New Year’s Eve inspires personal reflection along with that glass of Champagne. And at my house, it also means we take down the paper calendar (yes, paper!)

Food labels have become our favorite reading material. As I mentioned in last week’s post, we have recently joined the low-sodium club, and so suddenly we find the nutritional information on cans and bags riveting.

There is a great Seinfeld episode that includes a funny bit about a record Jerry is proud of: not throwing up in 13 years. Yes, a non-vomit streak. In episode 73, “The Masseuse,” Jerry claims he has not retched since June 29th, 1980, over 13 years prior. George and Elaine agree that it’s an impressive feat. (I should say before we go on

The popping of burning wood and the smokey plume that rises as a fire takes hold, transforming the solid logs into glowing embers, is hypnotizing. The fire pit on an autumn evening is the perfect spot for friends to gather, particularly with a bottle of wine…or two. Time lengthens into the quiet of darkness, and stories unfold.

We take massive amounts of photos. In his post on Stastica, Felix Richter says that in 2017, the world will snap a whopping 1.2 trillion photos! Step back from that number, and compound it over the number of years that we've reveled in smartphones and other technology...and then add

Maybe Thanksgiving is an easily navigated event for your family. You have traditions in place—eating, watching football, playing games and perhaps a midnight excursion for shopping. But how much conversation do you engage in, and what do you talk about?

It’s not a great memory. But I was there, it’s part of my history and I still think of it often. But why is sharing not always easy? This experience was folded into a traumatic period of my life already, and I tend to keep sad storytelling inside, but I know that others need to share. How do you share tragedy?

As the November weather takes its turn towards winter, I already miss autumn. I love the temps cooling off  and all the colors fall brings; it’s the most popular season in the nation, with 29% preferring it (except those 18-34-year old’s, who prefer summer). I guess it’s largely nostalgia for me, because fall reminds me of good times

Did you make some resolutions for 2018? I was thinking about my own New Year’s Resolutions, as I’m committed to making myself a better man this year. Like, losing some weight (number-one NYE resolution, statistically), declutter the basement storeroom, make more time for writing that novel…and try more wines.

You’ve decided to dive in and turn the boxes of hard copy photos into an organized resource—a source of reconnecting and joy. That’s great, until you start sifting through pictures and realize it’s a bigger task than you realized.