This and That by JL

    Upward bound in an elevator in a Tel Aviv hotel, I shared a lift with an Israeli preteen chattering in Hebrew but wearing a t-shirt that announced “Hear Me Roar”. The reference on her shirt was of course a reference to the Helen Reddy song of 1973. I wondered how those lyrics made it to a kid’s t-shirt in Israel. […]

    In order to learn about Baroque music, I checked in with Karen Marie Marmer and Jorg-Michael Schwarz of the duo the Black Marble, who tell me that Baroque music, popular from about 1600 to 1760, is “absolutely glorious…a blending of different voices…and emotional without being melodramatic.” These two musicians take their Bach and Handel so […]

Graduation season is daunting for lots of reasons, not the least of which is that every family I know is boasting at least one graduate. So bragging rights were out the window, even though I had two beautiful graduates to brag about this June. As I wallowed alone in that oh-so-mushy nostalgic feeling, my emotions […]

    Ella Fitzgerald sang it. So did Sarah Vaughan and Carly Simon. Even Deana Durbin. And we are singing it too. The fact is that “spring will be a little late this year.” All through April, the weather teased us with a few balmy days, but in the end, it was fake weather news.  […]

“First in war. First in peace. First in the hearts of his countrymen.” That’s George who, as our first president, set the tone and the bar for the Office of the Presidency. On and about President’s Day, it’s worth reflecting on George Washington’s historic legacy, eulogized above by his friend Henry A. Lee.  Washington’s character […]

Seeing as this is the season for lifting voices, I started to think about my own voice. As the youngest in my family, a girl, I hardly had a voice – or at the very least, my voice was muffled by others who had more authority than me. My reflection on this topic was prompted […]

When I reflect on Harvey, and then on Irma, I can’t help thinking aloud: “So, who’s creating all this disturbance anyway?”  Well perhaps it’s that nasty woman – Mother Nature – making a fuss about the state of the environment and calling on us to do our civic duty. Am I naive to believe in […]

Can a bridge be a work of art? At ArtsWestchester, we think it can. That is why we will be honoring the New New York Bridge at our upcoming 2017 gala on November 18 at the Ritz Carlton in White Plains. Like most creative people, designers of public works aspire to create uplifting, aesthetically pleasing […]