To my friend Tony, who informed me at 1am that today it was 75 degrees in San Francisco, and he went for a bike-ride in just a t-shirt; to Nathaniel who called me from the beach on the northern California coast; to anyone who complains that San Francisco is cold; and to anyone

Rubicund \Ru”bi*cund\, a. [L. rubicundus, fr. rubere to be red,
  akin to ruber red. See Red.]
 Inclining to redness; ruddy; red. “His rubicund face.”
 –Longfellow.
 [1913 Webster]
This is the state of Ruby when she comes in from the blustering Chicago wind. This also […]

The earnest, slightly accented voice of a young woman pipes up behind me. I hear the phrase “cultural authoritarianism of East Germany.” It’s hard for me to follow the whole thread of their conversation, but I’m hearing buzzwords like “weak ties” and “strong ties.” It’s truly a social and academic debate happening here at the […]