by Mark O'Brien | Jun 1, 2015
The publishing of our first installment of the Mailbag generated even more cards and letters, many of which seemed preoccupied with personal brands. So, with our work cut out for us, we dive once more unto the breach. Dear Mailbag, I have a recurring dream. In it, I...
by Mark O'Brien | May 28, 2015
At risk of having you think I doth protest too much, I’m not prudish, at least as far as language is concerned. Truth be told, my language is, on occasion, salty enough to float rocks. But I, nevertheless, do try to maintain a modicum of linguistic decorum in...
by Mark O'Brien | May 18, 2015
In the summer of 1971, I was 17 years old. My friend, Bruce, and I went to see B.B. King at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut. We may have been the only two white dudes in the place. We most certainly were the youngest. And we were in no way prepared to...
by Mark O'Brien | May 15, 2015
One of our former clients was a software-development shop. It created core-processing systems for insurance companies. Its stock answer to the question, “Can you do that?” was: “Yes,” followed quickly by the first of a series of invoices for...
by Mark O'Brien | May 14, 2015
Don’t you hate it when you wake up with the theme from Mannix stuck in your head? I used to. It was awful to find myself humming it while I made breakfast. It was frustrating to find myself singing the melody out loud in the shower (although, the acoustics are...
