Historic Painting: “Giant Steamboats at New Orleans” by Hippolyte Sebron, 1853.
A French painter turns his eyes and brush toward the romantic riverboat era that flourished before the Civil War.
Latest
Another concept illustration for “Faraway Star” has come out!
Still no winter: My novel “Life Without Giamotti,” still in print, turned 20 this week!
“The Odyssey” and “Backrooms”: Reclaiming cinema in 2026.
Interiors: Lobby of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles.
Learning about story craft from “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.”
The New York City Draft/Race Riots and “Gangs of New York” (Repost).
The Verge
Historic Painting: “Giant Steamboats at New Orleans” by Hippolyte Sebron, 1853.
A French painter turns his eyes and brush toward the romantic riverboat era that flourished before the Civil War.
Still no winter: My novel “Life Without Giamotti,” still in print, turned 20 this week!
Interiors: Lobby of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles.
Learning about story craft from “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.”
The New York City Draft/Race Riots and “Gangs of New York” (Repost).
A bug-free summer and its ominous implications.
Whaling in the 19th century, by the numbers: A quantitative look at maritime history.
The Outer Garden
Another concept illustration for “Faraway Star” has come out!
Another illustration by my talented concept artist depicts one of the pivotal scenes in the book.
“The Odyssey” and “Backrooms”: Reclaiming cinema in 2026.
Historic Photo: Dubai Creek in 1964, compared to today.
Midsummer Eve: A brief hiatus for this blog.
My book “Faraway Star” is out!
My year of AI resistance. There’s hope!
Cover Reveal: “Faraway Star,” my upcoming science fiction novel.
The Inner Garden
Behind the Scenes: San Francisco That Survived.
My latest video looks at some interesting pieces of San Francisco's history.
Behind the Scenes: Akhenaten, Egypt’s Strangest King.
Behind the Scenes: Millard Fillmore, The Conspiracy Theorist President.
Behind the Scenes: TWA, The Rise & Fall.
It’s Not Love, Actually: Watch me do an about-face on the world’s worst Christmas movie.
Behind the Scenes: China’s Long Revolution, 1900-1950.
