So You Are All Complaining About the Sno...

Our weather in Northern California is possibly even scarier. We’re now in our second extended period of record high, sunny weather since mid-December. It wasn’t much different than sunny and dry last month either. The Sierra snowpack that is our water lifeline is barely 60% of normal. This has been a long time coming. I remember when I moved here over 20 years ago, it was...

All the Blarney on Barack O’Bama

I have a Boston friend who is, as my grandmother used to say, “as Irish as Murphy’s cow”. She’s more than just Boston Irish, she’s “connected” Boston Irish, as in a Godmother in the Murphia. The tentacles of her influence and connection extend across the “pond” to Ireland where she visits frequently and has a vast network of family...

In Which My TV Boyfriend Asks Me On a Da...

Well, not exactly. But kind of. In a virtual, Cyber, Internet-y kind of way. It all starts with Twitter. You probably all know about this group microblogging site. You send out pearls of wisdom in 140 character bites. You never know what will come back. If people like your pearls of wisdom, they “follow” you. Then they automatically get every pearl you roll down that...

And Now For Something Completely Differe...

 I’ve had some pretty heavy posts recently. Let’s lighten it up. And there’s nothing funnier than the weird shit I’m now pulling out of my kitchen. You see, we’ve lived in our San Francisco house for more than 20 years and I’m doing the once-every-few-decades complete clean-out. This weekend was the kitchen, a project that threatens to continue...

When CyberSpace Becomes All Too Real

Last week I lost a friend.  Between the time that I wrote that first line and when I was able to resume was about half an hour. I spent the time staring at my screen and wondering how to write this post. In fact, it’s taken me more than a week to attempt it. You see, my friend was someone I’d never met in person. In fact, I didn’t know her real first name until...

Big Bill Broonzy at the Inauguration

Photo is copyright Terry Cryer. See more of his photos here: http://terrycryer.com Like millions of other viewers, I was charmed by that old Civil Rights lion Reverend Joseph Lowery and his benediction at the Inauguration. Starting with a reference to a spiritual, he ended with this rhyme: “We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when...