I felt a gathering — of memory, time, reality. And then a going-out. A great one. Ferocious. Relief. Fear. Panic. Confusion. Anxiety. Guilt. Blown apart

I felt a gathering — of memory, time, reality. And then a going-out. A great one. Ferocious. Relief. Fear. Panic. Confusion. Anxiety. Guilt. Blown apart
I’ve always admired social entrepreneurs, that breed of ambitious people who dedicate their time and energy to improve how we function as a society. Social
I don’t like to get wonky, especially about taxes, because life is short and there are too many other worthwhile things to do, like play
If you subscribe to Just Exactly Perfect that makes you one of the smartest people in the world. Thank you! More and more, I am
(The Answer Guy takes pride in answering your questions about all the nooks and crannies of life. We don’t bother with the big picture. No
One of the great techniques of art in almost every genre — from music to movies to literature — is tension and release. It’s the
When Kit was alive I used to brag about her a lot. (I still do now, but more discretely.) For instance, I loved telling people
There’s a lot of bad news out there this week. The border’s being overwhelmed with immigrants, the French are mad at us over the Australian
Gavin Newsom, the swashbuckling governor of California, cruised to victory in a weird recall election this week. On the ballot was a simple question: “Shall
I’ve found myself drawn to science fiction lately, a genre I’ve ignored most of my life, except for movies. I’ve particularly enjoyed “The Three Body
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEPT. 13, 2021 ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control today said it had identified a dangerous new variant of coronavirus that
Years ago, as a young city desk editor, I drew the Saturday shift, rolling into work about 10 a.m., likely a little fuzzy from that
Editor’s Note: This corrects an earlier version that incorrectly identified the antagonist in “Gaslight.” Hat tip to Doug Dykstra. ****** The new, enlightened Taliban —
Harry Truman once famously said, “Give me a one-handed economist. All my economists say ‘on one hand . . . ’ then ‘but on the
Let’s just say it: the PGA Tour season, which began in September 2020 and ended a year later when Patrick Cantlay won the FedEx Cup,
Editor’s Note: Mea culpa. This version corrects a glaring error in the original post. I know you’re not supposed to repeat the error, but I
“Dark Star is always playing somewhere. All we do is tap into it.” — Phil Lesh President Biden famously ended the “forever war” in Afghanistan
Nobody asked, but the luxury watch market is doing just fine. Valued at nearly $24 billion globally in 2020, it’s expected to grow at a
My fellow Americans — and friends of America around the world — thank you for giving me your time today. I’m not sure I’ve earned
“The door to the past is open. He could push it shut, latch and lock it, but he doesn’t want to. Let the wind blow
(Editor’s Note: We’ve come into possession of a transcript from a call between Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, made just hours after Branson returned to
In one of the great feats of global political engineering, Joe Biden and Janet Yellen, working through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
(Editor’s Note: We’ve come into possession of a transcript from an Oval Office meeting on July 5, 2021. In attendance were the President; Bruce Reed,
After my last post, a friend texted, “Are your serotonin levels running low?” I know him well enough to understand his meaning: why was I
I recently declared my conversion from an optimist to an optimalist (a willingness to accept failure while remaining confident that success will follow). The downside
America is in a farrago right now. Don’t bother to look it up. From the Latin, “farrago” was adopted into the English language in the
Physicist Neils Bohr once famously said, “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” Well, I’ll make a prediction anyway: the so-called post-pandemic
“Ma’am, I’m not here to be anyone’s slave.” — Britney Spears to LA County Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny After 13 years, Britney Spears has
It’s going to be a free-range summer for me. After kicking it off here in Southport, I’ll be heading to the West Coast in mid-July
There’s usually something cool going on in Southport if you look for it. This weekend was the Plein Air Art Festival — 50 artists scattered
The other day, I put my ClearAudio turntable in the trunk of the car and took off on a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Four Oaks, NC,
Kit passed away on May 21, 2020 but because of the pandemic, we couldn’t hold a formal memorial until June 2021. On June 12, more
“Offering free childcare and beer, Biden makes renewed push for July 4 vaccination goal” — Yahoo News, June 3 (JEP has come into possession of
On a late Saturday morning my cousin and I went shopping for dinner, stopping first at a Publix for some vegetables and hummus, but passing
So much for incrementalism. As our new $6 Trillion Man (think of Lee Majors’ $6 Million Man adjusted for inflation), Joe Biden wants to leap
America, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, is an enigma wrapped in a contradiction. In the 18th century, we created a framework for one of the most liberal,
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wells Fargo, after three long years, has seemingly emerged from the bottom of the barrel to a point where it is no longer
I live in a small coastal town in North Carolina, which is quiet most of the year and then explodes in the summer with a
(On March 2, President Biden hosted a private meeting with eight historians and biographers at the White House to discuss the historical context of his
“Oh, I wish I had a riverI could skate away onI wish I had a river so longI would teach my feet to fly” —Joni
A little while ago, aided by the rise of new enabling platforms like WordPress and Substack, I declared myself a sovereign writer: I write what
I would hazard to guess that most of us have experienced a change in how we perceive time during the Pandemic Year of 2020. Generally
On April 2, Major League Baseball announced that it was moving this year’s All-Star game out of Atlanta to protest the passage of the state’s
So, as is my custom, I start most days with a cup of coffee and the New York Times (followed by WSJ, Axios, WaPo, Watchville,
I’ve always said that hope springs eternal in the hearts of all dogs and golfers. No matter how bad it gets out there (and it
There’s always plenty of bad news to go around — can you believe that tanker in the Suez Canal that’s disrupted the global supply chain?
It’s Hump Day, spring is in the air, and our thoughts turn to many things, in no particular order: Lana Del Rey Is the New
(Since Joe Biden’s election in November 2020, Russia and China have set aside political differences and reached a secret, opportunistic rapprochement as short-term allies to
I have to get this off my chest. Others have too, including this note from Andrew Sullivan that dropped Friday, and I feel compelled to
(Author’s Note: This post had an able assist from financial whiz Breton Birkhofer.) Wow, talk about an inflection point. The International Energy Agency reported this
The media-industrial complex went through a series of rapid and radical changes catalyzed by the Great Pandemic of 2020 that have yet to fully play
Back when I was in the newsroom, I had a managing editor who did a stint on the city desk at the Chicago Tribune. He
OK kids, time for our weekly art lesson. Once in a while, a piece of art grabs the headlines. Usually when it’s found (an old
Who remembers Lincoln Chaffee? Of course you don’t. Chaffee, the former governor of Rhode Island, ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2015. His campaign
For Immediate Release 11 March 2021 The Firm, the UK’s Oldest Enterprise, Plans IPO in Late 2021 LONDON, England, United Kingdom — The Firm, a
The saloon — or the tavern, bar, watering hole, poor man’s social club, honky-tonk, gin mill, cocktail lounge — is an under appreciated cranny of
Does it seem like the world is falling apart? Systemic failure seems to be everywhere: the Texas power grid, the vaccine rollout, third-party hacks of
The Wall Street Journal noted this week that bitcoin’s market value passed the $1 trillion mark, which should make anyone pause and think for a
(The PGA Tour’s West Coast swing is well under way and marching toward Augusta, so thoughts turn to golf. This post kicks off a series
Lance Morrow, one of the wise men of journalism and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, correctly notes that Americans are
If you’re spending a lot of time at home because of Covid and the polar vortex covering nearly three-quarters of the country, you’re probably scouring
When Anthony Villaraigosa was mayor of Los Angeles — one of the biggest and most complex cities in the U.S. — he became famous for
A friend and I like to joke that when one of the wags on the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page can’t come up with something
Old habits die hard. I’m thinking of that cliché on my sixth day of post-op recovery from rotator cuff surgery. For some reason I’m reverting
Enough about Trump, Biden and Buffalo Head Guy. I want to talk about me. Actually, I want to talk about this blog. I started this
This is going to be about Joe Biden, but let’s put politics aside for the moment. This is about a man who was elected by
(Editor’s Note: Today, JEP features a guest post by Bob Wynne on the ineffable and enduring power of photography. Bob is an award-winning journalist, public
I have a confession to make: I never saw this coming. Four years ago this month, Donald Trump stood at the West Front of the
Years ago, when social media was still in its early stages, Kit would tell interviewers that it was creating a profound disconnect. “Everybody has a
“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th! Be there, will be wild!” — Trump tweet Well, Trump got his wish. There was a big protest
Partial transcript of Trump’s meeting with Vice President Pence in the Oval Office early on Wednesday, Jan. 6. Trump: Mike, what’s your plan today? How
For as much joy as I experienced in 2020 — yes, there was some! — it was overwhelmed by tragedy, both at the personal level
Hat tip to John Perry Barlow, RIP Be patient. No matter what. Don’t bad-mouth: Assign responsibility, not blame. Say nothing of another you wouldn’t say
Food became a lot more important during the pandemic — not just for nutrition, but also for comfort and communing. Plus, we didn’t go out
Faithful readers of Just Exactly Perfect have come to expect an annual review capturing highlights of popular culture from the preceding year. Not this time,
Mr. President-Elect, First of all, congratulations! Who would have ever thought after your long career, and two failed attempts at the presidency, you would be
Like a lot of us, I occasionally scan the Nextdoor website just to see what’s going on in the greater Southport neighborhood. The posts range
Everything changed in 2020. The coronavirus bomb exploded in January and the repercussions are still expanding. The objective metrics are numerous – transmission rates, business
Kit used to pick up the New York Times in the morning and sometimes say, “Let’s see what they’re going to make us feel guilty
We’re going to spend the next few weeks going through wash-and-rinse cycles of the political machine as the Trump Administration wrestles with its loss. There’s
Wow, the election has been a wild ride and it ain’t over yet. But while all the attention is on the race for the White
“We are not enemies, but friends.” — Abraham Lincoln, 1861 In the aftermath of this great election, it suddenly becomes clear what the Trump presidency
Where I live, a small enclave of people who have migrated to coastal North Carolina to enjoy salt air, green grass, blue skies and white
Trump’s Mike Tyson Strategy Tyson famously said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Trump’s strategy in the first debate
“The past is never over; it’s not even past.“ — William Faulkner Peter Baker and Susan Glasser’s new book on the life of James Baker,
Kit Yarrow passed away on May 21, 2020 after a long and brave struggle with ovarian cancer. A light has left the world, but her
“Buddy, can you paradigm?” So, in our spare time (anybody finding that there’s more spare time out there these days?) it’s interesting to think about
As America begins its comeback — a tentative and lurching return to some kind of normalcy — one of the biggest challenges will be the
“It’s the end of the world as we know it”— REM It’s true that we should never let a crisis go to waste. One of
(One in a series of suggested alternative communications for President Donald Trump.) My fellow citizens and friends, we are facing a test of our national
We have a civility problem in America; specifically, an increasing lack of it. Our country is devolving into a culture of conflict, disrespect and discord.
Well, I don’t want to start out as a buzzkill, but 2019 was in many ways a mean old year, or annus horribilis as the Queen
Here’s the speech Trump ought to give in Dayton and El Paso on Wednesday. Mr. President, please feel free to use at will, no remuneration
McDonalds’ founder Ray Kroc once famously said that it took him 30 years to become an overnight success. The same could be said about the
Last night, I settled into one of the Dead’s great performances, the Veneta show from 8/27/72, aka the “Field Trip” or what Nick Meriwether called
America needs a Kirk Gibson moment, now more than ever. Americans are in a funk. There’s just no way to sugarcoat it, which is usually
For the better part of my career I’ve been in the “messaging” business, helping very large companies communicate with a wide variety of stakeholders: customers,
I haven’t seen the new Ken Burns documentary on Muhammad Ali yet, but I’m looking forward to it. Thinking about Ali brought back the memory