I had my first lucid dream about Gus last night, more than three weeks after his death on Dec. 1. He was in the street in front of my house, leashless, sniffing everything in sight. We didnt have eye contact. I remember thinking, How amazing! Gus was dead, and now hes back! I know people […]

There was a report this morning on the local T.V. news describing how a large group of people, none of them wearing face masks, gathered in downtown Napa city and sang Christmas carols, in defiance of mask-wearing and stay-at-home ordinances. Interviewed by a reporter, one of them said it was her God-given right to celebrate […]

Its been three weeks now since Gus passed. Ive been watching myself closely to witness my evolving reaction to the death of my best friend. Ive had people die on me beforemy father, my mother, my grandparents, my beloved cat, close friends, and people in public life whom I never knew but felt I did […]

Nick Goldschmidt is a fine winemaker, an entrepreneur, a kiwi, a helluva nice guy, and an old friend. Hes been a fixture in the California wine industry (and on other continents) for decades. If I recall correctly, we met around 1990, when I was a newbie wine writer and he was the winemaker at the […]

A recall petition against California Governor Gavin Newsom is rapidly gaining steam, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The newspaper also wrote that unnamed officials close to Newsom are reportedly worried that the current recall effort amidst frustration over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic could prove successful. The effort is a long-...

I wrote the other day of the division in my mind between the spiritual and materialistic interpretations of life, a split that Guss death both revealed and exacerbated. It is perhaps no coincidence that yesterday, the day I received Guss cremains in the mail, I also read these words from the autobiography of the Indian […]

It was only a sharp, short jolt, lasting less than a second, but my body recognized it as an earthquake. The only way to tell if it was small and nearby, or bigger but far away, was to go to the U.S.G.S. websites earthquake page. There, I found out it had been a 4.0 (a […]

Voters who identified as more masculine supported Trump in much larger numbers than any other group. Thats the finding of a new poll from the Survey Center on American Life, which reaffirmed Trumps unique appeal to men who hold with traditional notions of masculinity. Its a fascinating finding that begs further analysis. The poll didnt […]

Possibly because Im a Gemini (not that Im a big believer in astrology), Ive always had a strongly dualistic mind. Half of me inclines toward metaphysical, mystical explanations of the world, but then the other half is strictly rational, which makes me a firm believer in science as well as in politics. This schism is […]

I awoke in the middle of the night last night. Was on my back and automatically reached with my right hand to the right side of the bed, to put my palm on Guss soft, sleeping little body. But there was no Gus there. Its a thousand little things like that. I still havent removed […]

I could hardly believe my ears when I heard that the new Republican legal strategy to overturning the results of the election is to claim that in four states that Joe Biden won, the reason no fraud has been found is because Democratic officials passed laws making fraud impossible to detect. Yes, you read it […]

I am who I am because of who I was in my formative years, and who I was has been the result of strong influences on me. I suppose I was born with certain innate traits, but the following eight influencesseven humans, one technologicalfrom the outside world formed me as certainly as did the genes […]

Its been one week since Gus died. One week of mourning and grief. I still cant get used to him not being where he should be. Napping in my big chair, or in his little bed, or, on a hot day, by the deck door, where a bit of cooling breeze wafts in, or, on […]

Last Fridays front page article in the San Francisco Chronicle stated accurately that California is hardly strictly blue, a reference to the fact that, in the recent election, state initiatives generally associated with Republicans passed while others associated with Democrats failed. Democratic representatives also lost a string of races to their ...

A friend from my mens group asked if Id gone through the Five Stages of Grief during Guss ordeal. He was referring, of course, to Elizabeth Kubler-Rosss famous postulates of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, in that order. I didnt really think about Kubler-Ross during the five agonizing weeks during which Guss approaching death ...

Hi Daddy, I see you. I can always see you. And I see your tears, and I know how sad you are. But I want you to know Im happy. Its nice here. I miss you, too. Daddy, I miss snuggling in your lap while you scratched me behind my ears, and I miss your […]

Went for a long walk yesterday after Guss death. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm for December 1. The leaves were orange and red and yellow and falling down. In Piedmont, they piled up in drifts. I walked and thought, hardly noticing traffic. The sun grew warm and I took off my flannel […]

Gus breathed his last precious breath today, Tuesday, Dec. 1, at ___11:57 a.m. Here are some pictures from Monday night, his final on Earth. Around 7 p.m. he lay down in his little bed. You can see how the tumor was distorting his face, causing him to be buck-toothed. He jumped up into my lap […]

Next time you hear a radical Christian complaining about attacks on religious liberty, you should know this: Theyre lying. Its not religious liberty they want, its permission for them to indulge in the orgies of racial discrimination, homophobia and anti-choice they enjoy with an almost sexual relish. Keep that in mind when you interpret the [̷...

Its been a while since I posted about Gus. I do it again with a little trepidation, feeling like the boy who cried wolf since on several occasions over the last four weeks I wrote that he was in his last days. Well, hes still here. But these really are his last days. Theres no […]

Im pleased to announce my new interview with departing First Lady Melania Trump. We met in her Sitting Room in the White House East Wing. Looking radiant in a Chanel asymmetrical chemise, shocking pink in color and decorated with aubergine crescent moons and her grandmothers sapphire brooch, Mrs. Trump was warm and welcoming as she […]

Trump promised to drain the swamp, by which he meant to purge all the smart, forward-thinking and capable public servants in Washington and replace them with religious fanatics and white nationalist rightwingers who would pledge undying loyalty to him. Well, Trump did a good job draining the swamp, and America has paid a devastating price. […...

Theres clearly a split within the Democratic Partya split that was largely papered over during the terrible Trump years, when Democrats all along the political spectrum united to rid America of its greatest menace in modern history. The split is often referred to as moderates versus progressives. As a lifelong Democrat, reared in a household [̷...

Im not happy that President-elect Biden seems to be ruling out federal investigations of Trump, the Trump family, and members of the Trump regime. NBC News reported that Biden has raised concerns that investigations would further divide a country he is trying to unite and risk making every day of his presidency about Trump. More […]

It is with guilt that I tell you that Gus is still alive. I say guilt, because literally hundreds of readers weighed in on my last few blog posts and Facebook posts, expressing the most profound sympathy for the death I told them was impending. For instance, on Thursday night I posted a photo of […]

Its been a month since Gus got sick with bone cancer. The lump on the left side of his face has gotten a lot bigger; it looks like he has half a walnut shell under his jowl. When the vet gave me the diagnosiswe were in a little examining roomshe gave him a few weeks […]

Trump is plotting something. We dont know what. But we can start from this premise: he has no intention of going peacefully. So, while we dont know the details of his nefarious plot, its looking more and more that it might constitute a coup dtat. What is a coup dtat? In French it means a […]

Ive been closely following this brouhaha about sexist sommeliers and the raging debate its inspired about topics ranging from wine snobbery and elitism to employment opportunities for women in the wine business. Given my long involvement in the wine business, which included exceptionally close contact with sommeliers, and given that Im a gay man in...

Longoria 2011 La Encantada Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sta. Rita Hills); $50 on release. With these mature Pinot Noirs, you never know. I opened this one, which is a few months older than ten years, because the weather is turning colder and for the first time in many months, Im in the mood for a red […]

Chris Hayes, on MSNBC, got some flak when he accused the entire Republican Party of actively trying to spread coronavirus. The rightwing trumpthugs on Twitter were predictably outraged. Fire this fraud! said a guy who called himself The DC Patriot. Get a grip you lunatic tweeted another who identified himself as Cuban American. To these […]

I think I hit a new emotional low today. As if things werent depressing enough, what with the pandemic, Gus dying, and me staring my mortality in its dark face, I heard something that dreadful Mike Pompeo said, and it really freaked me out. There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration, […]

Hes irrelevant. Trump, I mean. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. My name is Trump, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! There is nothing left but ruins. His kleptomaniacal family, especially the sons, are still out there, ranting, waving the neo-nazi flag, egging his insane followers on to […]

On August 22, 2016, I wrote my final post about wine on my blog. I told my readers, Going forwardI will frequently write about politics and I will certainly do my best to demolish the Republican Party, which deserves it. My wine blog, which Id been writing for more than eight years–since May, 2008–had been […]

When she was younger, my mother, Gertrude, had a vivid imagination. For example, she took me to the park one day to feed the pigeons. I couldnt have been more than three or four. I asked her why the birds were so afraid of us, who certainly meant them no harm. This is what she […]

Its going to be 75 degrees in Oakland today, again. But the weatherman tells us today is going to be the last day of summer, in effect: starting tomorrow, the first winter weather system of the season will come blasting down from the Gulf of Alaska, bringing our record warm Spring, Summer and Autumn to […]

Regardless of who wins, here are 10 takeaways about this electionthings weve learned. Black Lives Matter has been marginalized. Americans just dont see the movement as among their highest priorities. Many, perhaps most, agree with Jared Kushner that We cant want Black Americans to succeed more than they themselves want to succeed. The bottom line: ...

The first time I ever voted for president was in 1964, when I cast my ballot for Lyndon Johnson. I was a reliable Democrat in those days, but not very politically-oriented. It was the Sixties, and there were far more exciting things going on in my life, and in the country, than politics. I suppose […]

Tick tick tick. Here we go. I dont know about you, but Im nervous as hell. Between the election, Gus, and the pandemic, I feel like my life is spinning out of control, amidst a black cloud of depression and fear. There are increasing signs Trump could win. Troubling reports out of Florida that Latino […]

I think I lost a friend yesterday due to politics. Hes an old friendwe go back fifty yearsand while we dont see each other from year to year because he lives in Marin, we connect on the phone. I called him yesterday, after five or six months, just to say hi. And he blew my […]

I first began to suspect that they were onto me when I was headed toward the pizza parlor, to molest and slice up another baby. One of us had kidnapped it from a gas station as its mother, a suburban troll with a TRUMP/PENCE bumper sticker on her Taurus, disappeared inside the store, leaving the […]

California Cabernet Sauvignonspecifically Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignonbecame branded in the publics mind much more quickly than any other wine in history. How this happened was relatively straightforward, although that does not make the accomplishment any less noteworthy. The grape has been grown in California since the mid- or late 1800s and the...

Ive made my plans for election night. I refuse to watch it on T.V. aloneits going to be too gut-wrenching. So Ill go up to Lauren and Fernandos place. Ill bring a bottle of Aperol, the Italian liqueur Ive been enjoying lately, which is similar to Campari but a little sweeter, and also some Perrier […]

We got word last night from Guss vet: the biopsy result is in, and its what we feared. An aggressive, malignant tumor in the skull. His vet suggested I cancel Thursdays appointment with the oncologist and surgeon. It wont do any good, she explained. I just did that, prior to writing this. His life expectancy? […]

The nights are worse than the days. Last night, he was obviously in pain, although he didnt yelp or yowl, except once: a short, sharp cry, which awoke me just as Gus was jumping off the bed and headed for the bathroom. I got up, stroked him, comforted him, picked him up and brought him […]

SCENE: A fiery cave. Flames lick the walls; the floor flows with molten lava gurgling from mud holes. In the deep interior the red-orange of a blast furnace flickers and crackles. Upstage left is a kingly throne of fire. In it sits the Lord of Hell, Beelzebub, Moloch the Cruel, Set the Voracious, Satan himself, […]

The first thing Biden should do as president (should he win) is to announce that he will not permit a cabal of rightwing religious fanatics on the Supreme Court to tell Americans what they can and cannot do. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that the United States Supreme Court has the power to […]

This is such an emotional roller coaster. Yesterday and so far today Gus has been pretty much normal. No yelps of pain, not even whimpering (knock wood). Either the pain has gone away or, more likely, his powerful pain med is working. Hes been his usual bouncy excited self, especially when he realizes were going […]