It takes seven artisans to make a glass of wine — from the grape growers to the vintners to the coopers, etc. Or so the pitch goes at the small winery in Fairfield. And to draw a crowd, they bring in live music on weekend afternoons. Brent met a woman online and invited her there… Continue reading What Not to Do on the First Date
Category: relationships
Having his Cake
(re-run) We sat at the bar at Il Vecchio’s next to the guy with the shaved head. My girlfriend Fran chatted him up while we waited for a table. We decided to have dinner at the bar. Adam was cute enough but not too tall. He seemed interested in petite Fran, so at the end… Continue reading Having his Cake
My Inherited Dog, Boomer
(re-run) Boomer was never my dog, although he came into my care when I married his owner. I’m not sure how old he was when I met him. My dog, Tess, was two and Boomer was older. A small, part Beagle-part terrier, Boomer had not had a regular dog’s life. He had never eaten dog… Continue reading My Inherited Dog, Boomer
C is for Choices
Life is a series of choices: what to eat for breakfast, what college to go to, which person to marry, whether to see the cup half full or half empty. It’s much easier to look back at life and say what choices were good or bad. Whatever they were, they got you to where you… Continue reading C is for Choices
Lemon Meringue Pie
(re-run) Sarah thought she’d give Match.com one more try. After a round of on-line flirting with a good-looking, age-appropriate man, John asked her to dinner. Sarah said yes. They went to the Hayward restaurant and had a pleasant meal with lemon meringue pie for dessert. Things are going so well. This guy might be the… Continue reading Lemon Meringue Pie
The Dog Crate Disaster
(re-run) When my pup was just over a year old, the Ghost Ship Fire happened in Oakland (2016). 36 young people died in a warehouse that had been converted into an artist co-op with an illegal dance club on the second floor. When the fire started, the young people dancing upstairs were trapped, and they… Continue reading The Dog Crate Disaster
Belly-up Beetle
(re-run) Curtis drove a1969 vintage Volkswagen Beetle. George, his wing man, brought the weed. They’d met their dates at a party. Stacy and Camille went to San Leandro High. Curtis and George went to Castro Valley. Curtis liked Camille. George got Stacy. They all partied at a friend of a friend’s house in Oakland until… Continue reading Belly-up Beetle
The Six Stages of Thanksgiving
(re-run) I’m having Thanksgiving at my house today for nine or ten people. I say that because my brother-in-law may or may not show up. There is lots of football to be missed if he comes ninety minutes north to my house. It will be me, my three kids, my two sisters, my niece and… Continue reading The Six Stages of Thanksgiving
Worst Thanksgiving Eve Ever
I had to go to the doctor’s office the day before Thanksgiving. My finger was infected. I was lucky to get an appointment. I had eleven people coming for dinner the next day. I had no sitter and no luck of getting one, and no local relatives, so I loaded the three kids in the… Continue reading Worst Thanksgiving Eve Ever
How to Relax for Bed
(re-run) I decided to close my online costume shop this past summer. I donated 500 dresses to a charity for 3rd world girls and sorted through my aprons, pulling out all the hostess ones, the sheer ones not for cooking. I had 150 of them. I gave them to my local thrift store, the one… Continue reading How to Relax for Bed
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 