When I was in school 50+ years ago, we all adhered to the notion that Ithaca was the second least sunny city in America behind Seattle. We all acknowledged that Ithaca was lovely in the summer, but most of us were busy elsewhere during that glorious season. So, to most of us, being in Ithaca meant we hunkered down to our studies and expected nothing of the weather to contribute to our enjoyment of life.…
Today is our day in Brooklyn. We stopped here to see our two granddaughters and my daughter Carolyn and husband John. They live a short walk from our hotel in Red Hook, so after breakfast in the hotel dining room, we headed over with a small suitcase of laundry in tow to do. It was like the prodigal son returning home from college with his dirty laundry, only this time it was the prodigal father…
We are heading into the last few days of our trip. We’ve made the crossing without incident and will spend a day in Brooklyn to see the granddaughters and daughter Carolyn and John. We’ve booked a local hotel within walking distance from their duplex and will launch our roadtrip to Ithaca on Thursday. I’m going up for my 50th undergraduate reunion and will spend several days communing with all my college friends. The inner circle…
Way back in the last Millennium, I had the good fortune to get introduced to an opportunity to invest in a young start-up company that was raising money. The introducer was my long-time banking partner, Bruce, who may be one of the smartest finance professionals I ever met. The 1990s for me were the years of banking wine and roses. I was a partner and member of the management committee of one of the most…
Indeed, life does go on. This simple phrase carries a lot of wisdom – through challenges, joys, difficulties, and triumphs, the world continues to turn and time moves forward. I have noted this reality on many occasions. The most obvious of them is when someone you know or love passes on. Yes, “There’s got to be a morning after” – that’s the opening line to “The Morning After,” the Academy Award-winning song from the 1972…
This is a profound philosophical question that has been pondered throughout human history. There are many perspectives on why humans exist, depending on different philosophical, religious, scientific, and cultural viewpoints. From an evolutionary perspective, humans exist as a result of natural selection and biological processes that have unfolded over millions of years. We didn’t come into being for a purpose; rather, we emerged through evolutionary mechanisms. That is the definition of Darwinism and it exhibits…
One of my favorite movies is a Russell Crowe film from almost twenty years ago called A Good Year. The attraction to me is somewhat obvious. It is the story of a kick-ass London bond trader who inherits an estate in Provence from his uncle, someone he dearly loved but who he ignored for the past decade as he played out his career ambitions. The set-up is that the trader gets suspended for being too…
Tomorrow is Mothers Day and it has caught me somewhat unaware. While I am like most people and regularly forget or ignore Fathers Day, I have done a reasonable job over the years of remembering Mothers Day. I imagine that I am in the top 10% of people who revere their mothers and consider them the primary motivator of their lives. I was raised, from start to finish, by my mother. She is responsible for…
The Conclave ended yesterday with the elevation of the first American-born pope, who took on the name of Pope Leo XIV. This is viewed as a continuation of the doctrines of Pope Francis, focused on inclusivity and the advocacy of the most marginalized of the world, specifically immigrants. Nothing more defines our epoch of the world than the issue of immigration. I’ve said it before, so I will risk repeating myself by saying that this…