January 2022

Recently on Facebook, I viewed some really great photographs of New York City, in the 70’s and 80’s. My favorites were of Washington Square Park, located in the borough of Manhattan, in Greenwich Village. I lived in the Village for twenty years, and spent a great deal of time wandering through Washington Square Park. On […]

We all know how important it is to exercise on a regular basis, using your favorite exercise equipment, especially with our lives being constrained by the pandemic. I know there are people who feel that all exercise is a form of punishment. Yes, it takes dedication. My favorite form of exercise is swimming. Unfortunately, I’m

Several days ago, I was proof-reading my new book, a novel, with my friend. She lives in an up-scale community here in Naples. We took a break for lunch, and decided to eat at the community’s restaurant. It’s at their Town Center, where all the sports facilities are located. As we walked to the restaurant,

This past week I read another story about how whales and dolphins are saving people’s lives. I am not surprised at all. It just makes me very happy to hear another story to justify the fact, that these marine mammals are highly intelligent. That they apparently are not holding a grudge against humans for trying

Recently I watched one of my favorite comedy movies, “Operation Petticoat,” starring Cary Grant, and Tony Curtis. For those who have never heard of it, it takes place during WWII, involving a submarine that is painted pink, trying to evade the Japanese Navy as well as the United States Navy. To complicate matters further, they

I was working for a small advertising agency as the art director. What I liked about it was that I was involved in all aspects of our clients advertising. One of our clients was a Vermont ski resort. For their ads, and brochures I was going to shoot the usual photographs, the ski lodge, and

When your birthday comes out on a major holiday, it takes getting used to the collision. My father’s birthday is on Christmas. Not only a major holiday, but a holiday sharing presents. We always had a special present, and a cake. Actually, I don’t think he cared. He wasn’t even sure how old he was.

My fondest memory when I was growing up, was getting our Christmas tree several days before Christmas. I remember one year very clearly. It was probably in the mid to late 40’s. My father was still working for the U.S. Army Air Force. When World War II broke out, he was deferred from military service.

My next Christmas memory always occurred the week before Christmas. The family trudged into Manhattan to view all the department store Christmas windows. It was about an hour subway ride from Brooklyn, to the Seventh Avenue stop in the mid-fifties. We usually arrived for an early dinner at one of the first fast-food restaurants, the

Now that we’re into December, I want to share three Christmas memories. This is part one shopping. Bye the bye, this past weekend I watched the second of my holiday movies, “The Bishop’s Wife.” I have to say that I never get tired of watching these movies. I will probably watch it again in the

I observe a sacred tradition every Christmas. Well, maybe not sacred, but something I have been doing for a lot of years. I watch three movies every holiday season. These three holiday movies, I watch in a certain order. It starts with Thanksgiving, and of course, ends with Christmas. I think that they are the

Christmas is upon us, which means that so is Black Friday. Actually, the Christmas season was upon us even before Halloween. All the retail stores started decorating early, so we wouldn’t forget it was coming. Just in case we stopped watching television, stopped reading the newspapers, and of course, God forbid we turned off our

Soon it will be Halloween, and I was thinking back to the different stories, and films that I have read and watched celebrating this holiday. My favorite is still, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and the ride of “The Headless Horseman.” I first read it when I was a youngster, and wanted to visit where

There was a video on my Facebook page showing wild animals interacting with humans, or should I say, with the vehicles that the humans were in. Out of the four close encounters, only one or two, I could fully understand. The first was a car stopped somewhere on the African plains. There were two lions

In the fall of 1999, I decided to leave Los Angeles, and return to New York City. My first objective was to find out, what the job market in the graphic design field was like. I contacted some of the employment agencies I had used, during my years, climbing the ladder, in advertising. To my

I have always admired marathon runners. To be able to run, miles and miles, in all kinds of weather. So, it is only fitting that I relate to you my good running story. It was in the mid-70’s, and I was in my mid-30’s. I was living in the West Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan

I have always felt very lucky, to have had parents that exposed me to music, and art. Although, on the surface they were ordinary working class, they both had talents, that they passed on to me. My father, was an accomplished pianist. He played classical, jazz of the 40’s, light classical, and would try any

Experiencing a major natural disaster, like Hurricane Katrina first-hand, and writing an accurate account of what happened will always differ from the person who experienced it with you. That’s not to say that your perspective or theirs is the correct one, it is to say that as individuals we all see and react to situations

In the Wall Street Journal’s OFF DUTY Section, the lead story is about “Enchantingly Weird Shoes,’ ‘There’s an Ugly Shoe for You.’” They’ve listed a unisex guide to, Sneakers, Mules, Sandals, and Dress shoes. The only shoe I can really identify with, are sneakers. I do wear “The North Face,” water sandals, but that’s another

I always wanted to be able to speak a second language. Most of the peoples of the world do. Learning Spanish was my last attempt. As a child, both my parents spoke Polish, and Russian. My grandmother who lived with us only spoke Polish. Consequently, I grew up speaking both English, and Polish. It’s funny,

One of my favorite Thanksgiving Day memories is of course, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. As a child growing up in New York City, the Macy’s Parade was just a subway ride away. I can’t exactly remember at what age I saw my first parade. But I do remember sitting on my father’s shoulders, looking

I’ve been reading all the New Years posts, and articles in the news. They are full of a new start for 2022. We ended 2021 with serious problems. Those problems seem to be increasing. The new variant is much worse. The U.S. has posted one million cases, with no end in sight. The cruise industry

Today, November 22 is the 58th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination. Usually I say, of course we all remember where we were. But I’ve come to realize, that many of my audience, were not older enough to remember, or not even born yet. But, before I tell you where I was, I want to include

Last night after dinner, accompanied by red wine, I watched Dr. Strangelove for the hundredth time. I read an article some years back, about how youngsters now in their thirties, with the advent of video cassettes and then CD’s have been watching certain movies over and over, and memorizing every line and scene. I can