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A ball player. Not half bad. Promising. But it’s early innings. He’s 15. Smart, dumb too. In equal measure, like me, and you. Knows how to swing at a pitch. But truth is, so many are thrown his way, he lets plenty pass. The latest is a fastball. Right down the middle. An invitation. To adventure, in Vietnam. Anyhow, I watched the young batter. At the plate. Time slowed. I imagined him exploring Hanoi’s slums. Surroun

The endgame seemed dreadful. Most guys would agree. So I’d done what I could to dodge destiny. But in the end, each action I took sparked unacceptable side effects, unintended consequences. Every path proved a dead-end. And you see, men through the ages (and especially these days), trapped within such a maze, do one of two things: start wars, or kick the can down the road. Of course, wars are dumb, and while they giv

Ronald Regan chafed. A small open sore. That never healed. And as folks described his greatness, she’d quietly cringe. Naturally, she loved JFK. FDR too. Clinton was ok. But at the mere mention of Baby Bush, she’d erupt. And launch a blistering attack on Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rummy, Halliburton, war crimes, arrogance, ignorance, incompetence. Leaving her audience shocked. Awed. Then in 2003, she announced plans to vote

We dropped anchor. Motored ashore. Hired a driver. To explore. “Careful dat door man, it’s a little broken,” he warned as we climbed aboard his crumbling mini-van. Dodged potholes, crawled through Dominica’s ghetto’s. Hit a town called Massac(re). “Da world’s oldest woman lived here man, 122yrs old,” he claimed. Yawn. So I shook it up, asked if Dominica’s politicians are as corrupt as ours. “No man, maybe a little ch

Plato stood upon the shoulders of Socrates. And spun his ideas. Into the Dialogues. No one truly knows where one man’s brilliance began and the other’s ended. But both endure. Mankind’s worthiest works do. Anyhow, my pulse quickened. As I read Plato. ’Cause I’d discovered the lyrics to a famous Jay-Z rap. Now, you might not expect to find Socrates’ words in Brooklyn ghetto poetry. But you see, Man has so few new idea

“My grandparents were given the name on Ellis Island,” he explained over lunch. At Lavo – NY’s hottest spot. Filled with people from all over the world. Building. Hustling. Making something from nothing. And conversation wandered. His plans. Our plans. Opportunities. Risks. Markets. Trades. 2012. I explained investors have yet to fully appreciate what a true safe haven is: A place where you’re prepared to permanently

The human eye needs 20 minutes to fully adjust to darkness. So that’s how long we spent at the trailhead, cause it’d be hours till dawn and we were climbing without headlamps. The fascinating thing about the dark is that everything’s basically the same, but yet, it feels so very different. Mountain lions hunt, coyotes prowl, footing feels unstable, and the boogeyman lurks. We brought 2 big dogs, Man

Lots of ways to make a buck bro. Some noble. Others less so. And while I admire the former more than the latter, green is green. Plus it’s hard to take anything too seriously. ’Cause creative destruction ensures no business endures. And new ones arise. Which keeps us running hard. Fast. To stay one step ahead in our race against failure. One of my boys had an idea. Built a team. On a shoestring. Raised some money. To

The affair lasted for years. And I wasn’t her only lover. She has so many. Mostly youngsters. But the gravity of middle age drew me back to center. Broke her spell. Perhaps I’d encountered too much social injustice, lost faith in extreme ideologies, or simply realized there are no heroes like John Galt, and Dagny Taggart. Anyhow, when I land in Zurich, Ayn returns. To tantalize, tempt, and taunt me. You see, Switzerl

She towers above our town. And I needed to blow it out. Tackle something big, gain altitude, perspective. So standing at sea level, I clipped in, headed for La Cumbre peak. The 3,995ft climb is brutal. Relentless. But the reward’s glorious, directly proportional to the struggle – natural law. The way to tackle a big climb is to cut it into pieces. Focus on taking lesser peaks. Set intermediate goals. And as the road