Last night I attended a meeting of the local cable TV station. A sort of goofy guy my age sat down next to me, and said he was there because his son was attending the meeting. “I’m the driver,” he explained. But later as we sat together eating pizza, he […]
Train service is one of the things that travelers know is much better in Europe and Asia than in the US. Who hasn’t traveled to say, Switzerland or England, and marveled at the speed and the efficiency of their rail transport? I took a train across Austria a few years […]
I voted for Obama, like everyone I know. But it’s been hard for me to put into words why I’m disappointed in how his presidency has worked out. Despite the virulent naysayers who can’t find anything amiss, I found a writer, Bret Stephens of the WSJ, who put it into […]
In the gloom that we called Sunday afternoon, we watched a movie filmed in contemporary Naples called Gomorrah. Like its Biblical namesake, this southern Italian city is indeed a place full of vices and the portrayal of life in the tenements was gritty and grim. It was one of those […]
January is a tough month, as anyone with a payroll and hungry vendors can attest. But it is wise to consider that every year, we survive and thrive and make it to February and beyond. I called up my sister this morning and she gave me some interesting advice. Counter-intuitive, […]
Now is the time that every one of us here in New England settles into our winter funk. We ask ourselves why we do this, why we live in a place that for so much of the year is unfriendly because people are so cold. Slipping around on ice, trying […]
Last night a meeting was held in a Holyoke elementary school, gathering people together who live in Ward 7. It was about forming a neighborhood watch, after many of us had been burglarized. When the official from the Sheriff’s office asked who had been broken into, a majority of people’s […]
A great big light has gone out in our family. Our gregarious, hilarious, fun-loving and smiling cousin Chris, known to most as Tucker, has passed away. It’s damn hard to believe that he won’t be around to smile and charm us, and bring us back so many memories just by […]
Christina and Janet are two middle aged women with the same terrible problem. They were profiled on a chilling television program on A&E called ‘Hoarders,’ which showed their jam-packed houses where piles upon piles of clothing, boxes and thousands of other things lie in disgusting piles. There are narrow trails […]
“Do you know who I am?” is the well-worn phrase that people who think they’re important use when confronted with hurdles like being pulled over by a cop, or a big long line. In today’s Gazette, I read about a former selectman who tried the same thing when he was […]
I drove down to Costco for supplies, and as I often do, took the longer slower way through the flats of Holyoke up to Cindy’s. I stopped by this bridge and got a good look at the former Parson’s Paper factory, burned up and wreckage. This might someday be the […]