Blog

If you have memories of Michael to share you can fill out the comment form here, or upload an image, audio or video file.

Irene here to finish the story:  Michael’s last post was June 9th, when he went on hospice, choosing to be sent home from the… Read more »

Last week I gave my third annual talk to our local high school’s programming/computer science class. The classes are taught by Analy High math… Read more »

I have long thought about combining historic and modern images of San Francisco to make aligned, composite images that showed some parts new and… Read more »

My mother-in-law, Joyce Stratton, who is 89, moved into a board and care home a few weeks ago. Irene and her siblings have been… Read more »

It was 1979 when Irene and I drove north from Palo Alto for a weekend away in remote Pt. Reyes. I was 24, we… Read more »

Barney Saltzberg is one of my few very-long-time friends, going back to elementary school. He was a year ahead of me, so we didn’t… Read more »

I created this website as a way to publish my blog posts, essays, photographs, and a few other projects. My focus is on creating… Read more »

Today, my household entered the true age of broadband. Sure, we’ve been there for years, depending on how you define it. But this is… Read more »

My son Gregory has been passionate about magic for 20 years — and he is only 25! He has been working on his time-keeping… Read more »

Eight years ago, I cofounded Webvanta, a SaaS CMS platform and web development agency. I have been running Webvanta ever since, through all the… Read more »

If you love magic, and especially if you have kids, there’s a once-a-year event coming up in just one week that you don’t want… Read more »

One of my best and oldest friends, Mark Indictor, came to visit this weekend, and we had a wonderful time! Mark and I went… Read more »

In a previous post, I listed some of the countless historical fiction books about World War I & World War II. Of course, a… Read more »

Our weather this year has been just what we needed — some good drenchings, enough to stave off the immediate drought, and then sun!… Read more »

For the past 3 months, I’ve been writing two separate blogs, one public and one private. Most of my writing has been about my… Read more »

I’ve read (or listened to) a lot of books. There is such a vast range of books out there, it is hard to choose…. Read more »

What first drew me to historical fiction was an urge to try to make sense out of the two world wars. I now understand… Read more »

Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres to read, listen to, or watch. I am drawn to history to understand how the world… Read more »

Here’s a wonderful time-lapse movie of San Francisco Bay, shot from the Inn Above Tide in Sausalito. An entire day in 4 minutes. Click… Read more »

At the house I grew up in, there was a shelf in the dining room with a toaster on it. I’m not sure how… Read more »

I have been a fan of audiobooks since you had to buy them on tape, and then on CDs. I used to drive regularly… Read more »

It was a couple years ago that I first heard about the idea of cat cafes. As a lifelong cat lover, the idea immediately… Read more »

This blog has been live, in one form or another, for a decade. This year, I’ve done a full reset, keeping most of the… Read more »

It’s amazing what you can find wandering around in Google Maps.

The last time was in 1972.

Last January, we adopted Rio, a wonderful golden retriever. Here’s our first picture of him, at the Homeward Bound rescue facility: He was 20… Read more »

Amanda is one of the “flyers” on Analy High School’s varsity cheerleading squad. They won second place in the regional competition today in their… Read more »

My wife Irene and I recently spent a week on the east coast, starting in Washington DC for my nephew Oliver’s wedding, and ending… Read more »

Clearly, the people who designed the 1959 house we bought last year did not share my priorities. Not a single room in the house… Read more »

Frizelle Enos, a feed store turned pet supply that was reportedly the oldest business in Sebastopol, burned tonight in a massive fire. Like many… Read more »

The past six months have been perhaps the most challenging time in my life, from moving my house and reinventing my business to the… Read more »

For 22 years, we lived on a 5-acre property a few miles west of Sebastopol. It’s a beautiful property, which we enjoyed tremendously. But… Read more »

My mother, Helen Slater Zager, died on March 10. She was 92, and led a very full life. In the weeks since then, I’ve… Read more »

I started this blog a bit over six years ago, when I left Adobe to figure out what was next. In the first few… Read more »

My son Gregory’s new act:

Teaching has long been one of my favorite activities. In the past five years, most of the teaching I’ve done has been online, through… Read more »

After more than 20 years on our beautiful country property, we have decided to take the plunge and move into town! We’ve enjoyed the… Read more »

Last night my son Gregory was in Ken Garr’s annual magic show in Santa Rosa. He’s been hanging out with this community for many… Read more »

I’ve been lusting after a great tablet device for a long time. The iPad has its faults, but it’s the first that really appeals… Read more »

Following a marathon effort, I’m delighted to announce that we’ve closed Webvanta’s Series A financing. It’s very exciting, and quite a relief, to have… Read more »

I’ve been a Mose Allison fan for more than 40 years. He’s now 82 and still playing clubs around the U.S. —this year, he… Read more »

The First Two Years: Conception It was 10 years ago last week that the idea for PhotoTablet came to me—an Internet tablet that takes… Read more »

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted here, so I thought I’d at least give a brief update. On September 8 we officially… Read more »

I’ve been working lately on creating a Facebook presence for my company, Webvanta. It’s been a somewhat painful experience. You can see the primitive… Read more »

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of speaking at Ignite Sebastopol, the first-ever local Ignite event. Started a couple years ago by O’Reilly… Read more »

I was not an early adopter of social media, being of twice the optimum age. But in the past few months, I’ve become much… Read more »

Last Sunday, Amanda won first place in her group at the skating competition in Vacaville! Here’s the video—and below, some notes about copyright and… Read more »