Glistening Pearls of Wisdom (or What I Learned on My Recent Trip to NYC)

1. If the thought "Hmm, that guy might be dead." crosses your mind when entering the subway, two seats is not enough room to put between him and you.

2. Don't share your street-vendor pretzel. When the person you are sharing with says "Your pretzel is stale and nasty." after obviously enjoying his pretzel, the urge to shove the remaining parts of your pretzel into said person's ear will be almost overwhelming.

3. It takes longer to get from the 80th to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building than it does to get from the 1st to the 80th.

4. In your walking adventures, try not to get stuck behind Europeans. Europeans don't walk like Americans. They have a tendency to stop suddenly and randomly move about in such a way as to make it impossible for you to smoothly pass them by.

5. You won't feel bad about not paying the full suggested price at The Metropolitan Museum of Art when you realize what they charge for a sandwich at the cafeteria. However, if you did pay the suggested price (even if you lied and said you were a student) your ham sandwich with a single leaf of arugula will be laced with bitterness.

6. Everything costs money. This shirt was on sale for 30% off of $14.95.



7. When looking up, watch out for crotches.


(Vivian was surprised to realize that in taking a picture of the airplanes she had inadvertently captured this artistically-shadowed bottom. I imagine the artist thinking, "You know I think people will be uplifted when they gaze skyward and get an eyeful of thong." (If this were government property, I hope Ashcroft would have Sharpie-ed in some gym shorts.)

Guess where we went this weekend!

Mixin' It Up

Wintry Mix in Action



Slowed to a Drizzle with an Accumulation of Slush

It's all propaganda

I'm refering to the myth of the breathtakingly cold and beautiful New England winter.

Tomorrow we are supposed to be getting snow but sadly it's not going to be just snow. About halfway through the day the forecast changes from snow to the "wintry mix" which is the pleasant way of saying half-frozen-slush-falling-from-the-sky. Snow is pleasant and soft. The wintry mix is wet and miserable.

Have you ever tried to build a snowman out of slush? Have you ever had to look into the bright shining face of a 2 year old and tell them that "No, we can't build a snowman."

Wintry mix is never a substitute for snow.

Blogging Guilt

It's not that I don't have anything to say, or that I don't have the time to say it. It's just that well . . .

Okay, there's no excuse.

Last week Jay even voluntarily left the computer and ordered me to make a post. Which isn't exactly the best way to get me to do anything.

So the last month in 100 words or less?

I had a wonderful holiday season filled with expected and unexpected gifts and expected and unexpected time off from work.

When Jay and I returned from the airport on Christmas we were met with several boxes of goodies. One was full of the multi-colored towels that we had ordered from JCPenney's and the others were surprises from Texas. It was Santa Claus-exciting!

Last week I got another surprise in the mail from one of my favorite artists, her previous work can be seen here.
My newest acquisition is a calendar with an original piece of artwork for each month. My favorites are entitled "Princess Leia's Spaceship" and "The Burning Bush Where God Is."

What's the weather been like?



Ask the birds.