Politics

What a Difference a Day Makes

What a Difference a Day Makes Easter Sunday is meant to be a day of rebirth. I’ve never been a strict interpretationalist when it comes to the Bible, so you won’t see me talking about rising from the dead so much as mentally doing some major Spring cleaning. We do all have our “come to Jesus” moments in life and I feel as though thanks to AG William Barr, who could have given this report…

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Fiction/Humor

Napping on the Quaalude Sofa

Napping on the Quaalude Sofa It’s been a long time since we’ve done this. I’ve only been with Kim for fourteen years, but I can honestly say that I haven’t done this since the ‘80’s, when it was all the rage. And then we did it more in the Hamptons than anywhere else. It’s nice to do it again and I have to be honest and say that it was not without some trepidation that…

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Memoir

Tesla Magic

Tesla Magic My brother-in-law is all about leading-edge technology. He bent my ear for years about an electric car. So, a few years ago I decided to buy a Tesla X after sitting in one and finding it quite comfortable for me. The X is the Tesla version of an SUV even though it looks like an SUV-light. I got the regular 75D model since the quickness and top speed were more than enough for…

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Love

The Bagel Suit

The Bagel Suit My father was married seven times, as best I can count. He had three of us with my mother (marriages #1 and #2). He had two daughters with Shirley (#3). He had another daughter from a marriage in Northern California (#4). He had a son from an annulled marriage in Mexico City (#5). I can’t identify #6 or the possibility of children, but I know Bobbie, #7, with whom he had no…

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Politics

Sneaky Pete

Sneaky Pete When I first heard Elizabeth Warren speak on the topic of bank regulation, I considered her a reactionary socialist. Over the years, I have listened carefully to her ideas and think she has many fine and well-reasoned ideas that would greatly benefit the nation. Universal healthcare and even universal income are enlightened and forward-looking ideas that could make a positive and meaningful improvement in the life of Americans. That, of course, would hinge…

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Memoir

Science and Other Flights of Fancy

Science and Other Flights of Fancy In 1964, at the age of ten, Chris almost burned his family’s house to the ground. The fault lay in the science. Luckily, the damage was limited to the downstairs bedroom closet and it’s surrounding area. That was lucky because this was an expanded log cabin from about 1850 (the oldest home in the neighborhood). It was old enough and dry enough, being all wood, to have gone up…

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Politics

Things Fall Apart Fast

Things Fall Apart Fast Tonight I feel like I am once again watching the final death throes of the Trump circus. I say once again because I must admit I have felt this way before several times. It has been amazing to witness the attempted hijacking of our country twice in my lifetime. I was very aware of it all during college, and I was as happy as anyone to see the Nixon Presidency unravel,…

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Retirement

Road Trip

Road Trip Who doesn’t remember the thrill in college of sitting around in the dorm or fraternity and discussing some distant spot (usually somewhere warm like Florida) and hearing someone yell, “Road trip!”).  It was immortalized in the movie Animal House and very specifically in the 2000 classic, Road Trip.  In Animal House it was only a trip to a nearby women’s college (Wells College?), but in Road Trip it was the “full Monty” from…

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Business Advice

The Inbox

The Inbox Years ago, when I came out of the bank training program I attended after Business School, I remember talking to a young British colleague who explained the experience he was having on the line for the first time.  He was assigned to the Latin America Department and was the junior member on the Brazil Desk.  That’s what we used to call coverage of s specified region or country, the _______ Desk.  His comment…

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Memoir

Smoke On!

Smoke On! Several years ago I went to an unusual sporting event, an aerial race around New York Harbor.  These were air races of souped-up single-prop planes that were reminiscent of WWII fighter planes (I am reminded of that scene from Empire of the Sun when a young war-torn Christian Bale points at a passing American fighter-bomber and says, “P-51, Cadillac of the sky!”).  Red Bull was promoting the event and it involved taking a…

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