Look Back at 2011 via Google Zeitgeist

See how the World Searched with Google's 2011 Zeitgeist: http://googlezeitgeist.com/ Music: "Sooner or Later" by Mat Kearney

Triple Your Donation By Midnight!

Guest post by Bill Clinton... (Well, it would be, if I asked him! LOL)

I am extremely grateful for your year-end gift. Your support means that we can help even more people around the world achieve their dreams in 2012.

Because I know that you are committed to building a better world, I am hoping you could share the incredible news with your friends and family that a generous donor has stepped up to continue our matching gift campaign and give the Foundation $2 for every $1 donated. That means every online gift will go 3 times as far until midnight tonight.

I hope you will share the news that donations to the Clinton Foundation will be tripled with your family, neighbors, and friends and ask them to join you in supporting our mission.

Our work is only possible because of the generosity of our donors – make sure your friends and family take advantage of this incredible opportunity to have their tax-deductible gift tripled.

Thank you again for your generosity.

Sincerely,

Bill Clinton

Who Moved My Cheese? Revisited.

I just re-read Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson.... Quite brilliant! A good read to examine the old and ring in the new!

I'm getting all new stuff from it at this present stage of life... I'd read it when it came out originally in 1999 or so...

... Particularly about clinging to people, places, things no matter what... "There is always new cheese out there whether you recognize it at the time, or not. And that you are rewarded with it when you go past your fear and enjoy the adventure."

And then there's my ongoing mantra that "people change" and some people's abhorrent disgust with that concept....

The other thing that strikes me is how the entire financial paradigm has shifted... No longer can we rely on pensions and "nose to the grindstone" as a guarantee of life long success and security...

It's all quite fascinating.... And horrifying and challenging, and enlightening... and simple. Oh my!

How will YOU change your methods in the New Year....?

As for me... I'll be more aware to:

"Be ready to change quickly and enjoy it again and again"

Here are some great quotes from Spencer Johnson.

The Big Cheese

Was at a high falutin celebrity holiday party recently and got to talking to the cheese man from Murray's Cheese Shop.

He's responsible for managing the cheese cellar where they age their cheeses. He's also quite the cheese connoisseur...

He directed me toward a special cheese on the cheese tray...

Cabot Cloth Bound Cheddar

You chip it off...

It's dry and magical...

An explosive sharp bite at first... Followed by a cooling and creamy after-taste...

I woulda walked right by it....

Perfectly paired with a fig jam... On a cracker...

Multiply Life By 'The Power of Two'

My brother gave me this CD for Christmas...

The Power of Two (Released: November 3, 2009, Qualiton Imports, Harbinger Records)

These two guys make a fine musical combination...

Michael Feinstein, 55, and Cheyenne Jackson, 36 bring a classy old world pop style to this CD... Even with the diverse music choices...

It all works due to expert arrangements and recording studio work that makes for a cohesive album of largely upbeat easy listening with a show tune bent...

Favorite cuts: We Kiss in the Sunlight, I'm Nothing Without You, and I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter.

In 2009, Feinstein teamed up with Cheyenne Jackson to create a nightclub act titled "The Power of Two". The show was hailed by the New York Times as "passionate," "impeccably harmonized" and "groundbreaking". Variety acclaimed it as "dazzlingly entertaining". Their act became one of the most critically acclaimed shows of 2009, and the duo created a studio album from the material, The Power of Two. The Power of Two, a concert reuniting Jackson and Feinstein, was presented at Carnegie Hall on October 29, 2010. (Background information from Wikipedia)

2011 Buh-Bye! by Jib Jab

All I Want for Christmas

Silly fun from Alvin and the Chipmunks and Reese Rideout.

All he wants for Christmas is his Two Front teeth...

Poor fella...

I would like washboard abs, myself...

Christmas Season Blurbing

Michael Buble's Christmas album is very good. I'd given it to my dad for Christmas. He opened it and declared "Oh, Michael Bubble"!

Listening now to Nancy LaMott's "Just in Time for Christmas"... Love(d) her! Michael Feinstein and Nancy's "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is absolutely the best version of that song... Ever... Bar none...

"Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten".
- John Dryden.

Also gave my Dad Tony Bennett's Duets II album... It was a snore to tell you the truth... Even Amy Winehouse's cut couldn't save it...

Rest in Peace Harry Kullijian, he passed just a few days short of his 92nd birthday! Condolences to Carol Channing.

Helldersburg Xmas 2011 recollections: Denny's slam, Roadkill, Nittany's, bathrobe #2, side dishes, Dad's cookies, Mom's bright spirit, apps, Walmart parking lot.

Those little Baltimore rowhouses you can see when passing through on Amtrak are still quite charming... That is, the ones that aren't being bulldozed by the city...

Beautiful orange and blue pre-sunset skies in Helldersburg.

Saw stars in Maryland.

Chelsea Lunch Break: Thai Chai-yo and a Billy's Bakery chaser! Had a free lunch come to my from the Chai Thai Yo frequent flyer program...

"A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape" - Mark Twain

These new Facebook Timeline pages are completely dizzying... I haven't selected them yet for my own page.

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has" - Epictetus

Jingle all the way...


"There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you." - David Burn

Julie Halston returns to Broadway soon into 2012!

"Instant gratification ensures that we will travel in the same vicious circles again and again". - Debbie Ford

Let me just take a moment to express my deep appreciation of Michael Fassbender. Nice pic in Entertainment Weekly Best of 2011 issue. Good work in Shame.

The After-Christmas Re-Charge...

After the frenetic and intense stretch of work from September til now, I feel like I could stay snug in my warm little apartment for the next month...

Of course... That's not possible.

But I do plan to spend a goodly bit of time in here til I need to return to work next Tuesday...

Scented candles ablaze! (In safety glass containers, of course!)

And Nancy LaMott's Just in Time for Christmas in the background...

Plenty of sweet treats stockpiled in here... Holiday gifts, mostly...

To tell you the truth... A single slice of Tate's coffee cake (and it is extraordinary!) would be just as fulfilling a gift for me as a whole giant coffee cake... So, I concentrate on the pecans and the anti-inflammatory qualities of  the cinnamon spices and pretend it's a health food...

Then, there's the giant tub of Fisher's Popcorn... Ocean City's Finest caramel corn! Gotta make a sincere effort go slow on that! This is Medium... sez my bro... But it's a brown sugar and corn syrup monster to me! Fiber? Sure.

Peace Love Truffles are delightful handcrafted treats... Peanut butter is best in my book... Basil was most interesting... Orange clove was very good, though it doesn't need the orange clove sugar added... and I'm all for the Moroccan Mint sans the mint sugar... Chocolate has Oleic Acid, a healthy monounsaturated fat that's also found in olive oil.

Although a whole tin each of my father's Oatmeal Raisin and Toll House cookies are never enough...

Lapsang Souchong with all.

Set the Tone: Give Sincere Appreciation

“Increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone.” 
-- Dale Carnegie

Merry Christmas Peops

Merry Christmas Eve

TGIF: Happy Solstice

Get Lost in Miniatur Wunderland

Boycott the Salvation Army Holiday Bell Ringers

Please don't give your change to the Salvation Army bell ringers...

The Bilerico Project reminds us that the Salvation Army is anti-Gay.

That's right, complete bigotry... intolerance, and discrimination... reports the activist blogger in his annual post.

Sez Bil Browning:

The Salvation Army has a history of active discrimination against gays and lesbians. While you might think you're helping the hungry and homeless by dropping a few dollars in the bright red buckets, not everyone can share in the donations. Many LGBT people are rejected by the evangelical church charity because they're "sexually impure."

The church claims it holds "a positive view of human sexuality," but then clarifies that "sexual intimacy is understood as a gift of God to be enjoyed within the context of heterosexual marriage." The Salvation Army doesn't believe that gays and lesbians should ever know the intimacy of any loving relationship, instead teaching that "Christians whose sexual orientation is primarily or exclusively same-sex are called upon to embrace celibacy as a way of life."

(Image above from MyOutSpirit.org) 


If you wish to donate to some inclusive organizations, Postcards from Hell's Kitchen blog recommends:

The Clinton Foundation

Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS

Wikimedia Foundation

Doctors Without Borders

Habitat for Humanity

Amnesty International

Put your holiday cheer where it can do the most good...

Love and joy come to you... etc.

Set the Tone: Mad About Strangers

"I like friends — but I am mad about strangers".

- Quentin Crisp

Shame

Saw Shame this weekend.

Still deciding what I thought about it...

It's a respectable movie to be sure. And there is already Oscar buzz.

Director Steve McQueen maintains a cool style.

Story line didn't provide many surprises. I pretty much knew where we were headed with this...

The whole cast of Shame was brilliant.

Authentic New York City location shots are ALWAYS appreciated.

Michael Fassbender is amazing...

Carey Mulligan's New York, New York rendition is a keeper.

Kandinsky at the Guggenheim

If you're a purist who found the Cattelan exhibition to be hollow and garish...

Then be sure to check out the side galleries there at the Guggenheim.

My favorite show there?

Kandinsky's Painting with White Border

Vasily Kandinsky’s canvas, Painting with White Border (Bild mit weissem Rand, May 1913) was inspired by a trip the artist took to Moscow in fall 1912. Upon his return to Munich, where he had been living intermittently since 1896, Kandinsky searched for a way to visually record the “extremely powerful impressions” of his native Russia that lingered in his memory. Over a period of five months, he explored various motifs and compositions in study after study, moving freely between pencil, pen and ink, watercolor, and oil. After he produced at least 16 studies, Kandinsky finally arrived at the pictorial solution to the painting: the white border. In his seminal 1911 treatise Über das Geistige in der Kunst. Insbesondere in der Malerei (On the Spiritual in Art: And Painting in Particular), Kandinsky wrote that the color white expresses a “harmony of silence . . . pregnant with possibilities.”


This focused exhibition, co-organized with the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., brings the Guggenheim’s final version of the painting from May 1913 together with twelve related drawings and watercolors and one major oil sketch, and features the results of an extensive conservation study of the Guggenheim and Phillips paintings. The study unearthed a previously unknown landscape painting beneath the surface of the Phillips’s Sketch I for Painting with White Border (Moscow) (Skizze für Bild mit weissem Rand [Moskau], 1913). A rare glimpse into Kandinsky’s creative process, Kandinsky’s Painting with White Border reveals the gradual and deliberate way the artist sought to translate his ideas into a bold new language of abstraction.


Until January 15th, 2012.

Fridays

You gotta love em.

Though Saturdays and Sundays are even better, IMHO!

Have a great weekend, peeps...

Day. At. A. Time.

This is *not* my favorite time of the year... Just sayin'.

Comfort food: Brad's Organic PB&J on multi-grain Wasa crackers. A little messy? Yes.

Amazed by how many snail mail Xmas cards I still get. Far fewer than the ol days, fer sure... But, still...

Fact is, it's been weeks since I read a newspaper. They go straight to the recycle bin. No time. No interest. Too depressing.

Headache today. Perfect!

Second time now that I thought I was buying those fabulous deep orange yams at the Union Square Greenmarket to realize later that they are some yellow kinda thing with a dry consistency. Me no like.

Here's eight reasons why waiting in line can drive you crazy!

Gmail is once again offering free domestic voice calling to the US and Canada. If you're interested...

Gimmee Jimmy's Cookies make a great gift. They deliver quick, too! Recipients always express deliciousness.

Here's seven Android Smartphone browser alternatives. I use Dolphin, myself. Though I've never mastered the new version and find it frustrating.

Here are the Ten Commandments to Lower Cholesterol.

Pre-holiday pressures are on *full tilt* at work! From EVERY side!

Day. At. A. Time.

Julie Halston is Back on Broadway

It's official!

Julie Halston will join the cast of Anything Goes on January 13, 2012.

Ms. Halston will play matron Evangeline Harcourt in the hit Broadway revival starring Sutton Foster.

Her most recent stints on the boards included Olive and the Bitter Herbs, and The Divine Sister.

Anything Goes will play through April 29, 2012, on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (124 West 43rd Street). It was originally scheduled to run through July 31, 2011.

Home page is AnythingGoesOnBroadway.com

Hand to God

Update: See Comments for latest news in December 28, 2011 New York Times on possible revivals...

Brilliant piece of theater going on at Hell's Kitchen's Ensemble Studio Theater for one more week.

"Hand to God" by Robert Askins is more than a send up of Christian values, but a darkly comedic examination of dysfunctional family relationships and their after-life.

Steven Boyer gives a biting tour de force as Jason and his sock puppet Tyrone... (at right)

The entire cast is completely brilliant in this top notch production well directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel.

Clever set design by Rebecca Lord-Surratt makes optimal use of the unusual theater layout. Puppet

Designer Marte Johanne Ekhougen has developed a bedeveling sock puppet style with teeth.

The E.S.T. teaser?: Christian Puppet Ministries are a great way to teach children about the Bible. Each child gets a puppet, and each puppet gets his own personality. But children can be fooled by Satan’s tricks. For even within the sanctuary of the Christian Puppet Ministry, the devil lurks. The people of Cypress, Texas were good Christians. Until one day at Puppet Ministry, a boy named Jason, and his puppet Tyrone, let the devil in. This is their story.

Jason / Tyrone – Steven Boyer
Margery – Geneva Carr
Timothy – Bobby Moreno
Jessica – Megan Hill
Pastor Greg – Scott Sowers

I'm paraphrasing the script, I think: "A man has only one voice. And all the rest is just noise."

See this play!

Celebrity Sighting: Harvey Fierstein

Caught Harvey Fierstein strolling down a Hell's Kitchen side street this afternoon...

Multiple Tony Award winner for Torch Song Trilogy and La Cage Aux Folles...

Harvey has also appeared in many motion pictures including Mrs Doubtfire and Independence Day.

Actually, he and I were Park Slope neighbors back in the 1980's.

Hi Harvey!

Set the Tone: Extend Love

"We are not held back by the love we didn't receive in the past, but by the love we're not extending in the present".

- Marianne Williamson

Maurizio Cattelan: All at the Guggenheim

I got over to see the fun show at the Guggenheim...

Maurizio Cattelan: All.

Quite striking to see all this stuff hanging in the atrium there...

Very Warhol-ish...

Sort of a mobile... Sort of collage... Sort of an assemblage...

Taxidermy, mannequins, statues, waxworks, paintings... you name it...

Only until January 22nd, 2012.

TGIF: Go Vote for Sookie!

I keep saying this a lot lately...

But this has been another one of THOSE weeks... TGIF!

Meanwhile, please go vote for my friend's rescue dog in this poll. She wants to be a cover girl! LOL

Her name is Sookie! Vote here

HELP Make Sookie a star..

Please vote daily until end of the month so Sookie can become a covergirl. She will be a true ambassador for Animal Care & Control, Humane Society of Charlotte & American Pit Bull Foundation -

She should be a clean sweep. Help her realize her dream!

VOTE:

http://www.americanpitbullfoundation.com/mascot-submissions.html

THANK YOU..
Her Proud Parents: Deanna, Mitch & Mikayla

Celebrity Sighting: Deepak Chopra

At my local Hell's Kitchen Starbucks in the early AM...

Spiritual guru Deepak Chopra.

We chatted in real time in between his intensive cyber chatting...

He wasn't Tweeting he told me but texting with a friend back in India...

Here are some great Deepak Chopra quotes. And Deepak Chopra's home page.

Deepak Chopra on Twitter.

“Love doesn't need reason. It speaks from the irrational wisdom of the heart.”
― Deepak Chopra

Time for Carmex

Carmex weather...

It's so warm and humid around here in recent days, though... And when these old NYC buildings have the heat on, it's pretty unbearable...

Keeping the lips un-chapped...

... With Carmex...

Old Snopes story on Carmex addiction. FALSE!!

Here's the raw truth about my beloved Carmex...

Set the Tone: Store Memories

"Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind." 

- Lionel Hampton

Got up in the wee small hours of the morning to take Holiday Pictures of Rockefeller Center and some of the store windows along Fifth Avenue and etc...

Will take a while for them to all upload into an album on my Flickr: Holidays NYC 2011. So keep checking back if you want to see the shots of Christmas in New York this year...

Actually the Rock Center shots are identical to previous years. Sure the tree is a different tree, but it's not like they've done anything particularly daring of different...

Gorgeous cool, crisp day here in the city today...

Back to work tomorrow... But, don't remind me...

A Chilly Blue Sky Saturday!

Started the day at Starbucks where their brand new teensy tables and unmatching chairs could have ruined my day if I had let them. But no, not me... But seriously... These revenue consultants need to be put out of business.

Am blogging now on the Sidekick from the lobby of the Algonquin Hotel. Nice warm old world comfort. They plan to close the hotel for renovations so I thought I'm come and set a spell... They leave ya alone if you just wanna sit and chill... Er warm up...

Just walked up through Manhattan from Union Square area and a morning meet with friends down that way. The market is still going full strength down there (Pictured). Got my usual tiny pumpkin pie for $3.75. (The orchard dealer at Hell's Kitchen market wants $7 for the same size. So that's not gonna happen).

Had a nice chat while walking with my folks over the phone. My Dad was making the shopping list for his annual holiday cookie baking extravaganza... All good. He's making black walnut this year. Never a favorite of mine. I stick with the oatmeal and the toll house myself. My mother is psyched for Christmas, too.

Damn, this lobby is sooo lovely.

I took a few shots of the Macy windows as I walked up though Herald Square. I'll post them in a day or so by special request of Lady Donothing...
Stay tuned...

Friday Gratitude

So glad it's Friday...

This was quite a week!

Now on to the weekend!! Have a good one, peeps...

PSA: Don't Go Phishing For the Holidays

I received this email at work and thought I would share it with my readers...

Don't be fooled...!!!

As the holidays approach we want to make you aware of possible e-mail scams that can be directed to your work or personal email accounts. This is an opportune time for such activity. One such scam is known as phishing. Phishing is an attempt by individuals or groups to fraudulently obtain your personal information by tricking you into providing it. They may appear as:

· Electronic greeting cards

· Requests from charitable organizations

· Holiday chain-letters or screensavers

· Online shopping confirmations

· Credit card applications

In general:

· Do not respond to emails requesting personal information including "please verify your information" or "confirm your user-id and password."

· Avoid providing personal information on social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Set your privacy and security settings at the most restrictive levels. This will help limit the information scammers can gather about you and can use against you in a phishing attack.

· Exercise caution with all emails you receive as they can be fake. This includes email from friends and sources you normally trust. Do not open attachments contained in suspicious emails.

· Beware of emails that reference any consequences should you not "verify your information".

Phishers are crafty and known to send very official looking correspondence. Generally no legitimate organization will ever solicit sensitive personal information through the internet. If you receive a phishing email through your personal email account just delete it.

Image from Texas State