For centuries, children have enjoyed blowing bubbles.  There is something enthralling in creating or witnessing a bubble as it grows, seemingly blissfully floats in the air, and ultimately pops.  Sometimes, the anticipation of a bubble popping becomes too much for us, and we puncture it, ending its existence before its natural life span has run.  […]

Admit it, you’re a shopaholic!  So, as they say, “if you have the name, why not play the game.”  And, for those of you who may have been sleeping or in a coma for the last couple of decades, the Internet is the destination of choice for the savvy shopaholic.  While retail stores offer you […]

In thumbing through the Orthodox English Dictionary the other day in search of a word, I came upon the definition for another word, “racism:” a.)  the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race , especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race […]

Whether your business is of the traditional brick and mortar variety or is one of the growing numbers of enterprises who transact business entirely online, chances are good that web hosting is a major area of concern as you seek to take your business to the next level.  And today, business owners and managers are […]

Nothing brings warmth and personality to a home like living plants, flowers, and herbs.  And for businesses wishing to attract new customers via a professional, personable image, the proper selection of plants, flowers, and shrubs are perfect.  But it’s not the just the fauna; it’s the way it is presented.   Home improvement stores and garden […]

No less than five times during the past thirteen months, I have had packages left at my door that were actually addressed to my neighbors.  Large and extremely heavy, with the address labels on the undersides, I dragged three of these into our foyer, assuming that we had ordered them.  The same well-known, nationwide carrier […]

Do you remember the fable, “The Princess and the Pea”?  To refresh your memory, our heroine spent an uncomfortable night tossing and turning because, to make a long story short, she didn’t have the proper accommodations.  Whenever I venture into previously unexplored vacation territory, I’m always afraid that I’m going to wind up like that […]

To the best of my knowledge, my grandfather Rocco Petruzzelli was born in Italy in 1865.  In 1896, he left his homeland and the village of Castelluccio Valmaggiore near Foggia / Apulia, Italy and set out for America, leaving his son and my father Donato – born a matter of months earlier on October 31, […]

The outer appearance or curb appeal of your home speaks volumes about you, its owner or resident.  It conveys a sense of your relative success, affluence, tidiness, dependability, affability, emotional well-being, and much, much more.  It either invites those visiting or repels them.  And, if you are attempting to sell your home, it dictates who […]

At one time, securities trading activities were the bailiwick of the privileged few, those with the wealth, knowledge, and real-time or near real-time information necessary to make informed investment decisions.  The brokerage firms of the late nineteenth and early to mid twentieth centuries housed ticker tape machines which they used to receive stock price information […]