Not the Paula Deen Rant You Might Expect

If somebody asked me (in a deposition or in a confessional with the Pope or otherwise) if I have ever said the word “fuck” I might say something like, “Of course.” Underlying it and unspoken might also be, “I’m from Jersey. Doesn’t everybody?” So when I read that in a...

A window on my people

I never met James Gandolfini, but I am intimately acquainted with some of his art. I’m not sure if I quite understood how profoundly it touched me until I found out about his recent passing. I’m an Italian-American from New Jersey. I’m not related to any mobsters, at...

Unloading a Heap of Freight

I recently told a medium that I hate sounding like one of those annoying people whose ship is always coming in, but I feel like I’m on the brink of something. Here’s his response: “Your ship is already in. You need to take the freight off.” As Joey Tribbiani might...

Send-off party to welcome mat

Last year a friend gave me Guy Kawasaki’s book Enchantment. In the world of me, a person typically not all that interested in reading about marketing, the subtitle – The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions – was the big selling point. I’m not a fan of ‘brand’...