My name is S. Godfree and I am an addict. That’s not completely true – I can usually control myself and not actively pursue my guilty weakness, but every now and again, I’m in a place where it’s easily attainable, and most frighteningly, free. To make matters worse, we recently had a couple of houseguests […]
Archive for July, 2008
Had to get away
There was some packing going on at our place the other day. Cats don’t like packing. They know what it means. But wait! What’s that you say? One last bit of in-town fun before we go? Who could say no? Not these two. And quelle surprise! Out-of-towners, out on the town, fresh back from some […]
Ask the Ethicist
Dear Ethicist: I have this friend who’s a ghostwriter. She’s been asked to do a book for a potential client, and is feeling really torn. The job would pay a lot, and it would take only a short time — just three months or so. The potential client has done a few books in the […]
Northern California
There are places in Northern California where 270′ tall trees comb ocean breezes heavy with seawater and the smell of kelp. I hike through a short canyon where rivulets of spring water shower down mossy stone walls and collect in a glassy stream, which in turn reflects the fern embanked walls and a cerulean sky. […]
A new season
Listen, all creeping things – the bell of transience. – Issa It was not wise to go back. You could have warned me. But he wanted to know how to care for the grapevine. And potted plants had been placed on the stoop. That was reassurance. I could not assume the new people would take […]
Thursday favorites: Shameful products
You buy shade grown coffee. You try not to eat meat. You never buy products that aren’t cruelty free. You scorn SUVs. You only use cage free eggs and milk with no growth hormones. You shun Nikes and the sweatshops that churn them out. You make sure the salmon is wild caught and, if possible, […]
It’s a crime
Susan Atkins, the member of the Manson family who stabbed the pregnant Sharon Tate, and smeared the word “pig” in Tate’s blood on the murder scene wall, recently made an appeal for a compassionate release from prison. For those not up to speed on her health, Atkins is suffering from the final stages of brain […]
Situational (emotional) blindness
Two dudes overheard at the gym: First dude: So you know my friend from California? Second dude: Yeah? First dude: So his godson — Second dude: You mean his son? First dude: No, his godson — Second dude: So like his nephew? First dude: No, his godson. Like, it’s the kid of one of his […]
The View on the n-word
Via The Edge of the American West, here’s a fairly remarkable clip from everyone’s favorite daytime talk show, The View: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zjXbBt6Xwk[/youtube] Apparently the annoying blond, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, is the show’s outspoken conservative, “a woman who will not let her voice be compromised,” according to the show’s website. I seem to recall seeing other clips of […]
Opening night
I had trouble concentrating today. I was even more fidgety than usual: shuffling printed emails into random stacks, moving my pen from tote to desk and then dropping it on the floor, walking into rooms without remembering why. My body was jerky, projecting sympathetic butterflies from another stomach. Tonight is opening night for my son, the […]
