Past Articles

Last night I reached a decision that will finally end the long experiment known as the GoNOMAD Cafe.  It’s become clear that it is not a viable business for me, and after a nightmare of trying to fund a payroll, I have set a date for the closing of the […]

Tomorrow morning, try something new. Reach over and switch off that radio. Try turning off that familiar mainstay, WFCR,  that has filled your kitchen with news and music for the past fifty years.  For many Valley households, it’s just impossible to imagine waking up without NPR’s Morning Edition, and the […]

There was a time, not that long ago, that companies like Wal-Mart could demand that products made in China cost less and less every year. I read tonight in the Wall St. Journal about many reasons that this has changed, and from now on, the story said that prices of […]

Often this blog turns out to be a pulpit on which to declare things like resolutions, or for me to share words I read that inspired me. I am still thinking hard about the essay on making the speaker a star, and how to put real effort into carefully listening, […]

Mark Zaccheo thinks big.  He is the co-owner of one of Greenfield’s largest apartment buildings and is putting the finishing touches on a 19-unit apartment building that’s as green as you can get.  He thinks big because he sees the future and it’s all about energy efficiency, using the sun […]

I discovered wisdom on the Net late last night. I read an essay called The Secret to Connecting with People by David Cain and it was wise and worthy of repeating. A summary: Always let the speaker be the star. Give a person the chance to say their piece, no […]

“We’re not September 11. We’re the fourth of July.” Thomas Friedman spoke to Anderson Cooper decrying our $110 billion per year Afghanistan war and other tragedies. Now that we’ve got Osama, we should be thinking about when we’re going to get out. Egypt is the ballgame, he said. “Can the […]

How often does a book you are told about turn out to be as good as the person thought who recommended it to you? That was the case as I read Bill Bryson’s “In a Sunburned Country,” in which he provides fascinating details about a place most people in the […]

I’m in a new phase of my life, and it’s definitely different from what I am used to. Now I work every day in the cafe, cheerily greeting the customers, washing dishes, mopping the floor and making lattes.  For someone who has owned his own cafe for nearly five years, […]

At GoNOMAD we go big!  No pussyfootin’ weak-assed prizes…just the ultimate plums, for people who love travel as much as we do.  The Grand Prize winner will receive the following: * Round-the-world airfare for two from the BootsnAll Travel Network * A Southeast Asia tour for two from All Points […]

It was a fitful night of sleep that capped off a restless, unhinged kind of day. I had an early work commitment this morning that kept me thinking about the time, and whenever my phone alarm is set it usually guarantees that I’ll be anxious in anticipation of the ringing. […]

First, there was MassAppeal, channel 22’s new local television program. The show features two winning personalities, Nate and Ashley, who are professional, very attractive, and seem to be deeply interested in whatever the day’s topics might be. I joined some of my fellow business owners last fall when we did […]

We were sitting outside at Esselon Cafe as a gentle rain began to come down as our Easter brunch concluded. I had time to flick open the NY Times and read part of a column by Jill Lepore that detailed Benjamin Franklin’s most important relationship…with his sister Jane Mecom.  Born […]

With the leftover hail still visible in the yard, today is a day for hunkering down and enjoying a peaceful day. I found some interesting reading about US conservatives many of whom have begun to realize how foolish our government’s ‘war on drugs’ has ended up being. Asa Hutchinson, who […]

On Monday night I celebrated passover with my partner and 11 other jews and gentiles. I wasn’t sure that I was up for it, never being a big fan of religion in any form, yet after it was concluded and the fancy china was all put away, I was happy […]

Several years ago, my friend adventure writer Peter Heller wrote a book about chasing down Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean. He spent time on the Sea Shepard’s vessel and ended up writing a book about it.  I thought a lot about what those Japanese fishermen must have felt as […]

Last night’s musical entertainment was a first-rate duo, to go along with our first-rate seats, right next to the stage at the Iron Horse. Charlie Hunter was there with drummer Eric Kalb, and between the two they filled the hall with a huge band’s worth of energy, rhythm and excitement. […]