“I hate traveling and explorers.”— Claude Levi-Strauss, Tristes tropiques (1955) It is an illusion to think that a need to complain about travel is unique to our age of mass tourism. In 1778 Thomas Boswell…
Posts published in “Essays”
1. Fire Jared Huffman who said, “If you tear out Scott Dam you would have more water” -- a stupid statement. Scott Dam creates Lake Pillsbury which gives year-round water to Lake Mendocino down to…
It was a routine day at the office in the early 70s at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. I had been transferred to the job of Organizational Maintenance Squadron Commander a few months…
Okay, that's it: no more hookers. As I drove into the capital city of San Luis, mapless with still no smart phone, I nudged myself toward the shopping area but ended up at the wrong…
Spider, spider in the sink Trolling for a simple drink Then I worry late at night Does it linger out of sight I can’t sleep. Again, another night. It’s the thought of death that triumphs…
A Molecule Away from Madness: Tales of the Hijacked Brain by Sara Manning Peskin. W.W. Norton 214 pp. $25.95 Even if you’ve never had any training in science, or know what you know of science…
Twelve years ago we were heading north on 101 with our new doggie and Trophy said, Let’s stop a minute at the Hopland Superette. She went inside, dog and I stayed in the parking lot. …
If ever there were steps of power that need storming by an angry mob, they are those of the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard on Oscars Night. Truth be told, I don’t know if the…