A Foggy Morning It was a dark and stormy night and the morning barely became visible through the fog. This sounds like the start of a Sherlock Holmes novel, but it is only the start of a typical Monday morning here on New York Harbor. I awoke last night several hours into my sleep with an unspecific nightmare plaguing me. Something must have changed during the night because I awoke at my regular hour with…
Cher Groupie I am not really an avid music person the way some are. I wasn’t so much in high school and college and I am now a person who would rather listen to a book on tape or news program than listen to music on a long trip. However, I do enjoy music at times and my tastes are narrow, but well-defined. I like oldies, I like Billy Joel and Meatloaf (mostly for their…
What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor? It’s early in the morning and I don’t know what to do with my drunken sailor. On the one hand I need him and on the other hand a drunken sailor is more a liability than an asset. Can you still keel-haul someone? For those unfamiliar with the practice, it is an odd and drastic punishment that was used in the Dutch and perhaps English navies to…
The United States Versus Rita Lovely Rita, meter maid, where would we be without you? She had worked for the NYPD Traffic Section, Staten Island 121st Precinct on Richmond Terrace for eighteen years. She was a graduate of Curtis High School, where Rita had learned English very quickly by necessity. Her mother Adriana was from Guatemala, where Rita and her brothers and sisters were born. They had come to Staten Island when Bill Clinton was…
The Problem Being Gary Gary has become one of my great friends and advisors over the past four years. Let me describe who he is. Gary is tall and lean with a head full of white hair and the look of an aging Tommy Hilfiger model. In fact, if Tommy Hilfiger decided to launch a line of cool senior wear, I would submit Gary’s picture for consideration as a model. He looks like he would…
Candice the Magnificent Candice is an old friend of Kim’s and she has become a friend of mine as well. She is a retired school teacher who gets more out of life than any five people you can mention. I like that about Candice since I tend to believe that life is way too short to approach it timidly. I like Candice’s moxie and zest for life. The Urban Dictionary says of the name Candice,…
The Luck of the Irish Every year or two my wife and I rent a villa, chateaux or manor house for two weeks. These have been mostly in Europe or Mexico and are intended as a way to offer our extended family and friends a way to enjoy some time in foreign lands at minimal cost. I figure we can do this for two weeks more or less for the price of a high-end suite…
Ooooklahoma! I am going tonight to see the new Broadway production of Oklahoma! that is getting rave reviews. It reminds me of the importance of recognizing and counting my blessings. I am very focused on doing that in my life because I think it is the basis for happiness. If you can see the good things you have going for you in life, I think you have a better chance of getting enjoyment from them…
The Ida Lupino Effect For some reason, an obscure movie that starred Ida Lupino has had a lasting effect on me. The movie is called Women’s Prison and was released in 1955. It tells the story of a brutal women’s maximum-security prison where the guards are charged with being more brutal than the inmates. A young woman reporter named Brenda arranges to go to prison on fake charges to investigate the accusations of guard abuse. …
Sally & Jane Human tragedy takes all forms. Every time you hear a sad story you hear an even sadder one. My old pal Dave is such a story. Dave was not a regular guy in college, he was a superstar. Everything about him screamed success. He had his pick of the girls on campus and he went on to have his pick of the companies he could go work for. We all wanted to…