First of all, I wanted to remind you all that there is a sneak peak at the No Impact Man documentary in New York tonight (Thursday). Click here for details. I hope I’ll see you there. It’ll be outdoors if the weather is nice and indoors if it’s not, so rain or shine! Now, onwards… […]
Relationships, Family and Friendship
Growing your own food, Japanese style
First thing, wanted to remind you that I also twitter here and I friend my readers on Facebook here. Onwards… As you may know, Japan has lower per capita carbon emissions than any Western European country. For that reason, I asked my friend, Sean Saskamoto, who recently moved to Japan and who blogs at I’d […]
The difference between hell and heaven
My dentist Gary is one of my best friends, and I visited his office today. I joked with him, “Why do you have to make your living by tearing my mouth apart?” Actually, he’s great at his job, but that’s another story (email me if you’re looking for a great New York dentist). The point […]
What makes me happiest doesn’t cost the planet
My little girl Isabella and I just spent the weekend at a gathering at the Providence Zen Center, the head temple of the Kwan Um School of Zen, where I meditate. There were five or six other kids there and from the moment we arrived Isabella ran around having fun and paying almost no attention […]
Individual action and the number of children we have
Somebody emailed me an article by Joanna Benn on the BBC’s website: “Baby Decisions–Adding the World’s Woes?” Click through to read the whole article if you want, but basically, Benn poses the two sides of the argument like this: When I see babies, not only do I see the beauty, joy and miracle of life, I […]
My grandfather’s cuff links
My grandfather was a big wig, first, in the OSS and then, through the 50s and 60s, in the CIA. In fact, my last book, Operation Jedburgh, told the story of secret World War II operation that my grandfather helped oversee. Now, I am not uncritical of the actions of the CIA through those years […]
More on community versus consumption–smart growth
There is an ad I saw at the movies. A man wakes up, presses the snooze button, gets up late and arrives at a work meeting disheveled and disorganized. All his colleagues frown. Cut to the scene replayed. The alarm goes off. The man scoffs down a Pepsi. He jumps out of bed, puts on […]
Apropos, first, of nothing and, then, of something
Apropos of nothing: The other night I was lying in bed, being held hostage by my daughter Isabella who insisted she would only go to sleep if I stayed there with her. She was mad that I had made her go to bed at all. She said, “I don’t like you anymore, Daddy.” So we’re […]