March 31, 2012 · 7:16 am

Zukes Dog Treats vs. Bear Naked Granola

There really is no contest, it is all about point of view.

If you are a dog, it’s Zuke’s hands down. If you are human, the Bear Naked wins; if not by taste, surely by name. Naked is cool; Bearly Naked is intriguing.

What the hell is she talking about, you ask? Well, these highly similar packages sit right next to each other on the shelf in my pantry. So say you are a bit preoccupied in the middle of the afternoon with all the work you have to finish and you are making a little yogurt snack and figure the Bearly Naked would be lovely sprinkled into it. And then let’s just say you weren’t really looking and you…

Ok, you ALMOST poured the Zuke’s into it. Look at this photo, it really was an easy mistake!

I posted this on Facebook:

Note to self: do not store dog treats and granola in similar zip lock packages on the same shelf in the pantry. #justsaying

My favorite response came from my friend Jessica (her comments never disappoint). I LOVE her mom for this:

Ewwww. My mom used to put the fancy dog treats in a candy dish and all the men would dig in… so gross

Just another day in the life.

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March 29, 2012 · 8:49 pm

Kissed by the Vet

I know, not the most flattering angle, but this was a picture that had to be taken. Iko had a vet visit today… conjunctivitis this time. Seriously, what did she share a towel with her bunk or something? Jeez.

Anyway, the famous Dr. Anne of saving Mel’s life when she diagnosed her with diabetes fame, could not resist the extreme cuteness of this animal. So, she warned me that she was wearing lipstick and then planted one right on her forehead. This looked somewhat more ridiculous than when she got into the food coloring and was sort of tie dyed for the week.

How can you not love a vet that kisses your dog?

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March 28, 2012 · 11:45 pm

I hate when I suck at something!

In the house of social media, nothing is sacred.

Last night Jana had the brilliant idea to make pizza. We have tried this more than once before and we are not very good at it. Riki is great at it. Riki is great at all things cooking. Riki is our kitchen idol.

First time around we used cookie sheets and the pizza sucked.

Second time I had gone to BB&B and bought pizza stones like Riki told me to. We did not realize we had to heat up the stones, so that pizza… you guessed it – sucked.

This time? This time we called Riki first. She coached us. We were golden. Preheat the stones, make the pizza on the back of a floured cookie sheet (which BTW we argued about what a cookie sheet was) and then…

Well then we realized a little too late that we should not have put the sauce and toppings on the rolled out dough on the cookie sheets. Ok, I know, we are severely pizza challenged. This does not make us bad people.

During the heat of sucking at this I heard my phone go off and there was the tweet above.

Apparently nothing is sacred in my kitchen.

Fyi, we baked them on the cookie sheets and they were not all that bad but I do have a pizza stone permanently wedged on the bottom rack of my 1939 Chambers stove. This could prove to be a problem when making brisket next week. Perhaps I need a handy man. Or maybe just…

Riki!

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March 20, 2012 · 5:13 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Dalai Lama Wisdom,with a side of Springsteen and McCartney

Time to Cry Tuesday clocks in a little late today. Sorry for the thin posting schedule lately.

Today I am a bit reflective because… it’s Tuesday. So I am going to share with you three things that struck me over the past week. The first is from the Dalai Lama. I suggest you copy this, print it out and post it on your fridge, in your car, on the bathroom mirror and anywhere else your entire family can see it.

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered,

“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

Ouch!

Second, this quote from Bruce Springsteen’s keynote speech at SxSW was perfect. (although I like my sister-in-laws idea to reverse the order)

“Don’t worry. And worry your ass off.”

That pretty much sums it all up for me. I am a firm believer in not pre-worrying. I believe what happens to you is not what you worry about but something completely out of left field instead. AND in some not so dramatic but disaster preparedness sort of I way, I have been known to worry my ass off. (does this worry make my ass look fat?)

And last but not least, keep reminding yourself of this one. I have seen some staggering evidence of this lately. The last line of the last song of the last Beatles’ album, from Sir Paul:

And in the end, the love you make, is equal to the love you take.

 

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March 14, 2012 · 7:40 am

Time to Cry Tuesday – Where the Magic Happens

I came across this image on Pinterest the other day. It has been circulating all over the online sharing circles. I would love to give credit to its creator but I can’t seem to locate them. If you know where this originated, please let me know.

The sentiment… could this be any more spot on?

Magic.

It is hard to come by. But when you stumble upon it you are blown away. And most often the road there was not an easy one. You certainly did not comes across it on the proverbial couch. Sometimes it involves hard work. Other times it is merely serendipitous. (Yeh, I hate that word too, but it worked here). But almost every time you find yourself smack in the middle of the magic circle, you have traveled outside your comfort zone to get there. You can see here, sometimes it is not all that far away… but that step outside the zone is a scary one.

And it is always worth it.

If you have every received an email from me, you will find this line at the bottom:

“Do one thing everyday that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Go ahead…do it. You won’t be disappointed. And here’s hoping that you will find the magic.

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March 11, 2012 · 9:03 pm

Flea Market Cutie

I spent the afternoon at the Chelsea flea markets last Sunday and I almost got whiplash trying to capture all the bizarre images of the day. This particular image spoke to me on so many levels. There she was… the quintessential 1950s paper doll, posing Carol Merill style next to a treasure trove of old photos. I love her foundation garment (hey, my first job out of art school was with Maidenform – that is what you call any type of underwear).

What struck me about this shot and the angle in which I captured it, were the categories of images the vendor had chosen to feature. Some are not that easy to read, or are covered up, so I will list them here:

  • Interiors
  • Post-Mortem: Death, Funeral, Memorial
  • Costumes
  • Holidays, Weddings
  • Parades
  • Disasters/Accidents
  • Fishing

Some commentary (what, you thought this would go without my thoughts?)

Ok, I can see why you would collect period interiors. I am sure there is a market for that. And costumes, ok, that makes sense. Holidays, I get that and I suppose throwing weddings in with them goes with the celebration theme. Parades, yeh, that could have an appeal on some level. And fishing? Well I suppose if the images were of some big fish there would be those lovers of the sport who might find these interesting.

But Post-Mortem?! I shudder to think who would want to purchase these. Why on earth did I not think to browse through these photos to see what the hell was in there that illustrated death, funeral and memorial? And Disasters/Accidents (love the slash), this was probably the pay dirt of the bizarre.

Now I HAVE to go back and check these out. And I am pretty sure I will have to buy some of them. Stay tuned, this could surely have a great follow-up post in the coming weeks.

Ok, so other people actually SHOP when they go to these things. Me? Not so interested in owning other people’s junk, I just like to photograph it.

 

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March 11, 2012 · 12:13 am

Pugz?

Yes Pugz… Uggs for dogs. And yes they come in sizes.

Thank goodness they are made of faux leather and faux wool. It would be so wrong for a pet to be wearing another animal.

You know, because it isn’t wrong to put little Uggs on your friggin dog. Jeez. This is just going to far. Look at the dog in this picture. It actually looks humiliated.

Although these would go nicely with the biker dude jacket on the dog in Home Depot. Or the Ed Hardy hoodie (say that 3 times fast) that I saw on a Yorkie in Delray. Only sorry I couldn’t snap that picture fast enough.

I clicked over to their site and found these high tops as well. Not going to lie, I do find them kind of cool. Oh right, if people were not putting them on their DOGS! Dr. Jimmy, this would make sense for your dogs… if they weren’t over 100 lbs.!

I love that each unit comes with 4 shoes. So if you are considering this for your 3 legged pooch you will find yourself with an extra. Maybe you can bronze it. (do people still do that with baby shoes?)

Is it because I have a big dog that I have such an aversion to pets in clothing? Or is it because pets in clothing is just friggin’ ridiculous.

Either way, this one wins an MFTA award for sure.

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March 7, 2012 · 10:52 pm

Pee Wee’s Playhouse?

No, I did not set this picture up. What kind of pervert do you take me for? This gift from the MFTA gods just happened to be in a little store window in Williamsburgh as we were walking from drinks to dinner the other night. I love the Mac Mini box he is sitting on.

For those who are not familiar with Pee Wee Herman, he had a kids’ show from ’86-’91 called Pee Wee’s Playhouse  that was a big hit. That crossed over into my early child-bearing years but for some reason I remember us watching this before we had kids. He had sort of a cult following of 20-somethings that were simply amused by his humor.

His other claim to fame had to do with a popcorn container with a hole in it at the movies.

Unfortunate.

Whoever set-up the gnome in the crotch window display surely remembered that scandal.

And to think, I almost passed right by this one!

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March 6, 2012 · 9:46 pm

oops

20120306-214555.jpgI know, my neighbors –  hands down –  have the best garbage on the planet.

I love this sentiment. And the logo is just perfect. To find out more about (oops) wine you can read about it here.

I took this picture more for the sheer joy of seeing (oops) in the garbage. Like someone threw this out by mistake.

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March 5, 2012 · 8:53 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Separation of Church and State

Is this bothering anyone else? All this concentration on religion in government? Not because I am a Jew, for I don’t believe my Synagogue has any place in politics either. Or because I am a Democrat, because quite frankly I am none to comfortable with our President speaking about his faith or those who doubt it. It is completely irrelevant to running a government. Period.

Hey, land of the free and brave… Wassup?

The absolutely most horrifying comments of the week come right off the front page of the NYT Sunday paper:

Rick Santorum warned of the “dangers of contraceptives” and rejected JFK’s call for strict separation of church and state. He went so far as to tell George Stephanopoulus that Kennedy’s ideas are so terrible that they make him want to throw up. (lovely)

On the first point, let’s do one of those pros and cons lists for contraceptives and show me exactly how the dangers of using them compare to all those unwanted pregnancies. I get if you choose not to use contraceptives due to your religious leanings, I expect the same respect in return. Lose the fear mongering on dangers.

On point two… seriously? Correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t believe that he gets to reject the concept. Since we, as Americans, have been kicking the idea of separation of church and state since around SINCE 18-friggin-02, why is this up for discussion now?

For those that might want a refresher on JFK’s speech in question from 1960:

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute — where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be a Catholic) how to act and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote. … I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish … where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials — and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.

Yeh, I can see why he found that offensive, can’t you?!

Plainly put. YOUR religion, is YOUR religion. Not mine. Not my neighbors. Not the Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist… Atheist for that matter.

Ok, admit you are glad I did not get started on that slut Rush Limbaugh…

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