3 Ring Binder

February 2 nd is Ayn Rand’s birthday.  Explained by Harry Binswanger , “Randsday is for reminding ourselves that pleasure is an actual need, a psychological requirement for a volitional consciousness. For man, motivation, energy, enthusiasm are not givens. Pathological depression is not only possible but rampant in our duty-preaching, self-denigrating culture. The alternative is not short-range, superficial "fun," but real, self- rewarding pleasure. On Randsday, if you do something that you ordinarily would think of as "fun," you do it on a different premise and with a deeper meaning: that you need pleasure, you are entitled to it, and that the purpose and justification of your existence is: getting what *you* want--what you really want, with full consciousness and dedication.” I LOVE the idea of doing something for myself. In fact, I love it so much that I live that way every day;  I do what I can to make myself happy on both a daily and long-term basis. I took...

“I am unshaven and have been in my pajamas all day.” “I am putting on a bra and going to the library.” “Happy Anniversary, Darling.” “Happy Anniversary, Dear.” This is not a staged representation of the lifestyles of the relatively well-off and totally obscure, but an accurate portrayal of an actual encounter on the stairs today. This is why we work: We are both terribly exciting people and sparkling conversationalists, and we each expect the same from our significant other.

As we finalize our Thanksgiving menu, I realized that we are doing a lot of borrowing from the traditions, taste tests, and tried-and-true recipes of others.   Here are just a few of the recipes of the food flavors we’ve fancied for our fall feast this year: 1.        Alton Brown’s brine 2.        Marilyn Monroe’s dressing 3.        Mark Bittman’s beets 4.        Trey Givens’ ice cream I have to give a special nod to Mark Bittman’s brussel sprouts with bacon and figs .   Stephen made them the other day and they were fantastic ! I’m just not sure they’ll fit in with all the other wonderful dishes we’ll already have on the table. Brief videos for all of Bittman’s suggested Thanksgiving fare can be found here . Hope your recipe for celebrating Thanksgiving is as warm, wonderful, or wild as you wish.

Paper Plate Pistol Projectile Pack Progeny Pumpkin Patch Press Partner Ponders Prolongated Produce   Proximal Pals Provide Particular Provisions More on tonight's Suppacrawl at a later date.  Right now, I'm pooped!

At the recommendation of my husband, who will listen to virtually anything he can get his hands on in the library for his commute to work, I am listening to the audio book written and read by Mireille Guiliano.   [If you listened to WCRB, the classical music Boston radio station, before it became “listener supported,” you would probably recognize her voice from the popular Veuve Clicquot commercials.] Ms. Guilliano was the spokeswoman and CEO of the French Champagne House, Veuve Clicquot. Her book, French Women Don’t Get Fat , is simply a series of ways she enjoys her food, drink, and life and she imparts the lee-tul tricks she has learned so she can eat anything she wants and not get fat.   While her common sense approach to mindful eating is rather run-of-the-mill, her enthusiasm for celebrating life everyday is infectious; I’m actually really enjoying her guilt-free gastronomique ravings as well as listening to her silly accent (Monty Python reference – not that Fre...

Listen to the following piece by Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934), and between 1:50 and 3:30, you will be able to hear the somewhat wistful, somewhat triumphant theme to our day.   (You can hear a recording of the ubiquitous Trio section of the march as directed by Elgar in 1931 here .) Despite its amazing popularity, did you know  that "Pomp and Circumstance" is actually the title of a series of six Elgar marches, and not just the Trio portion of March No. 1 that we're all familiar with? Did you know that the title of marches is taken from Act III of Shakespeare's Othello ? "Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, The royal banner, and all quality, Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!". Or that, written in 1901, March No. 1 was first played as a graduation processional at the 1905 Yale ceremony during which Sir Edward Elgar received an honorary Doctorate of Music? OR,...

[I wrote this on December 23, 2008. I’m sharing it today – December 15, 2009 – the day I print, cut, fold, stuff, stick, and mail about 80 cards and 50 newsletters.   Last year, I had them all out by the first week of December.   To date, we’ve gotten 4 cards. But I’m not bitter.   Because of electronic media I can know more than I ever wanted to know about my friends’ lives; but I just can’t touch electronic images, my daughters can’t fight over who gets to open the next email, we can’t put .jpg files on the tree for family to peruse. I'm sad to notice the decline in this lovely tradition of sending Christmas Cards.] This is a topic about which I had previously given little thought: the number of Christmas cards sent out vs. the number of Christmas cards received. This year, we ran a scant 33% return!   In retrospect, I think we usually run a good 75% return on these lovely little year-end missives, so I was a little shocked not only by the low numbers, but t...

Finally! I have spent this morning doing something I should have done for a long time. I watched five concurrent TV show episodes on hulu! I know, there are those of you who have been telling me to watch the show for a long time, and those of you who couldn't say enough about it (but, sadly, not enough to actually make me understand how very funny, hopeful, poignant, and totally fabulous it is and that I should watch the Pilot before it fell off the queue at hulu - that'll have to wait until the DVD comes out), and even those of you who knew that despite a long-term enthusiastic following, the show is only six episodes long! In a bit of black comedy combining Bring It On and High School Musical with a John Hughesian flair wrapped up in a hour-long format, this show will delight anyone who has ever, even once, considered her life to be some sort of happy-go-quirky musical. So without further ado, because such would cause you to miss out on your chance to see it from episode 2...

That's right. It's been exactly one year since I linked to this . And to think, I almost missed celebrating this three minutes of happiness today!

Dancing, as it is equal parts celebration and perspiration, is the one form of exercise that I never tire of. Yes, I turn into a sweaty ball of exhilarated exhaustion quickly, but rather than being tedious or boring, the process is pure fun. The best part is that I have to train my mind and body to coordinate in a new way in order to experience the sheer pleasure such synchronized movement to music offers. Slowly, but consistently I’ve added to my dance style repertoire. Not that I actually ever go dancing anymore except for the occasional evening of swing, or other ballroom styles (and I do mean occasional), but I still love to learn new forms and dance at home. Instead of causing potential embarrassment to my children, so far, they’ve been dancing right along with me! It feels good to master even the simplest new choreography and add it to our spontaneously erupted, Tuesday-night-before-dinner, crank-the-music, free-for-all, flash dance parties. A few years ago I took up belly danci...

Clap your hands in rhythm, Romper stomp to the beat. Then step and clap together, With happy hands and feet. Thrust your hip to the downbeat, Pop and lock to the boom, Undulate to sound waves, In the smoky, crowded room. Rock-a-bye your princess, Swing ‘round your little boy. Twirl in the arms of a lover, Move as one, embracing joy. Turn your face to the sun, Stretch your arms open wide, Spin with wild abandon to The music you hear inside. Sway gently to the memories, Tap softly without waiver. The beauty of dancing is in The celebration and the savor.

I just returned from a women's outdoor adventure weekend. I know what you're thinking: LB, say it ain’t so! You HATE the outdoors! There are bugs, and it’s hot in the summertime, and that makes you crazy (not to mention everyone around you by extension)! Well, despite your valid concerns, I thought it high time to exorcise my very old demons against outdoor exercise and get better acquainted with a few strategic large muscle groups in my body – bugs, sweat, and tears be damned! So I went. When I signed up for the weekend, I did not understand the magnitude or implications of the big ‘W’ women’s, little ‘a’ adventure. As time to leave for the weekend drew nearer, I grew increasingly uncomfortable with the unfolding flavor of spiritual self-improvement and female bonding the weekend was to hold – not because those things are bad, but because neither of them really interests me as an organized activity. (I think I may be more like a man in that respect, but that exploration is for...

My Cute Baby Today my daughter turned 16. Along with the pink convertible we gave her, Notice the edible windshield. she was granted permission by the state to drive*. Sadly, today my papers weren't in order so in addition to a morning trip the RMV, we needed to make a trip to my hometown to get another, cleaner certified source of ID, then back to another RMV on the way home. She was determined to get that permit, though! And so, after 5 hours, over 100 miles, and one lunch with the grandparents (bonus!), she did. When we got home, we went to a safe place (the deserted high school parking lot) to test the robustness of my four year-old car's clutch. What fun! Happily, despite the quick jerking motions, no one ate this windshield. She did have reverse down really well before we left the lot. Plus ca change, plus c'est the meme chose! Actually, she did a great job for a beginner, and despite her serious frustration, I can tell she'll try again until she gets it right. Sh...

Today is my youngest daughter's 11th birthday. I'm certain that this simple letter will be her most favorite present - ever. Wouldn't it have been yours?

Have a good night.

I just found out about this cool collaboration between You Tube and the London Symphony Orchestra this morning. Here's Michael Tilson Thomas welcoming the musicians who will perform tonight at Carnegie Hall . And here is the project page on YouTube.

I'd like to tell you exactly how warm it is outside right now on this last day of March, but my Classroom Thermometer is in the chick brooder. Sadly, this is the first year in a while that I have not started the month with the big head of a lion drawn on our blackboard which I morph slightly every day until it finally looks like a lamb on the last day. In fact, I can't even find the photographic evidence of that fun little activity. (Now that's frustrating.) Never one to be defeated by my own bad filing, I recreated the slow, painstaking process in 10 minutes (with the help of my youngest) and present to you March: In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb quick chalkboard morph. Okay. So what it lacks between steps 4 and 5, it more than makes up for in low contrast and blurry picture taking. And I forgot to put a colorful bow on the last picture. Darn it. Oh well. I'll leave you with some lamb cooking tips . And a simple request: To anyone who reads this and might have some...

Having just come home from a whirlwind tour of a small bit of Manhattan at Christmas time with my husband and daughters, ages 10 and 15, I have accumulated and would like to share with you the following bits of wisdom. Don’t: 1) Bring anyone under 14 (Could also be read as “Don’t bring anyone whose legs are not at least as long as yours, who thinks she needs to eat every 40 minutes, or thinks that the Harajuku Lovers solid perfume tops are the height of holiday fun”.) All right – you can bring them as sharing NYC with your kids is half the fun, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. 2) Show up at Rockefeller Center and expect to get on the ice. If you want to skate at Rockefeller Center, get in line by 8:00AM for the 10:00 session. Sure, this endeavor blows over 1/3 of your time budget, but it is one of the quintessential New York experiences (which we didn’t have). 3) Stand in a cordoned-off line around the corner from any department store to see the windows. This will eat up an inordinat...

I'm sure some people are interested in how atheists can celebrate what has come to be known as a religious holiday. Well, contrary to popular belief, some of us have a deep sense of morality and are extremely caring. For us, this is what today is all about: