Repeating her gold win in the women’s snowboard halfpipe from 2018, Chloe Kim earned another gold medal in Beijing, handily crowning her this Dazzler of the Day in the process. Back-to-back Olympic medals, in gold no less, is a feat so spectacular I can’t quite get my head around it, other than to feel incredibly awestruck and simultaneously inspired. She is simply amazing.
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” ~ Buddha
Behold the burgeoning beauty of Ficus benghalensis ‘Audrey’ – a specimen I procured a little over a year ago which has done decently in our front window, and marked the ticking of time in miraculous fashion. I only just noticed how much it had grown over the last year when I revisited the original post announcing its arrival. Back then, it was only a couple of inches high, with about six leaves held tightly to a central stem. As it became comfortable in its new home, it would unfurl a new leaf every month or two, until it arrived where we find it today – well over a foot tall with 17 full leaves (and a new arriving as seen below, indicating the start of another growing season.
I am usually better at keeping track of such growth, waiting with anxious anticipation and measuring growth in inches and leaves and blooms with annoyingly Virgo-like precision. For the Buddha tree, I’ve merely enjoyed its company, pausing beside it as I do my daily meditation – inspired into a calmer state simply from its pretty and peaceful countenance. Such a gorgeous green keeps me inspired during the dullest winter days. It also reminds me to be present in the moment, grounding my thoughts and worries, seeking to find a similar peace as the Buddha, seeking some state of enlightenment through the practice of mindfulness.
And so this happy little guy grew right before my eyes, and I didn’t even notice it. I don’t know if that’s because I was being more or less mindful, or whether my mindfulness was focused on what did or didn’t matter. Like the mangled roots these trees sometimes develop, some entanglements are best left alone.
As for the future plans for Miss Audrey, I’m going to allow him to grow a bit taller and see how well it attains a single-trunk tree form. At some point it may require staking to stabilize it, depending on high high and heavy it gets, and how thick the trunk develops. But these are thoughts and worries for another day.
For now, I’m offering gratitude for how far this plant has come in the past year – a journey that can only be seen in hindsight, if it needs to be seen at all. (Below is where we began a year ago.)
“If you forget the joy of life and get caught in the pleasures of the world, you will come to envy those who put meditation first.” ~ Buddha
This isn’t going to list all the links in which Zac Efron appears shirtless or naked on this site (click here for a more comprehensive link-list for that gratuitous stuff). Instead, enjoy a couple of relatively-recent shots of Efron in the water and fantasize about sunnier weather and swimsuit-ready bodies…
I love any Alan who spells his name correctly, so this Dazzler of the Day was an easy choice, and he comes highly recommended by several FaceBook friends. This is Alan Ritchson, who started out as an Abercrombie & Fitch model before bursting onto the entertainment scene in series such as ‘Smallville’ and ‘Titans’. He’s currently making a bigger splash as the title character on the Amazon series ‘Reacher’ and in this Dazzler of the Day feature, where his numerous attributes are quite impressively on display.
Getting enough fluids in the body on a daily basis seems to be a challenge for most people. (I’m decidedly not in this camp, as I luckily love water and get in at least 8 glasses a day.) For everyone else, making sure to receive enough of the wet stuff is a burden, and the only way others seem to make it happen is through soda and juice and other questionably-healthy alternatives. To ensure that we get as much as possible during these arid and dry air months, soup is a lovely option, doubling as a source of heat and coziness. Like a cup of hot tea, a bowl of soup seems to warm everything, from the heart to the mind to the body. Cradled in one’s hands, it is a comfort on the cold days at hand, and can be assembled in as simple or complex fashion as one deems worthy.
For the soup pictured here, I just put together a basic broth and added a hefty dose of greens (kale and spinach and boy choy) to get some of the vitamins we need. From there, the options are without limit – for some protein I used a seven-minute egg. If you’re looking for something slightly heartier, the addition of rice or noodles would work wonders, as would chicken or other poultry (turkey soup is an unheralded joy). And all the while you are getting some of that essential liquid to keep the body running well in the winter. Sip well.
Upstate New York native Chris Mazdzer is back at the Olympics for the fourth time, and though this time around has proven more difficult than previous visits, the mere fact of earning a spot at a fourth Olympic Games is honorable in itself. The American luger also has a lucrative future promoting any sort of manscaping or facial hair products, so he’ll be doing just fine no matter what happens in Beijing.
High hopes for a US Medal in Women’s Figure Skating rest on the shoulders of figure skater Karen Chen, whose free skate in the group competition pushed the US into silver medal territory. While she’s up against some formidable competition in the individual event, Chen easily earns the Dazzler of the Day for a career that culminates with this Olympic Games.
My parents enjoy a doughnut for breakfast, so I’d been making weekly deliveries of the fresh cider doughnuts that George’s Landscaping was offering, right up until the end of the calendar, when they informed me that the cider doughnut enterprise was going away for the winter, to return in the spring. It was a let-down, as they were the closest and easiest way to get fresh doughnuts to Amsterdam, but there are more doughnut options in the area, as evidenced by this glorious specimen from Cider Belly Doughnuts, which is right in downtown Albany.
The parking in downtown Albany is questionable on a good day, and right after a winter storm it’s a veritable nightmare, but I braved it on a recent Sunday morning and got the goods to get my parents through the next few days. Of course, the delivery guy got a couple for himself in the process, as it should be. Biting into a fresh and warm cider doughnut on a cold winter morning is hygge at its best. It warms the entire heart and soul. Check out Cider Belly Doughnuts if you need a fix.
Woodworker and furniture artisan Christopher Nassise has honed his skills over decades, reminding the world of the importance of carefully-crafted objects of function and style. He’s also shared his knowledge and expertise with anyone who wants to learn the art of woodworking, proving that such artisanship is not only a way of preserving tradition, but seeing that tradition become part of a new generation. His incredible talent is the main reason for honoring him with this Dazzler of the Day feature, but a close second is what an awesome example he and his wife have been as to how to live lives that honor and respect others, as well as the world around us. (Personal example: they have been champions of my holiday cards no matter how ridiculous, awful, gratuitous or dull.) Please visit his website ‘The Green Workshop’ as well as his FaceBook page for further evidence of his brilliance.
Along with the devil, a newly-crowned Olympian wears Prada, as evidenced by Julia Marino’s sensational wardrobe. Even her snowboard is by the famous designer – their signature slash of scarlet resplendent against a white snowy background. Marino earned the United States its first medal in these Olympic Games – a silver in slopestyle snowboarding – and she did it in style. (Bonus appearance by Gus Kenworthy.)
February Mondays tend to be terrible, thanks to the usually awful weather and winter blues setting in for the long haul. The good news is that today marks the first week of February to be ticked off the calendar, and it’s a shorter month too, and so we carry on… let’s do our quick recap then trudge through the rest of the week together. (PS – The photo is of Suzie’s soup, one little way to warm up on a cold day.)
A Valentine’s Day wish from Tom Ford.
Winter Olympians gather again.
Dazzlers of the Day included Carrie Coon, Diego Barros, Shaun White, and Michael Musto.
Olympic Spotlights included Nathan Krumpton, Kristen Santos and Kamila Valieva.
Daring to be the first woman to attempt execute a quad jump at the Olympics, Kamila Valieva glides stunningly into the Olympic Spotlight, and puts her forefront in the line of ladies for a gold medal. Along with that technical prowess, she brings artistry and grace to her performances, including jumps where she usually brings her arms above her head. For someone who has occasional trouble jumping up one stair at a time, this is impressive.
During the last hours of a winter storm, the snow slows and falls more delicately. The wind has subsided and the evening has arrived, and at this late hour I began my daily meditation. After going through my usual litany of meditation focuses and intentions, I opened my eyes and watched the snow fall, choosing to make the pretty scene part of the practice. In the same way I once sat outside in the summer and did my daily meditation by the pool, listening to the birds and the insects and gentle rustling of the leaves in a warm breeze, I made the winter snow part of this meditation.
It is a decidedly different feeling when meditating on a winter evening. That one world could look and feel so completely changed in just a few months is a remarkable wonder, yet as far away as summer felt, and as distant and dim were the echoes of its memories, the warm heart of it all still beat beneath the ice and snow. It was there in the candlelight, there in the hints of blue that the sky insisted on bleeding into the night.
The fabulous embodiment of all that was, and remains, brilliant in New York City nightlife, Michael Musto has been a bastion of entertainment knowledge and history, having taken part of the best of times and worst of times over the past several decades. That he’s done so without falling prey to the career-sucking temptations all around him is a testament to his own brand of discipline and hard work, as well as his love for all that he does. His wit has remained in effect, and his barbs are as sharp as ever. (What brought him into the realm of Dazzler of the Day, in addition to a storied career that has outlasted many of those he has profiled through the years, is a delectable bon mot such as this week’s social media post: “My social life is picking up. Artie Hammer just asked me out for a bite!”)
There is a soul-serving power in going outside at least once a day. Even in the winter, when it seems like the most inhospitable place to be, a simple and quick walkabout can cure the milder winter blues that may be afflicting one. In these days of telecommuting and staying at home, these little breaks can be necessary acts of survival. For me, they simply reinvigorate the constitution.
In a week like this, ravaged by winter storms and plummeting temperatures, there is still a joy in stepping into the crisp air, a jolting embrace by the season, like some overzealous priest who grinds his hands too deeply into a young altar boy’s shoulder. There could be danger there, or there could be innocence, just like the fall of snow.
This particular storm brought about layers of ice and sleet, ending with a few inches of pure snow, the top inch or so of which was this fine and crystallized powder, fluffy enough to be whipped into the air by the slightest wind, ready to sparkle and reflect the sun in whirling slivers of light.
The tracks of some brave little animal run through the front yard. And maybe the creature wasn’t brave at all, maybe it was merely running, out of fear or desperation or hunger.
There is always hunger in the winter.
