Sex Sells II

One of my first posts here was a tongue-in-cheek discussion of writing and publishing books – I used the title sex sells because it does – just look at that category erotica and you will understand that these books sell. Well, tonight, I posted an article to my Czech Republic travel blog. I thought I would check out the stats while there….. First the good news. The blog is getting a hell of a lot of visits. So all my hard work and photographs of Czech castles and landscapes, witty posts about Czech lifestyle, culture and politics was actually generating interest? Of course not. No. One post was generating 95% of that traffic and the stats tell the entire story. Google is bringing in a lot of that traffic on

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The Word I Like to Hate

Standing on the metro here in Prague a couple of days ago, a crowd of young female Americans were nearby. I knew they were American because they exhibited two definitive American traits; Loudness and a problem with speaking English. No, I’m sorry to my American friends (and I am a naturalized American myself), but this is true. Americans in Prague speak as if they want everyone to hear them. They speak at such a volume, they are audible 1km away. It is as if they consider themselves so important that they know everyone just must hear what they have to say. By the way, its not just me that thinks this. In the office, my colleagues routinely joke about it. Americans, they say, shout. It’s embarrassing to be honest especially

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Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Rocky and I just got back from a walk up the hill here in Prague. The sun is shining and its already warm….. Rocky, who thinks he is a dog, marked every lamp post while I surveyed the city lying in the valley below. It’s a nice city that is for sure. The view and the walk gave me some perspectives on things. See, I just quit my high powered and highly paid job. It feels good not to have to deal with that stress any more nor have to worry about the silly staff issues, politics, owners, forthcoming regulations, keeping costs down and so on…. But I face a new challenge because I am going back to running my own business with a partner from Houston, TX. The stress

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Why We All Need to Look Up….

Living and working in a city like Prague has its benefits and one of them is simply seeing the sights on a daily basis. I work just off the main square in Prague 1 and I commute from the Beautiful Hanspaulkou area of Prague 6. My journey is partly by bus, partly by Metro and partly on foot. It is the latter bit I like best as I can observe the architecture and trip over the tourists! You just have to remind yourself to keep looking up or else you miss it all. What do I mean by ‘look up’? Well, most of us walk along staring at the floor probably thinking, worrying or planning our day. We are self-absorbed and living in our own minds walking as if on

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Prague Spring?

Occasionally, a pattern sets up in life and you wonder what could be the meaning. Recently, say since November last year, if my daughter isn’t sick then I am. Colds, flu, pneumonia etc. You name it, it’s been a visitor here. Unfortunately, this causes all kinds of problems. Hoe do you keep an executive level job where your signature commits the company when you are mostly at home? When our daughter is sick, it means one of us must stay at home and be ‘mum’. I love doing it actually. I really feel much closer to my daughter these days but how much holiday time can I take before I am in trouble. For Gabriela, the issue is in some ways worse, she is rather new at her job and

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Unconditional Love

Driving up to Prague this evening I was thinking a lot about my Dad. Parents love their children unconditionally. Or at least – they should. I got to thinking that my Dad was special because not only did he love his kids unconditionally but he never ever asked for anything in return. Unconditional love isn’t just about loving some one for who they are – warts and all – but, its also about not asking for anything back. I think that’s actually quite a rare thing.

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