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 …
I was surprised by a comment on last week’s “50 Years” blog (which the commenter describe as “beautiful”), saying “I have learned so much from you.” When I responded “You’re too nice” the commenter said “No I’m honest. You have an amazing way of speaking the truth that is raw and real (not always what someone wants to hear but something I value).” …
I was a fledgling 27 year old when I started with my firm. I had just left the National Labor Relations Board on a Friday and reported to work the following Monday. My boss was Martin C. Seham a larger than life Harvard Law School graduate who plucked me from obscurity and set me on an amazing miraculous career path. One of the first things he urg …
Once upon a time we scored back stage passes for a Rolling Stones concert. As we wandered about in the promised land we came upon Keith Richards and I seized the moment and asked him to stop and pose for a picture with me. He was readily willing, but said he was about to go on stage. I hurriedly handed the camera to Joanne who was not familiar wi …
Last weekend we went for lunch in Huntington and when the check came the server explain that the Internet was down and asked me to write my phone number and credit card info on the check. I did so and in all the unusual hurly-burly I forgot to take back my credit card. This is one of the most annoying things I do. It is a failure of concentration w …
28,333 days into my life span I have been experiencing some turbulence. I suppose it’s my silver hair, eg, suddenly people regularly offer me their subway seats. Then last week I was walking to my car after a Gotham breakfast meeting and I saw two gardners making a deafening racket with leaf blowers. As I got closer, I thought someone had cried ou …
I have been a Yankee fan since before MicKEY MANtle was a rookie. Watching Yankee games with my father on early black and white TV was one of my earliest and most favorite childhood memories. I can still hear him bellow “He (Mickey) swings and he misses!” As time passed his failing eye sight caused him to ask me to read him the daily newspaper ga …
There was the most amazing story in the news last week which did my heart so dog loving good!It seems that a fox terrier puppy, Dutchess, disappeared 12 years ago from her Florida home and was recently discovered over 1000 miles away, just barely alive, in Pittsburgh. She was hungry, shivering and in need of a nail trim and when Dutchess was broug …
Earlier this week I ventured forth to the dreaded Department of Motor Vehicles. My quest was to secure one of the fancy new Enhanced Licenses. Armed with my expiring license, passport, tax forms, Vision Test Report, Birth Certificate (with raised seal), Notary Public Identification Card, Medicare card, bank statement, Social Security and Draft card …
The expression is “Let a smile be your umbrella” and it is profound. To smile is to appear pleasant and agreeable. That’s a powerful social tool. A smile conveys feelings of happiness, hope and positivity to anyone who sees it. When you smile, you are sending a nonverbal message to those around you that they are accepted, welcome and that all is …
Lucy is a snow white 8 year old schnoodle (cross breed of schnauzer and poodle) who cares for my son David’s family (David, Julie, Jackson and Maggie). They are so well cared for that it was David’s inspiration to share the care, and some 6 years ago at his urging we were adopted by Lucy's sister schnoodle, who Joanne dubbed Charcoal due to her d …
I first stepped foot on the Syracuse University campus in the Fall of 1959 when Ike was President. It was that long ago!The Orange football team proceeded to run off an undefeated season, culminating in the National Championship with the great Ernie Davis as it’s Elmira Express engine. I joined the Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity and among the many amaz …
I usually wake up (without an alarm) before 5:30 and loll a while in bed. However, at this time of year it is far tougher to get out of bed as it is dark. Pitch black. Hello darkness, you’re no friend. No disrespect to the classic Simon and Garfunkel song. At least there is November 3rd Daylight Savings time to look forward to...
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 …
I am a life long Baseball fan. Did you know fan is short for fanatic?Well fanatic is what I am about this year’s Yankee team (and Aaron Judge, but that’s for another blog)! They have suffered unprecedented injuries to countless key players and yet the “Next Man Up” has carried them to First Place in the American League and one of the best records …
Fridays With Fred
A perfect way to send you into your weekend