• Red May Have Been Wrong: A Six-Sentence Story

    Red May Have Been Wrong: A Six-Sentence Story

    When my youngest son got a job interview for a position at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (i.e., prison), he had to buy some proper clothes: shirtsleeves, a couple of ties, slacks, and a new pair of dress shoes. Before he left for his interview in Marin County, he showed off his ensemble to his mother Read more

  • One Thing I Don’t Miss About Scootering

    One Thing I Don’t Miss About Scootering

    Back in 2010, fourteen years before the crash that ended the “scooter” part of BurgerScoot, I would ride around Sacramento enjoying my newfound freedom. (I had stopped driving many years before, and my modes of transportation were limited to bicycling, riding Sacramento’s abysmal Regional Transit system, or having either of my sons or my wife Read more

  • Stephan’s Cure for Hiccups: A Six-Sentence Story

    Stephan’s Cure for Hiccups: A Six-Sentence Story

    It was an elementary schoolmate, Stephan, responding to my cries of “I hate the hiccups,” who told me the sure way to cure the hiccups: swallow three full mouths of water upside down. It sounded like a cruel joke: have someone gulp a mouthful of water, bend down as if the fellate themself (though I Read more

  • Gambling is the Third Rail of Baseball, But…

    Gambling is the Third Rail of Baseball, But…

    “Without integrity, the game of baseball will cease to exist,” he said. “Without integrity, how will fans ever trust the purity of the game itself ever again? A purity built on the principle of fair play.” – Marcus Giamatti  (son of A. Bartlett Giamatti – MLB Commissioner, 1989) A couple of years ago, I was Read more

  • “Pavement checking” Pies: A Six Sentence Story

    “Pavement checking” Pies: A Six Sentence Story

    Jimmy stopped by my house with a key lime pie for my family. When I thanked him for his generosity, he smiled and said that this was not the original pie he planned on dropping off. Before placing the pie in a pink box, he had to examining the bottom of the tin, but while Read more