UPDATE 6 p.m. Traffic lights were back on, and Trader Joe’s and Pet Food Express were open and bustling with shoppers. California Boulevard is currently a major… Read more “Power outage in Walnut Creek closes stores, messes up traffic”

We’ve put the Halloween costumes away, and it’s time to turn the pumpkins into pies. The wind blew in Tuesday, rustling up the leaves on our back… Read more “Countdown to Walnut Creek on Ice and the Turkey Trot”

The fragment of a song has been playing in my head: Sweet Jaime, I’ll love you foreverI know we’ll never partI love you like I’ve loved no… Read more “The Bionic Woman?”

On its website, Sufism Reoriented says that the white, multi-domed design of their proposed 66,000- square-foot sanctuary embodies “our most sacred beliefs and supports our worship.” “Throughout… Read more “A matter of religious freedom?”

In the new issue of Esquire magazine, writer Tom Junod asks a good question, one regarding multi-course meals at nice restaurants. I think he has a point… Read more “Are entrees necessary?”

When life seems unsettled, and I’m aware of quiet feelings of sadness, regret or dread, I generally don’t turn to chipper entertainment to lift my mood. I… Read more “The necessity of dark stories for dark times”

I’ve been wanting to get rid of that bright green and blue for a while, and go for something a little classier and more sedate. So I’m… Read more “After a life-changing experience? Time for a blog redesign”

I think I know a little bit about how Cher must have felt. Yesterday, we took our new kitten, our little girl whom we named Pandora, to… Read more “Gender shocker: It’s a boy”

I just felt it. It was at 5:36 a.m., and I was lying in bed after waking up a few minutes before … According to the U.S.… Read more “Another earthquake …”

As I write this, our new kitten Pandora is asleep in her–yes–box. Yes, we have a Pandora’s box in our house now, and who knows what mischief… Read more “Gratitude”