Grey Gardens That name always rang a bell, but I don’t recall ever really knowing to what it referred. Then, today I got a typical mailer from Esquire magazine, one of my vestigial subscriptions which I am forever threatening myself to allow to expire, but am never quite ready to allow to lapse. That email was recommending to me 38 great documentaries to watch. Many of the suggestions like March of the Penguins, Free Solo,…
A Day in the Life Today my son Thomas arrived for an eight-day visit with us here on our little hilltop. We have both been very excited about this day for a long time and kept our fingers crossed that the gods of aviation would not throw any snafus in his way West. He was scheduled to arrive at 11:13am, which meant that he would be coming out the door more or less at 11:30.…
Of Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Woulda, coulda, shoulda. It’s the story of the investment world as told by the non-billionaires among us. I didn’t get involved in venture capital early enough to ask myself what I would have returned on a Microsoft or Apple investment if I had gone in pre-IPO in the 1980’s (Apple IPO was 1980 and Microsoft was 1986). I was focused and busy with my banking career back then and that…
The Homecoming In another six weeks or so, Kim and I will drive into the driveway of 313 Warren Road in Ithaca. I have had that address as one of my homes since 1996 when I took a long term leasehold on the property and renovated it to my liking. Since then I have used the house for a decade as a vacation home and Alma Mater gathering spot, for another decade as a weekly…
Everything Brakes What causes me to write under this mixed-message title is the fact that on our recent trip up north I noticed that on long down-hill highway stretches, the brakes of the 2019 Mercedes Benz GLS 450 that we drive, started to pulsate. This is not a good feeling with something as critical to vehicle safety as braking. Pulsating brakes seem like a big deal to me and without any particular regard to what…
The Fight of the Century Imagine being on a motorcycle trip through Turkey during a Trump-inspired war (of a sort) between Turkey and neighboring Syria. Now imagine being a very left-leaning liberal who has been struggling for several years to comprehend how America got to such a low-point as to actually elect a dolt like Trump to the highest office in the land, nay, the world. You find yourself amidst a group of close friends…
Earth Day Today I am advised through multiple emails and social media posts that it is Earth Day. I am somewhat surprised that Earth Day began in its current formal form in 1970, when I was sixteen years old. That means that Earth Day is fifty-one years old this year. For my entire adult life e have been focused on environmental issues. I also remember the summer of 1971 when I spent that summer before…
Mendocino In 1969, a small, obscure rock/blues/country band called Sir Douglas Quintet came out with a song about their newfound state’s groovy northern coast. Mendocino was born in April that year and spent 27 weeks on the Billboard charts, topping out at 27th. That carried it through Woodstock, when the music world shifted. In fact, one could go so far as to say that a Texas-originated band like Sir Douglas Quartet, that clearly took on…
Same Time Next Year In the last story I posted I referenced two Alfred Hitchcock movies that figured prominently two noteworthy venues which seem to be forever remembered as the places where those movies were shot. In the case of Bodega Bay, I’m guessing that movie (The Birds) may have been the best thing that ever happened to that little nothing of a burg. The movie was filmed 58 years ago and people are still…
El Camino Real We have just finished our tour of fourteen of the California Missions, meaning that we have now visited all twenty-one full-fledged missions that were established by the Spaniards who pushed north from Mexico into Las Californias to explore and settle this wondrous land between 1683 and 1835. Las Californias consisted of three sections ranging from Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of what we call Baja California up to Sonoma, north…