Getting to the balloon festival was quite a trial. The traffic jam rivaled anything I've endured in LA. It even tried the patience of the stalwart May Maung Tun. But the general mood was festive…
Posts published in “Essays”
Alexander Cockburn, who died of cancer at the age of 71 on July 21, 2012, was a prose powerhouse who left an admirable body of great columns about all manner of matters political and cultural.…
The Buddhas are big and small, cement, stone, brick and mortar, plastic, maybe wood; they nestle against each other under pendulous stalactites of limestone. Some of the smaller chambers are claustrophobic, some of the passages so narrow that I and my backpack can barely squeeze through.
Tony Serra was a fascinating individual and I liked him right away. He was highly principled and his reputation as a fierce opponent in the courtroom was widely held. He was eager to defend the underdog and those subject to racial injustice.
My books are for sale on Amazon. New and used. So are my music CDs. My books and music are downloadable from Amazon, and that includes audio books of my work narrated by yours truly. Do I feel like a rat and an enemy of local bookstores and local music stores? No, because with the exception of a few extremely local bookstores where I am personally known to the proprietors, my books are not available in any local bookstores in America or even in the few remaining chain bookstores, and that is also true of my music.
I have been calling Covered California for the past month, trying to get information on my health insurance application because my current coverage terminates on Dec. 31. In keeping with the federal government's guidelines, I…
It has been a cold, cold December by California standards, though by the time this is read nighttime temperatures should return to seasonal norms. What is abnormal is the lack of autumn rainfall. Walking upstream…
Listening now to Enrico Caruso’s last recording made in September of 1920, you would never suspect that you are hearing the voice of a heavy smoker. Caruso favored strong Egyptian cigarettes, even enjoying them between…
Dear Hiroshi, I’ll see you soon in Kochi on Shikoku, southern Japanese main island; most beautiful, least populated, mostly agrarian, putatively “lightly” bombed during WW II. Shikoku, the birthplace of revered 9th Century Shingon Buddhist…