We’re Not In Kansas Anymore I worry about Kansas. My friend David bought the rights to a recent book about the life of Carry Nation, the hatchet-wielding leader of the temperance movement who was also a Suffragette. He asked me to write a treatment of the book for a possible movie. I did that and ended up learning more about Ms. Nation than I had intended. The project hasn’t gone anywhere just yet, but we’ll…
On The Precipice This morning as the sun rises once again through my live oak, I find myself wondering what’s next. What do you call pre-postpartum? For one reason or another, things have stacked up around here with an end-date of mid next week. The obvious event is the Tuesday national election that has been the subject of all of our viewing pleasure and speculation for the better part of two years now. And yet…
Perfection Redefined It is a cloudy and mildly rainy day here on the Escondido hilltop. To begin with, what brings all of this to mind this Sunday morning is that I have been awaiting this rain day for over ten days now. I know that by March I will be wondering what I was thinking wishing for rain, but to the best of my recollection, it hasn’t really rained here since April. I know that’s…
Backing Up On Ice Have you ever driven a car or truck with a trailer attached? And did you try to back-up with that trailer attached? I’ll bet almost everyone has at one time or another. It’s challenging the first time and it takes a long time for it to get less challenging. I’m sure a neurologist can explain why our brains are not wired to easily handle doing things in reverse with lots of…
My Heroes At different times of my life I have admired many different people for any number of qualities. When I was four and living in Santa Monica, I remember discussing my heroes of the moment, who were the firemen and policemen of the local forces. The German woman with the Hispanic-sounding first name (Maria) that had come with us from Venezuela to care for my sisters and me, fed into my hero-worship by inviting…
Sleepless in San Diego I must admit, I don’t get it. We are in the final days of a tumultuous national election cycle and people just aren’t acting in ways that make sense to me. There are certainly some predictable things going on with rats leaving the sinking Trump leaky dinghy of state. The list of people trying to distance themselves from the Loser-in-Chief was inevitable and happens regardless of the politics of the incumbent.…
A Peak Under the Covers Sometimes I jot down a title that grabs me and then I go back later to write the story that came to mind for which the title was intended. Every once in a while, I get caught up with life and I forget to write the story and the thought evaporates, leaving the title staring me in the face with no idea what I wanted to write about. And then…
A Regular Joe Four weeks from tomorrow will be an historic day for sure. I started my voting life while a college student in what seemed like a similarly monumental election. We were trying to mobilize a generation to move away from what we of that generation thought was an untrustworthy leader. We were at war and it was a very unpopular war. And of course, we all know now that Richard Nixon was, indeed…
They Call Me Benito If you are like me, there is only one person you associate with the name Benito and that name rhymes with Linguini. That particular Benito led the first fascist coup in 1922 that turned Italy to National Fascism and then spurred on his brethren like Adolph and Francisco to drive their own people into a lather over the next fifteen years. Il Duce, Das Fuhrer, El Caudillo all mean the same…
The Dripping Faucet No, I am not expanding my DIY repertoire from gardening and big household projects to routine handyman maintenance tips. I know what a washer is but I have no idea if new age faucets have the damn things. From the few Delta/Moen/Koehler ads I have seen that show the latest digital faucets with Alexa voice commands to “fill 17 milliliters of water, thank you”, I am presuming that even if I had…