New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of year when news content is full of best of lists, retrospectives, predictions, and suggestions for New Year's resolutions. I guess I should be happy that there is a counterweight to headlines about bombings, disinformation campaigns, and the effects of climate change.  Even so, I find that these stories make me feel inadequate. I read 60 books this year but not a single one from the New York Times' 10 best books. Oppenheimer was the only one of the Times' 10 best movies that I saw and honestly, I didn't love it. And I only think I heard one song off of Rolling Stones' top 10 from the year but that's only because I saw the Barbie movie. (Full disclosure:  I don't even know who some of those artists are.)

When it comes to making New Year's resolutions, I am decidedly on the fence. NPR's Life Kit has helpfully provided a list of 50 (!) suggestions for things I could be doing to make my life better.  Thankfully, I can check some of these off my 2024 to do list:  e.g., get married, decide whether to have kids, and quit my job. There are some chestnuts here around diet and exercise, plus a few that don't appeal at all (get into birding). 

The experts say that writing things down or worse yet, posting them to social media, creates a stronger mechanism for accountability than just having an abstract goal in your head. That makes a certain kind of sense but in my experience, it's not the list writing that does the trick when it comes to creating new habits or using my time more fruitfully. I just need that switch to go off in my head. It's either going to happen or not, and I couldn't tell you why that switch sometimes goes off and sometimes, it remains stubbornly untouched.

One thing I will publicly commit to is to publish something here every Monday in 2024. I hope you'll come back and better yet, leave me a comment or invite a friend to read along as well.  Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and peaceful new year. 

Until next week......

What the Heck?!

You seem some odd things when out and about and your head is attuned to making content.

I'm trying to imagine what happened to this street sign.  The bend in the pole is far too high to be the result of being rammed by a vehicle.  Did a strong wind do this? 

A shoe tree in bloom?

Nice try camouflaging this port-a-potty in your front yard.  I'm sure that the neighbors really appreciated this extra effort.

Could be my mantra.

Empathy

 

Someone has put up these colorful-but-somewhat-difficult-to-read-while-driving signs on telephone poles around DC and its neighboring jurisdictions, and that basically begged for a post.

My first thought was somewhat ironically not empathetic at all.  I mean, sure, empathy seems like a good thing. It's certainly lacking in the current discourse.  But does whomever went to all the trouble to paint and post these signs (which by the way is illegal) think that this will change behavior?  Is a passerby really going to think, "oh wow yeah.....now that I see that sign, I realize that I should be more empathetic"? 

Apparently, that's what the anonymous poster was thinking per an interview with the local NBC news affiliate. Over the objections of transportation authorities across the region, this individual plans to continue posting signs until "empathy is widely discussed in the region." 

My second thought (well okay maybe it was my third, fourth, or fifth thought) was to question why I was getting all in a lather about this. So okay, maybe I don't buy the theory that these signs by themselves will change behavior.  But the message still makes sense, right?  We should all be more willing to see the world through other people's eyes, taking a moment to consider their point of view rather than just pouncing with all the reasons why we are right and they are wrong.  And if takes a sign on a telephone pole to remind me of that, so be it.

So empathy posting guy, you were right and I was wrong. Your sign made me stop and think, and perhaps has even induced me to be a little more empathetic. Mission (or at least first step of the mission) accomplished.

The Times They Are A Changing

Last weekend, we had friends over for dinner and I went looking in the cupboard for the dessert plates that I got from my mom.  This set, manufactured by Royal Copenhagen in the 1950s, features tiny workers harvesting and transporting fruit. What never registered until now is that this particular design (I believe there are four different illustrations for the set of 10) features a worker on his smoke break.  

Goodness how times have changed! Gone are the days  when everyone smoked, when hosts liberally offered cigarettes to guests, and when a break from work was timed to feed a nicotine habit.  

Of course once I plated the berry cobbler with ice cream, all thoughts of smoke were gone.

Found Object

Months ago, the only slotted spoon in my kitchen disappeared. It wasn't anything special but was handy to have for dishing out marinated cucumbers and pickled beets.  I don't even know where it came from originally, although I'm guessing it came with my husband when we combined our household wares some 35 years ago.  

It wasn't in the dishwasher or the dish rack, nor in the silverware drawer or the two utensil drawers. After awhile, I just assumed that it had gotten thrown out by accident. And with my birthday coming up, I put a slotted spoon on my list, sending a link to my husband for one that matches our flatware.

Then this morning, I was making a blueberry tart and pulled the essentials out of the pantry, putting them on  the counter to measure out. And there it was, stuck in the bag of powdered sugar, with the twist tie that closed the plastic bag wrapped around the handle of the spoon, presumably last used to dust a cake or pie.

I've gotten used to missing socks and to walking into a room and then wondering why I'm there but this was next level. At least it wasn't the car keys, or an important document, bottle of medication, or a child. And the good news is that if I get a new one as a present soon, I'll have backup the next time around. 

Only in America

Only in America would you find:

A parking lot of oversized cars (full disclosure:  I used to drive a mini van but those days are now behind me).

A bible and the Book of Mormon in the top drawer of your hotel nightstand.

Presidential Chia pets.  



A grocery aisle marked "peanut butter."