Author: sssmahh303

Eat Your Ice Cream

by sssmahh303, posted in Wellness

Mary Ann

Eat Your Ice Cream is the best advice at any time, and it is an especially good title for Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD’s new book about six simple rules for a long and healthy life.  You know Dr. Emanuel from his many times on TV during the Covid pandemic.  He is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania where he uses his expert background as a bioethicist, health policy expert, and oncologist to teach. 

 From his credentials, you would think the text would read like a medical book.  To the contrary, his writing style is a breezy, conversational approach to writing about serious topics.  Dr. Emanuel has a sense of humor, and he gives a precise and concise narrative about what not to do, social relations, mental acuity, healthy eating, exercising, and sleep. He weaves scientific research into the narrative and gives simple ways to incorporate this advice into your life.  He is not telling you to be perfect and that you must sacrifice to live well.  Remember, Emanuel is telling you to eat your ice cream.  

In the book’s introduction, Dr. Emmauel addresses how to establish a new routine – plan, identify the triggers, create social support, and reward yourself.  You want to go from initiating a habit to practicing with repetition to making it a routine wellness practice.  This can become a blueprint for changing your life.  In many ways the information is not new.  We all know that good sleep is necessary, eating well and exercising are foundational for good health, and our social connections give life meaning.  However, we need direction to actually make changes.  

Eat Your Ice Cream was an enjoyable read and was a book selection from Lisa and my non-fiction book club.  It is a favorite and is probably the best book we have come across on wellness.  The book was not long and was an easy read.  You will learn a few Yiddish words and relate to Emanuel’s childhood when the country had a more definitive set of common values.    

I think most of us don’t want to live forever.  What we do want is to have a quality life for the time we are on earth.  This little book will help you to incorporate habits and routines to make that easier.  Emanuel says some hard truths based on science that we all need to hear, and he says it clearly and with humor.   It is up to each of us to take the first steps to improve our lives.  Let Emanuel be your guide on your wellness journey!

Hat Trick

by sssmahh303, posted in Reviews

Mary Ann

The definition of a Hat Trick is three goals in a hockey or soccer game during one game by one player.  It is a remarkable feat for an athlete.  This blog is about another kind of Hat Trick.  It is a book review of three books on aging that I recently found and thought you might enjoy hearing about them.  

The Hat Trick books are all written by people over 85 years. They are easy reads, and all are amusing with their advice about aging.   

The Wonder and Happiness of Being Old – Offering of Hope, Joy, and new Ways to Perceive Aging by Sophy Burnham is written in letter format.  Remember I shared with you that is a popular style right now, i.e. The Correspondent. Burnham is writing to her 60-year-old cousin Eleanor, with topics that are divided into five sections that include what it is like to be old to family to love embracing all aspects of living.  Each section has several topics that are only a few pages long so you can read just one and more if time allows.  It is the kind of book that you can pick up and open anywhere in the text and gain a nugget of advice from it.  Section 4 has letters that Burnham wrote to herself at 21 to be opened at 42, 42-letter to be opened at 63, 63-letter to be opened at 84, and 84-letter to be read at 109.  Burnham is spunky enough she could be around at 109.  

There is a message of thankfulness for the small joys of life, the love we give and receive, and how important forgiveness is to our inner peace.  No matter how old you are, we all could use an elderly friend or relative to impart life lessons to help us each grow gracefully into old age.  

Our second Hat Trick book is by Judith Voirst. Do you remember reading Alexander, and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day to your children?   Judith Voirst was the author of that book and many, many more.  I especially enjoyed the books of poems and reflections that she wrote for turning 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and most recently 90 years old.  I have loved those books and relating to her documentation of a particular decade.  I have given several as gifts.  

Voirst can sum up a situation with concise language and then give a zinger of a sentence that will make you smile and at times make you break out laughing.  This has made her a bestselling author.  Her latest book is Making the Best of What’s Left – When We’re too Old to Get the Chairs Reupholstered. It is full of short essays and poems capturing one of the last chapters of our life.  She finds humor in these years.  Sometimes a good laugh gets us through some challenging times. Thank you, Judith Viorst for pointing it out to us.  This is also a book that you can pick up and read any place in the text and enjoy her wisdom.  

The last book in the Hat Trick is More Rules for Aging – Making the Most of your Ridiculous, Wondrous Life by Roger Rosenblatt.  This book is an extended edition from his first book, Rules for Aging.  There are 114 essays that run from one sentence to small paragraphs.  It is very easy to read.  Each essay will give you some good aging advice.  Rosenblatt is funny, and it is reflected in his essays.  You will find yourself chuckling or at the very least grinning.  

If we are lucky enough to make it to old age, you might as well laugh.  Remember it is the best medicine, and since we take a lot of medicines, there are no bad side effects and doesn’t cost anything.  All three of these books were loved by Lisa and me in our Non-Fiction Book Club.   It was truly a Hat Trick on aging.  So, if you want some wisdom for the ages and a tickle to your funny bone, these books will fill the bill.  They are meaningful and just right to read anytime returning repeatedly to the fountain of wise words to help us through our own old age. 

A Little Help!

by sssmahh303, posted in Wellness

Mary Ann

I have always prided myself for being an independent woman.  It was something that my mother encouraged in me until her death.  I think she took great pride in me being just that.  For most of my life I have been able to take care of myself.  If someone offered to help me, I would politely decline and would lug around luggage or bags of grocery or whatever.  I could always take care of myself.  

Then things changed as I aged, and I developed the drop foot.  I needed a little help.  I am never sure that my leg will hold, so I will take a cane or a walking stick if I outside my home, and if I must walk a long distance, I will use a walker.  I zip around with the walker, but should I need to rest the leg until it reboots, I can sit down.  I decided it is better to be safe rather than sorry. 

I, of course, had to swallow a bit of pride but I have come to not care because it is all about me staying independent.  If I need a little help with doors or carrying bags, I will now take the offered help.  People are generally very kind and will scurry to open a door for me.  When I was at the gym a few weeks ago, a young man probably in his late twenties or early thirties, rushed to open the inside door and then whipped around me to open the outside door.  When I passed through the entrance, I said to him, “you know, as you get older, you discover how very nice people are. People like you who kindly open a door for me.”  He just beamed with the compliment.  I sincerely meant every word.  He was kind to me. 

I just got a new computer, so I had to go to the Apple Store to buy a new one and get the data transferred and the like. When I got to the store’s parking lot, there were many entrances with lots of steps.  I called the store and asked what the easiest way was to get into the store.  That is when I met Payden.  I told him I had mobility problems, and he said that he would open the backdoor and I could come up the steps.  He came out and watched me walk up the steps and carried my computer.  Once inside we proceed with the sale, and I had a new blue metallic computer – so pretty.   It was then time to go knowing I would return the next day, and out I went with Payden at my side.  He watched me until I got in the car.  Someone had raised Payden right!  The next day I returned, and Payden again assisted me in to getting the computers and out to the car with both.  I thanked him for his caring help.  This was a very nice young man.  

As cruel as the world has become, I have found that each person does have goodness in them and are most willing to share it with other human beings in their time of need.  Isn’t that truly wonderful?  When I was younger, I always helped people with doors or picked up something for them.  My parents would have excepted nothing less.  I guess it is my turn now, and someday the others who helped me will need a little help as well.

My life is now different, and I have to problem solve most things that I do.  What is the easiest way to do things.  What is Plan B?  Is there a railing on the steps so I can easily go up and down the stairs?  When you are young, you take most things for granted.  

I am thankful to our government for the American Disability Act making life more accessible in buildings, stairs, bathrooms, etc.  Then we have handicapped parking placards allowing us to get closer to an entrance.  It has really made a difference with parking that I always took for granted.  A little help from the state and federal government is appreciated. 

I have a small “staff “of people who make my life easier.  Bless them all!  My handyman, Joseph, can fix most things or give me advice to what I need to do to get something working.  He checks in on me to just see how things are going.  He helps me set up and take down the patio garden each year, he gets my holiday boxes out so I can decorate, and myriads of household chores like changing a light bulb so I don’t have to juggle a ladder.  I have cleaning ladies who make my home spic and span every other week – sweet young women from Belarus who are very hard workers.  I have a few young men who will help with some of the planting outdoors.  I can do the pots but not the beds anymore.  I have started perennial gardens in the front of my house so it will be self-sustaining in future years.  You see, I am always problem solving.  

My brother, Tim, and neighbors offer a helping hand.  My father wanted me to live close to my brother when I retired so we would be always there to help each another, and we do just that. We live two streets from one another.

As you age, you will need more help to live independently.  I am thankful to all the people who offer me a little help.  I now smile and say thank you. Remember to help people while you still can and graciously accept an offer when life becomes a bit more challenging and you need a little help.  

Cotton Fields

by sssmahh303, posted in Friends and Family

Mary Ann

I remember when I lived in Virginia Beach, Va and would go to the Norfolk Forum to hear lectures by famous people of all backgrounds.  I was in my thirties, and the audience was a sea of white hair.  I felt like I was sitting in a field of cotton.  I was a little out of place, yet we were all there to learn from authors, political leaders, artists, correspondents, and the like. 

Often, I would go to other cultural events like the symphony or a play or the ballet, and there were mainly audiences with white or graying hair.  Well, now that I have a head of white hair and am in the audience with mostly other people who have white or gray hair, I have joined the cotton field.  

I often go to matinees now that I am retired, and the audience is full of other people like me, and we are all older.  It is fields of cotton.  However, even in the evenings at the symphony for example, there are mostly older people attending.  I wonder who will be attending these cultural events in the future?

There are just too many other things to fill people’s time these days.  We have endless choices of television and cable today.  There are lots of rock concerts and sporting events for young people to attend.  Then there are video games and endless scrolling on their phones.  All good, but what is going to happen to the fine arts when the boomers go to the cotton fields in the sky? 

Maybe you must be older to appreciate a symphony or a play by Tennessee Williams. Regardless, it is concerning that audiences at cultural events lack young people.  Sometimes you will see a child with their grandparents and that is to celebrate because they are educating their grandchild about the beauty of the arts.

I am not actually sure what to do to get younger people interested in a classical music concert or a lecture on the pristine oceans.  One thing that is hampering attendance by the young is the ticket prices.  It is hard for most of us to spend big bucks for tickets.  However, in New York City, many concerts and lectures are free or have low ticket prices for students.  Lin-Manuel Miranda offered a huge discount to students on Wednesday afternoons for $20 to see Hamilton.  The going price for those tickets was sometimes in the thousands.  Miranda was a former substitute teacher, so he understood that students had limited funds.  Bravo to him for introducing them to the lights of Broadway.

I think what we can all do as individuals to develop an interest in theatre or music concerts for younger people is to support our local theater groups or musical groups’ youth programs.  My brother, Tim, who was a former teacher, and his husband, Ron, another teacher, always supports youth cultural programs. They are dedicated to ensuring that the young will grow into art fans!  We are counting on it.  I think, too, you can take a young person with you to see a ballet or chamber music or whatever.  Afterwards, discuss the event and how it made him or her feel.  

I can remember the first time I heard Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 in my freshman music appreciation class.  I almost wept.  (I am listening to it now and have goose bumps.) You must be introduced.  I have loved classical music ever since. 

You can do that for someone. The young don’t have to wait until they have a head of white hair to enjoy the beauty of the arts.  You can help guarantee that there will be audiences in the future.  The arts enrich our souls at any age, and the goose bumps are icing on the cake.

Handwriting

by sssmahh303, posted in Lifestyle

Mary Ann

What ever happened to a good signature?  When signing a credit card, most people do a squiggly line.  You would never know who the person was who signed.  When I sign something, I always neatly write my name, and many times I get complimented for my efforts.  It is the teacher in me that feels compelled to write it correctly.  Do you find yourself in that same situation?  People our age had handwriting every day for six grades. 

 Round, round, ready, write!  Do you recall saying that phrase when you were doing handwriting in elementary school?   It was the Palmer Method that most of us learned how to write.  We would do overlapping circles from the top line to the bottom line on the paper. This was done to learn how to control the pen and develop muscles in our forearms.  

I read somewhere that Americans had great handwriting when we were an agrarian society. If you ever seen old letters or signatures in a Bible from your ancestors, you could see that they indeed had beautiful script.  The reason attributed to this was most people milked cows.  The very muscles that you use to milk a cow are the same muscles that you need for good handwriting.  Not too sure who figured that out, but it makes sense.   

Back to round, round, ready, write!  We used a type of fountain pen that used metal tips, a step up from feather quills, and far from the ball point or gel pens of today.  I used to call them dip pens.  Most of us educated in the 50s and 60s used an inkwell right in the little wooden desk that were used at the time.  

I remember using colored ink for holidays.  We would round, round, ready write green for Christmas trees or red for hearts at Valentine’s Day.  It may have been my teachers who did the colored ink, but it made the redundancy of handwriting fun! 

We had penmanship, the fancy name, every day. In most schools today, they don’t even teach manuscript, so you only learn how to print.  Every few years, American school systems ping pong back and forth from teaching handwriting or not.  If you go online, you can find research that supports handwriting helps with brain development – strengthening neuro pathways for learning, attention, and memory.  The National Institute of Health has an in-depth study.  Writing is foundational to reading.  Handwriting is much more complex than just writing.  

There is the battle raging in education with handwriting vs typing with devices at odds.  Typing does not support brain development in the same way.  Still out for debate – too much screen time is detrimental to brain development.  

When we ended our elementary education back in the 50s and 60s, the Palmer Company would issue beautiful certificates for completing 6 years of penmanship work.  It was written in artistic calligraphy.  It kind of puffed you up to receive it.  Next time you sign something, just remember that you have a readable signature that you can be proud of and was worth all that round, round, ready write!

New York, New York – Part 6

by sssmahh303, posted in Lifestyle

Mary Ann

Restaurants

In preparing this blog, I was curious to find out exactly how many restaurants are in New York City.  Apparently, no one really knows the exact number.  It is somewhere between 17,600 to 28,000 establishments.  (Data depends on which agency you use as a source.)  It would take you 20 to 70 years to try them all, and as soon as you would finish the last one, another new restaurant would open.  It is not quite endless but close.

For sure, New York City has many restaurants to sample that feature cuisine from all over the world as well as inventive fusion culinary style combining ingredients, techniques, or flavors from two or more cultures.  Restaurants prices can range from a few dollars for a slice of pizza to meals that are hundreds or thousands of dollars with fine wines featured.  You can find food that matches your pocketbook.

 Sprinkled all over the city are hot dog vendors with their carts.  I can once remember eating a hot dog with the works – mustard, ketchup, onion, relish, sauerkraut, and chili – in Central Park.  Yummy!  Messy!  Fun!  Was it the actual hot dog or the location in the city?  Maybe the park was the best condiment of all.   

Food trucks move around the city usually on regular schedules so you could plan your menu for the week, and they too offered a variety of cuisines.  In the summer, I loved getting lobster rolls on Hudson Street where several trucks would line up for all the office workers to get lunch.  You got outside for some fresh air and delicious food.

Then we have the bodegas found on many street corners throughout the city.  They are kind of mom-and-pop stores.  You can buy groceries and household items.  They seems to have everything.  However, one highlights of bodegas are the breakfast sandwiches – eggs, bacon, and cheese on some type of rolls. The first bite of this greasy creation is pure joy!  I am getting hungry thinking about them.  It was a great way to start the day.

New York City is famous for its pizza – considered by many as the Pizza Capital of the Nation.  I think Chicago might disagree!  You can find pizza parlors all over the city.  One of my favorites is John’s Pizza on Bleeker Street.  It is one of the oldest pizza restaurants in the city and is old- fashion comfortable.  John’s Pizza had a satellite restaurant in Jersey City that I probably ate at once a week.  The pizza was great, but they served other Italian specialties.  Baked Zita was a favorite.  You can’t really go wrong with pizza in NYC.

There are elegant and exquisite venues for New York City restaurants.  Though, I found one that was only a window on the street.  It was Meatball Obsession.  You could get a cup of giant meatballs of beef, pork, or a chicken in a variety of sauces then topped off with mozzarella pearls.  I had a regular meeting on 6th Ave. near 14th Street.  I would pick up some meatballs and ride the subway home.  The delicious aroma of the meatballs would waft throughout the car.  I got lots of looks with some knowing smiles.  It is a wonder I didn’t get mugged for my dinner. 

Another small, yummy restaurant is Tue Thai Food on Greenwich Ave.  In the summer, we would have a luncheon special delivered that included shrimp pad Thai, a salad, soup, and an iced chai tea for around $12.00 plus tip.  It was delicious beyond words.  I kind of compare all other pad Thai I have now to it, and you know, I haven’t found anything that compares.  

I collected business cards from the restaurants where I dined so I always had a reference to return to favorite eateries.  As I write this and review those cards, it is hard to pick the very best to share because there are so many outstanding places.  Some have closed. Covid hit the city hard, and others have run their course with owners retiring.

Each area of the city boasts an array of restaurants.  You can hardly go a half a block without finding a place to eat.  There is always the new it place, and you may wait for months to get a reservation for some of them.   I am going to share favorites from the West Village which was my stomping grounds for 11 years.   

You could go in any direction on Hudson Street and find wonderful restaurants.  Straight down Grove Street from Hudson, there is The Little Owl.  It is the store front of the Coffee House from the TV show Friends and tourists gather daily for pictures.  It is tiny and is hard to get reservations.  Further down the street is Buvette’s a tiny French restaurant that has been featured in several magazines.  It was a great place for a glass of wine and some French goodies.  A bit further down the street is AOC, another French restaurant – great cassoulet and surprisingly tasty hamburgers.  

Going south on Hudson, there is a charming seafood restaurant called Clam.  They have the best New England clam chowder, and I love their lobster sliders.  The ceiling of the restaurant is made of mother-of-pearl or at least it looks like it is giving the allure that you are in a shell.  Nearby is the EN which is a Japanese Brasserie that has all Asian specialties. However, the fried chicken is outstanding.  

Going north on Hudson, there is a West Village favorite called Cowgirls’.  It is a great place to take kids.  I love their Chop Salad – I never had one anywhere that compares.  They have hamburgers, pulled pork, and on and on.  Down the street from Cowgirls, is the famous White Horse bar and restaurant.  It was Bob Dylan’s and his friends’ hangout.  Off Hudson on Perry Street is Aria, a small Italian restaurant with an open concept and long kitchen tables – several people eat together.  A great place for a glass of wine and small plates.  I loved their octopus salad, but since all the octopus movies, books, shows, etc., I am not sure I can eat octopus now.  There are so many little neighborhood restaurants that are off the beaten path – truly New York City treasures.

Out of the West Village, I have loved Tavern on the Green, a famous restaurant in the Central Park.  They have great brunches in beautiful settings that change with the seasons.  In Central Park, you can go from a hot dog cart to a world-famous restaurant in an instant.  

In the Theatre District, I frequented the Glass House Tavern.   My dear friend and I would go there for lunch before we went to a matinee – a glass of wine and a menu of classic American Food with interesting twists. One of my all-time favorite restaurants is Ut Sav, an Indian restaurant in the Theater District.  Every bite was a little miracle of flavor.  It was one of the last restaurants I went to in NYC to celebrate my retirement.   However, my retirement party was at Lincoln Ristorante at Lincoln Center, an elegant restaurant with a view of the plaza.  Amazing food!  Afterwards, we went to see My Fair Lady.  It was a perfect day in every way. 

New York City is the center of so many world-class industries, and food is no except.  A few times a year, they do a Restaurant Week with specials menus to try a restaurant’s cuisine.  It is always fun at a good price, and it is a good time to visit the city.  I truly could go on and on with great places to eat.  I have shared a few of some of my regulars watering holes that you couldn’t go wrong if you visit the city.  As I have written this blog, my mouth was watering with memories. I wish that for you as well. 

Quirky Stories

by sssmahh303, posted in Wellness

Mary Ann

When my Sirius XM subscription was going from $5.00 to nearly $30.00 a month, I had to decide was worth it.  I basically listened to news and Christmas music.   Could I use the $360 annual fee in better ways?  Yes, I could.  It was time for a change.  

I then started to peruse the airways searching for a new home for my ears while I was driving.  I re-discovered National Public Radio.  I had listened to it once upon a time and always enjoyed the interviews and programing.  I decided this would be a good place to listen to the news plus all their other programing.

NPR prides itself to present the news as just the facts so at the top and the bottom of the hour, you get a snapshot of what is happening in the world.  The programing will get more into opinions and more in-depth study of many topics.  I have found that generally they will have guests on with opposing views, so you get a well-rounded perspective on most topics.  They give excellent information on the arts with great book reviews that include interviews with the authors or a good discussion on sport teams.  It is never boring from my perspective.  It is always educational, and I have learned so much about the most obscure topics which brings me to the title of this blog – Quirky Stories.

I absolutely love the endless stories on the wildest subjects.  I have found that I will sit in the driveway and finish a story on the history of banjos.  Apparently, finishing stories in the driveway is very common among NPR listeners.  I keep saying I need to get a radio for the house so I can finish a story in the comfort of my home instead of freezing or roasting in the car. 

Some of the stories are often science centered.  Sometimes I come in the middle of a featured topic, and I might not catch the title so please forgive me. These are some recent programs that I found rather fascination which may give you some idea how my brain works.   Here are some of the stories.  What Dogs Bring to Your life – I think anyone of us who had or has a dog could be a guest contributor.  Some Insects use Wasps as Bodyguards – so when I am avoiding a wasp, it may just be protecting a fellow insect. Really?   I loved the session on sperm whales – when they communicate with each other, they use grammar that is like humans.  The whales are probably more correct since texting has ruined humans’ grammar and spelling 

Recently, I listened to a program on What Footballers eat for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.  They had a session on a Ghost Story that was about the Golden Frogs of Costa Rica, and.  just his morning, I listened to a story about Buzz Aldrin using a ball point pen case to fix a circuit breaker on a space capsule– mission saved.  Remember these are not exact titles – it is just the flavor of a program.  Each time I drive somewhere, I truly look forward to learning something new about quirky subjects. 

You can often find topical NPR programs on your phone news.  It is in print.  Solo Agers was a recent and interesting article for our age group.  You can also go to the websites and listen to the programing there.    

If you are not an NPR aficionado, now is time to check it out.  I promise you will find some quirky stories.  It is good prep to be a future Jeopardy contestant.  You can join me with filling your mind full of rather useless information.  I cannot remember some important detail of my life, but I remember sperm whales are well-spoken.  If you become a listener, hopefully you will become a supporter.  NPR is free, but contributions keep it going.  Maybe that would be a good use of my $360 dollars? 

AI for Dummies

by sssmahh303, posted in Reviews

Mary Ann

I am sure that you have battled with your phone when texting.  You spell please and the phone spell Louise.   You repeat it, and it does the same thing.  By the third try, the phone may begin to cooperate.  Does this sound familiar?   Another scenario – you are trying to contact the bank, and you are in a verbal game of ping pong with the “person” at the bank continually asking for clearer instruction.  By this point you are totally frustrated and may just hang up or you fall on your knees after being directed to a real person.  This is now our world, and AI or artificial intelligence is the new “person” in our lives.  I am sure you have doubted making a new friend with AI that you didn’t ask for.

You are all aware that my friend Lisa and I do our non-fiction book club.  I have shared several of our selections with you in reviews and such.  Well, Lisa thought it would be good for us old ladies to learn about AI.  I bulked at first, but she was gung-ho!  We settled on reading AI for Dummies by Mueller, Massaron, and Diamond.   It seemed like a good start because we were AI dummies. The edition we read was 2025, a recent update, but as we began to read, we realized it was already outdated.  AI is moving fast – a lot faster than Lisa and I were moving.  It was laborious reading like a college science text.  However, I must admit I did learn some new vocabulary.  Tokens was the key word.  Tokens are bits of information.  The tokens are stored in the data centers.  That is why your phone texting takes the beginning of your intended word and finds something else that could fit which of course is not what you wanted.  We both could see how AI could help doctors or lawyers, but the information you are searching for is only as good as the data input.  It is sort of true for everything.  

Then we got braver since we now knew three new vocabulary words and decided to take an online class with the Princeton Adult School.  It was ZOOM class with an AI guy from the University of PA.  It was a Q and A format.  However, no one knew enough to even ask questions.  Since I am an educator, I was concerned about how AI would be used with students.  I was also concerned with creativity – I didn’t want the world cheating on original ideas.  We did learn a few things.  For example, Claude is the best system to use to support you with research or formatting materials.  I have a writer friend who uses Claude as his staff.  It saves him so much time with his self-publishing work.  AI is a tool.  I just don’t want it to become my best friend. 

Most people don’t know anything about AI and are afraid of it.  I get it.  That is me for the most part.   I did however explore further.  Christ Hayes of MS NOW has a pod cast called Why is This Happening?  He recently hosted several AI experts in an 8-episode series called The AI End Game. Chris is bright journalist who asked many questions that I had, and the experts did clearly explain their responses.  The episode on ethics with Timnit Gebru was excellent and the episode, Boom to Bust with Ed Zitron explained AI economics. The episode on AI consciousness was a bit scary.  If you want to take a short course, these podcasts will educate you. It was worth the eight-ish hours I dedicated to it.  They are more entertaining than AI for Dummies.  Who needs a textbook when you can listen in your car or while exercising?  You can get these podcasts wherever you get you podcasts – I sound like a TV commercial.  It is free – that is always good. 

I must say that Lisa and I haven’t really stopped talking about AI.  She send me articles from the NY Times all the time.  AI is here, like it or not.  Is it here forever?  That is the question.  This all reminded me when home computers came into our lives or the Internet.  It is a blessing and a curse. I just really want to know if something is true.  One lady in the Princeton Adult Class asked how to tell if a picture was real.  Our professor explained several steps to verify a photo.  NO ONE has time to do that for each picture we encounter.  I guess we are going to have to trust.  Not an easy thing to do! 

This has been my journey with AI so far.  I hope that it might help you if you are as confused as I was and still am on many levels.  I have given you some good direction for your journey.  Travel safe and put your seat belt on!   

Expired

by sssmahh303, posted in Taking Care of Business

Mary Ann

Just like expiration dates on your produce and canned goods, I think we have expiration dates on other aspects of our lives.  I am not talking divorce or death, but indeed they are endings.  I think that we outgrow certain facets of our lives.  In recent years, two come to mind that were big steps for me to take to say goodbye to features that were a big part of my life in the past. 

When I was young, I would read the Time Magazine, and there was a section called People. I would read it each week to see what the celebrities were up too.  Sometimes it was the only segment that I was interested in.  Then in 1974, People Magazine was launched with Mia Farrow on the cover.  I was beyond thrilled.  I got a whole magazine on famous and not so famous people.  It was a step up from the grocery store tabloids.  

I read just about every issue for over 50 years, but I did not renew it this past year.  Surprise, I haven’t missed it.  It no longer held the magic it once did for me. I still liked the reviews of movies, TV, and books, however The Find the Difference photos came to be the only thing I really liked doing.  I realize that as I have gotten older, the world of influencers or WB stars are not in my orbit anymore.  You can hardly keep up with who is in and who is out.  However, I just don’t find the articles interesting anymore.  I don’t really need true crime stories or features highlighting people who do not have sterling characters.  So, it doesn’t seem worth the $100 plus just to play a photo game.  Bye-Bye, People!

Another goodbye that I thought I would never say is Saturday Night Live!  When it began in the fall of 1975, it was the most original piece of comedy ever produced.  Not Lucille Ball or Carol Burnett that I watched in my youth, but it had political satire and clever skits about slices of American life.  I could hardly wait for the next episode.  The original cast with Chevy Chase or John Bulshi or Gilda Radner and company were hysterical.  It was funny without being cruel.  Remember Cone Heads?  SNL was a launching pad for so much comedy talent, and I admire the show for that.

I watched for nearly 50 years but in the last few years, SNL was becoming mean – I guess reflecting the general society.  Frankly, I was bored.  I am old, but I like to laugh.  I still enjoyed Weekend Update and the cold openings especially during Presidential election years.  Then it became cruel as well.  I have a hard time watching Colin Jost say crude things about his wife, Scarlett Johansen.  You lose respect for those individuals. I don’t really need that in my life anymore.  So goodbye Saturday Night Live!   

There are a few things that I wish I could say goodbye to now.  However, they don’t seem to be fading in popularity. I don’t like crypto currency.  Call me old fashion, but I want to see my money.  It seems like a Ponzi scheme to me with the people at the top getting rich and the people at the bottom losing their life’s savings.  

I hate naked dressing.  Maybe it is my mother whispering in my ear that I needed to wear a slip because my dress was sheer, and you could see the outline of my legs.  Remember the scandal when this happened to Lady Di before she became a princess?  I love to see an awards show and see the participants dressed in beautiful clothes as they walk the Red Carpet.   I especially love Marchese – if you could wear a fairytale, you would be wearing Marchese.  Naked dressing doesn’t leave much to the imagination.  You lose the romance of beautiful clothes, and a little mystery is always good.  

And for now, I trying to figure out if I like AI.  It is here but the jury is still out for me whether it is something I am going to unitize.  It is in my life whether I like it or not.  I have a blog coming out on my adventure with AI, so I look forward to sharing that with you. 

For now, I have expired some things in my life.  I have that power to do just that if something isn’t adding to my life.  If something is taking away from my life, it is time for it to expire!   

Le Temps des Cerises

by sssmahh303, posted in Lifestyle

Mary Ann

I was travelling in Provence in early August with a group of friends.  We were driving down a country road when we came upon a field of lavender that was surrounded with hedgerows of cherry trees.  You know the kind with big, black, sweet Bing cherries.  They are delicious and as you devour them, they stain your fingers and lips a dark red.  We stopped the car to take pictures of lavender, but I ended up taking pictures of the cherries and tasting one or two.  Scrumptious! It was Le Temps des Cerises – the time of cherries!

I did not know that phrase, but I came across it later in a book.  The time of cherries is a happy time.  Life is good.  It was defined as the time in summer that is carefree and full of love.  Since I was last in France, the phrase has morphed into a clothing line, restaurants, and wine labels.  The phrase reminded me of our American catch phrase,” Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries” capturing that life is going well. (Did you know that phrase came from a 1930 song?) 

One Christmas, I took the pictures of cherries that I took in Provence and framed them as gifts.  I made a border in fancy script of Le Temps des Cerises, The Time of Cherries, Life is a Bowl of Cherries, and Life is Good that surrounded the picture. I put the photo on a small easel, and I then found glass cherries that I placed near the easel.  A little bit of France with wishes for happiness.  

When I visited Cynthia once, we went to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art to see their glass exhibits.  Dale Chihuly, the Master of Art Glass, has permanent exhibits there.  As a parting gift, Cynthia gave me a glass cherry that I place by my cherry photo.  It is so Cynthia, and the cherry represents the happy time I had with her.  It is always a reminder of her when I look at the cherry photo. 

Since we are talking about cherries, let me share with you one of my favorite desserts, and it is French. Clafoutis is a fruit custard dessert that is like a flan with fruits. It is usually made with Bing cherries. Though, I have made it with peaches and pears and is equally as good.  Just use the fruit that is in season. 

Here is the recipe from the Linousin/Augergne (south central) region of France.  I am not sure where I got this recipe so if I have stolen this from Julia Childs, please forgive me.  I have seen several Clafoutis recipes online, so I am not sure any recipe is scared anymore.  

CLAFOUTIS

1 ½ lbs. ripe black (Bing) cherries, not pitted (warn guests about the pits)

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

½ cup (4 oz.) sugar

2 ½ oz. butter, melted

2/3 cup of all-purpose flour

1 cup of milk 

Vanilla sugar (vanilla bean in regular sugar) or 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees; wash, dry, stem the cherries 

Butter an oven proof dish large enough to hold the cherries in a single layer.  Place cherries in dish.  Combine the eggs and the yolk in a bowl, add sugar, and whisk until the mixture is pale in color.  Whisk in the butter.  Sift in the flour and mix well, then add in the milk.  Pour the mixture over the cherries. 

Bake for 40 minutes @ 400 degrees or you could bake @ 350 degrees for 50 minutes until golden brown and a knife comes out clean. 

Your house will smell delicious as the Clafoutis bakes.  It is really an easy recipe and so French.  You will have your very own Les Temps des Cerises, a happy time with friends and family as you enjoy the Clafoutis together.  Bonne Appetite!  Joie De Vivre!