New York Today: Graduation Advice From City Stars

Congratulations, Charlie Curnin! All of us at Rye Country Day School are so proud of you.

UMBRELLA FELLA Ten roll-ups, one pearl-handed (My great-grandfather made it), Six canes and thirteen foldups-- You name it, I've mislaid it.

Some more advice: Get ready to work several jobs, and well past your retirement age if you ever want to be able to afford a flat in New York City. And ... Good Luck!

This might be the weirdest, most depressing advice I have ever heard (to graduates or anyone else): “Track every hour of your day what you’re doing and who you are doing it with. That will form your own personal longitudinal big data record. In 20 years from now, that will also make it easier to train your identical machine intelligence to replace yourself. I’ve built my own record for the past six years and wish I’d have started earlier.” — Mario Schlosser, co-founder and C.E.O. of Oscar Health

This advice stood out somehow: “Don’t be afraid to make a decision or a choice. Everybody is afraid to make that wrong choice, but the truth is, no matter what choice it is, if you get behind it 100 percent it becomes the right choice.” This is great advice, and when it works out, it really works. :) But how do you know when to give up? One of my favorite satiric 21st century theater quotes is from Tracy’s mom Edna in “Hairspray”: “If you'd only told me you was going to get on the show I never would have said you couldn't.” Tune of “Make Your Own Kind of Music” (a pessimistic, but I hope fun, take) - tuchus = rear end in Yiddish You gotta explain it Why you’re doing what you’re doing, They can’t entertain it Til you find those words that turn your one to two. So know if you - Make yourself really pushy If you go it alone, You'll be out on your tushy They’ll cut you off each time you text or phone. In other words – Raise your own kind of ruckus If you’re one person strong, You'll be knocked on your tuchus No one cares til someone else tags along. (Still stay strong!)

"Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey signed a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to be eligible for college financial aid." I agree with the action, but I also cringe whenever actions like this receive wide publicity. So many Americans do not believe that people entering the country illegally should receive benefits, or be allowed to stay. And these beliefs are held by good people, who believe in fair play involving people waiting their turn and entering legally. We should try to understand other views, and not keep passing laws and self-righteously calling ourselves sanctuary cities etc. Meet people halfway.