I read an interesting article in the New York Times recently. It appears that the adult son and daughter of real estate mogul Philip Milstein-whose wealth Forbes estimated at $3.1 billion in 2015- believe in life after death. They reside in The Dakota in New York City and, given the history of the building, appear to believe that ghosts reside ther …
When I was growing up I was never idle. School would end, and I would be off to camp, travel, summer college, or a job. I am not sure how much of this was driven by my parents and how much of it was driven by my own personality and need to be busy. At its core, I have come to feel that being idle is a waste of opportunity. I don’t mean that we shou …
Last Tuesday, July 4th, I agreed to go totally "off the grid." No phone or computer at all...not even to check to see if there was an emergency. And I only told 4 people I was doing this. It wasn't that hard but I must admit that I kept reaching for my phone in my back pocket quite a bit. At one point I even felt my butt buzz as if I was getting …
Do you remember Rod Serling? He was the creator of the amazing off the wall, but sometimes true to life, "Twilight Zone". Twilight Zone was a strange mix of horror, science fiction, drama, comedy and superstition with many black and white episodes concluding with a surprise ending. Well, many years have passed since Serling introduced an episode a …
We packed a deck of cards, Scrabble and books for our long holiday weekend in the Berkshires. The weather app was predicting a likelihood of rain and we wanted to be prepared. The cards, Scrabble and books came home unused. With the exception of brief localized thunderstorms in late afternoon on two days, the weather was perfect. Maybe I read …
My attitude is that I’m less concerned about what you’re wearing on your lapel than what’s in your heart," he told the campaign crowd Thursday. "You show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those who serve. You show your patriotism by being true to our values and ideals. That’s what we have to lead with is our values …
Early in the morning, my dad put the flag into its special perch on our front porch. Most times, it was up before I was. But it was part of our tradition for July 4th. When we moved into our house, our flag was one of our first family purchases. We had lived in an apartment in the city where the options to display our flag were limited. We ha …
Sometimes I feel as though the world is changing so quickly that I cannot keep up. My children are using technology in ways I could never have imagined. And, to them, it’s practically second hand. I used Uber for the first time last month when we used it to go to my step daughter’s graduation at Queens College. As parking at the school is very di …
Read the other day how better health care and other environmental factors may allow some of us or others our near future to reach age 150 (and our Friday blogger only seeks 1/3 of that number). I found myself musing what activities might one pursue approaching well short of those numbers. We socialize with people in our age range, some a bit …
I've been asked many times what my favorite meal is and my answer changes each time. Although I do have a couple of favorite restaurants, it has as much to do with the people I'm with as much as the food. For restaurants, nothing beats the chicken scapriello at Steve's Piccola Busaala, or the steak at Bryant & Cooper and the veal milanese at …
One of my favorite questions that I ask in an interview is "Who is your favorite historical figure?" The answers are both interesting and revealing. Recently an interviewee said Abraham Lincoln. Clearly, he is a worthy choice. However, it might be too obvious. My favorites are those where the person digs down. Joanne turned the question on …
I met Bill a few months ago. Or, I should say, I reconnected with Bill at our 50th High School reunion a few months ago. When I heard that Bill played golf, I parked that bit of information in the back of my mind in anticipation of Gotham's annual golf outing. As the Golf outing, which was held on Monday, approached, I thought of Bill and invited …
A Lesson from History by Joseph Morris Everything's easy after it's done;Every battle's a "cinch" that's won;Every problem is clear that's solved--The earth was round when it _revolved!_But Washington stood amid grave doubtWith enemy forces camped about;He could not know how he would fareTill _after_ he'd crossed the Delaware. Though the river w …
The sun was shining on Gotham. What a beautiful day spent with old friends and new ones. And I have to say that my foursome never golfed better. Really. We golfed. Laurel, Flo, Liz and I have a great thing going. But that’s what Gotham is about. We are colleagues, friends and golfing partners. And I look forward every year to knowing …
Every year my blog is published the day of the Gotham golf outing. I was never a golfer. I decided to try golfing as a physical education elective while I was a senior in high school. On my first day of class I took a long swing and happily watched the ball take off. My happiness was short lived, however, when my ball went straight towards the …
