Published May 15, 2008 | 
Four Years and Several Months Ago . . .
Gavin Newsom celebrated Valentine’s Day by opening marriage to same-sex couples. My friend RJ and I joined dozens of other volunteers to help celebrate marriages in San Francisco City Hall. People… Continue reading
Published May 4, 2008 | Small Rewards
I always want to know where the roads go. Saturday I found one of surpassing beauty — a winding country road, flawlessly cambered and almost empty, snaking over hills. It ran through chaparral, grassland, oak hills, even a… Continue reading
Published April 28, 2008 | While the Jury Is Out
The Hans Reiser murder trial has almost all the classic elements of a great criminal proceeding: a prominent defendant, the mysterious vanishing of a lovely young woman, a pair of orphans, bizarre friends and relatives,… Continue reading
Published April 27, 2008 | Eviction Wars
In Pacific Heights a charming young couple buys a house in San Francisco and rents part of it to the tenant from hell. The opposite story seems to be happening South of Market, where a charming young couple… Continue reading
Published April 26, 2008 | Why I Live in the Bay Area, Part 73
A conga line danced in Union Square. “The red lights were challenging,” said Carnivale king Everett Harper. “But we’re a polite and politically-correct conga line, and we don’t jaywalk. Besides the… Continue reading
Published March 26, 2008 | Here Begins the New Life
The Night Prayer, from the New Zealand Prayer Book:
Lord, it is night.
The night is for stillness.
Let us be still in the presence of God.It is night after a long day.… Continue reading
Published March 19, 2008 | 
Ju$t a $imple Pre$ident
GHARIB: Well, you’ve pressed OPEC to increase oil production –
BUSH: I did.
GHARIB: And they didn’t do it. Let’s say that OPEC did pump more oil. How much do you think… Continue reading
Published March 13, 2008 | Match It for Pratchett
From the noble and determined Pat Cadigan:
Today, it was announced that Terry Pratchett has donated half a million pounds to Alzheimer’s research. Hearing that, it occurred to me that if half a million of… Continue reading
Published January 23, 2008 | The Mathematics of Fraud
President George W. Bush and seven of his administration’s top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years… Continue reading
Published January 18, 2008 | Honest, It’s Not What It Looks Like
It isn’t really a . . . .
Coochie, it’s a couch. Best joke so far: “My boyfriend loves it, but he couldn’t find the pillow!” (Heard from someone at work, who got… Continue reading