Author: ruhlwrite

The students aren’t here yet, so Sofia Christakis climbs the ladder and swooshes down the bright blue slide. Sofia is the founder of Puzzles. Once she lands, smiling, she heads to the swing, where she sways serenely back and forth, a metronome in motion. Hey, these things have to be tested out to make sure they are safe for the little ones, don’t they? Play, you see, is much more than a game to Sofia, the founder of Puzzles, a learning center whose mission is to spread inclusion…

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Consider yourself forewarned: The art studio is small, and Matt Albano’s personality is prodigious. Things may get a little cramped in here. Matt Albano, aka Oddball Matt. When he opens the grey metal door, it’s like the scene from where things morph magically from black and white to Technicolor. Paintings paper the walls in cascades of color, their hues accented by works stacked around the space like sardines. “Don’t worry,” Matt says as he runs his fingers through his…

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She’s a real estate lawyer.He’s a personal trainer. Apostolis and Despina are the owners of FORTE. Together, they are FORTE.  The name of their newly opened fitness and recovery center, in all caps, signifies strength. Of the whole body. Of the whole mind. Of the whole soul. Despina Manoloudas, a toned woman whose bouncy dark hair is done up in a half ponytail, met Apostolis Bacalis, a muscle man with tatted sleeves, shaved head and dark, brooding eyes, nearly eight years…

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The felines Farrah and Ferris are sunning themselves on the front counter at Modern Vet Care, while Wesley, the perky Pomeranian, is peeking curiously out of a gated examination room. Emily’s the veterinarian at Modern Vet Care. When Emily Ehmann, the veterinarian, walks in the front door, Farrah, the black and white cat, and Ferris, the light-brown purring machine, leap from their perch to her feet, curling themselves around her legs. Modern Vet Care is new – it opened at the end…

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What can you say about a guy who plays hockey and the piano? Who’s just as comfortable with Bach and Beethoven as he is with boilers? Greg is a self-described Renaissance man. Let’s allow Greg Post’s fingers to explain it all to us. Greg, whose long black hair is tied back in a man bun that’s comfortable but just enough imperfect to be perfect, sits down at the grand piano. He flexes his fingers.  He’s just come in from the cold, so he limbers up with Rimsky-Korsakov’s…

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