Flowers, Chocolate, Travel, Music, Happiness

Last weekend, we ventured out and bought some mums, the quintessential fall flower, for our terrace. Without a car, it is not easy to haul the pots home. On the other hand, sitting in the subway and hugging a big bunch of bright yellow flowers radiates happiness. And as it turns out, happiness can be found everywhere, despite “all that is going on.”

For example, chocolate is an easy, widely available, and surprisingly not-so-unhealthy way to treat yourself to a moment of happiness. Don’t buy cheap chocolate; it does not taste good, and it exploits workers on cocoa farms. But it does not have to be one of expensive luxury bars either. The products of the Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG, a German family-owned company, are ubiquitous, reasonably priced, and put an emphasis on sustainability. Cocoa enthusiasts may frown at their flashy selection of flavors, but we love it. Also, the square Ritter Sport chocolate bars bring back many childhood memories for us.

If traveling makes you happy, with The Reluctant Traveler, you can explore the world without leaving your seat. We loved the first two seasons, but the new one seems to have found the sweet spot. Eugene Levy is no longer as reluctant and enjoys himself while presenting places and people around the world with a positive bias.

Last but not least, a new favorite song is a great source of happiness. That’s why we’re listening to dozens of songs per week, and we hope we can pass this feeling of human spirit and connection on to you with this week’s Five Songs and the Song Pick of the Day features.

Five Songs

Listen to glamglare five songs on Spotify, Apple Music, or below on YouTube.

While musing about the fall of 2001 in Downtown Manhattan, when many streets around the World Trade Center were closed, and I had to walk a long detour to make it to the Lower Manhattan Tenants Association (LMTA) meeting in Battery Park, I kept listening to a CD by Kate Bush on my CD walkman. It had a green cover (no, not Kate Bush’s brand-new Best of the Other Sides album!) — a German edition we had brought over from Munich, now in storage. Listening to Kate Bush’s album The Sensual World, one song in particular stopped me in my tracks and immediately sparked this week’s Five Songs playlist. Spliff felt like the natural companion, and as a huge Depeche Mode and Midge Ure fan, the next choices came easily.

This week’s Five Songs looks at our complicated relationship with machines. From Kate Bush’s prophetic vision in “Deeper Understanding” to Spliff’s cheeky “Computer sind doof (Computer Are Stupid),” from Depeche Mode’s human cry over metallic beats to Ultravox’s icy synth grandeur, and finally Yello’s hypnotic “Vicious Games” — each track reflects how technology both connects and alienates us.

Here’s this week’s five:

1. Kate Bush – “Deeper Understanding” (1989)
2. Spliff – “Computer sind doof” (1982)
3. Depeche Mode – “People Are People” (1984)
4. Ultravox – “Vienna” (1980)
5. Yello – “Vicious Games” (1985)

Back on those walks through Downtown Manhattan, these songs felt strange and a little haunting — and listening to them now, while I can even chat with a machine about music, I’m reminded that technology may be daunting, but it can also connect us, inspire us, and even offer unexpected sparks of creativity.

Song Pick of the Day

Listen to/watch all seven songs on YouTube. Follow our daily updated playlists on YouTube, Apple Music, or Spotify for the 50 latest Song Pick of the Day features, or subscribe here to receive them in your mailbox in real-time. Thank you for following us and sharing the excitement.

• Elle Murphy’s “Clearer” wraps up a journey of acceptance and growth into a feel-good pop gem.
• With its irresistible chorus and raw honesty, "Let Me Be" by Mia Langridge will stay with you long after the first listen.
• “It’s a song where I’m trying to convince myself it’s going to be fine.” In “Sit Back Baby,” néomí turns that thought into a soothing, reflective mantra.
• Victoria Staff captures the effortless ease of true love with “Love Should Feel”.
• Lights drops “EDUCATION,” the first taste of A6EXTENDED. Eight new tracks are coming next year—if this synth-pop banger is any clue, we’re in for something special.
• Melody’s Echo Chamber goes full retro shimmer with the lush and radiant “In The Stars.”
• Automatic,’s new album, Is It Now?, kicks off with “Black Box” — a synth-driven distress call aimed at creative sellouts. Post-punk with future vision.

Nine Photos of Flowers and Quiet Joys

This week’s Nine Photos are filled with light, flowers, and joy. We went to a light festival at Wagner Park, strolled through Madison Square Park, and acquired some fall flowers for our terrace.

(1-3) From the Illumination, Light Brought to Life festival at Wagner Park last Thursday. A quiet and peaceful moment by the water, perfect for pausing and just feeling happy.
(4&6) Sunday strolls through Madison Square Park, where fall still offers bright surprises.
(5) Our Montauk daisies in full bloom - always the last to flower but the first to grow green leaves again.
(7–9) Oliver and I, with the new mums, happily acquired for our home.

Sometimes joy is as simple as a stroll in the park, a bloom on the terrace, or light installations brightening the evening.