Holiday holdouts keep spirits alive

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MONTCLARION: December 29, 2011

The curtain comes down on the holiday season this weekend. It’s been quite a run, and, frankly, I’m pooped. What other season triggers a six-week celebration and a calorie count in six figures? My body needs a break.

Still … some of you may be holding onto the holidays, and that’s OK, too. The party continues at places like The Fat Lady, where owner Patricia Rossi has created a winter wonderland inside her popular Jack London restaurant. She’ll keep the display up until mid-January. Likewise, one of the season’s best Broadway plays runs through this weekend: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Musical” at the Golden Gate Theatre. Never has a grinch been so lovable. He wraps the audience around his furry, green fingers. Continue reading →

Flashmob class reunions fuel friendships

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Old friends front and center at the flashmob reunion

MONTCLARION: December 23, 2011

A guy walks into a bar. No, this isn’t a joke — it’s a story about social networking.

So, this guy walks into a bar, and suddenly I’m traveling through time back to 1971 and my senior year of high school. He was dreamy back then — with blond hair and a mischievous grin. And now he’s standing in front of me at the Gold Nugget in Glen Lake, Minn.

This is the power of Facebook. It started as a page for my graduating class and quickly morphed into a time machine, with yearbook photos and commentary and chatter about classmates and teachers. Continue reading →

Blighted Oakland property gets new life

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MONTCLARION: December 23, 2011

It was an empty, blighted property in the heart of a Lake Merritt retail district, a haven for the homeless and a neighborhood eyesore. Now, the former bank site at 3265 Grand Ave. has been given new life as a coffee shop and gallery called Monkey Forest Road.

Monkey Forest Road is the main street in Ubud, the cultural center of Bali, Indonesia. It’s a favorite destination for business partners Arnel Alcordo and Chris Cooper, who travel frequently to Bali to bring artisan wares back to Oakland. Continue reading →

Christmas by the Bay

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Catching "snowflakes" on my tongue in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency

HILLS NEWSPAPERS: December 23, 2011

It’s Christmas by the Bay …

There’s much to be said for a white Christmas. It’s the stuff of carols and cards and Currier and Ives paintings. But singer Tom Hockenberry had it right when he proclaimed the best Christmas is just across the Bay — in San Francisco.

It’s our family tradition to spend Dec. 24 in the city. On the day before Christmas, it’s anything but calm, and that’s how we like it. We don our red apparel and head straight for holiday central — Union Square. Continue reading →

Town Crier: Friends mark beloved centenarian’s birthday in Montclair

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MONTCLARION: December 16, 2010

From “talkies” to texting — Elfie Larkin has seen it all in her last 100 years on this Earth. But one of her highlights has to be the surprise party thrown for her recently at the Oakland Zoo.

More than 160 of Larkin’s friends — including a collection of cousins from Sweden — gathered in the Snow Building on Dec. 7 for a grand celebration that included singing and dancing, a catered cocktail party and a military flag ceremony. Continue reading →

Tale of two Christmas towns

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HILLS NEWSPAPERS: December 8, 2011

What is it about holiday lights that we can’t resist? Like moths to a flame, we’re drawn to big, splashy displays of bobbles and bulbs and all things that glitter.

Perhaps it’s a way to counter the low natural sunlight of winter, but there’s no doubt a tree or a building that’s bedecked in bright lights does a lot for lifting our spirits.

So, too, does wine, if we’re to be truthful. There’s something quite grand about the deep berry shades of a rich cabernet or the blush of a light pinot noir. Indeed, the same can be said of a golden chardonnay and a bubbly glass of champagne. Continue reading →

Santa rides Bart – and other non-reindeer types of transit

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I close my eyes and make a wish with Santa……….

MONTCLARION: December 8, 2011

It’s still three weeks till Christmas, and there’ve already been hundreds of Santa sightings. I’ve seen him in department stores and minimalls and at numerous holiday soirees.

He was even at the Montclair Village Holiday Stroll, surrounded by wide-eyed children waiting patiently to meet with the big guy.

How does he do it? Until today, I hadn’t a clue. Then a neighbor gave me the answer: Santa clones himself at Christmas. She saw eight jolly fat men at the airport the other day, and I spotted two more on BART. Santa truly is ubiquitous, the envy of all of us as we try to fit in as many parties and concerts as we can this holiday season. Continue reading →