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Posts published in “Essays”

Homer Update #8

My apologies to the patient reader for my tardy update on Homer; but…well, you see, I’ve been under advisement to keep still. That’s because Homer, as I’ve been advised to believe, has shown up. The…

The Singing Publicist

In my two cartons marked SFDA I find some lyrics. (Instead of keeping a diary, I used to write songs.) 911 Willie Brown took the American flagTurned it into a shopping bagCome on baby let’s…

Why I Will Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Here’s a question for readers of the Anderson Valley Advertiser. Why is a white boy like me, who was raised in segregated Virginia, celebrating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr? One answer to…

What Would Grandma Do?

Nearly every day of Covid-infested 2020, I’ve felt my hope drowned by despair. And every time I went under I asked myself, “What would grandma do?” And she pulled my head back above water. My…

Covid & Me: I Was Bad, But I’ll Be Better

I was bad. I admit it and I’m sorry. On Thanksgiving, I joined a dozen or so friends and some strangers, too, for a feast. We sat outdoors on a farm. Sadly, we did not…

Notes from Here, There & Nowhere

Ukiah is a city of 16,000 with a median household income of $47,000.  This is what some city employees earn in a year, including benefits, overtime pay, “extra” pay and whatever coins they find under…

A Banquet of Abundance

A Year in Review: Makahiki / Arrival / Farewell to Max / Working on a Building / Hilo and Kehena / Ed's Party / The Search for Pele's Vagina / Makahiki Redux Makahiki Laurie is up…

2021 Has To Be Better

A year ago this week, I sat in a left corner seat in a school auditorium, watching as presidential candidate Andrew Yang yukked it up with teens at Concord High in New Hampshire. Yang was…

The Start of Something New?

In a recent article in The Atlantic, staff writer, George Packer, published an essay titled “A Political Obituary for Donald Trump.” The subtitle: “The effects of his reign will linger. But democracy survived.” In the…

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