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Assuming these will still be around post pandemic, here’s 12 beautiful hotels to consider staying at in New York, starting with the TWA hotel which has been wonderfully remade. I have seen a number of New Yorkers staying there and posting pictures on social media because….why not. While the other hotels don’t have the benefit of being put in a building designed by Eero Saarinen, they are still great. You can see them all here.
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Come January 2021, here’s to dumping John McNaughton and his terrible art into obscurity for all time. If you don’t know who he is (he’s the guy in the above photo), you can read more about him here. Better yet, don’t.
I am not sure it is better, but here’s an image of Trump made with sex toys.
You can read about it here.
Use Routines. As Wired magazine explains:
Instead of saying, “OK, Google. Turn off bedroom and play rain sounds,” and hoping Google correctly processes that those are two separate commands, you can say “OK, Google. Good night” and have a routine take care of the rest.
Essentially Routines are programs for Google Home devices to run. If you find yourself giving your Home device multiple instructions at a time, consider making a routine.
Perhaps you’ve developed some bad habits over the pandemic. Habits you want to shake off. You might need help developing new and better ones.
Here’s two things that can help. First is James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits. He takes a methodical approach to how habits form and how you can break them.
Second, there is the habitlist app that can help keep you going on your way to building new habits.
If you really struggle with developing new habits, try this. Make up a habit that takes little time and effort and practice making it a new habit. For example, you could take 30 seconds each day just to stretch. Or 10 seconds each day to breathe deeply. Heck take 5 seconds each day to say: I can develop new habits. 🙂 The point isn’t so much the habit as it is developing the ability to form habits. Once you can form some really basic but good habits, other habits that you might struggle with will get easier.
If you are a fan of Dada as I am, you owe it to yourself to visit this site. This archive site is a wealth of material on Dadaism and Surrealism.
Dada is over a century old, but still relevant, in my opinion. Art was never the same after it. If you need an introduction to Dada, the wikipedia page can get you going.
It doesn’t sounds like much, but it’s worthwhile going to check this out just for the beautiful images found there (like the one above): Black and White Analog Photographs Explore the Serenity of Long Meandering Roads |
Coziness is in the eye (body?) of the beholder. For example, I find the above image cozy. Other people might find the picture below cozy.
Regardless of which one you prefer, I think having a cozy corner in your home is essential, especially as the cooler weather starts.
If you don’t have one or need inspiration, here’s 12 cozy corners from Cup of Jo you can check out and steal ideas from. A nice couch helps. So do blankets and pillows. Sleeping dogs and cats are nice. As are books and fireplaces. But don’t let me tell you how to be cozy: I think you should get there however you think best. 🙂
(Images from links to that blog post on Cup of Jo).
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What’s nice about the bamboo and other sherry+vermouth cocktails is that they seem familiar, but different enough to break you out of your rut (assuming you are having a cocktail rut). Plus they are easy to make, and because they are lower ABV, easy to drink. Sound good? You can get a recipe for the bamboo here.
For more recipes, you can go Bon Appétit
Chances are you messed up at some point this week. It happens to everyone.
If you have a good attitude about it, that’s great. If you don’t, if you are beating yourself up for messing up, then read this.
I hope you feel better after reading that. Everyone makes mistakes. People trying really hard especially make mistakes. Give yourself a break. Then get back at it.
(Photo by Sarah Kilian on Unsplash)
If you are having sleep problems, read #1. If you need to understand why you need to sleep more, read #2.
I especially liked #2. I had a long held belief that is why we sleep. It’s satisfying to see it established by science.
We all need clean and shiny brains. To do that, get some sleep.
It is a small joy to update Wikipedia. I reflected upon that when I read this story of a librarian who has started down that path.
I have made a number of updates myself! Some of my updates:
My entire list is here.
Basically I fixed up some pages that had errors or lacked citations. This is the easiest way to start. Creating a whole new entry, as I did with the pastry, is harder.
You don’t even have to create a login, though I did.If you aren’t feeling too confident at first, try playing around in the sandbox. It’s easy, and you can’t break anything.
We all benefit from improvements to Wikipedia. Why not do some yourself? You will find it satisfying and joyful.
(Photo by Luke Chesser on Unsplash)
With the pandemic, it’s easy to get into a mindset of thinking things aren’t going well and you aren’t doing well. I get it. But guess what? Chances are you are doing well. To see what I am getting at, check out this checklist.
It won’t take more than 5 minutes to do, but after you do it, you will think:
Ok. Great! You now know you are doing better than you thought (give yourself a pat on the back). You also have a list of items to work on improving. It’s Monday: make up a plan to work on them this week.
(Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash)
Then read this: Laundry is a never-ending chore – Vox
It’s about the social, historical, and economic aspects of laundry. It will make you think of laundry in a whole new light.
P.S. It’s the pandemic. I hope you are giving the ironing a pause in this difficult and wrinkly time. 🙂
(Photo by Filip Mroz on Unsplash)
Earlier in the week, I wrote about the importance of wearing red. While red is great, there’s much to be said for wearing black, and Grace Dent says it so well, here. As for me, I’ve argued that if a man has to have only one suit, it should be a black one. Gray and navy are great colours for suits, but black is best. After all, if you wear a white dress shirt, solid black tie and suit, you will look cool .
You could do worse than look as cool as this:
Congrats! It’s the weekend! You made it. Perhaps you want to relax. If so, here’s a list of books you might be interested in reading: 2020 books: Feel-good reads with guaranteed happy endings – The Washington Post
Hey, it’s the pandemic: you could use some more upbeat reading material.
If you are not the relaxing type, why not check in on that friend you haven’t heard from lately and drop off some soup. Need convincing that it’s a good idea? Read this: Soup for a Friend | A Cup of Jo
Obviously homemade soup is great. But if you live in Calgary, consider getting some soup from my friend, Carmie. She’s a great cook, and you can order soup from her company, SpoonFed. Get some bread or crackers, too.
The weather is getting cooler and the days shorter. Good soup can help you and your friends.
(Top image from the Cup of Jo blog post. Bottom image from the SpoonFed site.)
Yaaaas. At least in the US, the McRib sandwich from McDonald’s is coming back in December, according to this. I hope and pray it comes to Canada, too. I love that sandwich: saucy, porky, with pickles and raw onions and that bun. Perfection.
Almost a decade ago I came across an intriguing theory as to why McDonald’s sells the McRib only at certain times. I wrote about it, here.
You might think, how much can be said about a martini, shaken or not? Well quite a bit if you are David Lebovitz. I recommend you check him out and then get out your cocktail shaker.
Need more reasons to drink one? Well, you can be cool, like Bill Murray, here drinking one in his new film, On the Rocks.
Based on Google Trends, people must drink martinis mainly at Christmas. So save this post until then. Or be a trend setter and start having one now.
The Annex in Toronto is growing up, literally. First there are the new condos going in on the corner of Bloor and Bathurst. Now the other end of it, at Spadina and Bloor, is getting the same treatment.
A mid-September application submitted to the City of Toronto seeks Zoning By-law Amendments to permit a 35-storey mixed-use condominium tower at 334 Bloor Street West, above Spadina subway station in The Annex.
For more on this, see:
35-Storey Condo Tower Proposed at Bloor and Spadina’s Northwest Corner | UrbanToronto
I think these are good developments. The character of the area remains, but more people can live there and enjoy it. Perhaps some day I will get to as well.
Here are two good pieces addressing racial inequality in tech
In my humble and limited opinion, tech has many gaps when it comes to who works in the industry, especially when it comes to women and when it comes to black and indigenous people. Any efforts to address these gaps are a good thing.
(Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash)
Men don’t wear enough red, in my humble opinion. That’s too bad, because red is a great color to wear. Especially so in the cooler months, when men’s clothes tend to go towards darker and neutral colors.
If you are interested but unsure how to proceed, then check out this Guardian article. It has the tips you need. (The above picture is from there. The red shoe laces are really great. Consider getting a red watch band or a red scarf too.)
Meanwhile, here are my rules for wearing Red, written in 2008. They never go out of style:
It’s not likely laziness. As LizAndMollie illustrates above, it’s likely due to
So give yourself a bit of a break when you feel you aren’t getting things done.
P.S. Follow LizAndMollie for more great illustrations to help you get through this pandemic and more.
You are putting your todo list together for the day, the week, who knows…but it likely has a quite a few things for you to get through. Now make another list of things you are looking forward to. It could be taking a coffee break. It could be going for a walk and admiring the leaves. Or catching up with a loved one. Perhaps doing something creative, like knitting or painting or making a nice meal. Whatever these things are, make sure you list them and strive for them. Because life is harder if you don’t have things to look forward to.
I thought of this often recently. I would look at my todo list and feel unproductive. Then I started approaching it from the viewpoint of what I will look forward to once I start and finish the tasks. I’d think: what positive things can I look forward to as a result of doing this? The more I thought this way, the more I found it easier to get things done.
Try it: you might find you get more done too, the more you look forward to things.
For more on this topic, see this: Something to look forward to – Austin Kleon
P.S. When the thing you are looking forward to happens, make sure you really take the time to appreciate it. For example, there was a messy part of my house I recently cleaned. I was really looking forward to it looking good again. Now it does, I take the time every day to appreciate it. I now find anticipating fixing up more of the house so I can enjoy that same feeling of satisfaction. You will too!
(Photo by Alexis Fauvet on Unsplash)
If so, then you need to start thinking of what you need to do to get mental and physically equipped for it.
Mentally, this article might help you get ready: Human hibernation: the restoring effects of hiding away in winter | Life and style | The Guardian.
Physically, it might be good to stock up on food. Here’s two articles that can help with that:
Hey, you might want to take up bread baking (again) during the winter months. Why not grab a few big bags of flour? If not bread, here’s some ideas on having a winter cooking goal.
Winter, like the pandemic, will be over soon enough. Try and make the most of it.
If you need more advice, I recommend this piece by Kottke.
If you want your home to help with the winter blues, read this. One good idea: get flowers that bloom in winter.
I thought both of these pieces were interesting. First this one, on the home of artist Sue Webster (shown below)
and then this piece on drywall furniture: Drywall? Dry Furniture Takes On the Issue of Affordable Furniture (shown below)
Not sure I’ll ever warm up to furniture made of drywall or homes with that much concrete, but it’s worthwhile considering them and what it would be like.
Some of it reminds me of the houses and furniture that Frank Gehry used to build. Perhaps we will all live in such houses in the future.
I have been thinking of this post by Austin Kleon, how caring for something leads us to love it, which leads us to care for it more. I think this is true. It’s a virtuous circle.
I have found this myself during the pandemic, when I purchased house plants with the expectation that they wouldn’t live long. I was wrong: because I was around them more, it was easier to care for them, and because I cared for them, they have thrived, and I loved them more and have cared for them more. Now I have more plants than I ever did before.
It’s tempting to try to stretch this virtuous circle, and you can, to a point. The limiting factor is your ability to pay attention and the needs of the things you are caring for. If you have something or someone that requires much attention and care, you can’t have multiples of those things without exhausting yourself. You need to strike a balance.
To strike that balance, you need the right level of things to care for. Chances are, you have too many things that requires your care. I think you and I need to find the right level and pare down the rest. Give those things to people who need things to care for. By doing so, you end up caring for and loving yourself. You are the root of all this love and care you are providing. Take care of the root, and the love and care you have for other things and beings can branch out and spread.
P.S. If you are having a hard time paring down, take the advice of either Marie Kondo (keep only things that spark joy) or William Morris (see below)
(Imagine via mylightbag.wordpress.com)
All cities have vestiges, things that once made sense but over time became obsolete, yet still remain. In my former house I had a small door and nook near the main door where milkmen would once leave milk. Across Toronto you can still see coal doors at basement level, where coal delivery people would shovel in the coal for the coal furnaces.
Elsewhere, here is a great story about taxi signs across New York City that were once used to hail a cab if you needed one. In the days of Uber and Lyft apps, these seem quaint. Just like those apps will seem years from now. Great story, though.
I love the blog that story comes from. It’s full of odd bits of New York, written with love. Well worth diving into.
If you want to get started doing coding and you don’t know anything about coding, then do this tutorial: How To Build a Website with HTML | DigitalOcean
I say this for a few reasons:
Give it a try. Even if you already know a bit of HTML: you might find your skills much increased by the time you are done.
(Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash)
I won’t be going anywhere any time soon, but if I could, I might go and stay at this boutique hotel in Paris, just to stay in that bed.
The hotel, in the Marais district of Paris, is a stunner. You can find out more about it, here, or by visiting their website, here.
Once the pandemic is over, I think there will be an orgy of travel. And what better place to stay than a place called Sinner? 🙂
P.S. This suite is nice, too.
You might get something like niksen. At least that’s what I thought as I read this article: I tried niksen, the Dutch are of doing nothing. We all need more of it. – The Washington Post.
Key quote from the article:
So when I heard about this Dutch concept of doing nothing, or “niksen,” I was willing to give it a shot. Apparently it’s about as straightforward as it sounds: You can actually actively engage in doing nothing — like looking out a window for a few minutes — and not feel guilty as if it’s a waste of time. Lots of studies have shown that daydreaming and letting your mind wander increases creativity.
It might be just the thing to help us get through the pandemic. For more on it, click this Google search.
You might find that ridiculous, but if you read this, you might change your mind.
I have been doing what is known as “greasing the groove” while working at home during the pandemic. I have noticed getting stronger. As well, I stretch at least once a day, and I have found I have become more flexible too.
You will not get in the same shape as someone who works out 30-60 minutes every day. Get yourself some weights or even some heavy objects. Or go over to a site like darebee and get a 1 minute workout. After doing it for a few weeks, you will achieve more than you imagined.
Give it a shot.
(Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash)
I haven’t tried this yet, but I am seriously considering it. I already use AWS for other things, so it might be time to see if I can archive old files that I rarely use but don’t want to delete. I don’t feel like getting more hardware, and I don’t have much confidence in Apple’s iCloud. So this might be the solution: How to Use Amazon Glacier as a Dirt Cheap Backup Solution.
And if I go that route, I will need tools. This article should give me the information I need for that: The Best Tools for Uploading Files to Amazon Glacier – Digital Inspiration.
(Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash)
One of the better things that came out of the pandemic is this series of recipes published in the New York Times and written by Melissa Clark: From the Pantry – The New York Times.
I loved how each recipe is really a cooking lesson more than a step 1-2-3 recipe. By the time you made a dish, you can already imagine making it a dozen different ways with the suggestions she provides. That’s especially good for people who are not comfortable changing recipes around. If you are one of those people, you’ll be much more confident improvising with ingredients after you have made a few of these meals.
I also liked that the recipes really cover a range of meals, from breakfast to dinner, from salad and soup to dessert. Now that there is quite a few recipes listed here, you can pick and choose what suits you.
Finally, I like that the Times didn’t firewall off this content. Anyone can see the recipes: you don’t need a subscription to the Cooking section of the paper/website.
I highly recommend these recipes. Go use some and become a better cook.
(Photo by Nadia Pimenova on Unsplash)
It’s the weekend and chances are you are using it up doing 1-5 of the things mentioned in this article. Don’t. (Or at least do one less). I especially liked the tip on laundry. But read the article and see what I mean. Carve out your weekend for more Me time.
(Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash)
If you are transitioning your clothes from summer to winter, you might be asking yourself: why do I have all these clothes? Do I need so many pieces? What can I do to pare down?
One option is to aim for a capsule wardrobe. Here’s a piece on how to create one.For more on this, see this.
As for me, I am a failed minimalist, and I would likely fail at this too. But I feel the need to do it.
P.S. These guides are directed at women’s wear, but people who wear traditional men’s clothing can easily adapt this.
Here’s 13 links to get you started learning more about COBOL. It’s got some old school stuff and some cool cloud stuff, too.
Send me a link to your Github repo once you are done and I’ll add it here!
P.S. Here some bonus links:
This lovely short film, How To Be At Home, by Andrea Dorfman, and provided by the National Film Board of Canada, reunites filmmaker Andrea Dorfman with poet Tanya Davis to provide timely guidance on how to get through the pandemic, and other such isolation. Highly recommended.
I had some other things to say about Philip Guston until this article came out in the Times, saying:
Last week, a handful of museums decided to postpone a retrospective of the painter Philip Guston over concerns that Ku Klux Klan imagery in his work, intended to criticize racism, anti-Semitism and bigotry, would upset viewers or that the works would be “misinterpreted.”
I was disappointed, to say the least. Fortunately I am not alone. The article goes on to state:
On Wednesday, a letter drafted by the art critic Barry Schwabsky addressed to those museums — the National Gallery of Art in Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Tate Modern, London — and signed by nearly 100 artists, writers and curators, was published by the Brooklyn Rail, protesting the postponement. To date, more than 2,000 names have been added — young and old, Black, Asian, Persian, Arab, L.G.B.T.Q.
So I am collecting a list of sites and pages on Guston, because he is an artist people should get to know more about. Especially if they were to simply mindedly misinterpret his work and think he has anything but abhorrence for the KKK.
I am also doing this because I am a fan of his courage as much as I am of his work. He made a big break from abstract expressionism late in his career and suffered for it. I don’t know many artists who have done such a thing. I think he needs to be more well known.
I also find it surprising to think people were surprised by this big break with AbEx. The elements he reintroduced were there from the beginning. And the cartoonish nature of his work is parallel to the drawings he was doing of Nixon and others. He needed to break from AbEx and went with the tools he had.
If you want to learn more about Guston, here is some links I have found that are useful:
Besides the classic digital watch I wrote about earlier today, Timex also makes some smart watches that are very affordable for a smart watch.
For example, this one, the iConnect Premium watch:
This watch does a lot of the fitness work that other smart watches do and for a very good price.
Timex has many watches like this, and while this one is rated well, others are not. So buyer beware. But if you were thinking of getting a watch to help you with fitness, this could be the one.
Apple Watches are cool. I love them. So do many others.
But if want to have have a cool digital watch that is also a classic, you want this, I think:
It comes in silver and gold. You can order it, here.
Smart People I Know 