We traveled last weekend to the Berkshires to stay with old friends. It was our first visit in two years. So we had a lot of catching up to do. One of our friends' tongue in cheek "House Rules" is "Gossiping is encouraged, during your entire stay". Well, lots has happened in that 2 year interval and boy did we gossip. I must admit I love to gossip and have been accused of lacking a filter and being unable to keep a secret.

Last Sunday I attended the annual Holocaust Commemoration at Temple Emanu-El. As in recent years, for me the ceremony accentuates the fact that the number of survivors is decreasing every year. My Mother lights one of the thirty-six memorial candles and, unfortunately, there were not enough survivors to light them all.

According to earthday.org: Each year, Earth Day -- April 22 -- marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

  That’s me! I had a bad week last week. Did you ever have one of those weeks where every time you turned around there was another crisis to avert? That was my week.

Like Donald, I sometimes find inspiration for my blogs in The Sunday Times. An article I found especially interesting yesterday concerned the proliferation of technology and devices for self-monitoring and behavioral change.

I am stealing from an article in the New York Times this weekend.  It was about the relationship between what you spend your money on and your happiness.  Do you choose to spend your dollars on things, or on events like vacations.  One is long lasting, the other fleeting.  

After a two year break, the world's largest atom smasher is about to enter uncharted territory.   The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a 17-mile-long (27 kilometers) underground ring in Geneva, Switzerland, revved up again last week at double its previous power. The humongous particle collider will now begin searching for elusive subatomic particles and quite possible a new dimension.  

I had the poignant experience of attending Gotham member Jack Friedman's funeral last Sunday. It was so well attended that the room was overflowing with humanity. My impression of the man was confirmed by the eulogies of his friends, relatives, wife and children. He was a very decent, friendly, nice, giving, collegial and potent man. Driving home, Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic masterpiece Freebird was on the radio and the combination of the funeral experience and the words of that singular piece got me thinking about life as it is, the rest of my life and possible afterlife.