Anybody see the Pope? Pope Francis is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church, a title he holds ex officio as Bishop of Rome, and Sovereign of the Vatican City has come to town. A seemingly very kind man he heads up the largest business in the world. It has more than 1.25 billion members worldwide. Pope Francis also the head of what’s p …
This is a follow up to last week's Friday With Fred blog wherein I heralded last Friday night's Mets-Yanks Mania and anticipated a great night communing in our "special" center field bleacher seats with 124 other Gothamites. In the words of Gothamite Ellyne Finklestein it was "A perfect match up. Weather couldn't be better. 125 Bull pen seats fille …
I first felt it about a week ago. An evening breeze and the question of whether I should have taken a light sweater with me. A few days later, it was there in the morning. The crispness that was the bellwether of things to come. The acorns from the oak trees up the block. Plummeting cars like hail forcing neighbors to move their cars from their …
From the HuffPost: "An Oklahoma mother alleges that a teacher at her 4-year-old son's school was told to stop writing with his left hand because that's the hand Satan uses. Okemah resident Alisha Sands, 30, said she asked her son Zayde -- who normally writes with his left hand -- why he was using his right hand to complete his homework. "I just as …
I asked my daughter this afternoon what time she had to “be in laden”. My husband asked me later, “Am I bringing you pizza?” Hint: Although I really like pizza, I was at work and he was heading to pick up my son. I asked my sister “What’s new?” and she said “Nothv”. And of course, I can never ever text “Oy” because it invariably ends up …
I know the whole Tom Brady/Deflategate controversy is fundamentally over, but I am still curious as to what people thought about it. Essentially, Tom Brady was reinstated only because the Judge found that the NFL did not follow the procedure required by the collective bargaining agreement. No decision was made by the Federal Court as to the facts …
Pumping gas the other evening after coming home on the late side, a woman came bouncing out of the convenience store, looked at me as she passed, and yelled "SMILE!" She was judging me. I wondered if I go around looking like a grouch, though I have to admit that at that time I was feeling a little grouchy. It must have showed. So I smiled back …
I'm blogging live from Citifield and the score is 1-1 in the 6th inning. The chant is up...Lets go Mets...Lets go Yankees. I don't know who's going to win. I hope it's the Yankees. I'm with 124 fellow Gothamites and their friends and families. The game is sold out with good playoff possibilities for both teams. A beautiful night, perfect we …
As a life long Yankee fan I was flexible enough in 1962 to let former Yankee Manager and then Met Manager Casey Stengel's "Metsies" in as my second favorite team and am proud to say that Joanne and I won Banner Day at Shea Stadium in 1964 and I caught my only foul ball (off the bat of Felix Millan) in 1976 at Shea. I gave this background as prelude …
When I was a teenager, I printed business cards for myself and my best friend that said "Nachas Machers". (My father was a printer so I had access to my own little letterpress printing press.) It was important for me to give my parents “Nachas” -- that special warm pride that only a child can give to his or her parents. Parents get Nachas from t …
Another glorious perk from being a New York City resident. Today I applied for my NYCID. Yes, I have a perfectly legal driver's license and even an up-to-date passport, but the NYCID is the gift that keeps on giving. It was easy breezy, you go to the website: http://www1.nyc.gov/site/idnyc/index.page and set up your appointment. There are many loca …
Around the dinner table last night, we were talking about family tree. My daughter recounted a story we had not heard before. Last year, she went on a trip to Israel where the group participated in an exercise about heritage. The question was how far back in your lineage do you find the first immigrants to the United States? As each g …
As I’m writing this blog, I have chicken soup simmering on the stove. My kitchen is filled with the wonderful comforting smell of the soup. As I smell the soup, I can’t help but think about my parents and watching my mother cook in our kitchen for Rosh Hashanah. Certain smells, like chicken soup for me, can instantly evoke memories or br …
Today is my first ever bicycle race. It is local, in Greenwich, 20 miles. There are different categories and starts, depending on each racer's expected time. The elite group which will be the first riders out is expected to finish in under 55 minutes. That is an average speed of over 20 mph, including some hills with a 9% grade. That isn't my gro …
Some people believe that things happen because they should and that there are no coincendences. Well here's a story that might make you a believer. The Traveling Wilberry's Fred, Cindy, Corey and I (as detailed by Fred's blog yesterday:) were sitting on a bench in Princeton relaxing before an initial orientation meeting. Fred, being the intrepid …
