holberg - Network

Also—on the topic of cards. Mentioned this not too long ago but mine have always been personal cards. Just my name, phone number and email...

Also—on the topic of cards. Mentioned this not too long ago but mine have always been personal cards. Just my name, phone number and email address.

It’s funny in this digital age how much I hand them out. But when I’ve met someone I enjoy—men, women, purely platonic tone—it’s easy and casual to hand them my card e.g. ‘If you’re ever back in town and want to grab a drink’ etc. Doesn’t oblige them to reciprocate or take time for digital info exchanges.

You can do it with non-business cards, too!

There were a few complications with the stunning blonde Canadian Olympian. That I discovered in conversation only after we’d established...

There were a few complications with the stunning blonde Canadian Olympian. That I discovered in conversation only after we’d established our chumminess at a couple mixers. Like, off by ourselves at the side of the room.

‘You know she’s married, right?’ said my friend later that night.

‘Yes.’

‘And that she’s pregnant?’

‘Yes.’

The second thing definitely crushing any chance I had haha. But it was fun all the same. Maybe I do have a thing for blondes.

Just as a *very scientific* test, I’m gonna mention this to a certain friend I’ll be seeing tonight. Because I’m pretty sure she’ll...

Just as a *very scientific* test, I’m gonna mention this to a certain friend I’ll be seeing tonight. Because I’m pretty sure she’ll instantly suspect this mystery woman isn’t blonde—which she isn’t—and conclude that’s why I don’t remember her at all.

I asked her once why she was so sure I had a thing for blondes. Turns out she watched me get very chummy with a keynote speaker at something—a stunning blonde Canadian Olympian—and is now surprised if anyone in my past or present isn’t blonde haha.

Every week or so—when I replenish the supply of my own cards in my wallet—I take out those I’ve gotten from the people l’ve met here...

Every week or so—when I replenish the supply of my own cards in my wallet—I take out those I’ve gotten from the people l’ve met here and there. I keep them all—you never know—but will also put them in my contacts if I think there’s a fair chance we’ll interact again.

Anyway, I’ve been looking just now at one I know I must’ve gotten pretty recently. But am drawing a complete blank! Very unique name. Googled, found a photo, still zero recognition. And, no, it’s not gin—I remember everything haha.

The tiniest bit of schadenfreude—but still something to savor.At American Express Travel, Trump’s off-Strip-by-a-long-block hotel in Las...

The tiniest bit of schadenfreude—but still something to savor.

At American Express Travel, Trump’s off-Strip-by-a-long-block hotel in Las Vegas is always buried with stuff like motels and downtown hotels. Never anywhere near the top of the list with the nearby Wynn, Fontainebleau, Crockfords, Palazzo, Venetian, etc.

It’s the 48th entry in this search.

*cough*LOSER*cough*

I often start the day in the hot tub—when the pool service comes to clean and check everything. And I’ve been trying to figure out why...

I often start the day in the hot tub—when the pool service comes to clean and check everything. And I’ve been trying to figure out why the dude who does it is sometimes really friendly and sometimes really standoffish.

The answer? Realized today it’s actually two guys who have the same not-otherwise-fat-but-significant spare tire physique, the same kinda ZZ Top beard, the same man-bun, the same sunglasses even in shade, etc etc. In other words, they must be brothers who look a lot alike haha.

Wondering how many Trumpists in default on their student loans are about to get aggressive treatment from collection agencies—wage...

Wondering how many Trumpists in default on their student loans are about to get aggressive treatment from collection agencies—wage garnishment should be a fun outcome of a presidential vote.

So—in just three months—Trump has erased $11 trillion of value from the stock market, devalued the US dollar, raised the cost of...

So—in just three months—Trump has erased $11 trillion of value from the stock market, devalued the US dollar, raised the cost of national debt, made us vulnerable to those who hold our treasury bonds, raised prices on consumer goods, unsettled or harmed just about every American business, made stagflation a very real possibility, etc etc.

All of this because—checks notes—he didn’t think the US had adequately beneficial trade deals.

Wharton must be proud!

By the way, I kind of blame Alva Vanderbilt—at least partially—for Trump’s aesthetic. Her dining room at Marble House in Newport.

By the way, I kind of blame Alva Vanderbilt—at least partially—for Trump’s aesthetic. Her dining room at Marble House in Newport.

Fellowes also made a disastrous decision to include so many historical figures with the notable exception of any Vanderbilt. Which wrecks...

Fellowes also made a disastrous decision to include so many historical figures with the notable exception of any Vanderbilt. Which wrecks the verisimilitude. I mean, my god, he even drags out the FISH family. HOW is the richest family in the country absent?

Of course, Bertha Russell is an avatar for Alva Vanderbilt. But it would’ve so much smarter to establish Bertha as a rival to Alva. Who can break into society first? Paralleled by a rivalry between their husbands in the railroad business.

Oh, lord, there’s gonna be another season of GILDED AGE soon. Which I will hate-watch. But brace yourself. I think Julian Fellowes is a...

Oh, lord, there’s gonna be another season of GILDED AGE soon. Which I will hate-watch. But brace yourself. I think Julian Fellowes is a terrific snob about all Americans. No one to whom he’s so slavishly devoted like the sainted Crawleys—by the last season I expected haloes to appear. And pretty clueless about the Manhattan milieu to boot.

I would be surprised if anyone he's sending this to has any knowledge of anything we'll be betting on haha.

I would be surprised if anyone he's sending this to has any knowledge of anything we'll be betting on haha.

I enjoy my brother's sense of humor. We are not Catholic. We have no idea about any of this. He has indeed emailed the content for the...

I enjoy my brother's sense of humor. We are not Catholic. We have no idea about any of this. He has indeed emailed the content for the online form he's creating.

Well, that was definitely a lot for a season's second episode.My issue with LAST OF US - and this is a very personal sensibility - is...

Well, that was definitely a lot for a season's second episode.

My issue with LAST OF US - and this is a very personal sensibility - is that I generally find the entire zombie genre boring as fuck. I mean, I'd had enough of batting away the pesky undead with DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978).

What kept me around in the first season was its anthology quality. It was all the stories along the way that interested me far more than the central premise. So I'm gonna need some movement to start happening haha.

Wasn't particularly in a hurry to start the second LAST OF US season. But after seeing some fuss about the second episode, fired it up...

Wasn't particularly in a hurry to start the second LAST OF US season. But after seeing some fuss about the second episode, fired it up out of curiosity.

Only a few minutes in, but delighted to see Catherine O'Hara in a dramatic role. I'm always inclined to assume the finest comic actors are also capable of outstanding dramatic work. Which has generally proved out when I've seen it.

Okay, my godmother’s mother who lived at Sierra Towers? Even in her 80s and 90s we’d be at dinner—it could be anywhere, often...

Okay, my godmother’s mother who lived at Sierra Towers? Even in her 80s and 90s we’d be at dinner—it could be anywhere, often something like Craig’s—and some group of younger guys at a nearby table would send her a Belgian ale. Her favorite. And I’d be, like, how do you even know them? And she’d smile slyly and shrug and say, oh, you know, I get around.

She was an absolute kick. Who insisted that her funeral’s afterparty be held at Spago. Occurs to me they didn’t serve Belgian ale, though!

What kills me—really KILLS me—is that during the economic crisis in 2008 you could snap up Trousdale houses for peanuts. Like just a...

What kills me—really KILLS me—is that during the economic crisis in 2008 you could snap up Trousdale houses for peanuts. Like just a couple million on the low end. If I’d had the money, I would’ve bought every last one because I knew it was impossibly good investment. Today:

(The lower numbers at the edges aren’t in Trousdale. You ain’t getting anything for $3 million.)

All of this grading was the former Doheny estate—Greystone is just off to the bottom left. Trousdale Estates was all one-story midcentury...

All of this grading was the former Doheny estate—Greystone is just off to the bottom left. Trousdale Estates was all one-story midcentury modern houses. Some architecture very good, most of it very bad.

When I was a kid in the ‘70s and ‘80s, lots of original owners still lived there. Not at all fashionable. Until midcentury modern got hot and then it became a gold rush. Especially because it’s so well-located—a minute from the Sunset Strip—and most houses have views all the way to the ocean.

Here’s the view from its terrace. That highrise is Sierra Towers, right off the Strip at the border of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood....

Here’s the view from its terrace. That highrise is Sierra Towers, right off the Strip at the border of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. My godmother’s godmother lived there forever—back when its rep, like the Trousdale Estates neighborhood built on the subdivided Doheny estate in between—was GERIATRIC.

Then younger celebrities started moving in—et volià—suddenly chic.

When I say original Doheny mansion, I mean to differentiate it from Greystone in Beverly Hills, which Edward built for his son Ned. Who died...

When I say original Doheny mansion, I mean to differentiate it from Greystone in Beverly Hills, which Edward built for his son Ned. Who died there shortly thereafter with his male secretary in what appeared to be a murder-suicide. Still no definitive solution—including the nature of their relationship. Easier back then for rich people to cover stuff up.

You’ve certainly seen this house in film and TV. It’s a city park now—feel free to go up and wander around if you’re ever in the neighborhood.