No doubt, you’re still shell-shocked as the economy has clawed its way out of the recession and into revery.  But if you cut advertising dollars, you probably hindered the very rebound you so desperately needed.  It’s a natural reaction to downturns to cut advertising, but that leaves an empty space in potential customers’ minds—and it [...]

I wanted to be Brenda Starr when I was little.  Before going to school, I’d grab the paper and read the comics.  There would be Brenda starr, the only female I knew who wasn’t a teacher, secretary or housewife.  She was a newspaper reporter—a glamorous, beautiful woman with a mysterious boyfriend.  She was respected for [...]

I’m not going to engage, I say to myself like a mantra.  I was in a strange predicament that I’d never before experienced.  It was only until I traveled with him in the American South, that my sitting at a dinner table with a man of another race was interpolated by those around me to [...]

Have you picked up on people talking in terms of “us” and “them”?  During tough times, when a country is in a particularly trying state of affairs, some folks tend to look of a scapegoat.  They point their fingers at these citizens and start rumors that “they” are the cause, the reason why things in [...]

Nothing renews one’s faith in capitalism like visiting a communist country.  Cuba, for all the praise some foreign visitors heap upon it, is no exception.  Certainly you can’t visit the island, as I did recently, without admiring its many charms:  its physical beauty, the accomplishment of its architecture and music, the warmth of its people.  [...]

Why am I so captivated by the beach?  Sure, you could give balmy beach answers, waxing warmly about sand and summer fun.  Instead, I think of stories of my life, love and lessons learned at water’s edge…my life’s path has literally been formed by sand castles.  I’ve spent a total of years with family on [...]

A folklorist, a cartoonist, a psychologist, a lawyer, a columnist, and an icon of American letters walk into a bar…what happens next is unclear.  I know it’s not funny, but then flatulence has amused humankind form the beginning.  And every manner of man has walked into a whorehouse, for that category of joke. One of [...]

Upright Hallmark cards and lasagna-stained paper plates cluttered Grandma’s kitchen table.  I pulled up the sleeve of Grandpa’s old gray role then let it fall back upon my arm.  Bare feet tapped cold white and gold linoleum.  Less than four hours ago the last guest had left, asking if we needed anything.  I replied, as [...]

Today, I tackled my own ironing.  Not much these days, but though it’s an infrequent chore I still put it off to the dry cleaner or housekeeper as much as possible.  Once started I got to thinking.  There’s something about ironing.  After you get into it, ironing is actually therapeutic.  I should do it more [...]

Intelligence isn’t equal to development; intelligence has to be developed.  Just because you’re smart doesn’t automatically make you a perfect or even brilliant human being.  Intelligence is a potential, a capacity, and that capacity need to be developed in order to do you or anyone else any good.  You might have a high IQ, but [...]