Today I wanted to share a book with all of you that I came across a few weeks ago that I simply had to pick up. It’s called, “100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet” by Pamela Paul. This is a nostalgic look at all of the things that have disappeared from our lives — some good, some bad — because of the Internet.

What’s funny is that I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot lately, before the book ever came to my attention. We’re considering downsizing and moving to a condo which means we have to get rid of a lot of the crap we’ve accumulated over the years. Given that I grew up in the pre-Internet days, I’ve come across a lot of stuff that is no longer relevant such as a cordless telephone, a cassette player, a walkman, a paper address book, and empty photo albums. How about an old fax machine? I also stumbled across boxes of blank printer paper that I no longer use. It’s been years since I’ve used my printer except for printing out my Profit and Loss Statement each April for my accountant. Additionally, there’s a drawer full of binder clips, clipboards, paper clips, a paper cutter, and even a box stuffed with empty three-rings binders. It tickled me to see many of these same items mentioned in Pamela’s book.

Overall, if you’re a person of a certain age, you might enjoy this little excursion down memory lane to a time of kitchen telephones, Rolodexes, Filofaxes, handwritten letters, checkbooks, and the TV Guide. Oh, and how can we forget the blind date?

I thought this book was so much fun, and I believe young people will also get a kick out of this fun, light-hearted jaunt down memory lane — though a lot on this list has disappeared only recently. 100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet is a jarring reminder about how quickly things change and lose their relevance.

While I think there are some things whose loss I regret — such as glossy, paper magazines — there are others that I’m glad are gone (like getting lost, for instance! I love my GPS).

How about you? What things do you miss that the Internet has taken away?

I’ve mentioned a few times in various posts that I don’t watch a lot of television. In fact, I find myself watching less and less of it each year. Oh, there have been a few series that I’ve enjoyed and looked forward to, like The Wheel of Time series and Ted Lasso. But what’s funny is that I have to almost force myself to watch TV these days. It’s as though my brain is fighting me on it for some reason.

And I think I finally figured out why.

A little over a year ago, I watched season 1 of a new Netflix series entitled “Julie and the Phantoms.” I loved this series so much and thought it was tremendous fun. So the other day, I was searching online to see when the next season was coming out, only to disappointingly discover that it was canceled. That’s when it hit me — this was the reason I’m pulling away from TV series. It’s not that I’m bitter that networks cancel shows (though I am). It’s that my brain is full of unfinished stories.

I thought about all of my favorite shows that have been canceled and how all of these unfinished stories are still rattling around in my brain, waiting for their denouement.

I’ve mentioned a time or two that I’m a completionist, so being unable to finish a story — to not have it nicely wrap up — really bugs me. As a result, I’ve been extremely hesitant to start any new series — especially on Netflix, which is notorious for canceling shows after only a season or two. Instead, I’ve noticed that I much prefer to sit down with a good book where I know that if I soldier on, the story will conclude.

Same goes for movies — they (most of the time) tend to have a conclusion, leading to a feeling of satisfaction at the end. This is why I have more of a tendency to watch a film than get involved in a series. I’m guaranteed the movie will properly conclude. I’m not guaranteed that with a television series.

This revelation amused me, and I didn’t realize just how much those unfinished stories irritated me. It seems like such a waste of time to watch and invest myself in only part of a story — a story that abruptly ends without a conclusion. I guess that’s why it’s rare that I DNF (do not finish) books. Even if it’s a crappy story, I still like to see how it all turns out.

I recalled the other day when I went through my Netflix queue and deleted a bunch of shows I hadn’t started and no longer had any desire to watch. Now I know why.

So does this mean I will never watch another series? Not really. If a series is over and was concluded by the network, I might check it out. Or if there’s a series that I’m already involved in, such as Wheel of Time, then I have no choice but to continue on with it.

But as for any new shows — unless it is something that I really, really, really want to watch — the answer is probably no.

Especially if your name is Netflix.

Happy New Year to everyone!

For many of us — as we cautiously tip-toe into 2022 — this is the time for a clean slate and new beginnings. So we create resolutions lists, goal lists and swear to ourselves that this year will be different from the last.

I used to make a list of resolutions every year, and most years, I would fail miserably at attaining them. Arg! Sometimes I wouldn’t make it past the first two weeks of the year before my goals fell by the wayside.

Last year, however, I did something a little bit different. I met all my goals.

I realized the problem was that I didn’t add any action steps to help me reach my objectives, nor did I hold myself accountable. So last year, I created a spreadsheet with each of my goals along with all of the actions I needed to take to achieve them. But not only that, I also set myself reminders in my to-do app (I use Todoist) to periodically check my goal progress to 1) ensure I was on track 2) to see what the next action steps were. I found that setting myself reminders was vital in me achieving what I set out to accomplish. As it turned out, this was the missing element for me.

Of course, everyone is different, and we all need to do what works for us. I just figured I’d share this tidbit of what worked for me because it just might be the missing element for you as well.

As for my goals, I am keeping them simple this year. I’m mainly going to focus on novel writing and piano practice. By the way, this was another ingredient to successfully achieving my goals: make them attainable and realistic. I remember those days when I used to have 30, 40, or 50 items on my New Year’s Resolutions list and would be so overwhelmed that I quickly gave up. Now I include only a few of the most important — and most attainable ones.

Here’s wishing everyone a healthy and happy new year — and may you attain all your goals!

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with razors. Well, mostly hate, actually. I’ve never been able to find a razor that worked properly with my skin. I tried every manner of disposable razors imaginable. I tried safety razors. I tried straight-edged razors with replaceable razor blades. But always, the result was the same: a face full of razor cuts, looking like I was on the losing end of a fight with an alley cat.

I used to shave at least an hour before leaving the house to ensure that the bleeding would be stopped in time (sometimes, it wasn’t). Unfortunately, shaving nearly always ended up being a highly frustrating endeavor.

Then, a few years ago, I came across a subscription box called “Dollar Shave Club.” How this works is that they send you a free razor, followed by a monthly shipment of razor blades. People who left reviews claimed that this was the first razor that didn’t cut their face to ribbons. The more I read about them, the more intrigued I became, so I finally caved and joined them.

The first time I shaved, I was amazed. No cuts! The second time I was even more shocked. I couldn’t believe that I’d finally found a razor that worked for me. I’ve been a faithful customer of theirs for several years now, and I couldn’t be happier. In the past few years, I think I’ve only nicked my face once, and that was through sheer clumsiness. There is another popular monthly shave subscription box that I tried once, but they didn’t work out for me: I nearly bled to death.

Dollar Shave Club also offers a plethora of other hygiene products, everything from moisturizers to sunscreen. I personally always use their Shave Butter (it’s way better than shaving cream, in my humble opinion) and their post-shave cream. Since I joined, they’ve changed their shipment schedule to every two months, which works out fine. I just make sure to stock up on products when it’s time to update my box.

It’s interesting to note that though their marketing is aimed toward men, I noticed there were plenty of positive comments and recommendations by women as well, who use their razors to shave their legs. So female readers as well may wish to give them a try. I just wanted to share this product with others who may have had the same difficulty in finding a razor that doesn’t cut them with each shave. So if you have sensitive skin, they might be worth checking out.

Here’s a link to their site: Dollar Shave Club