Annie Leonard: originally didn't want to live in Berkeley because she thought she would go soft. Annie Leonard says Americans are so obsessed with stuff that we’re trashing our planet, without making ourselves all that happy. Leonard, a writer and activist who lives in Berkeley, spends her workday exploring what happens to stuff and educating the […]
Mrs. Dalloway’s
Posted inNosh
Berkeley Bites: Kara Hammond, Elmwood Café
A decade ago, and fresh out of North Carolina, Kara Hammond landed a gig at Café Fanny, a tiny slip of a place in North Berkeley opened 25 years ago by, oh, a certain famous local chef. Hammond, who had run a homespun bakery in Greensboro, wanted to get some kitchen experience in the Bay […]
Posted inArts, Events
Berkeley celebrates James Joyce and Bloomsday
As every self-respecting Joyce lover knows, today is Bloomsday. What is that, you ask? Bloomsday is the day that much of the world celebrates the life of Irish writer James Joyce, whose major work, Ulysses, takes place in a single day in Dublin: June 16, 1904. The novel centers around Leopold Bloom, hence the term […]
Posted inArts, Business, Community
Michael Chabon: Does reverse psychology sell books?
We are all familiar with this photograph of Berkeley writer Michael Chabon. It’s hard to forget, as his bright blue-green eyes stare straight at the observer. They are arresting and captivating. Chabon is internationally acclaimed for his writing, but the subject of his appearance has gotten lots of ink, too, over the years. Rumor has […]
Posted inArts, Events
Pliers and pixels: The case for manual work
Jim Rosenau is eager to hear author Matthew Crawford tomorrow night: With the city looking to reduce protection for industrial land use in West Berkeley, Mrs Dalloway’s hosts an appearance from Matthew Crawford (right) reading from Shop Class as Soulcraft (just released in paperback), the most articulate celebration of manual work in many years. Here’s what the publisher writes: “Today, shop class has all […]
Posted inNosh
Big Sur author brings Bohemian tales to Berkeley
It’s always tricky to write about a pal’s book, you don’t want to come off sounding like a fawning friend, frankly. So, in the case of My Nepenthe by Romney “Nani” Steele, I’m going to let others hand out the praise. Sunset describes Steele’s cookbook-cum-memoir as “a valentine to one of the most beautiful places […]
Posted inArts, Business
Two Berkeley businesses honored
Two Berkeley businesses have won 2009 Women-Owned Business of the Year Awards in the Alameda County category. They are Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary & Garden Arts bookstore, founded by Marion Abbott and Ann Layhe (pictured above), and BioFuel Oasis, run by Novella Carpenter, Margaret Farrow, Ace Anderson, Melissa Hardy and Jennifer Radtke. The awards are sponsored […]
