Archive for April 2012
Gratitude journal: Cuddling the baby
With about a month to go, there won’t be many more moments like this, so tonight I’m grateful to have recorded one for posterity.
Read MoreForgetting she’s gone
I heard an advertisement for the ideal Mother’s Day gift today and thought, “Mom would love that. I should order it now and not wait until the last moment,” forgetting, of course, that Mom passed away in 2007. This happens far too often to me. It crushes me every time. Am I the only one?
Read MoreWisdom beyond his years. Or perhaps I just have a lot of growing up to do.
New York Times bestselling author Deborah Kogan tweeted a quote by her five year old son last week that continues to haunt with me. When it comes to my persistent existential crisis, this five-year old has summed up my feelings more precisely than I ever could have myself. “When I die, I’m gonna miss myself.”…
Read MoreGratitude journal: Class or an AT&T dead zone
My daughter cuddled with me for a solid twenty minutes today, the longest on record. We played hide-and-go seek for what felt like an hour. We assembled jigsaw puzzles together. We tickled each other a lot. But no, tonight I am grateful that my friend, a Washington Capitals fan who watched his team defeat the…
Read MoreA bookseller, a reader and an imaginary friend
In her Huffington Post “Notes from My (Book) Shelf”column, the very generous and highly esteemed Roxanne Coady, owner of RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT, writes: Serendipitous Moment of the Week Sandi Kahn Shelton (a writer and journalist; her pen name is Maggie Dawson) was in my store this week and literally bumped into a…
Read MoreBackground television makes you stupid. Or perhaps you’re an idiot for failing to turn off the television in the first place. Either way, turn the damn thing off when you’re not watching.
My wife and I think that background television (the continued use of the television even though its audience is engaged in other activities) is the opiate of the masses. The basest and most vile form of audio input. A distracting annoyance of the highest regard. As unfortunate and unfair as it may be, we are…
Read MoreGratitude journal: The absolute euphoria of prime factorization
Tonight I am grateful for the inexplicable joy and near euphoria that my students experienced when successfully negotiating the prime factorization of numbers like 1,056, 2044, and 4,096. I really can’t explain it, but I witnessed fist pumps, leaps of joy, high-fives, twirls of victory, and screams of delight upon discovering that they had successfully…
Read MoreA joyous respite for book lovers everywhere
The joy of a cupcake
I don’t know if I have ever felt as much joy in my entire life as my daughter did while eating this cupcake:
Read MoreGratitude journal: A place for the pooch
Tonight I am grateful… oh so grateful, for our new dog sitter, who lives a mile down the road, loves our dog, took excellent care of her over the weekend, and is relatively inexpensive. Before adding a dog to your family, find a dog sitter. There is nothing better than the peace of mind in…
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