WHORE HOUSE PIANO PLAYER OR POLITICIAN

I enjoy writing about Harry Truman. Not only because of his connection with and love for Key West. His life in general. Truman was a no bullshit person. Straightforward and honest. He called them as he saw them.

I received an e-mail yesterday containing a Truman quote. I was familiar with the quote. It merits comment here.

“My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there is hardly any difference.”

The quote first came to my attention when I read David McCullough’s Truman. The biography was published in 1998. I did not get to read it till ten years ago.

The book another War and Peace. Long. One thousand plus pages. Took forever to read. Especially the way I read it.

Borders had a Key West book store location ten years ago. On Northern Boulevard. Where today sits a PET store. I used Borders as a library. The Key West library was adequate. However, parking terrible. Borders had a large parking lot.

Borders also had small comfortable black leather chairs. I sat and read Truman in one of those chairs. A couple of hours a day. It took forever to complete.

Spent yesterday afternoon fine tuning last night’s blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Did the show at 9. A bit of everything. Sports, politics, life in general. Covered a multitude of sins.

One being a New York City problem. Taxi drivers and hired car drivers are making sexual comments to female passengers. And, ejaculating on them. The comments and ejaculations increased big time last year.

New York is working on a new local law to ban the sexual comments and ejaculations. Punishment, a $1,000 fine. I would throw them in jail!

Watched Wisconsin political dribble off and on during the day. It’s the political junkie in me.

I was pleased to see Trump and Hillary take a beating. Hopefully the losses will shape them up. Trump has to learn honesty. Hillary that truth is not to be twisted.

Dinner at Roostica.

Three weeks ago, forget getting a table. Not even get a seat at the bar. The season is over. The place was deserted last night. Pleasant!

I appreciate the small crowd does nothing for Bobby and his staff. However, it is nice once again to enjoy one of my favorite dining places.

Difficult sleeping last night. I turned on Turner Classics. A great two hour show. Not an old movie. The life of Gregory Peck. Gregory Peck casually moderating the show. A great man, a great show. An interesting life. Not typical Hollywood. A family man first. Then an actor who took his work seriously.

Enjoy your day!

A SUGARLOAF EVENING

Sugarloaf is 15 miles up US 1. One of the prettiest residential keys. Lovely homes.

I enjoyed a Sugarloaf evening last night.

June has owned or rented a home in Sugarloaf for more than a quarter century. She invited me to join her for a Sugarloaf experience last night.

First stop was a visit with Ineke and Fritz. Originally from the Netherlands, they have been U.S. citizens for many years. They enjoy two homes. A yearly residence in Connecticut, a winter home in Sugarloaf.

Fritz is a retired airline pilot. Ineke paints. Her works sell. Their Sugarloaf home walls covered with her paintings. All fantastic! Especially the abstracts. Their home lovely.

After an hour of pleasant conversation, we all moved on to Peggy and Wayne’s for dinner. Neva and Jerry joined us.

Another lovely Sugarloaf home. Sugarloaf has its own distinctive flavor. The homes reflect that distinction.

This was my third time with Peggy and Wayne. A fun couple.

A first time meet for me with Neva and Jerry. They stood out. Radiantly. They met eight weeks ago and fell in love. That quickly. It was obvious. God was good.

It was an evening of good company, drink and food. Accompanied by non-stop laughter.

I spent a good part of yesterday morning into the early afternoon writing this week’s KONK Life column. When Education Fails, A Nation Fails. Title says it all.

Our educational system has been on a downward spiral for years. Other industrialized nations have moved ahead of us. My recollection is that the U.S. is #29 among the 66 industrialized nations. A sure bet for more nations to move ahead of us economically and socially over the next 20 years.

The Blue Angels were performing again yesterday at Boca Chica. I did not have to go to the airfield to see them. My bedroom terrace was sufficient. Every time I heard the roar approaching, I ran out.

Outstanding! Beyond outstanding!

A couple of years ago, I came across an article suggesting that Lincoln had a dream that he had been assassinated ten days before he actually was. I doubted the validity of the story. Let it pass without comment.

I have come across the same story twice the past few days. I did a little digging. It seems the story has legs. It is for real.

Lincoln’s dream involved a group of subdued mourners around a casket in the White House’s East Room. Lincoln asked a guard who had died. The response, the President who was killed by an assassin.

Lincoln was bothered by the dream. He mentioned it to a close friend whose name escapes me.

The dream occurred on this day in 1865.

The world gets crazier by the moment. New York City is apparently having a problem with taxi and hired car drivers. Passengers being subjected to sexual comments and acts.

The City is working on a proposal banning the drivers from flirting with passengers or ejaculating on them. Ejaculating? Yes, it has become a problem.

Key West is one human family. Homosexuals and straights live side by side. Work and socialize together. Sexual preference not an issue.

Not so everywhere.

Saudi Arabia a problem place. The same Saudis who claim to be our friends. Those thought to have helped finance 9/11. Seventeen of the 21 persons involved in 9/11 were citizens of Saudi Arabia. Less I forget, the same Saudi Arabia that gave us $4 a gallon gasoline.

Criminal prosecutors in Saudi Arabia are recommending an extreme sentence for those engaging in homosexual acts. The death penalty.

The Saudis blame Facebook and the social media for creating the homosexual problem. They actually believe Facebook and social media are turning people gay.

Enjoy your day!