Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Essays”

Giving Back

“My grandmother is responsible for instilling in me the desire to give and to be of service,” says Sandy Mailliard. “I come from a long line of “gifters,” people with a social conscience sharing what…

The Billy Tainter Story

“I was called this afternoon about one o’clock to a Maiden Lady about 35 years of age...She was attacked with vomiting and purging about two hours previous, which still continued with slight spasms... was able…

RNC: None Shall Sleep

Across four nights, the televised program of the Republican National Convention had all the drama of an interminable student piano recital in which one put-upon pupil after another trudges dutifully to the bench of doom,…

Living with the Pandemic

Here in Mendocino County, by my non-empirical estimate anyway, barely a majority of folks comply with Pandemic Orders. It seems people living in unincorporated areas practice social distancing only in regards to Public Health Orders:…

Babylon Berlin / Babylon Amerika

If you’re still wondering if you’ll vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in November—that is, if Trump doesn’t sabotage the party before than—you might watch the Netflix series, Babylon Berlin, which is set in…

Journal of the Plague Year (#24)

Berkeley, CA August 31, 2020 – “Hatemonger. Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda” By Jean Guerrero. William Morrow, 2020, If you don’t know much, or even if you don’t know anything, about…

Implementing Prop 215

I didn't jump at District Attorney Terence Hallinan’s offer to be his press secretary. It would pay twice as much as my job at UCSF — $84,000 vs. $42,000 in 1999 — but editing a…

The Front Door

Top ‘o the mornin’ to you, Homer, in your all-white uniform, in your shiny new Dickies paint pants and a crisp white long-sleeve button-down oxford shirt — J. Crew, no doubt, single-needle tailored — Jesus,…

Creekside Farms Paradise

The bamboo is marching voraciously through the Texas heat here on Creekside Farms Road, wrapping around the party barn and heading toward the main house. There is now a sixty-foot trail through a bamboo forest…

-