- May 29, 2018 -

If you're into gangster movies, you might have seen "A Bronx Tale," the 1993 film about an Italian-American kid growing up in the rough-and-tumble Bronx in the 60's.

Any De Niro movie is worth watching in my opinion 🙂

Sonny, the local mafia boss befriends the kid...who's already fascinated by the mobsters lead by Sonny.

And he becomes torn between the temptations of organized crime and the values of his honest, hardworking father.

If you watched the movie, you most probably remember the "door test."

The "door test," explains gangster Sonny to the kid as he gets ready to go on [...]

- May 24, 2018 -

Remember the "Where's the beef?" lady in the mid '80's ad campaigns for the Wendy's fast food restaurant chain?

She's my kind of gal 🙂

Veganism just isn't in my DNA. There aren't many vegetables I don't enjoy (except for eggplant...go figure, an Armenian who doesn't like eggplant lol) but don't take away my meat.

To maintain my lean and mean physique (at least in my mind) I eat steak and/or lamb on the weekends and fish during the week...

...primarily grilled salmon.

Here's why...it's really tough to mess up.

Throw it on the grill...BOOM! Any home cook can look good when [...]

- May 23, 2018 -

It appears yesterday's email on the upcoming GDPR hit a few nerves.

Being someone who makes it a practice of asking "Why" (comes with being a Libran) before blindly jumping on the bandwagon currently rolling through town...

...stepping on a few toes seems to come as a result.

No apologies.

So while not discounting the importance of GDPR, I'm certainly not going to throw up my hands in a panic and cry, "The sky is falling!" if what's working doesn't need fixing.

(If you haven't read that email, go back to your inbox and do that.)

Which brings me to a common [...]

- May 22, 2018 -

In the world of online marketing, there have been few more polarizing subjects recently than GDPR.

And believe me, I have gone back and forth in my mind as to how to approach this without making myself a target for rotten tomatoes. Lol

At the same time, you know me by now...I'm not one to pussyfoot around and sugar coat anything.

I'm not politically correct. But I do want to be a voice of reason.

So hold on to your hats, folks.

If you're not up on what the heck GPDR is, here's the Cliff Notes version:

+ GDPR stands for General [...]

- May 15, 2018 -

Last week a box was delivered to my office.

A big box.

Larger than a case of wine but smaller than a golf bag. Meh, not super interested at this point. Lol

And I noticed that Cheryl's name was on it. So...nice guy that I am and just because I was in an ornery mood, the big box was handed back to the FedEx guys with a new delivery address 🙂

Wasn't long before I got "the" phone call: "This huge box was just delivered to us. Is it something you ordered? I have no idea who the sender is!"

She [...]

- May 14, 2018 -

Believe it or not, I'm actually a really shy, pretty private person by nature.

Loud but shy. Lol

I'm not a social media poster. When I do have the time, I enjoy seeing what others are up to...and that's about it.

But I just gotta share this...

You already know that music is a big part of my life. Trumpets and jazz...it doesn't get much better.

What you might not know is that both Cheryl and I were music majors in college for the first two years.

...I loved to perform but couldn't pass theory to save my life.

...Cheryl knew the theory [...]

- May 10, 2018 -

I am certainly not an expert in genetics.

But it would go against the laws of nature for me to have been born with blonde hair since both my parents and all four grandparents had dark hair...

...at least not without raising some eyebrows!

And I'm most definitely not an expert in the laws of physics. Newton's third law of motion says that "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

But if I was a physics teacher, I'd teach my own version of Isaac's law (ladies, I apologize...guys, you're welcome.)

Art's Third Law of Emotion: For every male [...]

- May 8, 2018 -

Everyone loves a good underdog story.

A David and Goliath story...

You know, where a young shepherd boy defeats a giant Philistine warrior with just a sling shot and a few stones.

It's the stuff of Hollywood movies...think Karate Kid, Hoosiers and epic WWII film Dunkirk.

But every so often, the small business guy has the chutzpah to take on a corporate Goliath and comes out on top.

You might not know this bit of fascinating trivia but...

In 1997, Reed Hastings returned Apollo 13 to Blockbuster and was hit with a $40 late fee.

"I had a big late fee for 'Apollo [...]

- May 3, 2018 -

A topic that comes up time and again with colleagues and clients is time...

...as in never having enough of it.

I'll bet my favorite putter that it's a problem of yours, too.

So as my business coach is fond of saying, "We're going to have a little intervention."

Here's the deal:

You've got the same 24 that I do.

I'm running multiple businesses...

...and managing a physical office staff as well as a virtual team,

...while racking up on average 700 miles a month, driving to and from appointments.

If you have kids, that's [...]

- May 2, 2018 -

When you're in your 20's...you eat, drink, and smoke what you want and don't really think about your mortality.

In the words of Rod Stewart and Bob Dylan (depending on your music preferences) you're "Forever Young."

And then middle age sets in and everything changes 🙂

You can't consume the amounts of food you once could...without consequences.

You throw your back out and can't figure out what the hell could have done it.

Your doctor starts harping on blood pressure, cholesterol, colonoscopies, skin exams, rectal exams, PSA tests!!

(And women? What you have to go through sounds like Medieval torture!)

Is nothing sacred [...]