Past Articles

I asked for advice from my financial advisor, then I didn’t follow it. Today I bought a new car. Well, not a New new car, but a sweet looking 2006 Nissan Altima owned by a friendly little old lady who lives in my village. She said the police chief had […]

Lucinda Williams has been playing gigs in Northampton for decades. She’s returning next Saturday for a show at the Calvin–it will be great to hear her sing after such a long time. The last time I saw her sing was at the Pearl Street Ballroom around 1999. Eric had just […]

RESTAURANTS: Applebee’s: 15% off with Golden Apple Card (60+) Arby’s: 10% off (55+) Ben & Jerry’s: 10% off (60+) Bennigan’s: discount varies by location (60+) Bob’s Big Boy: discount varies by location (60+) Boston Market: 10% off (65+) Burger King: 10% off (60+) Chick-Fil-A: 10% off or free small drink […]

I like to keep up with the news on the island of Nantucket, so I visit ack.net to find out the latest. Two stories today caught my eye: There’s been a deluge of complaints the police heard after taxi drivers refused to take fares to the far out towns of […]

For almost a year, I’ve watched my new neighbor bring contractors, painters, roofers and plumbers into the house that sits diagonally across from my place as she renovated her new house from top to bottom. I would walk by as she conferred with tree experts and builders, and watched the […]

I’ve been getting to know better what it’s like to live life alone. I am not alone in spirit, of course, but have been thinking about what it’s like to do every day without anyone else being around. To go through your life, and work, all without human interruption. With […]

Hey terrorists! Here’s the knife for you! Sometimes I can’t believe the products that companies send us, and in this case, I have to question the ethics of the people at iainsinclair.com. When they first emailed us I scolded them for making a product that clearly is able to be […]

Today my friend Jack exclaimed to me that ‘some days you don’t remember, but today, I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.” It was only about 12 noon when he made this declaration, and we had a lot more activities to finish out our second day in Vermont’s […]

It’s all about the flow, we were told, the flow and those narrow tracks that wind down a slope and let you go really fast. That’s what mountain bikers want, said Lilias Ide, our guide at Kingdom Trails in East Burke Vermont. We saddled up fast, heck, it was 4:30 […]

Another Green River Festival is in the history books. Today once again I had to admire Jim Olsen for the acts he finds and brings together year after year. It’s his reach of bands I’ve never heard of who so often are unique and different, and just plain amazing. Some […]

I am writing this blog at Google’s NY city advertising offices above Chelsea Market in lower Manhattan. There is no sign showing they are here but the security guys nodded when we inquired. We saw where they get their free coffee and pastry and lunches and now are seated waiting […]

I am so happy to be back in my regular routine, today I awoke with vigor and met my friend Jeff at a wonderful cafe in Greenfield called the Brass Buckle. We discussed our ebook business and later a woman who used to come into the GoNOMAD Cafe stopped by […]

There are things that people do on vacation, things they never do any other time of the year. Last week I joined my large extended family of about 14 other people ranging from age three to 85 on a lake in Pennsylvania’s Endless mountains. Maybe we never do these things […]

This is the holiday week. I could sense this on Friday when my email dropped to trickle, and phone calls reached no one. Few Americans will be working next week, including your blog writer. It’s good to be going somewhere that doesn’t allow me to plug in. Where we are […]

In Portland, Oregon, the trash trucks no longer rumble through the neighborhoods every week. That’s because the city has embarked on a new way of dealing with trash, instead they pick up composted food waste mixed with yard trimmings weekly and now do half as many regular trash pick ups […]

Five men with the same five instruments can produce diametrically opposite music. I thought about this last night when we listened to Sierra Leone’s All Star Refugee Band at the Iron Horse and contrasted the effect of their music to other groups playing the same instruments. Take the guy with […]