We were having coffee at a little cafe. Small space. Couldn’t help but hear the conversation at the next table. One of the people was sharing a little issue she was having. Frustrated by her inability to find a solution. One of her friends offered the following: Your mind is like a TV. If you don’t like what your seeing, grab the remote and change the channel. As I heard the words, I smiled to myself and would have offered “And there are so many channels to chose from.”...

I have a plethora of T shirts emblazoned with names, messages and logos. Carefully chosen, assembled, maintained and stored over too many years. The messages they carry - some significant only for a moment - while others endure. Funny that one remembers every acquisition. Recently I’ve considered moving to plain t shirts. Then, over the weekend, I was having breakfast at a local place in the Berkshires and someone behind me said “I like your shirt.” The s...

We had the pleasure of seeing Audra McDonald in concert at Tanglewood with the Boston Pops. Great venue. Great concert. When I listen to music that touches me, I usually come away with a lyric that stays. Mostly because the message is pertinent and special,although sometimes it is just an “ear worm”. Since last Sunday, the lyrics of Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green have been with me.... “Make someone happy, Make just one someone happy, And you will be happy too.” ...

I hadn’t given it much thought in many years, perhaps once or twice in passing since my father died almost twenty years ago. In the mid-1960s, my father went to Germany to testify at a war crimes trial against former guards in the Plaszow concentration camp. When he returned, he didn’t say much. However, he did tell me that the map of the ghetto in the courtroom was wrong. Streets were wrong. His testimony fixed the map. I must have had a certain amount of healthy tee...

There’s a “Corner Bakery” on the corner of North Capital and E Street in Washington, D.C. On most mornings, a homeless gentleman stands on the corner and wishes a “Good Morning” to passersby. I saw him last Saturday and Sunday. As I left the bakery with my coffees on Sunday morning, I gave the gentleman a dollar as I wished him a good day. As I walked away, I heard a voice behind me. “Can I buy you breakfast this morning?” the woman’s voice asked. I heard the gentleman respo...

Home delivery of newspapers is not a concept of the past in our home. We still get home delivery of three newspapers. I have often thought about this as unnecessary and recently spoke to my brother-in-law about it. He also gets three newspapers - a local paper, the Times and the WSJ. Perhaps it’s an effort to get balance, perhaps just holding on to tradition, or, perhaps, a lingering resistance (albeit, unsuccessful) to the onslaught of the alerts and notifications of cyber ...

I am following up on last week’s blog; the apology is made, but is it accepted? The ball, as they say, is in the court of the person to whom the apology is made. (My legal training compels me to label this person the “apologee”.) It seems to me that the first threshold for the apologee is a judgment of whether the apology is sincere - and, therefore, should be accepted. This decision can create immediate problems for the fate of the apology. Assuming we’re beyond the judgmen...

There has been a lot in the news lately about apology. No, this is not intended to be a political blog. However, the talk got me to think about the concept of apology. Certainly, something we have all had to consider, and, I would think, from both the giving and receiving sides. The word apology traces back to the Greek — a formal justification. However, current usage is “an admission of error or discourtesy accompanied by an expression of regret”. The definition of apologize...

There’s a Japanese saying that translates to “one moment, one chance.” The positive perspective suggests taking every moment as a new opportunity. However, the saying also suggests that a missed opportunity will never present itself again. FOMO - the “fear of missing out” The other evening we had our third meeting of the Long Island Dinner Group. Due to space limitations, we have had to close out every meeting as we surpassed full capacity. As we sat around the fu...

I noticed the credit card on the ground as I walked away from my parked car. I picked it up and asked myself “What now?” Leaving it for someone else to find didn’t seem right. After a moment’s thought, I called the number of the back of the card. The bank was very nice, appreciated my call, canceled the card, and said they would contact the cardholder. About a week later, we were driving home after parking the car in a garage. We were a few blocks away from the garage whe...