Pictured: Me passed on my grandmother, my dad, and my two favorite possession. When someone asks you “what is your earliest memory” or “what is your favorite childhood memory”, do you know the answer? I didn’t think I had a clear answer for either question until a comment on a friend’s Facebook made that memory coming flooding back.  Though I do not know the exact day, I do believe that I was about three or four years old. The memory consists more than of a mere moment in time. It is rather the best afternoon I had spent in my young life where I was seemingly in a world immersed in my then favorite thing: Cabbage Patch Kids. If you grew up in the early 80s like I did, changes are you wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid. This was not an item desired by only girls either. Cabbage Patch Kids were the hottest toy out there; back during the times when all young children eagerly awaited the arrival of the Christmas catalog fr...

Since I have been reviewing my summer I knew my next post would have to be about the ultimate summer meal: hot dogs and hamburgers.  No matter how you feel about these signature summer dishes, we all have to agree that they are quintessentially American. After all, President Franklin wouldn’t have served them to visiting royalty in 1939 ( https://bit.ly/2MRLaZi ) if they weren’t.  This little mom and pop shop in Massapequa, Long Island has been open since 1963. I passed it by chance one day and then returned after seeing the enormously long lines (always a sign of something delicious happening). That is how is landed on my current annual to do list ( https://bit.ly/2WatoF2 ) in fact. After a day of sunning myself and swimming in the pool, it was time to feast. I took my order to go but I was surprised that the line wasn’t long at all and that the few picnic tables that are located in the front weren’t too crowded.  I got ordered one of each...

This is me after forty-five minutes on the treadmill at the gym. I am not sharing this because I think I look good or particularly hot this way.  I am sharing this because I have to know, why is it when we sweat that we feel the need to use the phrases “sweating like a pig” or “sweating bullets”? I use these phrases so often that “sweating bullets” was even the title of one of my videos on my Youtube channel (that video can be found here: https://bit.ly/2kzn0KN ). So I ask you, are pigs and bullets really that sweaty?  What is the origin of these expressions? First of all, it turns out that pigs do not actually sweat that much. Instead they roll around in the mud to cool down. Turns out in previous years when my chronic migraines used to make me sweat like I had malaria, I would have actually considered that as an option, it if would have helped. The phrase “sweating like a pig” or “sweating like a stuck pig” dates back to the years of the indus...

Alas the summer is over but I am still reeling from the many fun things I got to do, so much so that my blogging has been a bit delayed.  Perhaps the highlight was seeing the Mixtape Tour ( https://bit.ly/2lOUJQg ) at Nassau Coliseum where my favorite groups shared the stage once more.  I had such a great time at that concert that I had hoped to recreate a bit of it when I saw En Vogue and Boyz II Men a few weeks ago here in Brooklyn; at the Ford Amphitheater.  Opened in the summer of 2016, I saw my first performance (Billy Ocean) at this new venue shortly there after ( https://bit.ly/2JxBhPF ). Hooked on a venue near my house, that offered ocean breezes, and comfortable, close seating rain or shine, I returned in 2017 to see the legend that is Ms. Mary J. Blige ( https://bit.ly/2kCWlfV ). Now after a two year hiatus I was back and with better seats.  Boyz II Men is another group I grew up listening too and while New Kids On T...

Every Saturday night is game night at my house.  Mostly we play cards and without fail every week my mother will ask: “is that a six or nine?” My answer is always the same: “do you see an umlaut?!” I first learned the word “umlaut” from watching a rerun of “The King of Queens”. Not only is that show on nearly everyday on one channel or another, but I also fancy myself as a Carrie, meaning she is naturally funny, brilliant, and of course a bit abrasive.   In the episode entitled “Clothes Encounter” (see link below) Doug is trying to return shoes for Carrie that she has already worn but cannot afford to keep. The excuse he gives as to why his wife no longer wants them has to do with the size. The cashier (who explains in her Germany accent) that the size is correct because it has an umlaut on it; indicating a half size.  Needless to say Doug leaves with the shoes in hand. But that scene has always remained fresh in my mind, either because I le...