The Search For A Cool 'What Is He Going To Call You' Name

First Things First!

Holy Smokes! I have become a grandparent. The pressure is on. Everyone stand by. There is no room for error here. On September 15th, George Douglas Glenn parachuted into this word and son Doug and wife Annie are now the proud and happy recipients of exploring, for them, new, uncharted territory. Thus far, I have held George a few times and spoken with him a bit in those indecipherable, involuntary baby talk goo-goos and gurgles that seem to mysteriously emanate from the lips of otherwise articulate adults. Not a lot of heavy lifting thus far on my end. There have been a passel of ladies on all sides of their familial equation who have stepped to the fore to lend happy all hands on deck assistance and help.

George came over to my place a few afternoons ago to visit and as a group of us sat on the front porch visiting and waiting for a warm, gentle rain to sprinkle in through the leaves, a lovely lady was swaddling George and it was obvious to me that even at this early age, George (whom I now steadily call King George) is a chick magnet. He’s a nice looking little fellow with what appears to be a nice disposition and a sweet demeanor. He exudes Hope and Goodness.

Now, I have never been one of those that got all gooey over the prospect of grandchildren. Truth be told, I’ve always thought of it all as a nice concept; always thought of it in an abstract way. I was asked many, many times along the course of George’s travels this way if I was ‘excited’. No, I wasn’t excited and still am not. Really more interested and curious. But it surely isn’t abstract anymore! And I am happy to admit, I’m invested, I’m in and looking forward to those days when King George and I can hang out and visit and go to games and he becomes a vessel that I can inculcate with the mysteries and passions of my life’s experiences.

Now, what shall my cool Nom De George be? I am no ‘pappy’ or ‘gramps’ or any such. I’m starting a subtle, whispering campaign to be either Big V or just V. I expect King George will ultimately have some say in the matter and I look forward to the resolution.

Now, onto a quick pat on my back and other scattered topics and a few quick book reviews.  

My newest book, the third volume of my Eddie Terrell Trilogy, SLIM AND NONE is finally, finally out and here for y’all to read and hopefully enjoy. You can get it from your local, independent bookseller (Here in Charleston, my always go-to is the wonderful Buxton Books down on lower King Street-books ordered from Buxton even come wrapped and beribboned. Each book is a veritable present. What a nice touch!)

Or you can go the Amazon route, too.

Or, if you want to wait and prefer an audio book, I’ll be reading it in studio as soon as we sort out a ‘go’ date.

In all events, I am very pleased with it and think it’s my best work so far. I hope y’all agree.

From the ‘Did You Know’ department, if you start counting from the Charleston foot of the Ravenel Bridge to the exit ramp onto Ashley Phosphate, there are 22!!! lawyer (all plaintiffs’ lawyer/car wreck/work injury) billboards. They are all the same. Pick me! Choose me! It’s too much. It’s beyond unfortunate. They diminish our profession and they will not stop until they realize the harm they are doing to the trial lawyers who honestly labor in the courthouse under the ever growing disdain and prejudices these solicitations are creating. I don’t expect to see any abeyance. The advertisers are not about to cede ground to competitors as they might ‘lose out’. The grasping is revolting. And I have been told that lawyer advertising expenditure on television ads is second only to that for automobiles. Saturation beyond saturation.

Count me out. I’m glad I’m done. I’m afraid what we are witnessing is the serpent devouring itself. Frustrating. Ugly.

On another front of mild annoyance, Amazon (Yes, I admit I use them from time to time…) somehow managed to screw up my mailing address and could not process my orders for delivery. I tried and tried and tried to remedy the situation but to no avail. Finally, I was able to get Amazon ‘customer service’ on the line. Basically it was a circular firing squad . The nice fellow could not help me but said he would send me via email a set of (canned) instructions to effect a fix. The email came and was basically indecipherable. I worked with it a couple of times and again, no dice. I called Amazon back and told them that I had had enough and instructed them to close my account. I was told that they would email me more instructions as to how to do that, that they couldn’t do such a thing on their end and that if I left, I could never come back! They sent me the email and I did what it instructed me to do.

It was, well, liberating.

But not so fast my fine friend!

A week or so passed and I hadn’t gone into Amazonian Withdrawal. I was pleased. And then, a couple of random back orders appeared at my UPS store. Huh? As an experiment, I ordered something innocuous-I think it was a broom-and presto, change-o, it arrived the next day.

My account was still alive. It won’t die or go away.

It’s the Hotel California phenomenon.

‘You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.’

So it goes…

Now, some quick, brief book reviews-

The Paris Mystery by Kirsty Manning

I love almost all things Paris but this one was a stinker. A glammed up rip off of Murder On The Orient Express. Pass.

Boomerang by Michael Lewis

Always enjoy his stuff. How Germany and California and Iceland and Greece avariciously went bust. A bit dated (copyright 2011) but still entertaining and instructive. And applies to today for sure. Because, guess what? They and us and many others are still going bust. Oh well…

Trotsky by Robert Service

The boy genius of the emergence of Communism…in the pantheon with Marx, Engels, Lenin but he lost the power struggle to Stalin, was exiled and then assassinated in Mexico. A Ponderous read, often pedantic but it had to be written. This one’s for ‘learning’, not entertainment. Large history writ Heavy.

Portrait Of A Thief by Grace D. Li

Found it lightweight, silly serious and annoyingly introspective. Maybe that’s because the author went to Duke and there are more than a few references to Buck Duke’s Evil Tobacco Funded Gothic Rockpile over in Bull City. Cotton Candy dressed up in ‘intrigue’.

Pass.

The Heaven And Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Loved this book. McBride is a true maestro. I cannot imagine any other writer taking on Pottstown, Pennsylvania (Where? You say…) and its history and culture and weaving brilliant characters and plot into a funny, thoughtful and substantive creature. Don’t miss this.

All The Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

Black Sheriff in Tidewater, back water Virginia. Good story. Plenty of predictably racially attuned moralizing but the story carries the tale nicely and deftly. Well worth the read.

And lastly, I’ll leave y’all with a piercing quote-found this in a recent edition of Barron’s- This comes from a famous, wildly successful Wall Street guru, 88 years young, Alan Patricof who for his third act is building a fund that invests in all the things older people need.

He was asked, what is your best advice for others contemplating a third act in business or life?

He replied, “Try to become a multidimensional person. I completed the New York City Marathon last year and also went to Burning Man. The message of my book-‘No Red Lights’-is CREATE AN INTERESTING LIFE FOR YOURSELF. Do more than look at balance sheets all day, or spreadsheets or legal briefs. And this advice applies to younger people as well.”

Indeed!

So that’s a wrap for now. Stay safe, Keep reading and learning. Take good care. All my best,

Vernon