No Title. No Topic.

My Bucket List

2011-12-16T20:54:00.000-08:00

Someone said that everyone should have a bucket list--and I do.

This summer I was able to tick off another item on my list. I went to a NASCAR race. Yes, madam-melt-in-the-sun sat in the sweltering 100+ degree summer sun and watched one hundred laps of fast cars driving around in a circle and didn't complain once about just how hot it was. It wasn't Daytona or Indianapolis; it was Loundon, New Hampshire but it was a hoot. A client had a customer appreciation event to which we were invited. They had a huge tent and served breakfast and lunch before the race and then took us on a tour of the infield before the race. You also have to understand that car racing is the polar opposite of any of the activities that normally entertain me. This was a real big step out of my comfort zone and into the realm of the totally unfamiliar.

Arriving at this place was an eye-opener. We got there early so we would not have trouble with the parking. I don't think we could have parked farther from the track and still have been on the grounds. Fortunately, there was a shuttle bus we could hop on but that was still a five minute walk from the car--up hill, no less. Our parking lot was only partially full when we got there and I was not ready for what would greet us we came over the rise; it was a sea of campers and RVs so densely packed that you could probably have hopped from one roof to another--and this was only one of the RV parking lots. When we finally got on the shuttle that would take us from the far end of the RV lot to the track, the bus driver was commenting that the waiting time for the men's showers was over an hour.

The NASCAR crowd is interesting--very friendly and more polite than you find at Fenway Park. NASCAR is also very loud and fortunately our hosts supplied earplugs for us. The national anthems (Canadian and US) and the opening invocation are taken very seriously here, not just by the members of the pit-crews who line up like soldiers along pit row but also by the crowds in the stands. I think that if racing didn't take place in the middle of the summer that you might convince me to go more often. I had no idea who was racing or what the stats were. I had no idea what the rules were or who the heroes were. Still, it was a fun experience.

Bye-Bye New New Newsweek

2011-10-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a year since I even looked at this blog and for some reason I find myself here again. My first post ever was about NEWSWEEK magazine and I thought I would take a moment to revisit that post seeing as how there have been even more changes to the magazine. New owner. Editor Jon Meacham resigns. More writers abandon ship. New owner appoints new editor. New owner dies. Magazine is now even more like PEOPLE or one of the other newstand women's magazines than it has ever been. I see no hope for it as a magazine that will deliver what I want and I am now subscribing to TIME, where I can read Fareed Zakharia, Joel Klein, Jon Meacham and other old friends from NEWSWEEK and hear from insightful people sharing their opinions about world events..

Boy! Am I Talkative!?

2010-10-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

I guess I am just not cut out to be a blogger! I haven't posted anything here in almost a year!

Well stay tuned, maybe I will find some thoughts worthy enough to share with the blogoshpere.

Growing up Alexander: Thanksgiving

2009-11-09T06:14:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving has always been the Alexander family holiday. Growing up Alexander meant helping Mom get Thanksgiving dinner on the table. My mother was organized! Mom worked so she needed to be in order to get it all done--and she made it look easy. Over the years, she developed a series of recipes that could be made in advance. She made lists and doled out the jobs--bring up the tables and chairs, pat the butter, vacuum, dust, make ice cubes. The meal was always elegant. Even if it was served buffet style, we never ate on paper-plates.

Mom would not have been able to do all of this without her four helpers. Of course, as much as we complained about helping, the one thing that we did learn over our long apprenticeship was how to entertain large groups. The guest list was never the same but it was always long--grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends. Why go through all this hassle for just a handful of people? The more the merrier.

For my children, the annual Thanksgiving trip to Nan and Pop's was a big sleepover party with the cousins. It was the only time in the year that we could count on to all be together and no one wanted to miss anything by staying in a hotel--even if it meant sleeping on sofa beds and in bunk beds and all of us sharing the two bathrooms. It was just great to be together.

The face of Thanksgiving has changed over the years but at its core it has always been THE Alexander family holiday.

Google Chrome

2009-11-09T05:40:00.000-08:00

I just installed Google Chrome to give it a test drive. It was a short drive. Very quickly I decided that it did not give me enough control over pop-ups, scripts (no control at all) and cookies (accept all or reject all). Google Chrome is very pretty (got love all those really cool themes) and it is great if you don't care what is happening under the hood. But, I like to know (and control) what comes and goes. Chrome will be fine when all the controls on Firefox make it impossible for me to access a page (a price I am willing to pay for privacy and security) but for everyday browsing, I will stick with Firefox.

Night at the Opera

2009-11-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, it was really afternoon but it was opera. La Boheme, to be precise. This was the first time we have seen this company do Boheme but I am glad that it has taken us this long to see them do it. It was a different experience knowing the singers and being able to pick out familiar faces.

We discovered Teatro Lirico d' Europa a number of years ago and we just love it. I don't remember how we found out about it or why we even went to our first performance--especially considering that we have never seen a single performance by any locally based opera company. I guess the truth is that we just love 'classic' Italian opera and that is what this company specializes in. I describe TLE as Met voices, college scenery and high school costumes. This season we get to see his favorite opera, Boheme, and mine, Barber of Seville. Add to those two Marriage of Figaro and you have a fantastic season.

We have always dreamed of a box at the opera and now we have one. One year when I sent in my subscription form, I asked if there were box seats available. There were and we have been sitting there ever since. I have a completely unobstructed view --at last.

One year, I think that we are going to have to show up in our box a la Pretty Woman --white tie for him and ruby necklace and 18 button gloves for me. Now, I wonder where I can find a pair of those opera glasses.

Biography in 6 words

2009-09-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

born, schooled, married, procreated, aged, died

SQUIRT: sustained quiet independent reading time

2009-09-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

For my mother, my sisters and me, quality time together was spent reading. Yes, the four of us sprawled on sofas or wherever, each with our nose in a book. Forget shopping, just pass out the Harlequins and leave us alone.

One Thanksgiving, my father realized that we were all missing. One by one, we had left the rugrats in the care of the dads and made our way to the haven of mom's bedroom. No kids. No noise. Dad found us, lined up across the bed, books in hand.

The New Newsweek

2009-09-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to be very open about the changes they've made to the magazine but I'm having trouble seeing what is on the page. The new typeface has obviously been chosen by someone who has not yet started to experience the vision problems of the magazine's older readers. I don't like how hard it is to distinguish the ads from the editorial content. I can't read anything in yellow or red ink -- and I don't need to have the key thoughts highlighted for me. Thank you but I am smart enough to figure that out for myself and since I can't read what has been highlighted, it is just plain distracting.

So what do I like about the new format? For one, they spend less time trying to be People magazine; bye-bye to some of the most embarrassing interviews on the newsstand--embarrassing to the magazine that they would publish such garbage. I like the idea of in depth articles and commentary and I find that I am actually reading the articles and not just scanning the headlines. They haven't thrown out my favorite features with the make-over; they still have the My Turn essays, Conventional Wisdom and the week in quotes (although I wish they would beef up the page with more quotes and political cartoons).

Newsweek will be happy to hear that I'm not giving up my subscription yet--but I'm also not ruling out the possibility.

Everybody has a first post!

2009-09-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

Everybody is blogging. Everybody has a website. It is time to get with it.

I don't know where I'm going with this but it is time to hit the road.