2020 is finally over!

Good riddance to an annus horribilus!

It's a New Year!

Hallelujah!

Happy New Year!

P.S. Keep wearing your mask and we will move toward the light and emerge safely and happily from this horrible tunnel!

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Following up on Ben's blog of yesterday, we thoroughly enjoyed our annual Holiday Party Wednesday night and, as is tradition, the weather was daunting, ie, it snowed and snowed and snowed. So much so that it amounted to another silver lining in that the pandemic prevented a traditional in person festival and required that we party conveniently on Zoom. Party highlights were Alison Crowther, mother of Welles Remy Crowther, who ascended to immortality on 9/11/2001 by saving 18 ...

I know it’s been the toughest of years, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to be thankful for. Words like Silver Lining (in every cloud), glass half full and Bright Side come to mind as we fend and cope. I know that I am very lucky and have a lot to be thankful for.  What about you?...

Have you noticed all the tents cropping up in back yards and parking lots?A sign of the times!With the cold weather coming I am told there has been a run on out door heat lamps and tents too I’m sure.  How else will restaurants survive?For me, Thanksgiving turkey with family is a goal which I have been pushing. Where is Omar the tent maker when I need him most?...

This blog is written with my wife Joanne’s permission because, at times, she is forgetful and relies on me to remind her of things. We good naturally refer to this practice as her short term Rent-A-Memory and it is my pleasure!I still have lots of room in my memory bank and I remember much. I awakened to Jackie Robinson’s earth shaking/game changing debut in 1947 and others that followed such as Mohammed Ali, Tommy Smith, Curt Flood and Colin Kaepernick. I remember the Brown ...

Monday was another birthday.  I was born 2,461,622,400 seconds ago in a raging, flash, New York City snow storm at Women’s Hospital. I came in an innocent at the weight of 9 pounds 8 ounces.  Little did I know! My life’s dark corner stones: Pearl Harbor, “JFK Shot!”, 9/11 and now this presently incurable Pandemic! What next?   It can only get better!...

Have you ever thrown a Surprise Party?   Was it a success?  Was the Secret kept?  Was the recipient surprised?Well on Tuesday night Gotham held it’s annual Holiday Party and we did it all as surprises abounded!By my count there were at least 7 surprises and it was just great, as it’s always better to surprise than be surprised. The first surprises were the announcement of our 2019 Networkers of the Year:  Shelley Simpson (Business Breakfast Group) and Robert Esposito (South F...

The words Labor Day conjure up images of end of Summer enjoyment on a sandy beach.  However, on this Labor Day, as is our contrarian wont (see previous blog re our recent visit to the Guggenheim) we went away from the beach and into the city for a day in lower Manhattan at the Whitney Museum of American Art. We zoomed into the city in record time (the sign on the Expressway said 17 minutes to the QMT as we passed under it in Nassau) and easily found a street parking spot. We...

Joanne and I are not world travelers, nevertheless, in an adventurous moment we decided we wanted to travel to Italy with our friends Ennid and David Berger and we planned a year ahead and decided upon Sorrento, Italy.  Laney Sachs and her company Ortensia Blu Italian Adventures helped us find a beautiful cliff side hotel in Sorrento, over looking fabled Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples (pictured).  What’s more, she helped us plan excursions to Pompeii, Capri and the Ama...

When I was young I was afraid of the dark and everything that went with it, imagined, real or suggested.  So fearful that I had extreme trouble falling asleep. Yesterday was the winter solstice, the shortest (day light) day of the year.  One could call it Heart of Darkness Day and say it is the worst or best day of year, as darkness bottoms and starts to bounce back to light. Day Light Savings Time only confuses things (circadian rhythm) and in my opinion should be banished. ...