Mind the Gap Those of you who have spent time in London and ridden the Underground (subway) there, you are familiar with some of the Britishisms that one encounters. If you are on the street, you are familiar with the “Look Right” or “Look Left” designations on the curbs that are intended to remind pedestrians that road traffic travels in the opposite direction than what is familiar to most people who live in right-hand drive…
Relief I think I speak for Kim as well when I say that I am very tired of politics. I have spent a lifetime ignoring politics even though I lived through some pretty turbulent times. My first election at the ripe old age of eighteen was the 1972 election that set the stage for the era of Watergate hijinx and Nixon. The big political issues were war and economy (Vietnam and Stagflation). Fifty years later…
Going to the Mountain I still feel new to my hilltop after three years here full time. It’s days like today that make me feel that way and stare in wonder at the beauty of the distant views. It forces me to remind myself that views may be one of the secrets to the universe. If you are a believer, like I am, that state of mind drives everything, very few things other than perhaps…
Bell Ringing We are only two weeks away from starting the official holiday season. I know I have discussed how much the season gets pushed forward on us by commercial interests and that’s all fine since we can each choose to ignore it if it offends us. But during Thanksgiving week, there is no avoiding the advent of Advent. We have our favorite holiday movies, which do not count the countless Hallmark movies that Kim…
A Precious Gift In 2014, someone decided to make yet another movie about the biblical apocalypse of the great flood. They gathered Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins and Emma Watson to play out the story of Noah. First interesting choice made by Director Darren Arofonsky, perhaps due to the presence on set of the fabled Sir Anthony Hopkins, the classical Shakespearean actor who trained under Sir Laurence Olivier and was guided by the craft…
Oh What a Night! I know what you’re thinking and you are wrong. This story is NOT about the election that was held across the country yesterday. While many pundits are saying that Democrats are thrilled to have held off the infamous red wave, I feel that there is simply too much to not be proud of in our national state of political play to crow about too much this morning. The only comment I…
From the Depths I came back to my hilltop last week with a cold. It wasn’t COVID, it was a cold. I tested for COVID on Tuesday morning and again (COVID can be a tricky bastard) yesterday…Monday…since we had guests coming and I felt I owed it to them to be sure of my infectiousness. I had also heard from friend Gary in West Hollywood that what he had thought was a cold upon returning…
Worlds Colliding We have an interesting week ahead. Some of it was of our doing, some of it is due to the state of the world. And some of it is just random happenstance. But it all comes together to create a week that we feel the need to rest up this weekend for. So tomorrow is the calm before the storm…but not really entirely. I have another one of those expert witness cases that…
Deflated Balloons I have this digital picture frame on my desk that was given to me three years ago by my daughter as a clear message that I not forget her or her children as Kim and I moved away to our West Coast hilltop. The only people that upload pictures to the digital file that cycles through the digital device, called a Nixplay, are Carolyn and myself. It sits in the alcove where my…
Corruption There are certain themes that dredge up lots of memories and sentiments. The sad state of affairs in life in general is that the word corruption is one such theme. Corruption is most often used to describe fraudulent or dishonest conduct and is most often associated with that act being undertaken by someone in a powerful or otherwise trusted position. I have always considered myself a trusting person. I like to think that I…