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Chapter One: Optimism Against the Odds Early morning, icy rain on the way, waiting to fly from St. Louis to Chicago. Long lines, blank faces. Flight delays. Semi-panic at Gate 19. Gray people, stressed by too much holiday time with family. Privileged …

I was out walking and saw this small daffodil near the sidewalk (is it actually a daffodil? No idea - I don't know much about flowers. But bear with me.) Such a pristine little portrait of beauty. Fresh and pure. A gorgeous piece of urban nature. And the …

Yeah, a drone. A sophisticated remote control aircraft. Got a credit card? It's yours. So that means anyone -- really pretty much anyone -- can pilot their own mini craft through everyone's space. Might this cause problems at some point?    

One of the treasures of the Bay Area, Muir Redwoods is a cathedral. Majestic 800-year-old trees, a light moisture in the air. The fragrance alone is like music.

This late model sedan with the company name – Last Chance Cat Rescue – got me thinking. I’m wondering: what exactly is the business model? Okay, clearly, they’re in the business of finding cats; plenty of kitties go missing, so someone’s got to track them …

Gloria Steinem is one of my all-time favorite heroes. I adore her for her enlightened support of feminism. She’s a bright light of intelligence in a crazy world. Her most recent news: she was part of a group of women activists who walked across the DMZ …

As the Mad Men series ends, the hype is overblown; sure, it was fun TV, but I’m not placing it in the pantheon of great art. Much of the series was enjoyable diversion, with plenty of routine office politics and a delightful splash of soap opera. I loved …

Hip and funny and futuristic and philosophical and really pretty tippy -- yeah, I really liked Ex Machina. The movie's theme of humans building sentient conciousness isn't new. HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey famously intoned "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do …

Market and Fourth Street, Saturday evening, about 8:30 PM. Everyone's on their way somewhere....

If not for the classic mid-life crisis, how would the manufacturer of this car stay in business? Sometimes a cigar is not just a cigar.

I'm sure there are some true gems in here....

I love neon at night. Oh yeah.

It was a rich moment: Ellen Degeneres snapped an impromptu selfie as she hosted the Oscars, and requested that viewers retweet it with the goal of breaking the record for most retweets. The Twitterverse responded with a frenzy. I'm trying to decode the …

I’m almost done binging on House of Cards, season two. It’s been a fun ride, even though this second season is clearly several steps down from the first. These episodes feel less like an ensemble work and more focused on Kevin Spacey. I miss the wayward …

I’m a huge fan of Jeffery Toobin, the CNN commentator and New Yorker writer. Among several other books, he wrote the definitive account of the O.J. Simpson trial, The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson. A great read. I greatly enjoyed his …