My pal The Good Doctor probably smiled this morning with the news that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, architect of the East Africa Embassy bombings, was shot dead at a checkpoint in Mogadishu. It was local gendarmerie who settled his hash. Apparently the mastermind got lost, and this had nothing whatsoever with the CIA or JTF-Horn of […]

(The Lovely Aimee and Annook’s Revenge. Photo Socotra of Socotra.) I had lost one cuff link and the black tie by the time I got to Willow. I have no idea about either. I do not think I wrecked the Hubrismobile- I assume it is in the garage and there were no public safety personnel […]

(Villa of Mon Repose Palace, Corfu, Greece. Photo Wikipedia.) The Duke of Edinburough and I don’t have a great deal in common. He is tall guy, for a Greek, and looks more Scandinavian, though some might say German, if that didn’t have so much negative baggage over the ninety years the Prince Consort has been […]

(Jill St. John, Leonid Brezhnev and Dick Nixon.) I was sitting and talking to Old Jim at the end of the Willow Bar. It was fiercely and oppressively hot outside, and people in Arlington were acting out. Pedestrians were walking out in the crosswalks against the light, motorists were honking wildly and I saw more […]

(The new Willow Waif coasters at the bar. What are writers supposed to take notes on? Photo Socotra.) Everyone was bracing for what is going to come at the end of the week. Mother Nature is going to open up a can of humidity and warmth- the heat index is supposed to spike up over […]

(Garage of the house in the Little Village by the Bay. Photo Annook.) She cried. Damn. From all the traffic I read through the day on all the devices, and through the phone calls I received it was apparent that Annook had a busy day. It was bizarre. All the calls happened in pairs; no […]

(Captain “Dick” Gile, USAF, 1944, at Lavenham, East Anglia around the time of D-Day.) I suppose it is a good thing, from a public health perspective, that they have banned smoking in bars, but the scribbling on the napkins made me want to light up a Lucky. I put down my pen and looked over […]

(The Nebraska Avenue Complex in NW DC. Building 3801 is to the upper right. Photo GlobeXplorer.) “I am headed up to NSA tomorrow,” declared Mac. “They have asked me to talk about Station Hypo at Pearl, and the contributions of code-breaking to the victory at Midway.” “That is Saturday the 4th, right?” I said, waving […]

(Big Mama’s beloved 1998 Dodge Stratus ES. Photo Brown Motors.) Editor’s note: I could barrage you with two stories this morning, but instead will uncharacteristically refrain. What follows is the latest chapter of the continuing adventure of the latest visit to Raven and Big Mama, residents of the Little Village By the Bay, and the […]

(Mac and the Lovely Bea at the Willow Bar. Photo Socotra.) Well, some of you expressed concern about the lack of a story yesterday. Many more were relieved to not have to hit the “delete” button. But Mac was mildly concerned, and he said so as I slid onto a bar stool next to him, […]