Monthly Archives: January 2014

January 16, 2014 · 10:11 pm

Breast Cancer Calling

breast-cancer

I was on the phone with a colleague today and my call waiting clicked on. Our conversation:

She: Do you have to get that?

Me: Nope, it’s breast cancer calling.

She: Never a good idea to answer breast cancer when it calls.

Me: Yup.

It got me thinking, whose idea was it to have that come up on caller ID? Was this specifically requested because they believed you might pick it up and donate? Do they even know that caller ID is coming up this way? Should I call them back and let them know? And if I do, will I be obligated to make a donation, no matter what the organization is?

Ok, maybe it is a little noisy in my head.

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January 15, 2014 · 8:48 pm

The Funeral Director and the 3D Printing Biz

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This headline is just too good to be true, right?

A Yorktown, NY funeral director has decided to venture down the path of a new revenue stream. He has started a business called Mini 3D ME, creating 3-D figures of people. These are incredible. The detail is really astounding. I would imagine he is going to take the business far. The possibilities are endless… wedding cake topper, trophies, grandparent gifts, sports licensing, celebrities, corporate applications. The franchise opps will be incredible.

Ok, lovefest aside, this guy is a funeral director. Anyone see the humor in this?

“You are creating mini-identical replicas of people,” he states. Anyone who has had the misfortune of sitting at that awful conference table at a funeral parlor with warped family members and an uncontrollable  sense of dark nervous humor can see how the addition of one more friggin’ option like this might just be the last straw. Being one that gets the giggles at inappropriate times, the idea of the funeral director pulling out grandma and grandpa under glass, immortalized in resin to, as he put it, ‘freeze time and create lifelong memories’… well you can see what I mean.

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Actually, I think it’s brilliant. I wish him well. And truthfully, sort of interested in opening a store myself. Again, another business that is in dire need of a good graphic designer. Perhaps I should start soliciting these people for work.

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January 13, 2014 · 10:27 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Launching

launchingIt is always a good idea to leave your comfort zone, zip code, generation, cultural norm… anywhere that makes you see the world through a lens that is too similar to your own. Homogeneity breeds tunnelvision.

Like most, I socialize with people who are within my age-group and life stage, give or take 10 years. Most people do, I suppose. But this weekend I had the delightful experience of having 2 meals with a combination of 6 20-somethings, all in different stages of launching. The fact that they are among my favorite people on earth made it even better. Oh and 3 of them were blood relatives, the other 3 being the next best thing.

Listening to their plans, goals, opportunities… their exuberance, their joy, their energy… it was all so inspiring. And refreshing. And made me not only remember what life was like at that age, but to look back and realize what a wild ride it has been since then. They all genuinely respect our opinions, look to us as sounding boards. They have crossed over from the know-it-all teens to respectful young adults who want input. Not a single one had that millennial attitude that we hear all too often.

They are all still fresh, unspoiled. They have not yet been burnt or battered. But they will be at some point, everyone gets some piece of life’s not so pretty parts. But I am confident they will all take it with grace. They are built that way. I have seen each one of them navigate some tough things this past year and they all rose to the occasion.

We live in exciting times. I am envious of the climate that allows them to start their careers when so much is possible. Creating a business from scratch is not only possible, but the initial outlay of cash is minimal and access to funding a reality (think kickstarter, etsy, quirky, angel investors). These 6 are all so very different. Their career paths are equally different. Perhaps that is what makes the energy between them so exciting.

For now, it was simply lovely to be in their presence. To feel them shine. To bask in their opportunities. To be proud and inspired at the same time.

Next weekend? Sky diving? (probably not)

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January 13, 2014 · 12:15 am

Baby DJ School

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Oh those Brooklyn hipsters, they make us yuppies of way back when seem like we did not indulge our children. I am usually saddened by the race to adultify babies. Having been through the whole raising of the kids thing, I want to stop these parents and tell them there is plenty of time for them to become little hipsters and ‘mix music that is super dope’, just not while they are still drooling on the soundboard. But then I fear I am becoming that woman who stopped me on the street over 20 years ago while both my kids were screaming and told me I would miss these days. (that day, I have never missed, btw)

We saw this flyer while walking down Bedford Street and I had to take a picture. A little further investigation, and I found this HuffPo piece on the place. The woman who started it is definitely a genius. I am all for someone being entrepreneurial and preying on the insecurities of the tragically hip. And she has great cred. DJ and composer Natalie Elizabeth Weiss  has shared the stage with LCD Soundsystem and Dirty Projectors. She could, however, use a little graphic help. Just saying. (cute kid, though)

But this mom?  I sort of wanted to punch this mom in the face:

Samantha Al-Fayez, the mother of one of Weiss’ new students, told the Wall Street Journal that her 1-year-old Julien “loves gangsta rap.”

Seriously, Samantha?! Why is your 1-year-old listening to gangsta rap? I shudder to hear his first words! When he calls you mutha, don’t come crying to us when he figures out the second half of that word.

I am happy to report that Weiss does not play any music with profanities for the kids.

Hipster wholesome!

I did so want to make fun of this whole thing but honestly, for the older kids this is quite fabulous. Check out this 4-year-old. I love him. And his dad is a riot. The kid totally gets it, no?

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January 10, 2014 · 11:35 pm

Wine and Wisdom

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Friday night could not come fast enough this week, and with it came a lovely bottle of Ramsay Pinot Noir. This bottle was quite delicious. I highly recommend it.

As if drinking a nice bottle of wine over dinner on a rainy night with my husband and son was not pure heaven enough, this label topped it all off. For those reading on a mobile, here is what it says:

Even though I know how to use a Smartphone, I’d still rather go dancing than watch television, and I find nothing more satisfying than singing with my friends next to a fire. We are here so briefly that missing a single opportunity to connect with people seems a crime. That’s why we drink wine – it softens the hardness of the day and loosens our tongues so that we may confide in a friend, share the day’s events with a spouse, or sparkle with a lover over a romantic dinner. That is why we are alive – to be together.

Thanks Ramsay… great way to end the week!

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January 10, 2014 · 12:25 am

Salt is So Over-rated

salt-free

 

This is the lid to my cottage cheese. Not Gary’s cottage cheese – mine.

His? Plenty of salt. Like ridiculous amounts of salt.  480  mg to be exact (in resistant hypertension language that is like putting a gun in your mouth with every spoon). Who knew?!

Since I barely survived the holiday season and this ridiculous BP roller coaster has started its miserable incline again, I have decided to eat as clean as possible. Salt-free is nearly impossible out, so during the week I eat home and try to be really good. I have to say, I truly appreciated the camaraderie that Friendship fostered with the lid of this cottage cheese. It’s like some brand manager out there totally gets what a drag a no salt diet is like and wanted to make me smile.

So I bought it. Truth be told, cottage cheese really does need the sodium to taste good. But let’s face it, it’s cottage cheese. It’s really all about the texture. And I appreciate the brand sympathy.

Nice work Friendship, you have made a friend in me.

 

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January 9, 2014 · 10:00 am

ish

6-and-a-half-avenue

I love New York. And I equally love the ish of life. As I was parking my car today I came across this street sign. Who knew 6th Avenue had an ish… a half. A sort of in between 6th and 7th sort of street that had no purpose other than to install a stop sign (yes, a stop sign in the middle of a midtown cross street!). You know, because as the sign says, it is a Pedestrian Arcade. Really? I saw no such arcade. A lovely little restaurant with a Quinoa Bar but no arcade that I could see. A little space between 2 buildings with some cement seating and potted trees. But an arcade? Nah.

Nonetheless, the existence of a halfavenue that I never knew about made me realize that every day has a little surprise if you look.

NYC trivia… name the street this is on. (no prizes other than being able to boast about what a New Yorker you are).

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January 8, 2014 · 7:37 pm

I am 74

old-man

No, I am not 74, but the lunatic sitting next to me at the doc’s office today is. It was if the universe gave him the same appointment time as I had because it knew what a great blog post he would make. Some quotes from the dear man with my comments in italics:

“I am 74. Why would I buy a car? I lease. If I drop dead, they just take the car back.” (not so funny at a cardiologist’s office)

“I can’t believe they are legalizing pot, now all the potheads are going to be walking around all over the place” (as opposed to being locked up in jail where they belong because all they did was get high?)

And my all time fave:

“When I heard about the new gun laws I went out and bought 11 guns and 2,000 rounds of ammo.” (now this one made me want to revert to the first quote and hope for the best)

No, I do not go to the cardiologist in the back woods… this was on the North Shore of Long Island! WTH?

(Don’t worry, I did not take a picture of this crazy man, this is stock… but it sort of looks like him)

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January 7, 2014 · 9:19 pm

Hundred Dollar Mushrooms

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Actually, that’s misleading. They were on sale for $89, so we bought 3 pounds.

Just kidding.

This big ole bucket of probably 5 grand wortth of ‘shrooms was sitting there just waiting for me to take its picture. Do you think they put them on sale because they were not moving fast enough?

I am unclear about what would make these mushrooms worth that kind of money.

Unless…

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January 6, 2014 · 10:33 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Being Six

1526299_10202899101262805_1167290587_nYeh, that’s me. At six.

Six was pretty perfect. Obviously from this picture I was sure I was all that. This is such an amazing shot. Hey, it got over 50 likes on Facebook in less than 24 hours! I told Gary today I think I might have peaked at six!

All kidding aside, I had the most amazing childhood. And this picture seems to embody it all. I know those are my eyes. I remember her. The way she lounged on that couch and maybe ate a little chocolate pudding out of one of those fabulous green square glass bowls. Or one of the white milk glass ones with the gold rim.  My brother and I didn’t realize that this life was not the norm at the time, but as we grow older we appreciate how wonderful it was to grow up in our house.

And now that house has sort of outlived its happiness for our family. It’s not that it has lost its beautiful memories, it is just time. The master of its charm has left the building, and so now, must the contents of a lifetime. It’s an interesting task. One that uncovers the treasures of the past buried amongst the bowling balls, slide projectors and ice skates from the 1960s. I have just begun, and I am sure there will be many tears and equally as many laughs as we dismantle what was for me, the most wonderful place on earth.

Thanks Dad, for giving me this task. Don’t feel bad about it. Don’t worry about the time it will take. You know this is my process. And you have earned the rest.

What does worry me a little is that closet in the garage, though. Mom always told me if she had a third child after raising me she would lock it in the garage closet… she was kidding, right?

 

 

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