Hark! Yule is here

Hark! Yule is here

December 21, 2014 / No Comments

I’m just about to head out into the Seattle night to watch the sun rise. Those of you who regularly read this blog understand my mixed feelings about this holiday.

On the one hand, yay winter solstice. Bring on the snow! No, wait. Bring on the snow after I’ve returned to New Hampshire on December 26th. Then, snow, snow, snow! Jingle bells, and hot cocoa and ho ho ho and all that winter wonderland stuff. I live in New England for a reason, friends, and it’s because the changing of the seasons — particularly the cooler ones — fills me with joy. So winter, welcome!

And then there’s the other hand…

The winter solstice is the longest night of the year. Prior to the invention of electricity, extended darkness was not a pleasant experience. Cold had to be fought with firewood and peat. The falling temps and lack of light kept people homebound and had a detrimental effect on their moods. To counteract this, many cultures celebrated Yule on this day with religious and secular activities, such as lighting the Yule log, decorating homes and trees, placing candles in the windows, kissing under the mistletoe and feasting.

I follow many of these traditions, and like the druids at Stonehenge, I also take the time to go outside and begrudgingly acknowledge the coming of the light. Yes, the sun is required to make others happy. And yes, we need sunlight to grow plants and flowers and food. But as someone who prefers darkness to light and moonlight to the day’s vicious glare, I curse a destiny of longer days and extended solar illumination. Yule also marks the coming end of the holiday season, and since this is my favorite time of year, I can feel melancholy looming on the horizon like a January sunrise.

Ah well, nothing to be done for it. Time to head out, watch Ra’s return and to make the most of the holiday time we have left. In between shifts at work and flights home, I shall enjoy my time with family and friends, open presents, eat, drink and be merry. May you also have the pleasure of such Yuletide activities.

(Photo by Andrew Mayovskyy)
These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things This Year

December 7, 2014 / No Comments

The holidays are here again, and everyone is crazy busy. My shopping is done for the year — as usual I finished early — but if you’re still looking for that perfect gift, let me offer a few suggestions, à la Oprah. Dear readers, these are a few of my favorite things:

FOR THE TEA DRINKER: Melitta 40994 1.7-Liter Kettle

Our last electric tea kettle, a perfectly serviceable Proctor Silex started to die in January. M picked up this new kettle after reading some excellent reviews and I certainly put it through the paces. Unlike our last kettle, the Melitta can fill two large mugs of tea and still have hot water to spare.

FOR THE PERSON WHO LOVES AFFORDABLE, YET BEAUTIFUL JEWELRY: The Rose and Petal 925 Sterling Silver Ring

I decided to upgrade my look this year, and since we were saving for a house, I focused on accessories. This ring was my favorite item.

FOR THE GADGET GURU: Zak Designs E-Z-Rol Garlic Peeler

This gadget is so easy to use! Just pop in a garlic clove, roll and voila! All of the sticky paper is removed. For just $5, you’ll never have to deal with the odor of garlic on your hands again. Best of all, it’s dishwasher-safe. Also comes in festive red and green.

FOR THE COOK: Paprika Recipe Manager

For years I have searched for ways to collect all of my online recipes in one place. After trying archived emails, PDFs and numerous apps, I finally discovered Paprika. With this app, you can “organize your recipes, make meal plans and create grocery lists.” It’s a very handy tool and one that you can use on a Mac or PC, iPhone or Android, iPad, Kindle Fire or Nook.

FOR THE PET LOVER: K&H Thermo-Pet Mat

I bought two of these mats last spring for my eldest cats because their old bones just couldn’t take the cold anymore. The mats were so popular that I decided to pick up two more in the fall. I’m now the most popular kitty mom around. One small note: If you do end up buying one, cover the mat with an old pillowcase. This will make cleanup super easy.

FOR THE FASHIONISTA: Signare Tapestry Handbag

Big enough to carry everything you need, compact enough to not look like you’re Mary Poppins. More importantly, this purse is sturdy, which as most women can attest, is not always the case with bags in this price range.

FOR THE LONGTIME FAN OF “THE PRINCESS BRIDE”: “As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride” by Cary Elwes

Elwes, who played Westley in the film, has penned a wonderful behind-the-scenes book about this cult classic. While I have no doubt the print/ebook versions are great, I highly recommend the audiobook to hear Elwes, Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Mandy Patinkin, William Goldman, Norman Lear, Carol Kane, Andy Scheinman and Rob Reiner share their favorite stories about the making of the movie. M and I listened to “As You Wish” in the car over several weeks and had a blast.

FOR THE ADVENTUROUS, OR AIM-TO-BE-MORE ADVENTUROUS: “I Dare Me: How I Rebooted And Recharged My Life By Doing Something New Every Day” by Lu Ann Cahn

This is a compilation of Cahn’s many fun and daring “firsts” — activities she’d never tried or hadn’t tried in about a decade. I decided to give it a whirl and this year I enjoyed quite a few interesting experiences. I avoided saying anything negative for a whole day, bought a rubber stamp that symbolizes me, figured out a way to eat, and like, brussels sprouts, got chased by zombies, had a letter-boxing adventure, became a vegetarian for a day, studied French, took piano lessons, took sign language lessons, shared a migraine photo, revealed my Oscar predictions, sounded a barbaric yawp in public, spent a whole day without looking in a mirror, stood up for a cause I believed in, took classes in astrobiology, the nature of terrorism, social media and archaeology, took care of someone after surgery, tried a fondue dinner and used a Youtube video to learn a new skill.

FOR THE PERSON RESOLVING TO BE HEALTHIER IN 2015: FitDesk v. 2.0

I picked up a FitDesk as a Valentine’s Day gift for my husband and ended up using it more than he did. Not only is the bike easy to ride, the desk part allows me to work while I do it (or more to the point distracts me while I do it).

FOR THE PERSON WHO WANTS TO STAY HEALTHY BUT HATES TO WORK OUT: Zombies, Run!

As mentioned in a previous blog post, I love this app. The game’s tagline says it all: Get fit. Escape zombies. Become a hero. If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a shot. It’s great fun.
My Secret Santa gave me the best gift… and a lovely mug

December 29, 2013 / 1 Comment

So this was my first year participating in Reddit’s Secret Santa exchange. I signed up on a lark, and had a great time finding a fun gift for my person. I honestly didn’t give much thought to the man or woman who would receive my name because, frankly, it’s more fun to give than receive.

Well, my Secret Santa turned out to be really good at his job.

To research my gift, Santa searched my profile and my website. Then he sent me a gorgeous mug from NPR. Buying this mug not only brought me much happiness — who doesn’t love a big mug of coffee/tea/cocoa/soup? — it also helped NPR, which is one of my favorite institutions.

He didn’t stop there, though. No, Santa went above and beyond this year. While researching me, he stumbled upon a blog post I wrote in November. In it, I mentioned that anyone querying about what birthday/Xmas presents to buy should visit my Amazon wish list; it contained about 90 items, half of which were under $20. In that same post, I also mentioned that if buying stuff wasn’t appealing, I would love love love for people to do one thing for me: Sign up to become an organ donor.

Now what I didn’t mention in that blog post was that my best friend in the whole world died in 1999. Kind, pretty and funny as hell, Amy spent years dealing with a bum kidney. Despite being on meds and dialysis, her previously donated kidney slowly deteriorated. And before she could receive a new one, Ames had a stroke and died. Alone. On the floor of her living room.

She was 29 years old.

I have missed her every day since then. Every single day. And if I could have one wish, it would be to turn back time and figure out a way to get her a new, healthy kidney. Since that is (currently) impossible, I have made it my mission in life to get others to help. Please help. Sign up to donate your organs after you die.

And that is exactly what my Secret Santa did.

Thank you, Santa. The mug is lovely and I will certainly put it to good use. But your decision to check that little box and agree to donate your organs was the best gift of all.

Someday, it’s a gift that could save another person’s life. How cool is that?
John and Rita’s Holiday House

December 23, 2013 / 1 Comment

For many years, John and Rita Chakalos decorated their home with millions of lights. The 82-acre property, located at 140 Pond Brook Road in Chesterfield, N.H., was so filled with Christmas cheer that thousands of people drove by each year to see it.

John and Rita never charged a fee to view their home, though light knows their electricity bills must have been through the roof. Instead, the couple simply asked passersby to make small food donations. These offerings were then given to a local food bank, which serves hungry people in our area. Last year, there were so many donations that the food bank was stocked up until April.

In November, right before Thanksgiving, Rita died of cancer at the age of 84. Despite the grief of losing his wife of 59 years, John decided to decorate the property for Christmas, and even filled one tree with pink lights in her honor.

M and I had planned to drive by their house to view the festive display and the memorial tree. Unfortunately, we can no longer do so. A few days ago, John’s body was found inside his Connecticut home. He reportedly died of a gunshot wound to his head. It is unknown at this time if the shot was self-inflicted or not, but police are investigating the incident as a homicide.

John and Rita’s generosity and goodwill helped the poor and hungry. And everyone in the area knows their home because of the decorations and lights that were lovingly displayed each year. The couple left behind four daughters, but the entire community mourns their deaths.

I wonder if they truly realized just how many people they touched.

I hope so.
Speaking of gift guides…

December 9, 2013 / No Comments

I feel the need to call out the “Holiday Gift Guide” published on BOOKish.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the site, BOOKish launched earlier this year to promote books published by Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster*. I subscribe because I like receiving reviews and excerpts from new releases.

The recently published guide, which features recommendations from the site’s editors, claims to help you “find the right book gift for everyone on your list.” This is a worthy goal. However, if some of the gift categories are any indication, the site’s editors need a serious lesson in sexism.

Under the “For Him” category, there are book suggestions for political junkies, history buffs, sports fans, comic book collectors, music mavens and film buffs.

Under the “For Her” category: Books about parenting, sex, romance, cooking, being a good hostess and bibles.

Did I miss something or have we time-warped back to the 1950s?

BOOKish, please fix this guide. You’re doing a great disservice to your readers by assuming women care nothing about politics, history, comics, sports, music, film or, you know, the world outside of the home. Oh, and if the massive restaurant industry is any indication, your male readers probably want to become “kitchen maestros,” too.

* Transparency note: My husband once worked for Simon & Schuster and had nothing but good things to say about the place.