January 26, 2012

HUFFINGTON POST on first page of "Life & Style" section and ...

... and they even added this snappy illo:




My Mom: "81 Years Old & the Essence of Awesomeness" (1st Huffington Post)

HuffPost Social News
photo
Bonni Brodnick January 26, 2012 at 11:18am

My mother has been touted for her amazing energy, eagerness to learn, and positive thinking. Aka "Ever-Ready Betty," she inspires everyone who meets her with a sunny outlook... and how about that...

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They Call it BreakFAST For a Reason

Here is my speedy morning routine on the non-healthy breakfast front: Take bowl of water. Throw in Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice tea bag. Put in splash of vanilla soy milk. Slip into microwave for 4-minutes and 10-seconds.

While that is auto-"brewing," take out five boxes of cereal. Measure an exact one-cup combination of all the cereals into a plastic bowl-shaped Tupperware. Stuff another half-handful of the peanut butter puff cereal into my mouth.

Remove bowl of hot tea from the microwave and bring over to the sink. Place plastic travel mug directly in the sink. (I have learned the hard way how to pour hot liquid from a bowl into a mug.) Pour tea elixir into the mug and be sure lid is screwed on tightly. (I have learned the hard way the difference between "loosely" and "tightly.")

Balance the plastic bowl and the travel mug in one hand, even if the other hand is free. This adds to the thrill of breakfast-on-the-run and trying to lock the front door of the house.

Walk towards car. Hold bowl of cereal up to my mouth and see if some of it will stick to my tongue as I'm walking. (Hey, I live in the country. No one is around to watch me.) While doing so, put travel mug on top of car. Open door.

Slip travel mug into the holder in the front seat. (I have learned the hard way that it is better in the holder than on the seat.) Walk around to the driver's side of the car. Open the door with one hand, slip in, and place the bowl of cereal on the passenger seat. Close the door. Confirm that the travel mug is in the holder and not on top of the car. (I have learned the hard way that this is a necessary step.)
Put key in the ignition. Give the car some juice (not literally, but writing about breakfast is making me think of OJ).
Drive down my road. When the coast is clear, tear out of my driveway. Watch bowl of cereal fly all over the front seat. Wonder, for the crazillionth time, why I don't just take five minutes to eat the bowl of cereal at the kitchen table before leaving the house.
Now I am beginning to feel really crumby. Console myself by glancing over at the hot tea that is still intact. After taking a sip, I try to find the holder to slip it back into, which is sometimes like finding a light switch in the dark.
Stop at the light. Take a sip of hot tea. Continue driving. At next light, look down and see cereal beginning to drop into the leather seat crevices. Try to convince your brain that you weren't hungry anyway. Reach out for the tea. Take a sip. Notice that it is starting to get cold. Try to convince your brain that you weren't thirsty anyway.
Turn up the radio. Switch the station from NPR to soft rock. Sing along to "I Want to Move Like Jagger." Look straight ahead at the road. Do not for a millisecond look at the Cheerios all over the front seat. Continue the a.m. quest of trying to to embrace the real meaning of breakfast. (Or is it brake fast?)

January 19, 2012

POUND RIDGE PAST now @ Elm Street Books in New Canaan, Conn.

I'm delighted to tell you that Pound Ridge Past is now available at the coolest book store around, ELM STREET BOOKS in New Canaan.

Remember cozy neighborhood bookstores? Look no further.

@<|:-)

January 12, 2012

Books. Schmooze. Mark it. Make it.

Many thanks to Pound Ridge Library for inviting me to present my book, Pound Ridge Past: Remembrances of Our Townsfolk, at "Connecting with Your Community & Past" on Thursday, February 16, from 12-2.

If you are in this neck of the woods, come hear the skinny on personalities who dazzled the calm of the countryside from the 1920s to 70s. Lauren Bacall poolside? The "Wizard of Oz" himself?

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

January 9, 2012

Don't even think about smiling

This begins our series of "Is It Me ... Or What?"

This weekend I went to the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center. What is it about people who pose in front of memorial monuments and smile to have their picture taken? Is there some kind of disconnect with the human condition here? It's like wishing someone a "Happy" Memorial Day or "Happy" Yom Kippur.

Three-thousand people died in the terrorist attacks in our country on September 11, 2001. The 9/11 Memorial is dedicated to commemorating each individual who died in the terror.

Smiling for a photo in front of the 9/11 Memorial. Not. Appropriate.

January 4, 2012

The New Year is getting old

So how's everyone doing with their New Year resolutions? I have already blown through just about all of mine. Ho hum. Tsk tsk. Whahh whah. Boo hoo. Fon fon. Ahemm ahemm. Oui, oui. C'est vrai.

And what is it with fancy cars that practically verbalize your tires need to be filled when the temperature is below freezing? This morning, I tried to conjure my science know-how and forgot how things shrink in this weather.

I did, however, remember that Seinfeld episode on "shrinkage." Then it all made sense.

January 2, 2012

New Year Resolution Resolved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

January 1 marks the end of month-long holiday debauchery. Weeks and weeks of socializing, drinking, partying, cooking, baking, shopping, wrapping, decorating, sending out holiday cards (they're still not finished. So if you're reading this and you haven't yet received your annual holiday greeting from the Brodnicks, here's a blanket wish to all: Merry, happy.)

Which brings me to my resolution for 2012. I am going to stop using exclamation points. Words alone should communicate the levity of a sentence. If your sentence needs a lift, try throwing in a capped word, but chuck the "!". For example:

"I will not be burdened by the thought of Sarah Palin running with Newt Gingrich!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"I will not be burdened by the thought of SARAH PALIN running with Newt Gingrich."

The second sentence sends the same message without the graphic redundance. When you think about it (and am I the only one who is? You can say it ...) exclamation points are extraneous. In actuality, they are so 2011. (We'll get into the discussion of italics later.)

Much more blah-blah, yadda yadda yadda to come, but for now, I close by wishing you a "Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Rather, "Happy New Year."

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