Deflated Balloons I have this digital picture frame on my desk that was given to me three years ago by my daughter as a clear message that I not forget her or her children as Kim and I moved away to our West Coast hilltop. The only people that upload pictures to the digital file that cycles through the digital device, called a Nixplay, are Carolyn and myself. It sits in the alcove where my…
Corruption There are certain themes that dredge up lots of memories and sentiments. The sad state of affairs in life in general is that the word corruption is one such theme. Corruption is most often used to describe fraudulent or dishonest conduct and is most often associated with that act being undertaken by someone in a powerful or otherwise trusted position. I have always considered myself a trusting person. I like to think that I…
The Failure of Power I had a real epiphany this morning and this story is the output from that. I awoke at 6am after a decent night’s sleep and as I went into our shared closet I flipped on the light as I always do, only to find that all but one of the track lights failed and did not go on. I did the usual of flicking the switch back and forth (as though…
As the Ball Bounces This is the first morning since my return from New York City that I am feeling more or less normal and over my bout with a cold. Yesterday, Mike asked me if I was still on to go with him to his ballgame over in Carlsbad. To be honest, I hadn’t remembered that I had committed to a Thursday outing, but I do recall bugging him about when I was going…
Uber Chapter Two Tonight in my ethics course I happen to be doing the session I call “Truth & Lies” and it is meant to focus on issues like whether “Fake It Till You Make It” is ever an acceptable strategy in business. We use the Theranos case study with Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani as the poster children of the issue. It’s an interesting case for many reasons, not the least of which is…
The Uberization of Life I am just back from our five day whirlwind cabaret tour of New York City. We had Kim’s gig for the Make-a-Wish Foundation gala at Sony Hall on Thursday night (I was not-sleeping on the redeye at the time), the Mabel Mercer Foundation Cabaret Convention performance at Rose Hall at Lincoln Center on Friday night, the Those Girls show at the Laurie Beechman Theater on 42nd Street on Saturday night and…
Checking Out I just read that a successful real estate development executive who lived in Los Angeles and was 66 years old (that would be a few years younger than me) came to the decision that life was no longer worth living, and he chose to voluntarily check out. The reason I was reading about it as a news item was not because it is an isolated incident or that suicide in today’s society is…
Rockin’ Around the Clock Big wall clocks are all the rage it seems. It used to be a somewhat novel thing to have on your wall as an adornment back when you had to root around to find them from some old train station and then figure out how to power them. But now they have been homogenized into a normal Wayfair or Overstock item of which you can choose among literally thousands of styles,…
Pushing the Season During this first trip to NYC in over 6 months, we are staying at the Cornell Club at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue. All the university clubs (except, of course, The University Club, which is further up Fifth Avenue) are on 44th Street between Vanderbilt and 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas, for you tourists). There are many notable attractions very close to here, but one of my favorites is Bryant Park.…
The Show Must Go On I am sitting on a redeye flight to New York, headed to a show tonight that Kim is singing in. She has been invited to sing at the Cabaret Convention at Rose Hall of Jazz at Lincoln Center. It’s only one song and its a duet with her pal Lennie (accompanied by Steven), which is a long-time flying configuration for her performances, but it is Lincoln Center and it doesn’t…