Smart Phone Manners

I know it's a common occurrence to have every action of daily life interrupted by technology. I really do understand this. My main concern here? How much worse is it going to get before we all hate one another.

I recently got an iPhone (I upgraded from my 2009 Samsung that finally died) and I really thought I'd become as equally annoying as everyone I know (with the exception of maybe one person) with this new device in my life. But honestly? I think I'm the same me. And thank God for that.

My main problem here? Table manners & smart phones. If I were to rule the world, I'd create a course on the subject and implement it in every elementary school classroom, so we could grow up having a basic understanding of THINGS WE SHOULD ALREADY BE AWARE OF.

What does it take to not be considered an impolite piece of iPhone-using scum? Not much! Here's a gentle list to take note of.

Things To Avoid

1. If you're seated at a table that has cutlery on it, don't you dare put your phone down on that table. Don't do it. I don't care if you're a man who keeps his phone in his pocket, figure it out. (Sidenote: it really can't be good for men to keep cell phones so near their junk. Has anyone done a study on that yet?)
2. If you really can't fight the urge to read that text that just arrived, put your phone on Do Not Disturb mode if you're amongst other, polite human beings so you're not tempted to look.
3. If you're waiting for your drink or food or cheque to arrive, this is not the time to check your email. If you're amongst company, speak to these humans beside you. If you're alone, LOOK AROUND maybe or have a thought of some kind. Your time doesn't have to exclusively consist of refreshing your Instagram feed.

And the most important rule of all? If you must, absolutely must, take your phone out for whatever reason (and that better be for a good goddam reason) - you should, at the very least, apologize for its presence. To bring out and use your phone with no explanation at a sit-down dinner is inexcusable and rude beyond measure. And the fact that you're even slightly thinking right now, "Whoa, calm down, Liz. Everyone does it." is abhorrent. We used to have better manners. I know that we did because I'm not that old and I remember a time when manners were sort of respected. I don't know how this shift slowly happened and we all became dirtbags, but it doesn't have to be this way. I know it. I just know it.

First of the Month Checklist

I love the first day of the month. There's just something about starting a new month that makes you feel like you can get tons and tons of stuff done. And whether that's true or not, the idea behind it makes me hopeful. Is it just me who feels that way?

The one thing I do every time this day comes around is check off my list of monthly things that need to get done. I really think that everyone should have one of these lists. How else are you supposed to stay on top of things? And if you're unsure of what types of things should be on this list, feel free to take a glance at mine.

My Monthly Checklist

1. Clear out any old food from the fridge and clean the shelves. 

2. Choose my next book to read.

3. Set a goal of how many times I expect myself to go to the gym (this varies depending on the season - I go less in the summertime since I'm outdoors more compared with the winter when I need to up my gym dosage since I spend so much time indoors, not moving as much).

4. Set a spending budget (which takes into consideration birthday gifts, holidays, etc.)

5. Clean out my car (this was, obviously, for the times when I had a car).

6. Check Barnes & Noble for any author events that I might want to go to.

7. Buy greeting cards if there are any family or friends' birthdays this month.

8. Wash the bed sheets (should I be doing this more than once a month? Hope not. That's a lot of work).

9. Clean and polish any shoes that are looking rough.

10. Go through emails and respond to anything that's ridiculously late.

That's it! Pretty good list, eh? I think so.

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Quick Note

Over the weekend marked my sixth anniversary with Nathan! Here's us.

He had some shows in Farmington, PA so we took the dog and went for the weekend. (And P.S. if you're ever near the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort - it is luxurious as hell and you should definitely stay there.)

In any case, I think I say it an appropriate amount - but just incase I don't, I'm crazy lucky to have this man by my side. Happy six years, b.

Annoyance of the Day - Hotel Key Cards

Why must we suck all of the beauty out of this world? Why must every action of our daily lives be affected by technology? Will this better us? It is really necessary? 

Look, I'm not complaining about every technological advance that's been made in the last twenty years. I'm really not. It's just that sometimes there are little things that really get under my skin. And believe me, I could get into a whole big thing with you here, but I'll narrow this rant down to one of the things I hate the most. THESE.

Why? Why did it have to come to this? What was so wrong with using a key? An old-fashioned, working key? Do you understand how beautiful a key can be? The intricacies of it? The specificity? The uniqueness? Sometimes a key is the most beautiful thing that you'll touch all day, and no ones seems to notice. The mere weight of a key brings me pleasure. Is that sick? If you held this key (below) in your hand, you're telling me it wouldn't make you feel warm inside? Am I the maniac here?

And if I am the maniac here, I'm not sorry. I'm sure I'll be screaming about this (primarily at children, I'd imagine?) for years to come, so get ready.

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Long Island Day Trip

Once in awhile (or extremely often, depending on your preference), you need to get out of the city. So when I was recently asked by my friend Jenn to accompany her and some friends on a day trip to venture across Long Island, I was eager to come along. What did we do? What DIDN'T we do is the more apt question.

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We found a farm where we could pick raspberries & blueberries in Mattituck, which happened to have the largest and loveliest sunflowers I've seen in years.

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And, I mean, look at these tomatoes. Are you kidding me with that ripe-ass red? So gorgeous.

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We then headed onward to Macari Vineyards to sample some wines, which happened to be accompanied by the finest of truffle cheeses.

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To finish the day, we stopped off for food in Oyster Bay. I've only ever heard of Oyster Bay because of that Cole Porter song, but I figured that hearing a place mentioned in a lyric is almost too great a reason to solely visit a town. And the oysters at Canterbury's were fantastic.

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The above photo is of the Oyster Bay LIRR station - and it may not look like much, but I can't accurately describe how much I love seeing these older types of train stations. I love the fact that it never got torn down and completely redone. Doesn't it make so much more sense to restore buildings like these? Ugh. Love this old station so much. 

Anyway, it was a great day. There are so many different paths you can take once you get off the highway heading to Long Island. I hope to make it to Montauk someday.

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Robbie & Romeo

Sometimes you have to post photos of babes. Sometimes those babes are your brother and nephew.

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Stay Out of the Ocean

I love swimming, you know this fact. But the ocean? You will RARELY* find me in there. I'm here to convince you to join me in this opinion.

Reasons To Stay Away

1. Dangerous creatures inhabit the ocean. So, as an example, if a shark lived in the house next door to me, I would not casually walk into their home, mess around with their belongings and then expect NOT to be eaten alive. They live there. I do not.
2. Cleanliness. There has to be a crazy amount of urine and feces floating around in these oceans, I don't think I would be able to handle the statistic itself, so thank God I don't know it. 
3. Ocean night swimming is just a scary idea. Does it not look horrifying in movies? When you can't see to the bottom? God, that's horrifying. The only good thing associated with night swimming is that R.E.M. song. THAT'S IT.
4. The movie Open Water.
5. Humans are not born with gills or any sort of apparatus to stay beneath water for longer than a minute or so. WHY DO WE NOT TAKE THIS AS A HINT TO STAY THE HELL OUT OF WATER? I do not know.

C'mon, those are some valid points, right? Maybe just think about it. Or just tell me that you'll stay out of it. I'll sleep a lot better if I hear you say that.

*Past ocean experiences have included instances of peer pressure, curiosity and teaching my boyfriend how to swim on our first vacation together. But never again, I vow!

I Grew Wheatgrass!

I've never successfully grown anything in my life, so this is sort of a big deal for me. Look.

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Day 1

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Day 3

Day 5

Day 7

If you've ever wanted to grow wheatgrass, I'm gonna go ahead and say it's the easiest thing to grow on the planet. Every question you could possibly have gets covered in the instructions if you get one of those grow-your-own-wheatgrass kits (which is what I got) (well, it was a gift - Nathan bought it for my 29th birthday and it took me a year and a half to finally attempt this growth). Honestly, I think I waited so long to give it a try because I truly thought that I'd fail miserably and then have to live with the shame of never having produced life. (Wheatgrass counts as life, yes? I'm telling myself it does.)

Oh, and if you think you can juice this stuff with any kind of juicer to make wheatgrass shots, you'd be dead wrong. It won't work. There are special juicers that are *wheatgrass only* that do that. And since I didn't want to be the world's biggest loser and buy one of those, we just blended the grass in with our smoothies. (Sidenote: if you actually do own a wheatgrass-specific juicer, I apologize. You're not a loser. You're just beyond my level of comprehension and your existence makes me question my own life choices.)

Food For Thought

Do you have any idea how much I love it when someone I know (ie. an acquaintance or higher) eats off of my plate without asking? DO YOU KNOW? I understand why some people might be aggravated by such an act since it might be considered rude - but I love, love, love it. It's so bold and almost, like, a friendly kind of bold. I really think that we, as a society, need to stop viewing this act in such a negative light. Why? Here are some reasons.

1. Sharing is caring. We learned that a long time ago, let's bring that phrase back.
2. When someone is too hungry to ask for a bite, it's a lot faster to just take it - we've all been at that level of hunger before.
3. It's so loving! I might have germs, but does this food-snatcher care? Nope! Not a care in the world! If I've got a cold, well, now you've got a cold, bud. Doesn't bother me, we're friends!
4. Offering someone a taste of your meal with the hope that the person you're with will offer you some of their dish is almost MEDIEVAL at this point. JUST GRAB IT AND EAT IT. 
5. If I've made a bad decision when ordering my meal, I need a backup. Your meal is my backup. Get on board with this. If you find that to be selfish, please keep in mind that this is a two-way street. 

Do you need more reasons that that? Seriously, I will email you more reasons if you ask me. 

In any case, if you and I are ever in a restaurant together - be prepared to have your food eaten by me. It's 'cause I love you.

The Importance of Cinema Etiquette

“When Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ premiered on Broadway, a sign hung over the cinema entrance that read, “No one... BUT NO ONE… will be admitted to the theatre after the start of each performance of Psycho.” According to Hitchcock, this was for the audience’s own good. But it was also part of a beautifully orchestrated marketing campaign that created excitement for the movie by driving home the importance of seeing it from the very beginning.”

Before Psycho hit theatres, apparently it was common culture to just waltz into a movie screening at any old time. As maddening as that is, this type of behaviour became less and less popular after Psycho's release and it suddenly became important to see the beginning, middle and end of a movie. Isn't it strange that it was ever acceptable to miss the beginning of a movie?

Keeping that in mind, why the hell do we allow late-comers into movies in this day and age? If a movie has begun, those doors should be locked at far as I'm concerned. Or at the very least, get some pimple-faced kid who works there to man the door and refuse entrance to anyone who shows up past the publicly displayed showtime. 

I hate when I need to shuffle my coat and purse around on the grimy floor, just because some late loser needs to shimmy on by me to sit down. That's bullshit. 

Why is lateness not more penalized in our society? It's weird that it's not. We shouldn't be as casual about it as we are because it's a sickness. And if we continue to just look the other way, it's only going to get worse. 

There's really so little you need to do in order to be a basic, decent human in a movie theatre.

1. Show up early.

2. Shut the fuck up.

3. Shove your phone up your own ass if you can't go for less than two hours without looking at it.

The three S's! Pretty simple stuff. And honestly, I really just think it comes down to having manners. Where the hell did the importance of having good manners go over the past few decades?

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