Twenty-Eight Klicks of Heaven You know what gets my goat? I am in the middle of our vacation in Turkey and I have managed to get into my riding state of mind. Focus on 150 feet in front for road condition, check the bike mechanical stats regularly (very easy with two thumb clicks on the new BMW 1200GS), make sure I know where Bob is in relation to me, all the regular things. I leave…
A Night to Remember This was a day for working our way down the Aegean coast of Turkey and enjoying the influence of Greek architecture and culture on these Asian lands. We began with a pleasant outdoor very Turkish breakfast with the lapping waters just a few steps away. The biggest event was the arrival of the replacement “Princess Van”. I do not want to get into describing automotive interiors with all this ancient grist…
Back in the Bul We arrived yesterday afternoon at the brand new Istanbul Airport. While I first came to Istanbul twenty-five years ago, I feel like I have had a crash course in Turkey in the past two years. When I came here several times between 1994-1998, it was while I was running Global Private Banking for Bankers Trust. We had a number of clients in Istanbul and I would spend most Friday’s and Saturday’s…
Bringing the Troops Home for Christmas Only 90 shopping days until Christmas! I usually treat holidays with a great deal of flexibility. My oldest kids’ mother, a lovely woman for whom I have the utmost of respect and affection, takes Christmas as seriously as she takes anything. This is a woman whose basement storage room shelves are neatly stacked with sealed plastic Container Store bins, properly labeled with each of the holidays (major ones and…
Home Town Heroes Kim and Lennie put on a show last night. One from Indiana and one from Missouri, giving tribute to their home states and all the song writers that came from, lived in or happened through their home states. They also indulged their mutual love for New York City and its vast array of song material, by singing a few of those tunes as well. I would like to take a moment…
World at War I am not talking about the fact that Iran flawlessly executed a drone attack on a major Saudi oil hub. I am not talking about President Trump simultaneously saying that he is anti-war and saying he is locked and loaded against Iran. I am not talking about Kim Jung Un rubbing his hands in glee even though he has never been to either Iran or Saudi Arabia, whispering to his robotic…
The Small Chill You may recall that in July, I shared a story about my old college friend Rob taking his own life. Today was the day his family decided to hold the memorial service at Rob’s home in rural Connecticut. Seven of us who went to Cornell with Rob decided to go (actually Rob, Laurey, Jeff, Ronnie, Cliff and I went to Cornell and Linda might as well have gone to Cornell since she…
Working My Way Back to Me I keep seeing this TV ad for Land Rover that highlights the Dragon Challenge in Hunan Province, China. Land Rover must be in advertising saturation mode since the ad is on all the time. It seems to be an amazing 99-switchback mountain road combined with a 999-step staircase going 45 degrees up the side of a mountain. In the commercial, the Range Rover Sport climbs straight up the…
Life is Beautiful Do you remember the 1997 Italian film by Roberto Benigni by the same name? You should, it was a Best Picture nominee and won Best Foreign Film and Best Actor for Benigni, who played the happy-go-lucky Guido, who guides his little son through the horrors of Nazi concentration camp life by making a game of it all. It is a poignant, funny, but ultimately sad movie that has a powerful and…
Dying Too Soon Today my youngest son and I went to go see a movie that had a lousy Rotten Tomatoes score of 43. I was skeptical of the score since the fan rating was 79 and it starred Julianne Moore, Billy Crudup and Michelle Williams. The movie was After the Wedding. It’s the story of a successful entrepreneurial woman (Moore) and her sculptor husband (Crudup) who wants to make a large charitable gift to…