The elaborate question mark tattoos below belong to Jesse Smith, who struggled for a long time with doubts about his Christian upbringing. The uncertainties were so great that they almost drove him to suicide — until he discovered the hallucinogen DMT. Although a widely banned substance, one church in Santa…
Rest In Peace Richard Kiel
“Well, here’s to us.” — Jaws in Moonraker Sad to read tonight that Richard Kiel, perhaps best known as the villainous Jaws in two Roger Moore 007 movies, died this afternoon. He was my 51st dinner interviewee. We met in Washington, DC, last November while he was taking part in…
Interview 63: A Night On The (Old) Town
Living in Washington, DC, means it’s only a short subway or car ride to Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia. It’s a nice place to visit and has a host of wonderful restaurants serving everything from soul food to fine dining. But I don’t get there enough. So I was glad…
Tales Of The Crescent City
New Orleans is an amazing city. Outstanding food, some of the best cocktails in the States, great live music, beautiful architecture, friendly people — these are just a handful of its many perks. I first visited the Crescent City in May 2004, more than a year before Hurricane Katrina hit…
Interview 62: How To Get To Sesame Street
Anyone who grew up watching the incredibly popular children’s show Sesame Street recognizes the theme tune immediately. Several kids sing the question “Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?” After my latest meal with a stranger, I know the answer. Turns out the puppets…
Interview 61: My Dinner With Matt Bauman
There’s a pretty straightforward headline for you: today’s update is interview 61, my night out in New York City with actor/realtor/website owner Matt Bauman. Click on the picture above or on this link to read about our dinner at Italian restaurant Locanda Verde in the city’s Tribeca neighborhood. During our…
Out Of Hands We Go
Back in February 2013 I had an enjoyable and interesting lunch with David Rogers-Berry, drummer for the goth country band O’Death. He told me about his love of good music and how he’s focused far more on ensuring the integrity of his band than churning out millions of albums and…
Einstein!
Actor and former dinner interviewee Jack Fry is getting great reviews for his one-man show “Einstein!” in which he plays the eponymous scientist as he describes his push to prove his theory of relativity. Jack and I had dinner one night in December 2009, after I saw his other one-man…
Louisa’s Ukelele Shows
I’m back from holiday, hooray! I did two new interviews, hooray! Now I have to do the hours-long process of transcribing and editing them. Far less hooray. But stay tuned, because I hope to have the 61st dinner interview online next week. Meanwhile, if you live in the Washington, DC,…
Holiday Road
Heading out on the road for a holiday with a few stops along the eastern seaboard, so there won’t be any updates for a couple of weeks. That should save you the exasperation of hitting refresh every five seconds. I’ll be doing a couple of interviews while on my travels,…