A Death in the Kitchen

A Death in the Kitchen

It was a milk curdling scene. Our 20-year old refrigerator quietly passed away one night.  On the floor, a pool of melted water stood testimony to its incontinence.  Its silence—testimony to its demise. The repairman revived it.  Extreme times call for extreme...
She Took Mine

She Took Mine

Eager grade school students will keep waving their hands in the air even after a question has been answered.  So, when you call on one of the remaining hands, the student often says:  “She took mine!” There may have only been one possible answer—as obvious...
Bottled Sound

Bottled Sound

“Halloa! Halloa!  Mr. Phonograph are you there?” Chicago, May 1878   The call rang out in a Chicago Methodist Church as if they were contacting the dead in a séance, coaxing ghosts to speak.  With all eyes fixed on it, the machine distinctly repeated the call....
Palais Idéal

Palais Idéal

“What can you do when you always walk in the same setting, if not dream? As a distraction, in my dreams I built a fairy palace.”     — Ferdinand Cheval, the postman builder of the Palais Idéal   Ferdinand Cheval quit school at age 12 to be a baker’s...
Fire Medicine and the Elixir of Life

Fire Medicine and the Elixir of Life

I visited Fu Yue, bestriding a dragon, Joined in marriage with the Weaving Maiden, Lifted up Heaven’s Net to capture evil, Drew the Bow of Heaven to shoot at wickedness, Followed the Immortals fluttering through the sky, Ate of the Primal Essence to prolong my...