A Little Bit of Luck

My 85 year old neighbor Art is a real New York character. He has lived in New York City for the better part of his life and claims that the day he leaves will be the day he is "carted out in a box." He is by no means politically correct and often says stuff to M. like, "Can you believe these husbands who wake up early on Saturday to push their kid around in the baby stroller? Their wives are lazy. My wife always took care of all eleven of our children all of the time." Misogyny aside, he is an interesting person who was at one point the reigning United States salsa champion and at another time choreographed all of the dance numbers for a cruise ship on which he toured the world. Sometimes he will share stories with M. and I and we will assume that they are a gross exaggeration only to realize there is some newspaper clipping corroborating their existence or picture proving their occurrence.

On Thanksgiving, after the turkey, I met family at a Connecticut casino for a change of pace. I am not a big fan of casinos and never gamble. After much urging though, I decided to play one game of Roulette. Much to my delight I won 200 dollars immediately on my favorite number and on my only gamble. My neighbor Art, a true gambler who used to frequent the OTB (a place I had never even heard of until I met him) and has M. help him transfer money into his horse racing account (because he is technologically challenged, yet involved in betting that requires internet skills), has claimed that this was extremely lucky since Roulette is a game of pure luck. Therefore, I am posting this for someday when I become the eccentric New York character in the building who tells impossible stories from my youth and need photographic evidence and documentation to prove that my tales are not just another old woman's yarn.

   

You Had Me At Woof

Nobody loves Thanksgiving as much as my dog Frenchie. The night before we leave for Connecticut, we begin to mention the words "train," "Connecticut," "Max," and "backyard" to our three-year-old Boston Terrier and, though he may lack opposable thumbs and has been known to turn around with wonder and sniff perplexed when any kind of gaseous substance departs his back end, he is quick to catch on when these words are uttered. When his travel bag emerges from the closet, little can contain his excitement at the journey that will surely end with a lot of face licking from his brother Max and treats from his over indulgent Grandma.

For anyone who is a dog lover out there, you understand how dogs have a way of worming into our lives and hearts and essentially becoming a member of our families. M. always says had I asked him a million years ago when we began dating if he would ever fall asleep with a dog in his bed and wake with a dog spooning him under the covers he would have called him crazy and yet when I am pretending not to watch, M. is the first one to rain kisses down on Frenchie's flat little face. 

Sometimes I think that this blog should just come out as the "Dog Book Genre Blog" that it is rather than masquerading as a regular old book blog, but until that day, for those who love a good dog story that warms the heart, check out Julie Klam's You Had Me At Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secret of Happiness, which, naturally, stars a Boston Terrier. I can't promise that you won't sob in parts of this book, but I will promise a heartwarming read--especially for those of us who love dogs. 

  

A Disappointing Ending

The final book Reached in Allie Condie's Matched series came out last Friday and I downloaded it Thursday night! I was anxiously anticipating the conclusion to a series that I have really enjoyed and would love at some point to teach as part of a dystopian/speculative fiction unit. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the final book in this series. The character development was dragging and uninspired and the loose ends of the plot were tied up predictably. A shame considering the potential I thought existed in the first two books of this trilogy.

If you loved Matched and Crossed, check it out, but wait for your local library copy or borrow it from a friend...

Traditions

Tradition: Rituals, beliefs, or objects that are passed down within a society or family; a custom, or specific practice of long-standing.

As I walked to work this week through Lincoln Center, there were numerous workers on ladders wrapping intricate lighting designs around the trees that line the streets. Holiday cups have made their seasonal debut at Starbucks. People are constructing elaborate window displays in stores all over the city. The holiday season is upon us and, with the holiday season, comes the inevitable flurry of holiday traditions--pressured by modern media, others, or internally constructed pressure, and then reinforced by everything from window displays to coffee commercials.

I love traditions. From old traditions like decorating the Christmas tree with ornaments that I have had since birth or singing carols at the Christmas Eve service to new(er) traditions like "winter festivities" ice skating and secret santa with my friends or M. and I's yearly purchasing of our Christmas tree--which is a vastly different experience in New York City than the farm Christmas tree chopping of my youth--there is something comforting in traditions.

That said, I also love things that are non-traditional or unorthodox and feel that we should never get so caught up in tradition that we lose the ability to grow, change, and let new and wonderful things into our lives. It's easy to get caught up in the idea that we have to do the same thing in the exact same way year after year after year, but the reality is that if our lives were the same year in and year out, they would be boring, staid, and lackluster. 

Saturday morning, after a late night out Friday night, I was snuggling on my couch with my dog and I turned on the television to mindlessly watch something. I ended up watching the cheesy movie Christmas with the Kranks in its entirety. While the movie is a comedically modern Christmas movie, the films take on traditions I found completely endearing. 

In the film, The Krank's daughter tells them that she will not be coming home for Christmas that year. The couple, always obsessed with Christmas, decides to skip all of their usual Christmas traditions and go on a cruise. They forego Christmas trees, decorations, presents, and holiday hams, and are about to leave for the Caribbean when their daughter calls and says that--SURPRISE--she will be home after all. After a freak-out that they have not prepared for Christmas, they race around trying to recreate the exact same Christmas they have always had, failing miserably in their attempts. Ultimately, the family creates a new Christmas tradition, with pieces of the old traditions, and it ends up being the best holiday they have ever had; one of personal growth, redemption, and all of the aspects of the holidays that really matter. 

The past few years have brought many changes to my life; changes that have made it impossible to cling to every single old tradition, especially during, what can be, an intense holiday season when so often there is a pressure to maintain and perfectly render a holiday of shiny glazed turkeys, festive  holiday centerpieces, and apple pies that taste so incredible that you want to smile like a family in a Norman Rockwell painting. This message is often incongruous with a holiday that obfuscates a history of violence against the people indigenous to this country or the fact that so many people in this continent will be homeless this holiday season, but I digress...I guess what I am saying is that sometimes in the name of maintaining the tradition, the reasons for the inception of the tradition are lost. 

I guess I end with the sentiment that as wonderful as traditions are, they can also be confining and there is nothing wrong with opening ourselves to new things. We might even enjoy ourselves--or, better yet, appreciate what really matters! And, don't get me wrong, I will be the first one to begin playing The Nutcracker soundtrack the day after Thanksgiving, I will also probably purchase too many apple pies to count at the Farmer's Market from now until Christmas, and I will sing "Silent Night" loudly on Christmas Eve as I hold a candle at the candlelight service, but, that said, I look forward to all of the amazing adventures and joy that are birthed from the breaking of old traditions, the appreciation of all that I have, being with family and friends, and doing my best to help others in the spirit of the season during the holidays as well. 

Vintage Library

I know, I know, it has been a while since I've posted! It has been a busy, busy week; however, it has also been a wonderful week filled with delicious dates, baby showers with favorite people, drinks with friends, a growing obsession with yoga (thanks to a new local yoga studio), a successful presentation for graduate school, trying my hand at event planning, yummy shakes at shake shack, city walks, another trip idea in the planning stages, first snowfalls, and cozy nights in with chai tea. Feel sufficiently caught up? Good :)

Anyone who has read my blog knows of my love for old library card catalogues. Part childhood library nostalgia, part furniture aesthetic obsession, the library card catalogue is definitely something I covet. This is why I was so excited when M's mom called last week to let me know that she had stumbled upon a library that was parting with their vintage oak library card catalogue. I can't wait to see what purpose this piece of library history will serve for my home over the years.

Perhaps what once stored the locations of astronomy books will be reinvented as a wine storage system:

Or, as my friend suggested, a clothing storage system with built in drawer organizers by design.

Maybe, one day, when we live in a larger space, it will serve as a console ready to store serving ware and adorable napkins like these...

Whatever it will hold, I am excited to look for ways to fill it!!

Gratitude

Well, apart from the FEMA trucks rolling through, the relentless news images of devastation, the constant sounds of sirens, and friends from downtown texting to arrange shower times at our apartment, one might almost think that NYC is back to normal from the vantage point in my neighborhood. The New York Times even goes so far as to describe the phenomenon as "two Manhattans." Since work has been cancelled and I have not had to deal with the transportation nightmare that currently exists here, it is surreal to think about the fact that this storm has caused over 80 deaths in the area and that there will be a long, hard road to recovery ahead.