Have you ever noticed how much meaning an old, frayed picture holds? And if it is in black and white, it is like sunshine in December! This past weekend, I was at my mom’s house. I went downstairs for something and found old photos strewn across the downstairs bedroom. I suspect that they were left over from Hurricane Sandy. Her downstairs was largely destroyed along with years of photo albums. This group of pictures was sort of stuck together but not so much so that I cou...

Since March 23, 2020, when New York State officially closed down, my family has celebrated five birthdays, including my own. Three birthdays have been milestones, my two now twenty-five year old’s and my now thirty year old.     Prior to March 23, 2020, my family would celebrate birthdays by having the person whose birthday it was choose their favorite restaurant for dinner. With significant others and Grandma in tow, we would reserve a table for the ten of us and always h...

Summer’s almost gone   Yeah it’s almost gone.   Above are lyrics from song of the first phrase by the Doors. The LP is Waiting for the Sun.   It goes back 52 years.   It concludes with a question,“where will we be?   In this summer of Covid what do you wish for the fall and winter. In part I post the question as we continue to face limits on some activities we covet/miss and the sooner time passes, and we endure, perhaps solutions to what we face this summer and faced last Sp...

In 2017, The New York Times disclosed the existence of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. The program, which was started in 2007, studies the mystifying encounters between military pilots and unidentified aerial vehicles.   The NYT reports..."Although Pentagon officials will not discuss the program, it appeared last month in a Senate committee report outlining spending on the nation’s intelligence agencies for the coming year. The report said the program, n...

Yesterday was the anniversary of my marriage to Joanne Carol Davidson, my Roslyn High School Sweet Heart. Our wedding picture is above. Yes we looked like Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 back in the day and yes so many lamented that I “Got the Girl”. Only last week in the run up to our Anniversary someone wrote to me on Facebook “You are a lucky guy Fred”. Another wrote “I’ll never figure out what she saw in you. She could have had anyone she wanted.”They are not wrong as I know t...

"Play Ball" I was actually looking forward to hearing that call.Yes, it would be different. No fans in the stands. But then again, no one came to watch me when I played ball. So much drama leading up to the season. Negotiations. On, off and on again. A short season. A sprint, not the marathon of the usual baseball season. But, perhaps, a little move to normalcy. And then, almost as soon as it began, a postponement  and another. Covid is not a fan. And with these disruptions,...

Yes! You read it right. I decided to load up on more knowlege, in conjunction with my amazing career. I'm a girl from the Midwest and decided to choose a school that speaks to my roots, with a robust reputation in Behavioral Sciences. As of today, I am a registered student at Purdue University in Indiana, pursuing my degree in Industrial Psychology. In addition to having my Series 7, 66 and pending insurance credentials, I'll be a trained "intense listener". With the changing...

I have been thinking lately about how much we have learned from the experience of having been thrust into the future. Pre-COVID, remote work was taking hold in some industries but largely, there was not yet a groundswell of support for a complete transition to remote across industries. Fast forward and here we are. Let me start by saying I miss my office. I miss being together in one space. I miss being able to stand up and walk into someone’s office to kick around a theor...

Ben’s Thursday blog asked what safety protocols you are following during this time. Today I am asking, what etiquette protocols are you following when others either are not wearing masks or wearing them improperly? Essentially, my question is whether you have become a member of the mask police?     Recently, I have been in three different situations where people were either not wearing masks or wearing them ineffectively. I reacted differently each time. The first time I was...

We are proud of our children and their work. Jonathan works at Guttmacher Institute and Marisa at AJC (American Jewish Committee) New York. Marisa often arranges and participates in meetings with public officials and their staffs who I know and interact with. Jonathan researches and writes studies in the public health sphere, and his latest effort inspired today’s blog: Jonathan is lead author on a study that got published last week in Lancet Global Health.   Early Wednesday...

I was taught that if you shake someone's hand on a deal, it's done. You honor it because you just gave your word. Over the years I've been burned, unfortunately, by others who don't believe in it and seek to take advantage of every situation.   Then along comes this story that renews my faith...just a little bit:) A Wisconsin man made good on a 28-year-old handshake promise and split his $22 million Powerball jackpot with his longtime buddy.   Thomas Cook won a $22 million Po...

“Every thing is up to date in Gotham City” is a play on the words of a Rodgers and Hammerstein Oklahoma song. With that I announce that I have updated all of my Social Media optics with the very same photo featured above. It is up to date because I’m responsibly sporting a Fauci mask and what’s more, my front seat riding cohort Charcoal is smiling for the camera. The Joanne Klein photo was engineered by my 11:00 am pal Erin Uzume McKenna for her Key West photo shoot and if yo...

“What protocols are you following?” It’s an appropriate question - especially now. When making an appointment or reservation, ask the question. Where appropriate, most establishments have precautions in place, but I’ve seen that nothing should be taken for granted. I am shocked to learn that some establishments where one might reasonably expect to see a sign “Masks Required” as well as other protections like encouraging social distancing, are not doing so. There should be no ...

One very COMMON denominator in our Gotham family, is the love for our family pet. Much joy comes from my favorite critters. Me, Redford, SLIM, my pick-up truck, the open road, and some Steven Tyler. ...

  A Guest Blog By Norman Spizz   The other day while I was speaking to Nancy I told her about my weekly cousins cocktail zoom meetings. She asked me to take her blog day and write about it. So here it is.   During the first week of lockdown, I decided to have zoom cocktails with my sister who lives in Ithaca, my brother in Colorado and two of my first cousins who live locally and with whom we are very close. We decided that it might be fun to do it again a week later and inv...