I am writing tonight with a heavy heart. Our beloved friend and priest, Ian Elliott Davies, received the news that his youngest brother, Jason, died unexpectedly today at Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Ray and I are very close not only to Ian, but also his parents, John and Janis, and his brother and…
Category: Los Angeles
Pann’s Coffee Shop: Well Worth a Visit
Tonight we ate at Pann’s Restaurant and Coffee Shop in Westchester en route to LAX to pick up some friends at the airport. Pann’s is the diner that was featured in Pulp Fiction and it has been around since 1958. The exterior is a great example of Googie architecture, which is a futurist style designed…
Sadie’s Good-Bye
“But she promised she’d say good-bye,” Max said as he swigged a glass of lager while we sat in our usual back booth at “Let’s Get It On” bar. Just a side note about the bar – it was about the last place anybody would ever think to “get it on,” unless that meant to…
5-Star Gingersnap Recipe
Today I modified America’s Test Kitchen’s recipe for ginger snap cookies to fit into my non-refined sugar criteria. That mean basically just substituting white sugar with maple sugar. The results were excellent. The cookies have a real snap and they are filled with freshly ground ginger for a nice little kick. I’m going out on…
A Turkey Burger Worth Eating
Looking for a great turkey burger (or regular beef burger) in LA? Here’s your stop: Astro Burger at 7475 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. The fries are also excellent, hand-cut and fried to perfection. Here is the turkey burger I had a few days back. Pardon those bite marks. I was so hungry, I forgot…
A Chronicle of My Day
I am sitting with my student, Oona. We are doing a quick write. I am tired today. Ray and I sat up until almost 2 am watching the last episodes of Orange is the New Black. This was Season 2. It is a new experience for me watching episodic television in this free-form approach –…
Insight from Max Perkins and Hemingway
The famous editor Max Perkins wrote: I think, in truth, that the best writing of all is done long after the events it is concerned with, when they have been digested and reflected upon unconsciously, and the writer has completely realized them in himself. It is good journalistic writing that is done quickly while everything…
Labor Day “Fun”
I have spent today, Labor Day, doing some much-needed labor in my kitchen. Here is what I did: 1) Cleared out the refrigerator and got rid of all those bottles of extras that have been there way too long. I then cleaned the shelves and drawers for a fresh start. I threw away cough syrup…
The Moon, Planets and Labor Day Weekend
I can hear the crickets chirping outside. The waxing crescent moon has two planets clearly visible below it: Saturn and Mars. Ray and I walked around the block with the dogs and got a great view of the moon and the two planets as we walked. I noted that many of the house we passed…
20 Minutes a Day 