Hall-of-Fame Posts

When a blog lasts a few years -- and this one's nearing its fifth birthday -- some pretty good posts get buried back at the bottom of the blog where no one will ever see them.  So if you like my recent posts, check out some of my Golden Oldies.

Sick. One day when I felt really crappy, I figured out that charity helps the rich as much as the poor, and perhaps more; this cynical realization by way of a humorous tale of fear and poverty from the Great Depression. Well, Mom thought it was humorous. 10/17/2009


Greetings from the Galactic Empire. The author ruminates on a youth misspent reading pulp sci-fi tales of brave Earthmen building a Galactic Empire for the good of all.  He didn't realize that he was reading about America in the '50s.  And that the Empire still exists, under new management. But now he has the t-shirt to prove it. 1/3/2010

In a Lonely Place. You can have it all; and you can lose it all.  And never know why. And find yourself selling the dregs of what's left.  To my wife and I.  In the parking lot of an abandoned Denny's. In the harsh light of a winter's morning. 12/18/2008.

Caution: Flammable. Earthquakes, my ass.  If Santa Cruz ever goes down, it'll go down in fire.  And one night, I watched it almost happen. 9/16/2008


The Memo of No Return. What it's like to have a "permanent" job at a temporary company.  Or, '80s Software Start-Ups for Beginners. 5/21/2010

That Obscure Object of Desire.  To have something that no one else does -- that's important.  Does it matter what the "something" really is?  Ask a seven-year-old -- or an investment banker. 12/27/2007.


Short Stranger Holding a Plate of Shrimp.  Crack open a fortune cookie and read the fortune: has the fortune ever come true?  I don't mean vaguely true or generally true at some point in the future, but precisely and immediately true? In a significant and lasting way? A rumination on synchronicity by way of Carl Jung, quantum physics, and "Repo Man." 5/31/2010

Big Dada Books.  Was he actually that bad at selling books -- or was it just performance art? 7/21/2011.

Oxalis Nation.  It's the weed that conquered Santa Cruz -- and a good hunk of the California coast as well. You can rip it out, but it always comes back.  Might as well relax and enjoy its beauty.  What choice do you have? February 21, 2010.

The Kandy-Kolored Monster From the Id.   Ride along with Carl Jung and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth on a Saturday night cruise to the dark side of the human soul.  Well-balanced people visit their dark sides early and often, ideally while wearing a Rat Fink t-shirt.


Mancessories for Manly Men.  Why men seem impelled to clip long, vaguely phallic tools to their belts. 4/3/2011

Water Babies.  The great disconnect: kids love getting wet, but hate being wet. Call them: Rebels Without a Towel. 5/8/11.

Fifty Five and Gray.  It's a weather report AND a state of being.  But there's always the beach.  6/11/2011.

Yesterday: Right Lane Only.  Time travel is possible, because the past never goes away.  Just take the backroads to an uncle's funeral.  You'll find the past along the road.  3/7/2008.

The Green Psycho. My car is environmentally-friendly, green, and gets amazing gas mileage.  Oh yeah, and it wants your blood. 3/22/2008.

This is Your Shirt.  For her fiftieth birthday, somebody wrote her whole life story on the front of a t-shirt and gave it to her.  She probably never wore it.  Would you? 7/08/2009.

In the Valley of Shadows.  Layoffs -- how delightful.  Nobody gets out without damage, not even the survivors.

Dickensian. They were infant girls abandoned by their parents in China, and now they live in America and are sitting at table with me making "burritos" out of blue Play-Doh.  Their story is right out of Dickens.  What about yours?