Dancing the Conga to The Supremes

And Other Acts of Lunacy at The Willow, the World’s Greatest (Former) Chinese Restaurant

“I’m convinced nobody actually likes clubs,” wrote Charlie Brooker in one of his brilliant rants for The Guardian. “Why not just stay at home punching yourself in the face? Invite a few friends round and make a night of it. It’ll be more fun than a club.”

I’ve always agreed with Brooker, and never more so than when I started college in England. The appeal of spending money I didn’t have with friends I couldn’t hear in a stuffy, deafening room was lost on me. Of course, that had a lot …

More In: Where I Go

An Engine of Serendipity in the Eternal City

Who Needs Gelato When You Can Visit the British School at Rome?

Some scholars make straight for the Capitol, to sit on the steps where Edward Gibbon first conceived the idea of writing The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Others …

L.A.’s Metropolitan Dolphins

Working Off Malibu With Creatures Who Are a Lot Like Us

I turn the research boat offshore toward the outer reaches of Santa Monica Bay and deeper water. Flocks of western grebes float on the ocean surface, clustered as if they …

South of the Border

Pedro, the Whimsical Landmark Between the Carolinas

I left my cell phone back in Tucson, my favorite top in Barcelona, and my bathing suit in Boca Raton. My spare socks are in Durham, but the rest of …

Make Yourself Not At Home

The Appealing Menace Of Port Costa, the Town Of Zero Change

For as long as I can remember, and for reasons I can’t entirely explain, I’ve been in search of a place fully isolated from the rest of the world. I …

Making Monday More Miserable

My Weekly Visits to the Raymond Food Court In Newark

Newark, New Jersey, where I’ve worked for almost 40 years, will never be a destination for foodies. Even Brooklyn, which just completed its looting of Newark’s NBA franchise, the lowly …