Author: Vic Socotra

Coming Home in 1903

This is not Vic’s great grandfather, but he is the one who carried the Kodak portable camera, and was willing to turn with a smile when summoned. Creative Section Chief Miles Broadlawn told us to come up with something that described what a bourgeoise merchant might have done and seen on what was styled as […]

Images of Another Age

Images of Another Age

This was Vic’s great Aunt, the renowned Nellie Bly, nick-named for the intrepid lady aviatrix in the early age of flight. She retained that nickname beyond the recollection of anyone who knew her in a legal perspective. Vic waved his tablet that displayed the fruits of two Artificial Intelligence algorithms to demonstrate what the faded […]

First Pass: Long Shadows

First Pass: Long Shadows

Front Matter — Long ShadowsTitle Page LONG SHADOWSBy Vic Socotra Socotra House PressArlington, Virginia Copyright © 2025 Vic SocotraAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission […]

A Close Shave

A Close Shave

This was, at one point, an official US Navy picture of one-time grooming standards in the the Sea of Japan. The thought had been, as best we can reconstruct the reasoning, that after the loss of the Vietnam conflict, recognition should be made to the changed social standards back home. And make shipboard life a […]

BREAKING NEWS: LONG SHADOWS RESURFACES

BREAKING NEWS: LONG SHADOWS RESURFACES

Well, that is partly quite true, since he manuscript has been in the electronic clutches of the ChatGPT algorithm for twenty-five hours, routinely updating status to “3-5 minutes remaining.” Creative Section Chief Miles paid a call to DeMille,his predecessor in that job, to see if there might be past experience with a creative staff in […]

Fleet Week at The Trilliumv

Fleet Week at The Trilliumv

Morning, Shipmates! Busy morning coming up here at The Trillium, although not as busy as Fleet Week up in New York! The run up to our Memorial Day explains why the Mexican Navy’s Tall Ship Cuauhtémoc, was in New York and the tragic crash into the Brooklyn Bridge last Sunday, resulting in two fatalities and […]

Rough Riders

Rough Riders

The word about Truman’s entry to the Med came in through the dozen or so addressees in the Old Salt Collective distro. The Salts are as tough a lot as I have been privileged to know in this world, and their grizzle was earned in brilliant day and dusky night out on the World Ocean. […]

The Rains Doth Come

And they came- two inches worth-today. We had been dry, and God knows the consequences of itchy dry and a brisk wind and a spark in the night. So we will let the Santa Anna sleep for a while and get the green to grow as we head toward birthdays coming in June. There was […]

Situation Report: 07 April 2025

Just completed the Big Meeting which essentially said “Two weeks here in Woodbine if he continues therapy successfully unless an assisted living facility will take him sooner.” That is a pretty good bottom line but there are some other things flying around that need notation, at least. At the start of this Monday, Prime Minister […]