Tag: Wisdom

In Dr. Seuss’s masterpiece, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, there is a famous scene where, upon draining the bathtub, a long pink ring has formed around the inside of the tub. In the cat’s attempt to clean it up, the pink spot transfers to the children’s mother’s white dress, the wall, their father’s pair of $10 shoes, a rug, their father’s bed, the television, a pan, then finally outside to the snow until all the snow becomes pink. A spectacular feat of magic is finally required to fix the situation.

Fantasy? Not really, except the part where the pink snow is magically changed back to white.

What about dirt? Like the pink bathtub stain, it never really vanishes-it just moves. Perhaps we need to consider dirt (and cleanliness) in a different way.

Think about it- what happens when you clean a spill from the counter? Perhaps you pick it up with a sponge, then wash the sponge in the sink. You’re just putting the spill into the drain and downstream- eventually into the Pacific Ocean, if you happen to live in Los Angeles. Perhaps
you clean it with a paper towel? You’re just transferring it to the garbage- and eventually to the local dump, where it resides for most of eternity. So when we clean our house, what are we really doing? Well, we’re moving as much as we can out of the house- that’s all. To the ocean, or to the dump. You can see where I’m headed with this.

So what’s the deal with dirt? We didn’t create it in the first place, so why do we feel so guilty about it? Think of all the money spent on getting rid of dirt, when in fact we’re only pushing it around. Are we making the world worse by all the things we use to clean?

Sadly, there is no spectacular magic “VOOM” like the Cat used to clean up the snow. We are doomed to simply move dirt-to put it somewhere else. In the Greek myth, Sisyphus, King of Ephyra, was condemned by Zeus to eternally push a boulder uphill. However, as soon as he would reach the top of the hill, the boulder would roll down and Sisyphus had to push it back again.

Perhaps we should relax a bit and stop pushing dirt around so much?

Over the past 26 months, my family has doubled. From three single children, my two oldest (daughters) added husbands and this week my oldest gave birth to a gorgeous baby girl!

Coming from a small family with only one sister and her son, there is something very lovely and special about large ones, with giant family gatherings, picnics, outings and vacations. Each of my daughters immediately acquired these extended families with their marriages, and I know they treasure the situation Continue reading “On Becoming a Grandparent”

A palindrome is a word or phrase that is the same backward and forward. Like “dad”, “mom”, “pop”, “Abba”, “kayak”, “deified” and “racecar”.

I like palindromes. There is something very clean and orderly about them. They are the comfort food in the vocabulary supermarket, having symmetry and balance that makes the brain warm and happy.

There are complete books of palindromes. Two favorites are titled, “So Many Dynamos!” and “Sit On a Potato Pan, Otis!” Your head will spin (in Continue reading “Palindromes”

Let’s face it- life is complicated and getting worse every day. Technology saves us a tremendous amount of time- until our computer dies, our backup hard drive didn’t, our printer won’t, and our phone lands in the toilet. I could go on and on about this- and I will- but let’s start with the basics.

At least we have shortcuts and abbreviations: LOL, LMK, CU, ETC, &, ‘’, ().

But wait a minute- we speak these words as well. Continue reading “Why do we make simple things so complicated?”

I’d been working hard on a paper discussing the use of Nanostem Serum in skin rejuvenation, and needed a break. I strode over to the awesome, tidy bar at my house, picked up a bottle of Hendrix gin, Martini & Rossi Dry Vermouth, and shook them together with ice. After straining out the ice, I poured the crystallized clear nectar into a stemmed glass with an inverted cone bowl, garnished with a lemon twist.

This, my friends, is called a Continue reading “A Martini Lesson”

Human beings stood on the moon in 1969! We must be infinitely smarter, wiserand thoughtful by now; just look at how technology has exploded and how much information we have at our fingertips.

One great example: the ultrasonic toothbrush. So awesome that it was given to me in gratitude for having helped save someone’s injured finger! I was skeptical at first, but I must now admit the technology of the brush is spectacular. I had to read the instruction Continue reading “Brush First? Floss First?”

This one is easy: I have a visual (see photo).

It’s fun to eat at home. We can make things exactly the way we like, without feeling apologetic because the restaurant we’re frequenting likes to make it wrong. When the restaurant makes it wrong, we have to explain to the poor waiter that we don’t do it that way and they need to change it. We feel guilty or entitled or difficult- but all we want is Continue reading “How To Describe Properly Cooked Bacon”

Ordering Bacon

I love bacon; who doesn’t? Even people who don’t eat it mostly like it. They just refrain (at least in public) for religious or political reasons. Ask carefully enough and you’ll discover they love the stuff. One of my very best friends in the world chooses not to eat bacon because he made a movie co-starring a pig (Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web) and he loves pigs so much he refuses to eat them. I can accept that. But I know in his heart he really likes bacon.

When you come to think of it, bacon doesn’t seem like pork. It doesn’t even seem to come from an animal or be meat at all. What’s going on here? How did bacon get a meat “pass”?

It doesn’t really look like meat- wrong shape, funny stripes, too thin. It doesn’t really cook like meat. What other meats do we microwave or fry? It doesn’t really taste like meat. It doesn’t really taste like anything else on earth (except turkey bacon). It inhabits its own food group. It’s awesome. If it were meat, why would we put in on top of other meat (burger), wrap it around meat (hotdog), or place it next to fowl (club sandwich)?

Who would mix any other meat with peanut butter, bananas, or oatmeal? (don’t make a face; it’s delicious).

Next time you order at a restaurant, pay attention to all the questions the server asks: how would like that burger cooked, would you like that salmon “medium”, would you like those eggs over easy, medium or hard? And, of course, how about that steak (down to the degree Fahrenheit)? They are so concerned for your happiness, they want it cooked the way you like it. That’s what you do with meat.

Ever been asked how you’d like that bacon cooked? No, I haven’t either. Ever. I always have to tell them. Why don’t they ask? It is meat, isn’t it?

Isn’t it?

Spoons have disappeared from restaurants. Has soup and coffee and iced tea disappeared? Did the dish run away with it?

My mother taught me early on how to properly set a table. That always included the hard working spoon. Fork on the left, knife then spoon on the right. How easy and universal is that? She loved spoons so much that she even made dessert “sporks” out of them: spoons with tines cut into the front to act as both Continue reading “The Disappearing Spoon”