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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. […]

It was a blustery day but sunny. It was a good day to go for a walk.  As we strolled through one of the projects on the Jail-side of Greenfield, we headed downhill to a bike trail that lead to the Green River Recreation area by the Green River. Wild […]

“Take your hands out of your pockets!  Stand back up there, on the curb sir!” It was a nightmare scene but one in which thankfully, I wasn’t going to regret for years and years. I felt last night great empathy for black men in America, all of whom would be […]

I’ve been enjoying a book that some might call “chick trip lit. ” What I like about Susan Jane Gilman’s Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven is how cleverly she describes her traveling companion, Claire, when they are facing duress in 1986 communist China. The pair have known each […]

The map is what caught my eye. It was the familar shape of the United States, but down the middle were red checks, next to pink ones, and on the far edges, light green and dark green checks. It showed population decreases and increases for every county in the country, […]

Here is a parable I found on the web from a site called “Oceancityfools.com” Is Your Jar Full? When things in your life seem almost to much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar……and the beer. A Professor stood before his philosophy […]

We took a walk on Sunday down a road off Rte 122 that lead to water. It was a road that once connected one of the submerged towns: Dana, Enfield, and Prescott, that now lie beneath the mighty Quabbin reservoir. It was a fitful spring day, with gusty breezes blowing […]