Longtime readers of my always pertinent and invaluable blog will know that I keep an extremely sharp eye on the l… Read full post »

Upon entering an airline lounge, the first thing I do is secure a seat – as far from the door and in as private a setting as possible. The second thing I do is visit the bar, pour myself a glass of red wine and a glass of water,… Read full post »

There’s usually someone I can call. Home in New York, or in a steadily growing roster of cities on different continents, there’s a number or email or Skype I can click. But still I get lonely sometimes. And sometimes I prefer it that way. Sometimes lonely isn’t… Read full post »

Now is harder to grasp. Now is difficult. I just don’t know. Do you?

Four hours ago was a world its own. The slow, slow dance in mist rosy warm.

The kiss, kiss, unhurried sounding wet. The fingers and the lips. Lips with time endless and endless soft.

Rise… Read full post »

Scotch bonnets are peppers,

Of heat and delight,

I treasure in dishes

Spiced fierce and just right.

As chef I’m but average

Bereft of the gift.

But food was expected!

I’d whip it up swift.

A girl was arriving,

Expecting to eat.

To feed the young lady

Shoul… Read full post »

I don’t much enjoy the mail. It’s mostly unsolicited crap sent at bulk rates. It fills my recycling bin, and fills my head with angry thoughts about wasted trees. 

But I have to sort through it to find the mail that matters – the things I can’t or sho… Read full post »

Is this a perfect evening? I think it is. I think it’s perfect. I don’t want to stop looking. I’m going to remember this.

The wind has shifted, but it’s still warm. It’s a teasing wind. It’s wry, the way it plucks gently at your hair, and brings your s… Read full post »

It was nearly three in the morning. Outside my windows, the city was as quiet as it ever gets. I was stretched out on the sofa in the dark, wearing my silk boxers with the tropical fish print, sipping chocolate milk and watching an old M*A*S*H episode. It was… Read full post »

“Can I borrow your condo for a night?” my friend Penny asked on the phone.

“You want to borrow my condo,” I repeated.

“Right,” she confirmed.

I thought for a moment. “I’m assuming this somehow involves sex, but it… Read full post »

I’d been overseas awhile. When I returned to my condo, it smelled like that nice air freshener the maid service uses to make sure my place isn’t musty when I get home.

I like homecomings, and I like the way everything’s spic and span when I return. It feels… Read full post »

Pat is a good friend. He’s a tech executive, and he flagged an opportunity he thought I might want to pursue. He’d been in contact with some bright students at Auburn-Montgomery, who had developed a very intriguing piece of cybersecurity software that cleverly and quietly le… Read full post »

Pakistan may be a terribly fragile, nuclear-armed state, riddled with terrorism, crime and corruption, featuring a disintegrating economy and horrendous capital flight. But at least they’re cracking down on a top priority social problem: na… Read full post »

“Do you remember me?” asked the sly voice on the phone.

I leaned back and spun my office chair toward the window. Put my feet up on the sill. Yes, I definitely did remember Laurie Sands.

“I remember everything about you, Laurie,” I smiled.

Read full post »

I was thinking about my friend Jen the other day. I was feeling sorry for her. Jen is reaching the end of her 30s. She’s childless, and not by choice. I know that, on some very deep and ancient level, this hurts her. I can see it in the way… Read full post »

One of the great benefits of being an Open Salon member is the exposure one has to informed medical opinion. I learn a great deal on this site, about various illnesses and conditions and the therapies that treat them. Today was no exception.

Open Salon’s own doc… Read full post »

I’ve been getting to know my own country again. A break from overseas projects has given me the opportunity to travel closer to home. Instead of more exotic places, I’ve been spending time in places that are entire… Read full post »

It’s all the same, in every town. So much of this country has turned into one big sameness. The hotels are chains, built of corporate Lego. The restaurants and the coffee shops and the stores in the malls. They’re all the same, everywhere. We’ve never been… Read full post »

I don’t like lying. It makes me feel… kind of icky. And it stays with me, for some reason. Even years later, my stupid conscience will tap me on the shoulder out of the blue and make sure I don’t forget.

Conscience:  Hey, buddy! Remember that time in Houst… Read full post »

When men gather in social groups, you can often sense the collective IQ falling. Add intoxicating beverages to the mix, and the precipitous drop in atmospheric intelligence could be tracked by the National Hurricane Center.

Meteorologist 1: “My God! We’ve g… Read full post »

Every now and then, I get together with a bunch of college buddies. It usually happens for no particular reason. One of us decides that it’s been too long since we’ve gathered to drink, laugh, boast and lie. So we meet. We eat and imbibe.  We flirt with waitresse… Read full post »

Sometimes, the office gets a little stifling. I find myself drawn into details, immersed in minutiae, heading down a slippery slope toward micro-managing my staff. Which I hate, and I strongly suspect makes my people mutter darkly about me. And nobody needs darkly-muttering emplo… Read full post »

Now, don’t look

Don’t see at all

Don’t hear glass shatter

Don’t feel gray dust

Don’t smell the awful

Don’t taste harsh grit

Just don’t look

Don’t see things fall

Don’t hear the voices

Don’t feel sweat trickle

Don’t smell r… Read full post »

It always happens during the night, and I don’t actually feel any different when I wake up. When I open my eyes, the ceiling looks the same, with the same morning blurriness. The sheets feel the same, and whisper the same entreaties to just reset the alarm and enjoy… Read full post »

As a New Yorker, and as a man, of course I’m excited about the new fall fashions for women. It’s nearly autumn, and I want to know about the things in which the gals will soon be wreathed, wrapped, button… Read full post »

I like Valentina a lot, in spite of the fact that she’s a little too much like me. And by that, I suppose I mean that she’s very focused on her work and career. And that she’s not averse to an occasional noisy evening of nocturnal gymnastics, on a… Read full post »