Recent Entries

• 危机: Part 1

  February 1, 2025

  There is a mistaken notion that the Chinese word for Crisis is a combination of the symbols for the words “change” and “opportunity.” This is not true. It just means crisis.  I was on my way to the Rainforest offices in downtown Seattle when I heard the news the king of Mars had been arrested.&he...

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• Climate Crisis Out My Window

  January 11, 2025

  We spent the last week with the local news on waiting to see if we were next in line for evacuation. 100 MPH wind gusts threatened to rip the awnings off the porch until I got them tethered down. Our shingles were all over the street. D was beside himself. I get sleepy in a…

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• I believe the children are the future

  December 7, 2024

  And we’re screwed. I have remarkably normal blood pressure considering that I have a tendency toward high blood pressure and the amount of stress I’ve been under this past week. There are students that I work with who are behaving like they were raised in a barn. And in some cases a barn would be...

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• Arbeitsplatz, trabajo, the endless to-do list

  December 5, 2024

  In East Germany the main car on offer was the Trabant. The name comes from Trabajador or “worker.” Look I am no communist sympathizer but I appreciate the elevation of the worker if even only symbolic. And if even only to name a car after workers, when said car was a total piece of shit…

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• My Dog is Skeptical

  December 4, 2024

  Is he even my dog? Poor guy. Here's the good news, he loves D. When D comes home the dog is a totally different dog. Happy, tail wagging, sit, stay, catches treats. He even manages to wag his tail at me -- if D is standing next to me... The dog looks at me and…

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• I’m Thinking of Not Watching the News Tonight

  November 5, 2024

  That’s my plan. Four years ago I had to take a Xanax and even then we didn’t know who won the election until that weekend. I remember hearing the spontaneous celebrations ringing through the canyon that divides Los Feliz and Silverlake. We walked down to Sunset Junction and joined an impromptu da...

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• Tony Hawk is trying to sell me Qunol

  October 22, 2024

  He‘s old. I’m old. I remember when Tony Hawk was the young skater, emissary of cool. On MTV. Now he‘s on cable news. Yes, the skateboard. But also the supplements and statements that have not been evaluated by the FDA. Sometimes it‘s Tony Hawk. Sometimes I‘m in the grocery store and they‘re playi...

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• Confusion is the enemy of drama

  September 30, 2024

  Several years ago I was in Calistoga and happened to meet Francis Ford Coppola - as one does. It was the fourth of July and he was attending the local parade. He'd been the guest speaker at the graduation for the film school where I teach so when our mutual friend introduced us I was…

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• This day

  September 11, 2024

  Twenty-three years ago, I had already been sent home from work for the day. I remember how it all started as I was getting ready for work. Even though I'm in LA, I had a very early start time of 7:30 AM. I'd already seen both towers collapse, and I guess, not knowing what else…

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