More Comfortably Numb

There are days when I'm looking at my life through thick glass. I think you know the feeling. There are days when you care, and days when you... don't. Can't?

Sky Pilgrims

Kerstin and I camp in a pony pasture and chase the solar eclipse across Texas.

Sound of Music Sing-Along

We popped out into the sun-bleached streets, and there beside us were Corrin and Dafne, rising up the BART escalator. “Hey! You dressed up!” Corrin lit up and Dafne ducked behind him. With eight minutes to curtain, we walked briskly in the summer breeze. Kerstin nearly started skipping, a will-o’

Second-Time Karaoke Covid

I guess it was my fault. Kerstin would like the karaoke condoms to be accessible, right as you’re running out the door. In case of a karaoke emergency. I moved them, in a fit of spring cleaning, to the champagne bucket under the table with the car keys and

Saltburn Hates Its Audience

It’s less than subtle that Saltburn, a movie about social media envy, is set before Instagram or TikTok invaded our lives. Every scene is a perfectly composed snapshot of wealth porn. A thirst trap. Of course, Saltburn does not wish to be subtle, in any way, at all. Much

n00b mind

Fifteen years old, in 1998, I desperately wanted to play with the other boys, and they all wanted to play Golden Eye. I have very fond memories of Golden Eye, but I was terrible. I always chose Oddjob and proximity mines. All that kept me from being too annoying was

You Are Here.

Slower on my feet, but stronger, I suppose. A few of those pounds, at least, got added to my lats and chest. Started going to the gym with Agent Coulson that first year in San Francisco, and just never stopped. It’s hard, trying to be in my body. But

Hiking With Masks

There’s always some urgent, instinctive thrill, hiking along the edge of the continent. A subliminal understanding of just how much of the planet extends out from those cliffs. I think that’s why, when we’re feeling really shriveled up, we run for the Headlands. For the past eleven

Barbenheimer

"All ready!" In the four-inch heels, Kerstin stood taller than me, and I felt suddenly off-kilter, like how the newspaper-reading public 100 years ago must have felt when Darwin or Einstein made their big splash. Fleetingly, uneasily, not at the center of my own universe. I put on

Embarrassment of Riches

It’s searing and too bright. First the crowds. Turn the corner past the movie theater and see the shining, shimmering throngs nosing between stalls. Always a shock, from the still of our living room and out among these hundreds. Our first priorities are berries and bread, most weeks. Get

Ten Years More

However you measure the gristmill of time. An ocean between, or eight miles of it, at least. Lapping at concrete shores, spraying the pylons and the sea lions. An empty stretch of sky. Blue today, thank god, with the conveyor belt turning in the fog, gulls swooping from the towers

Everything Dies, and That's the Good News

"Why do you think you're so cautious about getting into serious relationships?" I've been dating a new girl, and that's a question you really DON'T want to hear three or four weeks into something. The night was warm, and we

outdoors

It's Gone

Six years ago I wrote an essay titled "Please Don't Sell the Lake." As a rhetorical device, I wrote it to my grandparents. Twelve pages, double-spaced, on the profound attachment I felt to the house on the shore of Lake Almanor where my family had spent

drinking

Far From the Madding Crowd

I am lying on my back in a field and I see the leaves jouncing in the sun. I see the Teletubbies too, and the slutty jungle cats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mexican wrestlers, the Roman gladiator boys making out. Everyone jouncing, jangled. Someone hands me a tallboy in a

Corin

Corin Made Me Love Being a Geek Again

After arguing with the poor girl for a while, I dug into my email archives and realized Corin had booked us at the Hyatt. I checked quickly on my phone, and the Hyatt was only a block and a half away, so I decided to just walk over. Only the

Ash

Turning 30

Unless they're watching hockey videos with their noise-cancelling headphones on. Then I guess they need some space. I spent my 30th birthday with some of the people I love. Diego, St. Frances, Ash, Rocco, Astana, Agent Coulson, Roy, and Kendrick. We rented a cabin in Tahoe, spent one

Ash

Leave Your Chow Like That

I was at The Mill this morning with Ash, Diego and Xander, gulping down Guatemalan pourover and munching cinnamon-sugar toast. We were laughing about haircuts, rom-coms, and how childhood injuries might prevent us from engaging in various acts of love, when all of a sudden— "Who's dog

growing up

I'm a Fucking Show-Off

That's not it, really. It's more like this: I'm terrified that I'm nothing except smart, and to make up for that insecurity, I try to get a lot of juice out of my smarts. If you met all of us at a

Monday Movie Review

MONDAY MOVIE REVIEW: Silver Linings Playbook

If there's anything that makes Silver Linings Playbook a better movie than Argo, which just won Best Picture, or Django or Lincoln or Zero Dark Thirty, it's that it truly surprised me. I was surprised at each turn, I was surprised by the characters, and I

living in SF

How You Know You're at The Mill

Could Hank Williams and The Clash get along? At The Mill, my neighborhood's newest coffee shop, they shared time on the speakers as a dozen focused craftspeople mixed flour and water, and carefully prepared pourover drip. Alright, The Mill is no mere coffee shop. They serve Four Barrel

drinking

If San Francisco Were a Lover...

She's naked right now. She always sleeps naked. Hot breath on your neck. She'll work up your appetite, then take you by the hand down Clement.

banality

17 Years Out of Touch, I Dress Like a Douchebag Skier

The first time we went, he lent me his newest, best pair of boots. Last weekend, he had me try the old ones, which strangled my feet. So when Diego stopped at Mtn Mike's, across the street from the Squaw Valley parking lot, to rent a board, I

FOMO Friday

FOMO FRIDAY: Cabin Trip & Snowboarding in Tahoe

Today I'm launching a new semi-regular feature on the blog, similar to my Monday Movie Review posts: FOMO Friday. Partly, these posts are designed to overcome a common obstacle of blogging everyday: when the weekend rolls around I want to be out doing stuff, not inside blogging about

banality

Sucks for You, Dude

Saw this on the sidewalk around the corner: That's worse than a spiderweb. These things are too fragile.