• Pedestrian walkway for exercise lined up with beautiful tall trees

    Quote of the week

    “A city is successful, not when it’s rich but when its people are happy. Creating bikeability and walkability shows respect for human dignity. We’re telling people, ‘You are important — not because you’re rich, but because you are human.’ If people are treated as special, as sacred even, they behave that way. We need to walk just as birds need to fly. Creating public spaces is one way to lead us to a society that is not only more equal but also much happier.” —Meik Wiking

  • Lightbulb moment

    And so it begins…

    Here it is, my friends: a new day, a new month and a new year. I know some people complain about how we, as a collective, simply accept when a year debuts, but I’ve always appreciated having a clearly defined moment to make a fresh start with calendars and resolutions.

    As I mentioned in a previous post, I intend to spend more time this year working on my fiction. Making stuff up is so much harder than reporting what’s actually happened, and it’ll be an uphill climb to get my imagination in shape. However, I’m determined to give it the old Girl Scout try.

    Another one of my goals is to engage in a series of 30-day experiments. The purpose of this activity is twofold — to build up my discipline levels and to explore new interests. Here’s the current game plan (subject to change, of course):

    January – Listen to a new song every day
    February – Walk for at least 20 mins a day
    March – Meditate for 15 mins a day
    April – Read a new poem every day
    May – Write a blog post every day
    June – Go vegetarian at least one meal a day
    July – Take a photo every day
    August – Record all of my dreams
    September – Write a postcard or letter every day
    October – Try a new recipe every day
    November – Write a new poem every day
    December – Perform an act of kindness every day

    In case you’re curious, today’s song is “Escape Artist” by Zoë Keating:

    If you have any additional song suggestions, feel free to send ’em. I’m pretty open to any genre.

    Lastly, in honor of new beginnings, I have redesigned my website. I hope you like it as much as I do.

    Happy New Year!

  • New York City, food, books, friends and love

    M and I recently had the pleasure of taking a very quick trip to New York City. We celebrated the 9th anniversary of our first date by enjoying a long walk through Manhattan, eating real pizza, splurging on ice cream sundaes from Serendipity 3 and generally just loving every second we got to spend together.

    Other things that happened:

    * We tried two new restaurants — Five Napkin Burger and Polpette — both of which were excellent.

    * According to his Fitbit, M walked more than 70,000 steps. Because he’s insane.

    * I walked about a third of that and still managed to develop huge, squishy, debilitating blisters on both of my feet. The last two days of the trip were spent hobbling, which made me feel old. Very old.

    * We had the opportunity to see movies in the morning and late at night, neither of which we can do in New Hampshire.

    * The company of friends was thoroughly enjoyed.

    * A rousing game of Cards Against Humanity ensued, one that will be forever remembered for its hilarious use of tentacle porn and corn starch.

    * M turned me around on a hot button political issue.

    * A fictional president fired his wife.

    * I finally learned who Castle’s father was.

    * We went on a shopping spree at The Strand. Here’s what I’ll be reading in the months and years to come:

    strandbooks