Bonk. Stiff. Gulp. These are titles of books by Mary Roach, having to do with sex and death and digestion. You might say she is…
There was no sign outside of Wheeler Hall, but the Colloquium Room was packed, with standing room only (it seats 150). People had turned out…
There was a crowd of lushes at the bar of the Hotel Rex, so I was a few minutes late to the reading in the…
Last week I saw a group of middle-aged day laborers standing on the sidewalk. A nearby radio was playing “Only the Good Die Young.” I…
I took a futuristic train out of town and ended up on the steps of Wheeler Hall, built in 1917. Inside, I ran into a…
The Odd Fellows Hall is at Market and 7th, near a methadone clinic. It is a six-story structure built in 1909. The Independent Order of…
In May of 1968 there were massive protests in France. They are often characterized as “student” protests in an attempt to limit the wider dimensions…
I walked a couple of miles to a gallery downtown to hear some people read from their memoirs. These are writers with an ink-stained past…
The independent bookstore was packed, standing room only, with people standing outside the doors and watching from behind glass walls. Another glass wall overlooked the…
I was gliding on a silver monorail through some worn-out neighborhoods in the East Bay. It was like a monolithic form of surveillance. I was…