Billionaires and Reality About 10 pm — I sat in the lobby lounge at our hotel with a few people. The billionaire happened to own […]
Category: People
Billions (of quirks).
Re: Billionaires, cheapskates and apologies I’ve worked with a fair number of billionaires and with some hundreds-of-millionaires who were emotionally billionaires. Most have been very […]
My One and Only 2016 Political Endorsement
I promise you, I am way more cynical than you are when it comes to politics. Well, with one exception: local politics involving people whose […]
Colin Huggins
Colin Huggins is a pianist from Georgia, who pursued classical music career for a while in New York, eventually becoming a ballet accompanist. For a […]
That Time We Met With Sonia Ghandi
For most people 30 seconds isn’t a long time. For most people 30 seconds with Sonia Ghandi would be about 30 seconds longer than they […]
A Mexican Friend, Out of Context in Boston
March, 2006 It was 1999. I hadn’t been to Mexico since 1997 and hadn’t worked with my business partners down there since 1996. We have warm […]
The Trials of a Board President
I knew there would be a few days like this. Just didn’t think it would take until Day 23 in my temporarily-elevatorless building. On the […]
Upper East Side. No Explanation Needed.
I walk into Dylan’s candies. Look around the main floor. Go downstairs. Look around. Back up. An older woman bundled in a fur and carrying […]
Shades of Care
Man with Giant Magnifying Glass reading the newspaper at McDonald’s – to man staring into space across the table while drinking a cup of coffee […]
Welcome to New York
For my friends who think New York and South Carolina are nothing alike, i present you with what might possibly be an amphibious vehicle. Spotted […]
Meet a Manhattan Minoan
I clicked like on something, unaware it would commit me to writing 10 things you might not know about me. I keep my word: 1. […]
Secret Service NOT Baggage Service
Vuk Jeremic talks to Kathleen Hays about Europe. Reminds me – I first met Vuk when he came to a conference I ran. Vuk was […]
Street Walker
It was the silvery mane I first noticed as you walked down East Fiftieth. A noble coiffe befitting the King of the Concrete Jungle. Such […]
If I Could Find Him Again, I’d Ride With Him Forever
Cab Driver: (singing with the radio/cd/cassette or whatever at 5:30 am) Me: Hi. LaGuardia, please. Driver: (slips “LaGuardia” in as a lyric once) Me: (sits […]
Please State Your Protest Clearly
One-man protest at 53rd and Third. Grizzled man in a bright orange “Builders Union. Build it Right” t-shirt. Blows a whistle and in a “hey […]
Captain of His Own Two Feet
It took years, but “you did it!”, man in the ankle-length, double-breasted black leather overcoat and leather skipper’s hat complete with golden anchor on the […]
Sometimes an Arm Flap is Just an Arm Flap
51st Street. Delivery truck backing into a loading zone while a man in a suit with briefcase stands at back of truck, both arms flapping […]
Bill Mahan
Happy Patriots Day! Completely unaware of this holiday unique to Boston, I reported to the office on this day in 1997 right after moving to […]
The Shopping Cart Workout
56th St northeast corner of 3rd ave. Grubby-looking man, arms and legs splayed, sound asleep while standing, leaning at a 60-degree angle, against a shopping […]
Drunken Deli Man
Oh, Drunken Mitty at the deli last night, the things inside your head. I’m certain you saw yourself a man of mystery and charm. The […]
At Least He’s Creative
Grubby-looking man steps into the 1 train car on the subway at 18th street. Him: I’m homeless and I’m hungry, please give [shakes a paper […]
Is There No Joy Extant?
The South Carolina town where I grew up has grown over the years, and these days there are many, many things to do. When I […]
Tonmoy Ghosh
I sometimes wonder what happened to Tonmoy Ghosh. Peter Wolff and I met him about 7 years ago when we were stuck over a weekend […]
The Birdman of Craigslist
I try to tell only my own stories here, but this week heard one worth repeating. To start, I do not doubt the veracity of […]
An Act of Manhattan Charity
Wednesday on the 2 train. 34th Street. Man with a canvas bag of sandwiches stands in the middle of a half-populated subway car, speaks forcefully: […]
The Blue Dinosaur and the Boom Box
August is a funny time. Look past the British, Italian, German and Brazilian tourists who seem to outnumber locals (and generally hang out in parts […]
Sonny Saslaw (with Cameos by Linus Torvalds and Bill Gates)
Yesterday, something reminded me of the late Sonny Saslaw, and got me to thinking about a particular dinner in Chicago 15 years ago. When I […]
Trilby and the Wiseman
Fishing hat. Five-foot walking stick with rubber cap on the bottom. Short-sleeved sport shirt with a khaki vest over it. loose-fitting khaki pants and low-cut, […]
The Only Fashion Advice I Have to Offer
“All guys should be wearing shorts and t-shirts, not suits. It’s hot today,” said the complete stranger who works for another company, on a different […]
The Grumpy Dr. and the Good Dr.
In June, 2006, Monmohan Singh agreed to address the November, 2007 Fortune Global Forum in New Delhi. Sometime after that, he changed his mind. We […]
Heroes and the Not-so-Heroic
I often ask for ridiculous and impossible things. I also know I ask for ridiculous and impossible things. That is why I ask for help. […]
A Cute Beginning to a Scary Holiday
Gray morning in the city. My Friday diner has only 24 seats. Sleepy, dreary, but comforting. Light jazz quietly playing, pane-windowed wall closed. Guy next […]
Unrecognizable Me
On the way back from a meeting, two colleagues and I caught the subway. Sitting across from us was an artist, working in charcoal. We […]
Wistful Wanderer
Walking down 28th Street between 8th and 7th Avenues at 2 am on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. Grizzly homeless man leaning on the lower cross […]
On the Job with Jobs
August 1993, Steve Jobs had founded NeXT during his years of exile from Apple. He agreed to speak at my “GroupWare ’93” conference and expo […]
Vinnie, the Magician and Me
Congratulations, Vinnie Polito on the IAEE Pinnacle Award. Those of you who have worked with Vinnie know not to underestimate how good he is at […]
Subway Role Model (Complete with Tattoos)
Packed evening subway train. Black kid, maybe 20, reeks of cigarette smoke, tattoos peeking above the collar and below the sleeves of his sweatshirt which […]
Crucial Questions
New Yorkers respond to world events in as many ways as there are New Yorkers. There is one pervasive response, however that I find most […]
A Moment Among Gentlemen
My Dear Stranger/Friend, It was a pleasure to offer you my chair in the club. You looked uncomfortable standing there. I did it to be […]
Let’s Not Waste that Workout
Waiting in the elevator lobby. 8:13 am. Muscle guy: Ugh. This is taking forever and i have to pee Everyone else: (Silence) Guy: (to guard) […]
The Profits of Doom
I chuckled when I heard the familiar, unintelligible mumbling emanating from the TV news. Had to laugh when I looked up — there he was, […]
Love at First …
A LOVE STORY I never knew you existed in space or time. Until today. Your belly pressed against my back as I stood at the […]
Jaime Florcruz
In summer 2004, Carrie Ross Welch arranged dinner at the Courtyard Restaurant, a place right in the shadow of the Forbidden City’s outer wall. The […]
Pretentious People
Here’s a fact: Pretentious people entertain me. “What?” you might say “But you post things about Opera and ballet and chamber music in art deco […]