Monthly Archives: July 2011
For Sale: Motorcycle with Memories Tangled in the Chain
Just home from Memphis yesterday, I drove into a traffic jam on 880, as cars crept by an accident. Lined up beside the median: one forest green minivan, one red sedan, one large man in black leathers lying on the … Continue reading
Goldilocks and the Three, Um, Colleges
Okay, she has dark brown hair, and we visited four colleges, not three, but it still had that feeling of trying out beds, porridge, and cultures for fit. College 1: “This college is too impersonal! Cars drive right through campus, … Continue reading
It Must Be SoCal
Okay, I haven’t worn a string bikini in public in over twenty years. This is Southern California, though. I’m with my glamorous 17-year-old, and there are palm trees and a Jacuzzi. If not now, then when? We’re here for two … Continue reading
Some of the Men in My Silicon Valley Life
When you’re left to raise a child alone, it’s easy to feel resentful. Yeah, resentment goes down real easy some days, along with a feeling of failure on all fronts, exhaustion, and loneliness. But then you remember that the resentment … Continue reading
Kando-san and Nodo-san
In the past few years, I’ve several times worked with men who irritated me no end when I first met them. I’d quickly find myself in a battle of wills. And then something would settle. They would do me a … Continue reading
Parasol Days
In Osaka, there’s no shame in being, or acting like, a woman (at least for women). When I move there, I’m going to buy a parasol, and I won’t be afraid to use it. I’ll be careful not to smirk … Continue reading
Mansion Hunting
On Tuesday I visited seventeen Osaka apartments with Akamori-san from work and the shy young real estate agent, who patiently walked up and down stairs with us in the 95-degree, 60%-humidity weather. He carried a bag of slippers and a … Continue reading
Empty
When my ex-husband first came to the U.S. in 1989, he had only ever been to China and Japan before. I thought he would love Monterey the way I did, with its quaint Victorian houses painted in pastels, its bright … Continue reading
Cicero’s
I won’t review the pizza. You’ll have to try it for yourself. What I love about Cicero’s is how much people love it. People drive for over 25 miles to visit this humble shopping strip restaurant across the street from … Continue reading
Star-Spangled Spandex
8 a.m. I thought Vasona Park would be peacefully empty.Never have I been so wrong. Half of Silicon Valley’s denizens have come out to jostle each other on this bike path. Quiet and determined, people of all ages, origins, and … Continue reading
July's Culture Medium 