Have I mentioned anything about our koi pond before? It’s so pretty– right next to our front door. When we moved in two years/eight months/seven days ago, there were two rather neglected goldfish floating absentmindedly in a pond fit for a prince or two.  A week later, Bill brought home two lively goldfish-like animals to spice things up, and then after considerable ogling, we chose our first-time-ever baby kois.  Kois!  Very smart fish who answer to their names and make us smile each time we look at them.  Bill has fed them diligently and I’ve called their names lovingly, every...

Whenever I start a new romantic comedy, I allow at least a week or so to concoct my characters’ names.  (Exception: Elliot Recounte, my male lead in “Much Ado at the Mauna Kea,” cooked and cooked throughout the summer of  2014.) Meanwhile, I’ve just revised my working title to: “Mostly When I See A Rolls Royce,” (previously: Mostly When I See Rolls Royces.) I’ve wanted to write this story since 1979 — it’s my first enhanced roman a clef! Set in NYC and surroundings. Late 70’s. Locations: East Hampton beach house smack on the ocean Two...

My head spins when I see news reports about women’s earnings today.  Can it be true that women earn 79  cents for every dollar men bring home?  Back in 1982, it was even worse.  About 61.7% of what men took home.  (As you’ll see, for me, the pay difference was even worse.) I was managing editor of an International Thomson publication called Brandon’s Shipper & Forwarder, 30 years old, working on the 31st floor of the World Trade Center in NYC — the highest placed female journalist in the national transportation arena. And I loved my job!  What wasn’t there to...

I’m back in 1972, again, the week before I returned to Camp Hillcroft as a counselor/assistant dance instructor. I was catching up on sleep at home in Riverdale,  recharging after sophomore year. (That was when I took Chem 101 to satisfy my science requirement, and burnt a hole in my favorite maroon leotard as I clumsily titrated with sulphuric acid… the one time that I was dressed for after-lab dance club bra-less… The splashing acid made my right nipple tingle and that’s when the unflappable Berlin-born Dr. Ernst Berliner threw a cold wet towel at me to cool things...

thetab.com/us/princeton/2015/10/19/cruz-is-colonial-92-so-we-asked-members-what-they-think-about-him-375 What… you haven’t heard my story about the time that Debi, Hilary, Cecilia and I headed over to Princeton for a Colonial Club party? All  because Cecilia told us her new boyfriend looked exactly like James Taylor and she had promised to invite her Bryn Mawr pals to add to the fun! I can’t remember how we got there.  I do remember  it was a Friday night in Spring, 1972 — weeks after getting a written warning for hitchhiking to the campus, where I had tackled some dusty...

Yes, saying “Happy new year” is a very lovely way to usher in my 100th blog entry! May it be a gentle one and a peaceful one for all.  And may your year be filled with enthusiasm and love!