I really like the sound of “almost,” because it reminds me of the scene in “One Hundred Foot Journey” when the deliciously bombastic Indian Papa slips in love with the not so prissy anymore French restauranteur across the street, and calls her his “almost girlfriend.”  And then they dance together so tenderly. Almost poetry. And when I write out Roman numerals … saying almost 62, the coyest way I can  … why pussyfoot about what’s about to happen when it’s real as the day I was born.  As real as when I surrendered my very first one-way...

I saw an igloo on the beach, this morning.  No Eskimos in sight.  No blue glacier in the distance  … just an inflatable igloo with two people inside who were wearing very little and quietly turning pages.  No, I wasn’t staring at them … I was merely beholding.  (Much better.) And not far away from this igloo were a woman and child hauling over-sized sea-worthy noodles across the sand.  And two Japanese tourists were waist-high in the low tide giggling noisily while dousing each other with what certainly looked like wet cannons.  And off in the background, an ambitious fellow...

When Robin Williams stepped away, he left so many gifts behind for us.  Just look around — they’re all here on demand.   Pre-owned,  you might say.  We loved his performances the first time  — and they’re still here for us to pass around freely. Eyebrows inch up when people name their favorite Robin Williams hits … Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Will Hunting, Awakenings, Good Morning, Vietnam… and I, too, stake out my favorite sacred ground.  When Robin Williams played Armand Goldman and juggled and stretched his love how many different directions, he jumped over the...

In case you haven’t guessed yet — I’m plagued by Erratic Patience Deficiency.  EPD was first recognized by the medical profession in 1952.  Few people bring it up casually. My assistant, Cecile Simian, did a little looking around for me and believes that my case of  EPD made its way into all the medical textbooks and has been known to show up on surprise quizzes.  During the maturation of the pre-frontal cortex, when the brain of an almost 25 year old is spinning at 46 rotations per second, the odds of acquiring Pre-Adult EPD are remarkably high. And that’s what happened to...

Such a loving era that still lights up my memory bank, when the Goldsmiths and the Gilberts were two families on the same voyage.  Thanksgiving feasts, a well-preserved vacation at Montauk Point, visits back and forth in Jackson Heights where we first discovered each other, on to Syosset, Great Neck, Wilton, a few Fifth Avenue parades, and whether there was a good reason or not, we sat around tables and just plain adventured together. Carol and my mother were, as my mother proudly reminded me after the Goldsmiths passed, very best friends, nudging each other on to taste life beyond the tribal...

It felt so incredibly natural staffing a table for Brian at the Kona 4th of July Dems Picnic.  I hadn’t seen our young senator  since we drove to Hilo for his HQ opening back in spring — At home, we watched him prevail over his debate opponent via internet streaming.  But having a chance to tell him that I tweeted one of his boldest and most successful debate jabs, and then seeing his smile light up, truly made it feel like old times again in a new place, here on our precious island. Oh, all those mainland Fourths and community events I still remember in Oregon…  mingling with...