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Remember the story of The Velveteen Rabbit? In this classic children’s tale also known as “How Toys Become Real,” a beloved toy bunny became a real rabbit when he cried a real tear. Real. Authentic. Transparent. Relevant. Have you been hearing these marketing buzzwords tossed around lately? What does it mean? Ms. Jones is getting […]

When you think about it, we spend a lot of time avoiding risk. All that neck twisting before crossing the street. All that salad, all those pinched pennies. All to protect our bodies from harm and our psyches from hurt. Every day we make hundreds of calculated decisions designed to lessen our risk and protect […]

Folklore or fact, you decide: The Loch Ness Monster. The president won’t sing the national anthem. Aspartame causes cancer. Bill Gates will send you money if you forward his email. The Abominable Snowman. Folklore or fact, Ms. Jones decides: Dark walls make a room look smaller. Sofas always go against the wall. Nightstands must match […]

The vacant building stands prominently on what was once prime real estate on the outskirts of downtown. The stuccoed storefront and ill-fitted metal awning are precariously out of place beneath the dentil roofline. Its painted brick is peeling, but you can still read the “King’s Furniture” sign on the side. Its demise began long before […]

The Renaissance was an exciting time of progress in every area of society: business, government, education, families, media, religion and, especially, arts and entertainment. Minds were reawakened, cultures reborn. Ms. Jones is shopping for her own little bit of renaissance. She’s not shopping for what you’re selling. She never simply buys a product. She only […]

Have you noticed the voyeurism on television lately? On one show, they put you in a glass box and have people guess your age. “Why have you let yourself go?” the host sympathetically pries. Another show rewards contestants for answering questions no one should be asking, like: “Would you cheat on your wife if you […]

It’s been said that “life is 90% what happens to you and 10% how you react to it,” and that attitude is more important than facts. It’s true, your attitude can compensate for a lot of lousy circumstances. A positive attitude can see you through when things are happening to you that are out of […]

THE NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 8, 1895 – Mrs. Clara McArthur of 167 [sic] East One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Street, the young woman who attempted to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge ten days ago, but was prevented from doing so by the police, dropped off quietly in the darkness at 3:30 o’clock yesterday morning, and […]

THE NEW YORK TIMES, AUGUST 31, 1895 – Mrs. Clara McArthur of 162 East One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Street attempted to jump  off the Brooklyn Bridge at 5:30 o’clock yesterday morning, but was prevented by the bridge policemen… “I made up my mind long ago to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. My husband read to […]

When you move, you send a change of address postcard and the Post Office takes care of the rest. Anyone you would want to come to your new home probably helped you move, so they already know where you are. It’s a hard thing to move a store, much harder than it is to move […]