There’s a reason that film directors, when making movies, first call for LIGHTS before CAMERA and ACTION. Lighting sets the tone for the entire picture. Soft lighting makes a pretty face even prettier (or a not-so pretty one, not half-bad)…
Olivia Pope, the main character on ABC’s Scandal, is a professional fixer. If you have a problem—any problem—she can fix it. Over the past two seasons plus, she’s rigged elections, covered up murders, employed professional hit men, exposed…
Many aspects of the American work landscape have changed radically in the last two decades. As the service and information economies have overtaken manufacturing and other more traditional forms of labor, the old 9-to-5, office-bound workd…
There are two ways—and only two ways—to balance a budget: increase revenue or decrease spending. Whether you’re the treasurer of a co-op board or the President of the United States, those are the only two levers at your disposal. Ene…
It's a sad fact that the artisans and craftspeople who created some of the most beautiful, distinctive interior and exterior architectural elements for the tri-state area's residential buildings are an endangered species. The prolifera…
People living on the Gulf Coast and further down the Eastern seaboard have long accepted hurricanes as a fact of life—one that brings with it torrential rain, howling winds and devastating hailstorms. New Jersey has been hit with a few …
If phones can be “smart,” why not buildings? With the ever-expanding array of consumer technology available today, it should come as no surprise that residential buildings are able to incorporate more and more cutting-edge technology in…
Anyone who lives in a city—or across a river from one—that is a popular tourist destination has likely played host to a procession of family, friends, friends-of-family, and other assorted houseguests over the years. To address this (an…
New Jersey is one of the most diverse areas in the United States. Its proximity to two melting pot cities, New York and Philadelphia, only magnifies what is already a diverse mix of people. In any sizable community, people from…
Noise is a key quality-of-life problem for almost anyone living in a densely-packed urban environment. It's the bane of many a condo-dweller’s existence, and over the years engineers, architects, and designers have tried any number of w…