Today I bought and returned my first webcam. I bought it because, with all of Stewart’s travels, we decided it would be nice to be able to Skype each other. The service works with or without video — but wouldn’t it be fun to see each other while we talked? Not so much. The camera…
There are good things and bad things about having two fathers. Thankfully, for me, almost all of the bad things happened in the distant past, when I hadn’t yet grown up enough to learn that being an adult does not necessarily correlate with knowing what to do — especially if you’re a very young adult,…
The other day, my dad sent me an email correcting one of my posts, Snake Oil, in which I mentioned that I inherited his goofy bow legs and something odd about his teeth. To set the record straight, his feet actually point out like a duck and his knees point more or less toward each…
First, I am shocked and dismayed that I didn’t learn until just now that yesterday was National Pigeon Day. Having lived with a pigeon for thirteen years (more about that later) and being a great fan of pigeons in general, I feel that I owe an apology to our noble yet much maligned feathered friends….
I know where my tax rebate is going. I had planned to save it or invest it, but I just stimulated the economy by spending every penny on a complete system of prescription-only skin care products that promises to make my face flake, peel, redden, and look wrinkly. But that’s just the first phase. After…
It’s not unusual for me to show up at work and find bird things on my desk — photographs, books, newspaper clippings, feathers, nests. My office is avian chaos, but I don’t mind. It’s touching when the people you care about know what you love and bring offerings from their wanderings in the world. Yesterday…
Here in Fairfax, it’s a hot night that smells like honeysuckle. There are people in this town who look like they haven’t changed a bit since 1972, when I was six years old. These are the long-haired, wide-eyed people of indeterminate sex who come out at dusk to dance in the park, turning in circles…
I drove from Berkeley to Big Sur this week, determined not to go faster than 60 mph. I had just paid for my first $4 gallon of gas and it freaked me out. I just can’t imagine spending $60 every week or so to fill my 15 gallon tank. And I know that one great…
I just watched a full-length documentary film about a font. And I loved it. So much that, right now, I’m supposed to be filling out a ballot for tonight’s Oscar party, but I’m distracted by the total lack of support this feel-good flick received from the nominating committee. The film’s protagonist, the modern and good-natured…
It’s been a good time on My Yahoo!. Almost every morning, there’s news of Barack Obama’s increasing momentum in the presidential primaries. It’s exciting to support a candidate that might actually have the opportunity to do something. But it wasn’t delegate counts or debate news that first caught my eye today, nor was it the…
First of all, it was a clear blue and astonishing 70 degrees in Berkeley today. This happens for a few days every February, and my entire being responds with relief and complete delight. The world continues to turn on its axis and travel around the sun. Spring is coming. Second, I went to the Berkeley…
When I was in law school, I was sick half the time. It usually had something to do with my lungs. I had pneumonia. I had pleurisy. Bronchitis was routine. My close friend and classmate, Roger, was also regularly stricken with nasty bugs. When one of us collapsed under the weight of casebooks and even…