That expression comes from Beau Willimon, one of the geniuses behind House of cards (yes, I confess I am a big fan, and this one is in Season 2, episode 3), and it stroke a chord while negotiating with a service supplier recently. The service…
The fact that I am writing this blog today in one of my second homes’ patio right under the sun a few days before Columbus Day might have something to do with it. 85 degrees Fahrenheit / close to 30 degrees Celsius to start a…
“Just be yourself, you know, your genuine self, and everything will be fine”. That is one thing. Then there is “do not take anything personally, and brush off any negative thoughts”. Sure! This is not a rant, rather a continuous balance exercise, feeling like a funambulist, debating…
What is more challenging than a close-minded manager? When more than one decide to jump in and act as the manager who knew everything… This scenario happened to me while I was still an employee: it was post 9/11 in the aerospace business (yes, I…
While most of the ospedali mostly kept their way of running a secret, or at least the figlie (female orphans turned performers) were singing hidden behind metal grilles, my backstage experiences have rather been enjoyable, and logically kept private from the public eyes. The latest event on my list…
Ok, so I admit I did not know what that means until this past weekend while attending a party. Whether it is a chosen way of living, a disguised way of suffering in silence and hope, like living vicariously, the Fear Of Missing Out can feel like a…
The summer heat seems to affect some spirits these days. Short-fused tempers manifest, or some minds are so focused on an end goal that they forget to check (“enjoy” just sounds unreal sometimes…) the scenery and see what is happening around, and available. Ignoring what…
After a month off from the dojo, I finally came back last week. I can only teach at this point. So there I was, reminding students to breathe, position themselves in the best Kamai (fighting stand) possible. Finding a stand that suits them might be…
It had been talked about for the past years: some other owners and I wanted to get out of that array of green shades around our building. When putting the budget together late last year, we secured some funds for “landscaping”. Big word for our…
While watching the news leaves me more and more perplex about how much, when that happens, partisans of opposite ideas, political, social, cultural or economic, get to listen to what “the others” have to say, and why, it sometimes seems fairly similar to what a…