Recently, my grandson George borrowed the Haviannas I schlepped home from Sao Paulo for my daughter. He put them on all by himself. We think we may have a fashionista on our hands—a theory further supported a week later when he requested the doctor use...

In my thirties and forties, I had a recurring dream. Instead of selling my first six cars, I put them in storage. Far from being “rode hard and put away wet,” each was in pretty to very good condition: The ‘49 VW, the ‘50, ‘51, ‘53, and ‘56...

Whoever concluded we are direct descendants of apes must have missed Solomon’s advice about considering ants. Seriously, nonhuman primates travel light. More like ants, we humans spend our days schlepping stuff around. We pack suitcases and...

If I remember correctly, I was driving home from the airport while listening to an NPR clip about two airline pilots overflying their destination by 150 miles. The commentator said they “lost situational awareness” while using laptop computers for...

On December 13, 2012, the coinventor of the bar code died at 91. During WW II, Joseph Woodland’s military service involved being a technical assistant on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I’m told he thought he was working on a cure to...

Today I’m flying from Las Vegas to Seattle. About the only thing I liked about Sin City was the fountain show at Bellagio, the Elvis Christmas songs that popped up here and there, and a pretty good keynote address by Bill Clinton. Just thinking of...

Well before Starbucks began roasting exotic blends, Yuban took a swing at it. Not sure they hit the ball out of the park, but they were getting more for a pound of coffee than number-one Folgers at checkout stands across America. Do you remember Yuban...

The war the fathers of Tom Brokaw’s Greatest Generation Ever fought was not “the war to end all wars” as Woodrow Wilson had anticipated. It was followed by another world war, which soon after we started numbering. Pray God we won’t get to...

Eleven years into the Afghan war, the August 22, 2012 Seattle Times headline reported, “2,000 U.S. dead in war, as new dangers emerge”—a statistic disturbing to hawks and doves. Then this September 11, a year after the Ground Zero memorial opened in...

When my son graduated from high school, I compiled twenty suggestions for him. The list wasn’t terribly profound—hardly worth a book. Nevertheless, I think I offered a few pretty good ideas from “do your own laundry” to “start a business at...