Notes from the Ol' Factory 2 Aug 2013 | 07:15 pm

Madeleine schmadeleine; I've got garbage trucks. Passing a garbage truck on the way to the subway this morning, I was reminded of my childhood aversion to that familiar garbage truck smell. Actually,...

Catalogs 10 Jun 2013 | 12:21 am

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 I love looking at catalogs, all sorts of catalogs, but my favorite ones are from the novelty and "gift" houses. When I was a kid my stepfath...

Adieu, BBS 28 May 2013 | 08:18 pm

Lois Gilbert, the indefatigable webmistress of the online jazz portal Jazz Corner, announced last night that the Speakeasy bulletin board would be shutting down as of July 1. It was inevitable; the wr...

Hydra, for Fans of the Color Blue 21 Apr 2013 | 02:51 pm

Condensed Book Is Back! 29 Mar 2013 | 12:40 am

As I still have a number of mint condition copies of the long out of print Condensed Book, I decided to become an Amazon seller to offer copies at a fairer price than other sellers. Previously, Amazon...

I Thought About You 15 Feb 2013 | 11:13 pm

I took a trip on a train to work this morning and I thought about "I Thought About You."  I was listening to an instrumental version of the song by the great baritone saxophonist Claire Daly, and the ...

Word of Mouth: Evolution or Devolution? 15 Feb 2013 | 10:15 pm

I started Word of Mouth in 2006 as a food and travel blog, and I updated it regularly for about six years. Then I took a break, partly due to food writing burnout, and partly to finish up the manuscri...

Cartagena and the Delights of New World Colonial Cities 13 Feb 2013 | 04:08 am

For me, one of the great recipes for bliss is to just wander around a beautiful, unfamiliar place, with no fixed agenda, all cares and woes on the back burner.  I'm doing just that in Cartagena.  I've...

Butch Morris, Superconductor, 1947-2013 31 Jan 2013 | 04:29 am

Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris, who passed away this week, was a true American original, a musical artist of singular genius and originality whom I’m confident posterity will speak of in the same breath a...

Where Did the 57 Go? 14 Dec 2012 | 02:01 am

When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn the only ketchup we'd consider using on our fries was Heinz.  Any other brand, especially if it was called "catsup," was something that, we smug New York kids f...