Painting of Coney Island Beach
This is a detail of an oil painting of Coney Island Beach by my grandfather Harry Davis, circa 1940. Clearly, no masks are being worn. Will we ever crowd together…
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March 8, 2021
Patterns and Repetitions are where you find them
Phyllis and I had "double date" appointments with the Eye Clinic on the U.C. Berkeley campus. Visiting the optometrist in a time of masks and social distancing was certainly a…
November 12, 2020
Skeletons in the Hood
This year, there seems to be plenty of pre-Halloween activity in the neighborhood. Perhaps in the same pandemic spirit as the many close-by home improvement projects: the psychology seems to…
October 22, 2020
Coming Up Soon! And, hanging in there…
I hope everyone is doing well, and hanging in there (as we are). We have four kids doing distance learning from home (two in college, one in high school, and…
October 15, 2020
Looking Backward
"It's tough to predict things, particularly about the future," as baseball catcher and American wit Yogi Berra said. And, "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,"…
May 6, 2020
Ten things to make me happy come the Zombie Apocalypse
Toilet paper. Who really cares? I don't. Folks will generally find a way to clean their you-know-whats. Feel superior (but still kindly and compassionate) to folks obsessing about TP. In…
April 11, 2020
This Too Shall Pass—and What Then?
This too shall pass. It will take some time. Perhaps far longer than we'd like, and there will be tragic losses. The changes that will be wrought will be more…
March 31, 2020
Inflection Points and the Donut of Doom
Now that I have your attention! OK, the donut of doom does not refer to the Coronavirus pandemic, nor to Homer Simpson. Per the New York Times, "doughnut of doom"…
March 29, 2020
Double Feature
The Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, California may be closed while we shelter in place, but I am looking forward very much to the double feature coming soon: The Death…
March 27, 2020
Shopping in the Time of the Coronavirus
Shopping in the time of the Coronavirus starts with questions. How safe is it to go shopping? What is the risk-reward profile? Where are we on the curve of the…
March 26, 2020
Love in the Time of the Coronavirus
Two of the best books I know that involve pandemics are the well-known classics Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera, and Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the…
March 25, 2020