The Queen Of Africa
She was sitting two feet away, right in front of my desk, in the seat that only students who are both good and self-assured ever …
Hard Times
We came out of our house and stepped into my truck. As we were driving off, my wife said, “Look at this guy. He walked …
Slippery Slope
It happened a long time ago, right before my children began pretending they had no parents, that they had been raised by wolves, like Kipling’s …
Patchwork Planet
My French sister, who was green before green was cool, sent me the reference of a book I “had to read.” She is an assiduous …
Watershed
I was born and reared in Paris, of French parents. There are no immigrants in my antecedents. There are not even any in the lateral …
The View From Lulu’s
At 9, two flows of humanity pass each other in front of Lulu Carpenter’s, the upscale coffee shop at the top of Pacific Avenue. Pacific …
The Tabasco Effect
My wife and I are good tourists. We don’t attempt too much because a vacation should not be like spring cleaning. We go by bus, …
Tombstones and International Trade
Here are two stories in one. The first story is about a near-hallucination, of the non-frightening variety. The second is a cleverly disguised brief lecture …
Ethnography of the Left
I have lived for 20 years in Santa Cruz, CA, one of the more reliable political time warps in America. I am a libertarian-leaning conservative, …