Shortly after Jennifer arrived in Shanghai, the talk among the students turned to what they were going to do when they had a few days off from school in honor of National Day on October 1st. Jennifer texted that she and a couple of friends were going to take the [...]
Back in the dark ages when I was growing up, if you heard the word “pumpkin,” you could be quite certain that the next word would be “pie.” Everyone bought a can of pumpkin once a year for their Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. Or if you liked experimenting and wanted to [...]
Our youngest daughter Jennifer Lynn has been in Shanghai for about 10 days now; she will be there until next May for her year-long study abroad program. She hasn't Skyped with us yet because it's a little awkward to carry on a video call when your roommate is trying to sleep. So [...]
So the first text message I got from Jennifer after she arrived in Shanghai on Thursday for her year-long study abroad program was “I finally have Internet” and “I’m not dead” – always reassuring information for a parent. The second text message was “Do you have a copy of my [...]
One of the wonderful things about being a college student is being able to reinvent yourself over the summer. During the three months that you’re separated from your college friends, the opportunity for transformation exists – to return to school in the fall as a new and improved version of [...]
What seemed so far off at the beginning of summer is almost here. Next weekend, we’re driving our youngest daughter Jennifer Lynn back down to school in Southern California. On the following Wednesday, she’ll fly out of LAX to begin her year studying abroad in Shanghai. Why China? Steve and [...]
There is a growing interest in fermented products. As evidence, last Saturday the Finley Center in Santa Rosa bubbled with energy as practitioners of the ancient art of fermentation shared their knowledge and sampled their products with a huge crowd of Sonoma County residents. And it wasn't just wine and beer that [...]
Our middle daughter Valerie loves cats; she gets teased by her siblings about turning into a crazy cat lady when she gets old. In the five years since she left to go away to college, we’ve never been sure who she misses more…us or the cats. Many, many photos of our [...]
I guess it was about five years ago when I got my first Smart Phone and one of my daughters introduced me to the joy of listening to podcasts. At first I didn’t get the concept. Hadn’t video killed the radio stars? Wasn’t YouTube the source for all on-demand entertainment? [...]
A couple of Saturdays ago, when we were driving through the city from Hayes Valley to the Golden Gate Bridge, we happened to go past the Chinese Consulate on Laguna Street. I was pretty excited – not quite as excited as when we were driving through San Francisco and I [...]