(Pandora’s Box missile launch system. ) It was the best of times and the worst of times…wait a minute; that has been used someplace. Let me try it a different way. It was a good day tinged with the sepia of coming change. Someone said it had been the best day of the Washington summer, […]

Sorry about the hacking yesterday. Don’t click on links. We will see if I have to shut this account down. Change your passwords frequently. Take your castor oil. Eat your peas. I was going to tell you about Doc’s battle with the implacable government today, but we lost another hero. It is purely coincidence that […]

(Willow warm Guerierre Cheese Puffs. Photo Socotra.) “You would have to blame Bush, you know?” I looked with envy at the warm Guerrierre cheese puffs pastries on the Willow Bar. Old Jim, his brother-in-law Nick and his long-suffering bride Mary were seated up the mahogany from me, and making a dinner off the $5 neighborhood […]

(T. Boone Pickens in the doorway of his ranch. Photo Pickens Army.) “A fool with a plan is better than a genius with no plan, and we look like fools without a plan.” -Mesa Oil founder, billionaire and unlikely environmental activist T. Boone Pickens Ack, it’s Monday. Hate it. I looked back on the weekend […]

(ENS Socotra at left, having received his certificate of completion from NIOBC in accordance with NETC regulations. Photo Socotra.) It was a huge weekend. It cascaded from bright sunshine at the beach on Friday morning to dark clouds on Sunday. I woke Friday to the sound of a Jodie Call from a formation of naval […]

(AOL is hosed up this morning, gentle readers, so imagine that attachment 1 goes here for important foreshadowing.) It was so delightful a day yesterday that it was hard to believe that the market had lurched into near panic again. I wasn’t panicked; I was preoccupied with sending frantic e-mails about some rare new business […]

(Butter Poached Lobster Tail & Lobster Ravioli with Creamy Fennel Gratin, Savory & Sherry Lobster Sauce. The Lovely Bea and Jon-with -no-H’s cocktails, courtesy of Big Jim complete the tableaux. Photo Socotra. It did not look like this for long.) Well, the Government did it to us last night. A “request for proposal” dropped on […]

(Big Jim the phlegmatic Willow bartender whipped these fish tacos up personally. Photo Socotra.) My associate was beaten up from proposal work. The crazy gyrations of the Government this year- continuing resolutions, course changes and policy uncertainty- have made this a weird season. There are supposed to be Task Orders coming out this week, first […]

(Image courtesy the American Laundry News) “Hard day in Afghanistan yesterday. We lost a special forces helicopter carrying our amazing Navy SEALS. They are the best of us all. Everyone’s thoughts and prayers go to their families.”  –  Admiral James Stavridis on his Facebook page Sunday morning I was deeply saddened about the loss of […]

The news of the Chinook crash in Afghanistan is depressing. 25 Americans- SEALS, apparently- and a half-dozen Afghan soldiers perished in the single most deadly event of a long war filled with them. Crap. That was unexpected. The other crap, well, I don’t think this is surprising. IN fact, it fills me with a certain […]