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If there is a “Deep State,” James Clapper is the President. His handlers need to clap his mouth shut.

I tortured myself and listened to Nancy Pelosi on a town hall meeting on CNN. She might be President of the “Dumb State.”

Listening to Pelosi, Clapper, Lemon, Comey, Clinton makes me want to trust Trump. Yes, no matter how much he fibs.

Another guy who needs to be muted is Mike Pence. The Vice President is throwing threats at people we are working towards making peace with. The left is right. That is not diplomacy.

The FBI and the CIA were given far too much latitude after 911. Their leaders turned into arrogant “Star Chamber” wannabes.

I believe there is some evidence that “Spygate” is real. Clapper admitting that people were planted inside the Trump campaign to spy on Russia, not Trump. Yeah, right.

JFK’s assassination has often been blamed on the deep state, including in a major motion picture produced and directed by Oliver Stone. Today, the same accusers balk when Trump attempts to expose the very concept.

Let me put it in simpler terms. Now the left wants us to trust the FBI and the CIA.

“It ain’t over ’til it’s is over.” I interpret this Yogism to mean, there is always a next move until your mind isn’t capable of moving pawn to king four.

Statistics say that while on vacation, 90% of people check their cell phone 100 times a day. That is not what I would call “living in the moment.”

Here is my perception of the division in America: 90%, 9.99999%, .0000001%. If you want me to break it down for you, contact me personally.

If I were Trump, I would have left Rudy Giuliani under his rock. His facial expressions make him look as if had been part of an experiment on the brain that went bad.

Makes no difference; Hannity, Lemon, Ingraham, Scarborough. Journalists who view themselves as rock stars are not healthy for a free press. This kind of news reporting is expediting the end of democracy, not supporting it.

Polarization is the bane of democracy. Like all things, democracy is not built to last forever. Go ask the Greeks.

Try to remember that your present situation is not your final destination. The best is yet to come.

Last week, I interviewed for an easy, well-paying job. The Mueller investigation is looking for a spokesperson.

Great scene in the last episode of “Billions” with Axe volleying with Maria Sharapova. It was a fitting metaphor for the back-and-forth battles that continue to develop on the show.

Personally, I could not care less, still, I believe it is disrespectful to all military types when professional athletes do not stand for our National Anthem. Many have died fighting for what that song and our flag represent.

Everyone close to me thinks I have lost my mind. It doesn’t change the idea in my head that “Big Brother” and “Little Sister” are keeping tabs on me.

If you can look into the mirror without laughter, you have no sense of humor. Okay, maybe I am not as funny as I think.

Goals: write them down; hang them up; and watch them happen. If you can’t find the courage to have goals, there is a good chance you drink a lot.

Have you lived your life through your husband, your wife, your children? Be very careful. Eventually life’s real hazards will get in the way and to paraphrase Carole King, “It will be too late for YOU BABY!”

I have no specific destination in mind, but I feel like I am on the ladder, and that is all that matters.

President Trump has little problem bashing Special Counsel Robert Mueller, so it would be appropriate that he learn to spell the man’s title correctly. Trump’s use of grammar is appalling, but who am I to point it out?

Roseanne went on Twitter and personally attacked another human being with vicious, and racist remarks. The First Amendment has lines, and she crossed them, and she has been held accountable.

The television network ABC as her employer, had the right to, and in fact did cancel her show. Owners of an NFL football team also have the right to require players to stand up during the National Anthem.

If I own a business, and my employees are protesting on my dime, and their protests are hurting the bottom line, they will be fired. It’s called capitalism.

Lou Cipher, and his brother Jesus Christ, are the real stars of the television series “Billions”. Pieces of their omnipresent personalities show up in all the characters, the exception being the androgynous Taylor.

Bill Cosby, Matt Lauer, Kevin Spacey, Charlie Rose, Roseanne. My friend and editor called them “feet of clay heroes.” Or as I like to say any monument to a human should only be taken at face value.

Hitching Roseanne’s racist tweet to Donald Trump is unreasonable. It is equivalent to me showing a tape of Michelle Obama lauding Harvey Weinstein as a “wonderful human being.”

My daughters Laura and Mary Kate are home for the summer. It is always great to be in their company, but I did remind them I am card carrying member of the “time is up” party.

I asked my dad the other night, in reference to my athletic ability in my youth, why I could never beat him in hoops, golf, tennis, ping pong and darts. He smiled and said “You were not that good.”

I am sure of nothing. My mind is prepared to change. But, for the moment, Donald Trump is embarrassing people in high places, and that works for me.

How much will it cost? Can we do without it? Do we really need a new one? It is no wonder Congress, and their pool boy lobbyists get annoyed at Trump.

“This administration is marred in controversy and chaos,” said Don Lemon of CNN. Earth to Don: that’s what happens when you attempt to fix a warped and corrupt government.

For a guy with nada experience in foreign affairs, Trump is holding his own. (I’m talking about politics wiseass.)

I believe deep down, President Trump loves John McCain. After all isn’t love defined as “never having to say you’re sorry.”

Looks like Trump is leading his enemies on a wild goose chase. He throws out some bait, and before you can say “Stormy Daniels”, they’re in the trap.

If Bob Woodward is considered a top-of-the-line intellectual, then call me simple. His arrogance and disdain for his audience is nauseating.

It turns out all the reports about Obama are true. He is a hell of a nice guy. if you don’t believe me, ask the Iranian people. They sing his praises on the streets of Tehran.

During a prime news hour, CNN had a handwriting expert on analyzing the President’s signature. The analysis said that Trump’s large signature correlated with narcissism. Wow, fascinating stuff.

Life is about not knowing and then doing something anyway.

Lt. General Thomas McInerny said John McCain’s nickname was “song bird”. Does that mean the Viet Cong appreciated his voice?

Thank you Jay Rifenbary. The tour you gave me of the United States Military Academy both humbled and inspired me.

“Duty, Honor, Country….. in the evening of my memory, I always return to West Point.” General Douglas MacArthur

Sometimes good things fall apart, so better things can fall together. Almost perfectly.

Don’t tell people your problems, 80% of them don’t care, and the other 20% is glad you have them.

The writers of the Showtime series “Billions” make every word count. My writing instructors would describe their style as “efficient”.

“Billions” is the best multi-dimensional chess match I’ve had the pleasure of watching. I counted four lumps in my throat during last Sunday’s episode.

Axe and Wags made a reverent reference to the Traveling Wilburys in a conversation about geniuses forming a club. It was interesting to hear the rumors that Tom Petty was their leader.

Your super power is the ability to choose to grow beyond your circumstances.

“Life can only be understood backward, it must be lived forward”. Soren Kierkegaard. I believe there is something to that notion of Scandanavian brain power.

Many years ago I was diagnosed with Noctaquaticphobia (fear of swimming during the day time). Last week my employees proclaimed I also have technophobia.

Seek the truth for yourself and I will meet you there. That is a serious offer.

Dwane Casey of the Toronto Raptors was voted the NBA Coach of the Year. One day after the Raptors were knocked off by the “LeBrons”, he was fired. Never think you can’t be replaced.

The more something threatens your identity the more you will avoid it. Do you seek avoidance?

If you believe every person is extraordinary, then you believe no one is extraordinary. That makes sense.

By accident I caught Bon Jovi’s Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Having not been a fan of the group, the ceremony reinforced in me what living a fulfilled life looks like.

My daughter Laura is now a college graduate seeking employment. I am proud to say the girl has always found her way.

My younger daughter Mary Kate is back from Los Angeles and will start her senior year at Ithaca college in the fall. The only person in the world who I pick up on the first ring every time.

The word “they” is offensive when used to refer to a specific group of people. “They” excludes you.

The states are now going to have an opportunity to make sports betting legal. R.I.P. to all my numerous bookie acquaintances.

Regret gets a bad name. What happens if you undo regret? Then you have a different regret.

The enemies of Trump have referred to his victory as the “woke election”. Be careful what you ask for.

Finally, I am convinced Americans would prefer a constitutional monarchy. I hear it, but I don’t see it.

Do we come from God, or, do we come from the water? If you’re sure, you’re full of shit.

I do not have a doubt the Earth is getting hotter and unhealthier with each passing day. Does that make it your number one priority?

It has been my experience that most leaps of faith have been preceded by a shove. Hit me with your best shot.

David Copperfield was called into court to show the secret to his blockbuster show ending magic trick. I am wondering which confidentiality agreement was destroyed at that trial.

I follow the philosophy of self-interest. I am starting to understand how many others I am helping along the way.

Give a fuck about what is true, and immediate, and important. Allow yourself to not give a fuck about the rest.

Once I start seeing dollar signs in regard to an up and coming company it is way too late. So, for educational purposes checkout a stock called Bitcoin.

“As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods. They kill us for their sport.” — William Shakespeare King Lear.

As I viewed the movie “The Post” the other night I had many flashes of deju vu. The sad truth is, we were sheep then, and we are sheep now. Baaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

Some wise advice to an old friend of the President. You stay put, but get your story out before somebody with a book to sell writes it for you.

Ask yourself a question: Does North Korea, or the little round fellow, keep you up at night? I didn’t think so.

I often change my mind on issues based on observation, research, and validation. That said, of the cast of characters on the news these days (including Stormy), James Comey is one of the creepiest

If J. Edgar Hoover was the FBI’s feminine version of the Don Corleone, then Comey is Fredo. Someone should take him out fishing.

James, please, go away. You have taken “pathetic” to new heights.

How’s Mueller’s probe connecting Trump and the Russians working out? The spaceship from Mars with all the evidence on it should be landing shortly.

It all looks clear to me now. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are meeting secretly to divide up the world between them. Come hell or high water, Mr. Trump excels at closing deals.

Three years ago, ISIS was Americans’ biggest concern. Today if you took a poll on your local street, 99% of Americans wouldn’t be able to tell you what ISIS stands for.

No question, of all the shills running around these days, Sean Hannity is the biggest. The audio ear piece, he wears on the air, is connected to a two-way loud speaker in the Presidential bedroom.

Michael Cohen was the lawyer in charge of “Trump Bimbo Control”. After you concede that, now what?

From all accounts, Barbara Bush was a fine person. Doesn’t change the fact that when her little boy was called a lightweight, in the heat of a presidential election, all her boys (including big George) picked up their balls and went home crying to mommy. Blood is thicker than party Kool-Aid I guess.

Maybe…..We think…. It’s possible….Could be…..We’re hearing…. Someone said…..If this…. and if that ….We’re looking into…..We’re watching…..…. These are some examples of what leads into breaking news on CNN.

If Michael Cohen flips on President Trump, I’ll eat my hat. You get the point, so please, STOP IT!

If CNN continues to give me national air time I will flip on them.

Look at the picture of the living presidents with their spouses at Barbara Bush’s funeral. Where’s Waldo?

This is important enough to put it in layman’s terms. Trump is not part of the “good ole boys and girls club”, he is trying to take away their charter.

I watched “60 minutes” last night and now I am convinced. Advertisers, brilliant mathematicians, and probably Mr. Zuckerberg, have found a way to read our minds.

God bless them when they come to arrest me. Even if they bring in Rudy Giuliani they will NEVER prove what I am thinking. And this time I mean NEVER.

“The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”, by Mark Manson is teaching me an important lesson. (No, it’s not “keep grinding”). Be meticulous about what you “give a fuck” about.

I watched Steve Perry’s speech regarding his former band Journey’s 2017 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. One of the best frontmen of all time gave an impressive lesson in grace, humility, and class.

Everything is likely right , or likely wrong. That makes sense.

I have come to find a different appreciation for that old Mellencamp line; “Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone.”

Donald Trump is turning America, our government, and the rest of the world upside down. Is he on to something?

Before taking office, Donald Trump’s, net worth, according to CNN breaking news, was three billion dollars. Currently, it is approximately two billion. He’s only in it for the money.

Me too? Am I supposed to feel sorry for Bill Cosby? Ole Fat Albert is flat out miscast playing the victim.

With regards to Jackie Kennedy finding about her husband’s affair with Marilyn Monroe a historian said. “President Kennedy and his brother made sure it was over.” Having affairs with the Kennedys was dangerous business.

That is a great segway into mentioning the new major motion picture “Chappaquidick”. Theodore Kennedy applied the lessons of his brothers while he was looking for Mary Jo Kopechne at the bottom of Pouche Pond.

Bobby Axelrod is huge, in both width and girth, when it comes to connecting the dots. The writers of “Billions” keep coming up big.

Have you noticed, proportionately speaking, very few Americans are sneaking into Mexico? Yes, that is a question.

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice,” : Martin Luther King. I have not been to the mountain top, but that’s as good as it gets.

We continue to push the boulder up the hill even though our experience tells us it is a losing battle. It’s called living.

President Trump may appear to be a child, his own worst enemy, but he sure has a way of showing up the so-called “adults”. If you can’t admit that much, you are what I would call “a one way street”.

If Sean Hannity is pathetic, what does that make Don Lemon, deplorable? If the glove fits.

Poor Jeff Sessions. I am a caring guy, so I sent him one of my favorite songs by Alanis Morissette. “And who would’ve thought, it figures”.

Now it is time for Mr. Trump to learn a word he is unfamiliar with. I know Donald, that humility thing don’t come easy for you.

The pundits who despise Trump look worse than they did on election night. It is embarrassing to see our free press look so defeated. That is how you look when you lose your integrity.

I have to remember that seeing things ahead of time doesn’t allow you to claim victory later. It only means you have good eyesight.

I have enjoyed my own helpings of humble pie lately. I was listening to Charles Barkley being interviewed, and he was saying things about race that were making sense to me.

More painfully, someone I love told me I have a black soul. It hurt, while I realize it was meant metaphorically (I don’t believe souls have color).

Why do we all use the word perfect so much when we are sure that it is an inappropriate description?

Discovery: Void of expectations there is happiness in the moment, and hope for another moment. I struggle in the void of expectations category.

It seemed nobody was rooting for Patrick Reed to put on the green jacket last Sunday. You are not popular if you take on the cool kids.

If I were Patrick Reed , I would serve Rory Mcllroy crow at next years Masters Champions dinner. Never mind Rory won’t be there. You have to have won the Masters to attend.

Dyslexia, was the main obstacle preventing me from being a great student. But I am finding that in my 50’s, it is a large help in seeing both backward and forward.

Trump will not fire Robert Mueller. The FBI already did.

If Trump were a cake he would be served up side down. I think you get the point.

Hey FBI, the time or your arrogant shenanigans is over. Take your medicine and shut up, it’s long, long overdue.

Trump’s opposition focuses on his shitty personality. Here is some free advice if you want a chance to beat him; focus on the some relevant issues (outrageous taxes, loss of freedoms, over regulation, out of control immigration) that gave rise to this lunatic.

Paul Ryan has conceded that Trump is here to stay. So the King of The Swamp is taking his ball and going home.

Some one you loathe gives you a message that inside you know is the disturbing truth. Do you dismiss the message because of the messenger?

If I am traveling to a foreign country for the first time, I like to ask questions of people who have been there before. How come my two girls rarely ask me a question?

How many times do you have to sell your soul to get to the top? I have re-upped my deal 44 times, and I can’t even see the peak yet.

David Hogg and his band down in Parkland Florida are children put in a horrific circumstance. I am thinking they all get a lifetime hall pass?

You can’t do both. Believe in forever and claim to have any answers.

It is common to think that good work comes from suffering. I like to think that good work is victory over suffering.

We make our individual deals, we compromise who we want to be, hopefully we dissect our good and our evil selves. Still, I would argue, we want it darker before we see the full light.

The results are in for Russia’s recent presidential election; Seven are dead, 4,444 are wounded, and two million have been jailed. Democracy is alive and well in the old Soviet Union.

It is time we give President Trump some credit. He does fire members of the White House staff rapidly, but at least he doesn’t send them to the firing squad.

A bunch of teenagers vs. the National Rifle Association. That sounds like a fair fight, but keep in mind, the NRA is undefeated and untied.

Keep it simple stupid (KISS). I am not a very good kisser. My mind is challenged to process simple.

“A man has too many enemies than that he can afford to be his own foe.” Ralph Waldo sure could turn a phrase.

Before you can be a real writer, you have to go out and have your heart broken a couple times. Who the fuck wants to be a writer?

“Who is the nervous spirit of this world that must go over and over what it already knows?” asks Michel de Montaigne. Me, that’s who!

A high school student from Parkland Florida said, “I am part of the gun shooting generation.” That is sad no matter which side of the gun you are on.

The ocean is where I belong and where I will end up. Fo sho baby, fo sho.

It turns out my old high school buddy Keith Schiller was quite the “wingman” for the President of the United States. Hey, I am only going on what those two women, who were paid to shut their mouths, (not at all times) stated on national television.

“The Bright Hour” by Nina Riggs is the best book about both living and dying I have ever read. Riggs’ connection with Ralph Waldo Emerson was beautifully interwoven in her story.

Take a close-up look at Joel Osteen. More and more, he is taking on an undeniable physical resemblance to the Devil. (Don’t worry about how I know what the Angel of Darkness looks like.)

Tiger Woods is back. From the bottom, to the top of the world, back to the bottom, now, fighting to claw his way back up the ladder. God puts some people on this earth to keep proving the mob wrong.

I am getting my five minutes of fame. Every once in a while I get a call from a friend saying they just saw me on CNN. My next move is to get my own show.

Bobby Axelrod returned last night for another season of “Billions.” We left off with our hero jammed up. There is no way they can keep ole Bobby down for long.

He is a clear and present danger, who poses a threat to democracy. He is a criminal president. Calm down. I am talking about President Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Trump appeared very ornery while signing into law the new $1.3 trillion-dollar spending plan. The right side of the room is very upset at the president for caving into the idea of more government. Histrionics aside, inwardly he is laughting at the same taxpayers who applaud this plan.

“Putin is a pimp. He could have never outfought Hillary. But I didn’t know until this day that it was Stormzini all along.” President Trump does a vey good Don Corleone imitation.

Everybody thinks it is funny until it is about them. We ALL need to lighten up.

“Little minds have no worries. Big minds have no time for worries, “Socrates professed. I must have a medium mind.

Two women agree they had consensual sex with Trump over 10 years ago. That’s it, that’s all. I don’t care whose side you are on, the media is just as unprofessional (unpresidential) as the guy they hate so much.

I doubt “Stormy” is going to be elected pinup girl for the “Me Too” movement. Sorry ladies, even you guys can’t have it both ways. Sorry again ladies, but Ms. Daniels is good material.

Oh Stormy, Bring back those sunny days.

“What is meant to happen always does.” Best line of the night from the season premier of “Billions.”

I don’t fully understand why the celebration date of Christ’s resurrection is moved around. I do understand that in 2018, Easter and April Fools’ Day are one and the same.

“If you don’t change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”– Lao Tzu. Mr. Lao didn’t specify if that is good thing or a bad one.

“Why so many questions all of a sudden, Rich?” my father asked sipping his Blue Moon. I study others to better understand myself, especially you, Dad.

Ask yourself a question: when was the last time you started a sentence with, “You know what I was wrong about?” As I suspected, you can’t remember.

Don’t mistake my silence for deficiency. It’s known as the “calm before the storm.”

Sleeping with porn stars in the marriage bed, interns under the desk in the oval office, tag teaming movie stars with your brother. And they try to tell me one President is different from the next.

In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take. Actually, when I think about that, it is not regrettable, it is sad.

In my best moments I can be Hector. But now as in my past those moments are fleeting, and I long to to be Achilles.

It is very frustrating when you witness people running past you. This time it isn’t people with Quebec license plates in cars on the New York State Thruway. It isn’t every student in my ninth grade advanced algebra class. And, it isn’t all my peers reaching puberty a few years before I do. This is far more demoralizing (maybe). My current humiliation is coming from a mother/daughter duo, a young male gay couple, a teen-age girl kicking a soccer ball, and a gentleman close to my age with a 20-something female, positively not his daughter. I try desperately, to no avail, to crank my legs to a higher level. My limbs are giving me a stern reminder the gear I am searching for abandoned me ten years ago. I am left with no choice but to settle in at a pace suitable for my present circumstances. There is nothing shameful about embracing the role of the tortoise in the race through this world, so I settle in, scan the vast ocean to my left making sure I have enough stamina to complete my journey, and try to come to terms with the moment.

The moment is about a 58 year-old man struggling to hold onto all things vernal. The long runs while vacationing in the Caribbean this past week were bittersweet . They allowed me to conjure up what once was, yet understand what will never be again. Ending up a cliché was not one of my childhood goals. The older man appreciative for what life has brought him but still holding on to the nostalgia of yesteryear was never my plan. What pisses this old man off the most is that he still holds on to resentment and anger for his short comings in adolescence. The pain of my youth has not completely receded and probably will not in this lifetime. I attempt to realize how selfish it is to, at my age, still dwell on not being the king of the prom, let alone not even getting acceptance from my first choice for a date. It has become evident to me that I am still obsessed with some kind of unobtainable missed glory redemption.

The girl at the Craven bar was named Natalia. I had gone down to the resort watering hole to check my phone which had not been touched in two days. I felt a nudge to see who missed me, who might have passsed or what emergencies had erupted back home. Natalia inquired as to why anyone would be flipping through a communication device at 9:00 pm on this majestic starlit night. I smiled, shut the power off and engaged in conversation with Natalia and her companion Liz. Natalia is 27 years old and was born in the Ukraine. Her parents won an immigration lottery in 1991. Her mother applied for the one in a million shot at the jackpot of free passage to the United States. Next thing you know, Natalia is a one year old baby being welcomed to America by a immigration officer at Kennedy Airport in New York. The three of us shared a couple of drinks and plenty of laughs before it was time for me to go back upstairs to my family. Natalia gave me a hug with a peck on the cheek and said, ” I hope this goodbye is not forever.” I headed back to my room feeling a connection between a young girl born in Europe and an old American man searching for something left behind.

The workout room can be a desolate place when you are at a secluded chichi hideaway. Ford Buckner was pushing up weights with a sense of urgency which caused me to pause. In November, we don’t forget what it was like last summer. That can be a problem if your favorite day of the year has always been June 21st. In late autumn we are able to easily conjure up triumphs of summer. We are just as capable of understanding what we are now unable to do. Ford is 18, from Boston Mass., 6’2″, with a lean near-perfectly developing body. “What is your best sport?” I shout across the dumbells. “Soccer or tennis. I have been offered partial scholorships in both sports but turned them down. I am going to study engineering at Vanderbilt in the Fall.” I was perplexed that affirmation in athletics could be treated so cavalierly. I would have died for what Ford seemed so dismissive of. How could someone this young have so much perspective. “Ford, you are a very old soul,” was all I could muster to say. I had been shut out from any awards at high school graduation. There were zero colleges knocking on my door regarding my athletic prowess. I struggled in the category, I still have haven’t figured out, called love. Only recently am I grasping that my-early-in life disappointments motivated me to live a more ambitious life. It gives me the confidence that all the best is ahead of me. Ford from Boston has a 40-year head start.

Steve was easy for me to pick out sitting poolside. The first time I noticed him, alone with his book, I was convinced I was getting a glance into my not so distant future. It turns out Steve is 75-years-old, and a retired partner for Price Waterhouse. Two things about him grabbed my attention: his golden bronze tan and the Camel cigarette that hung so naturally from his mouth. He was reading a book called ‘How to Talk to a Liberal,’ by Ann Coulter. I could not resist striking up a dialogue with a man who could be me in 30 years. “I bought a house here two years ago right before my wife died. The house is for sale and now my children bring me down here to this place three times a year,” he said between coughs. A hard-working life filled with booze and smokes was leaving no one confused why Steve is a very old looking 75. After about an hour, of what I would have to admit was more of an interrogation, I ask Steve my last question. “You are closer to the end than the beginning, if you had a bucket list, what would be the number one thing on it?” For the first time we had been together he took his Camel smoke out of his mouth and crushed it into the ground. “I want to fall in love one more time.”

Every day of the week of my respite I return to the ocean for my slow jog. Finally, acceptance had taken over. No longer can I even fake being the hare, it is long overdue for me to embrace the role of the tortoise. It is a role I have been misguided in avoiding for so long. I cruise by several folks taking a casual stroll in the early morning sun. Only a few runners go flashing past. As they put distance between us, I wrestle with feelings of jealousy, resentment, and anger. I can hear the sound of their feet in the sand gaining on me. Even more challenging is to fight off the urge to race after the ones who have already gone by. At the halfway point, before I am ready to head for home, a man in his 30’s is running in my direction. I decide to try and stay close to him on my return trek. For approximately a mile I stay within ten yards of him. When I reach my personal finish line, I collapse in the sand and notice the hare in front of me has slowed to take a glance behind him. I have been blessed with more than I could have ever dreamed of in this short life. I will not give into the dark voices inside of my head that keep trying to convince me I am near the end. I shout back at them, “I am the tortoise. I will keep moving, and I have only just begun.”

“Did you think you would never reach the point which you were constantly heading?” …… Michel de Montaigne

Abbot Kinney Blvd. , Los Angeles is advertised as the coolest block in America.  It definitely was the most energized street I’ve walked in this lifetime.

Venice Beach, Los Angeles had me in wonderment, like a believer on Christmas morning. I am still trying to understand what that says about me.

 

Everyone is teacher. Everyone is a student. It is all about time and place.

I don’t know the reasons, but for four days my mind slowed and my panaroma exploded. Drugs and alcohol were not involved.

It was said that Billy Graham  is the first private citizen, since Rosa Parks, to lie in honor in the Capital Rotunda. I do believe many politicians have been laid there.

Rev. Graham hung onto life, only to pass at the age of 99. Knowing the after party is even better, why didn’t the reverend leave this life until the wee wee hours of the morning. That is something to think about.

Jared Kushner is a bright young man. Sometimes bright young men do not take job applications seriously.

Oscar Wilde said, “They spoil every romance by trying to make it last forever.”  I wonder who he meant by they?

Daniel Day-Lewis might be the best actor of his era. Still, Gary Oldman deserved the Oscar for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour.”

Rational folks do not want to revoke the second amendment. They only want us to remember that our Constitution is a living document.

Barack Obama never stood up to the NRA. Donald Trump has zero respect for anybody but himself, and that is what this fight needs.

Tragedies are not the time for name calling but…… The authorities in Broward County Florida, fucked up real bad.

“In the white room with black curtains near the station.”  Yes, the cryptic “Cream” song blasting on the left coast beach indicated to me that even Hell has a place to go tanning.

It was not officially advertised, but I am pretty sure there was a “creepy van” convention going on near Abbot Kinney Blvd.  Also, the pitbulls must go there for spring break.

If you are in business, it is inevitable that you are going to take some hard punches to your gut. The most pain comes from acting as though it doesn’t hurt.

Hope Hicks. I love the name and we barely got to know you. Welcome to The House of Trump’s revolving door.

Michigan State’s star basketball player has been accused of assaulting over 200 woman.  Major college hoops coaches are under investigation for all kinds of corruption. Still, the March Madness goes on.

My doctors continue to send me for blood tests.  They have not been clear as to what they are looking for. All they need to do is ask me, it could help.

A question for Chuck Schumer in regards to his recent comments about the White House’s administrative team. Aren’t  contradiction and open mindedness siblings?

On the plane ride back East I watched a movie called “Wonderstruck”.  The flight attendant walked by and handed me a box of tissues. I admit, I have always been a rank sentimentalist.

Bill Maher has a hit weekly TV show on HBO. This despite the fact that he is an atheist, he consistently talks down to 90% of the American public, and his sense of humor is  bedevilingly dark. Shit, when do I get my own show?

I was determined to keep my West Coast vibe going for a sustained period of time. The reality is that as soon as my plane touched down in New York my mundane, banal, sophomoric thoughts returned  immediately.

 

This week I received an e-mail in regards to my 40-year high school reunion. For a second I was in a state of shock, then it hit me. I am blessed to have taken life this far.

A woman on Fox News was suggesting we take the word “man” out of the English language. She advocated words such as: “police officer, “postal server”, “thirdbase person”.  I just reread the first page of the King James Version of the Holy Bible and I believe God, as well as all mankind, is going to have a real problem with this suggestion.

“Judge your success on what you had to give up to obtain it.” I do not know who said it, or where I heard it, but it sure as heck has my mind churning recently.

CNN just broke this story: “Trump Organization” is engraving the Presidential Seal on the tee markers at Trump golf courses. “The President could be in big trouble for this,” said CNN’s highbrow geek pundit Richard Painter. Woooohoooo. Now I’m ready to impeach the bastard!

“Everything came too easy for me to ever have any real ambition.” A 83 year-old street punk, born in Brooklyn, during the depth of the Great Depression, spoke those words to me recently. Wow.

In the end, God or the Devil may have the same simple question for all of us when determining our fate. “Do you believe in Magic?” I am sure the Devil does start to weigh in on us all.

And please do not look to me for my answer. I still could go either way.

I can’t understand the media’s fixation with the “mood” of the president. Trump is all about ratings and doing it his way. He may be playing with fire daily, but so far he is winning the game. Try not to forget, that if you believe in forever, it is a very long war.

I felt like I was located at some sort of go-between station the whole time I was in Los Angeles. I got a taste of paradise, it’s all I really need to make me stay.