Category Archives: Lessons

Three Stupids

Posted on March 31, 2011 by sputterpub

     When I was around 14 years old, I had an idea that has never stopped cracking me up. I was walking along a road in unincorporated Bonita, California with either my buddy Alice or my neighbor Cindy, when the … Continue reading →

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Garage

Posted on March 28, 2011 by sputterpub

    When I was 40 I bought the North Berkeley cottage, and that move caused a chronic small anxiety in me, about swollen creek water and the garage. It was more of a covered bridge than a proper car house, … Continue reading →

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Continuum

Posted on March 25, 2011 by sputterpub

“I need more space,” my boyfriend used to plead in 1969, but what he meant was “I want other girls, and I don’t need a steady yet.” It wasn’t his intent to settle down before his oats could sprout, who’d … Continue reading →

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OJ

Posted on March 24, 2011 by sputterpub

    When we were in our mid-20s, Nick and I once made a memorable mess. We were on a road trip vacation, which meant we carried detailed maps and plenty of food and drink so we could tool around on byways … Continue reading →

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Codes & Epigrams

Posted on March 22, 2011 by sputterpub

When I was around 55, I finally figured out that people don’t always mean their words. Some phrases are in fact code. For example, “Hi, how are you?” is seldom an honest inquiry about your health or mood. You’re supposed to … Continue reading →

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The Anticipator

Posted on March 21, 2011 by sputterpub

   When I was 15, the family moved from southern California to the San Francisco bay area, and in the next few years the place exploded with music, drugs, sex, and politics. I was already eccentric and suspected I might … Continue reading →

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The Pump

Posted on March 14, 2011 by sputterpub

  When I was 40 I bought my first house and found the pump. It was my third piece of residential real estate in fact, but the others were acquired with spouses; that creekside cottage was mine-all-mine. The house was … Continue reading →

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Calculus

Posted on March 10, 2011 by sputterpub

     When I was 17 I came to Cal. One of the classes I enrolled in first quarter was calculus. I think it fulfilled a Breadth requirement. I signed up with Nick and his friend Steve, who we called Cap’n … Continue reading →

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Remember the Flan

Posted on March 7, 2011 by sputterpub

   When I was 24 I learned the truth about Pyrex. Nick and I were making flan in our Bonita Street apartment when the pan and the misconception came apart. I’d always enjoyed pudding and I’d recently tasted flan. Or creme … Continue reading →

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The Lawsuit

Posted on March 4, 2011 by sputterpub

  When I was 43 I got sued. It was a surreal situation; the client got in trouble by going against what I recommended, and then contended that I was incompetent. After all, his lawyer charged, if I had been effective … Continue reading →

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