Back in the early ’90s, my friend Bruce told me he’d volunteered on an Earthwatch trip to study black bears. He showed me his photos. I was hooked. I’d wanted …

In 1976, a blazing visitor lit up the morning sky. Comet West. I was in high school, just getting into photography. That comet? It hooked me. I grabbed my mom’s …

Shigeko Kubota was a visionary. She didn’t just work with video. She sculpted with it. Blending personal memory, Fluxus irreverence, and electronic media, she created powerful hybrid works that felt …

Back in the early ’90s, I had a pet ochre starfish. It lived in a 50-gallon tank in the garage. Room temp, nothing fancy. It was one of the weirdest, …

A friend gave me a copy of Painting Enlightenment: Healing Visions of the Heart Sutra. The book is deeply inspiring and has become one of the most cherished in my …

That’s basically how I feel about the current political moment. So it was heartening to see a great turnout at today’s Hands Off! rally in San Francisco. A tsunami of …

Do you ever wake up with an idea so weird and compelling that you think about it all day? What if the tufa towers of Mono Lake were made of …

People love to knock the Sunset District for its telephone poles. They’re everywhere, right out front, not tucked neatly in the backyards. Wires crisscross the sky like a forgotten spiderweb. …

Some of my favorite spots on Lake Shasta are found along the Sulanharas Creek Arm. The many shallow coves make for excellent fishing for spotted and smallmouth bass. This arm …

There it was, etched into the aluminum like a tiny spiritual tattoo: Recycle me. On the surface, it’s an environmental nudge. A polite reminder not to doom the can to …

This past Thursday, we hopped on the N-Judah and headed to Embarcadero. Destination: the Exploratorium’s After Dark series. Theme of the night? Bananas. I love riding the N. It’s not …

Once a year, we make a pilgrimage to Bass Pro Shops in San Jose. It’s a full-family affair. Everyone finds something to spark their curiosity. Gear, spectacle, or just time …

When I stall out, they kick me into gear. They help me avoid decision paralysis. No more sitting there, blank page, blank brain. Instead: one playful nudge. Just enough to …

NotebookLM has been a game changer. Drop in a YouTube video or a dense PDF, and boom. Instant clarity. No more wasting 30 minutes on an explainer when I just …

We often confuse truth with meaning. But they aren’t the same. Truth, especially in science, is external. It’s measurable. Repeatable. It exists whether you believe in it or not. Meaning …

I’ve been diving into avant garde and Fluxus movements lately. Learning the names. Tracking the threads. A friend pointed me toward someone I hadn’t heard of before: Hannelore Baron. She’s …

Remember when (mostly) dads lugged around camcorders and filmed everything? Every picnic, every parade, every kid on a swing? That was me. I found the manual for my first camcorder …

I don’t want like-minded friends who agree with me on everything. That’s boring. I want friends who challenge me. But they’ve got to have heart. Not just opinions and ego. …

The German word unheimlich gets slapped with the English label uncanny, but that barely scratches the surface. In German, unheimlich hits harder. It’s not just about eerie feelings or creepy …

I’ve always been fascinated by bats darting through the evening sky, snatching insects mid-flight. Every time we go fishing in Northern California, they’re there, silent shadows against the fading light. …

Years ago, I started a practice I call Meditative Ideation. It’s a way to quiet the mind and let creative ideas flow. Ideas show up for art, music, sculptures, automata. …

Creative frustration is real. It sneaks in, makes everything feel pointless, and turns your once-exciting ideas into a chore. I’ve been there. Lately, I’ve struggled to start my daily art …

Resistance is sneaky. It shows up disguised as doubt, fear, and distraction. It whispers lies to keep you from creating. “If it’s not perfect, it’s not worth doing.”This voice demands …

Hobbies are strange things. They shape who we are, yet they also let us escape ourselves. I have plenty of interests, but a few hobbies always pull me back. Fishing, …

What I love about the Puttyverse is the freedom to experiment. Want to start a huddle around an interesting topic? Go for it. Have a question that sparks curiosity? Ask …