Yearly Archives:: 2013

Two Life Tips

February 18th, 2013
Posted By:

Say Ohmmmm!
My mother gets more magazines than anyone I know.  She always has a huge stack of magazines near her lounge chair and after she whips through them she is always happy to give them away.
This weekend I stopped by my parents’ house to visit, catch-up and check in on them and she gave me at least 25 magazines to take home.  Oh don’t worry.  My Mom still has more magazines for herself!
Stories about staying healthy and de-stressing always pop out at me and while reading a December 2012 Family Circle magazine, I came upon an article … Read More

Chocolate or Kindness?

February 15th, 2013
Posted By:

  Finding the Balance of Chocolate and Kindness Don’t let the collar turn you off. Fr. James Martin is a charismatic Jesuit priest who has a Lenten message that can be appreciated by followers of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Folk Religions and even atheists. It’s a simple message but one that is challenging for people (myself included) to practice.  And it doesn’t have to be Lent to make it happen.  We can practice his message any time of the year. Lent is traditionally a time when Catholics give up something.  But suppose instead of giving up chocolate (that would… Read More

A Valentine Message

February 14th, 2013
Posted By:

Photo Courtesy of French Essence You don’t love someone for their looks,  or their clothes,  or for their fancy car,  but because they sing a song only you can hear.                           ~ Oscar Wilde Happy Valentine’s Day!!… Read More

Roger Rosenblatt’s Reflections

February 13th, 2013
Posted By:

Some wonderful friends on the West Coast gave me Roger Rosenblatt’s book, Kayak Morning, as a Christmas present.  I was familiar with Rosenblatt as a writer for Time magazine and also as a columnist for The Washington Post, but was unfamiliar with the tragic death of his daughter, Amy Solomon,  a 38-year-old wife and mother of three children, from a heart condition. In Kayak Morning, which was written two years after Amy’s death, Rosenblatt explores the human experience of loss.  His descriptions of his grief and his reflections about his daughter Amy’s death are calm and straightforward yet poignant. It… Read More

Fat Tuesday

February 12th, 2013
Posted By:

Today is Fat Tuesday. For Catholics, today is the last hurrah before lent begins tomorrow.  That is how Mardi Gras come to be.  Essentially, Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday and with Mardi Gras comes some hard partying and parades and good times before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time of fasting and serious reflection, a time of giving something up or doing something that’s personally hard in order to prepare yourself for the celebration of Easter. This year, once again, my demon is sugar. I know all the bad stuff about sugar and how it… Read More

Year of the Snake

February 11th, 2013
Posted By:

Chinese Celebration of the Year of the Snake/ AFP Photo Happy Year of the Snake! Chinese New Year is here and millions around the world are celebrating “the Year of the Snake.”  Just so you know, 2012 was the Year of the Dragon. In Chinese symbology, snakes are regarded as intelligent and wise, BUT the Chinese also believe that snakes have a tendency to be somewhat unscrupulous.  Oh yeah. . . we all are familiar with someone who might have “done us wrong.”  Being unscrupulous definitely has a bad vibe attached to it, which is probably why Americans say that… Read More

Getting Into The Zen Groove

February 8th, 2013
Posted By:

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” – St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of writers   Courtesy of Bethany Fine Arts Gallery From my core being, I am trying so very hard to attain a zen state of mind. This year is the year when I am trying to learn to meditate and think about serene things and scenes of nature that bring to mind a balance of calm and beauty. It is a matter of trial… Read More

Steve Martin Remembers His Father

February 7th, 2013
Posted By:

Comedian Steve Martin in 2011 Comedian Steve Martin is obviously an incredibly multi-talented, award-winning funny guy. To me, Steve Martin is one of those celebrities that I just accept as being the way they are as they present themselves in their work.  I don’t think of him as a little boy or as having parents.  He is who he is as he appears in the roles of his television and his film work. To the public, Steve Martin is the hysterical stand-up comedian who played the “wild and crazy guy” and many other characters on Saturday Night Live or he… Read More

Rosa Parks

February 6th, 2013
Posted By:

When I read that the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a stamp commemorating civil right activist Rosa Parks, I said to myself, “It’s about time.” Parks, who would have turned 100 this year, was riding a segregated and crowded bus home in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 when a white man wanted her seat.  She refused to get up and give it to him and she was arrested for breaking the law. A 381-day bus boycott began, lead by a young Baptist minister named Martin Luther King Jr.  Both Parks and King went on to capture the nation’s attention for standing up… Read More