Flavor-free Anti-Product of the Week
We've all done it. Run into Trader Joe's, desperate for a few last-minute staple items. There it was - eye-catching, under $5 (rare these days) and allegedly loaded with fiber. I bought it. We tasted it. We rejected it. Why? No flavor. None. Zero. Zip. I've tasted...
Morton Marcus – Hasta la vista, baby!
What a pleasure it was to know Morton, a one-man poetry festival, charismatic raconteur and major mensch. I have been enjoying reading his wonderful memoir, full of so much lore about California bohemia and the vivacious arts and letters scene in Santa Cruz of the...
Carrillo Gallery Dedication
An Open House at Baskin Arts honored founding member of Oakes College and beloved UCSC art professor Eduardo Carrillo. The gallery that bears his name was dedicated and the life of this extraordinary painter celebrated, by friends, colleagues and students. The...
Austere, with a touch of spritz
That would be Grangia. My new favorite house white is a bone-dry, mineral-laced bit of ever-so-slight effervescence from Piedmontese Favorita grapes, a version of Vermentino, made by the house of Elvio Tintero. Here’s the amazing part - $8 per bottle. I picked up a...
For all of us who were young together . . .
As I sit here I am still overcome by emotions so bittersweet, that the only way I can sort through them is to write it out. Saturday morning I was driving home after a workout. It was one of those fresh autumn mornings that sparkle with possibility. I drove up Laurel,...
Inside the Flame
A book of sensory adventure: The rituals, passions and discoveries of an engaged life.