I was driving a van home to Boston from a 2006 weekend in Delaware. A fellow rider told me had a vision the previous night where he saw eyes and teeth on the trees. The following Tuesday morning, I woke inspired to make a coat with lit eyeballs. Trouble was, …
I’m in reasonable shape. I save more than I spend. I have time for projects and fun. I’m usually in a good mood. If I picked one secret to this success, it would be: food. Everyone eats differently, but I found a strategy that I have kept for years that …
I have spent too much time indoors. Under winter rains and sadness, I stayed mostly in bed, mulling over past wrongs and future rights. I tinkered, wrote, and thought. Spring came. The sun shone and the earth warmed. Adventure! I planned to run outside into the hills, but then I …
In the course of the move to my current apartment in June 2010, my living room filled with upended furniture. How best to arrange the couch, chair, bookcase, and tables? I measured out the floor space, sketched cartoons, contemplated the feng shui, and solicited the advice of exasperated co-workers. Furniture …
Noble! Bright! Antiquated! Neon. I’m hooked on day-long classes at Oakland’s Crucible. Last Sunday, I spent the day at the Crucible to learn about neon lighting. The Crucible work space is divided into departments. On the second floor in the back hides a neon studio full of gas burners, boxes …
Way back in hoary 2003, friend Mikal suggested I start web logging, or “blogging,” as all the cool kids were blogging those days, having sold their typewriters and bought computers. I enjoyed scribbling to myself so I started regularly filling a text document that I published through blogspot (now bought …
Greg suggested meeting for a week somewhere in Europe while he lodges this summer in Berlin. He and I kicked around itineraries for far flung European destinations: take the ferry from Helsinki to St. Petersburg; drive down the Dalmatian coast into Albania; ride the train from Berlin to Prague. Trouble …
Get ready for a tale of woe, a tale of first-world problems similar to “my latté is too cold,” or “the golf course is too crowded on sunny Tuesday afternoons.” I have been hemorrhaging money lately (fortunately not blood). No, I don’t buy bag of coke or fast cars. Counselor …
Stationary I have suggested that for 2013 I would like to run around less. If I could just slow down and enjoy more my immediate surroundings, I might not find myself so manic, searching, and scattered. Well, I got what I wanted: last Wednesday, I sprained my foot and have …
Floating Away 2013 brings a year of retreat and relaxation. In January, I resumed a regular yoga practice. In February, I silent retreated for a weekend to a solitary Santa Cruz cabin. In March, I communed one Friday night with a Peruvian shaman. These days, I try more to try …