Len Gutman's Blog

There's a Reason it's Getting Hotter in Arizona...it's Climate Change, Stupid!

In 1824, French physicist Joseph Fourier proposed that the atmosphere traps heat, creating the greenhouse effect, which explains why Earth is warmer than its distance from the sun suggests. In 1896, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius calculated that adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere could lead to warming. Nearly 100 years later, in the 1970s, scientific discussions on human-caused climate change grew more prominent, with a secret CIA report from 1974 highlighting climate change as an emerging factor in international relations and intelligence problems.

By 2009, the Paris climate agreement warned that the global “tipping point” for climate change was an increase of 2 degrees celsius. Last year the global average temperature exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the first full year to do so.

Scientists are still arguing about when we might hit 2°C, but they have long since stopped arguing about whether we will hit it or not. It is just a matter of when.

Depending on where you live, you may already be feeling the effects of climate change. If, like me, you live in Arizona, there is no argument it is getting hotter. According to the National Weather Service, the first two decades of the 21st century were the warmest period on record for Arizona.

But this post is not about the facts of climate change. The thing about facts is they are true whether you believe them or not. This is a post about what to do about climate change, especially if you live in a region that has already begun to see significant change.

I have been interested in the environment for as long as I can remember. More than three decades ago I read Earth in the Balance by Al Gore. Over the years I have joined numerous activist groups, from Greenpeace to The Climate Reality Project to 350.org. I have watched countless politicians talk about action, and others enact policy that flies in the face of action. I’ve heard leaders say climate change is an existential threat to humankind. I’ve heard politicians say it’s a hoax. But regardless of what they say, or even what they do when they are in office, one thing has remained consistent — nothing tangible has been done to slow the rise in temperature. And I don’t think anything will get done.

I say all this to make a simple point. It is time to give up on the delusion that world leaders will save us and instead take matters into our own hands. And while no one person can impact the climate of an entire planet, you can make decisions to positively improve your own situation.

I can’t help you if you are in denial. If you think climate change is a hoax, or even if you think it’s real but it isn’t a big deal or won’t affect you, you can stop reading now. Go with God. For the rest of you, keep reading to learn how even in a time of government malfeasance you can make decisions based on science to positively impact the situation of yourself and your family.

A while back I was introduced to a YouTube channel called American Resiliency. On the channel, Dr. Emily Schoerning and a group of loyal volunteers share scientific information about climate designed specifically to provide information to help average Americans make decisions to become more resilient.

From her home office in Iowa, Dr. Schoerning delivers science education and explains what the latest climate science means for the average American. American Resiliency is a nonprofit, and to date it has posted more than 400 videos and built an audience of nearly 14,000 followers and growing. I am a follower, and as of today I am also excited to share that I have joined the board.

What makes American Resiliency different from other climate-related nonprofits? For me, as I explained above, I think the time for global action has passed and the time for individual action is now. Does that make me a pessimist? I don’t think so, given the world has known about human-caused climate change for a century and done very little about it. With all due respect to Greta Thunberg, Bill McKibben, and Leonardo DiCaprio, no amount of carbon credits, wind farms, or electric cars is going to keep us from exceeding the 2°C point in our lifetime. I think it’s okay to continue to protest and vote appropriately, but I think the time has come to take action to protect my own family.

I realize it may be a moot point. It is possible the planet will become unlivable in my lifetime and we’re staring at a real-life version of Mad Max. If that’s the case, there’s nothing I can do to protect my family from masked marauders coming to steal my last gallon of potable water. All kidding aside, I don’t think that’s where we’re headed. But I do think I will see some scary shit in my lifetime, and I shudder to think about what my kid will face in the decades ahead.

I do believe we’ll see more deadly wildfires and more devastating weather in the very near term. I also believe humanity faces more than a handful of dire consequences, including:

Extreme heat conditions that will become even more deadly (602 people died in Maricopa County last year alone from heat)

Worsening air quality

Serious threats to food production and increased food scarcity

Forced migrations and mass displacement

Energy infrastructure damage

The collapse of the AMOC

Sea-level rise

I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic. I think I’m just paying attention. I’m no prepper. Nobody is suggesting you stockpile food, water and ammunition — although there are some people doing just that. I also do not believe society will collapse — although there are communities of people who do think we’re headed in that direction. The truth is if you ask me what is the most likely scenario that will bring on the collapse of humanity I’d put my money on a global pandemic, followed by artificial intelligence taking over! Hell, there are tons of ways humankind can come to an end but I don’t lose sleep at night about most of them because there’s nothing I can do. But when it comes to climate change, there is something I can do. I can use scientific information to make smart decisions for my family.

So what is it about American Resiliency that I feel so strongly about that I wanted to join the board? I simply no longer trust the government (or the media) to provide me with scientifically sound information about the climate. I think we can all agree that the Trump administration is destroying the scientific infrastructure of our government and that we can’t rely on it to provide factual data. We’re also seeing American scientists thinking about or actually leaving the U.S. which will further degrade the science coming out of the U.S. This summer the Trump administration even took down the National Climate Assessment website. Thankfully, some quick-thinking people grabbed the data before it went dark, and American Resiliency and similar organizations posted it. This is where we are in the U.S. today — citizens have to hack the government to access data we pay for.

The threats are real, but what I like about American Resiliency is it empowers people to make educated decisions about their lives. This may not be a huge priority for you if you live in a somewhat climate secure region of the country, but for those of us in the danger zones quality information is the only thing we can count on.

When it comes to living in Phoenix I think Peggy Hill said it best: “this city should not exist. It is a monument to man’s arrogance.” Still, it is my home and has been for the past 31 years. What I can tell you with no uncertainty is that it has gotten hotter in my time living here, and we’ve had more days of extreme heat. If you want to know why you always see me in San Diego or Flagstaff during the summer it’s because getting the hell out of here in the summer is the only way to survive living here.

Phoenix is truly on the frontlines of climate change. Last week we lost power during a storm for about 90 minutes and all I could think of is what happens when we lose power for a few days in the middle of summer? Thousands of people will die. It’s no joke. Not only is the heat an issue here, but water scarcity is becoming an even bigger challenge. Our politicians claim we have reserves or that we’ll be okay, but they know fuck all. The simple fact is that we get 40 percent of our water from the Colorado River and not only is the river drying up from loss of snowpack in the Rockies but out of seven states that get water from the river Arizona is last on the priority list created by the Colorado River Compact.

What is Arizona going to look like at a 2°C increase? Well, watch this video from last year to find out.

By now you may be asking why I haven’t left if it’s so bad? It’s not that easy to pick up and leave the place you’ve called home for three decades. We have jobs and family and friends here. We are not ready to retire. That said, we are starting to make plans to leave and American Resiliency is playing a huge part in the decision making process. There’s no use leaving Arizona only to end up in a place that is likely to suffer its own climate disasters.

Where can we go? Much of the west is seeing an increase in deadly wildfires due to climate change. Talk about getting out of the frying pan into the fire. Florida will be under water soon, the Southeast is seeing more and more deadly hurricanes. Texas and the rest of the southwest is also getting hotter. Generally speaking, most experts suggest the Great Lakes region and the Northeast are best as they are safer from sea level rise and have moderate temperatures. Moderate temperatures? Really? Do Minnesota and Michigan have moderate temperatures? I’m not going to do well anywhere there is snow, let alone the kind of cold temperatures you see in the upper Midwest or even Vermont.

American Resiliency is designed to help us decide where to go. Even within a region there are places that are better than others. In the west a place like Denver or Boise is going to be better than Los Angeles. Just ask the folks who lost their homes in the Palisades fire earlier this year about how climate secure things are in LA.

Eventually, we’re going to go somewhere. Our kid has decided on the Big Island of Hawaii which is very climate resilient compared to the rest of the U.S. They swear we’re destined to end up living off the grid on their farm with them. But until then, we’re going to keep looking around the mainland!

And I’m going to work on behalf of American Resiliency to keep the science coming despite the failings of our government. Seriously, it’s time to put yourself and your family first. Stay informed. Make decisions based on science. Support organizations like American Resiliency that are doing the work to keep us protected.

Meanwhile, stay informed and subscribe to the American Resiliency YouTube channel.

In Which I Make Yet Another Career Shift

I didn’t set out to have so many jobs in my work life. Like most people, I had a plan after graduating from college: I was going to be a sportswriter. Yet now as I approach 40 years in my so-called career I need more than two hands to count the places I’ve worked and a few toes as well if you want to add the times I’ve switched career lanes. It used to bother me that I changed jobs so often, but nowadays I think it has made me more well rounded.

Ironically, the job I trained for in college — to be a sportswriter — is one job I never actually held aside from a summer internship at the Las Vegas Sun and a few months covering high school sports for a group of weekly newspapers in the Bay Area. Over the years I’ve worked in aerospace, healthcare, education, technology, biotech, travel, and nonprofit. I have been in corporate communications, public relations, and fundraising. And for a few years I also taught college. My Linkedin profile is prolific.

So it shouldn’t be too surprising that this summer my work life took another major left turn. Although this one wasn’t planned. I had hoped my most recent role as chief development and marketing officer at a major nonprofit would be my last before retirement. Approaching 60, I figured I would work until I could collect social security and then I’d quit the “rat race” and slow down. But life, as it is wont to do for me, had other plans.

A year into my role things started to go south for me. I’m not going to go into details, but suffice it to say I found myself in a tough work environment and I needed to get out. This was my fifth nonprofit role across a dozen years, and one thing I knew was that if I was going to leave this job I didn’t want to simply go find another similar role at a different nonprofit despite the fact that the job market was wide open and I would likely have no problem doing so. I ascribe to the parable, often misattributed to Albert Einstein, that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

If I wanted a different outcome I needed to shift my thinking. Luckily for me, I have a great life partner who supported my decision to leave my job and try something new without the restraints of having to earn a set amount of money. I realize this is a luxury and that I am extremely fortunate to have a spouse that earns enough money to allow me to do what I want to do regardless of how much I make. Yes, we’d have to make a few adjustments to our bougie lifestyle, but nothing so severe that would cause us to give up too many if the things we love (like travel and dining out).

If money was not a primary concern, what would you do? For me the decision was easy — I wanted to consult and teach. In this stage of my life and career, I have a lot of experience to share with both the for-profit and nonprofit communities. I had been a public relations consultant in the early 2000s, so I’d done the freelance thing before and it wasn’t intimidating to hang a shingle and look for clients. If anything, my recent 15 years of experience in nonprofit leadership only added to the skills I could bring to my clients. So I gathered together a business strategy and launched LG Impact in June. My focus is on marketing and public relations for both nonprofits and corporations, as well as fundraising and nonprofit operations. I started to share the news of this new venture and quickly landed a first client. Today I have several other irons in the fire and I’m confident I can land enough client work to be busy, but not too busy.

The teaching piece is a different animal. I taught public relations at Arizona State University in the early 2000s and English at Chandler Gilbert Community College around the same time. In fact, I went back to earn a master’s degree in English in 2008 specifically so I could teach at the community college level. I figured then that there would be more opportunity to teach English than a specific field of study like public relations.

I decided to apply to the adjunct pool at the Maricopa County Colleges, the largest community college system in the country, and checked the box next to all 10 campuses to increase my chances of getting a slot. As luck would have it, not long after I applied I got a call from the division chair of the Language Arts department at South Mountain Community College and after meeting with her she asked me to teach two sections starting this fall. Last week I started teaching English 102 on Saturday mornings and this week I began teaching English 101 and a composition lab.

At the same time, I reached out to the Executive Director of the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University and he put me in touch with the team at the School of Community Resources and Development and after a group Zoom interview I was invited to teach grant writing online beginning in October.

Even I am surprised at how quickly I landed two adjunct teaching jobs but I am thrilled and excited to jump in with both feet. Things have indeed changed a bit since I last taught college classes (ChatGPT for one thing), but what hasn’t changed is my desire to make a difference in the lives of young people and those looking to build a career. Even in my corporate and nonprofit roles I always saw myself as a coach and teacher rather than a supervisor — a mindset I believe made me an effective leader. Teaching college-level classes is a natural fit for me.

In less than three months I went from full-time nonprofit executive to consultant and educator. I feel a weight lifted off me even though I am not bringing in big bucks anymore. Truthfully, being happy is worth more than a big salary and highfalutin title. I admit it has taken me a bit of time to come down from the stresses of a full-time corporate job. In some ways I feel like I have PTSD and it may take a while before I can relax and let the tension unlock from my neck and shoulders. But I’m definitely on my way.

My current mood is giving chillax vibes.

Best of all, my new “career” feels like something I can continue even beyond my original retirement age. I have spent a lot of time thinking about retiring, even going so far as to create a plan for what my life will consist of when I stop working. My lovely wife can probably attest it’s a subject I bring up far too often given that I’m still at least four years away from even being eligible for social security. Still, I had started a countdown in my brain with June 21, 2029 as the target date when all will be well.

But I have come to realize that spending the next four years daydreaming about a more calm and peaceful life means I would not necessarily be enjoying the four years leading up to retirement. I like to preach that the best way to live life is to stay present, but I wasn’t walking the walk on that piece of advice. I should be happy and peaceful now and find joy in not only my career but in the little things in life like Arsenal matches, great TV shows, concerts and travel and good food. You’d have thought a guy who nearly died from a heart attack at 45 would know the path to happiness is to live life one day at a time.

My new life looks like this: I teach a few days a week and prepare for classes and grade papers. I try to get to the gym often, or at least more often than when I was working in a full-time role. I cook dinner a few nights a week for my hard working wife and do the laundry and generally keep the house neat. I work from coffee shops when I want. I pick up a book and read when I want, even in the middle of the day. I may even watch a ballgame on a random weekday. In a few days I’ll be joining the board of a national nonprofit in a space that is very important to me (details to come as soon as the vote takes place in early September).

LG Impact is off and running, and I’m spending time carving out a space on Linkedin and YouTube dispensing advice. Soon I plan to launch a video podcast in which I interview nonprofit leaders to explore what’s on their minds. And I keep my eyes and ears open for potential clients, not worrying about replacing a six-figure income but instead looking for clients for which I can make an impact.

I didn’t plan for this change. But I am so glad life threw me this curveball.

2025 Shaping Up to be Epic Music Year

With a little more than half of 2025 in the books, I am truly surprised by how many albums are already on my short list for my favorite albums of the year — and how many more records are still coming out that I expect might make a run at my annual list. It’s only July and I already have 12 albums vying for the top 10. That alone is unusual, but right now there are an additional 15 albums coming out in the second half of the year that I’m excited to hear.

Over the past few decades as I’ve been blogging about my favorite albums at the end of each year I’ve never had such a plethora of contenders, especially not this early. There are usually a few late year albums in my queue, but if all of the albums coming out over the next five or so months are good I may have to choose 10 out of a list of 27-30.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. It’s a good problem to have. Still, the only year I listed more than the typical top 10 was 2022 when the post-pandemic rush led me to list 20 albums on my year-end countdown. Maybe we’re seeing the second wave of the post-pandemic push. It’s not as if artists make money anymore through album sales. Nevertheless, this year the artists I like are churning out great new work.

Right now I have a clear leader for my favorite album of the year so far, and it’s a little surprising as I don’t believe this band has ever made one of my top 10 lists. Maybe I have been ignorant of their past work, or maybe this album just hit me in my sweet spot. Regardless, the first time I heard Time Waited by My Morning Jacket on SiriusXM I was enthralled. When the full album came out, I couldn’t stop playing it and Is is still in heavy rotation during my listening binges.

I’m not sure why these guys weren’t on my radar previously, but on the other hand now I get to go back and listen to their work from over the past few decades. It’s like all of their music is new.

Other albums in heavy rotation for me this year include Rushmere by Mumford and Sons, Everything Must Go by Goose, and Flowers by Durand Jones and the Indications to name a few. And as mentioned above, I currently have 12 albums on my top 10 short list and this is before some second-half of 2025 albums hit the airwaves. Still to come over the next few weeks and months are new albums from Laufey, David Byrne, King Princess, and perennial toppers of Len’s list The Black Keys. If things keep going as they are I may have to publish a top 20 list again!

What new albums are you listening to this year? What’s coming out in the second half of 2025 that you’re excited about?

Cultural Relevance Has a Soundtrack, And It’s Not Classic Rock

I love ‘80s music and always will. I came of age in the ‘80s, and it will always be, for me, the best music decade ever. Truthfully, I love most musical eras, from the psychedelic ‘60s to the grungy ‘90s. I love all genres, even some country (I know…who have I become?)

But while I regularly go back and listen to the artists I love from bygone eras, I also spend time looking for and listening to young artists. I know plenty of you prefer to stay in your lane and perhaps think nothing good has been released since Nixon was in office, but I appreciate new voices and go out of my way to stay up-to-date with what the kids are into.

I’m not saying you have to listen to modern music to be relevant, but I am saying that if you aren’t listening to young artists, you are missing out on some incredible talent. You’re also going to have a tough time understanding your kids and the rest of today’s youth. But mostly, it’s about the music.

Let me give you an example. Do you think Mick Jagger wrote songs about sex that pushed the envelope? Or even Prince? Well, they can move over because there’s a new sheriff in town, and her name is Chappell Roan. I promise you, this 27-year-old musical force of nature would make Jim Morrison blush. She’s got mad talent, and she has no fear.

Do you think Björk used an alternative sound and image to make modern music? Say hello to Laufey, the 26-year-old Icelandic singer and multi-instrumentalist who sings with a gorgeous voice that has reinvented jazz pop.

Think Bob Dylan was talented because he could play guitar and harmonica at the same time? Meet Marlon Funaki, a 22-year-old alt-rock singer-songwriter from California who writes, creates, mixes, and masters all of his work and found initial success after dropping his first single at age 16 on Soundcloud.

You may be thinking you don’t have the time or inclination to add all these young artists to your regular rotation. That’s okay, but it’s not that hard to identify great young talent in today’s day and age. I find new artists in many ways. My Gen Z kid sends me artists to listen to all the time. I have them to thank for introducing me to amazing talent, including Lola Young, Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish, Clairo, and Remi Wolf to name just a few.

I also listen to cultivated Spotify channels like “New Music Friday” and “All New Indie” regularly. I really enjoy SiriusXM’s “The Spectrum,” which has introduced me to many new artists.

It’s not rocket science — you just have to listen. What you will find is great new music being written and performed by talented young artists. It’s even kind of exciting to catch on to a new artist before they make it big. My kid has been telling me for a few years that Lola Young was one to watch, and today she has nearly 40 million monthly listeners on Spotify. I “found” 25-year-old British artist beabadoobee a while back, and now she has 23 million Spotify listeners and is currently headlining a huge tour across the U.S. and the world.

I don’t listen to young artists all the time, but a few have found their way into heavy rotation on my Spotify account. I am seriously obsessed with Chappell Roan’s music and her bad ass attitude. But just yesterday I listened to a ‘70s rock playlist while on the treadmill at the gym.

All I’m trying to say is open your ears. Hell, I’ll even give you a head start. Here’s a Spotify playlist I made called 30 Under 30 featuring young artists I really like.

Some of these artists may be familiar to you by now. I mean, you’d have to be living under a rock to have not heard of Chappell Roan or Benson Boone by now. But maybe you haven’t listened to them yet?

Go ahead and blast some Rush, The Smiths, Foo Fighters, and Bruce Springsteen. But give a listen to Alana Springsteen, too.

ESPN Streaming Launch is Death Knell for Broad-based Streaming Applications

This morning, ESPN launched a preview campaign for its new all-in-one streaming app, set to arrive this fall. I’d heard it was coming a few weeks ago, but today’s email from the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network means it is indeed coming, and it will likely mark the end of my relationship with YouTubeTV. I’ve not been alone in saying that the streaming wars are untenable over the long term, and something has to give. I gave up cable TV a few years ago for what was essentially the same thing, but via the Internet vs coaxial cable and presumably for less money. We tried a few first, like Sling and Fubo, but settled on YouTubeTV.

Let’s start with an explanation of what ESPN will be offering come this fall. For $29.99 per month (or $299 per year with an annual plan), users get a direct-to-consumer app that includes “all seven of ESPN's networks in addition to ESPN on ABC and several other streaming options. At launch, it will offer 47,000 live events a year, plus on-demand replays, studio shows, and original programming.”

Right now, I get all of these services through a combination of YouTubeTV and my ESPN+ subscription. Ask me how much I’m paying for these two services alone. I have no fucking idea — and that’s the point. I believe I’m paying well over $100 a month for YouTubeTV and a few upgrades such as HBO Max and 4K programming. ESPN+ used to be $5.99 a month, but I think it went up to $11.99 a month recently. I suspect I pay about $10 per month for HBO Max, $25 per month for Netflix, $139 per year for Amazon Prime which includes Prime TV, an unkown amount for some bundle that includes Hulu and Disney+ (which I never watch), $7.99 for Peacock Premium so I can watch Arsenal matches, YouTube Premium so I can watch YouTube without ads, and god only knows what else. I’ve lost track!

Here’s what I do know — were it not for live sports, I’d probably never watch anything on YouTubeTV. I know this because damn near every night I flip on the TV and click through more than 100 channels and aside from live sports I never stop on anything. Springsteen wrote “57 Channels (and nothin’ on)” in 1992. I now have hundreds of channels with nothin’ on. Unless, of course, you count Mama June: From Not to Hot, which is seemingly on 24 hours a day.

Inevitably, this frustration leads to YouTube, or Netflix, or some other streaming app on my TV. Damn near every night I throw up my hands and wonder why the heck I pay for YouTubeTV. My Gen Z kid says it’s because I have no frame of reference for television outside of the cable I grew up with. I instinctively “surf” television while younger generations decide what they want and watch it. I can’t tell you how many times I have been surfing up and down the YouTubeTV app only to stop in the middle of a random episode of Key & Peele at which time my kid says something like “why don’t you watch that on Hulu and there will be no commercials and you can watch any episode you like.” And they are right. I’m just programmed to surf and stop on what interests me. And I’m too lazy at that point to push two buttons on my remote and switch over to the app.

No more. Starting this fall, I will pay the annual fee for the new ESPN app and dump YouTubeTV. What will I miss? Nothing. What will I save? A lot of money.

But Len, what about local television stations? To that I say what the heck is on ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX that I can’t get elsewhere on an app? Live sports? Yes, not all live sports are on an ESPN channel, but you can watch most if not all of the other “network” sports on apps, including Hulu, ABC on ESPN (which will be included in the ESPN app), Peacock, and Paramount+. What about The Bachelor? It’s on Hulu and I can watch it when I want. What about big events like the Oscars? Who cares. I don’t watch that crap anymore.

Besides, how long until you can only watch “network” programming on their apps? I suspect not long at all, as this is the direction in which we’re headed. Even the term “network” is a misnomer in 2025. Plus, you can get local programming, including “network” television, with a digital antenna for free. So there’s that.

How much do you pay per month for television (assuming you are not one of those psychopaths who say they don’t watch television)? Do you even know, or are you like me in that you’ve signed up for so many services over the years that you’ve lost track?

Heck, I may even be paying more than once each month for the same damn service. Do I get HBO Max from YouTubeTV or the Disney/Hulu bundle? And why do I even have the Disney+ bundle when I don’t watch Disney? Dang, I forgot I also pay like $10 a month for Apple+ TV, which frankly has the best original content these days.

It’s untenable, I tell you! I need to do an audit of all this stuff. That sounds like fun.

My Favorite Albums of the Decade So Far

Believe it or not, this month marks the halfway point of the 2020s. With that in mind, and because I have nothing else to do in my spare time, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the first five years of the decade and rank my favorite albums so far. I like doing this because sometimes, albums get better (or worse) over time. Looking back, some albums that ended up highly ranked in my annual lists can move down and some that ended up lower on my list or didn’t even make the list can move up. So given that, here are my favorite 10 albums since January 1, 2020.

Surrender — Maggie Rogers (2022). There are an abundance of great young female singer songwriters out there these days but Maggie Rogers consistently rises to the top for me. Her 2024 album made my favorites list, and this one from 2022 did as well. In fact, I find myself going back to Surrender more and more.

Joy'all — Jenny Lewis (2023). I’ve been a Jenny Lewis fan for many years now going back to her days in Rilo Kiley, and I have seen her live twice including last year on the Joy’all tour. She is special, and frankly one of a kind. And she will always be among my favorite artists period.

Women in Music Pt. III — Haim (2020). This one snuck up on me. I had been a little dismissive of these ladies at first, but I gave them a chance and I’m really glad I did. It was hearing Danielle featured on the 2019 Vampire Weekend album Father of the Bride that sort of gave me the push to give these ladies a listen. This album is fantastic, most notable my favorite song off it I Know Alone. They are incredible musicians and multi-talented. And little sister Alana was wonderful in the Paul Thomas Anderson film Licorice Pizza in 2021. I’m really looking forward to their future work, including a reported new album in 2025.

The Tipping Point — Tears For Fears (2022). Curt and Roland have been responsible for some of my favorite songs of the past 40 years and I really do think they are one of the most under appreciated artists of the 1980s and beyond. I think a lot of us fans thought 2004’s Everybody Loves a Happy Ending was going to be it for them, but they were back in 2022 with another fantastic album. For the record, it is my humble opinion that The Hurting is the single best album of the 1980s.

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess — Chappell Roan (2023). It has been some time since an artist burst onto the scene with as much talent and as much chutzpah as Kayleigh Rose Amstutz (AKA Chappell Roan). Her diehard fans will tell you it was not at all an overnight success, and while that may be the case from the moment I first heard her in early 2024 I was blown away. I suspect this album got more listens from me in 2024 than any other. And Got Damn she’s fearless.

Weathervanes — Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit (2023). I had a hard time picking just one Jason Isabel record for this list, but push come to shove Weathervanes for me is a perfect rock and roll album. I don’t believe there’s a better songwriter in the world today, and his appeal crosses so many boundaries. I don’t care if you call him country, or alt-country, or Americana, or just plain old rock and roll. He is an American treasure in every sense of the term.

i/o — Peter Gabriel (2023). While 1986’s So remains one of the greatest albums of the last half century, I’ll go out on a limb and say i/o is a close runner up for best Gabriel album. I’m not sure the world gave it enough credit when it came out late last year, perhaps because of the strange way he rolled it out by releasing one song per month over the course of the year. It’s simply brilliant and (not that he needed it) but it truly cements his place as one of the top rock and roll artists of all time. i/o has beautiful ballads and upbeat anthems and it’s classic Gabriel. If you were/are a Gabriel fan and missed it don’t wait any longer to grab your best headphone, turn it up loud, and give it a good listen. You will not be disappointed.

Asphalt Meadows — Death Cab for Cutie (2022). Ben Gibbard and the boys have been one of the most consistently great bands for me over the past 20 years and they keep getting better. It’s rare for me to like a band’s newer music more than their old music but Asphalt Meadows is possibly their best album ever and it comes 26 years after their debut album. Year after year and album after album I like them even more and I couldn’t get enough of Asphalt Meadows last year.

First Two Pages of Frankenstein — The National (2023). Sometimes called the father of “Dad Rock”, The National is for my money the best band on the planet. Matt Berninger could sing the alphabet and I’d be intoxicated, but the band is so much more than his smooth baritone. The Dressner twins provide guitar-god riffs and along with Berninger they write songs that speak to the modern American man. The First Two Pages of Frankenstein is creatively gorgeous and includes collaborations with Sufjan Stevens, Phoebe Bridgers, and even Taylor Swift, who delivers a beautiful duet with Berninger on The Alcott. Aaron Dressner co-wrote many of the song’s on Swift’s 2024 album The Tortured Poets Department. And it will come as no surprise to my friends that Tropic Morning News from this album was my top song on last year’s Spotify Wrapped.

In These Silent Days — Brandi Carlile (2021). This was my top album in 2021 and nothing has changed to keep me from arguing that it is not only my favorite album of the decade so far but in fact the best album of the decade so far period. You can go back to read my review in 2021 for more, but suffice it to say Carlile is the best pure singer-songwriter on the planet. The album earned her a shitload of Grammy nominations, but in classic Grammys fashion she was nominated in all the wrong categories. In These Silent Days won the Grammy for best Americana album, which it surely was, but it did not win Album of the Year which was a crime. Several songs from the album were also nominated for Grammys including Broken Horses which for some inane Grammy bullshit reason won for best rock song and best rock performance. She has been nominated for rock, country, pop, Americana (just waiting for her first nomination in the metal category). They don’t know where to put her — so I’ll put her someplace for you. Brandi Carlile is the best singer in the world in any genre and In These Silent Days is the best album of the decade so far.

My Favorite Albums of 2024

The pure volume of new music released in 2024 by artists I like was extraordinary once again. It does indeed feel like artists have experienced a post-pandemic invigoration of sorts. It makes sense — the lockdown caused most of us to look inward and for artists that self-reflection turned into creative expression. Whatever the reason for the explosion of new music, we’re all better for it.

Because there was so much good music this year, I’m going to expand my favorites list beyond the usual ten to include a few extras and some honorable mentions as well. So let’s get started.

Here are some albums I liked, but that did not warrant inclusion in my favorites list. These things are subjective so perhaps listen and decide for yourself.

Can We Please Have Fun — Kings of Leon (solid KoL that fans will love)

The Glorification of Sadness — Paloma Faith (for fans of U.K. pop)

Audio Vertigo -- Elbow (an exceptional British band that has stayed under the radar for years)

Smoke and Fiction — X (John, Exene, D.J. and Billy go out strong on what they say is their final album)

Ensoulment — The The (the band’s first album in 24 years is moody but classic Matt Johnson)

This is How Tomorrow Moves - Beabadoobee (the third album from the 24-year-old U.K. indie artist.)

This Wasn’t Meant for You Anyway - Lola Young (nominated for a Brit Award for Rising Star in 2021. She will be a global phenom soon)

On to my favorites (a baker’s dozen)!

Kaiser Chief's Easy Eighth Album — Kaiser Chiefs. Kicking things off this year is this fun upbeat album from Leeds, U.K.-based Kaiser Chiefs. I’ve liked them for years, but this album is the first to ever make my top 10 countdown. It’s really solid pop that I kept going back to this year.

Passage Du Desir — Johnny Blue Skies. My alt-country tastes continue to grow deeper and this beautiful record from Sturgill Simpson released under the pseudonym Johnny Blue Skies is one of the many reasons I no longer discount country music. I’m still not interested in mainstream country, but Sturgill writes some of the best songs in any genre and this is his second record to mark a place on my year-end countdown. His voice is one of a kind.

A la Sala — Khruangbin. Texas trio Khruangbin has become one of my go-to bands for passive listening. I love cracking open a book with them on in the background, or chilling on the sofa just letting their psychedelic instrumental rock take me away. It’s not easy to carve out a new sound in rock but these guys have done just that. A la Sala is gorgeous.

Songs of a Lost World — The Cure. Well, this was unexpected. I haven’t liked a Cure album since around 1987 and I was skeptical to even listen to the band’s first album in 16 years but something inside me made me give it a try when it came out earlier this month and…well…frankly I love it. It is dark and moody, but so beautifully engineered with long intense song introductions and driving beats and guitar riffs and then Robert Smith’s iconic voice comes in sounding better than ever. This record is not going to appeal to Friday I’m in Love fans, but if you liked the dark and intense Cure from back in the day, give this album a chance. You will not be disappointed.

The Forest Is The Path — Snow Patrol. These guys have been around since the early 90s and they have continued to make solid alternative rock records the whole time. I liked their early stuff better, but the past few records felt a little like they were phoning it in. But this album brings the band back to its piano-driven roots and it is solid from top to bottom. There’s not a bad song on it.

Don't Forget Me — Maggie Rogers. This is the second straight album from the 30-year-old Maryland singer-songwriter to make my year-end list and I’m really becoming a huge fan. She’s just so damn talented and interesting. She studied at a Berklee College of Music program while still in high school, then earned a BFA at New York University and then a Divinity degree from Harvard. Who gets a master of religion degree from Harvard and decides to make pop music for a living? I don’t know, but I’m sure glad she does.

Tigers Blood — Waxahatchee. Katie Crutchfield is no longer a hidden treasure now that this beautiful album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album. Her last album, Saint Cloud (which made my best-of list back in 2021) only managed something called a Libera Award for independent music, but she’s in the big time now. I love her voice…and her attitude.

Only God Was Above Us — Vampire Weekend. They met at Columbia University and have a song about the Oxford comma, so yeah, they are pretentious. But I sure love their indie-pop sound. If you liked the band’s last album, Father of the Bride, you’ll like this one. I was excited about this album coming out and it doesn’t disappoint.

Ohio Players — Black Keys. Every Keys album going back to 2010’s Brothers has made my favorites list and given how prolific Patrick and Dan are at making records this streak is pretty impressive. I think Ohio Players is actually one of their best albums as it has just a little more soul than usual which is right up my alley. It also features great guest appearances including by Beck (listen below) and Noel Gallagher.

Mahashmashana—Father John Misty. This album was released just a few days ago, but after two full listens, I am all in. Josh Tillman evokes 1970s soft rock masters like Cat Stevens, Elton John, and, in my mind, especially Glen Campbell, but his lyrics are all 21st-century.

“Most of us old men die in the firing line; Just waiting for our number to be called; I guess time just makes fools of us all”

Oh, and in case you are wondering, as I was, what the heck Mahashmashana means it’s Sanskrit for great cremation ground. That’s dark Josh.

As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again—The Decemberists. The Decemberists are among my favorite bands of the past twenty years, so it should be no surprise that their new effort appears high on this list. This is a solid album that will please any fan of the band. I think Colin Meloy is the most literary songwriter of his generation and the band continues to be in a category of one. I saw them live this summer at a small venue and it was magical.

Neon Pill — Cage the Elephant. No album got more playtime for me this year than this one. I’ve liked Cage for a while now, but this album jumps out. It has been five years since their last album, Social Cues, which I also loved. But this one doesn’t have a single miss. The band is super popular with fans and reviewers, and having notched a handful of Grammys now, you have to say they are a force to be reckoned with.

Small Changes -- Michael Kiwanuka. I quite literally waited half the year for this album to finally come out, and when it did just this past Friday it was definitely worth the wait. The anticipation for this release was based on the fact that Michael Kiwanuka has become one of my favorite artists and his last record, 2019’s Kiwanuka, made my top 10 list that year and has since become one of my all-time favorite albums. I got to see him perform many of those songs in Oakland that year, just weeks before the pandemic shut the world down. Small Changes is a little mellower, but after just a few listens I knew it was destined to be my top choice in 2024. I suspect I’ll be listening to it over and over during the holiday season and beyond. I’m still a little bit surprised that Michael Kiwanuka is not a mega star in the U.S. yet, though he did receive a Grammy nod for best rock album in 2019. His music is undoubtedly influenced by American soul greats, and while he’s a superstar in his home country of England he just hasn’t quite broken through here yet. I mean, many Americans know his music and maybe just don’t know who he is. I saw him on The Graham Norton Show recently (see below) and Pharrell Williams was on the panel too and you could tell after Kiwanuka’s performance Pharrell, who had seemingly never heard of him, was quite blown away. It’s a bit of a Catch 22 though — if he does become an international mega star it won’t be as easy to get tickets to his American gigs. But ultimately, I would like the whole world to hear his music and to experience his genius.

Before I go, a little bonus this year. Here are a few more albums that came out this year that I’ve been enjoying: What Do You Believe In? — Rag'n'Bone Man; The Key to What — Bear Hands; Dark Matter — Pearl Jam; All Born Screaming — St. Vincent; Nonetheless — Pet Shop Boys; Look to the East Look to the West — Camera Obscura; Just Something -- Dee C. Lee; Radios And Rainbows — Kate Pierson; Beautiful Happening — Fairground Attraction; A Modern Day Distraction -- Jake Bugg; Leon -- Leon Bridges

I Am Jew...Hear Me Kvetch!

I am a Jew. 

I suspect many of you are thinking right now, yeah, no shit Gutman, it’s written all over your face. What’s your point?

The truth is, for nearly five decades now I have hidden behind a great wall of denial between myself and my identity. At times I have been so dismissive of my background that some close to me have only half-jokingly called me antisemitic. I am pretty sure my father was unhappy about my disassociation. I know my grandparents would have been heart-stricken.

I don’t want to dwell on the reasons for what I now see as a betrayal of my people. Still, in simple terms, I think I never seriously addressed the generational trauma that I believed was a result of having an overbearing Jewish mother and a host of relatives I deemed to be so stereotypically Jewish that I recoiled when I was around them in public. The other reason I denied my identity stems from the fact that I have been a staunch atheist since my early teenage years and I was never able to reconcile that fact with also being Jewish. I saw Judaism as a religion, and how could you be affiliated with something that required the belief in a supreme being and all of the mishegas that come with religion?

Over the years, and indeed, the decades, when asked about my identity I simply told people I was raised Jewish but that I was now an atheist. End of discussion.

So what changed? And why have I drafted this declaration now? Simply put, my worldview has evolved and I feel an obligation to share this news now, in particular, given the state of things in the world as it concerns the Jewish people.

I can link this evolution to two things specifically -- a newfound interest in genealogy and the fact that my brilliant and audaciously Jewish offspring has continued to challenge my belief system with facts I have long ignored or even refused to hear.

I joined Ancestry.com more than a decade ago and have enjoyed going down the rabbit hole to which this hobby inevitably leads. Yet even as I discovered new family members and long-lost relatives, I still ignored the fact that while my friends and genealogy acquaintances regularly declared themselves Irish, German, or Nigerian I wasn’t able to identify myself with a country. My ancestors came from Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and even England. But they were not Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, or English. Yes, they lived in these places, but they were not of these places. People kept telling me my ancestors were Jewish. To which I’d typically answer Judaism was a religion and there is no Jewland so it’s not an ethnicity. Jewish friends would argue I was missing the point, that even secular Jews celebrated the Jewish holidays because it was tradition and it was what Jews did. And I refused to hear it.

At the same time, my kid leaned into their Jewish identity even though their mother is only 12.5 percent Jewish (her great-grandmother was named Sarah Weinberg) and they identify like me as a firm atheist. They learned the history of the Jewish people and read about historically significant Jews like Albert Einstein, Karl Marx, and Emma Goldman. They studied the Jewish leadership of the European and American labor movements. They read Yiddish poetry. And watched countless YouTube videos about these subjects and more. And the kid constantly told me about what they learned. In recent years, they even changed their name from Connor to Ber in honor of the patriarch of our family and their 3x Great-Grandfather Benjamin Goodman (Gutman) who was known as Dov in Hebrew or Ber in Yiddish. Oh, and the kid even got some Jewish-themed tattoos.

And throughout Ber’s journey of discovery, they constantly reminded me that Jews were a people, not a religion. This, combined with my ancestry journey, resulted in my ship slowly starting to turn in the direction of Jerusalem.

As we began to make even more discoveries on Ancestry.com, Ber and I would have long conversations about who these people in the tree were and why they came to America. We spoke about pogroms in the pale of settlement, the Holocaust, and the diaspora that began in earnest after the second burning of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. And then Ber said something that hit me like a ton of latkes. On the show Finding Your Roots, Dr. Henry Louis Gates would often say to guests that as a result of their discoveries about their ancestry, they found their people. Ber declared that our people are a tribe known as the Ashkenazi. This tribe left the Levant after the Romans burned their temple for the second time in around 70 CE and they found their way first to Western Europe and then they were slowly pushed east toward Russia and then again west to places like Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania before leaving en masse around the turn of the 19th century for America or their original homeland in what was then called Palestine. In fact, during that period 2.8 million European Jews (mostly Ashkenazi) immigrated to the United States, with 94% of them coming from Eastern Europe. Today, about two-thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi.

When Ber insisted the Ashkenazi were a people with no country, much like the Romani people or Native Americans, and that we were ethnically Ashkenazi, my mind raced with a desire to learn more. This may not have been news to other Jews, but to me it felt like a wake-up call. If I was from a specific tribe of people, then religion (or spirituality) was no longer a requirement in my mind to being a Jew. It seemed possible for the first time that I had been wrong all along about pushing down my religion at the expense of my ethnicity. I needed to dive in.

I spent the next few years reading everything I could about the history of the Jewish people from a secular perspective. It wasn’t always easy to find, but I found books and articles and YouTube videos about the history of my people that didn’t need to reference what I deemed to be the mythical “founders” of Judaism like Abraham and Moses, and the parables of the bible like the exodus and the burning bush and all the rest of that supernatural nonsense. There may not be a definitive answer to how Judaism began, but it is much more certain that a group of what would eventually become my people wandered out of Mesopotamia toward what is today Israel and settled in the area to find a better way of life. That exodus is as human as it comes.

For a deep-dive into the secular history of the Jewish people I highly recommend the series of YouTube videos called Introduction to the Jewish People by Rabbi Adam Chalom of the Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in Deerfield, Illinois. It changed my understanding of who I am.

Things had started to come together for me. And then I got my DNA tested through Ancestry.com and I came back 100 percent Ashkenazi. Hardly anyone is 100 percent anything. Yet here I am, 100 percent Ashkenazi Jew.

When you combine what I learned from ancestry research, with my DNA, and with what I’ve learned on my own through reading and watching online lectures, how could I deny my culture any longer?

Does this mean I’m going to join a temple and start attending synagogue? That is unlikely, but I wouldn’t rule it out because just as my understanding of Judaism has evolved so too has my understanding of the term religion itself. Ber says that the synagogue is a gathering place for Jews, and only part of that experience is about what we understand today to be religion. Jews go to temples for community, celebrations, and learning -- and yes in most cases that experience includes sermons and spiritual teaching. But just as not all people are the same, not all congregations are the same and perhaps I will one day find a congregation that speaks to my kind of Judaism -- community without the supernatural.

So what I’m saying is that I am a Jew. And it’s time I started being proud of that fact.

As I write this in the fall of 2024, the world has increasingly become more antisemitic. The Jews have always been scapegoated, but this has intensified in the first two decades of the 21st century. The extreme right is rising in Europe and North America, brought on by the age-old fear of the other. Tropes like Jews are powerful, controlling, money-grubbing, and secretly running the world behind some mythical Oz-like curtain have resurfaced with a vengeance. And it’s not just Marjorie Taylor Green and Donald Trump -- it seems to be everywhere again. Unfortunately, we’ve seen this film before and it does not end well for the Jews.

And then there is Israel. I will not try to explain what is happening in the Middle East because I could never do it justice (I’ll give you a recommendation -- read Noa Tishby’s book Israel.) That said, I implore you to stop reacting to things you see on the news or increasingly on social media without understanding the context. Because context matters. The result of all this disinformation on the news and social media is that it has become safe for anyone with a bias against Jews to elevate racist and antisemitic language. It is ugly out there. I can’t be quiet any longer because I have awakened. I have been born again if you will. I have become what I always denied. And it is my responsibility as a Jew to make my voice heard. To quote Jeff Lebowski: “This aggression will not stand, man.”

I’ll be sharing more information down the road on my blog and on social media about how we can all stand up to hate of all kinds as I continue this journey of rebirth. For now, I’d simply like to say thank you for hearing me out. Shalom Aleichem (peace to you).

Bill Walton Was a Role Model for a Life Well Lived

Bill Walton and me at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix (April 28, 2016)

The first time I met Bill Walton, who died today at age 71, I was 13 years old and he was playing for his hometown San Diego Clippers. It was summer, and I was playing basketball at the local Jewish Community Center off University Ave. and 54th St. in San Diego and he came to the JCC to meet us and sign autographs. He was a San Diego legend already by then, having played down the street at Helix High School, then on to UCLA, and then the Portland Trailblazers where he led the Blazers to the 1977 NBA title. But he was also fighting off injuries, something that would limit the rest of his career and plague him throughout his life.

Walton was larger than life to a 13-year-old kid, and not just because he was nearly seven feet tall. He was a local kid and among the greatest athletes ever to come out of the San Diego area. I didn’t know it at the time, but soon after this first meeting my family would move to La Mesa and I too would attend Helix High School.

When I got to Helix it was clear he was a local legend, as was his older brother Bruce, who played football at Helix and went on to a career in the NFL. The Waltons lived on Colorado Ave. over by Lake Murray, where I spent many a day riding my bike or fishing. We lived about a mile apart but by the time we’d moved to La Mesa Bill had already moved on to the NBA and beyond. Still, he was from my neighborhood, and for that reason, he was one of my sports heroes.

Walton’s knees nearly ended his career several times, but he still managed a second act with the Boston Celtics in the mid-80s and earned another ring in 1986 and he was instrumental. His playing career ended shortly after that, but he had yet another act ahead as a premier announcer for college basketball. He wasn’t everyone’s taste, but he was one of my favorites for sure. Ironically, last season turned out to be his last as an analyst, and it was also the last for his beloved Pac-12, the Conference of Champions.

In 2016, Walton published a book called Back from the Dead, the title a play on his career and also his love for the Grateful Dead. Say what you want about his TV persona, you’d be hard-pressed to find another human being who loved life and lived life the way Walton did. He was famous for crazy meandering quotes about life and basketball, often throwing in some history or philosophy along the way. He was very smart, and well read, and he was unusual for a sports analyst in that way but I loved it. I also loved hearing his stories about following the Grateful Dead and cycling the hills of San Diego. He said cycling saved his life because he was able to exercise despite having terrible knees.

When Back from the Dead came out I went to meet him at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix. He told stories and made us all laugh, and he answered questions from the crowd. He had been running a little late to the store, but he made up for it by talking well into the evening and staying to sign autographs.

When it was my turn to meet him, I told him he was one of my sports heroes and mentioned I attended Helix. Without missing a beat, the first thing he said was “did you have Miss so-and-so for English” like we were any two kids who went to the same school. We talked for a minute or so about Helix, and La Mesa, and then I got to take a photo with him. He was so genuine and normal and friendly — it had been nearly 40 years since our last meeting and I felt like I was talking to an old friend.

He signed my book like this: “To Len, thanks. Go Helix. Good everything forever. Chase your dream. Here we go! — Bill Walton.”

There will never be another like him. Rest in Peace Mr. Walton. And thanks for being a sports hero and life coach to us all.

There are no guarantees in life. The simple twists of fate and the breaks of the game are the two maxims that define so much of the success and failure in life. — Bill Walton

Forty-Nine Down and One to Go

I never set out to see all 50 U.S. states, but when you grow up with a father who was afraid to fly you get a nice headstart. By the time I got to college, I had visited just about half, and as an adult, I’ve managed to get to many many more. And now, having just returned from a cruise to Alaska, I sit on the precipice of completing this auspicious accomplishment. And then there was one.

I was born in New York (1), and as a young child, we’d visit family in nearby states. I remember driving to Massachusetts (2) more than once and to get there you’d have to go through Connecticut (3) and Rhode Island (4). I even recall taking the train once and stopping along the way in both of those states. In fact, I’ve visited many U.S. states multiple times.

My aunt and uncle lived in Staten Island, and we’d often cross the bridge into New Jersey (5) to shop as there was no sales tax there. And as I mentioned, my father wouldn’t fly so I certainly remember driving to Florida at least a few times to visit family. From Long Island where we lived, that trip would take you through New Jersey, Deleware (6), Maryland (7), Virginia (8), North Carolina (9), South Carolina (10), Georgia (11), and then into Florida (12).

Before I turned eight, my grandparents moved to San Diego and we flew out to visit them in California (13). Before long we followed them out there for good, and my folks loved to go to Las Vegas so Nevada (14) was a regular stop for us. I have faint memories as well of my grandparents, who not long after we moved to San Diego decided to move to Florida, driving my sister and me from Florida to San Diego, and along the way we passed through Alabama (15), Mississippi (16), Louisiana (17), Texas (18), Arizona (19), and then back home to California.

When I was a teenager my father took my sister and me back to New York to visit family, more than once, and of course, we drove. One time I remember driving my dad’s Toyota Celica with my sister scrunching down in the hatchback area! We went through New Mexico (20), Texas, Oklahoma (21), Missouri (22), Illinois (23), Indiana (24), Ohio (25), Pennsylvania (26), and on into New York.

After college, my buddy Mike and I decided to head out on an epic journey to see a baseball game in all of the major league parks. While we didn’t make it to all of them, during that trip I added Washington D.C. to my list, along with Michigan (27), Iowa (28), Nebraska (29), Colorado (30), Utah (31), Vermont (32) and New Hampshire (33). Not long after that, I took a job in Chicago as a magazine editor and while I didn’t stay long during that time I drove up to Wisconsin (34) to see a Brewers game, flew to Wyoming (35) for a conference, and spent a few days in Cincinnati and had dinner just over the border in Kentucky (36). When I quit that job I drove myself back to San Jose and took a more southern route along I-70 specifically so I could stop in Kansas City to see a Royals game (got to see Bo Jackson play), and passed through Kansas (37) along the way home.

A co-worker of mine back in San Jose was from Oregon, and one weekend we decided to drive up to visit friends in Seattle, Washington (38) and Lake Oswego, Oregon (39).

In 1994, after getting married, my lovely bride Leslie and I moved to Phoenix. She was a top performer at her company, and early on won us a free trip to the Grand Wailea on Maui in Hawaii (40). We fell in love with Hawaii and have been back several times. We also traveled to Texarkana, Arkansas (41) a few times to visit some of her family. In the late 90s I took a job in Atlanta, and though we didn’t stay long we did take a few trips to nearby states including Chatanooga, Tennessee (42).

After moving back to Arizona I had a job at a bank with its headquarters in South Dakota (43) and I had the chance to take a private jet one time to the main office in Sioux Falls. I went to a conference one time in Boston and Leslie came with me. After the conference, we stayed on a few days and drove up to Maine (44) specifically to add it to the list and also see a lighthouse and eat a lobster roll. By now I figured I was getting close to seeing all 50 and a little side trip was an easy way to add to the total.

A few years ago I met my college buddies in Boise, Idaho (45) to see our alma mater play football against Boise State. Last fall, specifically to get more states under my belt, Leslie agreed to take a trip with me to tick off three more. Our kid Ber flew in from Europe to meet us in Minnesota (46), we drove up to North Dakota (47), then into South Dakota and up into Montana (48) before heading down to Yellowstone for a visit. Then, with just two more states to go Leslie agreed to accompany me on a cruise to Alaska (49) and we just returned from that trip yesterday.

If you are paying attention, you now know that the only state I have not visited yet is West Virginia. It seems kind of random because it is. If I want to complete this silly mission I have to find my way to West Virginia sometime. I have no interest in it other than to tick off number 50, so we’ll figure something out to make it worth our while. I mean, I’m sure it’s beautiful there what with the Appalachians, the mountaintop removal and moonshine and all.

Leslie has never been to D.C., so I think our plan will be to visit the nation’s capital and see the sights, then maybe rent a car and drive 90 minutes to Harpers Ferry to see the site of John Brown’s failed slave revolt and bada bing I’ll check off number 50. All I have to do now is stay alive long enough to make it there. If I do, I suspect my eventual obituary will lead with something like “Len Gutman, who visited all 50 U.S. states, died this week…” So I’ve got that going for me.