Pint-sized philosophy

As published in the Tampa Tribune March 17, 2008.

The Irish have been known to knock out a poem or two (think Seamus, Oscar, Van). Poetry, which for me is just another form of philosophy, is in their blood it seems, and while I’ve been known to wax poetic, I’m neither Irish nor poet.

But I know poetry when I see it – a flock of geese flying over my head at dawn; feel it – rain on my skin when everyone else has run for cover; hear it – anything Beethoven; and smell it – a kitchen full of cooking.

But it wasn’t until recently that I learned you can even taste poetry – in a pint of beer, no less. Irish beer. Guinness beer to be exact. (more…)

Tiny tech talk

R U there? I ♥ U! G2G! TTYL!

Somebody, please …GMAB! (Give me a break!)

With all the smaller, faster technologies available now, people seem obsessed with saying not very much at all, but saying it at lightening speed. (more…)

A Season for Believing

As published in the Tampa Tribune November 21, 2007.

Years ago, late on a Sunday afternoon, I found myself sitting in my favorite café in the North End of Boston, calculating whether to buy another cappuccino or save the few dollars I had in my pocket for subway tokens to get back and forth to work that week. Post-college, I was broke, as usual, and relying on cigarettes and coffee to keep the stomach from rumbling too much. (more…)

Dateless in Sarasota aka the KitKat Man

Did you know that Sarasota is one of the best cities in the country to be single and dating … as long as you’re over 55 and pulling down $200,000 a year!? I came across that tidbit of information recently in Sarasota Magazine and have been debating moving back to Boston ever since.

Actually, I’m a bit relieved. After all, I’m not 55 and don’t make 200 grand, so, yippee! – I finally know why I’m dateless on Saturday nights in Sarasota. (more…)

Out on a limb for love

Another September 11th has come and gone. Six of them now since the first, and we’re still afraid. Maybe even more afraid. Of terrorists, of global warming, of war, of the stock market.

But mostly we’re afraid of each other. (more…)

Leave the bum … take the cannoli

Love lessons, Mafia-princess style:

“Leave the bum … take the cannoli.”

If you’ve fallen in with a loser (he’s addicted to television, never has any cash, doesn’t like to work), don’t hire your local goodfella to take him for a one-way walk. Just drop the bum like yesterday’s (bad) news and leave him on the couch where you found him.

Oh, and take the cannoli. You probably paid for it. (more…)

Lunar romance

The mind is a prickly beast.

It disbelieves almost everything the heart believes. It takes the heart to task for being foolish. It demands that we ignore feelings in favor of facts.

To a large extent, this is a good thing. We can’t run around willy-nilly to the whims of a red, thumping reactionary like the heart. Much wiser to follow the gray, humming pragmatism of the brain. (more…)

Planet America

Poor Pluto’s been relegated to the planetary sidelines by the addition of just one word. He’s still a planet of sorts, but now the distinction is clear – he’s a “dwarf planet.”

A lot of people seemed to feel that this new label was a pejorative Pluto doesn’t deserve. Behind the sometimes serious, sometimes humorous, hue and cry, there seemed to be an almost genuine sympathy for the marginalization Pluto experienced. (more…)

Vulcan tendencies

This column original appeared in print in July, 2006.

RIP, Mr. Spock (photo courtesy of nypost.com)

I get asked all the time by friends, strangers, readers of this column, and the occasional ex-boyfriend, — why I’m “still” single. (more…)