Some of my favorite people in the world are natural born connectors. Who comes to mind? Fred Klein, Mitch Tobol, Josh Zinder, Liz Saldana, Victoria Drogin, Paul Napolitano, Shelly Simpson, Dan Hochler, Nancy Schess, Tom Gallin, Susan Zinder, Ben, Paul, Raj, Kelly…The list goes on.  

  When summertime rolls around, I dream about just sitting in my backyard on a beautiful afternoon with a glass of wine and a good book. Thanks to David Abeshouse and Paul Napolitano, I’m on my way to expanding my taste in wine. I have even been known recently to affirmatively choose a Pinot Noir over a Moscato. Some would say progress . . .

 

 

Last week, I lamented the lack of free (and low cost) shows this summer. This, by no means, indicate a lack of quality shows to attend; it just means parting with many, many pennies to access them. My intended lineup of summer shows remains in flux. But, a schedule of sorts appears to show some promise.  

A few weeks ago Fred blogged about his version of “ Afterlife.” The subject fascinated me . And so I’ve decided to put pen to paper and investigate this concept with a deeper dive . Fred , Paul and I have been touching on it superficially over the last few weeks . So here we go . Indulge me if you choose to .     We are talking about that period from which we retire or in other words quit working for the man so to speak and the final curtain.  

One of the very very special things in my Afterlife is the weekend ritual of having batting practice with my 51 year old son David and his 20 year old son Jackson, my Batman teammates (pictured), at the local school yard. We bring a box of balls, take turns as one hits, one pitches and one shags.

The hotel is losing its soul. The building hasn’t changed. Rooms are as nice as ever. But people have left. Others may be leaving. The friendly welcome at reception is not what it used to be. The people whose smiles greet us are not happy and we feel it. The soul of the hotel is the people. The soul is leaving.