Recently its been coming up more and more, the importance of using your words carefully and intentionally. In my life, I've been pretty careless with words. I was raised in a clever, articulate, SARCASTIC household - mix in a little alcohol (maybe not a little) and you get desensitized to how things feel to others. I admire Fred's ability to love …
If you know me at all, you know that I am not afraid of a podium or a microphone. But the process of preparing a eulogy for my father, someone who I have always looked up to and admired, was unlike any preparation I had done in the past. I kept hearing Fred in my head. He won’t remember this, but years ago I remember Fred talking about the imp …
I always thought of myself as a good patient. I rarely, if ever, take a sick day from work. In fact, I do not recall the last time I did. I push myself to get whatever I need to get finished, no matter how I feel. Sunday, I woke up with an apparent stomach virus. I stayed in my room most of the day in my pajamas, alternating between complaining, …
The Doors second LP, Strange Days, featured a song, People Are Strange. Strange days indeed as one consider the world around us (More on that later.). I strategize. I plan. Not all the time but certainly when things matter. Sometimes, for some matters, I might need to think fast, almost to the point of brinkmanship. Even where one m …
As I prepare to celebrate Easter with my family, I am reminded how fallible we, humans, are. Even bible printers 300 years ago made mistakes. In New Jersey, a 300-year-old Bible at Christ Episcopal Church sits locked in a glass case, untouched since 1916. It's opened to Luke 20, and that is not random. There, on the heading of the left-hand page, …
So much is going on in his first 100 days and there is so much polarization in our country. It truly is enough to make One's head spin. No matter your political leaning or how you feel about the style and manner of POTUS, we are still one country. We need to settle down, find common ground and perpetuate our unique democracy, i.e.: "indivisable, …
I have often written about tradition and I very proudly relate yet one more story. At the Passover Seder (the traditional meal at which the story of the exodus from Egypt is retold), we eat bitter herbs (to remember the bitterness of slavery). For the bitter herbs, my family uses raw horseradish. I remember my father grating the large horseradish …
Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep.I am a thousand winds that blow,I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grainI am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning's hush,I am that swift uplifting rushOf quiet birds in circled flight.I am the soft star that shines at night. Do not stand a …
Most people think that a star is someone who has talent, fame, fortune etc. Yesterday I changed my opinion. While paying a condolence call to Gotham’s cofounder Nancy. Schess, I saw her daughter Jackie. I hadn’t seen her since her high school days when Nancy used to bring her to Gotham events, and also when she ran the Oratorio event a few year …
Tonight is the first Passover Seder. My husband and I, every year, host both seders for our families. This year we are hosting fifteen people the first night and twenty-seven the second night. Given our experience with cooking for Passover, we definitely have our routines down. Essentially, our routine is to save all of our cooking for the weeken …
After basketball, I checked my mail quickly in my car. One email – from Rolling Stone (magazine) – shared links to a number of articles about the Rock and Roll Hall Fame Induction ceremony that took place at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn Friday eve. Many years, the ceremony lacks interest for me. Folks who know me rather well including many …
After reading and commenting on Fred's blog, a thought occurred to me. Did you know that the average human's attention span has decreased over the past few years? According to a study by Microsoft Corporation, human attention span has supposedly dropped from 12 seconds in 2002 to only eight seconds in 2013. Do you know what animal has a longer …
I am compelled to admit that I have become an addict. I am addicted to Social Media. Although mostly a Luddite, I am constantly watching and working my amazingly fecund iPhone. It started years ago with email and a crude self constructed fredslist which became a more sophisticated and responsive list serve. Texting is my least favorite form …
I wasn't sure what to expect as we entered the restaurant last Saturday for the 50th anniversary dinner reunion of my high school class. Brooklyn Tech was a ‘commuter’ school with students coming from all over the City. So, interaction was limited to school and after-school activities. You didn't have a lot of friends among your classmates. …
Never forget that there is good happening all the time, all around you, that you may not see. Jose´ M. Hernández journey to space lasted over two decades. The son of Mexican migrant workers was rejected 11 times by NASA before becoming a part of the 19th class of astronauts in 2004. “I was 42 when I got selected,” he said in the video. “I …
