The Thrill of Random Acts of Kindness
BY STEVE NUBIE Tomorrow, February 17th is Random Acts of Kindness Day. What can we all do to make that happen? I live in a suburb west of Chicago. We get lots of snow in the winter. I have a snow...
View ArticleDon’t Worry; Be Happy
BY JILL MATLOW “Here’s a little song I wrote - you might want to sing it note for note. Don’t worry, be happy. In every life we, have some trouble - when you worry you make it double. Don’t worry, be...
View ArticleStarting Over At Retirement Age
BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL Isn’t starting at the bottom and working your way up what you do at 25, not 55-plus? Not when you’re on the cusp of divorce, broke, and ousted from the firm you’d founded....
View ArticleRant From The Right – The Election and Sanctuary Cities
BY ELLEN FELDMAN The Democrats lost an election. The pendulum swings every 8 years. There will be another one in 4 years and if the United States of America has any luck, the left will lose again. It...
View ArticleNote From The Publisher
Hi Everyone, well February seemed like a pretty short month didn't it? I would really like it if every February was as warm is this one was. There were a couple days in February that NYC got well into...
View ArticleWhat’s Bugging Me
BY BETH PORTOLESE Well I start this off as I’m on a flight to Florida. I’ve been flying a lot lately and could it get any worse? I hate to fly and the scene at the airports is a nightmare. In NYC, all...
View ArticleRegrets, I Have A Few
BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL “I was bullied. Sixth grade. And I always turned the other cheek, thinking that was the more mature thing to do. Some thirty years later, it still haunts me that I didn’t beat...
View ArticleThe Death and Dying Movement: A Change in Attitudes is Underfoot
BY STEPHANIE SCHROEDER When I wrote Death Cafes: Tea, Cake & Conversations about Dying for FITNF in 2015, the death and dying movement was only about four years old. It was fascinating to me, a...
View ArticleNote From The Publisher
Well finally it looks like the weather is about to turn warmer. March certainly went out like a lion! I think it was the coldest month of the winter in NYC and I am so over the cold weather. I want...
View ArticleSmart Alec
BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL “In a range of films from Golden Boy to The Bridge on the River Kwai and Sabrina, from Sunset Boulevard to Stalag 17 and The Wild Bunch, William Holden could do it all.” So,...
View ArticleApril 22nd is Earth Day. What You Can Do to Save the Earth
BY STEVE NUBIE It seems overwhelming, but if we all make little changes it can make a world of difference. Earth Day is April 22nd. It’s a day dedicated to thinking about and acting to preserve our...
View ArticleThe Party of Shamelessness
BY DON PORTOLESE As I watch how the first few months of Republican power play out, it truly boggles my mind how middle and low income conservatives can continue to believe that the Republican party is...
View ArticleYour Second Act: What To Do During Intermission
BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL From Veep to POTUS and now civilian. Yet another vicissitude in the career of “Selina Meyer” (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) will play out in Season 6 of HBO’s award-winning series Veep...
View ArticleNote From The Publisher
It's May 1 and have you noticed that the weather is al little bizarre lately? It was over 80 degrees in NYC on Friday and now it's in the 60s. Very strange. 80 in April is a little too hot, too soon...
View ArticleTo Be Perfectly Frank
BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL “Just wondering if I’ll ever get a big boy office like this one day,” asks “Danny Reagan” (Donnie Wahlberg) of his Police Commissioner father, “Frank” (Tom Selleck). Blue...
View ArticleTrumpcare? Trump and the Republicans Don’t Care
BY DON PORTOLESE Fresh off the precarious victory of their proposed repeal and replace, President Trump and House republicans are breathing a sigh of relief. After years of tantrums, the GOP can...
View ArticleMy Late Mother’s Library
BY DON PORTOLESE One of the many tender memories I have of my late mother was seeing her poised on the edge of the couch in our living room with one of the many tomes she read every evening. Regardless...
View ArticleThe Mother – Daughter Power Trip
BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL We’ve never been kidnapped in a South American country, where together we had to fight our way out of the jungle, yet my 19-year-old daughter Meg and I have had as many bonding...
View ArticleNote From the Publisher
BY BETH PORTOLESE Hi Everyone and Happy June. It seems the phrase April showers bring May flowers has stretched beyond that month. It seems like it has been raining for 2 weeks straight here in NYC. I...
View ArticleDon’t Wait To Stop & Smell The Roses (Or Eat The Cheese)
BY LORRAINE DUFFY MERKL “Let’s pretend we don’t know where we’re going or even who we are.” When these words, which have an unhurried, enjoy-the-journey vibe, were said by “Jacques” (Arnaud Viard) to...
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