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"He who is aching in every limb, worn out by the effort of a day of work, that is to say a day when he has been subject to matter, bears the reality of the universe in his flesh like a thorn. The difficulty for him is to look and to love. If he succeeds, he...
Check out this Yahoo! story about highly-paid blue-collar positions with openings in 2010: "Ready for a career change but dread getting another desk job? Then how about trying your hand at, well, working with your hands? 'There is a blue-collar...
I just discovered Project H Design, a nonprofit team of designers and builders "engaging locally to improve the quality of life for the socially overlooked," whose "long-term initiatives focus on using design to improve public education experiences, spaces, and...
The bucket of water I left in the engine room of Fireboat John J. Harvey to gauge real temperatures in the oldest, most rudimentary way known to man has an inch of water at the top. Can't imagine what's happening in the 78-year-old pipes that we can't drain...
Here's Joel Kotkin talking about his new book The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050 on WNYC: "We send too many people to four-year colleges and we don't teach people skills that are useful in the economy ... The system is tilted toward the financial...
Gabriel Thompson's new book Working In the Shadows: A Year of Doing the Jobs (Most) Americans Won't Do chronicles the year he spent undercover in the immigrant workforce, picking lettuce, cutting up chickens, working in Manhattan's flower district. I can't wait...
Looks like manufacturing is off to a good start in 2010, especially in apparel, textile machinery and transportation equipment industries. A report based on a private survey indicates strong current and future performance in manufacturing. "The US...
I'm so grateful for all the warm messages I continue to receive from readers all over the country (and even overseas!) who are moved by the unforgettable people and captivating places whose stories I've had the privilege to tell in My River Chronicles, and who...
The cold has hit. Yesterday I drained down the main engines and fresh-water system on fireboat John J. Harvey. Bilge-water sloshing, lines creaking, flashlight batteries failing ... and the poor old girl braces herself for another winter. Brrr. ...