Bookworm Room

Tweet Courtesy of the Navy League, today I boarded the USS Makin Island as an official ship’s greeter.  My visit was a bit more fraught than past experiences have been, so I thought I’d walk you through the girl’s guide to visiting the USS Makin Island, starting with pre-visit preparations: Review boarding instructions at last-minute [...]

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Tweet Even if you’re not a member of the Navy League, I thought you’d find interesting this email I received (emphasis mine): Dear Navy Leaguer: The sea services need our help. As you may be aware, The Budget Control Act of 2011 mandated $487 billion in security cuts over the next 10 years in order [...]

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Tweet Astute readers have probably figured out over the years that I’m a huge fan of our American military.  I think it’s the last institution in America that trains young people to be competent adults; that gives people, young and old, meaning and purpose in a world that’s often defined by mindless materialism; that truly [...]

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Tweet Let me start by saying that I am way too grown-up to say that something “rocks.”  Mine is a more dignified vocabulary.  Nevertheless, saying that the USS Carl Vinson rocks is the right way to start this post, because I want to discuss my visit to the USS Carl Vinson in the context of [...]

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Tweet In honor of Fleet Week (which starts Saturday in San Francisco), I have three Navy/Marine related stories to relate and I want to promote a few of my favorite Navy related blogs. Story 1: My daughter has started a new school and is making new friends.  The other day, I met the Mom of [...]

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Tweet San Francisco’s Fleet Week is just around the corner.  It is pretty much the last gasp of the City that once Knew How.  (Herb Caen readers, meaning old San Franciscans, will know what I mean when I write that.) I just renewed my Navy League membership, not only because it is a sterling organization, [...]

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Tweet But for the Navy SEALS, Osama would still be waltzing around Pakistan, hiding behind his wife.  The SEALS did an extraordinary job, right down to the incredibly accurate shooting that eventually sent Osama to, I hope, some place that is permanently fiery and painful. May I again suggest a contribution, no matter how small, [...]

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Tweet “Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” — Lewis Carroll I was struggling to figure out how to write my annual post about the Admiral’s Reception that closes out Fleet Week festivities, until it occurred to me that the answer, as is [...]

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Tweet I’ve probably mentioned here about a couple of thousand times the fact that I just love Fleet Week.  It’s the one weekend of the year when I get to step out of my suburban lawyer/mom rut, and do and see things that are entirely different from my ordinary life.  I’m too old and too [...]

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Tweet Three more weeks to my favorite week of the year — Fleet Week.  Yay!  Up until a few years ago, Fleet Week was fun.  Now, thanks to the Navy League, Fleet Week stands out as a time when I get to visit a world that is not only completely different from mind, but is [...]

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Tweet There are two storm warnings I want to give you, one of which requires action on your part, the other of which, depending on where you live, falls into the “sit, watch, and thank God you’re far away” category. First warning:  Drastic cuts to the military, courtesy of Bawney Fwank, that noted military expert.  [...]

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Tweet One of the highlights of my life since I joined the Navy League is Fleet Week, held every October here in San Francisco.  This isn’t because I have such a pathetic life that anything out of the ordinary is exciting.  Nooo.  It’s because Fleet Week, which is always a great event, gets amped up [...]

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Tweet Follow the Fleet (1936) is one of my favorite Fred and Ginger movies.  Since I belong to the Navy League, and often post about the wonders of the U.S. Navy, I thought that this wonderfully clever Irving Berlin song might be a fun homage to the sailors:

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Tweet One of my favorite organizations is the Navy League.  I wrote this post last September to encourage people to check it out.  I’m reprinting it today, slightly modified, because, for no clear reason, the Navy League has been in my mind.  I guess the dog days of Spring already have me longing for the [...]

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Tweet Thanks to the Navy League, I’ve just returned from a delightful evening aboard the USS Green Bay.  I knew the evening was going to be lovely even before I boarded the ship.  Although a nasty storm is threatening to hit the Bay Area tomorrow, the drive into the City was exquisite.  The air was [...]

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Tweet My mind is full of Fleet Week events.  As in the past two years, it promises to be a very exciting week for me and my family.  I know I’m going to be on a Coast Guard boat on the Bay when the Blue Angels fly, I know I’m going to a reception to [...]

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Tweet I woke the family up bright and early today for a very special adventure.  Courtesy of the Navy League, we headed over to Pier 30/32 in San Francisco to be part of a contingent of official ship’s greeters for the Bonhomme Richard. If the name sounds familiar to you, it’s because the Bonhomme Richard [...]

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Tweet I did something great today — I relaxed.  Okay, that’s not really all I did.  I relaxed in a very special place.  Along with my family, I spent time aboard the USCGC George Cobb (WLM 564), a Coast Guard Buoy Tender, which usually calls San Pedro, California its home.  Fortunately for us, it came [...]

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Tweet I won’t be posting tomorrow (unless I can sneak in a few minute in the a.m.), because I’m doing something cool:  I’m spending the day on the Bay, on a U.S. Coast Guard ship, watching the Blue Angels rehearse their maneuvers preparatory to the big air show this weekend.  Mr. Bookworm is worried that [...]

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