Fiction/Humor Memoir

Ablution Central

Ablutions are ritual washing or cleansing practices, typically performed as part of religious ceremonies or personal hygiene routines. The term comes from the Latin word “ablutio,” meaning “a washing away.” The purpose of ablutions generally relates to spiritual purification, preparing oneself for prayer or worship, or marking transitions between states of ritual purity and impurity. In modern usage, “ablutions” can also refer more generally to the act of washing oneself, particularly in British English. When…

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Business Advice Memoir

Shuffling the Deck Again

I ran the Global Private Banking business of Bankers Trust for most of the 1990’s. At the time, I was quite dogmatic about NOT using my own operation as my money manager. It just seemed too close for comfort given that my personal financial information would be in a system that was accessible by many of the people that worked for me. But when I left that job at the end of the Millennium, I…

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Love

What To Do?

I have often felt that one of my weaknesses was that I care too much. That sounds like someone in a job interview saying their biggest weakness is that they work too hard. There is no room for humility in the statement, and yet I’m not so sure that people admire caring people so very much. The people who seem to be most liked are those that are happy-go-lucky and always have a cheery disposition.…

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Memoir

The Desert Breeze

Yesterday we took a drive out into the Anza Borrego Desert. We went by way of the Safari Park, the ranch town of Ramona and the kitschy s d storied alpine village of Julian. It is a ride we have taken many times before, but never get tired of. There seems always to be a blend of great stories of past visits and new experiences along the way to make for future stories. We usually…

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Fiction/Humor Memoir

Massicci Day

Back in 2015 we all went to Italy and I rented a villa in the northern outskirts of Rome. Having spent my formative high school years in Rome, it seemed like a fun thing to do that summer since my youngest son Thomas was studying in Rome for the summer. We did what we had done a number of times and at other locations, which was to rent a large villa that could accommodate 15…

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Politics

Back In the Fog of War

A Funny thing happened on the way into 2025. We were promised by candidate and president-elect Trump that he would immediately bring the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to a brisk end. It’s been almost 90 days since the inauguration and whatever ceasefire existed in Gaza has been overtaken by events and resulted in Israel continuing to execute attacks on Gaza’s Palestinian community. As for Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the man who Trump has called a…

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Fiction/Humor Memoir

Rolling Thunder

As most of you already know, a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck south of Julian, a quaint alpine town on the border of the Anza Borrego desert and the apple pie capital of the west, on Monday. It was the strongest earthquake to hit San Diego County since 2010. I bought our hilltop in early 2012. The history of San Diego Earthquakes is more significant than I realized, dating back centuries, though it experiences fewer major…

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Politics

Pure Evil

A profound question for the ages that has challenged philosophers, theologians, and thinkers across cultures and throughout history is why evil exists. There are several perspectives on why evil exists. From a theological standpoint, many traditions grapple with the “problem of evil” – how to reconcile the existence of suffering with an all-powerful, all-knowing, and benevolent deity. Some propose that evil is the necessary consequence of free will, allowing humans to make moral choices. Others…

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Memoir

Fruit Trees I Have Known

I remember when my mother first retired in the mid-1980’s, she rented a small house in Las Vegas to be near my sister and her young family. The thing she liked best about the house was that there were several fruit trees in the back yard that yielded plums and nectarines for her. I remember wondering why that was such a big deal since there were plenty of those fruits available at the supermarket. But…

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Memoir Politics

How Does This Happen?

A few months ago I mentioned in one of my stories that one of Donald Trump’s golfing pals, Steve Witkoff was a shocking choice to me as the new Middle East negotiator on the Israeli/Gaza situation. I likened in to the equally shocking choice of Jerrod Kushner for that role in Trump’s first administration. Of course, Jerrod got what he wanted from the gig after the Emirates and Saudi Arabia (via his big bud, MBS)…

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