Rosie is not reading this book. But she is helping out. Read on. Recently I went to some Homo sapiens events with Rosie, my steadfast canine companion. They weren't billed as dog-friendly events, but such is my arrogance (or confidence) that I thought nothing of making Rosie my date. It helped, of course, that I …
November 23, 2003: “Rosie is not reading this book…” Read More »
I feel pretty certain that the men and women who have finagled their way into the offices of governance and power will not be judged well by history.
I was filling up my tank at the local Getty station, and I noticed the Powerball lottery was up to 47 million dollars. Which got me thinking—what would I do with net 23 million dollars? By the time I got inside to pay, I had decided that winning all that money wouldn't be worth it. …
I was filling up my tank at the local Getty station… Read More »
I'm the innocent bystander Somehow I got stuck Between the rock and the hard place And I'm down on my luck… -from "Lawyers, Guns and Money" by Warren Zevon It's been years since I have been able to muster up much enthusiasm for any political candidate in this country. This did not result in what …
Mildly attending to the shenanigans of the so-called major candidates Read More »
No matter what I am writing about today (except maybe a note to my mother, "Warren who?") I have to say that Warren Zevon's passing is heartbreaking. I spent the day listening to a two CD anthology. I didn't feel so bad after that. I mean, "The gorilla at the LA Zoo took the glasses …
The deaths of Cuban musical legends Compay Segundo and Celia Cruz are vivid reminders of the large space taken up in my life by Cuba and its culture. Cruz's death was accompanied with the kind of notice Catholics usually reserve for deceased popes. In a truly odd twist The Washington Post noted her passing on …
The deaths of Cuban musical legends Compay Segundo and Celia Cruz Read More »
I do believe that a rainy day is a good day to extoll the life-extending capacities of the convertible automobile. And because I have already opined at length on the incapacity of millions of American automobile drivers in the preface to my automatically written (but as yet unpublished) memoir, Who's Listening?, I can now freely …
The life-extending capacities of the convertible automobile Read More »
As I was buying a gallon of milk for $1.99 at the Mobil gas station convenience store, I thought back to the days when George Bush's father was campaigning to keep his sinecure. He was apparently embarrassed by some pesky reporter who had inquired about what the price of milk was —this also might have …
My bad feelings about the younger Bush and his band of triumphalist Babbits Read More »
When anyone asks me what I do (though I can't remember the last time I was in the company of any strangers—that would be people I don't know—so thoroughly American), I now will answer solemnly, "I am a Revisionist Historian." I am still working out the job description, but a portion of my responsibilities will …
Summer reading as a category seems to me to be as legitimate as greeting-card holidays like Valentine's and Mother's Day. Graybeard Norman Mailer had it right when he was asked about his summer reading, "I read all year around." Despite this sensibility, that one would hope is shared by at least a few people, some …
