Does anybody else crave a lift after this long winter? The election season, the rains and treacherous fires in L.A., have left me longing for some fun. I yearn for the clever Mad Magazine days. Some of you might recall Alfred E. Newman on the... Continue
What's Up With That?
I ran into a woman who said she wanted me to write about relationship conflict, and since it’s Valentine's season, here goes. I try to make it simple for folks because when we're in an angry, uptight catfight, it's not easy. You’re probably not going... Continue
If you grapple with family, or any relationships, at the holidays, the hard part is listening well. After opening gifts, those thingamajigs you never use, eventually you have to talk to each other. As Bessel Van der Kolk wrote, “The critical issue is reciprocity: being... Continue
These are the times that try our souls. We’re watching clocks change to early night darkness and elections rocking our boats. This next round of no-light-after-5 p.m. begins soon. Why do they call it daylight savings anyway? In this spooky season of the trickster, we... Continue
Is the patriarchy dying? Could we be in a crescendo of change? As Clarissa Pinkola Estés (Author of Women Who Run with The Wolves) wrote, “The Black Madonna, in all her representations, is known as the healer of crippledness, the healer of harmed women, hurt... Continue
I’m glad my sweet kitty, Einstein, didn’t live to see the day we have a politician putting him down. J. D Vance – a candidate for vice president – calling childless women cat ladies! Seriously? Someone in government slurring pussies? Hmmm … what’s next? The... Continue
What’s the big talk of the town, besides fires, vacations, ailments, sex, death and housing? Dictatorships and political polarization terrifying us. Everybody’s asking, how did we get here? I ask myself too, how can we shift from conflict to reparative conversations – personally and politically?... Continue
At The Sonoma Speakers Series, I was deeply moved to hear Anthony Ray Hinton tell his story. He is a black man. He was put in prison, wrongfully, on Alabama’s death row, for 28 years. I stood in a space the size of his cell... Continue
I want to submit my first column since Val Robichaud’s death saying that he is in my heart every time I push the send button. He was a dedicated and witty magician - committed to the circulation of words and ideas in this newspaper and... Continue
March 2, 2024 Dearest Val, After all the years of wrestling with the challenges of keeping print alive, I am so deeply sad and lost to have you gone. Good God, you were the godfather of The Sun. I have waited to write - waited... Continue