Cast Iron Living - The Repurposed Gated Community

Everyone has their preference and vision of their ideal abode which changes during one's lifetime. The residential progression may begin as a small studio, then a one bedroom, and finally a co-cop/condo in the city or house on its fringes or in the suburbs. However there are those intrepid types who know exactly what they want from the get-go and go for the jugular - like myself.

I was always enamored by those bygone urban Americana industrial warehouses and cast iron buildings and further enhanced by those countless glossy fashion ads with models posing in cavernous, raw industrial spaces. Or those pioneer artists living (often squatting) in those same venues during the 1970s. Solidifying my visions were my personal 'Constitutionals' through the historic areas of Soho NYC with its amazing clusters of architecturally gorgeous cast iron buildings before the area gentrified and became unaffordable for the average working stiff.

Make Food Gifts Special by Adding a Family Story

At this time of year, newspapers, magazines, and television tout food gifts. I wondered what I could give to my distant relatives. Because I wasn't up to date on their children's ages or interests, I couldn't give them clothes or toys, so I decided to give three families food gifts.

What kind of food would it be? I used to make olive bread and bake it in a bundt pan to resemble a wreath. And it really looked like a wreath after I tied a bow on the bread. But I don't have time to bake this year, and my gifts had to come from the grocery store. I decided to buy pancake mixes and flavored syrups. To make the gifts more personal, I added my mother's pancake recipe.

The Bartleby Effect: I Would Prefer Not To

I'm reading the new autobiography So, Anyway by Monty Python member, John Cleese. While telling a story, he invokes Bartleby, The Scrivener by Herman Melville. And the quote he invokes is, "I would prefer not to". Bartleby says this when his boss asks him to do something. When he says, "I would prefer not to," the boss is stunned. It got me to thinking about ways in which to use the phrase "I would prefer not to."