Among my favorite types of books in my collection are ex-lib books—or as I like to think of them, retired library books. I received one in the mail recently, Force of Nature: The Life of Linus Pauling by Thomas Hager, and handling it reminded me of why I love this form of book. For one…
I’m terrible when it comes to book ratings. I used to use them, but these days I’ve given up on them completely. I think of a 0-to-5 star rating as a bell curve where 3 stars fall right in the middle of the curve. If you get 3 stars, you are meeting expectations. Zero- and…
On a recent walk, I saw in the distance a Commodore Vic-20, perched on a rock at the side of the bike path. I was first introduced to the VIC-20 in my 5th grade math class (ca. 1982). Our math teacher rolled it into the classroom along with a television set and we used it…
I spent a lot of time in 5th grade drawing pictures of Ozzy Osbourne concerts: two dimensional pencil sketches looking at the stage with stick-figure band members. The most careful, detailed part is the sketches was the big OZZY that hung over the stage with connected Z’s. Blizzard of Ozz was my entry into a…
When I used to come to Santa Monica for work, I’d stop in at a local AM/PM to pick up a copy of the Los Angeles Times. I read that paper growing up and particularly enjoyed Al Martinez columns. It was always nice to come back and read the paper early in the morning. This…
The world is a noisy place and it is hard to tune out the orchestra of modern life. So I seek quiet places. I returned to one such place over the holiday weekend, at a resort in West Virginia. The resort itself is noisy and chaotic as resorts often are. But it is surrounded by…
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died 199 years ago today. I once wrote a time-travel story where, on their dying day, Adams and Jefferson were brought together on the shores of New Jersey to watch the fireworks display at the Bicentennial celebration in New York City, and to see proof through the night that the…
Though I dutifully filled out all of the forms online ahead of time, when I arrived for a recent medical visit, the receptionist handed me a dreaded clipboard and asked me to “fill out the highlighted parts.” This caught me in a Puckish moment. I proceeded to fill out all of the parts so indicated…