MONTCLARION: May 30, 2014
The need for caffeine can make motorists do dangerous things. The other day I was sitting in Montclair, grande mocha in hand, watching the traffic patterns of a Village fueled by coffee shops on almost every corner. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: May 23, 2014
I’m going out on a limb with this. I sincerely hope no one’s offended. Of all the Greek wines I tried last weekend, there’s one I will not buy again.
I do not like retsina. I do not like this Greek wine. I don’t like it with Dolmas. I don’t like it with lamb. I won’t even drink it with green eggs and — you get the point. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: May 16, 2014
“A dream is a wish your heart makes.” That’s what Dick Callahan told my students recently at Saint Mary’s College. The longtime public address announcer for the Oakland A’s knows something about dreams — as one of only 30 people in the world who do what he does — announce major league baseball games. Continue reading
MERCURY NEWS.COM: May 16, 2014
I had to pinch myself. Twice. This chiseled cowboy was singing a love song just for my girlfriends and me. And when he finished, he ambled over to the saddle-shaped bar stool and poured us all drinks. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: May 8, 2014
April showers bring May flowers. Pretty, indeed, yet there’s one yellow bud that we don’t want to see — the bloom on a leggy French broom. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: May 2, 2014
The night has a thousand eyes. Two of them were locked onto Melissa the other night. The hills mom, who just moved here from Oklahoma, was out looking for owls with her flashlight when she spotted a strange set of eyes in a tree. Continue reading
Mercurynews.com: May 2, 2014
I’ve never been a fan of head lettuce. Baby greens are more my style. But when I tasted that crisp wedge of iceberg, chilled to perfection and drizzled with Green Goddess dressing, I found salad utopia.
An epiphany like this — albeit an edible one — comes naturally when you’re in the “Salad Bowl of the World,” the agricultural region known as the Salinas Valley. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: April 24, 2014
His friends call him “grandpa” or “old survivor.” He’s a towering figure in Oakland — his frame straight, tall and furrowed by age.
He lives along Horseshoe Creek — in the hills near what’s now Merritt College. And if he could talk, he’d have some incredible stories to tell. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: April 18, 2014
Late at night — when a blanket of silence cloaks most of the land — there is mischief.
Last Friday it was a car spinning doughnuts in the wide intersection at Skyline and Shepherd Canyon roads. The driver was having his/her own private sideshow according to neighbors who were frightened by the screeching and burning of rubber. Continue reading
MERCURYNEWS.COM: April 10, 2014
On the list of luxury hotel amenities, charcuterie never makes the cut. But then, Fodor’s never tasted cured meats like this. La Valencia Hotel’s house-cured bacon is so popular — it comes with its own dipping sauces.
