On My Sleeve It is said by Shakespeare that Iago, Othello’s less-than-faithful servant, wears his feelings on his sleeve. We all know what a crafty fellow Iago was, so it seems somewhat like a head-fake to think that he would be so obvious. And long before that, the Roman army, which strongly discouraged its legionnaires from marrying (presumably for fear that they would go less than all-out if they had something to lose), allowed…
Constable Osman Almost Gets a Promotion It was 7:00am on the first Sunday in October and Constable Osman of the Trafik Polisi Turkiye, Güneybatı Bölümü (Southwest District – covering the provinces of Izmir, Aydin and Muğla) woke up with a big headache. October was make or break month for his promotion to Sergeant and he really needed the extra 750 TL per month the promotion would give him since his wife was expecting a new…
The Angel’s Trumpet The best part about traveling with a diverse group of people is all the interesting tidbits of valuable information you gather along the way. Today was no exception even though one is reminded that it’s important to be discerning in what one chooses to believe or not. Mr. Ripley had it right when he collected his curios from around the world. It may not matter sometimes whether it’s true or not, but…
Surrendering to the Darkness I usually don’t credit people for giving me titles since I usually snatch unintended catch-phrases out of thin air and feel the person had no idea what they were saying. But this one is different. One of our intrepid motorcycle tour guides, Skip Mascorro, the founder of MotoDiscovery, gets the nod. I will fill in the details of the day in a bit, but as we were getting our final ride…
Water, Water Everywhere I think we all have our stories about water. I’m not talking about the sea or mountain lakes. By water I’m referring to that stuff we drink. I had never drunk water out of anything but the tap until 1965 when my family moved to a little town in Maine called Poland Spring. We spent three weeks at the Poland Spring Inn while our temporary house was being readied. I distinctly…
What, Me Worry? It was 1967 at Hebron Academy in south-central Maine. This small, but respected prep school was a dead ringer for the school in Dead Poets Society and I was attending as a freshman. I had somehow lucked into a single room on the third-floor northwest corner but there were another twenty freshmen boys on the floor and one teacher/proctor, Mr. Beauchamp. He was no Robin Williams, Captain, my Captain. He was…
Weinstein, Epstein, Trumpstein The Grammy Record of the Year for 1985 was Money for Nothing by Dire Straits, which goes: That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free Now that ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it Obviously, some guys don’t have everything workin’ right and the chicks just don’t seem to come for free. Speaking as a man who lusted after far…
Never Give Up NBC Sunday Today had a Sheryl Crow interview and discussed her career and life choices. She went from being a normal midwestern girl raised in a middle class lifestyle and choosing a normal school-teaching career, to being a Michael Jackson protege that launched her first platinum album in 1993. Somewhere along the golden path of Hollywood music success, Crow moved to Nashville and adopted some children so she could get back to…
A Big Girl’s Blouse I am thoroughly enjoying the shenanigans in the House of Commons. I can barely recall a U.S. news day with as much Parliamentary proceedings making the news as today. Then again, three lost votes (the first three votes) for a new Prime Minister sets Boris Johnson in the record books as the most controversial PM in the history of England. No one has ever lost a first, much less a…
When it’s Time This morning I have a mild headache brought on, most likely, by a stiff neck. Maybe it was from sleeping too long (I had a catch-up eight hours last night) or maybe it’s from driving a total of six hours yesterday with one full hour being in a blinding downpour. Then again, I played golf on Saturday for the first time in two years, and while the lower back stiffness has…