On 2013 Resolutions

Now What?

For the last five years, my resolution has been the same - to floss.  And although each year has mimicked the previous one(s) with a mediocre and (eventual) failed attempt at incorporating this habit into my daily life, I was finally able to conquer my severely wavering commitment earlier this year when I came up with a solution to my resolution (-to write it down).  So now, with monthly calendars marked with bright-red X's acknowledging my flossing progress and success, I am faced with a clean slate for next year's half-ambitious and tenuous goal - to exercise.  Here's to another five years.  Enjoy and happy holidays1

(This blog will resume on Monday, January 7th, after a holiday trip to NYC and conference in Austin, TX.  See you in 2013.)  

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On @&*(&@*)

Can't Hardly Curse.

In the presence of cursing, I find myself in two camps: I disagreeably wince at the folks who drop f-bombs with uncanny ease (That's so unattractive!) and pleasantly gasp at others whose first time might be right in that moment (Do it again!).  As for myself, I waffle between the two, depending on the environment, the audience, the need to set some inappropriate words free, and whether my filter is functioning or not.  And every once in awhile, I glance around to see who's listening, or reacting, or a combination of the two, and most often my own curses slip (unnoticed) into thin air.  Enjoy!  

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On Facial Appeal

Creative Craft.

We're all attracted to different faces - moustaches versus beards, brown eyes versus blue, thin lips versus thick - and find ourselves glancing twice at the qualities we've come to seek out.  Yet when it finally comes down to it, our facial appeal preferences are only part of the puzzle.  Senses of humor, worth ethics, passion for travel, family, and independence supplant stylistic upper-lip-fashion for the qualities that take us into old age and beyond.  Enjoy!

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On Inevitable Fate

Criminal Defense.

Although I grew up in Brooklyn, NY and spent the majority of the 90's (and beyond) riding the subway on a regular basis, I've been fortunate enough to never have been mugged.  Yet, friends and family have been less lucky, with frightening incidents of familiar misfortunes, often including knives, guns, wallets, and unrequited threats.  In spite of these Tales from the Darkside, I also have yet to enroll (and actually follow through) in a self-defense class (though I frequently consider it) and have, instead, resigned myself to inevitable helplessness should luck ever abandon me, with the unlikely hope that I'd rise to the (Jackie Chan) occasion.  Enjoy!  
 
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On Catching Glimpses

Other People's Stories.

Passing time scrolling through quotes from my favorite literary fiction last week (i.e. Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I'm not living. ― JSF Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), I was reminded of how immersed I can become in the lives of a novel's characters.  With the temptation to tweet, chat, and text, it's easy to ignore the stories that involve creativity and imagination yet are equally - if not more! - appealing than the daily updates we so willingly fill our time with.  On this note, I'll end here and spend the second half of my lunch hour reading Middlemarch, on loan from a co-worker.  Enjoy!

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On Being Honest

 
Defying Morals.

Cheating used to be for villains in rom com’s and seemingly innocent high school teens unable to resist romantic temptation.  Yet now with the majority of our matrimonial commitments on the horizon (be it past, present, or future), defying someone’s trust and straying from the promises and morals that brought us here in the first place risk more than just an anxious, broken heart.  Families are destroyed, lives shattered, and faith in humanity questioned indefinitely. Enjoy! 

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On Hanukah Rivalry

(Photo Credit: Denver, CO 12/12/12.)

While lighting my very own menorah for the first time this week, I offered my non-Jewish roommate a hanukah candle.  Taking pride in his newest responsibility, he commented on the hanukah battleground this ritual must provide for small siblings.  Flashes of childhood negotiations passed before my anticipatory eyes, with a decade of savvy parental differentiations made between lighting the match versus the multicolored candle(s) followed by weekday designations based on age, weight, and height. (Just kidding about the latter.) Enjoy!

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On Hosting Visitors

Aiming to Please.

Living halfway across the country from the majority of family and friends, hosting visitors - while always a welcomed event - also brings along a pressure to please.  With time, money, and alternative plans sacrificed (most frequently in NYC), my eternal hope is that their visit won't be the last (family not included) and, as such, approach their investment with equal attention to detail and need. Preplanned grocery trips include favorite midnight snacks with daytime excursions around hobbies and habits.  Until the inevitable airport goodbye rolls around and I have a good sense of who will be back versus who will remain an east coast companion.  Enjoy!   

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On the Brevity of Romance

Fifty-Minus-One?

Once again, hiding behind the mask of People Magazine on the airplane from PR this past weekend in order to indulge my commitment to reading my first full trilogy ever (Fifty Shades, of course), I reflected on the significant evolution undergone by the  two main characters (from BDSM to marriage) over the span of less than a thousand pages.  During the final third of this fairly heated saga the characters have traded in handcuffs for happily-ever-after, as marriage has seemingly transformed this fantasy into a semi-twisted fairy-tale, which - for those of us indulging in our first trilogies ever - proves equally as satisfying.  Enjoy!

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On (Long) Distance Relatives

Aunt-hood from Afar.

Being an aunt (or uncle) from a distance forces you to rely on modern technology and snail mail to stay abreast of milestones and shower adoration. And while in-person contact certainly cannot be replaced, taking pride in first steps, first words, and first holidays isn't any less powerful.  Bonds form through HD computer screens and i-phone facetime sessions until eventual reunions bring together long-distant relatives never soon enough.  Enjoy!

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On Vacations Unplugged

Tuning Out.

On the brink of a one week vacation to PR, I've come up with one rule for my roommate and I to follow: no cell phones.  With Verizon service sure to follow us into the rain forest and beyond (Can you hear me now?), the idea of tuning the world out for 168 hours is extremely enticing.  Yet the reality of such a feat is likely impossible, as nagging needs to check, update, and like the world left behind are as second nature as the habits we truly cannot live without.  Enjoy!

Post Scriptum: This blog will resume on Tuesday, December 10th, 2012.

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On Traveling Solo

Unwanted Info.

Last week, I left my bus pass (and wallet) at work.  Scrambling for $2.25 in a bottomless purse where dollar bills and rusty coins have since been replaced by credit cards and debit receipts, I decided to bank on the generous gratitude of the 5pm bus driver who would surely recognize my face from previous trips. My only fear was that once I opened the channel of communication between two otherwise cordial strangers (-myself and the bus driver), there’d be no going back. And in a city where friendly communication between perfect strangers is more than the norm, I protect my privacy as frequently as I can.  Sure enough, my bus ride was free that day, and a week later I learned that George was divorced in the early 90s and didn’t see his grandchildren nearly enough.  Enjoy!

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On the (Rocky) Road

[Photo Credit: The Einsteins, circa 2012.]

On a recent Thanksgiving hike in the Rocky Mountains with my NYC-based family, we were all challenged in different ways.  From tapping into unknown physical capabilities (amidst 8000 foot altitude) to being completed isolated from the outside world (no cell phones, ipads, or facebook), we agreed unanimously that this was one of the highlights of the visit.  And as we braved the unknown terrain and admired passerby(s) struggling through their own internal commitments (most frequently on mountain bikes), we made tacit plans for our next adventurous endeavor (circa summer 2013).  Enjoy!   

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On (fb) Politics

Missed Connections?

As the trials and tribulations of facebook torture the majority of us through endless hours of distraction at work and beyond, and - as a result - we debate on a too frequent daily basis whether to defriend the masses or quit cold turkey, we keep coming back for more.  The opportunity for missed connections, support (in the form of "likes") from familiar faces, and - in my case - the generous willingness and interest of long, lost elementary school classmates and freshman year roommates to visit (and hopefully re-visit) my blog is too much to give up.  The pangs of pride and interconnectedness felt from a fractured comment combined with a glimpse into the personal moments of (hundreds of) other people's lives (relocations, new families and even divorce) is enough to make it worthwhile...most of the time.  Enjoy!

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On Rocky (Mountain) T-Day

Thankful for the majority of Einsteins spending their first Thanksgiving in the Rocky Mountains, this blog will resume on Tuesday, November 27th, 2012.  In the meantime, happy holidays to you and yours!

On Unfounded Suspicions

Hitching a Hiker.

As a child and teen driving through the Catskill Mountains - mostly during summer and fall months - passing a ragged hitchhiker immediately drew unreasonable fears of imminent death.  My pre and post-pubescent reasoning - combined with way too many late-night short stories by Flannery O'Connor - convinced me that to help this unpredictable stranger would surely end in tragedy.  Yet a handful of seasons later, living in the Rocky Mountains, hitchhikers are a dime a dozen and, whether my youthful associations were based on valid evidence or media-dramatized hype (most likely the latter), the same stomach-dropping images flash before my judgmental eyes, as if the (likely) alternative is incapable of existing.  Enjoy!

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On Being Thankful (Again)

Thanksgiving 2012.

I'm thankful for the small stuff because I know firsthand that some days and months and years are harder than the ones before them.  I'm thankful for text messages with baby photos, for engagement rings and congratulatory, handmade snail mail, for HBO and prime time television.  I'm thankful for cozy drives to work with NPR and flannel blankets, for new recipes from faraway friends, for potlucks and ice cream cakes on a monthly basis (at work).  I'm thankful for my family's good health, for my first 10K in December, for hot tea and literary novels, and for camping trips and sleeping bags and bacon cooked over a wood burning stove.  And I'm thankful for this blog, for it's readers (like you), for a place to collect and keep and share other people's writing that inspire you and me and everyone we know.  Happy Thanksgiving (& enjoy)!

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On Revealing Secrets

One Wave at a Time.

Revealing one's deepest darkest secrets to the latest and greatest significant other (to be) doesn't need to happen in one fell swoop.  Gaining validation and trust can determine whether (new) relationships dabble on the dark side(s) or tread water by the shore, steadying for fifty shades of gray and skeletons in the closet while simultaneously choosing to ride the wave to the end.  Enjoy!  

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On Office Space(s)

Coffee Tawk.

While not all office cultures are ideal, I've stumbled upon an exceptional situation.  Potlucks (my favorite!) celebrate new seasons on a quarterly basis, monthly ice creams cakes signify wisdom and growth (aka birthdays), and passion and commitment to our daily responsibilities is a guarantee.  While Google may have massage parlors and rumored foosball tables, I've found an equally appealing microcosm for the bakers and the educators alike.  Enjoy!   

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On (Making) New Friends

The Unknown.

New friendships can be just as precarious and unpredictable as new beaus, as uncharted details are exchanged over sweet potato fries and gin and tonics at local eateries and poorly-lit dive bars. Devotions and deceit of friendships past are evaluated with both suspicion and familiarity, while commonalities surface at varying speeds and lifelong companions potentially initiated.  Until texts messages and email exchanges do (or do not) take the relationship to the next level, ties are created or foregone with varying levels of emotion and relief.  Enjoy!  

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On Snoody Foodies

Brooklyn & Beyond.

After relocating to Denver last year (from Brooklyn, NY) following several years of happily volunteering at the Park Slope Food Coop, (known - in some circles - for its elite, exclusive foodie attitude), I found myself desperate for great organic options at a reasonable price.  For me, this lifestyle just happened, after moving in with my first post-college roommate who agreed to share ingredients and casually suggested I check this place out.  Working monthly shifts as a checkout girl, I touched, smelled, and inquired about exotic, unknown vegetables - parsnips, chard, multiple types of kale - and learned new ways to mix and match the familiar.  And, so here I am, an innocent snoody foodie, tired of overpriced purple cauliflower stir fry, in search of my west (coast?) compromise.  Enjoy!

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On Coney Island Sidelines

h2o-bia.

I've never been one for water sports of any kind, mainly due to an abnormally low threshold for temperatures below 70 degrees, and - as a kid - was often found building castles on the sandy beaches of Coney Island, with pathetic attempts (every few hours or so, if that) of shyly dipping my tiny toes into the Atlantic Ocean.  Back in summer camp during my middle school years, I cried through daily swim lessons, landing me a welcomed permanent seat on the sidelines when the swimming instructors had better things to do. During adolescence in the Catskills, it was always that time of the month for me.  And today,  as an adult, I choose vacations around warm water beaches where waves barely exceed half a foot and my travel partner(s) seek h2o adventure elsewhere.  Enjoy!

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On Running Races

5K and Beyond.

When recent conversations turn to my latest Denver hobby (running races with my colleague, just in time for winter), I find myself qualifying my recent accomplishments without giving myself much credit.  It's only 3 point 1 miles, I'll justify, knowing that my listener can probably outrun me without moderate preparation in spite of the fact that, as a non-athlete, native New Yorker growing up, it's also the most I've ever run in my entire life.  Even as I reached a new goal yesterday (during training for a 10K), I still know deep down inside that friends and acquaintances (who politely applaud our perseverance in below-freezing weather) can still do double what I've done without exercising for months in advance, and have probably spent the bulk of their tween years playing soccer and lacrosse, pushing themselves more than I ever will during adulthood.  Enjoy! 

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On Committed Compatability

Seeking Adaptability.

In the rare throws of roommate-incompatibility (an unusual but inevitable consequence of living together), I'll find myself waffling - in moments - between frustration and acceptance.  My compulsion for cleanliness  (no doubt a consequence of formative "spotless" rearing) defines itself in rigid, strategic decor, with every seemingly distressed fold or modified mismatch a result of carefully calculated consideration.  And yet life happens, things crinkle, and rigidity unfolds in ways that force even the best of roommates to redefine lifelong habits in exchange for present-day flexibility.  Enjoy!

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On Crowded Streets

Unfriendly Neighbors.

Yesterday, I went right instead of left and accidentally drove my car into a major Denver park where roads are off limits to everyone but bikers, runners, walkers, and dogs.  As I circled the pavement with my blinkers on at five mph, pedestrians waved their arms in rage, flicked me off, shouted unkind accusations, and questioned my good-conscience.  For the first few minutes I was able to ignore them, recognizing my mistake as innocent and honest, and then their resentment got the better of me. Fighting back tears with sweaty, trembling hands, I searched for (and eventually found) the exit ramp to acceptance.  Enjoy!

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On November 6th, 2012

Where were you? 

Crowded around the television on November 6th, 2012 with our (newest) closest friends, we enjoyed hot wings and homemade pizza topped with pineapple, mushrooms, and peppers, marveling over how much our lives have changed since the last election and the difference four years can make.  We've reunited after 14 years, created and solidified new friendships, fallen in (and out of) love, gotten engaged and (even) married, moved to new cities, and welcomed new family members.  We've fought and beat cancer, attended funerals and graduations, enrolled in - and transferred from - graduate school programs three times, learned how to cook, to backpack, to sew, to have difficult conversations, and to lose (and gain) weight. We've seen friends face heartbreak and divorce, loss and illness, drink wine to drown sorrows, write means emails and texts, exchange favorite television shows and i-tunes selections, and exchange political opinions worth fighting for.

Where were you four years ago?

(Enjoy!)

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On (the) Fight Club

Girls Versus Boys.

The different between fights amongst women (compared to those amongst men) is the length and detail of emotions shared and truths dissected - behind backs, over texts, via email, and hopefully (and eventually) in person.  Tears might be shed, regretful insults exchanged, and then - as quickly as the discord began - apologies traded and relationships restored as if nothing ever happened in the first place.  (Most of the time, anyway.) Enjoy, and then go vote!

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On Love & Gambling

The Rules of Attraction.

Turns out it's not just wanting what we can't have that keeps up vying for more but, additionally, wanting what we don't expect.  Being blind-sided by romantic interest does as much for our brain as for our hearts, and so perhaps a semi-fool-proof strategy to finding and sustaining "the one" is to distract by all things predictable.  Enjoy!

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On Googling Romance

Little (Left) to Question.

With the ability to google all but one's social security number at the drop of an electronic hat, small talk on first/second/and/third dates can leave little to the romantic imagination.  Educational accomplishments, family trauma, and recent break-ups and make-ups splashed across the internet(s) reveal details typically saved for dates two through infinity, as participants walk a fine line between feigned interest and re-revealing too much.  Enjoy!

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On Bailing on Plans

Via Text Message.

Take it from a professional bailer: cancelling on plans via text message is way easier than over the phone but it doesn't make it right.  As the hour leading up to the month-long dinner plans rolls around, the temptation to send a succinct but sympathy-inducing text message (Not feeling well! Family emergency!) with this or that transparent excuse (DVR broke!) is less than ideal. Plus, actually following through means delaying the next reunion by at least sixty days, and hard feelings are left for the next unreliable friend.  Enjoy! 

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On Monday Blues

Happy Days?

With the advent of HBO and Showtime Sunday night addictions (Dexter, Homeland, and Entourage, just to name a few), which precede(d) the once-dreaded signal of a regenerated, mundane work week, Mondays are anything but unanticipated.  Water cooler catchup combines semi-riveting details of Saturday night dates, Halloween costume competitions, and family get-togethers with the latest and greatest Dexter cliffhangers (...who can believe Debra Morgan?!).  Enjoy!

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On Unfriending "Friends"

e-Politics.

During a recent, friendly debate (with my roommate) over the magnitude of the ever-intentional statement of the decision to "un-friend friends" on facebook, we agreed to disagree on the maturity-level of said action.  And yet nowadays, one click speaks a thousand clicks, and the message is frequently heard - or seen - across a virtual lifetime of facebook albums and wall posts galore.  Enjoy!

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On Sharing Opinions

(And) Overcoming Obstacles.

Voicing opinions is as easy as the crowd upon which such convictions fall.  As bystanders wait impatiently for their turn, questions and answers are acknowledged with a mixture of sincere inquisition and mild regard while conversations end and begin again. Enjoy!
  
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On Life Interrupted

Mild Preparation.

Each morning, the vast majority of us wake up to expect a sunrise no different than the day before, with morning coffee routines followed by lists of usual responsibilities.  And then when we least expect, that very sunrise is unexpectedly interrupted, routines derailed, and everything we previously knew thrown into question.  These days -- of unwarranted upheaval -- come and go at different rates, more to some than others, and almost always out of a familiar blue, inevitably changing two dimensional perspectives into thirds and regimens into chaos.  Enjoy!

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On My Latest Investment

The Food Network.

Turns out the rumors are true: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives will inspire you to abandon the Weight Watchers plan you've been stumbling through in exchange for pastrami on mayo-smothered rye and a side of bacon-infused fries.  Late-night marathons keep me up way past my bedtime as fast food seeds are planted for midnight (subconscious) madness. Enjoy!

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On Bad Memories

Forgive or Forget.

How we choose to remember - or forget - the bad memories of our pasts depends on our preferences for coping with the less-than-pleasant aspects of life. Dwelling or forgiving both alienates and embraces the bystanders and participants involved, as we take multiple steps in both directions of growth and regression alike.  Enjoy!

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On (Driving) Directions

Circus Scene.

Whether the drive lasts ten minutes or ten hours, the Einstein family road trip extravaganza is anything but extravagant.  Arguments ensue over which GPS announcer has accurate, traffic-modified directions (the actual driver or the overly-appealing computer voice-over), while backseat drivers boast of unparalleled expertise and the destination becomes further away by the mile.  Enjoy!

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