The Whirring Bubbling Continuum Sweeps By
Today was a testy day. A day of annoyances, flashes of temper, and weariness from the many tasks that lay before the cafe owner and web publisher. First, taken to task about sloppiness in my kitchen duties. Then, told by a prospective hire, ‘hey, I’m worth way more than you’re […]
Wild Rose Small Means Crack Pipe in Stores
Crackpipe. You know those little vials you can find in most convenience stores, little rose on the side? Those are for drug users to turn them into crackpipes.
A Mile-Long Parked Train that Cuts a Town in Two
There’s a problem, you see, a problem in River City…a problem that extends throughout this great big land of ours. It’s railcars. I read today in the WSJ that many small towns are battling a new scourge: miles and miles of unused, stored freight train cars that cut many communities […]
Jason Takes a Stand Against Racist Workers
Last night I went out late to a party in Springfield. With my new regimen that no longer includes booze, it’s much easier to envision a safe drive back and forth late at night…and there was no way I’d miss Jackie and Mark’s annual Oscar Party. I got there and […]
In 2012, Your Charger Will Fit My Phone
Why didn’t they think of this 200 million junked chargers ago? At a meeting of the mobile phone industry, a sudden agreement was reached to one of the most vexing and frustrating aspects of owning a cellphone. How do you charge it and how come the chargers are all #$*! […]
After Pleasing the Crowd, I was Pleased by a Band
I think a good way to judge how successful a speaking engagement is would be the number of people who want to ask questions, and how many come down to introduce themselves after you’re all done. On these two scores, my Search Engine Optimizing presentation at the Boston Globe Travel […]
Up on the Podium, It’s a Nervous Yet Most Excellent Feeling
I stayed a bit late at the office last night, my friend Joe helped me put the finishing touches on my power point slides that I’ll use today at 2:30 pm at the Boston Globe Travel Show. I will begin the day at the Holyoke Y, then hop in the […]
Celebrity Tweets Are All the Rage
I visited the market in my hometown of Blawenburg this morning and found a copy of the NY Post. Inside there was a story that grabbed my attention…about celebrities who use the popular Twitter program to share short messages with the world. (People’s twitter addresses are www.twitter.com/their name) in case […]
He Used Harvested Body Fat to Fuel His Car
C. Alan Bittner is not available to do liposculpting in his Beverly Hills clinic at this time. That’s because he is currently living in an unidentified South American country “where I can help those most in need.” He spoke with Rhonda Rundle of the WSJ by telephone, shortly before the […]
Visiting The House Where I Grew Up
How many people can say that at age 50, they spend the weekend in the house where they grew up? Often I think about how lucky I am to have to parents who have been happily married for 56 years and still live in the comfortable old Colonial house they […]
Have Faith, He Said to Himself, It will Grow and Grow
Leaving this morning for a trip to visit family in Princeton NJ. I love the chance to see these folks because they’re always welcoming and interested in what we are all doing. We will also give them a chance to meet and hang out with little Sophie. Gotta do some […]
Car on Fire on Interstate 91
On my way to Holyoke last night, I saw a strange big blob of light…then I realized it was a car on fire…and behind it was a nearly mile-long line of headlights. I sent this video to CBS 3 News, I am not sure if it ever made it on […]
At 80, She Could Skip Across Temple Sites Like a Gazelle
I have been exercising at a different Y this week, the one in Greenfield is where I ended up a few nights. What a joy to discover that they have a Wi-Fi signal there. So I popped out my itouch and listened to my Pandora program while on the Elyptical. […]
Pizza Delivery Guys Made $20K a Week!
Last night I watched a sobering and fascinating (like watching a car crash in slow motion) television program on CNBC called “House of Cards.” In two hours, it told the story of how we got into our current credit crisis. Interviews with Alan Greenspan told of the confusing “collateralized Debt […]
Donations Pour In for Greenfield School Computers
Greenfield MA gets a pretty bad rap for its schools. I remember well a friend who worked in the high school and was so miserable he almost gave up teaching. Then he found himself a job at Frontier and has been happier ever since. The school committee makes the news […]
It Makes a Laptop Seem Like a Ball & Chain
Remember that scene by the pool in The Graduate when they whisper that all important word?“Plastics. ” My new word is “Mobile.” I just helped set up a new website that will show up beautifully on mobile phone or iphone screens as well as on any computer or laptop. Again […]
Travel Writing 201, Tips from Three Pros
I’m still thinking about our Travel writing seminar at the Javits Center on Saturday. It was exciting to have an audience of 180 listening to every idea we had about how to break into the travel writing business. I was impressed because many of the people in the audience were […]
A Morning with Sofie, Six Weeks
Valerie Sophie is just six weeks old. New and barely unwrapped. I used my cute little videocamera called a Vado HD by Creative that’s about the size of a cellphone to shoot her in high definition, and of course, put her on YouTube. Who can resist those tiny little hands? […]