Stoical Geezer

@stoicalgeezer

🇺🇲🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Retired CIO, writer, humanist. Stoic by practice, skeptic by temperament. I write about life, democracy’s cracks, aging with clarity, and the small rituals—pens, journaling, quiet mornings—that keep us steady while the world tilts.

2.633 Folgt3.300 Follower2.280 Posts

YouTube YouTube Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir stoicalgeezer.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· 27d

ēnsso's 50% 11th anniversary sale weakened my resistance. The UNO Minimalist is now in the pen case, powered by Pilot's Hi-Tec-C Coleto gel refill. Apparently "minimalist" refers to the design, not the size of my collection. #pens

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· 29d

A SoCal Evening The day softens. Palm fronds catch the last light, the sky holds its blue, and a warm breeze moves gently through the palms. For a little while, tomorrow can wait. There is only this moment— warm, quiet, and enough. #Poetry #SoCal

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jul 13

Joanie Thirteen. The number of years we shared. Two hundred and eighty-nine. The number of days without you. Forever. The time you remain in my heart. #MyDogJoanie #ForeverInMyHeart

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jul 11

A modern free verse response to an ancient truth. Here is my reflection, "After Reading the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám"—a poem about letting go of what has passed and embracing what remains. #Poetry #OmarKhayyam #CarpeDiem

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jul 10

Sixty-one years ago today, my wife and I met for the first time. I could never have imagined where that meeting would lead, or how much life we would share along the way. A day worth remembering—if only to wonder how one chance meeting managed to get so unexpectedly complex. #poetry

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jul 10

What are your top 5 #pens? Out of approx 70 here's my current pick plus one that can't be omitted—vintage 51 I've owned & used for 67 years. One of 5 Falcons, vintage M1000, Vodka on the Rocks 😎, 823 Amber (just edging out 823 Smoke), LE Round Tower Of Glendalough (amazing 18K custom 0.7 stub).

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jul 9

Joanie went everywhere with me — Montana, Appalachia, California, the Olympic Peninsula, and countless roads between. She was my companion, my shadow, my joy. Today would have been her 14th birthday, and I miss her more than words can hold. #Dog #Loveofmylife

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jul 8

A quiet reminder that time changes everything—though rarely in the way we expect. #poetry

Pam's Tree

She mourned the old tree.

It had stood for years,
casting its quiet shade
across her living room window.

When it came down,
the sun seemed too bright,
the day too exposed.

In its place,
the HOA planted
a thin green twig—
hardly worthy
of the name tree.

It promised
a future,
but offered
no shade.

That was years ago.

Or so it feels.

The twig reached upward,
season by season,
patiently becoming
what no one yet
could imagine.

Pam, meanwhile,
grew older.

In her mid-nineties
she left the home
where she'd watched
that little tree
begin its life,
moving instead
to a retirement home.

She has since
taken her leave
of this world.

Yet when Jane and I
walk that path,
we still call it
Pam's tree.

It is taller now
than the one that came before,
its branches once again
casting generous shade
across the window
she once looked through.

Strange,
how time changes everything.

The old tree is gone.
Pam is gone.

Yet both remain,
in different ways.

Perhaps that is how
the world remembers us—

not with monuments,
but with ordinary places
where someone pauses,
smiles,
and quietly says,

"This was Pam's tree."

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jul 7

Yup. And here's the inspiration ...

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jul 7

Contentment is rarely complicated. #poetry

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jul 5

Every gathering needs a realist. He came to judge the quality of the nuts. A sensible approach to both politics and life.

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jul 1

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 29

The second paragraph of this stellar article (highlighted in yellow in this screen grab) says it all ... www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 29

The Measure of Time A newspaper column reflecting on how time seems to pass more quickly with age prompted me to consider why. As children, we hurry toward tomorrow; with age, we learn the value of today. This poem grew from that thought. #poetry #aging #stoicism

The Measure of Time

As children,
we wished each day away,
certain that happiness
waited somewhere ahead.

Age teaches
a different arithmetic.

Time has not quickened.
Our supply has shortened.

The wise response
is not regret,
but attention—

to inhabit this moment
completely,

for this hour,
too,
is part of a life
well lived.

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 28

Every sofa has a supervisor. Ours just happens to be black, furry—and, at times, the sofa itself. 😸 #Blackcats

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 28

This old Geezer still believes lunch doesn't need a drive-thru. 😄 Home-cooked Argentinian shrimp, a rainbow of veggies, and brown rice, red rice & black barley. Low-cal, nutritious, and surprisingly tasty. My doctor would probably approve!

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 27

Losing health insurance isn't just about paperwork—it's about delayed diagnoses, untreated illness, needless suffering, and preventable deaths. No civilized nation should accept that. America needs Medicare for All.

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 26

Black cats bring no curse— They simply watch, unblinking, The choices we make. Judgment comes without a hiss; Only a slow, knowing blink. #tanka #blackcats

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 26

Black cats don't bring bad luck. They just supervise the consequences of our decisions. #Blackcats

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 25

#OnThisDay June 25 marks moments when boundaries shift and connections expand: wars redraw nations, new technologies link the world, and symbols reshape identity. From Little Bighorn to satellite TV and the rainbow flag, history turns when people challenge existing limits.

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 24

The deepest tears for a country are shed by those who still love it. #Poetry #America #Democracy #Patriotism

Tears for America

The lawn is torn open.
Ancient trees lie cut and silent.
The White House stands wounded,
its scars hidden behind fences and excuses.

The Kennedy Center wears a shroud.
The Reflecting Pool reflects little now
but mud, machinery,
and our own divided faces.

Generals are dismissed,
alliances fray,
wars arrive uninvited,
and the young are asked once more
to pay old men's debts.

Prices rise.
Certainty falls.
The language of neighbors
hardens into accusation.

Two hundred and fifty years—
and still we argue over who belongs,
who matters,
who may call this country home.

I do not weep for marble,
or lawns,
or monuments alone.

I weep for the quieter things:
trust, restraint, shared purpose,
the belief that tomorrow
might belong to all of us.

And yet the tears themselves
are a form of patriotism—

for only what is loved
can truly be mourned.

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 23

KitKat: "I wasn't planning to move today, so I became liquid instead." Scientists remain puzzled how eight pounds of cat can occupy twelve pounds of space. #BlackCat #CatsBeingCats #CatLife

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 23

At first glance these events seem unrelated—battlefields, keyboards, sports, civil rights, medicine, and tragedy. Yet they share a common thread: 2/2

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 23

#OnThisDay in history—June 23 repeatedly marks moments when more people gained a voice, a choice, or a place in the world—and occasions when those freedoms were threatened. History today speaks less of power itself than of who is permitted to share in it. 1/2

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 22

#OnThisDay June 22 is a pivot point where hubris collides with reality. From Galileo’s forced recantation and Napoleon’s final abdication to the massive clash of Operation Barbarossa, it’s a day when the illusion of absolute human control shatters against the unyielding forces of truth and history.

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 21

Good article, with lots of useful charts, including this one ... which effectively summarizes this strategic mess. www.cbsnews.com/news/opinion...

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 20

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 19

The ink on the signed MOU is barely dry, yet the postponement of the Swiss talks underscores the truce's absolute fragility. With violence still flaring on the Israel-Hezbollah front, geopolitical friction threatens to dismantle diplomacy before the 60-day window even begins.

Stoical Geezer@stoicalgeezer· Jun 19

I learned a new word today! taphophile: someone with a passionate interest in cemeteries, gravestones, epitaphs, and burial history. #Neologism #WordOfTheDay #EnglishVocabulary #Dictionary