Out & About w/Mid-Week Notations

It was another interesting, challenging, disheartening and yet hopeful week.    Despite the profound challenges as exemplified in the work our team has done at the Daily Outsider, I wanted to be a bit "upbeat" as I picked the Disney Image above from the folks at the Mission above which is quite cute as I also take comfort in this admonition from John Kennedy:  “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.”    One of the many highlights of the week for me was being at at the Aliso Niguel High School last night as the class of 2018 senior awards were held.   What was amazing was to see selfless souls who spearheaded the reception for the presenters and the honorees and their families.   I produced a Visual Essay of this fabulous Night of Service:

This is also a week that saw us losing two major literary figures:  Philip Roth and Tom Wolf.    The beautiful Tribute by Adam Lashinksy is fabulous:  If you’re fortunate enough to practice a craft and to achieve some modest success at it, and if you have even a modicum of humility, then you’re hyper aware of the giants of your field, the people whose least impressive effort is better than you’ll ever accomplish. Journalist and novelist Tom Wolfe was one of the finest practitioners of narrative nonfiction ever to write in English. Wolfe, who died Tuesday at age 88, was a lion of 20th century journalism, a hard-working, creative, brilliant writer, and a colorful character in his own right. There may be no better example of the genre than The Right Stuff, Wolfe’s meticulously researched and entertainingly told tale of the early American astronauts and the daring test pilot, Chuck Yeager, who never joined their ranks. He excelled at literary criticism, cultural and political portraits, and then, as if there was nothing left to achieve, fiction. His Bonfire of the Vanities recorded an era, the 1980s on Wall Street, as well as any writer ever will. This being Data Sheet, it may shock you to know that Wolfe also wrote one of the best magazine feature stories every published about Silicon Valley. His December, 1983, profile in Esquire of Intel co-founder Robert Noyce captured the early days of the technology industry, a feat all the more astounding given Wolfe’s outsider status in these parts. Anyone who thinks today’s “brogrammer” culture in the Valley is somehow new needs to read Wolfe’s insightful account of the proclivity of Intel men to leave their wives for the young women at work who found the engineers’ stories and business triumphs far more entertaining than their homebound spouses did. I first read Wolfe’s Esquire article a baker’s dozen years ago when I was reporting a profile of Intel’s new CEO, Paul Otellini, who died last year. I asked the legendary Andy Grove, also no longer with us, about the Wolfe profile of his long-deceased boss, and Grove unleashed a typically expletive-laden condemnation of Wolfe’s sendup, arguing that Wolfe didn’t understand Silicon Valley. I could see why Grove didn’t cotton to Wolfe’s account. But I thought then—and continue to think now—that Wolfe perfectly nailed the self-righteous, entitled, narcissistic mentality of the Valley, a place whose accomplishments equal its hubris. And this was nearly 35 years ago. Godspeed, Tom Wolfe. Adam Lashinsky @adamlashinsky I had a chance to confer with one of the presenters.   He was part of the local Laguna Niguel Rotary Club Committee that made determinations on the Awards.   He noted how as he read the submissions, he noted that the Republic will be fine--I couldn't agree more not withstanding the challenging scene we're faced with. As I conclude these thoughts,  I wanted to wish all in the United States a restful Memorial Day Week-End as it is the "official" beginning of Summer, the School Year is coming to an end but more importantly--it is a chance to remember and honor all who have served.    I look forward to joining the City of Laguna Niguel's Event on May 28!! Onward to June with all its' possibilities!!!