Living Well

End of empire stuff

Despite the fact that the world is full of strife on one end and bad taste on the other, I’m not one to let these things get me too terribly down. But there was one thing that really got me depressed and truth be told, disgusted.

Telling stories

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Shhh.

Secrets. They’re not supposed to exist, are they? We’re supposed to tell it all, share it all, let it all hang out, preferably online. Mental health types talk about the corrosive effects of secrets. We barely tolerate the notion that some state secrets should remain that way. And TMZ’s created a $100 million empire…

Guest Post: Essential Truths

I don’t remember the name of the saint whose statue was housed in a church in Antigua, Guatemala. I remember the soft, tarnished metal. The figure had obviously been touched over and over, maybe thousands of times. Its original polish had conceded to the demands of life as an…

The pleasures of giving

The holiday “giving” season is finally, blissfully, playing itself out. The moment brings with it a sense of relief, smugness, and finally, some time to reflect — over a festive negroni, please — on how to improve it. Because [spoiler alert] the gifting season isn’t just a season.

AltLuxe eating

I live in the Bay Area, where we’re known for our restaurants, our food “scene”. Every week, some chef who cut his teeth at Chez Panisse, Coi, Aqua, etc. bounds onto the scene with another “hot” restaurant announcement. The produce — the cow, the hog, the chicken, the beet — is sourced (usually from…

Savoring summer

Ahhh summer. With the thwack and crack of balls on Wimbledon’s center court, I feel we’re finally, definitively in it.

A lot of people absolutely adore summer. They love the time, the weather, the being outdoors…but I have to say, I feel about summer the way that people feel…

The New Disney

The dumbing down of hospitality.

There was a time, not so terribly long ago, that there was really no such thing as a “boutique” hotel. There were big chain hotels (Hyatt, Sheraton, Hilton, Marriott), luxury hotels (the Ritz, the Four Seasons) and there were motels. And there…