Big news on the music and pet scene — two “scenes” that rarely play well together. Spotify, the music-streaming service, has gone to the dogs and has just launched playlists for home-alone pups. A podcast too! Read more
Nicknames. Pet Names. Code Names. Hashtags. Name proliferation is spreading faster than germs. It’s too much. People should be given one name and stick with it.
Read more
Season’s Greetings.
‘Tis the season to goof off!
So, please allow me to hit the pause button on writing … except to wish all my fellow middle-age muddlers a Happy, Healthy, and Safe Holiday Season. May your holidays be filled with wonder and, of course, laughter. Muddle on with joy!
Fondly,
Karen
Dreidels and Reindeer. Jews and Christmas.
Yes, like many American Jewish families, we have a Christmas tree. In fact, we’ve had one since 1929.
That’s the year my immigrant grandmother traveled home to visit her family in Hungary. While Grandma was away, Read more
Some people are hoarders. I’m a hider.
I come by it dishonestly, but the dishonesty wasn’t mine. Honestly!
Let me explain. Read more
Here’s a Happy Thanksgiving Day alphabet primer to get you and the family started on holiday fun. Turkey, togetherness, travel, talking, and tag football. Enjoy it and your day with family and friends! Don’t eat too much. Make sure at day’s end, only the turkey is stuffed!
Happy Thanksgiving: A
To the apple lovers (computer and fruit) in your house.
Happy Thanksgiving: B
To bakers who labor so hard on this special day and bankers who get the day off! Read more
Forget about a Zombie apocalypse. I live in California where we worry weekly about wildfires, earthquakes, and “scheduled” power outages.
Back East, we worried about terrorist attacks, but since moving to the San Francisco Bay, I’ve learned the true meaning of terror. Here dinner conversations are just as likely to focus on “What’s in your ‘to-go’ bag and earthquake kit?” as on politics, the environment, and favorite TV show. Read more
We live in an age of techno wonders – drones, talking devices that tell us the time in Kuala Lumpur and how long to boil an egg. We can push a button on our smart phones to adjust the thermostat and raise the window shades. But helpless, hapless, middle-aged me still needs help.
Here’s a list of techno-assists I desire:
1. A loud (really loud) buzzer that Read more
I mostly celebrate my age — 65 —but I admit some aspects of aging aren’t joyful. Here’s my list of 21 signs you’re getting older. Check it out. See what you’d add!
You know you’re getting older when …
…. You go to a rock concert and your friends pass around earplugs instead of drugs.
You know you’re getting older when … Read more
For most people, culinary single-use devices like strawberry hullers and cherry pitters are handy time-savers. But for cooking-klutz me, they are mostly cabinet space-stealing clutter, rarely, if ever, used.
I’ve got ceramic pie weights to hold crust down and fancy cake pans in graduated sizes. The former was bought in a moment of wild baking optimism. Yet, I’ve never even opened the package they came in. The latter, I used once to disastrous results.
But in my household, the undisputed master of wasted single-use devices is
– drum roll, please – Read more