I am thinking of the new fathers out there, specifically, Andy Jones in San Diego and Alden Michaels in Steamboat Springs. Enjoy yourselves - like my own father is here. Happy Father's Day, Andy and Alden. But also to Cardi A, Gunther Strobel, Bulleit Bob, Charles Clough, Foster Shula, Ned "Upstate" Darwin, Harrison Heinz (50th anniver...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Ukraine: I'm glad we're sending more weapons and money. We can't give up on them now. Like Trump's, Putin's actions must never happen again. I've created a large number of worthless lists for use here in this newsletter. But this? This could be my all-time least-useful. I don't care, because I find it interesting. Plu...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This is from my forthcoming children's book entitled Li'l Dean Goes to Washington. It is set in the very near future. “Dean was just a wee lad when his parents first took him to Washington D.C. for the summer of 2022, yet he was still old enough to be wowed by the splendor. And as he had been reading for a few years n...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS . . . than it must be true. Nothing less than Trump and his fellow traitors in leg irons will satisfy me. Oh - and there's this little tidbit. One can easily forget the appalling irony that the entire seditionary conspiracy was predicated on the lie that Democrats were doing what some Republicans actually WERE doing! ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Elephant in Room I have expressed myself many times regarding January 6: Trump and his fellow seditionists should be jailed, at a minimum, and immediately. The evidence is already overwhelming, and that includes on people like the traitor Ginni Thomas. The Republicans must come to their senses RIGHT NOW and help us re...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Thank you in advance for indulging me today. But, OK - I think this is it? October 2, 2019: Leave TEECOM November 2019 - March 13, 2020: 350+ Resumes sent; 1 job offer from LMG rejected (too much driving) March 2020 -> : Global COVID19 Pandemic October 2, 2020: Finish 2nd for dream job with The Presidio Trust October ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It has been over 100 days now since Russia invaded Ukraine. This is a terrible transition. My apologies. I am trying to be more positive. Because recently, David Brooks published a column in The New York Times where he compiled some famous tips for good living, from a variety of sources. He also added a few of his own...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Over the years, one of my many daft fantasies has been to start a political party. While I like my Oz friend Damon Hemingway's idea for a name - The Party Party - I came up with The REAL Party a long time ago, and I'm sticking with it. "REAL" is an acronym for: • Rational • Ethical • Actual • Leadership I think anyone...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Let me be clear, until this past Memorial Day, I had never even seen the original. While I consider Tom Cruise one of America's biggest movie stars (and a fine actor, to boot), I am not a big action movie nor homoerotic guy, so I had made it to 58+ and had somehow missed the glory that is 1986's "Top Gun". But I recti...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS If you pay careful attention to this blog, you know I have a penchant for high-quality headphones. In fact, there's a complete summary of everything I own (at least until just a couple of days ago) right here. There are some real winners on that list, and there's something for everyone, at all price points. My love of...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I am really at a loss. I do not just want to move on from Uvalde. But I have offered my proposal for rational gun control before. You can read it here. But please: do not assume me moving to a different topic as any sign this issue is in my - or our country's - rear-view mirror. The fever obsession with the Second Ame...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Ho hum. Another mass shooting, and this time, 19 school children and 2 teachers were murdered in cold blood. First black shoppers in Buffalo, and now Hispanic kids in Uvalde, Texas. I lay this directly at the (surely hideous) feet of Donald Trump. It is his normalizing of cruelty and racism that has led us to yet anot...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS The blog is back. Everyone can now resume their normal lives. My time away brought me to a number of locales, including Chicago, Tupper Lake, and my glorious hometown of Albany. Huge thanks to Steven Simon and his rock star wife, the gorgeous Stacey Moen Simon, for our two nights in Chicago at their Diamond Certified ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS In a development sure to be welcomed by many, I am taking a short break from publishing this blog. I will be back, tan, rested and ready, on Monday, May 23. While I'm on hiatus, I hope you'll take the time to consider the future of work. (Oh, the irony!) Or more precisely, where knowledge workers, creatives, etc. will...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS First, in honor of yesterday being Mother's Day, I hope you'll check in on the red tail hawk nest in The Presidio. The chicks get bigger every day, and what a privilege it is to witness these amazing animals in nature. Next: when the going gets tough (like now), a good American goes shopping! So, in light of my last t...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Why do some (OK, Republicans) say the biggest problem in America is the progress we've made? Or, as some have decided to call it: being "woke"? But what does woke mean? As recently as 5 years ago, a mentee (now a friend) called me that as a compliment, after I said something like "Until one acknowledges the harm thing...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Well, I had a typically wonderful blog all ready to roll for today - there was even a chart! You'll have to wait until Friday. Because, as I'm sure you've heard, the US Supreme Court looks poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, which has stood on the books for nearly 50 years. Shocker, but I have opinions of my own on the ma...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This whole go-after-Disney thing in Florida is bat-shit crazy - even by Florida standards. Here's why, in just two data points: 1. Corporations (rightly or wrongly) are treated as individuals in the US 2. As such, they are entitled to freedom of speech and freedom of expression Those items are not debatable. Therefore...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Two consecutive blogs with no politics or get off my lawn rants? Yes, it's true. You're welcome. Today, I will tell a fun, small-world story. If you ever take the several hours/days/weeks it takes to read my thrilling monograph about entrepreneurship, you'll learn that a big accelerant in my career trajectory was the ...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I often fret about being too political here too often, and also, unintentionally fomenting (among my thousands of readers) the division in the US that I want so very much to end. But it comes from caring and frankly, just not understanding what is happening around me. Mea culpa, but what to do? I know: how about a min...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS (Editor's Note: from now until the end of the war, each blog post will lead with the Ukrainian flag, a reminder that there is an active war in Europe, due to an unprovoked, unwarranted and inhuman attack by Russia. Russia must stop the war crimes and withdraw immediately. Putin should be tried in The Hague and execute...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Where they cook up this shit, I don't know, but I've been giggling incessantly - like a little girl - ever since some leading Republican voices have decided that a MAJOR problem in America is that well, men just can't be men any longer. Masculinity is under attack! And you were worried about Ukraine? There was Josh Ha...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS In my never-ending quest for relevance in retirement, I'm always looking for ways to channel my energy in to something positive. This blog and porticodarwin.com are one example. I also virtue signal via my volunteer efforts: I am currently with Veterans Launching Ventures. And I walk 5 miles in The Presidio just about...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS MAJOR NEWS FLASH: The red tail hawk chicks have hatched!!! If you watch the live stream for any period of time, you'll see the little guys! And if you really want to get emotional, not to mention completely blown away, watch this 8 minute clip of one hatching, while the other is being fed. We now return you to our reg...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS It's So Gay Longtime readers will know I occasionally shut up (shocker - for real) and turn the controls over to someone much smarter than I. And in this case, much more conservative. Here is a great essay by Ross Douthat on the current LGBT hubbub. Here is a link to a PDF if you hit a paywall. This is a superb summar...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Today is an aspirational post, and it's personal. But at least it's pretty long! Ever since my departure from TEECOM, I've been working on a few things: • Getting over my departure from TEECOM (!) • Staying relevant in retirement • Letting go of family baggage • Reducing my political and social pontificating, at least...

OVERVIEW With this, I am starting a new Travel Guide flavor, the Micro Travel Guide. These will cover shorter, less dramatic trips - yet ones that are still worthy of a serious mention, and also a place you might just want to check out. Like Oceanside, CA. Our visit was personal in nature - that being, meeting the new son of some close...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS I'll be publishing a micro Travel Guide for Oceanside soon. Until then, you've got to see the baby! If you've read this blog even once or twice, you know that I have concerns (OK, grave concerns) about our future. There's the climate crisis. Wealth inequality. Justice inequality. Inflation. Education. Our woeful infra...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS This (kind of) just in: major congrats to Ketanji Brown Jackson for her appointment to the Supreme Court. Shame on the 47 Republican Senators who did not vote for this eminently qualified individual; what a disgrace and history will not forget their unjustified disrespect. A friendly reminder that Antonin Scalia was c...

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS As I get my feet back on the ground here in SF, today's post is short (OK, for me) but not on a sweet subject. I lament the signing by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last week of the infamous "Don't Say Gay" bill. The bill prohibits teachers from discussing the sexuality or gender identity of children before the 4th gr...