When my brother was drinking himself to death, he was alone. He didn’t die in the shabby Tulsa house he rented. That came a few days later in the hospital as his organs shut down, one by one. But I suspect there was a moment earlier on, it could have been months or years, where he saw two paths for his life. The first involved asking for help, treatment, backsliding numerous times, and the possibility of something approximating a fresh start. The second path involved cheap vodka, dim rooms with beige walls, and a tragic death. That’s one of the troublesome aspects of addiction, the idea that... Read More

You don’t get to look like me without being a foodie. I’ve joked with my wife that she married a man who will never have rippling muscles or six-pack abs. It’s all because I love food. The preparation of it, the eating of it, and the reminiscing of it. There’s something special about it, and the right meal eaten at the right place with the right people can be nothing short of magical. I’m a foodie, but I also know that the foodie scene sometimes gets to be…well, a bit much. At a local pizza place in Boulder a few years ago, our waiter regaled us with the quality of the ingredients.... Read More