Urban Safari

Early that day the squawk of a mother quail brought me to my window. I saw the mother and about 12 tiny quail following behind her. Later in the arroyo behind the house–the place the neighbor calls “the wildlife preserve”–I spotted a roadrunner, several rabbits and some small furry thing that might be either a [...]

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The Mosh Pit

I dived into the mosh pit head first, my arms a wedge cutting through a forest of forms, my body a battering ram. I moved to the front of the mass of sweaty humanity and stood gazing in wonder at my idol.
I was so close to her I could see the sweat on her forehead. [...]

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Schmooze

Pat begged me to come to her party. I had to accept or she would be hurt. I arrived early so there would be fewer people there: fewer opportunities to schmooze. Schmoozing ain’t my thing.
After I exhausted myself making small talk with two women, I slipped into the back yard. I sat on the porch [...]

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Getting gross

I’m not getting it. Movies are getting gross. Why? It’s disgusting. Do people crave that? By gross I mean pirates with the face of an octopus or whelk shells, covered with barnacles and other gross special effects. You know the movie I’m talking about. Sure Johnny Depp is priceless and charming and sexy in the [...]

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Go to the zoo

Someone with a much younger and less discerning brain than mine convinced me it would be fun to go to the zoo on a July afternoon. Nothing moves on a hot July afternoon except a misguided human and creatures such as seals whose home is in water. It’s not mad dogs and Englishmen: even the [...]

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What’s a word worth?

Suppose you spend 10 years collecting freely available information. You edited it. You rewrote it. You gave it a slightly different spin. When you had a great big encyclopedia of information compiled in one spot, someone came along and wanted to lift it, word for word, and use it elsewhere. Free. Would you go for [...]

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Frank Lloyd Wright

A green and brown mirror with geometric shapes reminiscent of a Frank Lloyd Wright design hung above the leather couch. I first saw her reflected in that mirror, almost by accident as she passed between the stairs and the dining room behind me.
She was willowy of body and limb. If thin fly-away hair could be [...]

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Taxi

I grabbed the first taxi in line as I exited the airport. It stank of stale cigarette smoke. Too late I noticed a sign on the window proclaiming that this was a smoking taxi.
At 10 PM there was little traffic. The driver drove like he was on the autobahn, rather than a rather quiet American [...]

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