I suppose most memorable family vacations have something that goes wrong. Read More

Many kids had cap guns in holsters on their hips. These were loaded with red strips which were impregnated with dots of chemicals, and would explode with a loud bang when the trigger was pulled.  Read More

As we pulled onto the onramp of 580, I screamed that we had to go back, NOW! Read More

I was made Queen for a Day.  But that started a Family Feud and landed me in Jeopardy.  Read More

It was lonely.  I suppose it was just adolescent agonizing over the search for independence and existential meaning, while simultaneously longing for acceptance and inclusion from kids my age. You know, the usual. Read More

A litter of kittens frolicking in the California sun, named by my teenaged aunt Susan:  Peanuts, Schroeder, Linus and Charley Brown. Left behind when his family moved, we inherited the tawny pai dog.  Feral and battle-scarred, a forever stray who one day vanished.  Bishkar. Gray and white cat, clawing, meowing, rubbing, always knowing how to… Read More

With apologies to Bob Dylan. Couldn't resist. Read More

Then, in the fall of 1963, an amazing thing happened.  The State Department, through the United States Information Service (USIS), sponsored a goodwill tour of American jazz musicians.  None other than the Duke Ellington Band—yes, that one!--made an astoundingly extensive tour that, according to google, went from New York to Damascus, Amman, Jerusalem, Beirut, Kabul, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, Colombo, Kandy, Dacca, Lahore, Karachi, Teheran, Isfahan, Abadan, Baghdad, Beirut and Ankara.  You may have noticed Dacca in that list. Read More

I think it was my fourteenth birthday when my father bought me a transistor radio.  They were a wonder.  Mine was small enough to hold in a hand, with a little leatherette case and ear bud, from Japan. Read More

In the end, she decided she didn’t want to break up the family, and returned, telling my father never to mention the idea of doing a PhD to her, EVER!  It was too late.  That was that. Read More