White-Collar Crime: Notes From The Underground I lie. I lie and cheat and steal. I don't do it publicly; I do it through the System. It's how those of us with a bit of money …
April 21, 2005
United States
Live from Marin County, California
The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets
The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets. University of Nebraska Press; 2005; 163 pages; $19.95. FROM THE DUST JACKET: "Kooser's Poetry Home Repair Manual is marked by impeccable clarity and focus of …
Live from Marin County, California
Total Eclipse of the Big Yellow Ball The planets are coming, the planets are coming! I mean, they're disappearing. Sort of. It's a solar eclipse, babies. Everyone under his or her desks. Or is this …
April 14, 2005
Live from Marin County, California
Deep In The Amazon This is what happened. I wrote a book, submitted it to several publishers, and got rejected. I wrote another book, found a New York agent and a New York publisher. Within …
April 7, 2005
Live from Marin County, California
Fate is cruel. I think we can all agree on this one thing before I move on. Mostly cruel. Especially when one considers withering illnesses, rapid aging, death and taxes — all of which are …
March 31, 2005
Discover a showery 20-foot cascade in Coal Canyon, Orange County's premier wildlife corridor.
For at least three decades, the Coal Canyon diamond interchange on the Riverside Freeway through Santa Ana Canyon was a virtual joke, featuring ramps to and from nowhere. "Nowhere" might have been replaced by subdivisions …
March 31, 2005
Rachel Pink In Manhattan
Slice Of Paradise THURSDAY The last day of work looms and I'm glad to have a break. My nephew, that brilliant four-year-old ball of personality, is coming to stay overnight with just me and Chuck …
March 24, 2005
Before the Robot Ate Me
Before the Robot Ate Me played San Francisco's Make-Out Room March 23, the San Francisco Bay Guardian proclaimed, "Those who thought intelligent music could never come out of a superficial city like San Diego will …
March 24, 2005
The Great Boston Molasses Flood
Matt: Did you ever hear of the Great Boston Molasses Flood, sometime back in the 1920s? Lots of people drowned in a nasty, sticky, slow death. Details, please. -- Tim, not in Boston Just my …
March 24, 2005
Rachel Pink in Manhattan
WEDNESDAY In a desperate search for Febreze I headed to the Astor Place Kmart. I try to visit my not-at-all-friendly Manhattan Kmart on a quarterly basis. Something about visiting a chain store makes me guilty. …
March 17, 2005
March Madness
Head out the door, find a freeway, and drive to Lindbergh Field. Get on a plane and fly to Des Moines, Iowa. Rent a car, motor north on I-35, turn right on Highway 20, turn …
March 17, 2005
Rachel Pink in Manhattan
My blog, Rachelpink Rides the Bus, started as a lark over a long weekend. At first it was an exercise in self-restraint. I thought I was talking too much, talking all the time. I figured …
March 10, 2005
A Florida Newspaper Writes
A Florida newspaper writes, "Louis XIV, a San Diego foursome set to release its major-label debut on Atlantic in April, is better when it locks into a tight, retro groove: Big, dumb, loud rock 'n' …
February 17, 2005
Out and About
Between 2000 and 2003, the Metropolitan Transit Development Board closed down Dial-A-Ride programs around the county. As budget crunches hit, the transit board had to choose between cutting fixed bus-route service or the Dial-A-Ride programs …
February 10, 2005
Bound for Freedom: Black Los Angeles in Jim Crow America
Bound for Freedom: Black Los Angeles in Jim Crow America (George Gund Foundation Imprint in African American Studies). University of California Press; January 2005; 472 pp.; $29.95 FROM THE DUST JACKET: Paul Bontemps decided to …
January 27, 2005