Devrin's Witty Wisdom & Whimsy

Have you become too common and predictable in the eyes of those around you? If so, it may be time to go underground, become uncommon, work on yourself, and reemerge as a transformed individual.  There was a time when I was too predictable, too common. My life had become an open book to everyone in my locality—whether it was at the local bar, my neighborhood, or even among those who pretended to be my friends. They knew too much about me, my routines, my thoughts, and my plans. It was as if I had lost my mystery, and with it, my power. That’s when I realized something had to change. I needed to disappear, to become uncommon, unpredictable, and reclaim my sense of self. It's then I realized that there’s a certain power in disappearing and working in the shadows: Become a mystery to everyone   The more you expose your life to the public, the more opportunities others have to drag you down. It’s a natural sociological phenomenon. Becoming unavailable and committing to personal g...

The year is 1959.The CIA is confronting a new enemy: Fidel Castro, the man who threatens to spread communism across America's backyard. The fear for the United States was that a Cuban-style revolution would explode throughout Latin America. The US president Dwight Eisenhower wants him assassinated and the CIA is given a job but they need someone who can break through his tight security. Their unlikely weapon: A 19-year-old woman named Marita Loren. She was the Natural Choice because she could get through all of the protective layers that Fidel had around him and she could get into his bed. This is the story of one of the most extraordinary CIA operations of them all. It will involve the mafia, a Watergate burglar, and Castro's Lover. It is the most bizarre CIA assassination attempt of them all. Marita Loren with her Boyfriend- Fidel Castro; 1959 It begins with a chance encounter that took place in the port of Cuba's capital city, Havana. A 19-year-old German-American woman ...

“The bigger the deal, the easier they were to close...It was the most bizarre thing.” Jeff Carpoff was a good mechanic. But as a businessman, he struggled. In the two decades since high school, he had lost one repair shop after another, filed for personal bankruptcy, and watched a lender foreclose on the small house in a California refinery town where he had lived with his wife and two young kids. By 2007, he was 36, jobless, and adrift. Yet there, at his life’s lowest, the remarkable happened. A contraption he had rigged up in his driveway- a car trailer decked with solar panels and a heavy battery- got the attention of people with real money. Carpoff could scarcely have imagined it. He had never gone to college and had no experience in green technology. His invention, he thought, was “crazy, harebrained.” But investors saw the makings of a clean-energy revolution. Jeff Carpoff:  When he started talking about new marketing plans for solar generators with video screens and facial-r...

How Not to Overthrow a Government The Gambia, a peaceful little sliver of a country nestled in West Africa, isn’t exactly the place you'd expect for dramatic coups and political mayhem. Yet, in 1981, this quiet nation became the scene of one of Africa's most bizarre—and frankly, hilarious—coup attempts. Picture this: a president enjoying a front-row seat at the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, only to be informed that, back home, a group of rebels has declared themselves in charge of the country. What followed was an episode so disorganized and comical that it has gone down in history as “The Coup That Wasn't.”  "If there were ever an award for “Most Inept Coup Attempt,” this would be a strong contender" Now, in the years leading up to 1981, The Gambia was as calm as a Sunday afternoon nap. President Sir Dawda Jawara, a soft-spoken veterinarian by profession, had been running the show since independence in 1965. His rule was peaceful, but not partic...