This comes from my recent issue of Oprah magazine, and is hopefully as inspiring to you as it is to me:

“I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game’s winning shot…and missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

-From perennial optimist - Michael Jordan

This says to me: If you never risk failure, you’ll never risk success.

What does it say to you?

Last week was not the best for me - mainly due to some cranky bosses. A well-deserving friend emailed me to let me know that she had gotten engaged, and it totally lifted my day. I even told the story to several other people. (I’m a girl…I spread news faster than Apple sells I-phones).

An immense British Medical Journal study analyzed 4,700 individuals over 20 years and determined that happiness is indeed infectious. The “Framington Heart Study” looked at each individual’s social network of friends and family to find out whether one person’s happiness could influence that of the other.

They found that being surrounded by many happy people was more likely than not to make people they know happier over time. Indeed, even if your friend’s friend has something to celebrate, it can increase your own level of happiness.

The study also says that: “A friend who lives within a mile and who becomes happy increases the probability that a person is happy by 25%.”

[Read more →]

When I was little, kids used to think my hair was funny. It stuck out in a halo around my head. It wasn’t quite like rudy’s or quite like punky’s. It strangely resembled that of those cabbage patch kids with the moldable corkscrew hairdoes (OH, I’m going way back). I was neither here nor there. In short, I was a Zorse, and sometimes I just felt better mosey-ing around the pasture by myself:

Anyone?

I just read a New York Times Article detailing the falling rents in New York City. According to the February Manhattan Rental Market Report (I betcha didn’t know there was one of those), rents are declining across Manhattan. The biggest drop is in studio apartments in doorman buildings which are listing at 8% below last year’s price.

I’m thinking this is great news until a hand comes out of nowhere, smacks me on the cheek and demands, “When will you ever be able to afford a studio apartment in a doorman building in Manhattan? You think you LIVE in Gossip Girl? You think you can find Carrie’s $700 rent stabilized one-bedroom brownstone apartment in REAL LIFE? What up, WAITRESS?!”

Anyhoo-

They list several good news stories, including Erika and Clark.They’re a couple who’d been somehow sharing an $1800 studio in the East Village on Avenue B…. [Read more →]

Anti-Advertising Agency.com wants you to understand this -

“New York City is a READ-ONLY City”

“You’re free to read advertising, business signs, and city signs. But dare you write or hang anything of your own; you will be labeled as a criminal - a graffiti vandal….If you happen to have several thousand dollars, you might be able to say what you want - as long as it’s not too political.”

The MTA hopes to bring in an additional 20 million dollars in ad revenue by selling the space on the outside of subway cars through Titan Outdoor Media Agency.  When I returned from France last year I was appalled to see the new ads. When I enter the subway, it’s my moment to myself - away from work and friends and street hawkers. I don’t want to be shouted at by prophesiers, I don’t want people to beg me for money because they just got out of the hospital (and didn’t you just get out the hospital last month and the month before that?) and I don’t want my senses overloaded by public space clutter. [Read more →]

Once a month, at the beginning of the month, Bruce from Walking Tours Manhattan hosts a Dessert Fest walking tour of different parts of the city. It’s free, and all he really asks is 1$ donation that’s 100% for charity.  This month he did the dessert shops of Harlem. Since I live in the neighborhood I figured I should at least know where all the sweet shops were, that way I could find them when I need them…or avoid them when I need them. (HA!)
[Read more →]

My friend Clarence loves food. He is not a chef, he is just like the rest of us. He’s appreciative of a damn good dumpling and eager to share his and his friends’ culinary adventures. (including my food trips to France and Morocco). Find on his site anything from a Chinese New Year’s celebration to a video on how to cook Eggplant Baigan Bertha.

http://you-food.net/

Razor Clams from Hong Kong:Five Days of Eating

I had a yoga teacher that used to say, “Stretch to the point of sweet discomfort.”  I was always struck by the paradox of her words — can discomfort really be sweet?  There are lots of things that make me uncomfortable.  Saying no to my mom is hard, just like speaking up in a corporate meeting and singing in front of my church congregation.  Yet, all these I’ve had to do and in hindsight there is a benefit to stretching outside my comfort zone.  That’s how we grow.  It’s the only way.

I contemplated this idea as I practiced the Sun Salutation this morning, pushing myself as far as I could, without causing any real pain.  Stretching really does feel good.  When I’m done, I feel elongated and energized, ready to tackle any sweet discomforts that come my way.

Good News! British rapper, M.I.A. has not joined the star-studded masses and named her newborn something silly like “Ickitt”. According to her latest myspace.com blog post (in all caps mind you):
[Read more →]