Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.
- William BlakeBehind the Locked Door
$20 - includes tax & shipping
The Trolley Problem and The Winter of Our Discontent
The Trolley Problem was first introduced by the British philosopher Phillipa Foot in 1967. Many versions of this problem have been used to elucidate some tricky issues surrounding morality. The Sophie’s Choice-like decision that must be made in the Trolley Problem...
The Waitress and the Rat
Today is World Rat Day. It’s a pity this holiday didn’t exist when I owned the Sea Gull. I’ll admit to holding certain prejudices against rats, but I’ve learned to keep them to myself since World Rat Day was established over a decade ago. Before rats got their day...
How Richard Brautigan Saved My Life
One fringe benefit of working in a restaurant is watching the famous people that sometimes arrive unannounced hoping for a bit of normalcy. In my first year at the Sea Gull, I was relaxing at the house next to the restaurant when I got an excited call from the...
Jean St. Hill
I met Jean in 1987. She had a fascinating family history. Her late husband, Thomas Nast St. Hill, was the grandson of the famous caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. Nast was the creator of our modern version of Santa Claus. He also created the...
The Sea Gull: A Short History of its Location in Space
I had a restaurant in Mendocino, along the edge of the northern California coast. I took that from Isak Dinesen’s first line in Out of Africa. I changed it a bit. I highly recommend you read every single one of her stories. Mendocino lies at the southern end of the...
The Crooked Tree
"Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without Improvement are the roads of genius." William Blake On Highway 128 just before the newly built Mountain House Estate, there is a crooked tree that stands near the point of highest elevation...
Doctor Harold Robinson
My first office as an investment adviser was upstairs in the old Lisbon-Paoli Hotel building. Doctor Harold Robinson was one of my first clients. He bounded through the door in his characteristic style with a sly smile on his face and asked how business was going. ...
Judge, That You May Be Judged!
A personal blog is the ultimate tool of the narcissist. I have these thoughts that must get out of my head. I know it’s not your problem, but you could be part of the solution. Come on. Just a few minutes of your time, that’s all I ask. Not much more anyway. So...