jennifer Worick learns to become more flexible

Jennifer Worick Jennifer Worick, a crafty Seattle gal with a slew of published books and a couple of blogs, recently wrote a blog post about letting go of rigid expectations and learning to roll with life’s unpredictable nature. It starts: Until a few years ago, I thought I was just a logical person with high standards for myself and others.…

You've heard of Slow Food. What about Slow Money?

Thanks to Twitter, I learned about the Slow Money conference — I hadn’t heard of it until I saw Stowe Boyd’s 140-character updates Thursday. BusinessWeek writes: There’s a conference going on in Santa Fe this week about Slow Money. The idea behind slow money, modeled on the 20-year-old slow food movement, is to create an infrastructure for investing in local…

Rob Pasick coaches leaders on finding balance

I met Rob Pasick years ago, when I was business editor at the Ann Arbor News and he was an interesting local character — a psychologist and executive coach and who was working the media not about his day job but about his book “Conversations with My Old Dog.” We’ve stayed in touch off and on over the years, and…

John Hughes defined the middle-class teen experience

Much has been written since Michael Jackson’s death about his huge influence on pop culture. Don’t get me wrong, I listened to Thriller on the cheap little turntable in my bedroom nonstop, but I think John Hughes got overshadowed because he had a heart attack while everyone was still fixated on the King of Pop. John Hughes transformed my teenage…

Follow up to "Is it true you can't work harder than your clients?"

My post earlier this week, “Is it true you can’t work harder than your clients?” got people talking — but since some of that conversation happened over on Facebook, I thought I’d copy it into the blog so more people can benefit from the commenters’ wisdom. Julia Collins, owner of Fitness Chick personal training service, said: I want my clients…

Kickstarter offers micro-patronage of the arts

Some people don’t pursue their dreams for very practical reasons — they have to pay the rent and they worry that being a musician, artist, filmmaker or writer won’t make any money. A story in the New York Times this week introduced me to Kickstarter, based in our back yard here in Brooklyn. Earl Scioneaux III is not a famous music…

Is it true you can't work harder than your clients?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a blog post I stumbled onto headlined You can’t work harder than your clients. Diane Sieg, an emergency room nurse turned author and life coach, writes on her blog: As I start my second month of Life Coaching at the Wellness Treatment Center, I am reminded of a very important concept: You can’t…

I heart farmers' markets — or how a kid raised on canned veggies loaded with butter learned to love the real thing

I grew up in an agricultural state. Michigan grows cherries, apples and sugar beets, among other things, and to live in Michigan is to know the mantra “knee high by the Fourth of July” is a growth measure for the huge expanses of corn fields all over the state.
But I don’t think I’d even heard the phrase “farmers’ market” until I was out of college. Ironically, it’s in super urban New York City where farmers’ markets have transformed both how we shop and how we eat, in both cases for the better.

Three great sources of inspiration from the interweb

Believe it or not, the Internet is good for more than watching videos of skateboarding dogs — you can find loads of help on your journey to become a better person. One consistently great site is called Zen Habits. Articles on their Web site include: 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life Simple Living Manifesto:…

What books have inspired you? Part II

I love serendipity and coincidence. When we visited Ann Arbor last weekend, I was talking to Matt and Rene Greff about how much I’d enjoyed Eat Pray Love — a book I thought would be a lightweight beach read but instead turned out to be a thoughful self-examination of a woman’s journey to rediscover herself after a divorce. She travels to…

The 3/50 project aims to support local businesses

Hip Slope Mama, a Brooklyn-based blogazine led by a friend of ours, turned me on to the 3/50 project with this recent post from contributor Mark Caserta. Since last September, business along Park Slope’s commercial streets has fallen off significantly and my store, 3r Living, has struggled to stay afloat in these difficult, uncertain times. Of course, many of our customers are feeling…

On moving to Brooklyn

Editor’s note: Many visitors are arriving on this post after searching for “Manhattan map” or “New York map.” If that sounds like you, some resources you might want are a subway map or Manhattan bus map. The New York State Tourism site might also be helpful. After you check those out, I hope you’ll come back and spend some time…