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{ Category Archives } Storytelling

Kaimuki

My aunt and uncle had three dogs, all Wire-haired Terriers, all named Kaimuki. We moved to Arizona when I was just a kid but returned to my birthplace almost every year. I think my parents were homesick. All of their siblings and my mother’s father still lived there. I don’t remember taking any vacations that […]

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Little Miss Nobody

For some inexplicable reason, cemeteries intrigue me. I’m not otherwise morbid but find it hard to pass one without wanting to drop in. Don’t get me wrong, I have no desire to be on the inside when they lock the gates for the night, but there is something fascinating about our dearly departed’s final resting […]

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My San Francisco Treat

{ Archive: the following essay appeared in Java Magazine, and won First Place for Feature Writing at the Arizona Press Club in 2005 – Photos by Mr. Lee } San Francisco is undoubtedly one of the nation’s most beautiful cities—a dream destination for many a traveler. So it was for us, the first trip in years […]

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New York’s Better Little Italy

I have three very good reasons to visit New York City (and two equally good ones to visit DC) at least once a year. If I’m extraordinarily lucky, I get there more than once. And every time I’m in Manhattan, I think about leaving—but just for the better part of a day. I want to […]

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Olive

This is a story about Olive, who wasn’t actually a dog. She only looked like one. She trained her masters early on to believe they were training her. Well past the puppy stage, she maintained a strict regimen of two meals daily. The morning meal was expected the minute Mrs. Master stepped into her slippers. […]

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Plane Math

New Orleans is not all fun and games. It’s serious business. And it requires paper, pencil, and plane math. Begin by making a list of everything you intend to eat. It’s best to do this on the airplane, when hunger is most acute. Next, divide the items on the list by the number of days […]

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Queenies, Queries & Quenelles

Queenies come from all walks of life. Some love to shop. Some live to rule. Others take leisure. And some like to cook—and eat (mostly eat). This is a story about the latter. I blame my parents. They like to eat. It’s not completely their fault, though. They were born and raised in New Orleans, […]

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Rod’s on Route 66

Rod’s Steak House has been a fixture on historic Route 66 since 1946. But I never knew that. In fact we (Mr. Lee and me) happened upon it quite by accident only a few weeks ago, while driving through Williams. Don’t ask what we were doing in Williams, a little-known town whose only claim to fame is […]

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Sazerac

Everybody has a state flower and a state bird. For Louisiana those are the magnolia and the brown pelican. Their official musical instrument, I’m pleased to report, is the “Cajun” accordion. (I admit a fondness for accordions of all sorts since I appointed one an important character in a hopefully-soon-to-be-completed novel.) If you know any […]

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Uranium in the China Cabinet

I love glass. And glass seems genuinely attracted to me—especially if it’s radioactive. When I stumbled upon my first pieces of this strange glass back in the early 90s, I could scarcely believe my eyes. Three nesting bowls glowed fluorescent green from the bottom shelf of a display cabinet in a tiny antique mall booth. […]

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