I have resigned from US Chess and as of Sept 7, will no longer serve as director of the US Chess Women’s Program that I started four years ago. Prior to my work with US Chess Women, I launched US Chess’s online magazine, CLO, where I wrote, edited, and assigned many hundreds of chess-related articles.  I chaired the organizing committee for the first five and hosted the first ten US Championships and US Women’s Championships held in St.

I started this Substack a while ago and then stopped for reasons I can’t quite explain. I got depressed there for a little while, that’s for sure. Got busy with paid writing gigs. Got the itch to make pasta again. Tears of The Kingdom came out. Dated somebody who vaped constantly. Got lost at the Ross Dress for Less on Western and Hollywood (it’s a lot easier than you think). Truthfully, though, the main reason I stopped is that I ate a real big sandwich back in March and simply haven’t recovered.

Miyamoto Musashi (1582-1645) is the most famous Samurai who ever lived. He triumphed in more than 60 sword duels in his life, many of which ended in the death of his opponent. He was an unparalleled master of Bushido, the ancient code of the Japanese warrior.  While he dedicated his life to “the art of the sword,” he also is considered by many to be a master of painting, gardening, dance, philosophy, strategy, and writing.

The last week has been non-stop—and I wasn’t able to get a newsletter or a podcast episode together. And then on Tuesday, I learned, along with the rest of the world, that Debra Byrd had died. When I was a child, my first lessons in harmony came from the southern gospel trio The Rambos and Barry Manilow’s backing group, Lady Flash, a trio comprised of Reparata Mazzola, Monica Burrus (now Pegé) and Debra Byrd.

April 11, 2024 Former NFL star O.J. Simpson has died at age 76 after a battle with cancer, his family have confirmed. Simpson had reportedly been battling prostate cancer and earlier this year had shut down reports he was in a hospice via one of his final social media videos, claiming ‘all was well’. “On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” his family wrote in a statement on his X account, formerly known as Twitter.