Posts Tagged With: haddock dish

Day 4636: Relax

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Ann Koplow

A great way to relax on my vacation is to spend time with people I love, like my long-time friend Barbara. As a matter of fact, four thousand and eighty-four days ago (but who’s counting?) I wrote a blog post titled “It’s Time to Relax” which was about spending a day with Barbara.

Barbara knows that one way I relax is to take pictures I can use in this blog, so she brought me to a great store just for that reason.

Barbara and I did our best yesterday to relax and accept the crazy in this country and the world (including our reliance on non-intuitive and crazy-making technology).

Please relax while I share my other images for today.

Today, I’m going to try to relax while I lay down tracks for my song “Artificial Intelligence” and then return to the furniture store where we bought our new sofa to try to resolve this problem:

Does this song of mine help you relax?

Thanks to all who help me relax during these non-relaxing times, including YOU!

Categories: life in the USA, original song, personal growth, photojournalism, self help | Tags: Artificial Intelligence, cats, haddock dish, It’s Hard to Get Shit Done When You’re Scared Shitless, Melrose Massachusetts, September 11 2025, solving problems, technology, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 8 Comments

Day 4544: Managing Expectations

Posted on June 11, 2025 by Ann Koplow

I have found that managing expectations — mine and others — really works. Otherwise, my head is filled with assumptions about what I should or shouldn’t do.

When I was a Social Work intern, I witnessed a seasoned clinician naming what he would and wouldn’t do, very effectively managing expectations.

Here’s how I’ll be managing expectations for today’s blog: I will include my Twitter questions from yesterday, but no responses. Also, I don’t have many photos to share because I was too busy working and getting used to my new phone.

Today, I am dictating this blog for the first time rather than typing it, and I’m managing expectations about how that’s going to go.

I think I’ve done enough managing expectations for now, so here are my images for today.

Did anybody expect that the Daily Bitch would be managing expectations?

Now I’ll be managing expectations about this performance of my original song “Artificial Intelligence” — the sound and video quality are not professional (but they might be good enough).

What are your thoughts and feelings about managing expectations?

Thanks to political cartoonist Michael Ramirez and to all who are here for this managing-expectations blog post, including YOU!

Categories: life in the USA, original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Artificial Intelligence, cats, haddock dish, LA protests, June 11 2025, Michael Ramirez, new iPhone, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 13 Comments

Day 4284: Feeling anxious

Posted on September 24, 2024 by Ann Koplow

When I’m feeling anxious these days, I express those feelings here and elsewhere, practice mindfulness and Qigong, and capture images like these:

Thanks a lot, Daily Bitch.

Here’s one of the songs I wrote when I was feeling anxious.

Here and now, I’m feeling anxious because I need to get to an 8 AM follow-up ophthalmology appointment in Boston and my car has been having trouble starting. I’m trying not to catastrophize about it.

What do you do when you’re feeling anxious?

Thanks to all who help me when I’m feeling anxious, including YOU!

Categories: original song, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Boston Ferry, Catastrophizing, Cat’s Map of the Kitchen, coping strategies, haddock dish, September 24 2024, The Daily Bitch Calendar, the South Shore of Boston, Trump, Twitter | 12 Comments

Day 4221: Hope

Posted on July 23, 2024 by Ann Koplow

I hope you enjoy this post about hope.

Here’s what I find when I search for hope on YouTube.

And here is the song shared by G-moneyGma in response to my question about hope on Twitter:

Thanks to all who give me hope, including YOU!

Categories: 2024 USA elections, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: “Put a Woman in Charge”, Boston, cats, GreenTree Production, haddock dish, July 23 2024, Keb’ Mo’, quotes about hope, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 8 Comments

Day 4089: Finding the joy

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Ann Koplow

Finding the joy can be challenging in this world, so I greatly appreciated RuPaul talking about finding the joy on The Stephen Colbert Show.

I try to practice finding the joy every day.

Here’s more “finding the joy” on YouTube.

I am finding the joy in those videos.

I look forward to finding the joy in your comments, below.

Thanks to all who help me finding the joy, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: “Finding Joy in the Middle of Difficulty” Therapy in a Nutshell, “Finding Joy Through Heartache” by Adrian Wood, flowers, haddock dish, March 13 2024, RuPaul, The Daily Bitch Calendar, the South Shore of Boston, threads, Twitter, Yogi Tea | 17 Comments

Day 4046: What’s my line?

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Ann Koplow

Lately, I’ve been watching episodes of “What’s My Line” from the 1950s, moderated by John Charles Daly, with a panel including Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf, and Fred Allen.

Perhaps because my line is group psychotherapist, I enjoy watching the group dynamics on the show, as the panel members try to figure out people’s lines, keeping within the lines of 1950’s television propriety while saying witty, curious, and punny lines along the way.

Last night, I asked a question about lines on Twitter, and got all sorts of different answers.

“How are you doin’ today?” is a great line, don’t you think?

What’s my line that connects all my images for today?

The Daily Bitch Calendar is reminding me that my birth year was during the 1950s and that I added another line to my song about Chronic Illness.

When you have a chronic illness

You have to take your pill, yes,

And do other things you may not want to do.

Like undergo procedures which have such charming features that you sometimes need to give up blood and poo.

©️Ann Koplow, 2024

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “What’s my line?”

What’s your line about this “What’s my line?” post?

What’s my line at the end of every blog post here?

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Arlene Francis, Bennett Cert, cats, coping and healing groups, Dorothy Kilgallen, Fred Allen, haddock dish, January 30 2024, living with a chronic illness, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 13 Comments

Day 3992: You don’t have to be …

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Ann Koplow

You don’t have to be in the dark about the title for today’s blog post. Yesterday, when I was at Tufts Medical Center, I saw this:

You don’t have to be big, strong, or good, as I learned from Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese.”

You don’t have to be anything, right now, and I hope you enjoy the rest of my images for today. (You don’t have to be a cat lover to enjoy them, but it helps).

You don’t have to be nice to everyone, says the Daily Bitch.

You don’t have to be listening to one of my favorite albums when I was a kid, “You Don’t Have to be Jewish.”

You don’t have to be leaving a comment about this post; I’m just grateful you’re here!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: "Wild Geese", cats, December 7 2023, haddock dish, Mary Oliver, self acceptance, shoes, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, You Don’t Have to be Jewish | 9 Comments

Day 3984: What does this mean?

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, when I was leaving a very long doctor’s appointment that ran late into the evening, I saw this on a display monitor in the hospital hallway and wondered, “What does this mean?”

My first thought was that it might be a Russian word. My second thought was “Why would a Boston hospital show a single Russian word on a display monitor?” My third thought was that it was some kind of error message.

What does this mean that I can’t figure this out? And what does this mean?

I do know what that means. It means that somebody wrote “STAY GOLDEN” on that sign in my doctor’s waiting room and then somebody else erased the “G” and the “EN.” What does this mean that I laughed out loud when I saw it?

What does this mean that I shot this video this way yesterday?

What does this mean that these are my other images for today?

What does this mean that in my search for a drum teacher yesterday I sang some of my song “Everybody’s Somebody’s Asshole” to a potential teacher and he said he was getting “definite Phoebe from Friends vibes?” What does this mean that I’ve never seen an episode of Friends so I don’t know what this means?

What does this mean?

What does this mean that I am always so grateful to YOU?

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: "Everybody's Somebody's Asshole", charities, doctor’s appointment at Tufts Medical Center, haddock dish, November 29 2023, pets, Phoebe from Friends, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Tik Tok, tin ceiling finished!, Twitter | 14 Comments

Day 3859: Invitations

Posted on July 27, 2023 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, in my first “show biz” coaching session with the Not F-ing Around Jeff Leisawitz, Jeff gave me some homework, which he prefers to call “invitations.”

One of Jeff’s invitations was for me to write (or otherwise express myself) about my very hilarious and performing-loving late father Aaron (known as Arkie), my wonderful ex-stand-up comedian son Aaron (known as Aaron), and me (known as however people know me). Jeff’s invitation included the suggestion that this writing might be in the form of a dialogue.

Taking Jeff’s invitation, I started writing something early this morning, including this:

I really appreciate Jeff’s invitations and now here’s an invitation from me: please peruse my other images for today.

I see interesting invitations from the Daily Bitch and the universe today.

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

I shall now give invitations for people to comment on this blog, below.

Thanks to all who help me offer and accept helpful invitations every day, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Ashnikko, “Invitation”, Beacon Hill Dental Associates, haddock dish, Jeff Leisawitz, July 27 2023, The Daily Bitch Calendar, the South Shore of Boston, threads, Twitter, what bothers people | 10 Comments

Day 3725: Streaks

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Ann Koplow

Last night, right after midnight, when I thought I would be extending my Wordle streak, I found out that I had broken it.

In other words, I thought I had played Wordle yesterday, but I hadn’t. If I had opened up the New York Times app a few minutes before I did, I wouldn’t have broken my streak.

That sent me on streaks of negative thoughts and feelings, surprising in their intensity. I thought about my unbroken and long streaks in daily blogging and tweeting over the years, despite some very challenging and overwhelming days. I felt streaks of regret, disappointment, and self judgment about that unconsciously broken Wordle streak, caused by simple forgetfulness (or perhaps disorientation because of the time change).

Because I wanted to maintain my current short streak of good night’s sleeps, I tried to let go of those streaks of negative thoughts and feelings by searching online for “streaks Wordle.” First I found this …

… which isn’t totally accurate, because you can break your streak simply by not playing the game for one day.

Then, I found an article about people deliberately breaking their Wordle streaks in support of striking New York Times employees, which had this headline: