More Paris, only in LA

More Paris, only in LA

Can you have a weekend that was both fun and profound? Emotional yet giddy? Dirty hot while tender? Is it possible to see your hometown through brand new eyes, uncovering that city’s secrets with surprise and awe? Turns out you can. When you’re a lucky man like me, a...
Aunt Bessie’s Trunk

Aunt Bessie’s Trunk

The only thing I knew about my great-Aunt Bessie before she passed away while I was in class during my first year of school was that she had her left leg amputated from a bad bout of diabetes, and that she had a trunk that my whole family wanted, especially my...
The Miata

The Miata

There’s a black Miata parked right in front of my house taking up prime parking real estate underneath the bird-shit factory, an enormous fichus tree that must’ve escaped someone’s living room in the Twenties and laid its roots by the curb. The little car has a broken...
Mario on the Corner

Mario on the Corner

I didn’t know Mario, didn’t even know his name. The only thing I knew was that on Memorial Day, I saw a crowd of people standing on the corner of the 7-Eleven where I stop every morning for my Super Big Gulp. Some had their fingers jammed in the air pointing...
A Little Romance

A Little Romance

For some reason, I’ve avoided Paris since I was twenty-four, a trip punctuated by my peeing the hotel’s feather bed after a night of too many beers. This time, though, couldn’t have been more different and without any urinary mishaps. The past three days captured the...