I'm sure you know O'Henry's story of The gift of the Magi wherein a husband-and-wife sacrifice for each other to buy then unusable holiday presents for each other. The closest that I have come to such a scenario occurred when i was very young on a long ago Christmas Day. As I remember it these many years later, on Christmas morning Santa brought me a beautiful top which generated electronic sparkles when spun. I was so enthralled by it!  I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

Unless it touches us directly, we are generally immune to crime. It is something that happens "out there" and “to someone else”. From that perspective, we follow the news and accept crime as part of the landscape.

The moral in the story is that dreams can come true.

Coming this week is my holiday drink with Fred.  We do it every year in December.  

In a recent study more than half of the population (62%) shop online at least once a month. The most common items we buy are electronics, books, clothing, household goods and office supplies.   Retail sales in brick and mortar stores are up by only a small percentage but shopping online is growing at 10-15%.  

During the course of the year I write down qoutes which are inspirational, right on or educational.  Here is my latest list:    

We were in Miami last weekend for Art Miami and got to visit the new Perez Art Museum which opened last Wednesday. If you're in Miami, don't miss the Museum.   And try to get there while the "Ai Weiwei- According to What?" exhibit is on. At a time when we contemplate the life of Nelson Mandela, the art of this Chinese dissident/artist is especially compelling.