Blog Posts

Next week is Thanksgiving, then... Do you look forward to Black Friday? Fighting crowds (sometimes  literally ) and standing in long lines to buy mass-produced stuff from mass merchants? You know the story of Black Friday - it's when retailers move from the red into the black. However, nowadays, the mass merchants who sell the most on...

Why is winter so tough on your skin? A continuing theme of this newsletter: Things José is no expert on. (In Jerry Seinfeld voice) "What is the deal with moisturizer?" I didn't know why, but I did know that winter dries out my skin, so I looked it up: It turns out that "cold air holds less moisture than warm air, so the dry...

Norman Rockwell was missing something Where's the drunk uncle in Rockwell's iconic Thanksgiving  painting ?  If you have one of "those" uncles (or other relatives), this Thanksgiving is probably going to be very trying. So, how do you deal with drunk uncles? I'm not an expert but my late father and I were polar political...

Picture an idyllic downtown One of the times my parents came to visit us, we went to downtown Mill Valley for lunch. It was one of those spectacular Northern California days with a clear blue sky and temps in the mid-70s. We were walking through the Depot Square when my dad turned to me and said, "you live in paradise." If you picture your...

How does your dog say trick or treat? I'm guessing your dog doesn't know how to trick you, but they sure know how to ask for dog treats . And if your dog is like my granddog, Beanie, they're so attuned to things that you have to spell certain words around them ["we need more T-R-E-A-T-S"]. Or change the words you're using, until they've figured...

Breast Cancer is no Fun Really? No sh**, Sherlock.  Anyway, I try to keep this space upbeat and cheeky, but this week, I'm going to go personal and a bit serious (but please keep reading). Being that it's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I thought it appropriate. Recently, I was at a conference and heard a woman speak about her...

The Best Pet Store in Marin Treats, treats, and more treats My granddog, Beanie, wrote that sub-headline. He's surprisingly adept at using a keyboard, and at using the Oxford comma. And he obviously loves treats. You know who else loves treats? Me. That's one of the reasons fall is my favorite season: the Bay Area weather is fantastic, it's...

How do they get that skin? I missed the Emmy's (I was learning to play Mahjong!) but have seen the photos and watched some clips and there was a lot of beautiful skin on display. I'm looking at you,  Lamorne Morris  - and your mom! Aside from great genetics, you know what these stars also have? Good skin routines. Did you know that...