Monthly Archives: August 2010

The Past Refound

My possessions are scattered across two houses in Thailand, a mountaintop cabin north of Santa Cruz, two farms in upstate New York, my apartment in Fort Greene, and my sister’s house outside of Boston, however I was surprised this weekend to hear my host Billy O say at his Easthampton house, “I have several boxes […]

Monday Monday

The weekend was long. A Friday night drive to Easthampton. Dinner and wine followed by drinks. Sleep till 9am. A swim in the ocean. Rough waves and vicious riptides. Saturday night was more of the same and Sunday was a repeat of the previous evening. 24 bottles of wine between 5 people accompanied by sundry […]

MEN’S BEST FIEND by Peter Nolan Smith

Last June I was in Pattaya’s Wat Chai market searching for fresh shrimp. Those sold at the big stores (BIG C, Carrefour, or Lotus) were tasteless. After purchasing a kilo of sea shrimp, I headed back to my bike, when a voice called my name. It was Ort. Neither Jamie Parker nor I had seen […]

The Price of Beauty

Thailand is well-known for the beauty of its ka-toeys or ladyboys. Every year the country hosts the Miss Tiffany International Beauty Contest awarding a million baht to the most beautiful TV in the world. The show is televised throughout the nation and everyone cheers on their favorites. Usually a Thai ka-toey wins, since Thai women […]

Quote from WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

“Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom’s. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.” Nelson Algren from his 1956 novel WALK ON THE WILD SIDE.