Julie and I have been watching The Crown-Season 4 on Netflix. In addition to its focus on the Windsor family and all their insecurities, it presents a textbook example of leadership during a time of national crises. Margaret Thatcher, aka The Iron Lady, had the hard skills necessary to lead but lacked the soft; those ill-defined skills of compassion and empathy that completes the nucleus of a great leader. Effective leadership is difficult, very few of us have the innate ability. Thatcher came close but she needed Queen Elizabeth to temper that iron and show her that a great leader has both hard and soft skills with the innate ability to lead a diverse population during a time of war, in the film it was the Falklands. During Margaret Thatcher's term as the British prime minister, she worked closely with Ronald Reagan. They were birds of a feather with the exception that Reagan possessed both the hard and soft skills making him one of our greatest.  Why do I go here during this time

  "Fool's gold" is a common nickname for  pyrite . Pyrite received that nickname because it is worth virtually nothing, but has an appearance that "fools" people into believing that it is  gold ." How could so many be fooled by so few? The nation wanted to change, it always does after 8 years of the same administration.  Trump came along in 2016 offering wealth and prosperity, some people listened and bought the pyrite. It was never fake news, it was always fake gold. The tax cut side-stepped the middle class and enriched the one-percenters and corporate America. The trade deals were mired in obfuscation and deceit at the expense of our farmers. Immigration policy was driven by headlines, campaign promises, and border walls, political fodder that ignored human tragedy. The election wasn't fraudulent, Trump is the fraud, and this time 80 million voters weren't fooled. The end doesn't justify the means, we need quality and value on both ends of th

"a harsh discordant mixture of sounds." Tell me we're not being bombarded by discordant thoughts, opinions, and advice?  In today's media, we hear more than we read. Sounds attack us from every direction, Cable TV, Live Streaming, YouTube, Podcasts, Radio, and gossip in the supermarket. We don't know what to believe or who to listen to.  We're in desperate need of reliable mentors, experts to guide us through the conspiracy theories, fake news, and that favorite meme, "you've taken my words out of context". We think the pandemic is catastrophic, the election result unsettling, and life as we've known it fading.  All true, but wait a minute, back up, take hold, and consider the reality. Unless you're one of the unfortunate ones, a patient suffering from COVID-19 or another serious health problem or related to a patient, you have much to be thankful for as we approach the holiday season. We live in America, the best option on earth in spite

" His age, his battered good looks, his accent, the slight sibilance in his voice, his culinary erudition worn lightly, his finely honed knife skills, and the ’70s-era funk of his wood-paneled kitchen: It is somehow a mesmerizing package." Dwight Garner OK, the holidays are upon us and Nick is approaching his 60th year trying to find the perfect gift for Julie. I've been jealous of Jacques Pepin every year since, Dwight Garner's review of Pepin's new cookbook, Quick & Simple, explains why. It's not just his recipes, it's him!                        Julie & Jacques, oh my!  He's the complete package as Garner describes him, a man who brings the art of french cooking to the masses. Pepin isn't a Michelin Chef, he's everyman's cook who understands that a kitchen is an operating room, not a Michelin fine art studio. All this combined with a french accent that drives women back to the kitchen after their clandestine affair with factory-p

 The year is 64 AD, the date is July 18, the place, Rome, the seat of power in the known world, the event is a conflagration, the protagonist is the Emperor,  Nero Claudius Caesar  Augustus   Germanicus. Nero  was the fifth Roman  emperor , ruling from 54 to 68. His infamous reign is usually associated with tyranny, extravagance, and debauchery. Sound familiar, history repeats itself, our very own Emperor has, metaphorically speaking, struck the match, ignited the conflagration, and is playing golf, not a fiddle, while our Democracy and peaceful transfer of power go up in flames. The Republican Senate, i.e. Roman Senate, ignores the facts, humors and enables the Emperor, and accepts his moral and ethical shortcomings as the price paid for political survival.  The US Senate covers up their self-dealing and hunger for reelection with false loyalty to an inept leader that is driving our Republic into the ditch. Rome survived the fire of AD 64 but it didn't survive the extravagance of

" Life is like a river, if you cannot let go of the past, it will drag you down the stream.” ―Amit Ray I've Been Thinking... A few months ago, I was talking to a friend of mine about life when he said to me: “Maria, if you want something new, you are going to have to first get rid of the old. It’s the only way to make room.” Damn, I thought. Ain’t that the truth? One of my big New Year’s resolutions for 2020 was to clear out the old in every area of my life. I had made a promise to myself that this would be the year I would take a hard look at how I was living my life: my beliefs, my attachments, and all my stuff. I started sorting through things from my office, things from my time as First Lady of California, things from my parents, things from my kids (do yourself a favor and do not save all of your kids’ school things like I did), and so many other things that had found their way into storage when life got the best of me. In fact, I was already in the thick of shredding, di