We may be feeling the first part of the title this morning. ‘Callous’ is a great word. At the root, it means ‘ hard,’ like the thick skin that builds up on a working finger. We used to work, so we understand a bit about that aspect. But of course it also can mean insensitive, […]

If you lived it, this was a somewhat similar morning to this on 23 years ago. The sky was clear like it is today. Temperature is cool but comfortable. For those who went to work in Manhattan or over at the Pentagon or in that field in Pennsylvania- we have been to all three locations, […]

You noticed we deliberately avoided the punditry this morning. Section Leader DeMille letting Meat keep the grill cool and ordered breakfast delivery from Punera which was a relief. Nice croissants with some folded egg, frommage and sausage was the approach to safe digestion of the accounts appearing on the tablets next to the still-steaming mugs […]

Got lost at the Podiatrist, a formerly routine local errand now assuming different proportions due to changing times. Word came in that a concert had been cancelled at the Hollywood Bowl due to a “brief blackout” that also disrupted a USC football game at the Coliseum. We were comforted by the announcement from the mayor’s […]

It’s nine-oh-nine, a cheery sounding welcome to the new season! It is clear a rising bright out on The Patio near the HQ and the mugs of Chock full O’ Nuts were not yet cooled against the brisk temps in the low fifties. It was a day filled with prospects and opportunities. Some of us […]

Well, it was chill out on the patio with the first light rising under clear Sunday skies. The first Marlboro- one of the lighter ones that is as much a decorative time marker as a vice- helped set the ambiguous stage of this chaotic change of season. Congress is back, though it is the new […]

Morning! We start with Ed’s remarks about numbers, since it is relevant to discussions about all sorts of things soon to come. The number of days left before some other important things is just one of them: three more until the Debate, twenty-three to the Government Shut down now being discussed, and fifty-eight until the […]

Congress is seated again, Gentle Readers, or at least wandering around as both the House and Senate open for business today. The spokespersons claim they will attempt to order our affairs for the Fall. It therefore behooves us to recall the abive words of Mr. Twain amid a historic couple months of domestic and world […]

It is funny- The Creative Section at Socotra House got our start without any intention of so doing. We were on Midway in the IO when the embassy got taken in Tehran. We were afloat in the North Arabian Sea, out of sight of land for more than three months. Similar to what they are […]

You might recall the title of the book as something different. Modestly different. The original was borrowed from the surreal old comedy troupe “The Firesign Theater” in their signature album. That was (33RPM “Long Play”) Nick Danger from the late 1960s. The book we are talking about wasn’t about the Firesign version, or not exactly, […]