826 Valencia is having a Mustache-a-Thon to raise money for their excellent, unique free programming for kids. Yes, mustaches are no longer just for firemen. “Over six weeks, they’ll carefully tend to their emerging mustaches, meet weekly at a neighborhood bar to show off their progress, and swap tips on waxing ends. We’ll take weekly [...]
THE YEAR OF FOG received an “A” today from the Washington Post in the Media Mix feature, its bite-sized listing of upcoming books and movies. It’s been a long time since I’ve been graded. I remember something about getting a B in graduate school in a class where all we had to do was watch [...]
When I went in to Simple Pleasures yesterday morning to get my frothy au lait, Dae was doling out horoscopes, compliments of Christopher Renstrom at the Chron. This was mine:
The planets urge you to pursue your heart’s desire. There will be hell to pay, but it doesn’t matter because getting what you want will feel [...]
The exercise (esp. for Bunny): Write about your wild past, orwhat you see in your adventurous future.
My friend Wade Williams wrote this beautiful essay for The Texas Observer. If you want to see more of his writing, check out The Tao of Wade over at Fiction Attic.
The exercise:
Write about revisiting the roads of your youth.
If the fetching and talented Jeff Singer was disappointed to be shooting the conservatively clad essayist from Alabama instead of some swank and sultry Miss February, he was kind enough not to show it. This morning when Kevin left for work, he made me promise that, if anyone asked me to take my clothes off, [...]
Here’s the funniest heist story ever, and it’s not a movie. It took place in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights. According to the Chronicle, the thieves made away with 2.5 million dollars in goods while the homeowner (an heir to a locksmithing fortune!), was away. Neighbors thought the thieves were movers. Soon thereafter, one of the [...]
I’ve come to one of my favorite little neighborhood spots this morning to work–Bazaar Cafe on California–and was plugging away pretty well until someone turned on Tom Waits. One of the pleasures of this place is the excellent musical selection. But pleasure and work don’t mix. How am I to concentrate with Waits belting out [...]
Sounds like apocalyptic fiction, but nope, it’s just the news. Maybe this gargantuan ice cube will make those who deny the relevance of global warming take note:
A giant ice shelf the size of 11,000 football fields has snapped free from Canada’s Arctic, scientists said.The mass of ice broke clear 16 months ago from the coast [...]
Today, in the graduate fiction workshop I teach, we’re discussing a story written by a young white woman who grew up somewhere in the middle of the country. The story is told from the point of view of an older black woman in New Orleans. The student told me she’s never been to New Orleans. [...]
