TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read What was cool about Monday's total eclipse of the Sun was that 1) people I would not have expected to be excited were, and 2) I joined them. All despite not having anything but beautiful - and mostly un-dimmed - sunshine here in SF. So I will put off my usual bullshit and share with you what I was fortun...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Happy Monday and major thanks to Steven Simon for forwarding this Substack newsletter to me. It was written and published by Jeff Jackson, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina. I am leaving his party affiliation out of this, because I don't care if this guy were Martian: Can ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 8 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the tenth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Arthur Moves In I don't really know how it worked out, but when we vacated our apartment in SF from May through August, one of my best f...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Disclaimer: I fully acknowledge I don't have children and thus can't truly understand the challenges faced in parenting. But what follows makes a lot of sense to this outside observer. Many of us of a certain age vacillate between amusement and disgust at how others of a different, younger age must hold ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Monday. Put simply, I am not in the Saint Ronnie club. You know, the one consisting of those who deify President Ronald Reagan and insist he's in the league of Lincoln or either Roosevelt, to name three of our greatest leaders. I was and remain no fan and blame him for the shift towards socialism f...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 7 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the ninth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Git 'er Done Holy shit, now I had to do it. Planning is one thing, execution is something else. Were we ready? Was I ready? Although we had starte...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read I am an early riser, and one of the first things I do after pushing the Nespresso button is look at The Economist website to see what's happening. I like its international focus: US news only leads if it's something big. Like a major bridge collapsing; I read this around 4AM PDT yesterday, or a little m...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Happy Monday and it's been a whirlwind of a visit to Dallas for your author. Many thanks to cool kid Kevin Monza for a Killer long weekend in the Big D. Let's start the week with a reminder of what freedom of speech means. Elon Musk and those like him who wish to confuse us often distort this Constitutio...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read A quick note: This morning I depart for Dallas for a long weekend with the Metroplex playboy Kevin Monza, returning on Monday. Micro Travel Guide? Perhaps. But for now, Happy Friday, and this is the eighth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapte...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 3 Minute Read Here is a warning for any flag-huggers reading this: Today's post contains criticism of the United States. And also a lot of photos. With that out of the way, please consider the following from history. • The Cold War • Psychological and Drug Warfare • Richard Nixon • Media Manipulation • Joseph McCarthy...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <1 Minute Read Good morning and happy Monday. Sure, I fantasize about being a professional writer, vs. whatever it is you want to call this shit show. But that doesn't mean I don't know what real writing is. As evidence, everyone gets a break today. You from my droning, me from having to pretend I can write. Instead, ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 8 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the seventh installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 This is Hardcore Despite living it, I remain somewhat amazed at what we did in just 3 weeks in March of 1998. We worked, too. But we'll get back to that soon. I fle...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Despite my advocacy for them to now gracefully exit the stage, I will always be a huge fan of The Rolling Stones, for many reasons. Don't worry, I'm only going to cover 34 or 35 of those today. Oh, and Happy Wednesday. Kidding. I only need one reason, and it's the new record from these geriatric legends....

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 4 Minute Read Happy Monday, and how about some useful information to start your week? A nice break from the font of narcissism typically showcased here 3 times a week? Sorry, not so fast - this is still tangentially about my favorite subject. Indeed, it is a follow-up to The World's Most Expensive Man is Dead post, bu...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the sixth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Get Wired And Decide You can see it was time to get to work. And yes, that is what February and March of 1998 were all about. Mostly. I still can picture Julie joining me at R...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Happy Wednesday and it is great to be back in San Francisco. As you might have noticed, I tend to be a bit of a cheerleader for my beloved SF. That was never more true than on my recent trip to Hoboken and Tupper Lake. I took every occasion to do my "those that bet against San Francisco always lose" rou...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read While it probably seems longer, it is 3 years tomorrow that I began this blog. A couple of months later, a companion website. Swag, too. Of course, there is swag! But it wasn't all vile commercialism: I built an AI art gallery, after all. There have been a total of 502 posts in the process, and 476 trac...

Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, Part I Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, Part II Portico Darwin: Lottery Winner, The Electrifying Conclusion

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the fifth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 It Snows in London and The Royal Horseguards Doesn't Suck I know because, after the Seaco team visited San Francisco, I was soon asked to come to London in December of 1997, and again i...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Hello Hump Day and not to worry: Julie and I are doing great, nor am I going to prison. Indeed, it feels like just yesterday (albeit in dog years) that we got married. I kid my wife but I think she'd agree occasional time apart is not a bad thing, after almost 35 years together. So that is how I find mys...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Happy Monday, and happy break from the orgy of self-revelation that is my London Calling series. Today's post is about a trick at San Francisco International Airport. I used it just yesterday on my way to Tupper Lake (via Hoboken last night) and it continues to impress. Here it is: The Short-Term Parking...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the fourth installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 A British Invasion Welcomed by Yanks Seaco's due diligence trip to Genstar's HQ in San Francisco did much to cement me and others into the picture. For one, we drank together, both in SF and also...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read Some may find it shocking that I am well into a full week here in Sonoma, yet have not bragged nor otherwise gone on about it. That all ends now, but it's not what you think. Motivated by my surroundings, I am pleased to present the virtue-signaling and decidedly pompous: Portico Darwin Simple Guide to ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read I had a light, informative post for the start of the week, but that will have to wait until Wednesday. I've written previously about corruption, guns, and election reform in America. I stand by each post. But another mass shooting made me realize the issue isn't the guns. There is also no red or blue ti...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the third installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Welcome to Our World In between our due diligence trip to London in October of 1997 and Seaco's own to San Francisco a few weeks later, rumors internally at Genstar were running rampant. Although I was not ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 1 Minute Read Happy Valentine's Day. Let's dance. But before anyone asks, no, I do not know who this happy woman is, although this photo was in my parents' ginormous collection of 35mm slides, the best of which I scanned a while back. Like this one. Because, look: I have been to my share of parties. A shocker, yes, bu...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <2 Minute Read What Super Bowl? It feels like a bad dream. But happy Monday regardless. And let's take a break from the barrage of me. You're so very welcome, but when you see today's alternative, you might just long for the next chapter of London Calling. And don't panic: Today's post does not signal a return to my "...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 5 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the second installment of London Calling. But before that gets started: OK. Here we go. Upper Ground and Upper Class (Non-Virgin Atlantic Variety) I had worked for Ernst & Young in Houston in the early 1990s (so in both their and client Chevron's fancy towers downtown) and had a...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 2 Minute Read Happy Wednesday, and as if London Calling isn't enough, let me today share an outcome of our recent engagement with a certified financial planner, the fiduciary Heather Liston. Here it is: The World's Most Expensive Man is Dead. Or, in other words, the diamond man is now the lab-grown diamond man. Some b...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS <3 Minute Read Happy Monday, but I will say I am a bit unnerved by the prospect of a widening conflict in the Middle East. Us attacking Iranian proxies in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen over the weekend, while completely justified in the mind of this diplomat, could still send the region into full-tilt war. With the United St...