The Deck We Don’t Use.
The deck we don’t use. Last year we redid our deck. It had been built with basic builder’s grade wood – nothing fancy, and never meant to last. It didn’t hold paint well, it needed constant maintenance, and no matter how many times we power-washed or re-stained, it still looked tired. So we made a […]
Those noisy upstairs neighbors
For 18 years of my single life, I lived on the bottom floor of a two-story, six-unit condo complex. It was the first home I purchased, and I loved it. I chose the bottom floor because it made it easy to take my dog out for her walks. The only catch? I was at the […]
Black and White Cookies. Right Here. Right Now.
One of the things Darren and I enjoy most about traveling (I would actually say THE thing Darren and I enjoy most about traveling…) is the food. On our first visit together to New York, I introduced him to one of my favorite spots on the Upper West Side: the legendary delicatessen called Zabar’s. […]
10 kinds of parked cars
This weekend I have been in the beautiful state of Montana, and, since it’s February, there is snow. And I mean SNOW. The world here is beautiful and snow covered and there are tall, tall piles of it on the side of the roads. All the roads. And so, snow plows are a necessary […]
What if we asked ourselves better questions?
In a recent study by Patricia Chen, Carol Dweck, and others, participants were asked these 6 questions: The researchers were trying to figure out why some people are more likely to take a strategic stance toward their goals and if this tendency (which they call a ‘strategic mindset’) can be cultivated. They differentiated a strategic […]
Emily’s bar and a different kind of contagion.
My friend Emily has worked in the bar industry for almost 20 years. She has worked in a half a dozen different bars and knows more about bar culture than anyone I know. At 5’ 2” and less than 100 lbs. soaking wet, you would not look at her and think that she could break […]
Name and Number – 2024 version.
According to the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, “For more than 15 years, Gabriel García Márquez worked on a story about the Buendía family and the town of Macondo. In the fall of 1965, with support from his family, friends, and members of the literary group La Mafia, […]
Hercules and allowing some mourning.
I recently had a chance to make a visit to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Housed there is a Roman collection of marble statues, including the one pictured here of Hercules. I’m a little fascinated by Hercules. And not because of the Disney movie. I’m fascinated with him because among many things he’s known […]
Hi, I’m Sally, and I’m a Worrier.
I’ve been working from a high-rise hotel the last couple days and enjoying the view out my very large window – I can see tops of buildings, tiny cars, neighborhoods, trees, helicopters circling, and mountains in the distance. I was speaking with my sister yesterday via FaceTime and she asked me if I worried […]
“You’re not the boss of me!”
“You’re not the boss of me!” Darren loves to use this phrase (facetiously) whenever I remind him of something or tell him about something that (I think) might make his life a tiny bit easier. Me – “Your water is on the nightstand by the bed.” Him – “You’re not the boss of me!” […]
