I’ve traveled on four continents, lived in England and Japan, and gone to sea with the British Merchant Navy. But wherever I am, when I close my eyes against the sun on a hot summer’s day, I’m lying on a front lawn in San Fernando, California.
It was nine o’clock and t-shirt warm and almost-full moon, and I was taking a night-time stroll through my small town. As I got near the high school’s football field, the announcer’s voice baritoned through the night: “And it’s a fumble! … Recovered by Healdsburg!”...
"Do not go in fear, Grasshopper." -- Kung Fu You've heard of Aseop, right? Greek dude? Lived around 600 BC? Wrote fables, like the one about the Ant and the Grasshopper? Okay, I'll remind you. The Ants spend all summer trundling food to their storehouse, using...
I just sent a text message to a young friend. Here’s what I wanted to communicate: Hi there Louie. Gosh, I’ve missed you! I’d like to see you for your 14th birthday and take you out for lunch or dinner. Have you any free time in October? Sure hope so. I love you!...
I'm just back from Opera at the Park, San Francisco’s annual “watch opera in a baseball park while eating popcorn” event. This year’s opera was Turandot (final "t" sounded) by Giacomo Puccini. I know it’s easy to mock the plots of operas, which is good because it’s...
There were three magazines my dentist's waiting room: the current issue of Showplaces; a dog-eared copy of People (“Robert Pattison Bares All!”); and a new publication, Consumer’s Guide to Sex (“CGS Rates the Vibrators”). So I picked up Showplaces. “For his Telegraph...