Expressing Motherhood show, September/October in Los Angeles
In January 2011 I had the honor of performing a personal essay I’d written in the Expressing Motherhood show in Los Angeles. I’m happy to announce that I will be performing again in the upcoming September and October Expressing Motherhood show. The Expressing Motherhood team has recently launched a blog featuring mothers and creativity, and ...
Viva La Scene
This is a photo I snapped on a recent trip to New York. I was staying a few blocks away from the venerable Chelsea Hotel. At the time it seemed too cliché to photograph the Dylan Thomas plaque, but now I wish I had. Coincidentally, I was also reading Just Kids by Patti Smith, which ...
Bark Williams – for love of Dog
I want to take a moment to say how wonderful I think Bark Williams is. Located on 30th St. and Ocean Park Boulevard, this self-dog-wash store is sedate and smells good, sells natural treats and practical leashes and collars, and is run by a mellow, helpful store manager named Charles. My dogs are not high-maintenance ...
No longer a brunch wasteland
It’s been much too long since I’ve been able to write, but I need to dance a little jig about the new bakery/brunch place that has opened on Wilshire Boulevard near 10th Street. Huckleberry! I sing your praises. Anything halfway decent in Santa Monica is completely overrun, and this place does suffer from lack of ...
Vidiots: film nerd Mecca
Vidiots video store on Pico is one of the great things about living in Santa Monica. The place would be perfect if it had a slightly longer rental period and a bigger space. But these are minor quibbles. I don’t know of another video store in Los Angeles where a person could rent a Danish ...
Reddi Chick
A ritual I observe at the beginning of most weeks is a Monday morning stop at Reddi Chick at the Brentwood Country Mart. Lunch is not the first thing on my mind at 10 a.m. But since I’ve started doing all my grocery shopping on Monday mornings (Westside grocery stores are blessedly free of the ...
The recession has me in stitches
It’s awful and alarming what’s happening all around in the wake of the recession. My favorite Santa Monica restaurant, Violet, closed it’s doors in the last several months. The place was notable for its affordable take on the tapas/small plates craze in American fine dining and for its wonderful punk rock aesthetic. The owner was ...
Babies on the cheap again
Mention Santa Monica to other parents in Los Angeles who get around, and you might hear something about how many good parks there are or the names of some famous children’s stores. It used to be that all of the major streets had baby boutiques of one kind or another. Maybe I’m just noticing it ...
Montana blues
Last Friday night I walked along Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. The street has few evening hotspots – R and D Grill, Father’s Office, and a few restaurants with better than average food and wine – Babalu and Cafe Montana. In the recent past these restaurants are hopping, sometimes even at 9 or later in ...
Sears abides
I must give a quick shout-out to the Sears on Colorado and 4th in Santa Monica. I’d given up hope of any practical and not outrageously expensive store remaining in Santa Monica, but my quick trip there today gave me renewed hope. The last time I went in there was a couple of years ago, ...
