Photo of the Day: Saddle River County Park, Ridgewood, NJ

The Northeast has had its share of low temperatures and damp conditions since the official start of spring. But warmer days (think: high ‘70s) have alternated enough with these periods to lure out the buds on at least some trees.

That was certainly the case the other day when I walked in Saddle River County Park, not far from where I live in Bergen County, NJ. I was especially taken with the landscape in this image, with cherry blossoms springing to life with the park’s wild duck pond and fountain in the background.

Quote of the Day (Bill Ervolino, on Expensive Pet Food)

“If you go to the chewy.com website you can find a 64-ounce bag of [actress and animal rights advocate Katherine Heigl’s] ‘complete grain-free chicken air-dried dog food’ for $104.99…. I’m sorry, but $104.99 seems like a lot of money for a bag of dog food, especially when you have a large dog who can jump onto kitchen counters and polish off 64-ounces of meat in roughly seven minutes.”—Humor columnist and comedian Bill Ervolino, “Sinking Canine Teeth Into Human Food,” The Bergen Record, Aug. 25, 2024

Quote of the Day (Ruth Fainlight, on Female Poets)

“There's this image of the poet – the 'Romantic poet' – and it seems to me that it's much more of a problem for men than it is for women. The problem of really trying to write poetry, rather than waiting for the moment of inspiration. Women are less susceptible to it because they’re more humble. They’ve been cut down to size.”— UK-based American poet, short story writer, translator and librettist Ruth Fainlight quoted by Helen Bain, “Ruth Fainlight's Life in Verse,” The Financial Times (“How To Spend It” supplement), Mar. 14, 2025

Quote of the Day (Brock Colyar, on the ‘Disney Prince or Superman Aesthetic’ in Male Plastic Surgery)

“What men are aspiring toward, Dr. Lara Devgan, a Park Avenue plastic surgeon, tells me, is what she describes as the ‘Disney Prince or Superman aesthetic.’ And they often have an actor in mind. Among the celebrities most cited as inspiration in recent years, surgeons say, are Henry Cavill [pictured] (famous for playing Superman) and a ‘young Brad Pitt.’ Dr. Douglas Steinbrech, a surgeon in New York, makes a point to count his top-requested faces annually. Last year’s included Chris Hemsworth, Ryan Gosling, David Beckham, and Cristiano Ronaldo, all of whom have especially snatched jawlines. Dr. Garth Fisher, of Extreme Makeover fame, believes men are more hesitant about upper-face procedures lest they wind up looking like Robert Redford, Kenny Rogers, or Matt Gaetz, who has what is referred to in the industry as a ‘Spock brow.’”— American journalist Brock Colyar, “Chins Are In,” New York Magazine, Jan. 27-Feb. 9, 2025

Quote of the Day (Frank Bruni, on the Importance of Writing Often)

“Show me someone who writes correctly and ably — and who knows that — and I'll show you someone who probably also writes more. Such people's awareness of their agility and their confidence pave the way. Show me someone who has never been pressed to write well or given the tutelage and tools to do so and I'll show you someone who more often than not avoids it and, in avoiding it, is deprived of not only its benefits but also its pleasures.”—Op-ed columnist Frank Bruni, “Our Semicolons, Ourselves,” The New York Times, Dec. 25, 2023