New Addition to the Fam

So, in a little over two weeks, there will be a new addition to the family. Meet Princess Maggie! (or some of her distant relatives--see picture to the left. Official photo releases of Miss Maggie to come soon.) My family is adopting a Golden Retriever puppy from 24-Karat Goldens. I can't tell you how excited my family is or how ecstatic I am. I have been wishing for a puppy for a long time.

My former dog, Tasha, unfortunately got really sick with skin cancer in the spring of last year. She passed away in late July 2009. We were all extremely sad at her passing; she was a member of our family. No dog could replace Tasha--she was one of a kind, what personality! What a terrific dog. We will always miss her. My family and I were not ready for a new dog before this--we were actually going to wait until this summer to adopt a new family member. But it was destiny--a family friend told us about a Golden Retriever litter that had been born about four weeks prior on January 10, 2010. We went to see the puppies in the last blizzard about two weeks ago and we didn't stand a chance: we fell in love with little Maggie. She stole each of our hearts! So Maggie won't be coming home with us until March 17, St. Patrick's Day. She's a sweet Irish lass!

Stay tuned for pictures (and maybe video) of my new puppy. Yay!

Weather Blues or February Funk?

Maybe I am stating the obvious, but I have always been amazed at how much capacity the weather has to impact people's moods, including my own. We are on at least Day #3 of non-stop rain, wintry mix, and cloudiness. The stormy weather is not supposed to let up until Sunday, with a sunny forecast on Monday. I have noticed a negative change in the moods of my friends, my family, and myself. It must be a combination of the stormy weather and the "February Funk," a tiredness of the winter and a readiness for the spring.

Why do we let the weather affect our moods? I don't think it is necessarily a conscious choice. I have felt more tired lately and have found it harder to wake up in the morning, especially when it is still dark and cloudy outside my window instead of bright and sunny, albeit cold. (At least New York does not have the absolutely frigid temperatures that Boston endures during the wintertime! I don't know how those Bostonians can stand it. It chills you down to your bones.)

My cure for the stormy weather blues:

1. Curl up with a good book or a good movie
2. Make yourself a cup of hot tea or hot chocolate
3. Cook up some comfort food (i.e. brownies, cookies, or Mom's homemade lasagna)
4. Find your fuzziest, warmest socks and put them on
5. If you have a Snuggie, use it. If not, find lots of blankets and get under the covers
6. Build a fire and roast up some 'Smores
7. Go to bed early! You'll thank me for this later.

If you try all this, and you still feel out of sorts, don't fear: Spring is almost here.

Curling is Funny

I haven't been watching much of the 2010 Winter Olympics, even though I do enjoy the Olympics very much, especially the winter games. There are such interesting sports in the winter games that you don't see every day. For instance, curling: who the heck came up with this sport? Some people in the North Pole must have been really bored one winter day when there was no sunlight and came up with this wacky game. I just think it's hysterical to watch. You might like curling if you also like bowling, ice skating, bocce, and sweeping.

A Lenten Make-Over

For Lent this year, I had a hard time thinking of something to give up. Whenever I try to give up something (i.e. Diet Coke, chocolate, or something else impossible), it never works. That's why this year, I wanted to do something instead, like an act of good works, or something to that effect. I am thinking instead that I will do a little of both. I need to stop cursing if I am going to be a teacher. So to stop the knee-jerk potty mouth excretions, I have decided to put 25 cents into a jar for every curse that I say during Lent. Just so you know how bad my cursing issue is, I already have $1.00 just from the commute to work this morning, the first day of Lent. Ack! When Lent is over, I plan to donate the money that accumulates in the jar to my church or other charitable organization.

Part II of my Lenten plan is to call loved ones that I have not spoken to in awhile to reconnect. I am thinking that I will take every Tuesday and Thursday and call two people each night. It all sounds do-able to me. Let's see if I stick to my grand Lenten scheme. Hopefully, it will not be like "New Year's Resolutions: Round Two," as my friend Lauren coined last night. Here's hoping!

Taking Back the Day of Love

Some people get all pissy if they do not have a significant other to mush over on Valentine's Day. Men and women all over the world (Is V-Day celebrated outside of the U.S? Good question.) will cry and mope on February 14th because they are lonely and in need of romantic love. What's love got to do with that?

Instead of all this self-loathing, people should think of Valentine's Day as a rare opportunity: the one day out of the year when it is perfectly acceptable to tell all the people you love in your life how much you love and appreciate them. One day a year when it is okay for men to be sensitive, emotional, and vulnerable. Men, take advantage of this day: see a chick flick and cry a little! Let it all out. I know you've been bottling it up all year long.

Maybe Valentine's Day is just a commercial holiday made up by the greeting card industry. So what?! This is your opportunity to earn brownie points, even better your chances of going to heaven (if you believe in that kind of thing). Step away from the computer this instant and go tell someone you love them. This someone can be your cat, dog, or Chinese fighting fish, but other (better) suggestions are your mother, father, sister, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, niece, nephew, or even a treasured friend. I do not care if you have a girlfriend, boyfriend, or a sugar mama/daddy on February 14th: there are lots of other people in your life that will enjoy hearing that you love them. Go for it.

Confessions of a Red Sox Sympathizer

I may get into trouble with my family for writing this. In the spirit of free speech, however, I will risk life and limb to write it. First off, I will answer your question: NO, I am not a Red Sox fan--I never was a Red Sox fan and I will never be a Red Sox fan. I am a Yankee fan by birth and will remain one until I die. The paradox of these facts is that the movie Fever Pitch is one of my guilty pleasures, I went to college in Boston, my favorite baseball game to watch is the Bronx Bombers vs. the Sawx, and Fenway Park will always be a sacred site to me. Red Sox fans are probably the lowest forms of life out there, i.e. obnoxious scum--but I get it. I will explain.

There is a profound difference between Yankee fans and people who root for that team from Boston. Whereas Yankee fans derive their team spirit from positive things like our fervent belief that our team is the best, Red Sox fans fuel their fandome on the negative karma of Yankee-hating. (If you don't believe me, check out all the "Yankees Suck" T-shirts and other tchotchkes out there). Hatred of the Yankees and jealousy of their reign over the last century is where the Red Sox and their cheering section find their will to fight, despite an over-80-year losing streak. The Yankees, on the other hand, need only their 27 World Series Championship rings to remind them that they are the best team in baseball, hands down.

I sympathize with Red Sox fans, however, because I, too, am a fan of the great game of baseball. I get what it means to be crazy about your team, to love watching them play, and to feel like the world is out of balance when they lose. That's why I have a hate-love relationship with Red Sox fans (but mostly hate)--I admire their gumption and passion for their team, despite a near-century-long drought. I get their traditions and their theme songs because we have some of our own, too. I admire their beaten up, never-say-die stadium that holds so much history--one of the last three ballparks still standing where Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio played--especially now that my Cathedral of Baseball was torn down and replaced, as if replacement were possible. When you go to Fenway Park, you feel like you have traveled back in time to 1927. Where else can you go and feel that? Further, put the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox opposite each other on any baseball diamond and you've got yourself a recipe for the best game ever.

There is probably only one thing that a Yankee fan and a Red Sox fan have in common: a love of the game. A die-hard Red Sox fan may despise me, but that's alright because I completely get it. We're not that different. Fuhgeddaboudit--I can't stand your team, either.

Celebrities: America's Royalty

Do you ever wonder why Americans are so preoccupied with the life and times of celebrities? This list includes actors, actresses, heiresses, athletes, and even reality TV show "stars." Why should we care who lost or gained weight, who is pregnant, who just hooked up, broke up, got divorced, or has once again landed themselves in rehab? The amount of celebrity-obsessed trashy magazines out there is astonishing--People, US Weekly, Star, OK!, In Touch, National Enquirer, etc. Even mainstream newspapers and other magazines for women like Cosmopolitan and Glamour feature the latest pieces on celebrities. America's obsession with celebrities must have something to do with our own desire for fame--why else would American Idol still air after 9 seasons, unless kareoke were the great American pasttime, not baseball? We gossip and dish on celebs just as much as the UK loves to keep up with their Royals.

Are our own lives so humdrum that we must live vicariously through the idealized lives of the rich and famous? Notice that the "rich and famous" tagline includes neither "content," "healthy," nor "at peace." I cannot say that I am not guilty of perusing these magazines when I am bored out of my mind and do not want to use more brain power than it takes to flip through a pretty picture book like US Weekly or People. I'm just saying that we should all realize that it's all a fantasy--these celebrities live charmed lives and nobody could look the way they do without personal trainers, boatloads of cash, personal cooks and nutritionists, plastic surgery, and lots and lots of airbrushing. So instead of envying them, I would rather be content living my own normal life!

Must See: The Vampire Diaries

My friend Jenn got me into this new show called The Vampire Diaries. I know what you must be thinking: "For Pete's sake, not another vampire-related anything." But I promise you, it is different from Twilight and anything else vampire themed (althought I do like Twilight and Harry Potter and all those fantasy-type books and movies). You should watch just for the leading male characters alone - Damon, played by Ian Somerhalder, former model and Lost cast member and Stefan, played by Paul Wesley are absolutely dreamy. The suspense and mystery remain in the show, despite being on its second season.

I must admit, I have not watched True Blood yet, so I cannot compare it to The Vampire Diaries. Perhaps The Vampire Diaries seem more accessible to me, aired on The "CW" Channel 11, Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. For a girl who didn't have cable at home until her senior year of college, HBO still seems too ritzy to watch.

Either way, my advice would be to check out this new show before you get too far behind in the episodes to start watching. But don't just take my word for it. Click to watch the closed captioned trailer to sneak a peek.

Two Musical Pet Peeves

When it comes to most things in life, I have a fairly open mind. You suggest a restaurant, a museum, a film, or a tasty dish, I will check it out and let you know how the exploration goes. So if you suggest a musical artist, I would definitely get on iTunes, preview a few songs, and download at least one. I like all kinds of music: pop, rock, R&B, hip hop, some rap, some jazz, classical, oldies from every era, etc. But there are two artists that I truly cannot stand: Savage Garden and Kenny G.

Savage Garden's "Truly, Madly, Deeply" is like listening to the sound of nails scraping a chalkboard. "I want to stand with you on a mountain/I want to bathe with you in the sea." Really? I'm a romantic and everything, but those lyrics make me want to hurl. And don't get me started on Kenny G. I roll my eyes everytime that sappy soprano saxophone oozes through the elevator speaker system. Ugh! As if his bad hair were not awful enough, I am forced to listen to him ruin good songs with his terrible covers of them. Who cares if you hold the Guinness World Record for holding the longest note??

There are few things in this world that make me physically sick to my stomach. Savage Garden and Kenny G are my Chinese water torture.