Even with ten inches of fresh snow on the ground, and still falling, I had to get into work on Friday, and early. The night before we got home late. I thought better to start shoveling rather than wait for the morning. But it was after 11 pm and the snow was wet with chunks of heavy ice. Even though I had shoveled us out of the earlier storms this year, this snow got the best of me. It was hi... More >>

Another winter wonderland. I look out the window and see everything covered in white. A sameness almost a simple view of the world. The sun rises and casts a warm light yellow color on the snow and it lights up reflecting the texture from wind and terrain. It's beautiful and yet...

An 8.8 earthquake hit Chile yesterday killing over 50 people. Haiti is still trying to recover. I remember Hurrica... More >>

As I am on vacation in Key West I have asked my younger son Alex to blog for me. Alex is Gotham's Creative Director and, for instance, has designed the Gotham logo and all of the cool graphics on the Gotham web site. You can view his work on his site www.designoven.com.

Alex has his own blog which appears on our Blog Roll to the left and he recently wrote the following blog which captivated m... More >>

As an architect I have been trained to present my work in front of people. Over the last few years and increasingly in the last few months, I specifically have been speaking about green building, green design and greening our lives, always dependant on my visual aids. I had an experience a few months back at an AIA (American institute of Architects) Education seminar that changed the way I think... More >>

To say that the Olympics are magic is almost cliche. Yet it is difficult to find a better description of what happens when the greatest athletes in the world hit the biggest stage in the world. After all, the same competitors all compete against each other year after year, before and after the Olympics, often performing the same feats. Yet, there is something about these moments that truly find... More >>

For some reason, going into 1954 my grandmother, at the age of 56 decided it was time to record all of her favorite recipes. She bought a day planner, called "The Silent Secretary" and methodically recorded her treasures using one page, one date, at a time.

All through my childhood, I remember her signature cake. We all do. My aunts and uncles and all my cousins too. It was that one special... More >>

My husband wants to buy me a present. I know this. I also know I am a very difficult person to buy a present for. Jewelry is not a good gift for me as I tend to wear the same jewelry everyday. I am not an electronic wiz, so the Ipod and camera I own are enough for me. And I have katchkas that I still haven’t unpacked from my last move over six years ago. Basically, I have a few objects that I ... More >>

One of the best parts of the Olympics, in between the jumps and the bumps and the skating and the racing, is the medal ceremony. I always loved that, especially when Team USA grabs the gold and then we get to listen to The Star Spangled Banner and watch a proud smiling American champion on top of the podium.

Sometimes the gold medal winner sings along, or at least lip syncs. I always like tha... More >>

I, and my wife, drove 11 hours and 5 minutes to get here. (if you're wondering, we beat the GPS's time estimate by 1 hour and 35 minutes). It was an interesting drive. The posted speed limit even went as high as 70!

Can you guess where we are?

We've seen blue herons, white egrets, hawks, pelicans, an indian mound, the ocean, dolphins, ducks, rivers, marsh, a Piggly Wiggly, houses on stilts,... More >>

What is the oft mentioned "Sense of Direction"? Is it some sort of internal compass wired into our DNA? Does it have anything to do with the magnetic North (somebody please explain what that's all about)? Do women have a somewhat lessoned sense? Do men really shy away from asking directions?

These questions all welled up in my mind last Thursday night after the "Maximizing the Gotham Experi... More >>

How long would you wait to be seated at a restaurant that doesn’t take reservations?

Last weekend, we were in Southern Florida. After a wonderful pre-Valentine’s Day dinner with friends on Saturday evening, we decided to spend Sunday, Valentine’s Day, at the Coconut Grove Arts Fair. We cancelled a couple’s massage and romantic dinner at our hotel because we didn�... More >>

I am taking a chance that because my words on this won't be overly partisan, that my blog will go through. Otherwise, I'll try my best for a good lead-in for Ben tomorrow and move on. It seems that our country has come to a screaching halt. Some probably feel that is a good thing, others a tragedy considering the emotional elevations of the past 17-20 months.

What my blog today will be about... More >>

I don't own a Toyota. Watching the safety issues unfold over the last few weeks, now I am not sure I ever will. For me, the company's apparent inability to identify and remedy a potentially devastating problem with uncontrolled acceleration is, to say the least, disconcerting. And I don't own one of those cars.

Individual Toyota owners have reacted very differently. I saw one woman intervi... More >>

For me, this is a purely whimsical blog. I want to talk about shoes and pocketbooks. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am truly obsessed with both. No matter what type of day I’ve had, the purchase of a good shoe or pocketbook can immediately lift my spirits.

For example several months ago, I had the experience where, in front of my client, a judge was both mean spirited and incredibly ru... More >>

Happy Presidents' Day. Yes, that is it. It is a holiday tomorrow you know. It is one of those holidays that people aren't quite sure about. "Are you working on Monday?" I hear a lot of people say. (I am working tomorrow.) Not like the 4th of July, or Memorial Day, those are real holidays. No one has to ask about those.

This used to be called Lincoln's Birthday, or Washington's Birthday, ... More >>

Quite a week for the blogs. From Erik's heartfelt outpouring of self reflection, Nancy's questioning of the size, Ben's acknowledgement of the ever increasing size, Rona's daughter's perspective of family, Don's realization that he's in a new arena, to Fred's worry about his family legacy it has been a fascinating read.

I thought about writing about my family but I do so often that it wouldn't ... More >>

I have a family of origin (mother, father and sister), a family of origination (wife, 2 sons, 2 daughters in law and 4 grand children) and a family of foundation (Gotham, I'm sure by now one of the bloggers has taken that on as a subject. If not, I will down the road).

When this theme arose, my first uneasy thought was that my family of origin has a family cemetery plot where my parents are b... More >>

Last Friday night, we went to a concert of Ra Ra Riot at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. I am almost certain that I never would have come to appreciate this particular band except for the Growing Family.
Rebecca plays electric violin for Ra Ra Riot. Rebecca is Alyssa's younger sister. Alyssa is our new daughter-in-law. Got that?
Before the concert, we had dinner with Stephanie and Bob... More >>

I spoke several weeks ago about a 10 year old boy that I coach that was having problems handling his emotions. I did end up speaking with his mother who seemed somewhat receptive, though I never heard a word from the father which speaks volumes. There was very little follow-up and after a momentary correction, the boy fell right back into his normal ways. After another extreme blow-up, I essent... More >>

I know that this week’s theme is family -- and you are all expecting me to blog about how lucky I am to be surrounded and supported by a wonderful family. That is all true but not on my mind tonight.

Late last year, the Duggar family welcomed their 19th child. In 2008, Nadya Suleman gave birth to octuplets -- which brought her family up to 14 children. Sorry to be contrarian, but really, ho... More >>

I grew up in a time and place where almost every nuclear family looked the same; there was a mother and father and children. The only difference among most of my friends’ families was whether or not their grandparents lived with them. Consequently, when I divorced my children’s father when they were both very young, Calli was 5 years and Sydney was 16 months, the question of what the word “f... More >>

After dinner, and the dishes were cleaned, we went upstairs into the guest bedroom. Eve's oldest daughter was under the covers reading under the lamp on the nightstand. Eve stretched out across the edge of the bed. I sat on the floor holding a cup of tea. Emily joined us too, and so did the little pussycat with no name. I sat and mostly listened to the girls and their girl talk. Their conver... More >>

Apple's, or rather Steve Jobs, introduction of the iPad was pretty cool. For those of you who haven't heard of it (and I imagine there might be one or two of you) the iPad is the latest product category from Apple. It's kind of like a large iTouch; a big touch screen to surf the web, get email, play games and watch movies in very high resolution.

Mr. Jobs positioned this device between the iPho... More >>

(Make believe Andy Rooney is saying the following on "60 Minutes"): Admit it. You're up to here with listening to very stale "Happy New Years" greetings. I know I am and a good question is when will they stop (July 4th)?

In this vein, I have been accused (criticized?) of being "Kryptic Klein" in both my email and telephone style.

Thus, I ask, does the telephone caller really really care wh... More >>

As happens twice a year, last weekend I accompanied Flo to the International Gift Show at the Javits Center in New York. For those who are not familiar with the Show, it is the pre-eminent trade show for gifts, accessories, homewares, etc. It is attended by retailers from around the country eager to see what the manufacturers have to offer. The wares represented are not necessarily the essentials ... More >>

The big controversy of the week. NY Jets coach Rex Ryan setting the world on fire by attending a mixed martial arts event in Miami Florida and tweaking the fans a bit. Turns out that he was interviewed in front of the crowd, and playfully boasted that the Jets were going to beat Miami twice next year.

Then during the course of the evening while being harassed by the fans, he (seemingly) playf... More >>

In 1992, February 2 was a Sunday. The weather was very cold but the sky was clear. Months of planning had come to an end and worries about interfering snowstorms were now officially in the past. I remember the drive to the temple with my parents thinking how happy the day had started out and how different life was about to become.

Upon arrival, commenced the procedure of donning lots of wh... More >>

Lately I have been thinking about reality television. I remember the first season of “Survivor,” and how it was hyped as a brand new medium of television, reality television. This claim was quickly disputed by MTV as it had launched its reality show “The Real World” approximately five years prior. In reality, both claims were wrong as the first true reality television show was broadcast... More >>