While attending an intimate concert — certainly in comparison to venues such as Radio City, Jones Beach or the Garden among other wonderful places to take in shows, last Thursday eve (September 3, 2026) I mused might this gig wind up near the very top of shows covered in my year-end Top Ten Concerts of 2026 commentary. My daughter, Marisa, and I very much enjoyed Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues at The City Winery. Justin played most of my fave songs he wrote and sang with the Moodies including Question (one of my all-time fave s
Most of us don’t like being bad at things.When you’re young, being a beginner is normal. We fall off the bike, miss the ball, play the wrong note, and try again. Nobody expects us to know what we’re doing.Unfortunately, that changes when we're adults. We get comfortable being capable. We know our jobs, and generally avoid situations that might make us look foolish. Although I seem to do that a lot:)I know the feeling. When I try something new, part of me wants to skip the awkward stage and be good at it right away. Unfortunately, learning doesn’t work that way.
Do you have a routine?You know, a usual way of doing daily tasks in a specific order, such as morning hygiene or exercise. I know I do, morning, noon and night. So many rituals backed by the fear or guilt of not doing them.I wonder, however, are they really as healthy as they are cracked up to be?
Instilled in the school years of childhood, September always presents an opportunity for a new beginning. We may not replace our marble notebooks and looseleaf binders or open new boxes of pencils and crayons, but there is still a special “starting-over” in September.And September’s weather offers the prospect of change. Not the change of Spring - with its blossoms - but the teasing contrast of the remnants of summer with the refreshing cool relief that forebodes the coming winter.A new classroom. A new teacher. A new chance.
Yes, It’s Hectic — And That’s RealLet’s be honest: networking can feel like a chore when your schedule is already bursting at the seams. Events take time. Follow‑ups take energy. Meeting new people takes mental bandwidth.Sometimes you’ll show up tired. Sometimes you’ll feel awkward. Sometimes you’ll wonder why you agreed to go at all.
My briefcase travels back and forth with me to work every day. It is part office, part snack drawer, and part time capsule. The practical items are easy to explain – my laptop, a charger (or two), reMarkable, and a pair of headphones. These days I don’t even carry a pen since I am obsessed with my reMarkable. Sometimes you might find an apple or some pretzels somewhere in there although with full disclosure, neither might be as fresh as they should be.
Professionally, I love summer. Things slow down and I have the time to relax. I also look forward to having the time to complete all those larger projects that I put off doing until the summer. But then, suddenly, I looked at the calendar and realize that tomorrow is September 1. And my list of projects to complete is still sitting on my desk, with nary a checkmark on it. Is your to do list completed?