Locator: 46819ARCHIVES.
Before we get started: all three major US equity markets post 52-week highs. Apple, plummeting, is the outlier.
- Dow: up 318 points. Trading at 39,800.
- NASDAQ: up 110 points. Trading at 5,254.
- S&P 500: up 30 points. Trading at 16,480.
The links and stories:
A most bizarre story, link here:
I finished the Ed Lansdale biography but will keep it on the shelf as a reference book. It's that good. My notes in draft here.
In 1968 - 1969, my junior / senior years in high school, I had huge National Geographic maps of Vietnam hanging on the walls of the basement bedroom I shared with my brother. I updated US military activity on the maps. I was pretty "involved" with Vietnam those two years but once in college, it seemed not to be that big a deal for me personally.
A Walk on the Wild Side, Nelson Algren.
I was into page 50 of this book when I decided to start over, read more slowly, and really enjoy the writing and all the new words: A Walk On The Wild Side, Nelson Algren, c. 1956. In a very, very "strange" way the book connects me with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
This is truly a classic. Notes will be posted here. Every page might have a word, phrase, a note that takes me down a rabbit hole. One of the first: a bitch light. And, yes, it's a thing but hard to find much on it. This was an interesting blog -- "a pioneer 'what' light" -- but this was better:
If interested, don't google "bitch light." Rather, google "bitch light" rag grease. If you do that, you will find plenty of references.
Texas sayings: the list seems to go on forever.
USAF RC-135s. I don't quite remember what led me here. But three great links (oh, yes, now I remember -- photos from the Bitburg AB alumni group on Facebook:
I read this book last night: The Blue Zones, Dan Buettner, c. 2023. Not a recommendation. It was a gift, not something I would buy for myself. His advice for living longer, paraphrasing:
- unless you are an Adventist, drink Sardinian Cannonau wine (a red wine);
- be happy, don't worry;
- laugh, eat, and drink with family and friends, especially with your abuelitos:
- water, coffee, tea, and wine (specifically Sardinian Cannonau wine)
- learn to enjoy a plant-based diet; if you must eat meat, a small amount of fish;
- lots of beans;
- did I mention Sardinian Cannonau wine?
- live in the mountains, off the grid;
- wear blue denim;
- walk; lots of walking; no treadmills;
- bike; probably not in the mountains.
Most likely not a Sardinian Cannonau wine drinker: the fourth top executive of Lukoil to tie in the past two years; this one by suicide, age 54. Needs to be fact-checked. Link here and here.
Done for now. I need to bike to Total Wines and More to check out the price of Sardinian Cannonau wine.
