Cooking the NYTimes and Other Assorted Retirement Activities

For the sake of this post, let's begin with defining terms. Resolution:  a firm decision to do or not to do something.  Rule:   a principle that operates within a particular sphere of knowledge, describing or prescribing what is possible or allowable.   Goal:  the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result Guideline:  a general rule, principle, piece of advice, recommendation Short and sweet: I believe that life, in its many variations of messiness, is far too complex to be amenable to resolutions, therefore, not a fan.  One can certainly have the best of intentions (a thing intended; an aim or a plan) every day, yet life, as we know it, has its own intentions that occasionally intersect with our plans and as frequently roils up to capsize them with the force of a tsunami. Resolutions, I think, get in the way of our goals because, really, what in life is absolutely, positively, 100% set in stone--which, in m...

Saturday morning, at Pilates of all places, we got into a bit of a heated discussion (as heated as you can get while working on the Reformers) about the basic nature of people.  Our wonderful instructor had to intervene to keep us moving along and I still came away feeling a bit disquieted. Here’s what happened. Let me preface by saying I was excited when I walked into the studio because some Pilates Peeps who I hadn't seen in a couple months were there.  They’re at least 20 if not 30+ years younger than me.  They tell great stories about life in general, their work and travel lives.  I enjoy that richness during Reformer routines. Anyhow, one of my Pilates friends told about exercising at another studio where the women were being bitchy to each other.  Which led to everyone sans moi agreeing that people just are not nice. I don’t believe that. I think that people’s basic human nature is to be nice. They disagreed. We got into a tiny row, then...

I love telling stories, and this is one of my personal favorites.  It's about my dad and the Fake Christmas tree. My dad, Joseph Walter Parys, Sr., died on November 29, 2005.  While many believe their father was one of a kind, I know this to be true about my dad.  He was a Classic.  Like a classic car, one that is displayed because so few were originally produced.  He was a preserved classic car, not restored, because there is nothing quite like the off-the-line, new car smell that remains for years beyond.  That was my dad. I have fond memories, a la A Christmas Story , of going to pick out the Christmas tree at a local tree lot.  My mom would bring down the boxes of fragile ornaments stored in the hall closet. Because the tree was prominently displayed in the front window, furniture re-arrangement was required.  All of this caused me and my sisters and brother to dance around with excitement,  driving both parents into a mix of craz...