Every year in San Francisco there is an “Escape From Alcatraz” triathlon. The athletes start on Alcatraz island and swim 1.4 miles in the bay’s icy waters until they reach a beach in the Marina District where a crowd of on lookers form a runway of receiving lines that the swimmers run through high fiving […]
Read more »
While jogging on the beach last week I noticed a seagull standing alone, further up on the beach than the other seagulls that were all eating big crabs left over from high tide at the water line. As I ran past I realized that he was holding his foot up, just resting his toe on […]
Read more »
On Thursday Britt woke up with a sore throat. “God Dammit,” he said. “I’m sick.” “What??? It’s summer time. Get away from me though.” I told him. “You know who gave it to me?” he asked. “ A little kid?” “Dr. Coolum.” “The root canal dentist?” “Ya, he was coughing and had sniffles the whole […]
Read more »
When I was 15 and living with my sister, we would fill our stomachs once a week at the Hare Krishna house across town during their weekly community meal. They would welcome us warmly and usher us into the house. My sister and I would sit in the middle of a pool of orange robed […]
Read more »Remember back in the 80’s when we’d settle around the TV to watch Miami Vice on a Saturday night and every time there was a drug dealer on there’d also be ferociously barking Rottweilers and German Shepherds? And everyone was like, omg, Rotweilers and German Shepherds are so scary, only drug dealers have them! Well […]
Read more »Fact: Senior dogs are the best dogs. They know the routine, how to communicate, how to act. They’re polite, gentle, disciplined and calm. It seems like they can read your mind, they’re always prepared for your every move. They don’t bound and spring through the world anymore, but who cares? Neither do older humans. […]
Read more »So it turns out that if you have a closed plastic bag of Hershey chocolate minis in a small compartment at the bottom of an 80 pound suitcase full of craft supplies locked in the camper shell of your truck in Tahoe, a bear will know. Wandering by, late at night, he will smell chocolate, […]
Read more »I finally figured out this spring how to successfully launch a white fly eating brigade of ladybugs successfully into my garden. Every year I used to try to use ladybugs to kill bugs but it was never effective. Then a nice gal at my local hardware store gave me these tips and they worked! Here […]
Read more »I read Kitchen Confidential when I was first starting my greeting card business. It gave me hope that one day I could leave my restaurant job and live off of my creative endeavors. It was a beacon of light to help guide me out of the back breaking, mentally draining restaurant work and succeed as […]
Read more »A guy on a motorcycle passed me yesterday by driving around me on the wrong side of the road. I glanced over at him and saw the he was wearing a helmet, a leather jacket and flip flops. The flip flops made me cringe. My mind flashed back to the motorcycle accident that happened outside […]
Read more »The last time I saw my cat, a giant stoic tabby named Kitty, I was 14. I kissed her goodbye and hugged her big fluffy body to me, trying to memorize her dusty smell. I spoke to her secretly in her ear, apologizing for leaving her. I knew I would never see her again but […]
Read more »***I am not a doctor! This is not medical advice, just my personal life experience! Please just go to a doctor, thanks!*** ___________________________________________________________________________ I didn’t have health insurance for about twelve years. During this time I tried to eat right, exercise and prayed I wouldn’t get into an accident. I became really good […]
Read more »I’ve had a dream of growing grass in my mud pit of a backyard ever since I got my big, glorious dog Jasmine. Her two favorite things to do are relaxing and luxuriating and relaxing and luxuriating on grass. So this September I dug out all the useless clay soil around my patio and replaced […]
Read more »#27 Because they play team sports in the air. It’s true, I witnessed this myself a few years ago. Hiking in a windy valley I saw 8 or 9 crows flying and swooping high above me, chasing each other. I stopped to watch and realized they weren’t just randomly flying, they were playing catch with […]
Read more »I was waiting at a stop light one afternoon when a big hawk dropped out of the sky in front of my windshield. He snatched a pigeon out of mid air and landed with it on the roof of a car next to me. The light turned green and I drove away still watching the […]
Read more »Years ago a little Brazilian shop opened up next to the place I do yoga. The owner happened to live down the block from me and I would see her and her little black and white dog, PePe walking to the store each day. He was a blocky little Chihuahua mix that liked his freedom. […]
Read more »This weird thing happened a few months ago near my apartment. I saw a butt. It was shining in the sun on the sidewalk about a block away from me. People were walking by, glancing curiously at the butt and then moving on. A few gross guys were lingering, standing too close and discussing the […]
Read more »My valentine has eight legs, two heads, floppy ears, velvet skin and drools when presented with string cheese. My valentine gets farty after eating eggs, is not a reader and can’t hold down a job. But my valentine is hopelessly devoted, has endless kisses and never judges me. My valentine loves car rides, long walks […]
Read more »A couple of years ago an airplane crash landed at the San Francisco airport. Witnesses described it as “cartwheeling” down the runway. Cartwheeling. So now, whenever I fly, no amount of wine spritzers or expired pain killers from the dentist can erase that phrase from my memory.
Read more »don’t know if there’s a god and I’m not at all religious but this thing happened to me a couple of years ago that made me a little bit more of a believer. I’m going to preface this story by admitting that, at the time of the incident, I was listening to a lot of […]
Read more »Thank You San Francisco! There’s this weird thing that people in San Francisco do that I think is really condescending, disingenuous and gross but also funny and ridiculous. Instead of taking their old used filthy junk to the dump they pretend like they’re doing everyone a huge favor by offering it to us…for FREE! They […]
Read more »An Open Letter: Dear City of Pacifica, I was wondering if you could please not do an extra long and louder than usual emergency alarm test siren the day after the President threatens earth with nuclear war in a snarky tweet. I have experienced your weekly emergency siren test many times over the […]
Read more »I love See’s Candy. I was a sugar restricted kid that looked forward to the holidays every year so I could get my three pieces of See’s candy from the 2 pound box. (I have a big family). I grew up studying and mapping out the candy box so that none of my precious chocolate […]
Read more »