Today being National Pickle Day, we’re reminded that we’re often in a pickle ourselves, and there’s much to recommend the experience. We’re joined in this sentiment by such luminaries as founding father Thomas Jefferson, who wrote: “On a hot day in Virginia, I know nothing more comforting than a fine spiced pickle, brought up trout-like […]
You know that warm feeling of a fresh start you get when that swell plate of hot breakfast sits in front of you? And right beside it, the glorious fresh-squeezed orange juice, steaming coffee or stimulating herbal tea. What’s the best time to reboot your day with a cheerful breakfast? We offer this list of […]
Unless you are an anthropoid or alien, sometime in the last 24 hours you had a moment of doubt, worry or alarm. It might have been fear of losing your job. Or possibly you distrusted a friend or partner’s feelings for you. Maybe you worried that fire or storms would destroy your home. Or had […]
In August 1953, an obscure country boy named Elvis Presley walked into the offices of Sun Records. He aimed to pay for a few minutes of studio time to record a two-sided acetate disc: “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.” He later claimed that he was merely interested in what he “sounded like”, […]
Most residents of planet earth dealing with the threat of Covid-19 are either sheltering in place, masking up, or living with risk. In Sonoma County, a place that one SuperOptimist calls home, it’s a quintuple threat: Corona, wildfire, toxic smoke, unusual heat, and power outages. The fallout from the largest fire in local history renders […]
LeBron James is six foot nine and a superior athlete. He’s also a good pitchman, an interesting celebrity, and from what we hear just sank an amazing buzzer-beater last night. In addition, he earns a ton of dollars, gets feted at awards banquets, and is lavished with the trappings of a King (which happens to […]
It was a risky move in 1972 when President Richard M. Nixon decided to make cordial overtures to communist China. The USA and China had been at odds since 1949 when Mao Zedong took over leadership of China’s communist party. Despite decades of chilly relations, Nixon decided to warm things up and made a visit […]
The artist Paul Gauguin achieved his greatest success long after death, so who knows, maybe you will too. At the beginning of 1903, Gauguin was living on an island in Polynesia and engaged in a campaign designed to expose the incompetence of the island’s gendarmes, in particular Jean-Paul Claverie, for taking the side of the […]