Monthly Archives: December 2022

Day 3642: Weird

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Ann Koplow

It’s weird to me that, according to Spotify, Weird Al was my top artist of the year.

I love Weird Al, saw him in concert this year, and thoroughly enjoyed the movie Weird, but I find it weird that Stephen Sondheim wasn’t my top artist for 2022.

It’s also very weird to me that Mandy Patinkin is on that list while Todd Rundgren and Pat Metheny are not.

I find many things weird these days, including applying for Social Security, getting billed for things that my health insurance should be paying for, and Elon Musk.

Do you see anything weird in my other images for today?

It’s weird how difficult it is now to do a screen capture of the National days and it’s weird how my mood always improves on the winter solstice (probably because I know the days will start getting longer).

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “weird.”

It’s weird (and wonderful) watching Daniel Radcliffe play Weird Al knowing I’ll be seeing him in Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along very soon.

Thanks to all who accompany me on this weird journey through life, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: cats, Daniel Radcliffe, filling out forms, Hello Wordl, luck, Spotify, Stephen Sondheim, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter, Weird Al Yankovic, Yogi Tea | 9 Comments

Day 3641: Blessings

Posted on December 20, 2022 by Ann Koplow

I often find it a challenge to focus on blessings instead of calamities, and I know I’m not alone in that.

Yesterday, when I was walking to work and focusing on everything that could possibly go wrong, I gave myself this blessing: “If you’re going to think about every danger that exists, you could also think about what’s safe.” And the blessing is that I immediately felt better.

I also asked myself this question: “If you knew that this was your last day in earth, how would you spend it?” and it was a blessing to realize that I would still go to work and facilitate groups.

Do you see blessings in my images for today?

Should we let the Daily Bitch have the last word about blessings today?

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “blessings.”

Thanks to all those who are blessings to me, including YOU.

Categories: definition, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: climate action, gifts, gratitude, group therapy, helpful self talk, Hollow Coves, National Daya December 20, National Days December 20 2022, The Daily Bitch Calendar, The Longwood Medical area | 10 Comments

Day 3640: The most wonderful time of the year

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Ann Koplow

Even though I think that the most wonderful time of the year is Spring, I recognize that many people think that December is the most wonderful time of the year.

Actually, because living in the moment is most wonderful, I’m going practice believing that it is ALWAYS the most wonderful time of the year, no matter what time of the year it is.

Do my images show that this is the most wonderful time of the year?

Here’s “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

Thanks to all who make this the most wonderful time of the year, including YOU.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: being in the moment, cats, Chanukah, Christmas, December, Elon Musk, gratitude, National Days December 19 2022, the Canadian Brass, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 17 Comments

Day 3639: Lists

Posted on December 18, 2022 by Ann Koplow

Soon, I’ll be doing something that’s been on my to-do list/wish list/bucket list for quite a while: see the Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along with my son Aaron.

It took work, skill, and luck to get on the list of people who have tickets for the Off-Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along (with a list of stars including Daniel Radcliffe), because those tickets sold out REALLY fast.

The day the tickets went on sale, I had a list of tactics, including bringing my laptop into work and logging onto the ticket site ahead of time. As I saw the list of my preferred dates rapidly disappear, I somehow scored two seats for New Year’s weekend.

Being in NYC for New Year’s Eve was not on my wish list (I did that when I was in my 20s and I’ve been avoiding crowds in these COVID times). However, I’m looking forward to being there with my son Aaron and perhaps doing something else on my list: going back to the Museum of Modern Art and finding Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” (which Aaron and I somehow missed on our visit there in 2021).

Do you see lists in my images for today?

For some unknown reason, finding lists of National Days has become more difficult and time-consuming, but I’m doing my best to share a list every day.

Believe it or not, this came up on YouTube when I searched for “lists.”

Thanks to all who are on my list of people I appreciate, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: definitions of naughty and nice, Merrily We Roll Along, National Days December 18 2022, New York City on New Years Eve, New York Times shortlist, Santa’s list, Starry Night, The Best of Liszt, Twitter, Watertown, Yellow Door Taqueria | 18 Comments

Day 3638: Four letter words

Posted on December 17, 2022 by Ann Koplow

This blog post will show lots of four letter words. That goal will last from this word to last.

Cats!

Joan, snug.

Tile!

Book.

Food.

Rugs.

Cats’ toys.

This:

Says them: “hate,” “fear,” can’t,” “ugly, “Elon,” Musk,” “MAGA,” “ugly,” “debt,” “poor,” plus more.

What to cast away?

Grin.

Days:

Said, less, more, math.

K. Flay, “Four Letter Words.”

What word ends this blog post?

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: books, cats, food, gratitude, K.Flay, National Days December 17 2022, rugs, The Daily Bitch Calendar, tile, toys, Twitter | 12 Comments

Day 3637: Advice

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Ann Koplow

Because I’ve been struggling with some decisions lately, I’ve been asking for advice.

Advice can be confusing, as we might see in these quotes about advice:

My advice is that we look for advice in my images for today.

My advice is to not get chocolate on your ugly Christmas sweater today.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “advice.”

One last piece of advice: express gratitude whenever you can.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism, quotes | Tags: Carolyn Wells, cats, Cavetown, Cicero, Henri Nouwen, National Days December 16 2022, shower remodel, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Tom Lansing Masson, Tom Stoppard | 15 Comments

Day 3636: Unimaginable

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, while I was rewatching Hamilton, I took special note of the word “unimaginable” in “It’s Quiet Uptown,” which shows family members dealing with an unimaginable loss.

I just found “It’s Quiet Uptown” on YouTube by searching for “unimaginable.”

When I was capturing the following images throughout the day, I hadn’t yet read some unimaginable news.

Then, right before I turned off the lights to go to sleep, I saw the unimaginable news: the death by suicide of the beloved Stephen “tWitch” Boss.

I don’t know why suicide is still unimaginable to me after all the years I’ve spent working with people’s emotional pain, physical pain, suicidal thoughts, and unimaginable traumas.

It’s still unimaginable to me that this man is gone.

For those who are dealing with unimaginable pain or loss, please call 988, Samaritans, 800-273-8255, or any suicide/crisis hotline.

Thanks to all who helped me create this unimaginable post, including you.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: "It's Quiet Uptown", Captain Sealant, Hamilton, loss, National Days December 15 2022, Poorly Drawn Lines, Stephen “tWitch” Boss, suicide hotlines | 10 Comments

Day 3635: Avoiding

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Ann Koplow

I feel like I’m always avoiding something, but at least I’m not avoiding admitting that.

Let’s see what other people have said about avoiding.

I’m not avoiding the fact that today is the 10th anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre. I hope American politicians stop avoiding their duty to enact more common-sense gun legislation.

Now that I’ve erased many photos from my phone, I’m avoiding the problems I had sharing images yesterday. Do you see any avoiding here?

The Daily Bitch can be a master of avoiding.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “avoiding.”

There’s no avoiding gratitude in this blog, so thanks to all who helped me create this “avoiding” post, including YOU.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Avoid Avoiding Conflict, cats, David Thornsen, Flounder dish, gratitude, National Days December 14 2022, quotes about avoiding, Sandy Hook, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter, what life is like | 8 Comments

Day 3634: Bringing it all together

Posted on December 13, 2022 by Ann Koplow

Last weekend, when I spoke to my ex-sister-in-law Deborah about our shower remodel, she suggested ways of bringing it all together. For example, since we’re going to use this shower seat because of space considerations …

… we talked about a teak look for shelves and elsewhere, bringing it all together.

Also, using this tile for the shower floor and maybe a trim …

… is another way of bringing it all together.

Honestly, it’s taken so long to do this shower repair and remodel that I can’t imagine bringing it all together.

Also, because all my photos aren’t loading this morning, I’m having some trouble bringing it all together for this post. I’m going to turn my phone off and on, because that often helps in bringing it all together.

That didn’t work, so now my thoughts are bringing it all together this way:

What if I can’t post new photos any more in this blog?
What could be causing this?
How can I fix this?
Who can help?

I’ll turn off my phone again to see if that helps me in bringing it all together here today.

That didn’t fix things and now I’m realizing that I’m running out of space on my phone so I need to delete photos if I want to keep bringing it all together on this blog.

Do you see bringing it all together in my other images for today?

I don’t know why I’m encountering so many challenges to bringing it all together today. The National Day Calendar has changed its website and it took me twenty minutes to figure out a way of bringing it all together, above.

It seems like whenever I’ve figured out ways of bringing it all together, something changes. I’ll just keep bringing it all together the best I can, over and over again.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “bringing it all together.”