saintpetepaul

Every two weeks, the blogosphere comes alive when bloggers of all stripes weigh in on the same topic. This week, the topic is "What smells take you back?" Here's my take: --------------- It's said that smell is the sense most closely tied to memory. I don't know how true that is but it strikes me as something that's entirely plausible. There are smells of all kinds that take me back to different places and times. The first that comes to mind is this one, Old Spice. The scent of... Read Full Story

Every two weeks the blogosphere comes alive when bloggers of every stripe weigh in on the same topic. This week, it's "Things my grandmother told me." Here's my take. ---------- This was my grandmother Stewart, Guellma Gevene Flowers-Smith-Stewart, whom we called Gevene with great affection. Gram was a force of nature, her character was forged by adversities I cannot imagine but to interact with her while she was alive was a lesson in joy. You'd never know she'd been dealt so many... Read Full Story

Every two weeks the blogosphere comes alive as blogger of every stripe weigh in on the same topic. The topic for this iteration of the Blog Off is "If I could turn back time." When my Blog Off partner in crime suggested this topic I bristled at the very idea of it. I'm somebody who makes it a point never to look back unless it's to learn from a mistake I made along the way. Heaven knows I've made more than my share of mistakes in my 47 years and lessons from those mistakes abound... Read Full Story

Every two weeks the blogosphere comes alive when bloggers of every stripe weigh in on the same topic. The topic for today is "What are you looking forward to in the new year?" -------------------------------------- The topic this week was my handiwork more or less. If you click on this link it will take to the official Let's Blog Off website and on it you can read my musings on Janus, gates, looking forward and looking back. Pincian Gate, Rome January gets its name from the... Read Full Story

No holiday on the western calendar has the body of music devoted to it that Christmas does. Some of the greatest composers and lyricists who've ever lived had included Christmas music in their repertoires and the legacy they left is some of the most emotional music there is. I have a bunch of favorite Christmas songs and carols, It would be impossible to pick a single favorite. One that rarely fails to bring a tear to my eye is In the Bleak Midwinter . In the Bleak Midwinter was... Read Full Story

The ancient Roman holiday best known today is Saturnalia. In the late Empire, Saturnalia was a five-day festival that would have run from December 17th through December 23rd. That happens to be today. The cultural mishmash that is modern Christmas got its start with Saturnalia. The Roman god Saturn ruled over agriculture and harvests, but more than that he represented a time in the past when abundance and peace reigned supreme. During Saturnalia, Romans reverted back to that nostalgic... Read Full Story

That's right. I'm the explorer, Jamie Goldberg's the communicator, Susan Serra's the Entrepreneur and Grace and Ken Kelly are the showroom-focused design company. Or so read the pages of Kitchen and Bath Business yesterday. What a thrill to be called out by the industry I call mine and what a great group of colleagues (who are also friends) to be counted among. Pardon the self-promotion but my traffic's down significantly this week and I figured I could squeeze it in. In a season when... Read Full Story

Detail from the Arch of Titus in Rome, which was built to commemorate the sacking of Jerusalem. Last night marked the first night of Hanukkah and to all of the members of the tribe I know (and those I don't) I want to wish you a joyful Hanukkah. Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration that dates to the year 165 BCE. Sources vary but the traditional view of the festival is what follows. In 167 BCE, Antiochus who was the ruler of the Selucid Empire sacked Jerusalem and outlawed Judaisim... Read Full Story

Every two weeks the blogosphere comes to life when bloggers of every stripe weigh in on the same topic. The topic this time is If you can't afford the tip you can't afford the meal.  Here's my take. ------------------------- Since about 1980 or so, the United States and the whole of the developed world has been locked in a race to the bottom. Though it's most apparent in North America, it's evident in Europe, Japan and Australia too. Competition based on innovation and smarts seems to... Read Full Story

One need look no further than newspaper headlines to see that utility deregulation has been a bust. As public utilities have been allowed to consolidate and behave more like private concerns, their dividends to shareholders may have increased but their rates have have gone up significantly at the same time. Similarly, a near obsession with reducing labor costs has left them with a power grid that's as prone to breakdown as any business that cuts itself off at the knees in order to maximize... Read Full Story