Blog

How to Be Happy: Two Choices

March 25, 2023 by James Maguire

Ah, the luminous champagne of human happiness. So effervescent, so uplifting, so giggly-joyous. Whoopee! But alas, those bubbles can float away, the glass drains, the morning arrives, and – oh, geez – do I have a headache? You know it’s true because …

Fear, Loathing and Popcorn: Are Movie Theaters Doomed?

March 24, 2023 by James Maguire

There's a reason that movie theaters are struggling. You drive across town and pay ten bucks to do – basically – what you do at home: watch a story on a screen. Except at home it's free and you're on your own schedule. Oh, and you want something to munch …

Running Days: Tales of a Teenage Oxygen Junkie

December 18, 2022 by James Maguire

Anxious, heart thumping, all of us standing in the brilliant autumn sun. About 40 teenage boys lined up at the starting line, almost panting. Race day for the high school cross country team. The instant the starting gun went pop we’d scramble off across …

Home

April 1, 2022 by Eve Lurie

The Joy of Pfizer

April 5, 2021 by James Maguire

Oh yeah, a fresh sweet shot of Pfizer -- straight up, no chaser. Sure, I had to take a 90-minute train ride to find an appointment; I was never happier to commute. And sure, my shoulder was sore the next day -- but what a pleasant pain. I thank all the …

George Floyd and the Protests Heard Across History

June 6, 2020 by James Maguire

I feel something so positive in America. The protests are sparking us back to health. All those voices rising up for justice. The crime was against a black person – as it has been, again and again. But the people gathering are white and black and all …

Women in Tech, Tech in Transition

October 26, 2018 by James Maguire

I wrote this after going to a book release event for Emily Chang’s Brotopia, a book about sexism in Silicon Valley. There’s something unusual about this evening’s tech event. Tonight’s gathering is, to be sure, a classic San Francisco …

The ‘Rustic Apple Tart’ (Can Barnes and Noble Survive?)

October 23, 2018 by James Maguire

I love it that the apple tart sold in the Barnes and Noble cafes is called the Rustic Apple Tart. I also love (unfortunately) the tart itself, in a love-hate kind of way. It’s a soulless glop of industrial sugar-goo that delivers a Mike Tyson body blow …

Who is James Maguire?

October 14, 2018 by James Maguire

You know who I feel disdain for? I feel disdain for writer types, for instance, James Maguire, who write blog posts about themselves on their own site. Clearly, it’s a pathetic self-promotion scheme. It’s craven, it’s shameless, and honestly, it’s a …

The Meaning of Autumn

October 12, 2018 by James Maguire

Stepped outside today and realized…it’s autumn. The summer drifted away with hardly a whisper. Summer, when it’s here, seems almost stationary. For a moment around July 19 or so, time might stop altogether. September will arrive, we’re sure of it. …

The Red Tide in Florida: What Have We Done?

October 9, 2018 by James Maguire

I felt the deepest dismay on my recent trip to Sanibel Island, in South Florida on the Gulf Coast. We stayed near the water and I was so looking forward to walking down to the beach. That first morning, it was great to see the water and hear the …

Humblebrag: I won an award for my feature writing

April 28, 2018 by James Maguire

I’m delighted to report that I won a 2018 Azbee Award of Excellence in the category of Web Feature Article. (Azbees are awarded by the American Society of Business Publication Editors). My winning article is titled Artificial Intelligence: When Will the …

My Tribe in the Music Store

April 7, 2018 by James Maguire

I like stopping into the music store now and then. There’s a Yamaha electric piano I have a crush on, but for $800 my love is better off unrequited. It’s always good to check in with the tribe in the music store. They’re my people, the people who …

March for Our Lives in SF – Feelin’ It

April 1, 2018 by James Maguire

[From Saturday, March 24] Gathering for the March in front of SF City Hall. Must admit I’m a tad verklempt at the energy of it all, the young people voicing a higher purpose. Kind of makes you think there might be hope for us after all. That we make …

I turned the corner and there it was….

January 21, 2018 by James Maguire

Yes, San Francisco has a Museum of Ice Cream. No surprise, actually. The city itself has a mellow softness, if not quite a sweetness. I put it on my list for a later adventure.

Nightfall

December 2, 2017 by James Maguire

The sun disappears over the Pacific. Nature is a cathedral. What's our place in it?

The Zen Mountaintop of Transcendent American Consumerism

November 25, 2017 by James Maguire

Clearly, it's the dizzying Zen mountaintop of transcendent American consumerism: the Apple Store on Black Friday. Even for the privilege of talking to clerk about a MacBook, I was told the wait was 35 minutes. In that moment I stared into the …

Life in the Bay Area

November 18, 2017 by James Maguire

Ah, life in the Bay Area: even the coffee shops can be techie in San Francisco and surrounding areas. I was walking down the street in Berkeley and spotted Algorithm Coffee. Perhaps a dude or dudette is dreaming of a start up in there?

Lion, Starring Dev Patel: A Feel-Good Drama

April 3, 2017 by James Maguire

Lion, starring Dev Patel, scored mediocre reviews – a low wattage 69 out of 100 on Metacritic – but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it. The story starts with a destitute young boy, Saroo, who gets lost and separated from his family in 1980s India, a …