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Vitruvian Man I like reading Indy stories. I learn about what’s happening around me. I was drawn into The Indy’s “Lesson Mixes Art With Science.” A local art teacher demonstrated to the school board how a field trip for second graders to Dana Point’s...

Dilemma Lingers On How do we solve our downtown dilemma: finding a way to foster our traditional small downtown within the changing economics of retail? Thanks for the thoughtful responses to this question I posed in my last column. Respondents have opened the door to more...

It Just Keeps Rolling This old bull market just keeps rolling along. The current bull run celebrated its eighth birthday in March and is now the second longest since WWII. A bull market is conventionally defined as a rise uninterrupted by a 20% decline, which announces a bear...

The Power of the Tower A month back I wrote a column titled “Power of the Flower,” about the inspiring abundance of wildflowers we experienced this year. This column is about man’s ability to inspire through the emotional power of architecture. On my way home from my paddle-less...

My Father In His Turquoise Vinyl Recliner Swaddled like a mummy, my father lay on his turquoise vinyl recliner, with a second blanket protecting his lap against a chill. It could have been 1951 when he and my mother and their four children crossed the ocean to America as refugees...

Is America really the greatest? Independence Day is coming soon. This had me thinking about the subject, Is America really the greatest? Presently at least half of us are wondering what’s happened to the United States. Has the United States lost its greatness recently or long...

Are We Becoming More Ignorant? Maybe we dont see it in Laguna Beach. After all, look at us. Of residents over 25, 97% have graduated from high school. Sixty-five percent have at least a B.A., the highest percentage of any place in the area. Our outstanding schools, with their...

Downtown City staff recommended rejecting a CVS Pharmacy to replace Laguna Drugs. Staff cited the city’s Downtown Specific Plan that establishes development guidelines discouraging applications by national chains that fail to differentiate their product offerings and standardized...

A Father’s Day Tribute Our father’s live forever in our consciousness. Their interactions with us crucially impact our sense of self and how we interpret our place in the world. The role of father was often ill defined in the past as a shadow-figure, the head of...

Eyes On The Targets Investors who did not “sell in May and go away” are fortunate they disregarded that ancient Wall Street cliché. After a 1.2% gain on the S&P 500 in May, the S&P is up another 1% in the first week of June, In contrast to the continuing political clamor...

Seeking a Traditional-Contemporary Downtown Blend My Aunt Margaret begged before Christmas, “Don’t get me anything!” To her the important part of the holiday was getting together with the family for a nice meal. As a child I just couldn’t understand not wanting gifts for...

PTSD I have a bad habit of reading ahead of myself. Take the Indy story, “Good Luck 2017 Grads.” Laguna’s mayor pleaded with graduates, “We want you to stay in town, please.” I was sure the next line would read, “Until all of your student loans are paid.” And then the next, next...

Two Paddleboards Adrift This is the story of two lost paddleboards and their trans-European adventure. It’s also a parable of how one industry is continually cutting costs to pursue profits. And how the very nature of capitalism as it is presently configured is an unrelenting...

History is Relative My hometown in Texas—population 1,275—celebrated its 50th year anniversary the summer after I graduated from high school. The celebration was a big deal—days of contests for best costumes and beards — ending with a live band and dancing on Main Street....

A Shining City One of the advantages of being in the autumn of my years is that I can look back over several decades and report first hand on dramatic changes that have affected our nation. One might think that technological change would be the first thing that comes to mind. But...