Each of my grandmothers endured many hardships that I will never have to face. One of these challenges is the burden of compulsory pregnancy. My grandmothers each had 7+ pregnancies resulting in 17 births. In most cases, the amount of time between births was less than 15 months, in some cases it was less than [...]

Living in a semi-arid land like San Diego has made me conscious of potable water as a precious and scarce natural resource. Growing up in NorCal, I remember drinking water from the faucet or even the hose without a second thought. Since we moved to San Diego 17 years ago and finding the [...]

It’s easy to revile smokers. Their pastime results in dirty air and unhealthy symptoms as well as environmental degradation. Like the overweight or the poor, they are easy targets for feelings of superiority in the observer. Here in San Diego we visit a lot of parks in our ongoing efforts to make sure [...]

About 4 weeks ago, a writer named Theresa Duncan reportedly killed herself in New York. She had a blog of some acclaim that until her death she updated daily. Her death was not widely reported even by by NY and LA papers and blogs — she’d recently moved from Venice [...]

Think you are free? Think again.

Every year for the last twenty years or so I read Neuromancer by William Gibson at least once a year. I remember being 13, going on 14, when I came home to a paper grocery bag full of books. Our family friend, Jeff McDaniels, had heard that I liked to read a lot and [...]