Spotting an acquaintance in an airport can be unsettling. Should you say hello or disappear wordlessly down the concourse? It’s especially awkward when you spot that friend lurking among the smut section in a bookstore/giftshop…
Posts published in “Essays”
Why, a reader might ask, would a perfectly sensible woman old enough for Social Security allow herself to leave the peace and quiet of Comptche for a trip into the inhospitable middle of no place…
The tradition of a fair goes back to Roman times, when the authorities would declare an intermission of labor and tradesmen from afar sold their wares. In the Middle Ages, fairs were tied to religious…
The cover of the SF Weekly’s Fall Arts Guide (9/5-11) trumpeted “Radical CLASSICAL — local chamber musicians are leading a global revolution.” The featured string quartet, Classical Revolution, looking more like informally dressed jazz musicians…
My aunt and uncle had a small orchard outside the house where I now live and in that orchard are two plum trees that occasionally deliver some of the tastiest plums around - green gage…
John Stephens on the rich person's view of the poor: “They just can't understand what a terrible burden it is to have money.” I’m a semi-regular at a restaurant/cafe in Sausalito. It’s convenient, the food’s…
My name is Malcolm and I’m an ice cream addict. During summer and fall I’m often able to sate my needs with homemade product made from a recipe in the 1941 edition of America’s Cook…