A recent article in the Sunday Times made me squirm. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, there is a growing movement on college campuses to provide “trigger warnings” to college students that the materials they are about to read might upset them. Given as examples of works that might, in the future, require warnings were “The Adventures of Huckleberry F …
Today is the Wimbledon men's finals. It is going on right now, in fact. The finalists are our two favorite players, Djokovic and Federer. Who to root for? I asked Eve, she said she has no favorite to win. I told her she had to. She said no, she is not rooting for either one over the other. What if I told you that you had to pick one or I w …
The first actual Independence Day took place on July 8th so we celebrate on the fourth. Go figure. Congress declared July 4th a national holiday 175 years later in 1941. Guess one of the politicians had a flag business and wanted to increase sales. Now we import over $3.6 million flags...most of them from China. Traditionally the 4th of July ha …
What do you write when you blog on the 4th of July? Do you go with trivia, trivial, practical, sentimental, clever? Before I go there, I must remark that I suppose it's good that the holiday falls on a Friday this year giving us a 3 day weekend and all. Personally, however, I like when it come on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, allowing you to c …
I may be a News Junkie and, if so, I'd like to consider going on a twelve-step program. I was raised listening to WCBS radio – "all news all the time" – while in the car. I now listen to NPR on both commutes to and from the office – generally when the news is on. My home feels like the periodicals room at the New York Public Library. I get news …
Did you allow yourself the full experience? Away on vacation with family, I convinced a bunch of people who weren't normally sports fans to go out to watch the U.S. World Cup soccer match versus Belgium in the knockout round. It was met with lukewarm interest, but they all came out with us. We were able to find a place to fit all of us at a t …
Last Wednesday, my daughter graduated from high school. It was a memorable night in our family but even more memorable for another local family. The speeches had ended. The principal and school board members had started the process of announcing each (and every) name and personally handing each of the 580 graduates a well-earned diploma. Midway t …
Last Saturday morning almost all of my family was out of the house by 8:00 a.m. Other than myself, the only other person left in the house was my sleeping daughter. I was essentially alone and had the whole house to myself. There was so much I could have gotten accomplished during that time. I could have answered emails, walked on the treadmill, cl …
This past winter I cleaned out our storage closet. Not only reorganized it, but got rid of stuff and made more room. It looked much cleaner and less cluttered. Not any more. Now it is filled with baby stuff. I never thought I would have to buy a stroller, high chair, car seat or portable crib ever again, not to mention a little sippy cup and …
My 2008 Saab 93 has over 157,000 miles and is showing signs of age. She is consuming oil and coolant and is a bit noisy while going over bumps. We've been through a lot together. Trips as far south as South Carolina and as far north as Buffalo. I spend so much time in my car, it's kind of like a second home. It's also the preferred vehicle for th …
Times sportswriter Harvey Araton wrote last week that "Suffering is good. It reinforces character, resolve and commitment. Experienced in public it exposes vulnerability. Handled with class, it heightens likability."Talk about imparting the Secrets of the Universe! This is a one stop shop verity which resonates very strongly with me. After growing …
The consummate chronicler of our running escapades of so many years ago recently informed me that on June 21,1980, I ran the Westchester Half Marathon in just under one hour and thirty-one minutes (does 1:30:52 sound better?). By the most-accurate account, I finished with our friend Warren with whom the report was shared. In the email exchange …
Well, Uraguay advanced to the knockout round of 16 in the World Cup. That's the good news. The bad news is that their star player was guilty for at least the second time of actually biting an opponent. Yes that's right , Luis Suarez one of their star players (what appears to be essentially out of nowhere) bit an Italian player in the shoulder …
Ponder this. In an attempt to assist the continuing quest to fund your child’s college education, a friend gives your graduating high school senior a lottery ticket as a gift. So, what if you hit the jackpot? Would you share the proceeds with your friend? Would you buy your friend a lavish gift? Conversely, would you do anything at all to acknowl …
Do you have it? We do in our house. Of course, we had soccer fever even before this year’s World Cup, as both my step-daughter and step-son are soccer players. Watching the U.S. play on the world stage has, so far, been incredible. Watching the U.S. finally beat Ghana, as a result of a goal scored by a sub was amazing. Even Google has soccer …
