One of the many many things my wife Joanne does so well is make sandwiches. I often muse that if all else failed she could open up a world-class sandwich shop and I would just be the server. Last weekend Joanne made chicken salad with celery, dill, lettuce, home grown tomatoes and Hellman's mayonnaise (a very important ingredient) on toasted so …
I admit that I am competitive. Does being competitive make losing harder to bear? Gotham has two softball teams the Gotham Bombers and the Gotham Batmen. I pitch for the Gotham Batmen. Last year we finished in first place. This year the Batmen finished in second place with a nine wins and two loss record. The season begins in April and end …
It's true... having a puppy is like having a new baby and in our case "a late in life" one. We did have dogs in the past.. but then they ran free and no one worried about what they ate. I certainly never learned how to walk a dog on a leash... still haven't mastered that trick. The training is all about me learning how to teach Charcoal. Just g …
I took last Friday off and went to lunch with Joanne. Rather than going to our regular haunts we tried to be creative and she suggested that we have lunch on the top floor of Lord & Taylor in Manhasset on the "miracle mile". As we entered the store my mind flashed back some 60 years to the time that my mother brought me there to buy my trea …
Inasmuch as wall units were invented in 1945, I am older than air conditioning as we first knew it. We got our first wall unit in the 50s. Prior to then, on hot summer days we took midday cold showers, ran through the lawn sprinkler, sat in a kiddie pool, rode our bikes as fast as we could while still wet, went to the beach (without suntan lotion …
A week ago, The Bodega Tall Boys, my son's band, appeared at William Skody's Cafe Wha?Words can barely describe how wonderful the experience was for me, i.e., enjoying and witnessing Alex doing what he loves best and doing it well. Making things even better was the fact that we were surrounded by family, friends, Gothamites and fans.Representative …
As some may know, I consider rock 'n roll blogger Bob Lefsetz to be my oracle. Why my oracle? Because of nuggets like the following quote: winners don't always win because they're better than everybody else, but frequently because they outlast everybody, there are fewer competitors down the road.My life experience tells me that this is so true and …
We saw fireworks last weekend at Point Lookout on Long Island. It was the first time in a long time that we've been outdoors seeing the fireworks up close and personal. The pyrotechnics were spectacular and the experience was heightened by Ray Charles' singular rendition of "America". It gave me a chill. Being outdoors on a perfect Summer night, wa …
My son David and his family have a non allergic dog named Lucy. She's a schnoodle. When they go away she stays with us. It did not take long for us to love her (and her breed). Because I'm allergic to dogs, we have not had one in many many years. However, Lucy broke through and as a result I agreed to Joanne's request that we get a puppy, as long a …
As many may know I have been a long adherent of the BlackBerry. Why? Mostly because of the keyboard which for me was far easier to use than a touchscreen. Then my trusty Blackberry went dead and when I went to the Verizon store to look at the newest model I learned, to my alarm, that it too had a touchscreen and not a keyboard.It was a true moment …
As many may know, I have been a long adherent of the BlackBerry. Why? Mostly because of the keyboard, which for me was far easier to use than a touchscreen. Then my trusty Blackberry went dead. When I went to the Verizon store to look at the newest Blackberry I learned, to my shock, that it too had a touchscreen and not a keyboard.It was a true mom …
I had planned to write about Gotham's 13th annual Bob Formica Golf Outing, but Mother Nature intervened on Monday and we were compelled to postpone it until August 19th. During the course of my reading I oft times coming across a memorable quote which I write down in my diary for future reference. I call them "Just Sayings" and here is this year …
In Robert Heinlein's mid 20th Century classic "Stranger in a Strange Land" he invented the concept of the "Fair Witness, an individual trained to observe events and report exactly what he or she sees and hears, making no extrapolations or assumptions. I always thought he should have dubbed them the "Perfect Witness". Of course, today a good taping …
Do you have an appetite for risk?Risk can take many forms: physical, financial, social, emotional, intellectual, creative, legal and (feel free to add more to fill in the blank). As one who espouses a "Dare to be great" philosophy I have taken risks in my career, but as I mature my wife perceives a growing tendancy towards risk aversion. Maybe I've …
Failure is something which we all inevitably experience, one time or another, in our lifetime. That said, I feel that failure gets a bad rap. The common impression is that failure should be avoided and covered up at all costs. To the contrary, it is the fear of failure that is the negative. Thus, playing it safe is the common approach. However, as …
Fridays With Fred
A perfect way to send you into your weekend