(Oliver Hazard Perry shifts his colors from USS Lawrence to Niagra, War of 1812. Photo Naval Academy.)   Well, you could go watch Greece melt down this weekend, or ignore the lies, half-truths and general crap spewing from the Continent and the Campaign and do something fun.   My Guardian Ensign has agreed to drive […]

I had two martinis at around what used to be the cocktail hour and drifted off to sleep for an hour or two on top of the covers after the big trial run to Move the Bluesmobile and navigate on the crutches around Big Pink. This convalescence is screwing up my drinking. It is too […]

(George Stephanopoulos on set. Photo ABC News. I think that used to be a network.) I have to move the car today. The leaflet from the box told me in no uncertain terms that the re-paving people are coming to do half the parking lot, and if the Bluesmobile is still parked proudly near the […]

(70th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway coins from USPACOM and COMFACFLT, with macadamia nuts and dried peaches. Photo Socotra.) Kimo was in town on other business- important stuff, dealing with aging family and surgery and you can imagine how well attuned to his circumstances I was. Except that I was on the other side […]

Special Characters(The hierarchy of commercial air passengers. Image by Sergio Poqanho and rights to the NY Times.)It is Day 18 of the healing process. Boring. I could talk about health care, I suppose, but that is way too close to navel-gazing and I refuse to wallow in the might-have-beens. Forward! I heard that somewhere, recently, […]

(Etneded forecast of central Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. Image courtesy of The Weather Channel.)   I got stabbed in the heart while seated in my wheelchair at the dining table. It was a reminder from the flower shop in the Little Village By the Bay about Mom’s birthday. I always sent flowers for that event, […]

(Former stainless staples now in gull-wing configuration and removed from my flesh. Photo Socotra.)   I saw the face of medical care coming at us. It wasn’t a Death Panel, per se, but I was pretty interested in what I heard. It is not so much about health as it is about resources. If you […]

  (David Sanger and his new book. Photo New York Times.)   David Sanger has a new book out. He is a thirty-year veteran reporter with the sadly diminished New York Times, and his street creds are impressive on the Washington beat. He has seven years as the Gray Lady’s White House correspondent, during which of course […]

(Low clouds above entrenched German resistance at Omaha Beach.)   There is a bunch of stuff to talk about this morning, but I don’t feel like delving too far into the present. It is messy, lacks any demonstration of courage, and the portents are uncertain. Only in that does this morning share much with the […]

(An image of a younger Elizabeth, in commemoration of her Diamond Jubilee.)   It is the day between- the dates that even at this distance ring with the poignancy of sacrifice. The Battle of Midway was concluding this day, with doomed ships and crews going down under the flags of Imperial Japan and The United […]