We all (should) know that a recession is coming. Not if, when, and just how deep and nasty will it be? We are looking forward, doing our best to grow sustainably, to be ready willing and able to weather this next economic downtown. Tonight, Thursday, May 23, 2019, we spend some quality time during our weekly Entrepreneur Social Club [tm] discussing the Double Bubble. The Double Bubble we refer to is not from the infamous bubblelicious gum that I chewed the hell out of when I was a teen, in fact, no more gum for me at all. Mostly because it’s plastic and poison, a definite lose-lose. That Double Bubbe was that rare moment when you blew a larger outer bubble then a smaller bubble inside of your first bubble. Hence the Doube Bubble. As Roger Curlin III, our resident restaurant guru describes, the Double Bubbe of the overbuilt local restaurant industry and the impact of the forthcoming recession will be providing a much much less friendly version. I hope we are all ready, though I know we are for tonight’s fun and productive time spent together. So let’s get things rolling! (more…)
Month: May 2019
Naked Aspirations
Today started out with me arriving at my historic venue NOVA 535 a bit earlier than usual. To meet Harvey, of Harvey Photos, plus a handful of soon to be birthday suit wearing models, and a nice photographer and a reporter combo reporting for the Tampa Bay Times. What used to be the St. Petersburg Times when I was a kid. Harvey Drouillard is a talented fine art photographer, with an extraordinary flair for surprising us. In some of the most pleasant of ways. After solving (most) all of the (foreseeable) logistical issues, he stages beautiful and unique locations, like historic venues, airports, public sidewalks, and such, with his naked models. They pop in quickly and unexpectedly, Harvey watching and photo-capturing those precious moments, then whoosh, the show is over. Nakedness dissolving like a noontime fog. After a long day filled with 5 separate shoot locations, Harvey returns to join us, his fellow Entrepreneurs, for our weekly gathering. Yup, it’s Thursday night again, this one is May 16, 2019. After some initial schmoozing and sipping of cocktails, we’ve settled into the sit-down, meeting part of the night. To discuss many things, including our Naked Aspirations. (more…)
Three Kathleens and a Robot
It’s funny. I’m standing at NOVA 535’s beautiful 60 foot long ‘S’ bar (S is for Sexy and St. Pete), awaiting my fellow Entrepreneurs to roll in. Yea it’s Thursday night, May 9, 2019, and 6:00 pm approaches, and now has past, while new and familiar faces line up at the bar. One of the newcomers is Kathleen Logan, a local Family Law Attorney. One is Kathleen Seide, founder of Seide Realty and another Kathleen has a most wonderful Hat-a-Tude. And one is a robot. Three Kathleens and a Robot. Well, maybe one of the lovely, smiling ladies pictured below is not a robot… or is she? We do meet a robot tonight, before dinner even.
An Inbox Full of Queenshead
For someone as organized as I’ve always been, something I’ll see tonight, and share with you all, is quite shocking. Yup, it’s Thursday night again, the 2nd of May, as 2019 races by. Time is relative and my perception of the passage of time continues to speed up. So many people, tasks, responsibilities, activities, then throw on top of the head spin from 416 days of traveling. Photos, memories, new friends collected upon the way. Always reading several books at once, including the all-powerful Haruki Murakami. He is a grandmaster with messing with your sense of time. Toss into that mix, my struggles and steady progress towards completing my own two books, It’s 5 AM Go Home, and World’s Favorite Words. Oh, right! Then there is the managing, promoting, organizing and hosting of you klowns, my lovely fellow Entrepreneurs. So as I sit at Queenshead Restaurant and Bar, while my historic venue NOVA 535 is thankfully booked for the annual Crohns and Colitis Foundation Fundraiser, I wonder, as the rain beats down on the head of the Queen, will anyone even show up? Of course, the delightful owner Tracy Asalita is here, discussing her efforts towards their 10 Year Anniversary party, June 8, 2019. Tick Tock, Tick Tock, I foresee an Inbox Full of Queenshead tonight.