Last week I blogged about National Hugging Day. I liked that blog. It reminded me of a story from my daughter’s high school days (recounted in last week’s blog). I decided to do a little research to see what other National Days were coming up.  I was astounded. The website www.nationalcalendarday.com lists them all. February alone has: National Baked Alaska Day, Ice Cream for Breakfast Day (I like that one), National Day the Music Died Day, National Create a Vacu...

  This blog is not about politics. It’s about  the right-or the decision-to speak about politics.       It’s now “awards season” in the entertainment industry. We have had the Golden Globe Awards, SAG Awards, and Grammys. At the beginning of the Golden Globe Awards host Ricky Gervais told the celebrities to without the political commentary from their speeches, as “no wanted to hear what they had to say.” Many of the award winners, such as Patricia Arquette and Michelle Willia...

No secret to frequent followers of this blog, and to many (most? All?) who know me how much I enjoy music, especially of a certain genre. Yesterday, I saw a tweet between to City Council Members I know that I think was trying to equate the quality and state of music today to politics today and a comparison to an earlier era. I replied my view that most of the best music with limited exceptions occurred from 1967 though 1974. Earlier last week, I found myself discussing with m...

On the surface it might seem to be an easy answer...however there are always two sides to an issue (and sometimes three:). Following are some points I gleaned from debate.org.    For: Education is vital and maybe the source for hope in the future Education improves humanity and preserves the planet There is still more technology and discoveries to be made Against People won't value a free education Free education will cause havoc Who would pay for all the expenses   BTW, ...

Cameras are everywhere and everyone has a camera! One of the secrets of capturing a great photo (or “snapshot”) is having one’s phone camera at the every ready for that special unexpected, once in a lifetime, photo opportunity.   On the other hand, don’t you dare give into the impulse to cross the line and do something questionable in a special unexpected, once in a lifetime, moment as there are cameras everywhere and Big Brother is watching!...

A friend of mine from the DC area and I have a thing about hats...and sports. Last fall, he sent me a Washington Nationals cap to wear during the Worlds Series. I did. The Nats won. He sent me a Baltimore Ravens cap to wear during the Football playoffs earlier this month. I wore it. The cap drew comments as I wore it in New York. Out of town teams are not usually well tolerated in New York. A friend saw me in the Ravens cap and, being superstitious; saw it as a sign t...

  Can you guess which one? It’s National Hugging Day! Apparently, this very special day was created in 1986 to try to get ahead of a season when many people’s spirits might be low. The idea is to share a moment of affection and caring which in essence, shares a smile. It seems that the record of most hugs given by one person in one hour was 1,749. Now that is a lot of hugging. I remember when my daughter was in high school, completely unrelated to National Hugging Da...

  Lately, a lot of my inspiration for my blogs have come from my Weight Watchers meetings. One of the topics we have discussed recently was the importance of relaxation. That topic became relevant last week during a lunchtime discussion at work.       I was having lunch with three other attorneys. During our meal, I asked what their plans were for the coming three-day weekend. One attorney responded that he would be coming to the office on Saturday while the other mentioned t...

The stupid but often true cliché, “The more things change, the more things remain the same.”, carries some resonance this week. I fashion myself a strategist. It certainly involves messaging. So what occurred with Major League Baseball last week really bugged me. I lack the pertinent information to make an informed judgment but it remains clear that things went awry – again – for my baseball team. The excitement about the new manager -- #15 – evolved to anger about a failure ...

This year is shaping up to be rather contenscious, so I’d like to remind us that it is more important than ever to listen and tolerate the differences that make Gotham such a unique place that inspires connections, business, opportunity and lively conversation.   Although we may differ in our opinions, I would submit that we always be respectful and accepting of your brothers and sisters no matter what their feelings and thoughts. Even if your blood starts to boil, focusing o...

On October 3rd 1951 New York Giant baseball player Bobby Thomson hit a Home Run which is called “The Shot Heard ‘Round The World” to win the National League pennant against the Giants bitter rival Brooklyn Dodgers. Giant radio announcer Russ Hodges described The Shot in what is considered one of the best, if not the best, calls in sports history as follows: Listen to it by clicking here Many years later I had the opportunity to sit next to the famous Bobby Thomson (pictured)...

This is about curiosity. We were driving home. A notification came in from our neighborhood alert: there was an accident, reported gunshots, at a major intersection near our home. It was an intersection that we would soon be routinely passing through on our way home. I was already mapping out the detour in my mind. My passenger, Flo, insisted on continuing on our way without diversion. “Let’s see what’s going on”. I had no interest in “seeing” – no curiosity -- b...

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal last week about Positivity and Negativity in relationships. Hearing the statistics a second time did reinforce what I already knew about words and their effect on relationships. Did you know that for every negative comment you make to someone it take 5 to 7 positive comments to offset the negative?  I'm sure you've heard it before. Our brains pick up and hold onto negative comments. I'm not entirely sure why, but biology would expl...

  Or maybe not. I was on the trip home one day last week engrossed in reading something on my phone when I noticed a commotion behind me. We were stopped at Jamaica and an unruly passenger had come into my car, loud, angry, carrying way too many bags and disheveled. He was yelling at everyone around him and clearly making the crowd nervous. With that a woman who could have ben his grandmother jumped in and asked him what was wrong. Still loud and angry, he told her that...

  During this time of the year a lot of people talk about or write about their resolutions. Anyone who knows me knows that every year I make the same resolution, I’m going to watch my weight. This year I gave a lot of thought to my resolution and what propensities of mine I really wanted to work on changing. I came up with two.       First, I resolved to try to watch my language, that being, to control my cursing. That lasted until I was back in my office on January 2, 2020. ...