Tag Archives: weather

Matinee

One of the many advantages of a) working from home and b) having HBO is being able to watch Oscar-nominated documentaries during lunch.

Today’s featured selection:  The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossoms.

tsumani and cherry blossom posterI’ll admit that I had not heard of this film before I saw it listed on HBO OnDemand.  If perchance you haven’t either, I strongly encourage you to invest the short 40 minutes required.

Director Lucy Walker chronicles the tsunami that devastated Japan on March 11, 2011.  Survivors share their stories of loss, and work together to rebuild their communities — already making progress a mere month after the storm hit.

And what are the ‘cherry blossoms’ in the title, you ask? I’ll let you watch the film and find out. 

It is a vital part of their history and culture, and one reason a tsunami could never break the Japanese people.

What a difference a day makes

In NYC today, it was summer.

Flip-Flops

Toes were out. Flips were flopped.

I mention this because so many of my friends in the Midwest are covered in snow.

Not rubbing it in, mind you –

just giving you some hope!

Listen to your inner voice

Today the sun was shining bright in Singapore. I could see it from the windows of my classroom, where I was teaching all day.

My timing, as always, is excellent.

I could also see this beautiful patch of green.

green space singapore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It covered one of the underground garage entrances, and was a welcome break in the glass and cement office park.

You see the stairs leading to the grass?  I wondered if people actually used them…perhaps sit in the sun on days that are a little less tropical.

So I asked.

Apparently Singapore always has weather like this. No cooler season that drops the temps below even 80 degrees.  That’s when I knew — I could never live in this island paradise.

(My hair told me so.)

The bright side of life

The Egg is headed to Singapore today for a business trip.

My stay is regrettably short.  The weather forecast is stormy.  But this is my hotel.

Marina-Bay-Sands-Hotel-Singapore

I think I can make this work.

There’s a cold front a’comin’

What’s up with Dairy Queen?

They seem as fascinated with natural disasters as Quentin Tarentino is with blood and gore.

mudslideI’ve never really thought about it until today, when a friend posted a picture of a DQ Mudslide (left) on Facebook.

Looks tasty.

But then I realized DQ has Mudslides.  And Blizzards.  And Earthquakes.

And it makes you wonder what naming guru at DQ — or their agency of record — associates really bad weather with ice cream treats?

You gotta admit, it’s weird.

And probably weirder still that we don’t spare the names a second thought as we cram all that gooey chocolate sauce into our pie holes.

Grounded

It is a cold, incredibly windy day in New York City.

I had appointments this morning, which meant two hours walking around outside in the bitter cold. I was dressed for it, but was still feeling a bit sorry for myself.

window guysThen I saw these guys.

Can you imagine having to do your job, hanging on the side of a Manhattan skyscraper, with the cold winds whipping you around?

I suddenly felt  a whole lot warmer there on the ground.

 

 

Zip it

How far will you go to suffer for fashion?

In the winter?  In the bitter cold?

I know New York City is the fashion capital of the world, and I should be used to trends that are cutting edge.  But this winter, I’ve seen so many people — men and women — who refuse to close their coats.

open coatIn the coldest weather, with wind chills at zero or below, folks are walking through the streets of Manhattan with their overcoats flapping open in the wind.

I just don’t get it.

Sure, the rest of us do get a glimpse of your outfit when you choose not to zip or button up.  And if you are particularly pleased with your ensemble that day, that works to your advantage.  But if you lose a limb or a couple of fingers or toes to frostbite due to your peacocking, well –

That hardly seems like a fair trade, does it?

Close your coats, folks, and keep your extremities — and your ego — nice and warm en route.  I trust you’ll get lots of props about your person when you arrive at your destination.

 

If the sock fits

Today’s post is a love story –

An ode to socks.

chenille socksChenille socks, to be specific…from Old Navy.

On a cold, snowy day like today, they are very much top of mind…and on the bottom of my feet.

I first discovered these gems during one of Old Navy’s ubiquitous sales.  I got an email, clicked through to the website and decided to give them a try.

You can never have too many black socks, right?

But these were my first chenille socks, and I was an immediate convert.  They are quite simply the softest, warmest, most durable socks I have ever owned.  And at only $3 a pair…well, let’s just say I’ve bought a truckload.

To be clear — Old Navy has not reimbursed me for this most earnest of endoresements.  I am just a huge fan.

(But if they wanted to send me more, I’d wear ‘em.)

Snow shuffle

It’s a blizzard out there.

So I did what the weather demanded — saw a triple feature at AMC Theatres: Warm Bodies, Identity Thief and Side Effects.

My favorite?

warm bodiesWarm Bodies

Hands down.  No competition.

Zombie movies normally aren’t my thing.  But this is no average run-of-the-mill zombie flick.

Sure, there are zombies shuffling about, covered in gore, on the lookout for brains to eat.

But Warm Bodies is a love story — how meeting one girl helps a zombie learn how to become human again.

It’s sweet and laugh-out-loud-funny — although not everyone in the theater today seemed to get it — and an obvious metaphor about society’s ills.  But what really killed me is that the oh-so-cute zombie I was jonesin’ over was portrayed by Nicholas Hoult, who played the little kid in About a Boy.

Sick.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you

Look out Northeast.

snow monster

I’m coming for ya.