The Charlie Kirk killing has spawned a good deal of controversy, some about the underlying ideology he espoused and some about the reaction that has come forth on the event of his death. His death seems to have reawakened lots of opinions about things he has said and those thoughts have shifted from the debate stage he so enjoyed to today’s most popular forum, social media. The result has been a lashing out by the…
Traditional wedding vows have evolved over centuries and vary by religious tradition and culture. Christian/Anglican tradition (from the Book of Common Prayer, dating to 1549) is “To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.” This is clearly the vow most of us know best. The Catholic tradition is somewhat different and…
I’ve never thought of myself as either a greedy bugger or a particularly jealous soul. Moses came down from Mount Sinai where he received the Ten Commandments according to the biblical account in Exodus. This occurred during the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt and after they were freed from servitude from the yoke of Pharaoh Ramesses the Great. The story describes Moses ascending the mountain where God gave him the…
Last night I had dinner with two of my favorite people in the whole world, Terry & Paula. I met Terry 27 years ago when I invested in a business he was running. I remember him telling our group of investors that his business was for $50 million. We eventually settled on investing at a $20 million valuation. Terry seems unusually dispassionate about everything during the negotiations. There was no apparent emotion in his business…
At 4am this morning, Kim caught an Uber to San Diego Airport to take the early Delta flight to NYC. I do not envy her her time in JFK Terminal 4, my least favorite airport terminal in the world. My next trip to NYC, which will be in eleven days, will be on the less convenient Jet Blue flight, which at least will put me into Terminal 5, which is far more manageable even though…
The Heart is a world premiere musical currently running at La Jolla Playhouse. Kim’s and I are members of La Jolla Playhouse and attend most performances. It is as close to Broadway as you can get on the west coast and we regularly see shows that should and sometimes do go on to Broadway since this is one of the main feeder theaters for the Great White Way. This nickname for Broadway comes from the…
My daily writing generally has a flow based on what is going on in the world around me that most affects me on any given day. I have no quarrel with that approach since I long ago decided that I write for my own reasons and am decidedly not grinding any sort of axe with these blog stories. That said, anyone who knows me knows that I am a man of many opinions and am…
Kim and I find ourselves talking about our toy poodle, Buddy, with people who have come over for the first time and just met him, invoking a somewhat apologetic manner since Buddy can be a bit of a handful. We find ourselves saying that when we got him two years ago he was much worse and that he has really mellowed out over that time. Clearly, Buddy is getting more mature and is now a…
Kindness appears to emerge from multiple interconnected sources, both biological and cultural. From an evolutionary perspective, kindness likely developed because cooperation and mutual aid increased survival chances for our ancestors. We see similar prosocial behaviors across many species – empathy, reciprocal altruism, and care for group members. Our brains seem wired with capacity for empathy through mirror neurons and emotional contagion, allowing us to feel something of what others experience. There’s also a developmental dimension.…
How do you weather a storm? You hunker down. “Hunkering down” means to settle in and prepare to wait out a difficult or challenging situation. It comes from the physical position of crouching or squatting down low for protection or stability. The phrase is used in several contexts. It is most commonly used in a weather-related context. Staying indoors and preparing for storms, hurricanes, blizzards, or other severe weather by stocking up on supplies and…