Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 77 entries, all of them here in full.
December 31, 2024 · 833 words
Ghost Docks
About six years ago I was on a motor trip along the North Shore of Lake Superior, and wandered down a small road from the highway down to the lake. When I parked in the small recreational harbor, I saw this huge abandoned facility along the shoreline. (It’s much bigger than it looks in this […]
Read entry →December 29, 2024 · 210 words
20% Off
I spotted this globe in the gift shop of the Corning Museum and immediately wanted it. I wanted it so much that some Japanese visitors actually took a picture of me wanting it. It’s about the size of a bowling ball and was created by artist Josh Simpson. While it may look as if it’s […]
Read entry →December 26, 2024 · 67 words
Jimi’s Jacket
Found in a museum exhibit of psychedelia, this is Jimi Hendrix’ jacket. While there seem to be a number of techniques used in constructing it, much of it seems to be hand-painted silk. The second I saw it, I was struck with jacket envy. Judging by the size of the jacket, Jimi was a tiny […]
Read entry →December 24, 2024 · 194 words
Sand Spit
Here I stand on a sand spit outside the town of Dalyan, in southern Turkey. The year is 2009. To reach this beach, we had to hire a boat to take us from the town and through a mazelike passage between islands of tall, rustling reeds, an experience that led straight to the scenes in […]
Read entry →December 21, 2024 · 107 words
Santo Whatsisname
Here’s a mosaic of some saint or other, from St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. He was very high up in the church, on the inside of a dome I think, and I had to crank up the telephoto to capture him. The tesserae are in pretty good shape. Though St. Mark’s is the iconic church […]
Read entry →December 20, 2024 · 234 words
Hoodoo
From 2006, taken from a balloon adrift over Cappadocia, in central Turkey. The terrain in Cappadocia is spectacular and craggy, featuring “fairy chimneys,” hoodoo spires, cliffs, hidden valleys, and signs of habitation going back thousands of years. The closest analog I’ve seen to this country are parts of the Colorado
Read entry →December 16, 2024 · 71 words
Ironclad
Here I am in 1987 taking command of HMS Warrior, Britain’s first ironclad warship. Henry VIII’s galleon Mary Rose had just been put on display, and of course HMS Victory is there in all its glory. My gaming group had been intensely playing my Privateers & Gentlemen roleplaying game, and I plundered the gift shop [&hell
Read entry →