Getting Back on the Road in a Big Way
My travel schedule gets ramped up big time over the next few months. This Friday, I have to go to bed early because I am flying at 6:30 am down to Miami, en route to Patagonia Chile. There I will visit the rainy rugged area and also spend a few […]
Some Day, We’ll Sail the Seas Using Batteries
I spent some time in the heat of the summer on a boat off the Massachusetts coast. I was told that this vessel used very little fuel, because they cruised at a leisurely 8 miles per hour. I read today about an even more economical way to cruise on water, […]
Shelley’s Always Got an Idea Percolating
Shelley Rotner, a New Yorker and Northamptonite, is a woman with a million projects percolating in her head. I met her while I was traveling in the Alps last year, and she told me about an upcoming children’s book–her 32nd–that she was working on. It’s just one of the many […]
The Real Meaning of Thanks…Helping Someone Else
My editor Steve and I got this email from one of our freelance contributors to GoNOMAD this morning. What can be more satisfying than getting an email like this? Over the years you’ve taught me to fine tune my writing; to listen and learn about what an editor wants and […]
Windmills Are a Bird’s Worst Friend, Next to Cats
I’ve always been a big fan of windmills, and of birds. In yesterday’s WSJ, Robert Bryce makes a case that these giant turbines are getting a free ride by not having to account for all of the birds that their spinning turbines kill. Bryce claims that oil companies have had […]
While Cracking the Lobsters, I Can’t Resist Reading
Last night my daughter brought back 15 lively live lobsters from the Scarborough Maine lobster pound. While the bright red crustaceans sat cooling off on the rail of the deck we set the table for an outdoor lobster feed. I found some papers from the fireplace and laid them out […]
Fireside Fun on Green Lane
Once again the star of our evening’s show was the firepit, that I transported in the back of the truck down to Cindy’s for our little dinner party. En route in the black of night, the screen top blew out of the back of the truck, so when I arrived […]
Rambling Around South Hadley to Find Flowers
I took a ride out into the country, exploring the village of South Hadley Falls, where I saw that one of the only thriving businesses are roadside bars. Many of the old style bars had their doors open, soaking in a bit of sunshine in their dark insides. I passed […]
Friends Who Get You? Priceless!
Most of my regular pals were out of town. Phone messages left, emails sent, nobody around. I read on Facebook that this is a popular week to take off for vacation, since everybody gets that extra day on Monday off too. Despite my lack of connections I cruised the Avalon […]
Cuban Says "Kill the Parasites" By Not Letting Them Link
Jim Romensko wakes up at 5 am every morning and heads to a cafe with his laptop. There he sifts through the news about the media business that earns him the biggest paycheck at the Poynter Institute. Today his column included a dispatch from Newsweek, in a column by Daniel […]
My Favorite Day of the Year: Tag Sale Day in Deerfield
There’s a hum in the air, that distinct buzzing of the late summer early fall insects. The sunlight is clear, and direct, punishing at some points of the day, then turning to a softer glow in the late afternoon. I’m passing out flyers, one by one, one in the hand […]
The Son Got the Best of His Father Frank
You don’t hear much about Frank Sinatra Jr. Nat Hentoff wrote a piece praising the son of the famous singer in last night’s WSJ. I learned that the younger Frank as become as beloved to his musicians as his dad did, and about an honor that was bestowed upon him […]
Peter What The Hell is Wrong With You?
Reading the local paper, I find an account that startled me. That’s because I can’t believe how cruel and mean men can be to women. Take Peter, featured in a big local story in the Recorder. He shows up in the doorway at his ex-girlfriend’s house late at night, uninvited, […]
Swimming in the Shark Tank, Looking for Loot
I often say that television is better now than it ever was. That’s because reality TV is just more fun than anything scripted. Last night was a perfect case in point, I watched a new ABC show called “The Shark Tank” and I loved it. Six savvy multimillionaires sit in […]
"A Bright Young President, Full of Hope and Laughter"
Peggy Noonan wrote a piece in the WSJ after the death of Senator Kennedy that resonated with me, as her writing often does. It might have been a bit egotistical of her to print the text of a speech she wrote for Ronald Reagan that he gave at a fundraiser […]
JT in the Rain, with Yoyo and Sheryl
You all know what the weather was last night. Rain, rain and more rain. A perfect night to go to an open air concert featuring James Taylor and Friends. We had the picnic inside our friend’s house in Lenox and headed over to Tanglewood. It was worth getting wet for. […]
Cruising the Coast of Massachusetts…GoNOMAD
My favorite stories are the ones that seem to jump up and write themselves. Some times a travel story is so easy to write because the topic compelled you, it made you want again and again to talk about it. With this kind of subject, writing’s a breeze. I published […]
"Gran Torino" Shows the Power of a Good Man
Clint Eastwood is not only a powerful actor, but a powerful director too. I’ve enjoyed two Clint films in the past week, first it was Mystic River, and last night, his latest film “Gran Torino.”Torino begins with a premise…this character Walt Kowalski is a grump, and he’s carrying the world’s […]