As a lawyer, I pride myself on the closing of a transaction, whatever it may be, being an absolute non-event. In fact, the perfect closing is one where no one even needs to show up. Of course, it was not always like that though. When I was a young lawyer, there was a real closing…

Read More

When I travel, I really do like to try to experience how people live in the places I am visiting. I am far more interested in that than going to see the “sites”. Outdoor markets are an easy way to do it. In addition, I like to visit, if I can, real supermarkets. I want…

Read More

I can assure you, no one has ever uttered the words, “I am going to France and I am going to see all the sights including Paris, Nice, Cannes, St. Tropez and Mazargues”. It has never happened and it never will. It would be like saying, “I am going to Canada and I am going…

Read More

I like a nice promenade. City planners take note – If you want to design a promenade, look no further than the 200 year old Promenade des Anglais in Nice. It is really one of my “ happy places”. It has all that a promenade and public space should be. It has a fantastic view of…

Read More

I went shopping this past week. I went to two real brick and mortar stores, a supermarket and a big box hardware store. It sounds a bit crazy, but true. And, I have to say, I resented every single minute of it. That is how quick new habits form and old habits go by the…

Read More

I remember a good 15 years or so ago reading an article about a young man (big surprise) who planned to spend the following year in his home (no doubt his parent’s home) without leaving and ordering everything he needed on-line. My first reaction those years ago was, “What a schmendrick!”. My second reaction was,…

Read More

I love the water. I love being in the water.  I love being on the water and I love looking at the water. One day, I would like to live in a place overlooking the water. I am not afraid of the water, and in fact I am very comfortable and at peace in the…

Read More

Janny has always said to me when looking at the New World and the Old World, “You cannot compare what is not comparable.” This past March 20 (seven days after I left the office for the last time), the author Yuval Noah Harari said the following in an op-ed piece in the Financial Times: Humankind…

Read More

Some people are members of multiple golf courses and county clubs. Others are members of multiple synagogues. Me, I am a member of multiple cycling clubs, and by extension, closets full of club kit. I am a one of the charter members of the Bartali Cycling Club in Toronto and a pretty new member of…

Read More

I have finished living Confinement – Season 2 (French with English subtitles), and now I am living a new series, Quarantine – Season 2 (English with French subtitles). So far, so good, although the plot seems eerily similar to Quarantine – Season 1. I have been back in Toronto now for seven days. I am…

Read More