Kombucha? Am I supposed to know what that even is? — If I say what I really think, I’ll probably get canceled. But what if I don’t want to live on Mars? Christ. Just what we need. Another baking show. Republicans are corrupt, Democrats are incompetent, but vegans are pure evil. I was just trying to read her t-shirt and she…

Help us, Alexis de Tocqueville. You’re our Only Hope. — What is democracy? A form of government in which the citizens retain the power to determine their own self-destruction. What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like: it’s kind of pear shaped. It also sometimes resembles a likeness of the Virgin of Guadalupe on a grilled cheese sandwich. How does democracy work? Not so great, it turns out.

But the End of the World is Still a Sure Thing — This was never going to work. Not in a million years, or however longs it’s been. This whole human race thing was doomed from the start. We were fools to believe otherwise. We were arrogant to think we could forge a thriving, lasting, meaningful civilization. But that didn’t stop us…

Fifteen years of piano lessons finally pay off — I think dad volunteered to pick me up from my first school dance so he could bond with me over music and girls. ‘So, did they swing?’ He meant the band. He worked in the record business and came from a world where unimaginably talented musicians routinely made even the…

Death and coleslaw at the Normandy Arms Beach Cottages — Elise Boudoir recorded this interview with her grandmother, Marion, for a school history project in 1979. It was transcribed in the original French, translated and edited for publication. As far back as I can recall, the Boudoirs gathered every June for our family reunion at the Normandy Arms Beach Cottages…

Reanimation makes becoming magnetized seem so worth it — Yesterday L and I were in line at Walgreens to get a COVID booster on our doctor’s recommendation. We began chatting with others in line, all wearing masks. When a maskless woman overheard most of us were there for boosters, she looked alarmed and asked what side effects we had…

Thou shalt not split a pair of tens — DATE: BC TO: Baumgardner and Associates FROM: God Almighty RE: Relocation Mindy - I reread your comments this morning and agree we should formalize the existing ground rules. Can you pull something together for me to review? I’d like to shoot for around Shavuot. And let’s stick with Moses if…

Swimming with dolphins, without a waiver — Along with an embarrassment of top-notch taco stands to choose from, one of the luxuries of living on the Southern California coast is that on almost any day you can casually spot a pod of dolphins from shore weaving through the sun sequined sea and imagine yourself gliding among them. …

Because that’s all J.K. Rowling needs — It’s often said the difference between writers and those who just say they’re writers is that writers write. True enough. But the differences don’t stop there. Writers who write also have honed seven other critical skills distinguishing them from the pretenders. Master these and you’ll be on your way to…