So, it was the second to last Friday at Willow, and the place was rocking. Heather was working her ass off, rushing around, trying to take care of the needs of the crowd on the patio out front. Jasper was helping out and Frankie and Marvin were shoveling craft beer and wine and cocktails over […]

It was about this time, fourteen years ago, that I was having the usual morning meeting on the 6th Floor of the Original Headquarters Building on the Langley campus. It was a glorious morning, weather wise, just like today. Funny how that is a big part of what I remember. Back then many people kept […]

OK, so the hard news has been internalized and the sadness has been replaced by a sort of semi-delusional defiance. The usual suspects rallied Tuesday night in solidarity, and the bar crowd last night was big enough that there were no seats. I told Heather I was going to take my stool on the 19th, […]

It was a strange, sad and surreal afternoon as the Amen Corner slowly filled up. The “reserved”” sign was in front of my stool, and I slipped it in the basket with the napkin-wrapped silverware on the other side of the bar. We had a chance to talk to Tracey and Brian and Kate, and […]

(Here is an example of what Dad did at AMC- the trademark “R” in Rambler (and on the grill of the monorail) is one of his contributions. Photo Socotra). I am jazzed about the project we just took on. I am not going to get all bogged down in discussing The Big Secret, nor describe […]

I used to have trouble with the periodic polygraphs associated with the career I enjoyed all those years. The guy- or worse, the gal- with the Box would ask if I had ever given secrets to someone not entitled to receive them. “Of course,” I would say. “I am an intelligence officer. That is what […]

I am sunburned and a bit woozy from the hours in the sun at College Park for the opening game of the season that pitted the Terps against the Richmond Spiders. The fact that it is the first serious burn indicates I have been better than usual in the struggle against melanoma, but the duration […]

(Holly is back behind the bar at Willow after an absence to pursue other opportunities. She is posing with the salt and pepper grinder that we regulars at the bar believe is more useful- and talented- than NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Photo Socotra). Sorry about dwelling on the astonishing nature of the threats to our […]

I was tinkering with some common threats this morning and the time quite got away from me. I really wanted to be writing about pastel cars or something practical, but this one has been bugging me. There are only a few things that are more dangerous that major weather events, which can create short-term paralysis […]

(1957 Dodge Custom). The Fifties were an exuberant time. Space-age atomic styling was the rage- we have talked about “Googie” architecture before- all teardrops and bold elliptical shapes in drive in restaurants and other projects that connected America on wheels to a glittering future. America was thriving in its post-war recovery, so unlike the sclerotic […]