Like an intrusive Jehovah’s witness or a cheap hooker I probe for those in need who qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) but are not yet on it. Many don’t know about their right to…
Posts published in “Essays”
Abolafia. That unusual surname on a mailing list of people who knew or claimed some connection to the late Paul Krassner triggered a memory of the easiest money I ever made (for my boss) as…
An updated guide to modern manners is overdue, and Mendocino County residents are plainly in need of etiquette instruction for the 21st century. Gone is the Emily Post era when heads of household needed to…
When I was young, Seattle was a city of rain, frequent and sometimes ferocious. The very heavy rains I remember from decades ago don't seem to happen very often any more. Maybe because I don't…
Pardon me, but pardon Patty Hearst? What’s the rush? So she can vote Republican in Y2K? Presidents frequently drop pardons as one of their last acts in office, but the powerful Hearst Corporation is working…
Mr. and Mrs. San Francisco are drawn irresistibly to the sea on a sunny Sunday. They drive in droves through Golden Gate Park, straining for that first glimpse of the water. They spread out along…
As I left the movie theatre in downtown Ithaca, New York on the Friday night after Thanksgiving a wintery gust ripped a crucial piece of paper from my ungloved hand. On that scrap I’d sketched…
Why have insects survived for tens of millions of years? According to the bug experts, it’s their resiliency, adaptability and just plain “go with the flow” attitude that keep them around. After stacking wood, my…
Thirty years ago, proud to be a hippie and wearing my new yellow leather fringe jacket for the first time, I was on my way to Woodstock along with half a million others on that…