In the past few years, Dick Clark has not really been an active presence on New Year’s Eve.  As his health declined, he just could not play the same type of role he had played in the past.  Don’t get me wrong.  I like Ryan Seacrest but he isn’t Dick Clark.   This year’s New Years show brought Dick Clark back for me.  It was so much fun reminiscing about classic Dick Clark moments through the years.  Seeing Dick Clark with music icons like (in no particular order) Diana Ross, ...

It's New Year's Eve!For me, New Year’s Eve is about spending time with my family and close friends. It’s also about drinking champagne and eating my favorite foods, as I know on January 2, I'll be starting my annual diet.  I love champagne but for some reason I will hesitate to drink it unless it’s a special occasion. Even when sparkling wine is the same price on a menu as non-sparkling wine, I generally will not order the sparkling wine. So on New Year’s Eve I splurge and ha...

News cycles bring tiresome phrases. Like "fiscal cliff." That is a big one lately. Whoever came up with that must be getting big royalties, which is not good for him if we go over that cliff because that means he will owe big taxes come January 1.We all remember Y2K. Ugh did I get tired of hearing about Y2K. I think that was even bigger than the fiscal cliff. Y2K was forecasting total collapse; might be able to survive the fiscal cliff with just some broken bones.In 1947 Harr...

As the New Year approaches and relfect on the turbulent year this has been I am struck by a small bit of news that I found this morning. It's not earth shattering or even tragic but does illuminate the stark difference among countries.   China has the most stringent internet access anywhere. And now they have made it even more difficult to access the world's information. The government has set up a clearing house of sorts to intercept all data and "compare it against an eve...

Between Thursday 12/20 and Boxing Day (day after Christmas) I ballooned up 2.3 pounds. My best analysis is that this girth growth is primarily attributable to my cookie consumption. Not just regular year 'round cookies which I can resist, but mouth watering, irrisistable (50%?) Butter cookies. I am thinking about coming out with a line of them called Kryptonite Kookies. What is your year end Krytontite?Just call me "Butter Boy". Belly don't lie!...

It's been a rough couple of years.  There was some trepidation heading into the holidays.  There were times where fear that the world was falling apart around me appeared to be real and weighed heavily on my soul.  Sandy, Newtown, now Webster ripped us emotionally from comfort zones.  Even beyond major national tragedies,  everyday challenges likes jobs. politics, finances and even sports seem to drag us down. I have to admit that I had begun suffering from a crisis of confid...

In this season of giving, I started thinking about what have been my favorite gifts over the years. I for one, feel great stress in deciding on just the right gift to give so when it is perfect, I really get the significance. For me, and this may sound crazy, one of the best gifts my husband ever gave me was a Kitchen Aid mixer. I love to bake and the mixer I owned was old and not very good. The gift was a great surprise and I use it to this day. Another favorite gift was...

Being Jewish, I do not celebrate Christmas. But, my family  generally spends Christmas every year in the same traditional way. If we’re not on vacation, you can find us at a movie theatre and, thereafter, at home eating Chinese food. I love family traditions. I firmly believe that they give our children a stronger sense of family and a sense of stability. If you celebrate Christmas, tell me your most cherished tradition. If you don’t celebrate Christmas do you have a traditio...

As usual I've waited till today to do my Christmas shopping. I had a great excuse this year....the world was supposed to end yesterday according to the Mayan calendar. Unfortunately I don't know any Mayans so the world keeps turning (kind of like their calendar) Guess I'm going to the mall today and shop with my last minute brethren.There is a famous quote, not sure who said it, about the last minute. "If it weren't for the last minute, nothing would get done." According to a...

So, as is my compulsive pattern, I arrived early for a holiday party last week and was one of the very first on the scene. The problem with that was  no one I knew was there. Thus, there was no one to commune with (and hide behind). I know this is a business development, socializing, connecting "no no", but problem is, I'm shy. Painfully shy in new situations. In friendly, home field, familiar crowds I can float around and riff and connect with my guys and gals, but not as th...

My son came home from school.  It was Monday night...a week night...a school night.  Normally we would have just chilled out watched TV and went to bed.  I had an urge though (need?).  When I asked my son if we wanted to go to the movies, he got excited quickly.  I tried desperately to get my wife to go with us, but she was tired.  She insisted we still go without her.  Even though it was going to be a later night than an 11-year-old should have during the week, it seemed lik...

With an 11th grader in the house, we spend a lot of time talking about college, undergraduate programs and various career paths.  Putting aside for purposes of this blog my daughter's thoughts for her future, this process started me thinking about the college majors that we all chose (more years ago than at least I will admit) and whether in the end, they bear any resemblance to our professions. As for me, I graduated with a major in Rhetoric and Communication (I don't think ...

I have seen the term “birth order” mentioned a lot lately on the internet. Many psychologists say that birth order influences one’s personality. Other scientists state that there is no convincing evidence that links personality or behavior to birth order. I am a middle child. I have an older brother (the first born male "Prince") and a younger sister (the baby). I have told all my life that I am a “typical middle child.” I know that, at my core, I am a people pleaser ...

The news struck me like a shot to the gut. I felt sick to my stomach when I heard what happened in Sand Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. It is so senseless. Facebook and Twitter have been burning bandwidth with an outpouring of grief, sadness and anger. I've seen demands for stronger gun control and people defending the second amendment.   No matter what you think of guns, one cannot turn away from the fact that a 24 year old took the lives of 26 individuals, 20 of the...

Last week I blogged about how free, unfettered time is creatively fertile and raged against the "noise" of all our modern technology. However, being a lawyer requires one to be able to advocate either side of an argument, ergo, point, counter point. To be fair, the flip side of my last blog is that the technology, eg, internet is a free avenue for self expression and creativity. As my oracle recently blogged "You've got the tools. You've got the laptop with the built-in video...