“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…”
If Sarah Palin were reading this, she’d probably be saying: “That young New York actor Lucas Eller doesn’t know Christmas was about a week ago. Why is he still singing Jingle Bells? Poor him!” Well, one thing Palin may not know is that Jingle Bells was composed back in 1857 to celebrate Thanksgiving. The song was so successful that it was replayed during Christmas that same year… and for over a century and a half since! So let me not think much if I’m being judged for singing this song, and let me keep on singing it: “Jingle bells…” So, we just celebrated Christmas in the city and I enjoyed it so much it’s still in my veins. I spent two days cooking and one day cleaning. Can anyone expect more fun than that! Some of you out there may be thinking cooking and cleaning is no fun. Cooking and cleaning are two of my passions, because I like good food and a clean place; I hate dirt!
Speaking of cooking, let me share with you a bit of what’s coming up on Viva in 2011. Over a year ago we wanted to show some videotaped cooking shows. However, this takes a lot of work – more than we can handle at the moment – and we haven’t been able to edit such videos yet. So we figured out a different way of doing it, which is by showing the recipes online with pictures of what we are cooking. We’ll be posting them as often as we can, and the first one will be what we cooked for Christmas 2010. You’ll be able to use these easy-to-follow recipes from the category COOKING RECIPES. We hope everyone likes it and will try it at home. Very delicious!
We are also redesigning the categories of Viva! Lifestyles. One of the redesigned categories is RESTAURANTS and BARS / NIGHTCLUBS, which features restaurants, bars and nightclubs in New York. This category features entertaining restaurants and night spots where our reviewers have been and had a positive experience. Also, one new feature we’re adding is the menu of these places on our website, so you know what you’ll be eating and drinking. Enjoy.
PERFORMING ARTS used to be a complex category featuring film and theater reviews, as well as events and interviews by our excellent theater and film critic Stuart R. Brynien. We’ve decided to divide it into two categories: FILM/THEATER REVIEWS and PERFORMING ARTS. The latter featuring events and interviews by Stuart R. Brynien. Please read them before you go see a play or show on Broadway, or before you go to a movie theater, they will give you a lot of insight.
In 2010 we published some short articles about the architecture of New York where we showed well-taken photos in PARKS AND SQUARES, and in HIGH-RISES. In 2011 you will be getting more detail on our articles about this category . We’ve also been interviewing the people involved in building these structures, and hope to give you exciting articles about this. The bridges of the city will also be featured as part of this new work. You will be reading all this in our new section “CITY SITES”.
In 2011, a better version of Viva! Personals is also being developed. Please create your user name. It’s very simple and only asks for a password and a valid email address. Please post your comments. We will value them to improve our magazine. And one more detail we should mention, our website now is shown in four colors, one for each season of the year.
And finally my interviews: last year they were criticized for being too short – thanks for criticizing, guys. That’s true, I have to admit. I learned a lot from them, though. So now I’m coming up with longer interviews with actors and film/theater producers. I hope you guys like them, and thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
We at Viva wish you a very happy new year, and thank all of you for dedicating your time to read our articles and post your comments. Without your valuable insight, Viva! Lifestyles wouldn’t be the cheerful online magazine as it is. Thank you 😉
