Tag Archive | postaweek2011

rambling thoughts about the year

Dec31

And another year is coming to a close. It’s interesting, now that I have been blogging for a year, I can look back at what I said on a particular occasion. One thing that’s funny about that is that I realize I repeat myself a bit (certain times of years and events make me feel the same way, so that makes sense). Another thing is when I realize that I remember something one way, but it really happened differently.

Case in point. I remembered that I was sick last New Year’s Eve, but  I assumed I had made resolutions at the New Year. But, on reading my last new year post, I saw that I felt too yucky to even bother and then remembered that I wrote some out (but don’t think I posted about them) while I was taking a few sick days later that week. I know that I was successful at some of them (adding miles on to my run distance) and a nonstarter with others (getting back into knitting and doing more cooking). I’m currently “formulating” this year’s goals, and will talk about them in my Monday post!

Looking back over 2011, it was a good year filled with many new adventures. My first Valentine’s Day as part of a couple, a trip to New Mexico, to England, to Chicago, to Ocean City, Maryland. I got my new digital camera last Christmas and learned how much I enjoy taking photographs of roads with horizons, flowers, and of course strivingcynic cat.

New Mexico was great for road shots!

beautiful Valentine's day tulips

[hmm...I strongly suspect mr. strivingcynic took the tulip photo].

One of the biggest  unanticipated changes in my life this year was brought on by my purchase of an iPhone in June. I’m a little shocked how dependent I have become on it–reaching for it almost immediately when I wake up in the morning and putting it away right before I go to bed at night. I love having the phone (and the WordPress app), but I’m fairly certain this hasn’t been a completely good change (I spend too much time playing with the phone rather than engaging with other people and paying attention to other things).

And of course, I turned 40! Now that I’ve hit the mark, I find it funny how much I talked about the fact that I’d be turning 40! My anticipation of it made it into much bigger a deal than it turned out to be (like, okay, so now I’m 40….and….?? fine). So, should I start talking about turning 41 in 2012? We’ll see…..

strivingcynic cat being sweet (probably the fifth time I've run this photo!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Feel free to share an observation about your year. A milestone, something new that happened, a purchase that was meant to make your life easier but somehow ended up taking over?

let the wrapping paper fly

Dec29

So, I’m finally ready to talk about Christmas!

All of us were up, fed, and the adults properly caffeinated and then it was present opening time. Mr. strivingcynic got a lot of clothes and books, both of which made him happy. He is now the proud owner of two zip-up cardigans that will help keep him warm at work, which is always cold in the winter.  Strivingcynic teen got dvds, some books about movies, clothes, and a stocking full of candy and notepads (she loves stationery/office supplies). [Everyone got other gifts as well, but my memory fades quickly].

I got lots of lovely presents. Some open front cardigans (wonderful for my [also cold] work place), books, DSW (shoe store) gift cards. Sc teen gave me a box of chai that I’m drinking as I type. And then there are the coffee related gifts. You see, one thing I asked for (that I’ll admit, I found about through my blog reading) was a milk frother so I could make “fancy” drinks. All that tea I have? Well the ones I drink with milk can now be lattes. Turns out that handheld frothers can be bought for a few dollars (although I gather they often don’t last), so I was excited to get the frother.

Little did I know what was in store. I couldn’t help noticing a rather large box in the pile with my name in it. And when I opened it, I was shocked to see a Keurig coffee maker (another thing I know appears on blogs a lot, but not something I asked for. Mr. sc knows of my love of morning coffee and made a very good guess). He also got me a 48 variety pack of coffee to go with it.

I’m very excited by this, and I’m planning to get some variety of filter that allows you to make ground coffee that doesn’t come in one of the special k-cups (I’m currently investigating the kinds out there. I figure getting such a filter will let me use the coffee I already have and then I won’t be throwing away a cup every day). I’m having fun playing with the Kuerig, trying different coffees, and making lattes! The only downside for me is that I was so proud to use my newly learned throwing away coffee filters technique, but now there are no more filters.

an early Keurig and frother effort (with cinnamon on top)

[So, this photo is staged. The frothing was done before the milk was added to the coffee, but I didn't think to take an "in progress" photo. You get the idea].

And of course, strivingcynic cat got a present, and not just a present, but a *successful* present (ie, one he doesn’t ignore).

a wand with fuzzy boas thingy!!

What’s also good about this present is that it’s something that we can play with with sc kitty. I constantly vow to play with him more, but don’t always live up to my promise (I know, how could I?). Seeing how much he enjoys chasing after the flying boas (he appears to be more of a “birder” than a “mouser” so I don’t trail it on the ground as often as I wave it in the air) makes me feel good, and it’s good stress relief for me and energy release for him!

thanks mom! I won't totally ignore this one!

And of course, present unwrapping was only the beginning. In the afternoon we went to my father’s where we opened more presents, ate a ton of food, and for some reason watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. My dad and his wife’s strategy was appetizer food…so there was veggies and dip, cheese and crackers, quesadillas, turkey meatballs, potato pancakes, brilliant. Dessert included the gingersnaps and chocolate chip bars I brought, almond cheesecake, mincemeat pies, and zucchini bread. And I’m happy to say leftovers were brought home!

What do you think of sc cat’s new toy? Would an “all appetizer” Christmas work for you?

top ten books I read in 2011

Dec27

This topic, brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish’s Top Ten Tuesday is right up “I love doing year in review type things” alley. Thanks for hosting, Broke and Bookish. May 2012 see you a little less broke and keeping up with the bookish!

So, unless I manage to finish another book before the ball drops, my official count for 2011 is 23 books. So, a little less than 50 percent made it in. I found I had more difficulty deciding what to include and suspect that some choices would have been different if I had read more books.

This list isn’t a ranking. Just done in the order read.  Any title that I’ve added an underline to is a link because I reviewed it on this blog when I read it. And here we go!

1. Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter. This was the first book I read in 2011. I started the year with a miserable cold and thought the story would warm my heart. Dewey was left in a library book drop as a kitten on a freezing Iowa night. He became the “library cat” and grew to have many fans. As a cat person and a book person, the combination was irresistible. I really appreciated how the author took her own life and the Iowa way of life into account as she wrote about the irrepressible Dewey and his adventures.

2. Best Friends Forever, by Jennifer Weiner. This book, also read when convalescing with the same miserable new year’s cold, was fun. A take on the ugly duckling and her always beautiful counterpart, this book made me laugh, which was just what I needed.

3. U is for Undertow, by Sue Grafton. Another great book by Grafton about chasing down memories and dark moments in the past. I like how much more complex these mysteries have become over the years and I’m looking forward to V.

4. Bitter is the New Black, by Jen Lancaster.  An angry, bitter, funny voice is irresistible to me and Lancaster’s book about her travails among the unemployed (been there, done that) cracked me up.

5. Execution Dock, by Anne Perry. I rarely read an Anne Perry mystery I don’t enjoy. The latest William Monk is dark dark dark dark, but good.

6. Dish: The Inside Story on the World of Gossip, by Jeannette Walls. This was a book I picked up at a library sale. This history of the gossip industry was really fascinating. The only thing odd about it was reading it in 2011 (it was published in 2000) when more of the story had happened (reading about Michael Jackson’s relationship with tabloids, for example).

7. I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies): Tales of a Loudmouth Girl, by Laurie Notaro. My other bitter girl find of 2011. I may not love everybody, but based on this book, I do love Laurie Notaro. The title story is a masterpiece of how trying to be a better person may result in a stress-induced heart attack.

8. Read My Pins, by Madeleine Albright. I sometimes find I wear a particular piece of clothing or jewelry to make a statement. Madeleine Albright’s book is a perfect explanation of what our adornments can mean.

9. The Brightest Star in the Sky, by Marian Keyes. Keyes is one of my dependable chick lit authors. I got through this book very quickly wanting to know how the characters’ lives turned out. There were some really touching moments along the way.

10. Shoe Addicts Anonymous, by Beth Harbison. More chick lit fun about women whose love of shoes brings them together in ways that work out well for all. Surprising no one thought of it before.

Feel free to share, or link to your top ten, or talk about a favorite book from 2011.

the second first

Dec26

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with lots of nice surprises. I plan on recapping our Christmas in my Thursday post (since tomorrow will be a book post). But, you see, today is not just the day after Christmas. Oh no! You see, today is the one year anniversary of when striving cynic went live! My first posts (yes, I did two that day…I suspect I haven’t done that since) were how I see the glass and day after Christmas/east coast blues. I just went over and reread them and I’m happy to say that I still like them although I think my “explaining myself” in the first post is a little funny (although I think I refer people to the glass post on my about page because I think in another incarnation it would have been my about page [speaking of which, I want to make some changes to that and maybe actually add another page one of these days...]).

So, with that in mind, a little striving cynic: the year that was in statistics (note: this is as of Dec. 24. If anything changes before Dec. 26, I’ll update the post).

Month with the least posts:  December 2010, with 2 posts

Month with the most posts: March 2011, with 16 posts (I think I may have set a goal to post 4 times a week for then)

Blog themes: 2 I started off with Koi and moved to Bouquet a little over a month ago

Number of photographs: 387 (well, that’s what’s in my media library; I know some photos were repeated)

Number of photographs that turn up when I search my media library using the word “cat”: 47 (I’m sure there’s more though)

Lowest number of views in a day: I had several 0 view days, but thankfully it’s been a while

Highest number of views in a day: Well, there was the day that I had 332, but as I posted about in “trust issues,” I think something weird happened that day. Otherwise, my highest day was December 13 “Top ten books I want to give as gifts“, with 56 (striving cynic is definitely a modest blog).

Number of comments: 997 (almost half are me)

Number of times there is a strivingcynic cat tag on a post/number of posts sc cat is mentioned in: 27/97

what can I say? he's good content

Number of times there is a mr. strivingcynic tag on a post/number of posts mr. sc is mentioned in: 15/77

Mr. sc's photography has also been featured. Picture of the Mount in Lenox, Mass.

Number of times Gilmore Girls is mentioned: 5

[add one for this post for each of the three above]

Things I probably wouldn’t have done if it weren’t for this blog:

1. Countdown Goals

2. Sign up for and run a 5k

3. Start volunteering at the animal shelter

4. Participate in Top Ten Tuesdays for books.

5. “Talk” to other bloggers. I guess I could have joined the blog world as a commenter, but I was too shy. Having a blog forced me out there a bit!

As I mentioned at the first first anniversary, I am glad I started striving cynic and feel I’ve learned a lot in the process. I definitely enjoy blogging and have a much clearer idea of my particular [aimless] direction than when I took those first steps a year ago.

If you have a blog (and pretty much all of my commenters do) what has your blog inspired you to do that you might not have done otherwise? What do you think when you read your first post?

a strivingcynic cat Christmas

Dec24

strivingcynic cat decided this would be his first Christmas toy

[ie, this one had been on display on a stand until the morning I found him on our living room floor]

one (very cute) ornament he hasn't been able to get his paws on!

his stocking has been hung with the utmost care!

he's been (mostly) respectful of the tree

waiting for Santa

indeed

Have a wonderful Christmas!

a little festival of lights celebration

Dec22

Tuesday night was the start of Hanukkah. So, since I showed off our Christmas decorations, I thought I’d share the first night menorah lighting!

menorah in foreground, unrelated trivet in background (and yes, we haven't gotten rid of the pink formica counter tops yet)!

The menorah was a house warming present when I moved into my apartment years ago. It was actually a spare menorah my relative had on hand, so I won’t feel guilty that I decided in the last day or two to shop for a new one after Hanukkah’s over…it’s really not my style. The trivet was also a  house warming gift. The (Egyptian) theme of Prosperity, Love, and Health fits well with the holidays.

we keep the candles in the fridge

Why the candles are in the fridge, I don’t know. Think it has to do with how the candles burn. One of the many Hanukkah questions (like why the different spellings of Hanukkah/Chanuka [different schools of transliteration...]).

for the first night, you light one candle

There are 8 candles for each of the 8 nights…yes, there is a ninth candle but that’s sort of the “master candle.” This is called the shamesh (or something like that…if anyone is interested in knowing more about Hanukkah, here’s a site that explains it way better than I can! Hopefully it won’t contradict what I’m saying). That is the candle you light with a match (or lighter in our case). That candle is used to light the other candles…and this is done from right to left.

and the shamesh is lit

Despite the refrigeration, the candles can be a little temperamental. This burned out the first time I lit it. I had to melt away some of the wax in order to get the fire to stay lit.

and our first night candle is lit!

In case you’re wondering, mr. strivingcynic took the photos for this post. I did not hold lit candles with one hand and a camera with another!

and the candle lighting for night one is complete

The candles burn pretty quickly!

Each night I’ll add another candle, moving towards the left. On the eighth night, all nine candles will be lit. Growing up, we exchanged gifts each night of Hanukkah (well, I was a kid, so I got gifts), but over the years, we found it more convenient to do all in one shot…and since most of us had Christmas off, that became our exchange day! This year, Hanukkah and Christmas coincide, so we’ll actually get a little bit of both come Sunday!

Happy Hanukkah!

Do you/have you ever celebrated Hanukkah (or gone to a Hanukkah party? lit a menorah or seen one lit)?

top ten books I hope santa brings

Dec20

Once again, I’m going with The Broke and the Bookish for their weekly top ten list (thanks for hosting)! So, Hanukkah starts tonight and Christmas is days away, so the gift giving has almost begun! And what ten books am I hoping I’ll see when the wrapping paper is shredded carefully pulled off to reveal the goodie beneath?

So, some of these are books I asked for or know I’m getting (my mother knows which writers I like and has a lock on getting their latest to me for any occasion). Here they are:

1. Organize Now!: A Week-by-Week Guide to Simplify Your Space and Your Life, by Jennifer Ford Berry. I asked for this one because I realized that my level of disorganization is affecting my life in a not good way. I just looked up “organize my life” in amazon and this title came up, but when I looked at the table of contents, I liked that it was about more than just cleaning rooms and decluttering. There are sections on organizing routines and schedules and I like the week by week approach.

2. V is for Vengeance, by Sue Grafton [note: my bad, I had V Is for Violence earlier. Should have looked it up.] To think I was in my early adolescence when this series started and heroine Kinsey Millhone was 32. Now I’m 40 and she’s 38 (and stuck in the 80s, lucky duck!). These books have moved with the times in their complexities and I look forward to reading the latest chapter as much as I don’t look forward to waiting for the next one. And the end of the alphabet isn’t so far away. I’m fairly certain my mom got me this.

3-5. Books by funny women. 3 is Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling. I love her sense of humor so this is one I asked for. 4. Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America, by Leslie Knope. Parks and Recreation never fails to crack me up…so a book that explores the wonders of Pawnee? I can’t resist. I totally asked for this one. 5. Bossypants, by Tina Fey. Since Tina Fey is a little bit older than me, I like to kid myself that I could have her success when I’m her age! At least I can read about it. Didn’t think to ask for it, but would be happy to see it.

6-7. Anne Perry Mysteries. 6. Acceptable Loss and 7. A Christmas Homecoming. . I’ve enjoyed all of Anne Perry’s series (The Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series, The William Monk Series, The Christmas Series, and the World War I series [The first three take place in Victorian England). I’ve been reading her for a long time (and yes, I know about her identity, but didn’t when I started reading her). William Monk is a particular favorite of mine. When his character is first introduced, he’s a detective who’s undergone an amnesia inducing head injury and is forced to hide his amnesia while piecing together clues to a mystery along with his own identity. Just some of the best mysteries I’ve read. My mother will probably get me these.

8-9. Gilmore Girls books. There is a reason I have an “awesomeness that was Gilmore Girls” tag. I thought some books about the show would a) be fun and b) help me with my sense of loss. Two I requested were Coffee at Luke’s: An Unauthorized Gilmore Girls Gabfest, edited by Jennifer Crusie and Leah Wilson. The second (which I’m feeling guilty for asking for now that I see it’s like, 35 bucks) is The Gilmore Girls Companion by A.S. Berman.

10. Howards End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home, by Susan Hill. I tripped over this one on Amazon and asked for it for a few reasons. First is that I like/collect books about books and reading. I haven’t read much of Hill, just The Woman in Black and I’ve got The Small Hand waiting to be read, but I thought I might enjoy seeing what she has to say about reading.

So, those are my ten books that I hope I’ll be seeing in wrapping paper in the next few weeks. I’m fairly confident that I’ll get at least 6 of these, and possibly even 8. If not, I still have an Amazon gift card from my birthday that’s waiting to be used!

What books are you hoping to get this holiday season? Would any of my picks interest you?

holiday decorations happen

Dec19

Saturday was finally our “decorate for Christmas” day. I’m relatively new to decorating for Christmas (I’m not observant for the most part, but my family is Jewish so I did not have the “Christmas experience” as a little kid…and since I had the “Hanukkah experience”  [ie, I got presents] that was fine with me). Mr. strivingcynic and his daughter, sc teen, have a finely honed Christmas decorating routine and I’m happy to observe and participate (just like they’ll do a little Hanukkah candle lighting with me later this week).

So I bring you “A strivingcynic household Christmas decoration” scene!

the soon to be decorations/decorating spot

So, we’ve got a throw pillow resting on the Christmas tree box, and in the background a footstool that will soon be removed to make way for the tree.

the box with the tree

a little background holiday music to enhance the mood

the top before it's the top

strivingcynic cat observes the strange activities

He gets a little freaked out by the changes brought on by the arrival of the tree…but then he starts looking for toy potential.

the tree is upright!

and lit!

and decorated!

Mr. sc and sc teen are obsessed about covering the “gaps” in the tree. I think it looks pretty good.

Santa is put on top

and the tree is inspected

now, time for us to sit on the decorated couch and eat the pumpkin pie I made for the occasion

I had an extra frozen pie crust from Thanksgiving, so why not? It turned out really well!

Do you have a routine or order for your holiday decorations?  Do you do anything to “celebrate” the decorating process?

tales of the unsavvy, hair edition

Dec17

Have you ever felt like there was a basic skill you somehow didn’t manage to pick up? I have a number of these. For example, I feel like I somehow missed out on “kindergarten skills.” I can’t cut on a straight line, fold evenly, write clearly, (hmm..this probably explains why I’m so crap at wrapping presents).

Thankfully, I have something I feel secure in blaming for my kindergarten-type deficiencies. I’m left handed. Clearly, all my teachers dropped the ball because they catered to the righties (I’ll save the “we lefties have it hard” post for another day…). I don’t know if they still do this, but when I was in school, they had these impossible “left handed scissors” that always hurt my hand!

Lately, I’ve been confronting another area of my life where I feel like I missed some basic instruction: hair and make up 101. Now, this is not to say that I do nothing about my hair and make up. I do my bit to support Sephora/Ulta and their ilk. It’s just that when confronted with a hair and make up challenge, I’m not sure what to do…so then I try to do research and get overwhelmed by the 80 million billion choices out there.

For example. You can see from the lovely photo of the back of me that I use for everything related to this blog that I have curly brown hair. Now, I actually enjoy having curly hair (I’ll save the “we curlies have it hard” post for another day…). But aside from the curly issues of frizz and the fact that my grandmother still begs me to run a brush through my hair even though I’m 40 (sigh..another day!), I’m confronted with a new issue. Because my hair is so dark, I have noticed some gray hairs popping out in contrast. At first it was one or two, which I dismissed as a fluke. Last week, I got my hair cut and my stylist assured me it was five to ten tops and proceeded to cut them away. Which was why I was surprised to see two more front and center gray hairs in the mirror today.

They’re gathering strength and I have to wonder how long it is before they take over. There’s a 99 percent chance that I’ll want to color my hair when it starts really getting gray. And that makes me want to groan.

I tried highlighting my hair a few times when I was a teenager…but highlights don’t show up easy in dark hair (especially if you want them to look natural). I never got to have a fun “dye my hair pink or blue” phase because I knew it would have to be bleached first and didn’t want to do that. So, when I think about coloring my hair all I can think is, a) ugh…the cost; b) ugh, the time (at the salon) and c) ugh, the maintenance (see a and b). However, given the “kindergarten issues” I mentioned at the opening of this post, I think trying to color it myself would be very unwise.

Somehow, I get 80 million women’s fitness and lifestyle magazines that constantly feature “go into the light” stories about the wonders of how good hair color will “lift” you, but aside from those teenage forays, I’m innocent of the ways of dyes and semi/demi whatever permanent glosses or glazes. Once I take the step, however, I know I will never go back. So, I’m hoping that these newly appearing grays are just “ha ha isn’t that amusing” anomalies rather than the [soon to be covered up] color of my future.

You think your hair's dark? And what's wrong with a little contrast? (photo by mr. strivingcynic)

What is your hair color history? And if you can offer reassurance about the coloring process, I want to hear about it!

lying and denying

Dec15

I like to think of myself as an honest person. In part, I think being honest is just easier (lies get hard to keep track of!), but I also feel that little kid-like twinge of guilt when I say something that’s not exactly true. Like I feel weird when I schedule a post to publish on a different day from when I’m writing it. For the sake of being less confusing, I’ll say “yesterday…such and such happened to me,” because it isn’t going to post until the next day, but I feel weird about it when in fact, it happened earlier that day. A little strange, right?

And yet, there’s one part of my life where I will lie every time. Deny deny deny! What is it? What secret do I find so shameful that I will lie to anyone’s face when caught in the act?

It’s falling asleep. More specifically, if I’m falling asleep at a time I think I shouldn’t be falling asleep.

Here is a scene that has been repeated, let’s just say more than once, in the strivingcynic household.

I am on the couch, sitting watching tv in the evening, let’s say around 9. I’m enjoying what I’m watching, but feel I might be a little more comfortable if I were lying down. As soon as I change position, mr. strivingcynic will comment “That’s it for you!” and I’ll always respond, “What? Oh no….I just think I’d be more comfy..” What he knows and I refuse to admit to myself (because I truly believe I’m doing it to be more comfortable) is that once this change in position happens, I’m usually minutes away from falling asleep.

It happened a few weeks ago when I was watching a cute kitty special on Animal Planet (mr. sc was in another room but realized I stopped laughing and knew what had happened). On Saturday, we were watching Cedar Rapids (fun movie), when I decided to put my feet up and lie back. “No no, it’s just more comfortable…I’m not sleepy” And then, out! When I woke up, mr. sc promised to fill me in on the 20 minutes I missed….and then all of the sudden it was the end of the movie (conked out again).

And it’s not just mr. sc who knows the score. Many times, after lying down to “get comfortable” and “resting my eyes,”  I will wake up to find strivingcynic cat/T Swoop curled up asleep on my chest. Apparently there was one time that he was poking at my face. Somehow [even though of course, I wasn't really asleep], I knew nothing.

Admit you're falling asleep and I'll let you have a blanket!

I’m not sure where this sleep shame comes from. I know those rare times that I’ve slept in or taken a nap [only when I'm sick] and someone has called me, my instinct is to lie and say I wasn’t sleeping if they ask. Why do I care? Am I being polite (“no…even though I sound totally out of it and abrupt, you didn’t wake me up”)? Am I ashamed about falling asleep early/late or in the middle of the day because I’m sick? With mr. sc, do I lie because I want him to think I’m exciting and vibrant rather than the type of girlfriend who falls asleep on the couch at 9:30 [okay 9:00] at night? He already knows who he’s dealing with! So, maybe it’s a harmless (haha) quirk….maybe it’s the sign of a deep-seated compulsion!

Can you admit your sleepiness in the privacy of your own home? Is there anything you feel compelled to lie about when it really wouldn’t matter if you told the truth?