There is a traditional toast to those departing a seafaring command. It is akin to the Irish landsman’s blessing: “May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet […]

(Tracy “O’Grady and Husband Brian. Photo Socotra.) I ordered flowers for Raven’s birthday as I waited for the factory whistle to blow at the office high above North Glebe Road. I want there to be something delivered to him on his 89th birthday. I scheduled the delivery for Saturday, two days before the actual day, […]

(USS Drum at Mare Island, 1944. US Navy Photo.) I feel a little giddy this morning, as I am sure you do as well. According to radio and press accounts, we stand on the verge of doing something about the continuing Constitutional crisis. Of course, we are not quite sure what it is, any more […]

(Soviet film director Sergie Eisenstein.) My Russian Natasha told me to order a copy of Sergie Eisenstein’s film “October” from NetFlix. I complied, and it has been sitting on in the pile on the media center for months- maybe since last October, I don’t know. I got energized, though, since I am in a minor […]

(Late Chanteuse Amy “Wineglass.”  Photo UPI) Europe has begun to question the sanity of the debate in Washington, which ought to come as no particular surprise. A pal send me a note that quoted Vince Cable, a Conservative member of Prime Minister David Cameron’s cabinet (and Hillary Clinton’s opposite number) as saying a deal on […]

(Santa with a cool IPA at the Amen Corner at Willow. Photo Socotra.) Jerry B. Harvey was not at Willow last night. Jerry could have been, though, since he is a professor of management science at the George Washington University right here in Your Nation’s Capital. He is a smart guy, and I thought about […]

(Theatrical Poster of the Ed Wood film “Plan 9 From Outer Space.) Oh, yeah. Sunny skies and low humidity- baby, the summer doesn’t get any better. They say the swelter will be back, just like the crisis downtown, but we can push it back a few days. I have no idea what they think they […]

(President Warren Gamaliel Harding. Widely known as one of the worst presidents, and certainly the worst from Ohio, his “make no enemies” campaign strategy made him the compromise choice for the GOP nomination in 1920. He promised a return to “normalcy,” whatever that might be, and encouraged an “America first” campaign focused on jobs and […]

(Mac on the rebound. Photo Socotra.) Sunday was not as awful as it could have been. No great progress on the continuing budget crisis, or so it seems, and the wet soaking blanket of humidity continued to drape over the capital. It is enervating weather, sucking the energy out of my pores and causing me […]

  (ADM Noel Gayler in his office at Camp Smith, HI, 1976. An authentic hero and warrior, he was proud of being the first no-nucs officer to head the Pacific Command. Photo New York Times.) It has been so hot the last few days that I think my brain softened. I saw the note in […]