Essays and such

I like to make fried eggs — I like the experience, putting a little chilli on them, putting the cover on to cook them top down. I like flipping them and I like not flipping them. I find the whole … Read on Macduff...

Some times it felt like he was collecting hair. He had a place to store it, all that hair. On top of and around his head. A mass. Spilling up and out and over until, as his grandfather would say: … Read on Macduff...

There was a time when I was serious about backgammon. Not great, but serious.

At the serious-but-not-great level, backgammon is played with the reptile brain. For every situation, you learn and lock in a specific right response.

Roll, move. Roll, … Read on Macduff...

The first time I went to Muir Woods, the forest floor was flooded with people. It was like midday at Disneyland, only with Douglas Firs and Coastal Redwoods instead of Winnie the Pooh and pals.

I was discouraged. This was … Read on Macduff...

Junior year in college, my girlfriend Laura and I both applied to get into the Big Writing Class. There were always more applicants than seats in the BWC. I don’t remember exactly what I wrote as my sample, but I … Read on Macduff...

There were ten of us perched around the edge of the raft: me, my wife, her family, our river guide. We’d all signed up for an afternoon adventure in the form of whitewater rafting down the American River—some exercise, a … Read on Macduff...