Pbenjay's Blog

2013 In Review – How Did Pbenjay Do?

January 27, 2014 by pbenjay

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 34,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 13 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Posted in BY THE WAY, Smooth or Crunchy | Tagged Annual report, List of concert halls, Oceania, Publishers, Sydney Opera House, Tools, WordPress, WordPress.com | Leave a Comment »

MENTAL HEALTH MONDAY – Anger

January 27, 2014 by pbenjay

I’m so pleased to introduce MENTAL HEALTH MONDAY to my readers. I hope this becomes a regular feature and you will avail yourself of this opportunity to post a question or concern or contact our contributor, Barry Lubetkin, Phd, ABPP.

Barry Lubetkin is the Director of the Institute for Behavior Therapy and past president of the American Board of Behavior Therapy. He has been a guest on Oprah Winfrey‘s show, a quoted source for numerous articles and a published author. His latest book is Why Do I Need You To Love Me In Order To Like Myself.

Available through Amazon

Mental health tip for January 27, 2014

Nearly all anger feelings and outbursts are preceded by the cognitive belief represented by the words “should” or “must”….“He should never act that way”…“She must act more fairly toward me”…“He must stop drinking, I can’t stand it anymore”. “The teacher should do more to discipline that child”….etc. When we make unreasonable and inflexible demands on others or on the world to act in a certain way. We set ourselves up for rage and upset when our irrational expectations are not met. It is far better to wish or desire others to change rather than demanding and requiring them to do so…Or as famous Psychologist Albert Ellis once said: “Stop SHOULDING on yourself!!!”

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, Mental Health Monday, Smooth or Crunchy | Tagged Albert Ellis, Barry Lubetkin, Disease, Health, Mental health, Nick Clegg, Oprah Winfrey, United States | Leave a Comment »

So What’s With The ONE WORD Title TV Shows??

January 26, 2014 by pbenjay

Dracula (Photo credit: vagueonthehow)

There’s a trend that’s been developing over the last couple of years in the titles of TV shows; I started really noticing it last year and it’s escalating. Some marketing guru must have planted the idea that a ONE WORD title is the way to go. Once a few of the shows so entitled appeared, it was only a matter of time for other stations to follow suit.

It was a great marketing idea; The single word title grabs you right away. It stands out like a naked woman in a crowd. The one word, often itself a powerful word with a strong meaning screams at you to pay attention to me! See if you agree.

Scandal
Revenge
Hostages
Blacklist (I cheated by omitting the THE)
Girls
Southland
Intelligence
Shameless
Elementary
Mom
Castle
Mixology (new)
Resurection (new)
Nashville
Dateline
Parenthood
Community
Believe (new)
Crossbones (new)
Crisis (new)
Dracula (new)
Dracula
Grimm
Hannibal
Dexter
Weeds
Episodes
Californication
Brotherhood

‘Grimm’ & ‘Dracula’ Hit Their Highest Ratings Since December 6

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, Smooth or Crunchy | Tagged Californication, Dateline NBC, Dracula, Hank Moody, History, Jonathan Harker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, NBC, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Renfield, Romania, Showtime, Television, Victoria Smurfit | 2 Comments »

Snow and Ice Sculptures Redux – Fab Foto Friday

January 24, 2014 by pbenjay

I have a few more photos of those amazing and spectacular and humongous sculptures in Breckinridge, Colorado. Since snow is predicted for tomorrow, these photo are so very apropos.

Snow Cathedral

Hellooo I’m Here In Colorado!

Your Queen Is In Danger

What Is This Doing Here?

“And a tip o’ the hat to you ma’m”

Posted in Fab Fotos | Tagged Art, Breckenridge Colorado, Breckinridge, Building Types, Colorado, Friday, Snow sculpture, United States | Leave a Comment »

5 Good Reasons To Be In New York City When It Snows!

January 23, 2014 by pbenjay

We had a snow storm and although we were supposed to go to the shore, my husband vetoed the trip. Bummer because we had invited company for the weekend, I want to go shopping and who’s feeding all of our little squirrel friends and feathered friends? The rationale behind this decision is that life is much easier in the City when it snows; Here are 5 reasons why:

Dinner’s here!

1. You can always order out-You don’t have to rush to the grocery store only to find that all the milk, orange juice and bread are gone. They bring you food here! It’s so cool!

2. You don’t have to shovel your driveway.

3. You don’t have to drive in the snow, the buses and subways continue to run day and night, rain or snow.

4. The sidewalks are basically kept clear. The superintendent and his staff shovel the sidewalk in front of their buildings. The store owners shovel off their sidewalk.

5. If your car is parked on the street like ours, when it snows the City suspends alternate side parking rules. We haven’t had to move the car for days now.

Keeping the sidewalks clear!

Posted in Thursday's Top Ten | Tagged Alternate-side parking, Business, City, Manhattan, National Weather Service, New York City, Shovel, Sidewalk, snow, Tuesday Afternoon, Winter storm | 1 Comment »

UH OH! SNOW Happens!!!

January 22, 2014 by pbenjay

Yesterday’s snow storm which didn’t even have a name I believe, certainly caused enough havoc in some places. New York which is famous for its iconic landmarks such as the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the Chrysler Building and many, many more also has a few new icons. One of which is the glass APPLE cube entrance to their Fifth Avenue store.

A snowblower plowed into one of the walls and shattered the glass all the way from top to bottom!

UH OH!

Photo by Christina@christinagignac

Apple’s flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York is encased in a beautiful 32-foot-tall glass cube near Central Park.

The Apple Store

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, New York Speaks, Only in New York | Tagged Apple, Apple Store, Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, Fifth Avenue, New York, New York City, Rockefeller Center, Snow blower | 2 Comments »

SNOW! A Wise Man Takes The Bus

January 22, 2014 by pbenjay

Maybe We Should Take The Bus

I’m not sure that this is the best title for this blog but I was at a loss probably due to the fact that I haven’t had my Starbucks today! Hopefully Peter will brave the cold and snowy trip to Starbucks and bring back some hot steaming Americano.

I saw this and the timing was perfect to post it today. Hope it puts a smile on your face and then you can think twice about leaving home. Personally I think I’m staying in. THANK GOD (and IBM and the Japanese and Steve Jobs) for computers so I can work from home on my MAC. Or I can play Scrabble or bid on eBay or test my brain with Lumosity!

Enjoy! Click the link below!

Make It A “Snow Day”

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour | Tagged Ebay, Games, IBM, Scrabble, snow, Snow Day, Starbucks, Steve Jobs | Leave a Comment »

Farro and Arugula Salad – Tasty Tidbits Tuesday

January 21, 2014 by pbenjay

Farro (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I found this recipe on a blog that I follow, Proud Italian Cook and I knew right away I wanted to make it. I had all the ingredients in my kitchen except for one. I made it for myself for dinner one night to test it out because I planned on serving it for a planned dinner party. It was delicious and I served it this past weekend. This is so simple and so tasty, you should make it tonight. It’s a good winter salad.

1 1/2 cups of cooked farro

1 lb. baby arugula

handful of marcona almonds

1/2 cup, sliced cherry tomatoes

1/3 cups nicoise olives

1/2 cup good feta crumbled

FOR THE DRESSING

1 lemon

olive oil

1. Make the dressing by squeezing the juice of one lemon into a small bowl then whisking in olive oil and tasting until you get the right balance.

2. Place all the ingredients into a bowl and then toss with the dressing adding salt and paper to taste.

*** The first time I made it I didn’t have farro in the house but I had some Ancient Grains and I used them.

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday | Tagged Ancient Grains, Cook, Farro, Farro Salad, Home, Olive, Olive oil, salad | Leave a Comment »

10 FACTOID Conversation Starters or I’ll Bet You Didn’t Know…

January 19, 2014 by pbenjay

Feng shui Luopan compass (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Gail, ever the source of great blogging material sent me an email that was filled with (some) questionably useful information but fun factoids nonetheless. It came under the title of Money Bags and is supposed to have something to do with Feng Shui and I should pass it on. I’m not passing the email on even though I believe in Feng Shui. My last three work offices have been designed according to Feng Shui and my Kua number!

If for no other reason than to add more (useless?) information to your already information overloaded brain, the following factoids are interesting and I’ll bet you didn’t know…

Glass takes one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times!
Gold is the only metal that doesn’t rust, even if it’s buried in the ground
for thousands of years.
Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one
end.
If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. When a human
body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.
Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman numerals.
Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers.
Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines because it doesn’t smoke unless it’s heated to 450 degrees.
Nine out of every 10 living things live in the ocean.
The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself.
Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, Smooth or Crunchy, Thursday's Top Ten | Leave a Comment »

Snow and Ice Sculpture – Skill, Scope and Size – Fab Foto Friday

January 17, 2014 by pbenjay

My husband’s cousin, Stephanie sent me these MOST amazing photos of snow and ice sculptures and I thought they would make the perfect January (before the thaw) Fab Foto Friday!

The Annual Snow Sculpture Contest in Breckinridge Colorado.