“You don’t know what you got, till it’s gone.” – – Joni Mitchell, “Big Yellow Taxi.” You know, if you miss a news cycle these days, you may as well be sorting through the rubbish heap of ancient times. I was coming back from a get-together with some former colleagues out in the still-sprouting exurbs […]

(Elf Tiffany holds court at World of Beer. Photo Socotra). OK- trust me, I am not going to try to understand even the Executive Summary of the recommendations of the Presidential Panel on reviewing what is happening at NSA. Can’t do it, not with all the elves running around. There is something equally strange in […]

I was going to write about deviled eggs this morning and do sort of a pre-holiday public service for all those celebrations we are going to have. I sat down at the computer about five hours ago, and have gotten exactly nowhere. I am not quite sure how things got out of control. Is it […]

(L-R: Vic, The Lovely Bea (TLB) , Old Jim, Jon-without, and Chanteuse Mary at the feast thrown by TLB. Photo un-Plaic Jamie.) Sure, there are some daunting problems confronting us this holiday season. Whatever that health thing is, a stagnant economy, sustained underemployment, out of control spending, implacable enemies overseas and all that stuff. Plus […]

(Navy takes advantage of a Black Knight miscue. Photo AP) I left the lottery ticket in the visor on the Panzer, which was tucked safely in the garage after a partially successful foray to watch the clash between Army and Navy up in Philly. It was for the PowerBall jackpot- not a huge one, since […]

(Overhead Image of Farm Fresh Croftburn Farms Dawn Farm eggs simmering in the skillet with Country Sausage with sage, sautéed Mexican red pepper and onion to start the morning at Refuge Farm. Photo NASA.) I got what I needed to get at the Farm, and am cautiously watching the weather on doppler radar as bands […]

Copyright 2013 Vic Socotra www.vicsocotra.com Twitter @jayare303

I am not sorry that I have found a new hobby. No, it is not feeding ancient analogue pictures into the little scanner. It is time traveling. I have been listening to the happy stories about all the people that the new health care system is going to help, right in accordance with the talking […]

(Prisoner at the Yokosuka, Japan, police station. He is eating a cracker, which my pal Tom “Big Smoke” Duvall provided to make the interrogation more effective. Everyone else in the room had a glass of tea and the interrogee eventually discovered how really thirsty he was….Photo Big Smoke.) I am starting to panic. The radio […]

Two to five inches of the white stuff, they say. Not that much, really. Not by any rational standards. I was talking to Tracy O’Grady at the apex of the Amen Corner at her Willow restaurant about how we people of the Great Lakes deal with the eternal nature of the snow. She is from […]