I’m officially declaring war on writer’s block, distractions, and procrastination during the month of July. Maybe it’s just me, but the summer months always seem to drag. Well, at least, they do when I’m working. I feel sluggish and uninspired. I can barely force myself to do the work I have to do to pay the bills, let alone work on fun personal projects.
I blame the sun. During the summer, there’s nothing better than sitting outside by the pool and sipping Sangria or sweet tea. Hell, I can even stay motivated to work out during the summer because it means …read more

I’ve lived in Europe for a decade, and visited it for much longer than that. My city, Rome, Florence and London were always packed with American tourists and in Britain, this lean year, foreign visitors spent about $7.5 billion in the first six months of the year, the British Tourist Authority said, but less Americans came.
In Italy, where the number of American visitors was down 11 percent this year in the art cities of Rome, Florence, Venice and Naples, tourism employs about two million Italians and accounts for about one-twelfth (or much more if the …read more