Stories

His Portrait, Her Hair

Mustafa Ali Clayton opened his studio and let me document his process. Read more
Building Your Own Tools

Artist Wang Mansheng crafts his own brushes from found natural materials. Read more
My Dad Asked Me What Acid Felt Like

A story about dropping acid at a Grateful Dead show stirs conflict at a family dinner and unfolds into a lyrical reflection on marriage, memory, and how we navigate our… Read more
Mineo Has a Chainsaw

Making a sculpture using carbonized California oak, steel, and ceramic. Read more
The Cabin Notebook

It’s about the time I spent the winter in a cabin, in the mountains of Arizona, because I thought I was going to write a novel. Something else happened that… Read more
Clusters of Eden

I translated an infamous nineteenth century origin myth for the twenty first century. Read more
The Old Menus of New Chinatown

Retracing the history of Chinatown in Los Angeles using old Chinese restaurant menus as a guide. Read more
1-800-KISS-MY-ASS

In the five years I worked for Russ, he pulled three hundred and thirty million dollars out of his company. Read more
Bay of Smokes

Smog first came to Los Angeles suddenly, like a stranded hitchhiker. It was July 8th, 1943, and we were at war… Read more