Rock and Roll: Four Vignettes

I’m still grounded, working many hours weekly on my day job, trying to slap out work for my freelance markets, and if I turn 180 degrees from my monitor, I will see my music stand, an open ukulele case beside it on the floor. While I have some travel writing time carved out in the …


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Act Three: Music

There wasn’t much to the posting. “We’re looking for a female vocalist who can play the ukulele. Here’s our website, drop us a line if you want to know more.” Something like that, I don’t remember the exact words. I answered in as non-committal a way as I could muster. “I don’t know if I …


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Mallomar Memorial

“How are we related again?” asked my cousin. I had never met this cousin, this was the first time we were face to face. We were standing in his father’s house, I’d flown down to spend one night in San Jose so I could attend his father’s memorial. “Your dad is my uncle,” I said. …


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Guest Post: Helmets and Guns

The experiences of travel, over time, blend together into a hazy mosaic of sunrises and sunsets, curries and salads, aromas and stenches; but then two guys try to murder you in northern Laos, and that doesn’t really blend with anything. I’d left Boun Tai, a small Lao village in the southern reaches of Phongsali province, …


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Guest Post: Tranquility

Tranquility ~ the state of being free from commotion or disturbance; the absence of agitation The mere anticipation of being in my favorite hotel room overlooking Haystack Rock (which grows out of the Pacific in Cannon Beach, Oregon) triggers an impending sense of tranquility somewhere deep inside of me. Once there, the peacefulness in my …


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The Castaways at Urban Coffee Lounge

We’re doing it again. At the Urban Coffee Lounge in Kirkland, Friday, February 10th. Event details on the Facebook. “Like” us to find out where we’re playing next. Oh, and we have a snappy new website.