by Mark O'Brien | Nov 7, 2016
During a recent visit to the Infinity Music Hall & Bistro in Hartford, Connecticut, to see and hear Marc Cohn perform, I ran into a friend, who happens to be an architect. That led to a later discussion with Anne Bjorkland* about the depressed market for...
by Mark O'Brien | Jan 13, 2016
This was quite the morning. First, I read this, from my horoscope: How exactly do you hold onto your ideals in a world where it seems like the whole game is rigged for greed, competition, and conformity? Then I read this — “John Edwards (yes, that one) looks to...
by Mark O'Brien | Jan 12, 2016
Why in the world do we think we’ll see, perceive, or even recognize innovation? That question leapt to mind, yet again, when I read this: “Why Real Innovation Will Not Come From Within Your Own Industry”. Outside your own industry? If real innovation...
by Mark O'Brien | Dec 24, 2015
Bearing in mind that The Hero With a Thousand Faces, From Ritual to Romance, and The Golden Bough are among the most influential books in my life, I offer this reflection, with apologies to real poets everywhere: The venerable holidays are fast upon us now. The...
by Mark O'Brien | Nov 19, 2015
irony (noun): incongruity between what is expected to be and what actually is, or a situation or result showing such incongruity When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I...
by Mark O'Brien | Oct 30, 2015
One of the more superficial revelations of my recent trip to New York was that I’d never taken a selfie. This realization was driven home by the fact that I saw people who’d come from all over the world seemingly for the sole purpose of taking pictures of...
