Author: Vic Socotra

Long Marchers

So, this morning we want to convey some truths blasted out in a profusion of “news.” The first is not on CNN or Fox. It is the pair of birthdays, one today and one tomorrow, that has The Chairman wired up in memory. He was all smiles, telling the story of the Doctor who looked […]

Quarantine

There has been a storm of old and new paperwork at Big Pink. We have mentioned that the search for documents regarding the purchase of the new condo turned up some other documents from the same chaotic phase of life. The mortgage people were quite insistent about seeing old Decrees and current statements of worth. […]

Lights Flashing, Siren Optional

It took a while to figure it out with the first cup of Chock Full O’ Nuts and the first couple Marlboro butts. For example, this morning featured both lights and sirens. Big Pink was constructed as a Landmark project back during the abrupt end of the Kennedy Administration. Then-Speaker of the House, Mr. Carl […]

Drizzle with Chance of Hyperbole

More fun this morning. The Debt Bomb, similar to what the Experts have called the Bomb Cyclone, apparently went off overnight. That phenomenon occurs when a large, intense mid-latitude storm with low pressure at its center spins off weather fronts with a remarkable array of associated weather. Here in Arlington this morning it amounts only to […]

Life & Island Times: Detour Version 1.0

May 2001 Detour Version 1.0 Part 1 Why a Motorsickle Roadtrip & Preparations I had been feeling out of sorts for some time — long before the Y2K hair-on-fire nightly broadcast and cable news stories started in earnest.  It was an itchy-scratchy uncomfortable feeling about being in my own skin.  I was tired of waiting for something […]

The Three Amigos

(This low-resolution image is used only to celebrate the Chief Executives of the United States, Canada and Mexico. They recently gathered in Mexico City for a conference of the three nations. Their DNA is discussed below, with the admonition that views expressed are not necessarily those of the Socotra House LLC Management due to Article […]

Life & Island Times: Detour Version 1.0

Editor’s Note: The Writer’s Section at Socotra House is attempting to clean house by actually opening the closet/garage/cellar doors to see what is contained within. This afternoon, we share Marlow’s version of something those of you of a “certain age” will recall: Getting Ready to Get Up and Go. His requires two wheels. And a […]

Ebenezer Baptist Church

(This image is of the memorial to Dr. King on the Mall in Washington DC. We like this one, and choose to run it today instead of the more stylized one unveiled in Boston this weekend. There is some controversy about the design of that one, and we prefer the resolute character of the one […]

Arrias: Sweepers, Sweepers

If you’ve ever been on a US Navy ship, several times per day you’ll here a call over the 1MC (1 Main Comm – a “public address” system that goes to every compartment in the ship): “Sweepers, Sweepers, Man your brooms, give the ship a clean sweep down fore and aft. Sweep down all decks, […]

Borders, Borderlands, Heartlands

Editor’s Note: This essay from Marlow is about an epic trip around the four corners of the Continental United States. That complete account of life on two wheels is a work still in progress, and still takes our collective breath away. –      Vic Author’s Note: This new life frontier situation caused me to dig up and rewrite this 20+ year-old, […]