February 24 will long be remembered as the day when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. Awful as I feel about this appalling act of aggression in a part of the world of great interest to me, February 24, 2022, will for me also be the date of a more personal loss. It’s the day […]
Last Monday, November 1, 2021, was a big day for an old friend, Dr. Richard Kelley. I say “old” not just because he’ll soon be celebrating his 88th birthday, but also because I’ve had the pleasure of working with him now for nearly 20 years.1 Monday was big because it’s when his just-published book — […]
Sandra Shakespeare got it exactly right when, in Romeo and Juliet, he penned this memorable line: What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet I mused on this thought in a previous blog post, but came to a conclusion different from the Bard’s. Margaux […]
Our wedding, Santa Barbara, California, August 8, 1987 This coming Saturday, Sandra and I will be celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary. It’s hard to fathom that by December, just four months from now, we’ll have completed a full 33 and a third passages around the sun together — married for a third of a century, […]
I’m 75 years old. As readers of this blog know, I’ve been around the block a time or two, and I’ve seen, read and learned a lot. What I’m seeing right now — America’s racial “conversation” (for some, our national yelling match) becoming ever more shrill and violent — deeply troubles me. I’m also deeply […]
World’s first oil well, drilled in 1859 by Edwin Drake in Titusville, Pennsylvania Reflecting on my visit to Pennsylvania1 last month, I had an epiphany — that there is a special connection (though of course not a geographical one) between the Keystone State2 and the Aloha State. Let me begin with the conclusion I’ve reached about the […]
Naomi (here in a forest outside Leningrad, 1977 or 78) in the hooded snowsuit which, with its neck slightly unzipped, prompted a passerby to claim she was “naked” I hope you didn’t miss National Doughnut1 Day this past Friday. If Facebook had not brought it to my attention, I certainly would have. As it turned out, […]
Ilya Yefimovich Repin: Zaporozhian Cossacks Write a Letter to the Turkish Sultan Advisory: Despite this blog’s ordinarily being family-friendly, this post is not appropriate for readers under the age of 18 (no nudity, just language). The painting above is one of the strongest possible refutations of the notion that the study of history is dull […]
As I sifted through the online news on Friday, I was delighted to see what looked as though it would be an exposé of Honolulu’s unfolding $9 billion train wreck, a commuter rail project. As a former Honolulu resident, I was sorely disappointed when I read the article in the Wall Street Journal. (The article […]
Artist’s conception of a full-size passenger-carrying SuperOutrigger In a footnote to last week’s blog post, I promised I would soon write about the SuperOutrigger, an oceangoing vessel that my father, Nathan I. Daniel, invented. Although some basic information about the SuperOutrigger is included in the tribute I wrote to my dad, I think it’s time […]
