Friday, December 31, 2010

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Snapping Fingers For A Good Cause

Dark Matters
The Alternative New Year's Day Spoken Word
Performance Extravaganza - 150 Performers.
New Years Day, January 1, 2011
Bowery Poetry Club & Cafe
Open, 2 p.m.-Midnight, Free

Collecting Books for Books Through Bars and
Canned Goods for Urban Pathways, Inc.  click on title for details

Ring In The New Year with

100s of Brooklynites  as they gather in
Prospect Park
for
Entertainment, Refreshments and Fireworks
on
Friday, December 31, Midnight
The celebrations start around 11 p.m
click on title for more details

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Tuesday's Mental Musings

on a Wednesday....sorry, my thoughts are still buried under the piles of snow the Brooklyn Sanitation Department has yet to clear...

Music Video Break Day

click on title

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

New York Snow Storm December 2011

Brooklyn, Prospect Park West
All Images © Simone Rene 2010

Considering New York Weather...

Your New Years Eve Shoe?
FitFlops Women's Superboot Ankle Boot
click on title for availability
(You know getting fit is on your New Year Resolution list!) 


New Years Eve Dress...

Banana Republic Silk V Neck Drape Dress
(add a belt, feather or rhinestone pin to the waist ban)

or
Ted Baker Tuxedo Dress
(achieve a similar look by buying a vintage oversized men's jacket and taking it to a seamstress or tailor to remove the sleeves and fit to your figure)
or

Stella McCartney Tuxedo Halter Mini Dress
(Achieve a similar look with a vintage 80's front pleated skirt, hemmed, and a halter topped vest)

New Years Eve Plans?

click on title for details

Monday, December 27, 2010

Music Video Break Day

click on title

RIP Teena Marie
(March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010)

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Happy Boxing Day

The food is stored for left over enjoyment, the wrapping paper placed in the recycling bin, the gifts are lined up neatly and exposed under the still sweet smelling tree and the laughter of family and friends is now a memory to be mulled over on the Christmas Eves to come and most of us are now wondering what to do on New Year's Eve but for many around the world today is Boxing Day. 

Boxing Day is a day set aside for local donation and sharing. Unless you're located near the Canadian border or of British descent most Americans don't celebrate this holiday, but it's a tradition I think many of us should begin to adopt. 

Many of us believe we have less than most would want or need yet if we stopped and took inventory of all the things we have that we don't eat or use we would realize that we have more to share, pass along and give than we would have ever suspected. Many of us, including myself can become so distracted by opportunity and option we often forgot how a simple meal, a warm garment regardless of fashion or the promise of even $1 can help someone along the way. If we truly took a moment to consider what little it takes to comfort and support those whose lives are still, by choice or circumstance, a matter of survival, we might understand how we are all connected and how that connection sustains us on levels over and above the satisfaction of acquiring and experiencing the material. And in that realization we may each find the bit of happiness we keep seeking in those things we consume.

Click on title to find a New York food bank near you and remember that the New York Coat Drive runs until December 31st. Or ask your local place of worship if they are collecting donations for a worthy cause and remember "T'is the Season"....

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Favorite Christmas Song..

click on title

Merry Merry Christmas

For the past few weeks I have been playing reindeer games.
I have decorated, shopped and wrapped, baked and planned.
The only thing left is to clean house and prepare the Christmas Eve meal.

Christmas Eve is my favorite night of the season.
As the winter evening wanes on  a stillness and quiet peace seems to hover.
And I can't help but stop and look around at those gathered
It is in that moment I know
I am wealthy beyond measure and grateful beyond words
And I feel a love and gratitude so large time seems to stop.

Wishing You & Yours Joy & Peace In This Holiday Season

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Tuesday's Mental Musings

I love a good debate or rousing discussion but I must admit that I tire of questions that tend to divert our individual responsibility for our happiness and balance. I tire of the blame game and the pointing the finger towards government and agencies for all the world's issues. This is not to say that government and agencies aren't part of our problems but we, people, choose to elect and/or accept those in power and in the end most of us seem to prefer to point the finger and make sources distant from ourselves responsible for our and the world's unhappiness.

Taxes, food, shelter, wages, education always seem to be top on the list of what we or others don't have. In truth when we look at the haves and have-nots by whose level of expectation are we comparing the quality and validity of our and their lives?

I am always one for a worthy cause. I donate both time and money to a number of agencies that perform the service of "saving" others but in the end I truly believe that we are each individually responsible for saving ourselves and it would be very "privileged" of me to define that salvation for anyone else other than myself. Yes, I know that there are those who have no shelter, no food, no education or means to provide themselves or their families with a "decent "life, but who am I to define what that decent life should be. Basic necessities determined by the individual accepting them aside how can I compare and contrast my and their lives when I only have the expectations of what a fulfilled American life is.

That saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" says it all. How many governments and agencies started out with positive intent only to fall prey to power play? How many individuals formed groups that have displaced the cultures and traditions of those they originally intended to help with the moral codes that they deemed proper and correct? How many times has a group in need been told how they should live, what they should believe and who they should pray to in order to win and maintain the support of their benefactors?

In the end there are still those who will have and those who will have-not but what if we were to individually question our responsibility to extend ourselves into our lives and the lives of those around us? What if we came to understand that not everyone is going to have a college education, a white collar job, a home in the suburbs or easy access to disposable income, material items and food? What if we are part of those who will not be privileged in this life time? What if we learned to ask for what we need rather than what we desire and then shared what we have without expectation of return? What if we found happiness in what we had knowing that change begins at home and that like a domino affect the support and encouragement and more importantly the example of truly being happy with what we have, who we are and how we live touches the lives of those about us and effect change on a subtle but foundational level?

I know that solutions to a good life are complex but I also believe the answer to what a good life differs for each of us and in the end I truly believe we choose to live a "good life" by how we address our lives. And in the end if we continue to place blame others for our state of "unhappiness" we do ourselves a great injustice.

Turn Up the Peace Benefit Concert

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 8 PM
Stern
Auditorium / Perelman Stage

Artists
Marla Maples, MC
Livingston Taylor
Chelsea Berry
Evan Wilson
Dan Reed
Frank Carillo
Eddie Seville
Cape Ann Center for Dance Performance Group
Ayla Brown
Turn Up the Peace Choir
Frank Fasano
Meridith Cullen
Harlem Gospel Choir
Sacred Circles
Chris Propfe
Sergei Ivanov
Nandapriya Sattva
Phillip Kanakis
Chris Willey
Michelle Dennis 
 

The performances center around love,  peace and harmony.

tickets from $40 - $249
click on title for more info


 

Monday, December 20, 2010

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Get Ready for ...



Monday, January 3
Free Admission
Doors Open at 7pm, Show at 8pm

Tuesday, January 4
Show with the Big Apple Circus
for info & tickets click on title

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Friday, December 17, 2010

Last Minute Shopping..

on Saturday/Sunday, December 18 & 19 make your way to
The Makers Market
at the Old American Can Factory
(3rd St at 3rd Avenue, Gowanus)
Check out gifts and goodies made of any of the ten materials featured to date: Metals, Botanicals, Ceramics, Paper, Leather, Glass, Fiber, Wood, Synthetics and Sugar.

click on title for more details

CB2 crazed

A few weeks ago my work associate and friend introduced me to CB2 at 451 Broadway. The place is like Muji, Ikea and West Elm had an affair and the store was the result. The items are sleek and elegant, quirky and economical and I have been obsessed ever since. Have I purchased anything?..no..but I have considered the following items -

Swingline's Orange Stapler

Spoon Mug

un homme/une femme vases
crane yellow desk lamp
click on title to go to site

Tower Power..

I am loving this stackable tea service for one...sigh..too bad Santa already took care of that tea-drinking sister o'mine...

click on title for details

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Target..December 19..William Rast

Justin Timberlake & Trace Ayala's line arrives
click on title to go to page

Movie of the Moment

Where I come to rest...

A quiet corner, a chair at a window,  closed eyes on a subway ride in are just as good...just take some time to center..it's one of the greatest gifts you can give your self.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Monday, December 13, 2010

Christmas Thought...



(Tree 2010)
Most of us have a fondness for the winter holidays. For some of us it is a time to share the warmth of our homes and love with family and friends. For others it is a time to wind down the year and reflect upon years past while we plan for the year to come. Many of us can get sidetracked by all the glamour and glitz of the Christmas season and become lost in the tinsel and tree, the wrapping paper, the candles, the cookies and music and because of this can be seen as "typical" holiday revelers. We fall into our traditions and roll around in our past. It keeps us and those we love warm during the winter months ;)

One of the gifts I believe we each need to give ourselves this time of year is the gift of time and silence. Each day we should take a bit of time to sit quietly with ourselves and our thoughts and let go, breathe, allow our truths to come in and meet us. In the moments when we allow our inner voices to be heard we can set aside what we have come to believe this time of year should be and discover what the season truly means to us. In that time there is no need to judge, instead briefly hold each thought and let go knowing we cannot change what has happened, we can only greet what is to come.

How you spend your holidays should be a reflection of who you are but should never trap you into that definition. Taking the time to hear yourself above the noise of the season helps you to just be in the season and is one of the best gifts you can give and receive. 

Happy Holidays!

Movie of the Moment

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Movies of the Moment

and

The Perfect Time of the Year...

to have some soup and one of my top 10 is a lentil soup. Here's the quick recipe -

Heat A Large Soup Pot & Add 1-2 Tbs of Olive Oil to Heat
Add 1 Large Chopped Onion
Generously Salt & Pepper, Cooking Onions Until Soft, About 8-10 Minutes
Add 4 Cloves of Finely Chopped Garlic
1 Round Teaspoon of Ground Cumin
1 Sprig of Fresh Thyme (1/2 - 3/4 Teaspoon Dried)

1 Large Bay Leaf (OK I Add 2 )
8 oz Lentil ( I Mix It Up..)
Stir & Coat All With Oil
Pour 3 - 1/2 Cups of Warm Chicken or Veggie Stock
3 Cups Warm Water
Stir, Cover & Simmer, Stirring Occassionally 
Cook Until Lentils Are Soft & Falling Apart, About 30-35 Minutes
Remove Bay Leaf & Thyme Sprig 
Puree or Mash 2 Cups of Mixture
Return Mixture to Pot
Mix and Serve Hot
Enjoy!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Dear Santa...

click on the title to see the details of what I am dreaming about this Christmas
(this is over and above peace, love and understanding...)

Movie of the Moment

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Tuesday's Mental Musings

on a Wednesday...I wonder if we call God by his ancient names if we wash away the stigmas of modern day religion and politics...

Music Video Break Day

click on title

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Movie of the Moment

Sssssssh...don't tell my sister....

the tea lover may get this beauty for..cough..cough..
click on title to go to site for details

Monday, December 6, 2010

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Movie of the Moment

Aching for Bacon...

My love of bacon is no secret. Given the opportunity I have been known to sing an off key ode to it and toast (that's another post). My adoration is such that I believe it should be its own food group.

Unfortunately like most greasy, flavorful things regulary consuming bacon isn't good for you so I don't eat it that often. But now I can have my bacon and not-eat-it-too because Fredflare.com offers a number of bacon-centric goodies for true bacon lovers to choose from....

Bacon Bandages $9.00
Mr Bacon's Big Adventure Board Game $22

Bacon Wallet $16.00
Bacon Wrapping Paper 2 Sheets/$8.00
and my personal favorite..

A Bar of Bacon Scented Soap, $8.00
(All the scent without the calories!)

Movie of the Moment

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Friday, December 3, 2010

Hanukkah Explained...

click on title for video

Chocolate As A Religion....

Bond Steet Chocolate offers the religious experience of Chocolate for us to ingest
Gold Dusted Chocolate Ganesha
Gold Dusted Chocolate Buddha
Chocolate Moses
Gold Dusted Chocolate Jesus
Silver Dusted Chocolate Ancestors

Figures from 2-6"/$10-50
click on title for details
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