January 29, 2019

The Dude and Carrie Bradshaw switch to Stella Artois. Amusing ad.



Most reviews of Starbucks' Cinnamon Shortbread Latté say it tastes like a liquid cookie. I agree.



If you look quickly, it doesn't read FLICK.



A decent, low-priced Pinot Noir.



Not Pacifico, actually Five Boroughs Hoppy Lager



Another Sunrise.



Even Google, when I am signed in to them, wishes me Happy Birthday.



Second trip to Morton's. Had Salmon last night and Shrimp Capellini today.



A little mix of birthday and Super Bowl.

January 28, 2019

I forgot that Babbel renews itself automatically unless you tell it not to. I was about to renew it anyway to learn some German. Another roots trip is planned to see the town of my fraternal grandmother.

January 27, 2019

Card game last night, won over $100.



Super Bowl LIII next week. I always get a package and eat the leftovers for several days. Will root for the food and TV ads.



Sunrise off of Queens Boulevard.

January 26, 2019

NYV Winter Restaurant Week January 21st to February 8th. Will partake this coming week. Planned trips to Morton's and Smith and Wollensky. Also, going to Morton's of Great Neck for Nassau Restaurant Week. A confluence of events and just getting together with friends. Also, going out to two non-Restaurant Week events. Already planning to diversify my choices to not exclusively eat steak.

January 24, 2019

This being my birthday month, I am getting automated greetings. So far, my local councilmember, Panera, Best Buy and I will get a free drink from Starbucks. More to come. Impersonal and automatic but I'll take it.



Speaking of automated greetings, Firefox recommends various readings based on answers to my interests. Also, I believe it recommends based on my internet searches. I am not that into philosophy but an article I recently read on William James was followed by this article from 2015 by Alison Gopnik: How an 18th-Century Philosopher Helped Solve My Midlife Crisis. A fascinating exploration of Eastern thought, Jesuits ,David Hume and personal growth. Thankfully, Gutenberg has both James and Hume.



Took the day off. A couple of chores, oil change and inspection and a few other things. Ouch! Needed new brakes, total bill $1291. Glad I had a nice reserve.



A gift to myself, I had read his other books and this one looks good. Captivating so far.



Boston Market just came in.

January 21, 2019

MLK day, really cold.



Lunar eclipse and Super Wolf moon last night.

“Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon.”



$17.50 win!



I knew as a New Yorker I was going to get hosed by the Trump Tax Cuts. Installed my tax program and started to input numbers. The elimination of SALT deductions, really a cap of $10,000, puts me into the standard deduction bracket. I knew it was coming and adjusted my withholding early in March. Still going to pay, about a grand, when I usually get about a $700 refund. Thankfully, my state refund will cover it and leave me a little extra but man I am paying through the nose. Wait until everybody in New York starts doing taxes, the howls will start soon. The IRS has suspended penalties and car sales are projected as down for 2019. No tax cut for New Yorkers. Same thing for California.



$20 win!

January 20, 2019

Maureen Dowd invokes The Furies in today's column.



She also uses the phrase "Lay Doggo." William Safire in his On Language column explained the phrase.



Later in a Nate Silver piece, I learned about the Overton Window.



Louis Vuitton building. The rainbow colors honor the 80th anniversay of The Wizard of Oz.

January 19, 2019

Trying to get back into reading again. This one looks right up my alley. Plus, it was on sale and I had a coupon.



My Spectrum cable box died and then I went into the Spectrum zone. Turns out my whole house DVR is a legacy item and all new boxes and remotes don't function with it. After two trips, lots of annoying
automated help with me screaming "technical help please", and finally, everything back to normal. Too much agita for what I pay. I would switch to FIOS but putting in a whole new system doesn't seem worth it and I don't like signing cable contracts.

January 14, 2019

Haven't read fiction in quite some time. This will be my third try at Pynchon's V. I will do a disciplined chapter by chapter read.

January 13, 2019

Another $30 win! The streak continues today: $15.



A Man for All Seasons, TCM on demand, was worth a watch. Leo McKern and Robert Shaw were terrific.

January 12, 2019

$30 win!



Another funeral for a friend. 62 and was in seemingly good health. Two of my colleagues are in the hospital, 57 and 55. Been a bad holiday season for health. Makes me want to meet with friends and enjoy what time is left. Hopefully, a lot.

January 9, 2019

Wild tire cover.



I was there in 1984.

January 6, 2019

Netflix has some cool stuff. This Bob Marley documentary is a must see. Intend to watch Bird Box, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Roma,and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.



DENNIS: Listen -- strange women lying in ponds distributing swords
is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives
from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
ARTHUR: Be quiet!
DENNIS: Well you can't expect to wield supreme executive power
just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!



$10 win!



Today is the Feast of the Epiphany.

January 2, 2019

Gifts from 2018: cookies, $50 Amazon card, more cookies, Shirts and Ties, Hawaiian shirt, wallet, $50 Amazon card, Smith and Wollensky tie, 3 bottles of wine, Truffles, Iowa Bourbon, glass, two bottles Coquito, pajamas.

January 1, 2019

2019 looks to be a year of major changes. May not have a job by the end of the year. All is good, my landing will be fine.



Mimosas! With leftover Champagne.



Knish Nosh Dogs and Knishes are a yearly tradition.



So is Hoppin John, this year with Shrimp and Bay Scallops.



French director Robert Enrico’s memorable 24-minute film adaptation of Ambrose Bierce’s short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge originally aired on the CBS network on February 28, 1964, during the fifth and final season of Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone.”

Ambrose Bierce was last heard from in a letter to his secretary and companion, Carrie Christiansen — dated December 1913, and bearing a Chihuahua, Mexico, postmark — writing to her:

“If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it’s a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico — ah, that is euthanasia.”



Sterling Hollaway, the voice of Pooh and  William Demarest in What's in the Box.