It was a grand idea, really.  A half-day expedition up into the mountains with a friend and her daughter.  The two girls could wander through the meadows, Sound of Music style, picking flowers and spinning in ecstasy.  As we packed…

It’s Friday, which means a new installment of the Winter War book.  Chapters 16 and 17 are up on the writing page.  Click here!  Just kidding.  You actually click HERE.  Okay, okay, last time.  Here. In other news, I ran…

As part of my recent food conversion, I’ve switched from shopping the center of the grocery store to buying along the perimeter.  More recently I’ve found I’m hardly going to the regular grocery store at all, and instead get most…

Toddler Harbat has been telling me recently, when she’s feeling especially happy, “You’re my friend.”  I’m putting all these in the bank for the times when she’s a teenager and yells, “I HATE YOU!”  My wife thinks it won’t come…

It’s a shame I didn’t try this earlier:  sourdough pizza crust.  I’ve been cranking out dozens of loaves of sourdough bread, but still relying on a no-knead partial whole-wheat pizza crust recipe.  No more!  My rationale for the no-knead is…

I’ll admit that I watch Parenthood on NBC.  We’ve got episodes queued up in the DVR ready waiting for a slow night.  At first view I was dismissive—they’re all beautiful people living in beautiful houses in Berkeley!  But then the…

Head on over to the Winter War draft in the writing tab to see what’s happening with the Hakkinen family in Finland. If you haven’t been following along, I’m posting, in serial form, a historical novel I’ve written set during…

If you mosey over to the writing page you’ll see I’ve put up all the most recent chapters of the Winter War draft, as well as a new piece titled Der Keller (The Cellar). That one is short so it’s…

Here is one of the great things about living in California:  wine.  Lots of it.  So much that when you go looking for a half barrel planter at your local hardware store, it’s a true half barrel. This one came…

I like to think I can do the basic things in life.  Brushing teeth, buttoning a shirt, and tying shoes.  Since I bought Salomon running shoes I’ve been rethinking that last one. Last fall one of the SpeedLaces®* on my…