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In Lewiston, It’s a Small, Small World

In Lewiston, It’s a Small, Small World

Maybe it’s because we carry notebooks and write things down. We are not sure what it is that makes the people in Lewiston so open and friendly, but it’s striking. Last night we realized that every person we’ve met during our time here over the past few days knows everyone […]

Lewiston, Maine: Full of Optimists and Big Dreamers

Lewiston, Maine: Full of Optimists and Big Dreamers

Jack and I arrived in Auburn yesterday and checked into the Hilton Garden Inn. Then we set out to explore this city, which combined with Auburn across the river has about 84,000 residents. The first thing we noticed were some of the biggest old mill buildings we’d ever seen. These […]

Porting is Such Sweet Sorrow

I don’t know about you, but my cable bill both annoys and worries me.  It seems like the better the TVs get, and even though they keep going down in price AND getting bigger, there are little strings attached and they make the bill creep up month after month. Having […]

Reddit Keeps Me Reading Late Into the Night

Sometimes the most compelling and visited sites on the Internet are lacking in any kind of design sense, and simply provide the basic information that people are looking for.  Two examples: Craig’s List and Reddit.com.  Once I read a story about how all of these designers were pulling their hair […]

You Want a Book? A Really BIG Book? How About Genesis?

You Want a Book? A Really BIG Book? How About Genesis?

Ebooks, schmee books. That’s what Benedict Taschen, a Cologne Germany publisher must be thinking. Thinking Big. The latest publishing endeavor for Taschen’s company involves a gigantic tw0-volume behemoth series that will chronicle a Big Adventure into the wilds of the world. Sebastiao Salgado is a Brazilian photojournalist who for the […]

Stories at Parties

I love the stories that you hear when you’re thrown into a party with dozens of strangers and just a few oasises  of people you know.  I went to a rockin’ party last night and here are two of the stories. A woman said she was married for ten years, […]

Time to Dig a Garden…but How Big Should it Be?

Am I digging too big a hole? Too ambitious?  Am I really going to take care of and weed this big a garden? Today I set out to start my garden. Last year I was pretty cautious, planting just five or six short rows, but as so often happens, now […]

The Brother-in-Law Shows What Happens When You Marry into the Mob

The Brother-in-Law by F.X. Biasi Jr.

Bart LaRocca had a problem.  It started when he decided to marry his high school sweetheart, Gina, who he was crazy about. But she had a family who was connected to the New York mob.  In F.X. Biasi Jr’s book, The Brother In Law, a complex story is retold through […]

How Do You Remember Someone? A Memorial for Our Friend Joe

How Do You Remember Someone? A Memorial for Our Friend Joe

How do you say goodbye to a friend who has passed away?  Even at age 54, I feel inexperienced and naive about how to properly pay respects as my friends start the long march to heaven.  In the past five months, two of my closest associates are gone.  I have […]

Eating in East Tennessee

Eating in East Tennessee

For the past four days we’ve traveled around eastern Tennessee and I found the menus to be remarkably similar.  Perhaps it was because we wanted to take in the locally owned restaurants, and for the most part didn’t visit chains. But at these family style restaurants, there were some things […]

At Smoky Mountain Knife Works, a Staggering Assortment of…Everything

At Smoky Mountain Knife Works, a Staggering Assortment of…Everything

“A knife is what you make it, ” said Michael Zavasky, brandishing a gigantic English fighting sword. “It’s universal. Women and children used to carry knives….everyone had one.”   We stood on the top floor of Smoky  Mountain Knife Works, a giant edifice dedicated to anything with a blade and […]

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