Resolutions: January(e) 2010

Today is the last day of January 2010. Seems like it's been a loong time since the holidays ended... Much longer than a month, that's for sure...

Am sitting now on a subway platform starting this post on my Sidekick mobile device in "Airplane Mode." Which reminds me, when will they finally get around to wiring the NYC Subway system for cel?

(Seems to me the best homeland security plan would be to empower citizens to photo, film or report suspicious and emergency activity while in transit... But I digress... )

I love my weekends... But lately, they are spent so completely with trying to just play catch up from the work week...  

One luxury I'm allowing myself lately is the use of the friendly neighborhood " fluff and fold" service. Some of you non-city folk might have heard it referenced on some Seinfeld episode... Essentially, You drop it off. You pick it up.... And it's all folded (beautifully neat and tight!) for you to easily stack right back on your own shelf.... I sometimes wonder how much for Fluff, Fold and "Put Back on the Shelf" service?

Have been mindful of a friend's notation that I haven't been putting so much of my "self" on the blog lately... An interesting note when you consider that I write under the pen name Todd HellsKitchen anyway... LOL

However, I didn't publish any New Year's Resolutions for 2010, a long tradition on Postcards from Hell's Kitchen... Am instead just *doing* these resolutions rather than talking about them (A skill that I wish President Obama would learn from me this year! Ha!)....

But, so far... I have started greatly reducing meat in my diet. Not that I'm becoming vegetariangelical or anything... But I will soon schedule a follow-up doctor's appointment to see if I've successfully reduced those nastily high bad cholesterol numbers of mine, sans statins... That is one resolution, per se. Plus, I do find it spiritually rewarding to note when I've had a meal where no animals needed to be killed....

Am easily up to virtually all breakfasts and lunches being meat free, and without a hitch... And last week, was surprised to realize I'd actually gone a few whole days without...

I DO still love a good steak every once in a while and have lately been craving another visit to Keen's for another of those fabulous lamb meals...

Another resolution, that I haven't discussed on here is going well.... I've quit drinking alcohol altogether... Gave it up last Spring, actually... Don't miss the taste, the stomach issues, or the wasted money spent at those once weekly friendly neighborhood Happy Hours... Though, I do still keep in touch with a few of the ol' friends I know from there and we get together every once in a while for a meal or sumpin...

I've long subscribed to the "Day at a Time" philosophy in my whole life, anyway... And, so, that methodology is what's working for me with this new adventure as well... It's all been quite spiritually uplifting actually!

I'm clearly an all or nothin' kinda fella... For me abstinence is just far easier than moderation... That's as true for alcohol as for meat... I've yet to be able to  sit down and eat only a third of a ribeye steak either... Or only half of a full pint of the Ben and Jerry's ice cream... LOL.


So, there we are...

Yesterday's POTUS Q&A

Well, President Barack Obama had this little Q&A session with the Republicans yesterday in Baltimore.

It all seemed to be modeled somewhat after what the Brit's routinely do with their own Prime Minister from time to time...

(Artwork by Phil Fung).

Smartly, the White House requested that the Q&A section be televised too...

Obama, without benefit of teleprompter or script, proceeded to address each issue articulately and clearly and made a good case for each... He identified and rectified all the myths in the Republican's arguments in a fashion that was at once polite and biting.

Republican's looked so small.

This particular President of the United States (POTUS) is a master rhetorician... Probably the best we've ever seen...

Simply brilliant...

Republican's won't ever want to go head to head to head with him again.... That's for sure...

Although, frankly, I would LOVE to see Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michael Steele, Sarah Palin, and another half dozen more, of the Republican's choosing, go give it a try...

Go ahead and take your best shot...

Break out the popcorn...

My money would be on POTUS!

Happy Dance Friday

This one of my favorite singers, Jay Brannan doing a dance in his apartment.

It makes me happy.

Friday's also make me happy...

Hope you're happy, too...

Catcher in the Rye's J.D. Salinger Dies

Oh, I was always a huge fan of A Catcher in the Rye... Ever since the first read in Jay Terry's English class at Woodlawn Senior High School back in the mid-1970's.

And I always respected  the reclusive J.D. Salinger for never granting permissions for film versions of his classic novel...

This is a book that should forever remain a book...

I reread it a few years ago, especially enjoying all the New York City locales that I had come to know so well...

A copy of The Catcher in the Rye (a first edition, first printing, in fine condition) went for $11,000 in 2009.

Reading his obit, I see that he'd spent some time working as a cruise ship entertainer in the 1930's. Interesting.

I can't help but wonder... What was his act?

Wednesday's Word: ThunderSnow

ThunderSnow, n, a thunderstorm where snow falls as the primary source of precipitation, instead of rain.

Source: Wikipedia

Thanks to Lady Donothing for suggesting this as Wednesday's Word

Site of the Week: The Social Path

This site is of special interest to bloggers...

But attention, all social media-makers...

The Social Path by David Griner.

Some of his best advice lately:

... Take a few minutes today to roll up your sleeves and leave strong comments on three or four of your favorite blogs. The authors will be glad you did, but more importantly, it'll help you get in the habit of leaving your comfort zone and contributing to a conversation that will last for years after the retweets have gone silent.

Set the Tone Monday: My Fortune Cookie

My fortune cookie from yesterday at Lucky Sunday sets up the tone for the week ahead...

"Today, you should spent some time to search in yourself."

Love the mangled language... But...

... One does get the point...

Have a good week everyone!

Whoooosh! Another Weekend Flying By

Didn't realize til just now that I completely forgot to blog yesterday... Time flies on the weekends...

It just does...

Time lags during the work week, it just does...

Meanwhile, I have a humongous list of chores yet to do, from cleaning the bathroom to soaking some rubbery celery in water ...

And a shopping list of paper towels, and greens for packed lunches... As yet undone...

Have migrated myself toward at least two meals a day that are vegetarian... It took some time to wean off the bacon... But my bad cholesterol readings called for drastic action... It's actually easy now... With lots of nuts, whole grains, fresh veggies and hummus... I'm not strict about it. Allow cheese and eggs... And my third meal usually incorporates a lean meat...

Gotta make a doctor's appt to get the required followup reading... (I've always torn up the prescriptions for statins)...

So, it all needs to be done... And I haven't checked my FaceBook feeds in five days... And need to take a stroll around the blogs too... (Commenting remains a problem on many of them. Too many different comment clients and they never seem to recognize me on return visits)...

It's always something...

At times like these, I think I need a personal assistant...

Gotta win the lottery first though...

Oh, that's another thing yet to do on the list... Pick up tickets for the week ahead... A little magical thinking doesn't hurt...

The United States of Corporations??

The Supreme Court did what???

They overturned McCain-Feingold and empowered corporate Americans to blatantly buy and sell our legislators.

Every Congress member will consider whether their vote will bring them $$$ or it won't...

This is an outrage...

We cannot have a government that is bought and paid for by huge multinational corporations and billionaires. The United States of Corporations? The United Corporations of America?

We need a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. For the little people. The individuals!

Sign this petition:

Save Democracy.

A Vivian Vance Thursday

Cuttin' loose with Vivian Vance.

Wednesday's Word: Email Apnea

email apnea n. The unconscious and temporary suspension of regular breathing while checking and reading email. Also: e-mail apnea.

 

Example Citations:

Researchers say that the stress of not being able to process information as fast as it arrives, combined with the personal and social expectation that, say, you will answer every e-mail message, can deplete and demoralize you. ... Author Linda Stone, who coined the term "continuous partial attention" to describe the mental state of today's knowledge workers, says she's now noticing, get this, "e-mail apnea": the unconscious suspension of regular and steady breathing when people tackle their e-mail.
—Paul Hemp, "Death by Information Overload," Harvard Business Review, September 1, 2009

 

The idea is to develop better breathing habits, so your not experiencing apnea (holding your breath) in situations that you may not be aware of as stressful. These small situation or "pebble stones" never seem to register as something significant, however, collectively they add up. For example the dangers of email apnea (holding or shallow breathing, while doing email) have been warned against.
—Jayme Albin, "Breathing your way to a happier and healthier life," Ask the Cognitive Behavior Therapist, April 2, 2009 

 

Source: Word Spy

Daybreakers: Horrifying in a Bad Way

Daybreakers is supposed to be horrifying...

But this is truly horrifying as a waste of celluloid and of Ethan Hawke, and Willem Dafoe...

I was in the mood for vampires. So I got vampires...

But I could have chosen my vamps better...

Especially since I've yet to see the whole second season of HBO's True Blood. And my entire DVD set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer has been summoning me from the grave lately...

The Daybreaker story is actually kinda cool and it takes a few twists and turns... Read all about it on Wikipedia...

Poor Ethan and Willem, though...

Obviously, they needed the money...

Set the Tone Monday: Go For It

"Go for it now. The future is promised to no one."

-- Wayne Dyer

Well this one especially rings true as I was at a memorial on Saturday for a 35 year old woman who died accidentally and suddenly... (RIP beautiful Gabriella)

Life is so short, anyway... And it can be abruptly shortened for all of us...

It's a day off here in the States to celebrate the life Martin Luther King, Jr.... Another struck down before, perhaps, an even fuller potential...

As a kid, I remember that shocking and fearful day... I was 10...

Mind-blowing Avatar

Caught Avatar today. Saw a bargain matinee in "Real 3D" at a local Time's Square multiplex.

Was completely ready to hate this movie. (Director John Cameron's arrogance and swagger is unbearable to me).

But I loved this film...

The special effects are every bit as wonderful as you have surely heard...

I decided to "let go" and just flow with the story and found myself moved numerous times...

It's a magical and engaging motion picture...

I recommend seeing it in 3D... My hunch is 2D would lack something, and IMAX would be too too much...

Anything Goes Saturday

Happy Birthday, Ethel Merman!

Re-Charge Time Especially Important

Three day weekend on tap... For this extra 24 hours of recharge time, I'm extra grateful...

Meanwhile, at Donner's suggestion, I took the Myer-Briggs test again today...

I highly recommend you take it too....

I learned that I've metamorphosed from an ENFP to an ENFJ since I first took the test in 2005...

Which Myers-Briggs personality type are you?

Shrewd Advertising

The other day I was walking home from a training up Broadway from Gramercy Park and coincidentally turned at the the correct corner to come right upon this photo op.

Here's a recent New York Times piece on this debacle of advertising genius... And subsequently excellent public relations technique in relenting "by request" of the White House.

But they seem to be in "no hurry" on removing the image of President Obama.

Nobody would have ever wanted to run ads with George W Bush back in the day...

... Just sayin...

Wednesday's Word: Twitterholic

Twitterholic (pronoun)

def. Someone who is addicted to Twitter.

Source: Twittonary of Twitter Terms

Elvis: No Wooden Heart

Set the Tone Monday: National Clean Off Your Desk Day

Today, Monday January 11, 2010 is National Clean Off Your Desk Day here in the States...

Seriously! I didn't make it up!

So, I got a leg up and cleaned my home office desk on Sunday so it's ready for today's holiday!...

Looks good for the moment...

*Don't even* ask to see pictures of the desk in my office at work or my dining table, either, for that matter...

...LOL!

Season of Savings

It's the Season of Savings on Broadway...

Check this site for great discounts...

Traditionally, many shows may not make it to Spring, (this year, especially)...

So your blogger advises that you book earlier rather than later!

Art Clokey

Just received the sad news that Art Clokey (1921-2010) died yesterday...

Obits should start appearing in the major media today and tomorrow...

He was a giant in early stop-action animation and claymation...

I grew up on Gumby and Davey and Goliath...

Here's a review I wrote a while back on the Art of Clokey.

Rest in peace to an early television animation pioneer... 88 years old. ...A very good run!

Move Your Money

In the U.S., there's an exciting movement afoot...

Move your money to smaller more responsible institutions...



MoveYourMoney.Info

Site of the Week: Jigzone

Why waste money on jigsaw puzzles that sit in the closet long after... At Jigzone you set the number of pieces. And get set a timer, too...



That is, if you have the time to do these things!

Wednesday's Word: BFF

BFF (acronym):

Best friend forever

Usage:"Tiger Woods is my new BFF!" 

Handsome Hunks of Junk

These hunks of electronic junk didn't make the list of 21 things that became obsolete last decade, but I found them entombed in a plastic bag under my kitchen sink last weekend. I stuck em there ever since I moved here.

In fact, they were in limbo for many years in my old place(s), too.

I was never certain sure how to securely remove the data off these dinosaur babies before dispatching them to the dump...

Meet the Casio Organizers:  SF 9500 and SF-R20...

Not even sure which one came first...

I vaguely remember bargaining for one of them in an electronic market in Hong Kong, right before the British handed the keys to China... I'd gotten the newest model that wasn't even available in the USA yet. I felt so geekfully endowed...

I also remember a bar in downtown called Waltzing Mathilda and a blonde Australian hunk chap staying in a cheap (CHEAP!) sleazy (SLEAZY!) flophouse around the corner from bar and a short walk to the port... But I digress...

Now that I think of it... These pre-cursors to the Palm Pilot weren't even from the last decade... They were either the 1980s or 1990's...

Time moved on...

Set the Tone Mondays

There's a guy whose office is right next to mine that always looks especially spiffy on Mondays. He always wears a tie to work on Mondays. But not on other days. (Ties are actually a bit impractical in our line of work).

One day, I asked him: "Paulie, wassup with the tie..."

He said: "It sets the tone" for the week.

I think there's something to his theory!

I liked that idea... And found myself dressing up a bit more professionally on Mondays, myself...

So, starting today... I'm kicking off Mondays here on Postcards from Hell's Kitchen with a "Set the Tone" quote for the week...

Today's quote:

"Bloom where you are planted."
-- Unknown

Have a great Monday!

No Shhh Sherlock

Saw Sherlock Holmes today.

Started off completely hating it, as the cerebral Holmes was remastered as a martial arts master and street fighting super hero...

It definitely had it's engaging moments...

And the pedantic deconstruction wrap-up of the villain's ploys by the handsomely buff Holmes (as played by Robert Downey, Jr.) was oddly Encyclopedia Brown on steroids...

Lots of gay romantic tension between Holmes and Watson left me awkwardly wondering what to make of all that... And wondering what sensibility they were skewing for...

All in all it held my interest and was an entertaining enough diversion...

Would be perfectly fine on a DVD or cable box though... I deduce, there's no need to rush out and see this one on a big screen...

Never a Year Like 09 by JibJab

JibJab's farewell salute to 2009. "Never a Year Like 09"

01022010

01022010 Today is a palindrome. Kewl!

(Not a Sarah Palin-drome, mind you).

Only 12 times in this century does the date read the same backwards.

If you want to mark your calendar, here’s the list of the other palindromic dates:

Oct. 2, 2001: 10/02/2001
Jan. 2, 2010: 01/02/2010
Nov. 2, 2011: 11/02/2011
Feb. 2, 2020: 02/02/2020
Dec. 2, 2021: 12/02/2021
Mar. 2, 2030: 03/02/2030
April 2, 2040: 04/02/2040
May 2, 2050: 05/02/2050
June 2, 2060: 06/02/2060
July 2, 2070: 07/02/2070
Aug. 2, 2080: 08/02/2080
Sept. 2, 2090: 09/02/2090

My Twitter Followers

What a handsome bunch of people that follow my Twitter Feed.


Get your twitter mosaic here.