If you've spent any time on Facebook over the past few days, you may have noticed that people are using their status updates to articulate what it is they are thankful for. I love this; it's a fun reminder of all the good things in our lives and in the lives of people we like and care about. My friends are giving thanks for family and health and for the very friends that brought us all to Facebook in the first place.Makes me feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside.

Okay, so while I don't actually celebrate Christmas, this time of year is among my favorites. And yes, I can already talk about Christmas since ALL OF THE STORES STARTED GETTING READY FOR IT THE DAY AFTER HALLOWEEN.Ahem.I love it all:  the lights, the music, and the general sense of good cheer that pervades my ordinarily gruff city of Manhattan, but I'll let you in on a little secret: My very favorite aspect of this time of year? The incredible beauty bargains to be had.

I'm still trying to decide, in my quest to find a new place to live, whether I should live by myself or try to save money by moving in with another roommate. One of the big reasons living by myself is high on my list -- in addition to the obvious reasons, like not having to consider when that person would or wouldn't be around, who they might bring over, and how well we'd get along -- is that I'm really looking forward to having a place that I could decorate any way I please.

That's right, hang up the damn phone! You're hurtling in 2 tons of machine down the street, weaving in and out of your lane, slowing down, speeding up, cutting people off. And you, backing out of your driveway, cutting me off (and fortunately not running over a child): I'm sorry, but I just don't get what is so damned important than you have to be yakking on the phone right after you got into your car. Couldn't you make the call, then drive? Oh, you weren't talking, you were texting? What are you, stupid? You're a hazard. A menace!

Thanksgiving is the most food-centered holiday of the year, which means food writers all want to weigh in on it. Every year newspapers, food magazines, food sites, and food blogs all offer tips, suggestions, and menu ideas for the big day. For a few weeks now I've been watching for Thanksgiving advice to show up on my favorite food blogs and food sites.

Bill Moyers plans to end his PBS show and retire from television at the end of next April, according to Nov. 20 story in the New York Times.  That night, with no fanfare, there he was at the helm of his Journal, drawing out lessons for Pres. Obama from newly-released tapes of telephone conversations between Pres. Lyndon Baines Johnson and his advisors about the way forward in Vietnam in the early days of his administration.

I remember arriving late to a local competition one year and asking a friend afterward how her skate went. She replied, "I cleaned the ice." Perplexed for a moment, I didn't know what to say, but she explained that she fell so many times there was essentially no need for a Zamboni. Ouch. Maybe the rink was cursed for the ladies skating in Kitchener, Ontario because in the Free Skate, they cleaned the ice.

Emerging from my ennui to recap the runway. So, we finally made it to the Project Runway finale, and it's a sad indication that the moment of highest drama, on or off the runway, was Carol Hannah puking in the bathroom.  

Think local. That's what you often hear when you try to adopt a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle. And it's true. Shop at your farmer's market, support local farming, buy from your neighborhood artisans, and you will help take a step toward changing the business-as-usual, made-as-cheaply-as-possible, un-eco and inhumane aspects of capitalist-lifestyle-as-is today. But making a lifestyle change isn't all that easy -- especially on the quick.

Kindness rocks. In all its forms be it big or small, random or planned, from strangers or loved ones. As I paddle through life right now it's more on the kayaking through choppy water side than canoeing on a placid lake. Interesting, challenging, character building, and at times a bit rough. But rather than vent about that, I want to take a moment to appreciate the kindness I've received and witnessed lately.

Funerals were held this weekend for four of the 11 women whose bodies were found in a Cleveland, Ohio row house earlier this month, apparent victims of convicted sex offender Anthony Sowell. Sowell, 50, has been charged with multiple counts of rape and murder as investigators continue to dig around his former residence.

Pennsylvania's Lincoln University has instituted a requirement that first-year students who arrive on campus with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher must either lower their BMI below 30 or take a one-unit course called "Fitness for Life" in order to graduate.The Chronicle of Higher Education provides some details on the university's reasoning: