Emerging at last from a techno-dystopian labyrinth, I make the discovery ... There's no "U" (or me) in AI.

If you missed my new Substack post — about Ruth Asawa's marvelous retrospective at the San Francisco MOMA and the whole notion of "holding space" — this is a good time to catch up with it. Asawa's "continuous form" sculptures are a revelation, and maybe even a metaphor for life itself.

Report from the footlights: Last weekend's show in San Leandro went better than I had any right to expect. And it all came down to four words:

It's true... Long, long ago I once beat Arthur C Clarke at table tennis — on his home turf of Sri Lanka no less. Now I'm swinging a paddle in Oakland, trying to get my teen mojo back while simultaneously swatting at Washington. But fear not: My Substack post is more fun than fume.

My latest Substack post should interest travelers everywhere; it talks about Ethical Traveler's 2025 report on "The World's 10 Best Ethical Destinations." It also includes a frank reflection on what my own relationship to travel is these days. tinyurl.com/4twh8wya

Part political and part musical (guess which part is which), my latest Substack is primarily a tribute to the late tabla maestro Zakir Hussain -- with a reflection on what NIH cuts might mean for Parkinson's research.

Hello everyone. For my very first BlueSkies post I thought I might share this tribute to my late friend and mention Wes "Scoop" Nisker, a radio legend and Buddhist fool (in all the bast ways) who departed this particular world in July 2023.