Monthly Archives: December 2012

Introverts in a gregarious world, Part 2

Posted on December 31, 2012 by stillalife

Our admiration of extroverts (see Introverts in a gregarious world Part 1) causes problems for those who of us who would rather curl up with a book than face a crowd of strangers at a party. Susan Cain, the author of Quiet, … Continue reading →

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2012 in review

Posted on December 30, 2012 by stillalife

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: 600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,400 views in 2012. If every person who reached the … Continue reading →

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Introverts in a gregarious world

Posted on December 28, 2012 by stillalife

Now that the holiday season is winding down, I thought I’d take on a more academic topic, especially before the library book on this subject is overdue. Have you noticed lately that the extrovert represents for many the model for … Continue reading →

Posted in books and movies, memories, personal reflections | 1 Comment

Celebrating in the snow

Posted on December 25, 2012 by stillalife

This year we opted for a White Christmas, and since forecasters were not predicting snow to come to us, we went to it. This was our way of attempting to start a new holiday tradition, a necessity since we don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in exercise, personal reflections, seasons | Tagged | 2 Comments

Seasonal favorites and not-so-favorites

Posted on December 21, 2012 by stillalife

A friend suggested I write a blog about my least favorite holiday experiences from my working days in school administration, things that I no longer have to put up with now that I’m retired — sort of a reverse Julie … Continue reading →

Posted in current events/themes, seasons | 1 Comment

Garden of translucent delights

Posted on December 18, 2012 by stillalife

I used to think retirement meant living a life of spontaneity.  In fact, that life we used to live, which consisted of dropping in on friends any day of the week and being invited to stay for dinner, driving to … Continue reading →

Posted in arts and crafts, no escape from goals, touring town | Tagged , | 1 Comment

French bread the hard way

Posted on December 12, 2012 by stillalife

Recipe titles and directions are sometimes misleading.  We’ve all heard of the Chinese dish called hundred-year and sometimes thousand-year eggs. According to Wikipedia, these actually take about a month to make. The title comes from the centuries-old recipe cooks use to … Continue reading →

Posted in humor | Tagged | 3 Comments

Bird feeders and writers’ block

Posted on December 10, 2012 by stillalife

I’ve found a new distractor more powerful than the call of incoming emails and on-line news updates. It’s also a great boon to writers. It’s a bird feeder. A few years ago, my husband and I bought and hung suet … Continue reading →

Posted in humor, seasons, writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Ready for robots?

Posted on December 3, 2012 by stillalife

MIT Professor Sherry Turkle has interviewed a lot of people who say they’re ready for robot mates, robot care givers and robot friends.  Is this because they’re lonely and believe having a robot around would be better than no company … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, friends and family, personal reflections | Tagged , , | 1 Comment