Thank you, Sonoma, for your love of my two little dogs! Yesterday, while doing errands, everywhere I went people said, “Where are the dogs?” Each time it surprised me. I don’t know why; I guess I’m lost in my own world sometimes. But it always... Continue
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Before our universe began, things were simple. All-and-everything, including time, space and matter, was compressed into an infinitesimal, dimensionless singularity of virtual probability. Then something happened; depending upon what you choose to believe either God initiated the big bang or quantum mechanical probability self-ignited and... Continue
An economy in shambles with persistently high unemployment; wide income inequality; increasingly belligerent saber-rattling by political parties; street demonstrations accompanied by vandalism and violence on the part of both demonstrators and police; legislative grid-lock; polarized elected officials unable to work together; political campaigns funded by... Continue
The results of the 2012 “Fair Pay for Northern California Nonprofits Compensation and Benefits Survey” are in and things are looking up for the employees of our local nonprofits. Nonprofit Compensation Associates has produced an annual survey among the 48 counties in Northern California for... Continue
When Orwell penned this slogan in his book “1984” he was addressing political theory, not neuroscience, yet from the perspective of current brain research, he was spot on. Our consciousness is but a sliver of the operation of mind, the rest hidden from our awareness.... Continue
If you read my column regularly, by now you know that I enjoy a cup of tea. My tastes in tea run to classic Chinese varieties like Oolong and Pu’er, and I can joyfully spend an hour or two exploring new varieties of fine tea.... Continue
Dear Bonnie: I need help with an audit of my 2009 income tax return. The IRS is disallowing all of my job search expenses. And I swear, I only took those trips to find work. Okay, there might have been a little bit of personal... Continue
“We can’t return, we can only look behind.” - Joni Mitchell Despite the persistence and power of memory, the seduction of the past and 20/20 hindsight, the arrow of time appears to go in one direction only: forward. It might be more accurate to say... Continue
My roofer came out last month and told me what it would cost to fix my leak! After we bargained on the price, I calmed down. I asked myself, “Self, why do you feel so comforted?” Immediately, the other voice in my head said, “It’s... Continue
Human society today rests far less upon nature than upon the results of human imagination. Futurist and inventor Buckminster Fuller called it our “metaphysical” world, author Neil Postman calls it “technopoly,” and I call it our “cooked-up reality.” It was not always this way. For... Continue