It’s official …

Don’t know about you, but I’m really loving the fact that citizens and  CEOs (in ever increasing numbers) in the U.S. are standing up to Donald Trump, calling him out, defying him and fighting back. And it doesn’t look like they have any plans to give up any time soon.

I see Facebook posts everyday, where phone numbers and email addresses for members of congress are given out, with requests to contact them, voice opinions, disagree with cabinet choices, policies and the direction the country is headed. And it’s happening — a lot and often.

And I’m thrilled that Howard Schultz (Starbucks) announced, in the wake of Trump’s travel ban, that they 

Different worlds …

Last week I was having an email conversation with someone I knew years ago in Montreal and have re-connected with on Facebook.

We started off talking about libraries. One thing led to another and libraries led to our shared love of books. Books led to e-books and e-books led to tech and tech led to cursive script, which led to future generations.

Trust me, it made sense. You had to be there.

First she told me about her granddaughter, who’s a junior in University, and all the techie equipment the school expects her to

Pardon me while I kvetch a little …

What a difference a week makes.  This time last Tuesday I was waxing poetic about George, our morning doorman; and how he always puts me in a good mood.  Today I’m in a whole other frame of mind.

Maybe it’s the weather.  I am sick to death of sub-arctic temperatures.  Day after day after day after day.  And I am not exaggerating.  It is minus 28 celsius today, with the wind chill.  That is minus 18 degrees farenheit, in case you think I’m being a wimp.  Minus (bleep) 18!!!!!!!  And it’s been like this for weeks, maybe even more than a month.  And every second day it snows.  And then there was the ice storm.

And believe it or not the heat will have to be shut off in my apartment building on Thursday — from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  To fix some problem in the furnace.  Don’t get me started on that.

So yeah, I’m not quite as cheerful as I usually am.

Gotta let off some steam.

Day 361. What the …?

Since I’ve been hanging around WordPress, I’ve read a lot of blogs devoted to trying to figure out weird and wacky search terms. You know, the ones listed on your “stats” page. They can be quite entertaining.

Although I always check mine, I’ve never written about them. Despite the fact I’ve had some doozies. But today I just have to.

Yesterday one of the search terms someone used was “Aeroplan Sex.” Which definitely begs the question, “How did that get them to my blog????” At first I was really perplexed. Stared at it. Scratched my head. Stared at it. Rubbed my chin. Stared at it. Giggled. Stared at it. And kept staring at it.

Then I sort of figured it out. At least I think so. I don’t know for sure, because I didn’t check. It didn’t seem to be a

Day 306. You’re Invited …

Loved yesterday’s WordPress Daily Prompt: “Plan the ultimate celebration for the person you’re closest to, and tell us about it. Where is it? Who’s there? What’s served? What happens?

Quite a lot for me to think about. Not to mention a hell of a lot of planning and work.

After much deliberation, as it turns out, “the person I’m closest to” is myself. So I’m throwing a party for me. Reminds me of a Sex and the City episode when Carrie got fed up contributing to gift registries for all her friends.When they became engaged, or got married, or had kids, or bought homes, or were celebrating anniversaries.

So she decided to start a gift registry for herself. For no reason, other than to invite everyone she knew to contribute to her collection of Manolo Blahnik shoes. It’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll do that with my VISA bill. How do you think I’d do on Kickstarter? Isn’t that what crowd sourced funding is all about? Getting other

Day 254. Not Again.

What is there left to be said about the bombings in Boston?  Nothing.  Not really.  But still, we all feel the need to say something.  To try to express how we feel.  The words don’t come easy.

I was shooting a video for a client when I heard the news.  The videographer’s partner texted him.  We just stared at each other in stunned disbelief.  And resignation because, tragically, we’ve become all too used to this.

So I did what hundreds of thousands of other men and women were, no doubt, doing.  I immediately reached for my iPhone and googled ‘Boston Marathon’.

Not because I’m ghoulish.  I think I just needed some proof.  I didn’t want to think it was true.

Not again.

Sadly, it was true.  Yet another senseless act.  Illogical.  Unexplainable.  Unfathomable.  Outrageous.  Hideous.

Day 253. My Weekend

What a weekend!  David Sedaris on Friday night.  And a play on Sunday afternoon.  Following a pretty hectic week.  With an even more hectic week to come, this week.  Maybe I should double my vitamins.  Don’t be surprised if I post a bit later in the morning in the next several days.

A friend of mine received the theatre tickets as a Christmas gift.  And I was the beneficiary of her niece’s (and her hubby’s) generosity.  Thanks, by the way.  We went to see “RACE”, by David Mamet.

Very provocative.  Very politically incorrect.

I had no idea what to expect.  Usually I’d google it before hand, but this time I didn’t.  My friend invited me, I accepted, I made note of the day and time in my calendar, and promptly put it out of my mind.  I guess I was preoccupied.

If you’re not familiar with him (David Mamet), he’s an American author, playwright, screenwriter and film

Day 113. What’s Next?

Seems like only yesterday that I started the whole alphabet thing, but it’s already over.  Twenty-six letters.  Twenty-six days.  Twenty-six blog posts.  And it’s done.  Went from A to Z.  Just like that!  Poof!

Who knew, when I first started to learn my A, B, C’s at my mother’s knee, all those years ago (never mind, how many), I’d end up going right back, at this tender age, to where I started.  To “A”.  I hope it’s been as much fun for you, as it has been for me.

Back then it led to learning how to read.  This time I did it as a lark.  It seemed like an interesting idea.  Gave me a ‘brief’ to work with.  A playground I had to play in.  And for any of you who follow me regularly, you know that when it comes to writing, there’s nothing I like better than the freedom of a tight brief.

So for a little over three weeks I knew every morning, when I got up, what I’d be writing about.  The next letter.  You’d be amazed to know what a relief that was.  To me that meant I didn’t have to come up with an ‘idea’.  Of course, I still did, because there were hundreds and hundreds of objects, names, feelings, emotions, places,

Day 97. Morning After

Okay, I admit it.  Here I sit, totally uninspired.  For the first time since I came up with this hair-brained idea of using   a different letter of the alphabet for each of my blog posts, every word I think of seems boring, boring, boring.  Unimaginative.  Predictable.  Plebeian.  Pedestrian.

Oh no, no, no.no, no.  Don’t jump to conclusions, tempting as it may be.  Today is not a ‘p’ day, although I can see why you might think it is.

But, I digress.

So I did what I always do when I’m a bit stumped.  I turned to Google and searched for interesting words that start with the letter “K”.

Do you know what a katzenjammer is?  I certainly didn’t.  Well, folks, it’s a hangover.  Yep, it’s a German word, that dates back to 1849.  Katzenjammer.  The literal translation is ‘cat’s wail’; a loud, discordant noise (as in very loud

Day 45. This Day

When I woke up this morning I thought, well, it’s just another day.  Then my curiosity got the better of me; and I wondered if anything notable had ever happened on  September 20.  At any time in history.  Both good and bad.  Google to the rescue.

From Historyorb.com, where their info goes back to 368,  I learned that  on this day in 1519, Magellan began his first successful circumnavigation of the world.  Also, in 1664 Maryland passed it’s first anti-amalgamation law to stop the intermarriage of English women and black men.  Sadly, almost 350 years later, there are still many states where mixed marriage continues to be an unpopular idea; and now, of course, the real hullabaloo is over gay marriage.

In 1830, the 1st Negro Convention of Free Men agreed to boycott slave-produced goods.  In 1859 George Simpson patented the first electric range.  Do you think that’s when they coined the phrase, “Now you’re cooking?”  And on September 20, 1873 panic swept the NY Stock Exchange because of a railroad bond default/bank failure; and, in fact, New York banks were closed down for 10 days due to a bank scandal (guess we haven’t learned our lesson yet).

But what’s most interesting is that, in 1884 the Equal Rights Party nominated the first female candidates for President and VP.  So I guess Hilary Clinton isn’t such a groundbreaker, after all.

Babe Ruth tied Ned Williamson’s major league record of 27 home runs in 1919.  Ghandi began his hunger strike against the treatment of ‘untouchables’ in 1932;  and the first Cannes Film Festival was held in 1946.