I don’t know where you live (I don’t even know who you are). If you do, however, reside in Massachusetts, I know one thing: You went apple picking at some point during the last two months.

Unlike other laws which we don’t interpret quite so strictly – stopping at red lights, for example – here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, apple picking is not optional.

Don’t ask, I don’t know why either. But the fact is, come autumn, all permanent residents are obligated to load their children into a vehicle (preferably a minivan) and drive them to a place with the words “Pick Ur Own,” “Orchard” or “Farm” in the name. (Extra credit if it has all three.) Read More »

You know what word I have trouble spelling? Oppossed.

See what I mean?

Same with curiculum, entreprenur and envionment, although I blame that last one on having lived in Boston for 25 years, a place where the letter “R” has never been welcome.

Happily, I’ve got a spell-checker in Word and a spell-checker associated with my e-mail. And with 98% of my written communications occurring between those two, for the most part, nobody knows about my spelling weakness (Shhh). Read More »

If you’ve been receiving my posts for even a little while, I’m sure you’ve come to view me as a serious, thoughtful, dare I say… highbrow kind of person.

And while I appreciate your kind words (thank you), it will probably come as a shock when I reveal the following: When the Sunday newspaper arrives each week, the first section I read is the comics. In fact, and as long as we’re telling tales today, I should mention that there are weeks where the only section I read is the comics. Read More »

I hired a financial planner yesterday. I wasn’t exactly looking for one, but as you’ll see shortly, he was hard to resist.

First off, you should know that doing this has been on my mind for some time. Here it is the last half of the year already, and I’ve been talking seriously about hiring a professional for… let’s see… July, June, May… about 14 years. More or less since the birth of my first child.

The truth is, I’d probably put it off for another 14 years had I not met Tim. Tim is a financial planner, and a new E-Newsletter client of mine. Read More »

I play basketball every Monday night, in my town’s middle school gym. It’s a great bunch of guys, and with the average age hovering around 40 — and with games that typically involve more braces, bandages, pads and miscellaneous prosthetic equipment than would be required to rebuild the Six Million Dollar Man — it’s very relaxed.

We don’t even pick who plays with whom — we just put our names on a big sheet of paper and when your name comes up, it’s your turn to play. Because it’s completely random however, the teams aren’t always evenly balanced, in size or in skill. Read More »

“People are strange, when you’re a stranger,
Faces look ugly, when you’re alone.”

– The Doors

A few weeks ago, I received the following email:

“My wife heard Mr. Katz speak somewhere and thought he was the cat’s meow. Read More »

Okay, so you’re busy. There’s a financial crisis going on, there’s a mid-term election going on, there’s school ending just a week away and you still have no idea what to do with your kids.

So I understand, you’ve got to prioritize.

And besides, in these hectic times in particular, it would be wasteful – even frivolous – to burden your clients, prospects and others with one more E-Newsletter that they need to read. So you gather your staff (or dog, if like me, you work alone) one Monday morning and announce: “How about we wait until things settle down a bit? Then we’ll start publishing our newsletter again.” Read More »

I wasn’t planning on having knee surgery. And yet there I was, one week ago today, following the anesthesiologist’s instructions to “count backwards from 100 by seven” as he put me under. (I believe I got as far as 93.)

My original injury took place during the Gulf War. Not to say that I was actually in the Gulf War, it’s just that my injury – the result of a misstep while playing basketball – also occurred in 1990. And although I’ve continued to both run and play basketball since then, I’ve been living with a “trick knee” these past 18 years.

The “trick” itself is not as much fun as it sounds, and while it only occurs about once a year, it does so with predictable results: Read More »