Reflections on Narcissus at the coffee shop
THE POLISHED BACK of the espresso machine was making me uncomfortable. Nothing makes people more uncomfortable than staring themselves in the face. Mirror reflections are notoriously…
The winter of our discontent — for some
‘NOW IS THE WINTER of our discontent,” starts Shakespeare’s myopically Tudor play based on Richard III’s reign, but written during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (the…
Calling yourself a mixologist doesn’t impress
WHEN I WAS in journalism school, my investigative journalism professor stressed the importance of knowing the bias of your sources. We all have bias built up…
Barfly Book Release Party and Signing
Tuesday Febuary 19 Mill Valley’s Sweetwater 6 p.m. Friday March 1 Ross Marin Art and Garden Center 11 a.m. Barfly Book Release Party I am not…
Passing along the details on raw egg based cocktails
THEY SAT AS a group, decidedly not together but not exactly separate. People in a crowd often act as one organism; they think and act as…
Oh baby, some places aren’t meant for kids
“WAAAAAAH,” went the baby almost immediately upon entering the bar, causing heads to turn. Bright lights and loud noise will often do that to a child.…
Some birthdays are better than others
TOMORROW IS Orthodox Christmas and with it comes the official end of the Christmas season, at least liturgically. For me, the holidays had ended just a…
Avoiding the pitfalls on New Year’s Eve
They say hindsight is 20/20, meaning that when one has the benefit of knowing how something turns out, the reason for that result seems clear. Psychologists…
A deep breath can help in demanding situations
“May I get you…” is all I managed to get out before he started ordering. “I’ll have a hamburger, no pickle, no lettuce, mayo on the…