Buck Naked The human form has inspired many artists and writers over the millennia, and yet, humans are the only species that have found it necessary to work hard to drape that form with coverings and clothing. From our perusal of the pages of National Geographic when we were young and rooting around in the basement, we learned that primitive man seemed less inclined to cover the human form as much as we in civilized…
COVID-Free At Last Last Saturday I had my second dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine and after only about an hour’s worth of chills and slightly elevated temperature, I have been fit as a fiddle. The event of the vaccination, which I did in the idyllic burg of La Jolla was really a non-event. I parked in a nice parking structure, walked on serene pathways following big COVID Vaccination signs to a large and airy building…
The Totems of My Life I am not certain why or how it has happened, but I am surrounded by totems. They mean everything and yet they mean nothing at all. Just this week, Kim gave me a birthday/anniversary/Valentines gift she had had made for me by her favorite gift store in New York, named Domus on West 44th Street in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen. In Ancient Rome, a domus was a distinguished house…
Lunch With Ralph A few months ago I wrote about finding out I had a new half-sister. From that encounter (we have been in touch several times via text), one of my other half-sisters found a long lost half-brother in the online world. His name is Ralph and he is two years younger than me. It seems our father spread his seed far and wide across California, Mexico and perhaps even in Venezuela, where he…
Turning the Corner The deck, the deck, my kingdom for a deck. It has been eleven weeks since the work started on this damnable deck renovation. I had originally estimated (I thought conservatively) that it would take eight weeks. It now looks like I will be lucky if it is finished in thirteen weeks. That is a full quarter of a year, in this case the months of December, January and February. That’s a long…
Getting Ornery Have you ever woken up on the wrong side of bed and had your day go sideways from there? I’m betting everyone can relate to that sensation. Well, this morning as I struggled to get out from under my new heavy blanket (that thing is headed for the sofa today on the theory that it does little good for my sleep in bed, but might help Kim or me nap better on the…
Hear Me Roar There is a little movie out there that has some great stars in it, but only ever did less than $50 million in box office receipts, so was not widely seen. It is called Secondhand Lions and starred Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Haley Joel Osment and Kyra Sedgwick. It was written and directed by an obscure Tim McCanlies who’s only other claim to fame was the Iron Giant animated film. The film…
A Haircut for Betty Betty, Betty, Betty. You’ve been with us for five months now and I think it’s fair to say that your recuperation is complete. Your teeth are fixed. Your eyes are fixed. Your diabetes is more or less fixed. You still cringe when someone tries to pet you or, worse yet, pick you up. If that doesn’t happen in the right way, you get kinda nervous and maybe pee just a squirt…
Double New Yorker I wish the New Yorker magazine treated its subscribers like American Express has chosen to, with a designation on the card that declares “Member Since 1976”. I must admit, I am proud of that designation. And here is the thing, in the forty-five years of my membership, I have never once not paid the AMEX bill in full every month. It used to be that there was no choice to do otherwise,…
The Hill We Climb I know what you’re thinking. My constant references to my life on this hilltop and the fact that I spend a lot of my day exercising on my own personal stairclimber going up and down the hills to work on projects and generally do chores. So, it is not hard to surmise that the hill I climb is covered in dirt and rocks with an occasional succulent to step over. But…