Who Loves, Ya, Baby?! A couple of years ago, I found myself driving to Bakersfield to see my mother. She was in a convalescent center. She had fallen the Sunday before and broken her pelvis. Now she was in a bed in a nursing center in Bakersfield,...

A Fine Vintage Johannes Brahms was once invited to dinner by a noted wine connoisseur. In the composer's honor, the man opened one of his finest bottles. "This," he announced to his assorted guests, "is the Brahms of my cellar."

An Empty Church I went to a quinceaniera on recently for a former student. In the Méxican tradition, when a girl turns fifteen, parents hold a quinceaniera, from the Spanish word for fifteen, quince. The tradition actually goes back to the Aztec...

Zombie Jesus In May of 1941, Father Maxmilian Kolbe, a Roman Catholic Priest, one of the leaders in his town of Niepokalanow, was arrested by the Gestapo. He was beaten, and sent to the now infamous concentration camp at Aushwitz to work at hard...

Happy Easter Today, there will be no place to park at church. It will be standing room only. I will have a seat because I play the guitar for the choir, but Becky will end up smushed in a pew next to a well-dressed young uncomfortable woman,...

Palm Reader One night, when I was about 13 years old, I was sitting in the living room playing the guitar. My parents were drunk again, as was usual. They had a fondness for vodka. They used to get it on credit from the little market a block away...

Making an Omelet I used to run marathons. That seems impossible to believe looking at me now, but it’s true. I’ve run the Los Angeles Marathon six times. Many people understand running a marathon once. After all, it’s an impressive thing to...

For Heaven, Press Four You know what I hate? I hate trying to phone some company and having to wade through seven or eight layers of computer prompts in order to do what I want to do. A few months ago, I received my daily New York Times soaking...

I've Been to the Mountaintop I love the mountains. I used to live in the mountains. The day we left the mountains may just be one of the saddest days of my life. I love the beautiful green trees. I love the sound of the wind in the pines. I love...

Photograph I am a yo-yo. I’m sure that many of you would agree with this. But I don’t mean that kind of yo-yo. No, I don’t mean the little disc that spins on the end of a string either. I am a fat yo-yo. Throughout my life, I have been fat...