Use Your Manners

As the MTA ramps up its etiquette campaign on subways and buses, here are a few suggestions for things New Yorkers can do, not only to make the commute more pleasant, but to enhance life in our city as well.

1. Smile.
2. Greet the doorman.
3. Hold the door.
4. Remove your backpack on the subway.  
5. Keep right -- on the road, on the sidewalk, and on the staircase. 
6. Wipe down the treadmill when you're finished.

Missing Nehama

Dear Nehama,

I miss you.

Two weeks ago was Chemo #11, last week was Chemo #12, and even though Chemo #13 for my sister was yesterday, I just didn't have the get-up-and-go this morning to make it to minyan.  I figured I'd make it uptown to see you at noon, but when I looked at the clock again, it was 11:04, and I knew that neither seeing you nor enjoying a "Shabbos bagel" during Torah study this week was meant to be.

ICYMI

In case you missed it, I'm the subject of today's inaugural "Featured Reader" column on the Quo Vadis blog.

Just another stop on the way to finding a niche in the wonderful world of pens and paper!

Thanks, Quo Vadis!

Fountain Pens and the #RhodiaPaperProject: A Perfect Match

Two weeks ago, January 23, was the 278th anniversary of John Hancock's birth. In honor of his status as the first signatory -- and his bold signature -- on the Declaration of Independence, the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) designated the the date as National Handwriting Day, providing "a chance for all of us to re-explore the purity and power of handwriting."

So Much to Write, So Little Time

I have been percolating a post since Friday, January 23, but haven't yet had enough uninterrupted time to sit down and actually write it.  Hopefully in the next day or two...

In the meantime, I did have enough time to be a guest blogger, writing this post, which appears over on the blog of FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered.

Looking forward to being together with my sisters in Philadelphia in June.  Who's with me?

Doodler's Delight

Last week (Week #10 of the Rhodia paper project), I received three ruled paper samples in the mail:

• Clairefontaine Triomphe (white)
• Clairefontaine 90g (white)
• The R by Rhodia (ivory)

Letter to the Sunshine State

Dear Florida,

My mother visited you only a handful of times during her life.  Before her first visit (for a URJ Biennial in Orlando, I believe), she told a friend that she was going to Florida for the first time to which her friend responded, “Are you sure you’re Jewish?!”