Wearing:

Major’s fur is all over my clothes…

Using:

I used to spend an hour a day in the gym on the hamster wheel, while reading Henrik Ibsen plays on my iPhone.

Yawn.

Now I sweat blood while watching P90X Plus DVDs six days a week, and the deliciously cheesy trainer Tony Horton tells me to c’mon now this is P. 90. X.

You feeling the burn? I know I am, so you must be to.

So the most brain I’ve flexed with P90X is figuring how to get P90X onto my iPhone.

As if weighing Ibsen’s A Doll’s House to Euripides’ Medea is more intellectually stimulating than admiring my Madonna-esque biceps…

Hating:

The Y.Bowl elevated pet bowl seemed choice: matte black metal prongs offered my bachelorette pad chic minimalism; a large stainless steel bowl offered my German Shepherd Major Dukes easy drinking.

And a bath for his paws.

While Major Dukes is more skilled than most people, a little slurpy-slurp, and the Y.Bowl dog bowl was upside down on my carpet…

Wanting:

Though Japanese longevity may be attributed to cultural customs such as smoking during meals, coining karōshi (過労死 or “death by overwork”), and replacing human intimacy with robots, some think the source of their health is downing large amounts of green tea.

Because of that, I’ve gone nutty for the Rolls Royce of green teas: Aoi Matcha Supreme.

Aoi matcha is made by grinding whole green tea leaves into a fine powder that’s the most alive shade of green.

Which I’ve just run out of.

Aoi matcha green tea was such a healthy way to start out my morning; snorting lines of espresso grinds is hardly a substitute…

Watching:

Despite a plethora of models/actresses/directors/writers/baristas handing out business cards printed with their headshots, and a sundry of films about characters less human than the ones you’d see walking on the Strip in Vegas, the only thing worth seeing at Sundance is Banksy’s documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop” and the art Park City should thank him for…

I love the holiday hustle: family you forgot crowding home, tearing into unasked-for gifts, littering warm wood floors with wrapping paper and invisible emotions.

And, mostly, I love not taking part.

I sit out most every season, enjoying quiet sidewalks below my bachelorette pad, working uninterrupted in the peace on earth usually reserved for hours that are both and neither late night or early morning.

I’m taking this time out to read — oh, Rhett! — and work on projects misplaced on the back burner. I’m editing Bella Bellanca, the teen novel/ecommerce project I’m serializing on Facebook, and I bought more vintage jewelry for Bellanca’s Jewelry Box at an antique mall –

Along with an unopened Playboy Playmate Puzzle. Pressed between the can’s cloudy plastic lid and its sealed canister is a cut-out photo of Miss June of 1968 with writing on the back: Merry Christmas. We love you, Tom.

Obviously, sincerely.

Which is how I wish you happy holidays, however you don’t spend them.

I’ll see you in 2010, Tom.

Hating

I’m sure this Kente Loft Arturo adjustable height table works better than the $500 modern coffee/dining table I’m using. But if you’re going to blow dough, invest in an antique that’ll retain its value or buy something decent and disposable. Why bother with a trendy piece in the middle?

You might apply the same philosophy to men…

Using

I just bought a highly trained dog that’s worth about half of my Porsche (Major Dukes will be major on this blog, but he’s away being taught better manners than most 12 year olds). I think a bag priced higher than my old Upper East Side rent is a good value. And I’ve referred to injectable fillers as slightly pricey lipgloss.

But when it comes to my pad, I’ve the soul of a 55-year-old bachelor: a standing mirror to slant near my bed was an easy buy, but I only got silverware this year and I swear Ikea is overpriced.

I should blush, but I’d rather rationalize it’s good I’ve retained some frugality.

So check this affordable adjustable height table that morphs between a coffee and dining table, and is heavily inspired by Ligne Roset’s “Yo-Yo 2″ table…

Wanting

Great work stands alone, outside of the creator’s context, but doesn’t it make it better than this table was designed in 1932 by Eileen Gray, a bobbed, bisexual bohemian who supported herself by designing ultra-modern, multi-use furniture?

Like her famous glass and chrome E-1027 side table, this Eileen Gray “Menton” table has an adjustable height: you rotate the table to swing between dining and side table heights…

Hating

Go Pet Design’s modern designer dog crate gets praised as the Bertoia Chair of dog crates.

Go Pet Design’s modern wire dog crate is gorgeous, sure. But it’s hard to imagine it sitting seamlessly in your pad, or being cozy for your dog.

If you want a choice modern dog crate, why not choose one that looks and works like furniture?