Qanta Ahmed is a doctor who spent a few years practicing medicine in Saudi Arabia. When I heard about her book, entitled “In the Land of Invisible Women,” I knew I wanted to read it. In fact I liked the title and the story so much we just published an […]
Memorial Day, like many of the “Big Six” holidays, feels like Ground Hog Day. That’s because when you wake up on Saturday morning, it’s like Friday, and then on lazy Sunday, well, it feels like Saturday. It’s fun for me to look back at what I was doing over the […]
Have you ever heard of Nollywood? Apparently, Nigeria’s film business is 2nd only to its better known cousin from India. A story by Will Connors datelined Lagos told the story of a booming business that’s threatened only by something insidiuous–piracy. In 2006 nearly 900 movies came straight outta Lagos. Not […]
I’m thinking about Beaumont, Texas on this glorious pre-holiday Friday. The cafe was booming so I finally now have time to do what I spend many hours avoiding every day. That is writing the stories that result from my travels. Travel writers will tell you that getting back to a […]
The other day I found a story about the top ten high tech busts of the past decade. A few surprised me. On the list was YouTube.com, Microsoft’s Zune music player, Microsoft’s Vista operating system, Sirius/XM satellite radio, Gateway Computer, and the Segway device. Oh, and the Iridium satellite telephone […]
I sat on the treadmill at the Y yesterday and watched a silent TV. Silent because the jack that I was supposed to plug into didn’t work. On one of the TVs a man bowled and I watched him throw 12 strikes! The show was called “America’s Best Bowler” and […]
I awoke with great relief the other morning. The big lump in my abdomen was only a dream. I compared this wash of relief to how I felt today as I read a long, sad winding story about Edmund Andrews, a New York Times business reporter, who experienced first hand […]
It’s gonna be a hot day today, all of that pent up heat finally pouring forth from the May sun. At the cafe we’ve got some new people working in, getting a feel for what we do. I was stunned yesterday when I called five applicants back and asked them […]
Here is some advice that I gave the writer from Reader’s Digest who just published a guide to travel bargains around the US. I was in good company, including Pauline Frommer, Peter Greenberg, Matt Gross (NYT’s Frugal Traveler), and AP travel editor Beth Harpaz. Massachusetts and Vermont: “Ecotourism doesn’t have […]
It’s a new day and time to meet a bunch of new potential hires. I will put four prospects to the test, I asked them all to stop by and meet us. Half the test is seeing if they actually show up, or call as a result of our reaching […]
I was walking down the cellar stairs, carrying an enormous basket of laundry, when I hit something and my feet came out from under me. I landed with a thud, but not a lot of pain, on my mid-back. I made it through my day so far without a lot […]
We woke up to unseasonably cold temps in Holyoke, and were glad the heat came on to warm the chill. A lot is happening in my busy world, it’s spinning like a top. But what’s the alternative? A slowed down world wouldn’t be any fun, so I forge ahead and […]