“Insanity” – The Question of What to Eat

A couple of years ago I read Michael Pollan’s excellent book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” on the politics and culture of food in America. He addresses the question, “What should we have for dinner?” – more complicated than it sounds in a nation obsessed with food, health, and fad dieting, but with the highest obesity rate…

Reflections on Our Beloved Mirror

One chilly autumn night nearly ten years ago, Hal and I wandered three blocks north along then-sketchy 12th Avenue South and crossed the threshold of Mirror Restaurant…rather sheepishly, I should say, as we were most unattractively coated in drywall dust and related old-house grime. “Um, is it OK for us to come in here like…

The Story behind the Music

Nashville’s own mini-Snowmageddon found me at the Blair School of Music, interviewing a daring young composer, Blair dean Mark Wait, and the Blakemore Trio – a trinity of musicians and Blair professors. (You can hear the WPLN feature here.) I know approximately nothing about “classical music,” so little, in fact, that I am not sure…

On Food, Love, and Artistry

Some people think I’m a food snob because I tend to sigh when they invite me to Cheesecake Factory or Outback for dinner. I know, sighing is a bit passive-aggressive, and I really should learn to be more agreeable. I don’t want to be one of those condescending food people who holds court about the…

Energy

  I spent the morning and a good bit of the afternoon at a Social Media Jam Session at the Nashville Public Library, organized by Nashville author River Jordan. Authors Susan Gregg Gilmore and Darnell Arnoult, mystery writer J.T. Ellison, writer and Twitter guru Matthew Paul Turner, and agent Greg Daniel spoke about how to blog, tweet,…