Pre-Ramble:  Greetings from the beach, Amigos! (Please forgive my poor Spanish here … four years of Latin isn’t really helping me in this momento … )

Just wanted to send a little note to let you know I’d be back at it next week.

Take-Away: For now, you can count on me to rock the 55 SPF, stay properly hydrated, and keep this lounge chair from blowing into the surf!

Pre-Ramble:  So, I was front and center for the Oscars last night … wouldn’t miss a chance to weigh in on the stunning red carpet fashion fanfare. 

Lots to love (Sandra Bullock, Sarah Jessica Parker) … and hate (Charlize Theron, twice). 

One thing I noticed this year was that the pit-stop interviewers would ask  an actress who had designed their dress, and maybe, if they had on some outrageous bling, who designed their jewelry. Sure … normal.

And then, they would turn to stand-by-significant-other and ask him who designed his tux.

Don’t read this, Tom Ford – Is it wrong of me … even sexist of me … to totally NOT CARE what kind of tux an actor is wearing? Armani, Prada, Tom Ford, J.C. Penny … HELLO!? … THEY ARE ALL WEARING BLACK JACKETS WITH BLACK PANTS AND WHITE SHIRTS!

Sure; there is no doubt that some actors look better in The Uniform than others. It is no coincidence that Bradley Cooper and Gerard Butler were co-presenters for “Best Visual Effects.” (And T-Bone Burnett would look beyond cool in anything he put on.)

The Take-Away:  Sorry guys, even if you look amazing, … even if you’re rockin’ a periwinkle pocket square, … even if you’re Griswold Lorillard at the annual Autumn Ball, … I still don’t care what brand of black suit you’re wearing.

Pre-Ramble:  Every Sunday morning, I drag myself into the kitchen, fire up a pot of dark roast, and wait patiently while my beloved husband cooks up a batch of his world-famous pancakes.  He has perfected his top secret recipe and technique over the years to the point where I don’t even bother to order pancakes in restaurants any more because they couldn’t possibly measure up.

So, while I’m waiting for the batter to “rest” (apparently a critical part of the perfect pancake routine) I flip through the Sunday paper. We get the New York Times on Sundays — a consistently informative and insightful account of the events and issues of the day. Being the inquiring and scholarly type, I rifle through the pile to find, 1) the Sunday Magazine; 2) the Arts & Leisure section; and 3) the Styles section. 

I could lie here and say that I take an in depth look at the Week in Review and the Business sections, but the level of discourse on my blog pretty much rats me out on that. 

The Sunday Magazine always has a couple of interesting interviews or articles. This week there’s a fascinating piece on a synthetic biology competition (… the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition); a short story about a kid writing a college application essay about his younger brother who is autistic; and a fascinating profile on CNN chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, detailing her morning routine, the last book she’s read, the fictional character she most identifies with, and her career aspirations at age five.  All good stuff.

The Arts & Leisure section, as indicated by its name, has lots of interesting and colorful information about ground-breaking forms of entertainment that I will never see, like Ten-Time-Tony-Award-Winning shows on Broadway, Balanchine Week, Post-Minimalist art, and Jeff Beck live. (I have actually experienced that last one … It was deafening.)

It’s the Style section that contains the real entertainment. It has, after all … (drum-roll … fanfare … ) … THE WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENTS! 

Here are three reasons why those are so fun:

1. Match made in heaven – “When I met Adrian, it was like being hit over the head with a shovel,” Ms. Scouler said.  Mr. Weindling, however, recalled being skeptical of her upbeat personality… “Gillian walked in, and she was overwhelmingly bright, friendly and positive, which is usually a turnoff for me,” he said.
2. Got a younger brother? – “Dr. Kaple, 28, is a second-year medical resident in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame and received a medical degree, with honors, from Yale.”
3. Third time’s a charm – “The bridegroom’s two previous marriages ended in divorce.”

The Take-Away: There’s something simultaneously engaging and daunting about reading the street cred/life achievement/love worthy bios of two people who are about to walk down the aisle to certain wedded bliss. I am curious. The announcements make me wonder who the people are, what brought them together, and what their lives will be like. Their stories remind me of my own. Some make me smile. Some make me cringe. Either way, I wish them well.

Pre-Ramble:  Well, it’s time for the annual pre-Valentine’s Day NECCO Sweethearts Conversation Candies update. Last year, as you recall, I posted some fascinating factoids about the petite, chalk-like treats (“Be Mine” 2-12-09), including the fact that over 8 million of the candy hearts are sold during the Valentine holiday. 

Who says we’re not a nation of innovators?  After 145 years of tepid quasi-sugary flavors and pale pastel hues, the NECCO R&D team has boldly changed up their formulation to include sassier, tangy fruit flavors like Green Apple, Blue Raspberry, Lemon and Grape, as well as incorporating deeper shades of color (see above).

NECCO has also logged onto the social media craze, updating the sappy messaging of yore like “You’re Nice,” … “Try Me,” … and “Sweet Pea,” to high tech sayings like “Tweet Me,” “Text Me,” and “Friend Me.” (I made that last one up, but if it isn’t in their repertoire, it should be.) Apparently, there is also an iPhone app that will send a personalized Sweethearts message to your beloved’s Twitter page … @#aw-sum.

The jury is still out on whether these innovations represent an improvement, but according to the discriminating palates duking it out on facebook, response to the new colors, flavors and texture (molten play-dough?) has been mixed.

The Take-Away:  As a writer, I love the concept of these short form messages, however, no matter how clever, heart-shaped or tech-forward, I will shove them around on my desk or throw them into an open sunroof, but I will NEVER eat a NECCO Sweatheart Conversation Candy.

Note to sweetie: Give me a cupcake or diamond pendant any day.

Pre-Ramble:  Ok … sounds like they had some snow over on the East Coast yesterday. 

I’d like to be supportive and giddy along with them as they scurry around stockpiling soup and shrieking about the “vast brindled nebula that stretched 400 miles along the Chesapeake coast, knocking out power to thousands and causing numerous accidents“ … and waxing poetic about the “enchanted snowbound adventure” that lies piled up on their doorsteps and streets …

“The hard edges of Washington were softened as the snow recast the capital of monuments and malls into a postcard town of soft ice cream shapes that had been statues and aerodynamic blobs that had been parked cars: the buried machines of a lost civilization. The Capitol and the White House vanished in the whiteout, cross-country skiiers appeared in parks and the Potomac was a grayish plate of pewter.”

Sure. Great. Let’s get all bundled up and go sledding.

The Take-Away:  There is no doubt that extreme weather, particularly snow, can be a very beautiful thing … It’s just that we here in Minnesota live with that scenario 6 months out of the year. I am scheduled to be in D.C. for a conference next week (look for a blog post or two on that) and I’d really appreciate it if they could make a concerted bi-partisan effort to have both sides of the aisle on that winter wonderland mess cleaned up by the time I get there.

Post Note:  “Good Dog” blizzard tip for First Canine Bo from seasoned, Minnesota snow-bunny, Daisy – Make sure the President shovels a potty-path out onto the front lawn … it’s next to impossible to “maneuver” in deeper-than-doggie-tummy-level snow.

Pre-Ramble:  This just in — that toothy marmot, Punxsutawney Phil crawled out of his lair earlier today and saw his stupid shadow, which means we get another six wretched weeks of winter. 

I take umbrage to that, you lethargic rodent!

You know, there is totally a conflict of interest here. According to the National Geographic News, as per the Groundhog Day tradition,

“If Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his temporary burrow—a simulated tree stump at the rural site of Gobbler’s Knob—on February 2 and sees his shadow, winter weather will continue for six more weeks. But, if Phil doesn’t see his shadow, then spring temperatures are just around the corner.”

Basically, this means that a “shadow” call buys P. Phil six more weeks of lollygagging in his lair, whereas, the “no shadow” call means an immediate suspension of hibernation mode. Any weasel with half-a-brain could figure that one out.

Plus, folks over at the U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) have estimated that “while Phil’s proponents maintain that his predictions are 100 percent accurate, … Phil is only correct about 40 percent of the time…”

“… By taking Phil’s predictions and comparing them with average temperatures in February and March, [we have been able to determine that there have been] many years when Phil’s predicted six more weeks of winter weather, and February and March turned out to be warmer than average.”

Pathetic!  This celebrated varmint has got one job to do — make a single, stinking weather prediction – and he only scores right 40 percent of the time?!   He’s got a lot of nerve and one heck of a PR firm. 

The Take-Away:  All this fuss for a two minute photo op and some lame guesstimate?!  …  In a nod to the new millennium, let’s upgrade the format … That chubby rascal may as well change his name to G-Hog, stay in his flippin’ burrow, flip a coin, and Tweet the outcome on his fan page.

Pre-Ramble: Quick – before it’s over, we must recognize today, the last Monday in January, as the festive holiday that it is – Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.

Actually, not only is it Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, but it is also the 50th Anniversary of the invention of the “sealed air cellular material” known by fans everywhere as “bubble wrap.”  

The Bubble Wrap® brand continues to provide the assurance of quality and performance in bubble cushioning that we have come to depend on.  According to the cushy product’s website,

Bubble Wrap® was invented in 1960 by Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, using their patented air-trapping technology. The clear, bubbled wrap was originally intended to be used as textured wallpaper, however the two inventors quickly realized it was actually a superior cushioning material and went on to found Sealed Air Corporation, now a global, Fortune 500 company that offers a wide range of packaging solutions and has annual sales in excess of $4 billion.  Sealed Air is widely recognized for its strong commitment to innovation and continues to be an industry leader in research and development.

Bubble-app … Bubble wrap continues to enjoy a healthy popularity, serving as a buffer for shipping fragile items and most recently as a hand-held game on the Apple iPhone (shown right). Players see how many virtual, life-size ”bubbles” they can pop (including super-realistic sound effects) at the touch of a thumb in a given amount of time. (I’m thinking that a companion game would be the amount of time it takes a parent to seize the game-phone mid-bubble and throw it from a moving vehicle.)

The Take-Away: I couldn’t neglect to recognize this kind of important annual celebration and demi-centennial milestone that you have come to expect from me … Woot!

Post-Note: For the science lovers in the crowd, Sealed Air Corporation is sponsoring the Bubble Wrap® Competition for Young Inventors to encourage students in grades 5–8 to demonstrate their creativity and ingenuity by creating an invention that incorporates the use of Bubble Wrap® cushioning.  Three finalists will win a three-day trip to New York City and the Grand Prize Winner will be announced at the Bubble Wrap™ Awards Ceremony on Saturday, May 22, 2010.  The deadline for entries is Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010. See the Sealed Air website for details.

Pre-Ramble: So, we are officially rid of 2009 and headed into the fresh new beginning of 2010 (Yay!).

I don’t know about you, but I am feeling genuinely optimistic about the prospects for this new year. The indicators are all there – the stock market is holding its own, the price of gas is steady, Ellen is joining the American Idol judges’ panel, and Daisy, our dog, came home from Happy Camp freshly bathed. (A clean dog cannot be overrated.)

Happiness is …  For me, and I suspect many others, the main goal going into a new year is to Be Happy. Why else would we toast each other with a hearty “Happy New Year!” at the strike of midnight?  The ubiquitous New Year’s resolution is clearly designed to confer happiness upon the resolute-ee … eating less … exercising more … quitting smoking (who even smokes anymore?) … tracking down Mr./Ms. Right … Each of these, if achieved, implies an improved quality of life, and thereby an increase in happiness. (I know I’m feeling happier when I’m not piling on extra weight, smoking ten packs a day and hanging out with Mr. Wrong.)

Don’t worry … be happy …  Psychologist, Kathleen Clancy offers a list of the top ten elements of happiness noting that there is a “positive correlation” between the frequency that an individual experiences the basic attributes and the degree to which they feel ”happy.”  Her “Top Ten Ways to Be Happy“ list includes relaxation, achievement, health, fun, expression, wisdom, exhilaration, inspiration, energy and fulfillment. I’m guessing it would be tough to be able to max on all of these attributes simultaneously (especially for Lutherans), but such a quest certainly qualifies as a worthy stretch goal.

“So nice, like sugar and spice … “  Esquire Magazine (“Man at his best…”) devotes its entire October 2009 issue to “feeling good,” a state which I am going to claim as a close cousin to happiness.  If we’re feeling good, we’re feeling happy, right?  Who but the most stoic among us can listen to the James Brown classic happy tune “I Feel Good” without doing so?  Esquire’s ”Box of Permanent Joy” list includes the first three minutes of Woody Allen’s movie “Manhattan;” watching golf on television while taking a nap; a back scratcher; and “My Favorite Things” performed live by John Coltrane at the Newport Jazz Festival. If I were feeling more plucky and creative, I would come up with some witty fem-gender Joy Box items which would probably include exfoliation, chocolate, red Chanel lipstick and Taylor Lautner’s abs.

A state of mind … Apparently, happiness is not only a state of mind, but a matter of geography as well.  A recent “happiness” study conducted under the auspices of Britain’s Economic and Social Research Council compared “self-described pleasant feelings with objective measures of good living” in 1.3 million Americans and found that people in “sunny, out-doorsy states” reported a greater sense of happiness than those in states with predominantly cloudy, urban conditions.

If these findings are reliable, we must conclude that a “New York state of mind” is truly miserable, as the state of New York comes in dead last in the rankings. Interestingly, five out of the six states in which I have personally lived (Michigan, New Jersey, California, Ohio and Minnesota) appear in the lower half of the Happiness rankings, while the sixth, Arizona, (the only place we couldn’t wait to get out of), rates a sunny 5th place on the list. … ?

Happiness mappiness … Australian life coach, artist and social media zealot Adam Sicinski invites his readers to “discover what it takes to live a happy and fulfilling life” through the tenets outlined in his Keys to Happiness mind map.

“Whether your goal is to create a happy body, to partake in fulfilling actions, to release a happy self, to help others find happiness within, or to strengthen your personal happiness with mindset transformation techniques, you will find the answers within the Keys to Happiness mind map.”

Wow.  Once you adjust for aussie-psycho-babble, the Keys to Happiness mind map is really very compelling. The map’s details would be lost in this forum, but I urge you to click over to Adam’s website to have a closer look at his colorful and comprehensive work.

The Take-Away:  Maybe we’re over thinking this… Maybe achieving a state of happiness is a lot simpler than we think …

“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” — Abraham Lincoln

Happy New Year!

Pre-Ramble:  There has been some discussion among the mommy-blog set around the trend toward sending emailed holiday greetings, posting them on Facebook walls, or (shutter) not sending them at all! 

Shut up!

Molly Millet of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press suggests that, “In the age of social networking, we now see far-flung friends and family members’ cute kid pictures and status updates all year long … plus, some annual card senders want to save money, go green, or simply avoid the stress.”  She describes the holiday card-reading experience, citing the tendency to open the envelope, check out the photo, note that, “Oh, their kids have gotten bigger” … and then “chucking it.”

Well, I guess I can see where the traditional, low-tech, snail-mail method of expressing the holiday sentiment could be construed as stressful, labor-intensive and pricy… 

• First, you’ve got to find a high quality card with just the right image — one that communicates a spirited, yet humble message about the holiday season, and at the same time, has a fun, festive, graphically worthy design. Price per card: $1.25
• Then there’s shooting a decent photo of the kids and dogs — HUGE hassle factor, even without the dog. Creative decisions must be made like, inside or outside; … flash or natural light; … infinite background options; … full-length or head-shot; … matching outfits or not; … dress up the dog or not; … props? etc. And, once you’ve settled on a shot that everybody likes (good luck with that), you need to have copies made … Price per print: $.20
• Then there’s The Letter. This is perhaps the most challenging component of the Christmas card packet … remembering what noteworthy things happened during the year; … being informative without divulging embarrassing details; … giving the year’s overview without being terminally boring; … etc.  Once written, you need to have family members sign the darn thing in their own quirky handwriting and drag it down to the copy shop (white paper stock or a festive color?) Price per copy: $.05  (Note: copies of  The Letter will need to be folded in a configuration that will fit in the envelopes.)
• And then, there are the envelope issues … to hand-address (get real) or print address labels on the computer; … getting the address labels to line up with the label template (way easier said than done); handling the return address information … again, hand-written or computer generated … only there’s a special mini label system for the return address application … making a special trip to the office supply store to get the obscure mini-return-address-label templates … Price for 2000 labels: $15.95 (or $.008 per label)
• Procuring the appropriate holiday postage … you can choose from the religious (usually creepy) illustration of the Madonna and child, or the secular snowmen/mittens option. Price per stamp: $.44  (Unless you have unknowingly selected a square-shaped card, in which case the “extra postage” will run you $500 per piece.)

Yup – seems like the cards are pretty much stacked against the preparation and sending of traditional holiday cards. The one thing that hasn’t been factored in however, is the long-standing tradition of human resistance to change. Sure, it would be light-years easier to click out a chirpy little holiday tweet embedded with a bunch of video links, ping-backs and other high-tech stuff, … but, for the steadfastly tech-challenged, plodding through the traditional uber-putsy holiday card drill is actually comforting compared to the stress of having to train in on some slick new technology.

The Take-Away:  Bring me some figgy pudding and I’ll lick and stick Christmas cards any day.

Post-Note:  Total estimated cost per card = $1.96*

* Estimate includes materials costs only — vast amounts of time required calculated separately.

Pre-Ramble:  While snooping around in the mall yesterday, I happened to wander into the children’s section of the bookstore. I really had no business being in there, my kids have been “grown-up” for years, but I still find myself drawn to the simple, playful, goofy children’s book forum … big pictures, few words, often rhyming, … fun stuff.

At the heart of this colorful collection are the “children’s classics” … must-read fare. Filled with pictures and pithy messages, these books have become a kind of rite-of-passage for generations of young readers … 

You’ve got your basic A, B, C books; … Golden Books, like the darkly punitive ”Pokey Puppy“; … cute, but annoying, Curious George; … quirky and surprisingly gritty, Winnie the Pooh; … the extensive and beyond silly, Dr. Seuss series; … the finger-wagging Berenstein Bears; … newcomer and earnest do-gooder, Arthur; … the multi-generationally appealing Peanuts dynasty; … grammatically compromised, Junie B. Jones; … the painterly concept books of  Eric Carle (like “The Very Hungry Caterpillar“); … Alexandra Day’s beautifully and wordlessly illustrated, “Karl the dog” series; … Ludwig Bemelmans’ madcap “Madeline” series; … all of the children’s books that have been made into movies, like “Where the Wild Things Are,” “Stewart Little,” … “Polar Express,” etc.; … and of course, my personal seasonal favorite, “Twas the Night Before Christmas” (which we read aloud as a family every Christmas Eve, even though the kids are in their teens and twenties).

Read it again, mom – Renown children’s literature historian Leonard Marcus suggests that, like television and the Internet, children’s books are a part of our culture. They reflect the values of each generation, provide literal and aesthetic records of who we are as a people, and play an important role in forming children’s minds and imaginations at the most impressionable times in their lives. I often wonder what impression and impact the books that I have read (over and over) to my kids over the years has had or will have on their lives. What are the real messages there?  What is the value? 

For me, the personal and historically cultural value that lies in the pages of a children’s book is more than the sum of its parts. More than the lessons spelled out in the story or the feeling expressed in the style of illustration, the relative value of a children’s book is also influenced by the physical and psychological environment in which it is experienced — the big cozy story-reading chair; the modulating tones and emotion conveyed through the voice reading aloud; the patient gift of time and attention spent sharing an activity of exploration and discovery with a child. The total children’s book experience and value is a mixture of many things, some tangible, some not.

Moon Schmoon - Well, then there’s the whole question of whether a kid even LIKES a book?  Reviewer/historian Marcus, encountered an unexpected reaction while attempting to share the joys of the quintessential-classic ”Goodnight Moon” with his own young son. Much to senior Marcus’ dismay, junior was totally unimpressed. Marcus came away with the realization that not every “classic” is for every child …

“Children should feel free to dislike ‘classics’ … Why should they be burdened with an obligation of liking a book that doesn’t appeal to them? … Adults see our goal as getting to the end of the book and it’s a hard lesson to learn that this is not necessarily true for children … their goal is often to look at the most interesting and enjoyable thing.”

The Take-Away:  Here’s to being free to “dislike the classics“ … (Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol ” is a creepy downer). This holiday season, amidst all the movie releases and “specials” and hype, take a page out of the “total children’s book experience” … take a minute to consider your choices and make sure that you’re leaving time and energy to look at the most interesting and enjoyable things.

Post-Note:  I’m totally with the kid on “Goodnight Moon” … a real sleeper.