Specific Gravity

the surfboard originated in Hawaii, where local woods were shaped for specific waves I’ve body-surfed all my life and have a natural feel for wave mechanics, but I’m finally getting ready to learn to surf on a board. Being a ‘wood guy’ with access to local mills and several decent breaks within a few miles, […]

Postcard from Sayulita

Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico Spending time in Sayulita always restores my faith in humanity. For whatever combination of reasons- its remoteness through jungle along the Pacific Coast, cut-off from major roads until relatively recently; its consistently overhead, left/right break; its laid back balance of bohemian surf culture and traditional fishing village- everyone is unabashedly happy in […]

The Week in Bloom

action at Mavericks portends the arrival of spring to the N. Pacific (public domain) In West Sonoma County, early signs of spring are typically in sync with the arrival of a huge south swell, epitomized by the epic surf at Mavericks, about 100 miles down the coast. With more daylight and warming temperatures over the […]

Authentic Inauthenticity

a simple bench made of packing crates reinforces the charming illusion of Chinatown Part of the allure of San Francisco’s Chinatown is that it was conceived as, and remains a study in authentic inauthenticity. Despite the fact that China has emerged as a global economic power, people from all over the world are drawn to […]

A Chair for Mindfulness

the Greens management team loved my prototype Greens Chair Like the Golden Gate Bridge that looms across the Bay from San Francisco’s historic Fort Mason Center, Greens Restaurant is a Bay Area icon. With close ties to the San Francisco Zen Center, the restaurant has embodied an ethos of attentive living and eating for over […]

Flotsam of the Day

Giant roots of mysterious origin have been washing ashore along the Sonoma Coast Like B Movie aliens readying for invasion, a mysterious crop of giant ‘beach tubers’ have blown ashore after the last string of storms and unusually high tides. I’m tempted to plant one to see what grows, but have seen enough bad movies […]

Radical Pragmatism

My humble ESY stool can hold its own in a room full of Danish Chairs As I begin to make small production runs of my ESY stool (pictured above) to fill an increase in demand, I’ve been enjoying sending them out into the world and seeing where they land. Last week I delivered a sample […]