Livin' On A Prayer

Map out your future - but do it in pencil.
- Jon Bonjovi

The Proust Questionnaire

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A stack of newspapers/books/magazines and time to read them
What is your greatest fear?
High speed tailgaters on the Schuylkill Expressway
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Slothfulness
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Hypocrisy
Which living person do you most admire?
Hillary Rodham Clinton
What is your greatest extravagance?
Concert/theatre/sporting event tickets
What is your current state of mind?
Determined!
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
(Self) righteousness
On what occasion do you lie?
Is wild exaggeration the same thing as lying?
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I made peace with my appearance a very long time ago
Which living person do you most despise?
He knows who he is (though I am not a despiser)
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Self-effacing charm
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
A hat trick of giggles/wisdom/compassion
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
OMG! You Rock! Way Cool! True, that! Go Phillies!
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
The City Of Philadelphia
When and where were you happiest?
May 10, 1996, Stone Harbor, NJ
Which talent would you most like to have?
Unflappability
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Being able to say 'So what?' and mean it
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Resilience
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Cruise Director Julie McCoy
Where would you most like to live?
New York - Philadelphia - Stone Harbor - Spring Lake
What is your most treasured possession?
(Hard won) mental health
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Helplessness
What is your favorite occupation?
Smithereens Groupie/Conference Junkie/America's Guest
What is your most marked characteristic?
Optimism
What do you most value in your friends?
Unconditional...everything (KL is a lucky, lucky girl)
Who are your favorite writers?
Lisa Scottoline - Merrill Markoe - Cynthia Heimel
Who is your hero(ine) of fiction?
Carrie Bradshaw
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
The Statue Of Liberty (Mother Of Exiles)
Who are your heroes in real life?
The uncredited
What are your favorite names?
Jim & Elise
What is it that you most dislike?
Meanies, predators, bloviators
What is your greatest regret?
I have no regrets (let alone a greatest one)
How would you like to die?
Peacefully and with gratitude, Bucket List fulfilled
What is your motto?
It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive

NYT : August 30, 1998

'How to Offset The End-Of-Summer-Blues' (my OLD submission):

Recognize that summer is a verb, not a noun

Know that summer isn't a season, but a way of life

Appreciate that the fun doesn't stop on Sunday nights
The tourists are on the parkway, the locals are in the restaurants

11 years later...still true!

Life Lesson #145

Dilbert, 9/22/2009

When you find a kettle of crazy it's best not to stir it

Better options : Ignore, walk away, (or, FB advice) RUN?

My Six Word Memoir

Have a little faith in me

Where Have You Gone, Cynthia Heimel?

From the MIA author of 'Sex Tips For Girls', 'If You Can't Live
Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?' and 'A Girls Guide To
Chaos':

"Let people push you around. The person who says, believes, and
acts on the phrase "I ain't taking any shit from anybody" is a very
busy person indeed. This person must be ever vigilant against
news vendors who shortchange him, cabdrivers who take him the
wrong way around, waiters who serve the other guy first, florists
who are charging ten cents more per tulip than the one down the
block, pharmacists who make you wait too long, and cars that cut
you off at the light: they are a veritable miasma of righteous
indignation and never have a minute to relax and have a good time."

Gotta' love Wikipedia, where I can always dig up an old quote.
My heroine: a wise, fun girl who sure can write. So why won't she?

Me & Princess Leia

Happy 52nd birthday to me and to Carrie Fisher, four days apart this
month. I loved her best as Marie in 'When Harry Met Sally', though I
will now be referencing her fabulous one-woman show, 'Wishful Drinking' forever and ever.

Some words of wisdom from this talented trainwreck:

I don't want to be thought of as a survivor because you have to
continue getting involved in difficult situations to show off that
particular gift, and I'm not interested in doing that anymore.

True that, me too, and may the force be with us.

Streets Of Philadelphia

Sure, it was a bujillion-hot-record-breaking-degrees event.
But today's bike race was a gorgeous postcard of Philadelphia.
6ABC's Gary Papa : 'The Champs-Elysees has nothing on us!'

Bien sur.

H2O + NaCL

Refrigerator magnet for a Libra Girl:

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears or the sea.
- Isak Dinesen

Or a frozen and rimmed margarita.

Amtrak

Only because Scott Kahn was both amused and impressed by my
delivery do I post (verbatim!) the announcement that runs through
my head:

"Ladies and gentlemen in approximately three to four minutes our
next station stop will be Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. If
Philadelphia is your final destination please take these next few
minutes to look around your seating area and the overhead
compartments to collect any personal belongings that you might have
brought onboard. Please note, there will be a gap between the train
and the station platform so please watch your step as you exit the
train. Philadelphia, Philadelphia next."

The conductors have let me do this twice (but only on train #639, the
late night Keystone). Our little secret, until now?

Scranton

Long before I fell in love with 'The Office' I did
a ridiculous but important stint at WDAU-TV, the
CBS affiliate and Channel 22 in Scranton. I made
a lot of friends, learned plenty about broadcasting
(mostly, what fails), and transitioned from NYCNY
to Baltimore.

Mayor Christopher Doherty got it right when he
described Scranton's culture and citizenry on the
eve of a visit by presidential primary candidate
Hillary Rodham Clinton:

People here, we don't live by home runs. We
live by singles.

And specifically, about HRC:

She's tough. That's a real Scranton trait.
That's an anthracite trait.

(From The New York Times, March 10, 2008)

A city built on coal. Go figure.

Working Girl

1988, Sigourney Weaver as Katharine Parker:

And I am, after all, me.

Words that should be embroidered on a pillow.