This past Tuesday was a “First Day Back.”My five year old granddaughter was having a lot of anxiety on Monday evening about her First Day Back to kindergarten. Her mom suggested that she speak to me. I told her that I also had anxiety about my First Day Back and that I took something new with me on my First Day Back - especially when it was a new y …
Three Oscar winning directors have used used their love of movies as inspirations for their new films. Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelman’s”, Sam Mendes’s “Empire of Light”, and Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” explore the power of film to tell stories. “Babylon” looks at the transition of movies from the silent era to the talkies. The journey of 3 ch …
What a wonderful last couple of weeks I have had. Since early December, my house has been in various stages of full. Early in the month, my daughter and grandpuppy came home, followed shortly thereafter by her significant other followed shortly after by my son and his significant other. We had countless meals around my table in combinations of …
Nancy and I routinely comment to one another about our different approaches to writing our blogs. My blogs are generally written and posted on Saturday, two days before they appear. From what Nancy tells me, she generally writes her blog the night before they appear. I am writing this blog on Sunday afternoon, as I just returned home from vacatio …
Concert of course! As New Year's eve approaches, I prepare a commentary recounting my top ten shows for the preceding 12 months. I post the list with comments on my website on my Commentary page. Some concert reviews borrowed from posts here. Here's the list. 1) The Who (October 7, UBS Arena) 2) Sir Paul McCartney (June 16, MetLife Stadiu …
For 15 years I've been making predictions for the coming year. It's is such a shot in the dark....here we go! To warm you up, here's my record since 2007: 2007 - 1 for 7. (my rookie year:)2008 - 1 for 1 (gutsy picking one but it was spot on)2009 - 3 for 5 2010 - 2 for 32011 - 3 for 3!!! 2012 - 3 for 3!!!2013 I took a break, the launch of th …
Two of my favorite words and concepts are Tradition and Family. Tradition is the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation. Family is synonymous with lineage, clan or Tribe. Combined together, Family Tradition constitutes very strong ties that bind. Very closely!Our 3 generation family has just observed our annual holiday …
We gave two of our grandsons Lego sets as Hanukkah gifts and they quickly found their places to begin assembling the models. The older asked for two paper bowls to sort out and hold the many pieces as he set to work. His younger cousin observed, pondered and concluded that sorting the pieces in bowls was a good idea.He asked whether he could take t …
Every year a top cultural highlight, for me, is the Kennedy Center Honorees Special. It is always televised between Christmas and New Years on CBS. This year’s telecast is tonight at 8 pm, Wednesday, December 28. A group of 5 artists are presented Medals, in a night of celebration, for their distinguished careers. This year the list is an eclect …
It is a little surreal to me that this is my last blog of 2022. This year has just zipped by. “It seems like yesterday” was meant for this experience. I remember that feeling of a year passing when I was young. I remember thinking about how slowly time moved – and wishing for so many things to speed up. Silly child. You can expect my first …
For a post-Christmas blog, I am taking a “page” out of Mitch’s playbook and offering a heart lifting story I recently came across. Apparently, a first grader from California has achieved every young girl's dream; having permission to own her very own pet unicorn., The little girl, identified only as Madeline, wrote a letter to the Los Angeles Count …
In advance of the holiday season (as I did a few week's back) I devote an annual blog to a "Happy Holidays in Song" playlist; this year I often included in many emails I sent of late a p.s. with a link to that playlist. Of course the weekend preceding the advent of the new year, allows me to bring to the attention of my readers and others, "Songs t …
The Arizona Department of Public Safety says a state trooper last week noticed a car in a high-occupancy vehicle lane on an Interstate in Phoenix with a “Seusspicious-looking” green passenger. A driver named Sam tried to pass off an inflatable figure of the Dr. Seuss character as a passenger. The Arizona police said they appreciate the “festive …
I always believed in Santa Claus. Still do!Tonight we continue our Family tradition of decorating our hearth with Santas small and large and they inspire me to think, as I mature and whiten. Aren’t there really 4 stages of life:1) You believe in Santa2) You don’t believe in Santa3) You are Santa and4) You look like Santa!
SOCO is a wonderful ice cream parlor on Railroad Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The best ice cream.Last summer, SOCO had a venture with nearby Shakespeare and Company and fashioned some ice cream flavors dedicated to Shakespeare. And, inspired by the great playwright, SOCO offered its customers the opportunity to decorate its walls with …
