As you may know, Joanne and I share a wonderful 11 year old Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle mix) named Charcoal (pictured). As time went by, a pattern developed that the night shift was my sole responsibility. Charcoal spends her somnolent night hogging space on our bed and when Nature calls she hops off the bed and snorts. Up until recently, that w …
As I live my life I concentrate on not allowing my mind to enter dark rooms where depression and despair reside waiting to cloud my outlook on life. Consistent with my oft stated mantra "Up is down and down is up" I always seek to see the bright side of a situation or event. I try to spread this "cheer" to those who have been brought down and defl …
When I was first introduced to Major League Baseball almost all the spectators were male and they wore suits and hats (pictured). How times have changed! Now the crowd is diverse, yet their mode of dress nearly uniform. Everyone heralds their home team loyalty on their breast, back or head. We are living in the 21st Century age of lushly abundan …
The Yankees, my boyhood favorite team, imploded Wednesday night and lost the World Series :(The loss caused me to suffer exquisite agony. Exquisite Agony is a turn of phrase I rarely use, but when I do I really feel it!It describes pain I experience in an extremely raw and gnawing way. I feel it down to my very core. It is a feeling which border …
One of my favorite motivational sayings is "Dare to be Great!", which is the catch phrase for my oft told advice to my children and grand children, ie, It's not enough to be the best you can be, you must Dare to be Great and if you fail 99 out of 100 times, you develop crucial resiliency and character by trying and that one time, you achieve Greatn …
I am a member of a quarterly Gotham breakfast group (pictured). Members are Corey, Bruce Swicker, Robert Intelisano, David Oralevich, Craig Shink, Alan Kreit and David Abeshouse. At our most recent breakfast we discussed the sad news of the passing of David's beloved younger brother Adam and resolved to attend the Shiva together at David's house. …
As a lifetime NY Yankee fan I have been called out by many for being hypocritical (or worse) for wearing a Met hat and colors while chanting "Let's Go Mets!"Well, there is a back story and a method to my madness. First the back story: I have been a Met fan too, since their 1962 inception, had Met season tickets (which explains my son's Met fandom …
When you're wrong, you're wrong and must own up to it!I was wrong about Met Shortstop Francisco Lindor and here's why. Rookie New York Met owner Steve Cohen traded for and signed Lindor in 2020. The deal was for 10 years for the then astronomical sum of $341,000,000. In the years following the signing I was of the outspoken opinion that Cohen ha …
As Thursday blogger Ben Geizhals often says, "That's a blog!", a slice of life which comes upon you with lightning speed, stares you in the face and inspires you to write it down before it floats away. This blog is inspired by my fellow (Lane 2) swimmer Monique Ruane who after reading last week's Friday With Fred blog asked where I get the inspirat …
Sports are considered a positive distraction from the highs and lows of everyday life. In my youth I played them all with soccer and baseball standing out. In my middle years it was softball and running. I'm proud to say I finished 33 marathons, qualified for the Boston Marathon at the age of 40 (3:09 then, 3:05 now) and pitched the Gotham Batmen …
Monday's annual Gotham Networking, Bob Formica Memorial Golf Outing (sponsored by Raj and Sharon Goel's Brainlink International), dawned clear and crisp and warmed to a perfect, sunny, 70 degree day. So many great things occurred on this special day, shepherded by Entertainment Chair Norm Spizz and his stellar Golf Committee. Registration was see …
On Labor Day we hosted a family gathering and it was the perfect opportunity for Batting Practice. Batting Practice is an athletic tradition shared by me, my son David and his son Jackson. We take a huge box of softballs, a heavy bat and our mitts to the local schoolyard where each of us takes their swings at the plate, another lobs it in and the …
A person who is incapable of being satisfied is considered insatiable. I'm not sure whether it is a negative or positive (or possibly both) characteristic, but, oft times, it applies to me.I admit to many insatiable hungers. For example, I can't get enough of Aaron Judge, the Yankee baseball superstar. I watch his every at bat, know all his sta …
As a rule I do not blog about politics and this blog will adhere to that rule. As the set forth in the above subject line, this blog is about the alternative realities which abound in the land on the subject of politics. It is amazing to me how self assured each person is as they seemingly read to me from their party's play book. I must admit th …
I spend an inordinate amount of time on social media. Be it ESPN (to get scores or follow games), Facebook and Instagram to play my games, eg, picture Bingo twice a day, Lexulous to play Scrabble with many or, most of all, X (I much prefer the Twitter monicker) which Corey first turned me on to. X is my instant news break and not always reliable s …
Fridays With Fred
A perfect way to send you into your weekend