Buy a copy of  Working Fire at: Articles Articles printed in the Berkeley Daily Planet (all links on this page open in a new browser window) Toasters and Computers: The Misery of Technology - February 10, 2004 When my computer crashed last week I did what I always do in the face of calamity, which is to immediately admit defeat and then begin to mope nobly.  Read more... In My Apartment Building, Who Needs Soaps? - January 13, 2004 Apparently, the apartment downstairs and one over from mine was broken into last week. One of our neighborhood methamphetamine enthusiasts forced his way through the bathroom window and started rifling through some drawers while the tenant and her boyfriend were, ahem, busy in the back bedroom.  Read more... What's in a Name? A Raisin Perhaps? - January 2, 2004 So we've got a second baby waiting in the wings, just paddling around in that ever more cramped fetal health spa, waiting for his call-up to the big leagues. In fact, by the time you read this, he may already be here, or, if it turns out to be a busy decade for Berkeley-related news, he may already be a teenager.  Read more... Modern Malaise: Feeling That Cold War Nostalgia - November 21, 2003 Lately I've been feeling warmly nostalgic for that comfy old Cold War. As war goes, it seemed so much more manageable than what we've got on our plate today.  Read more... Video/Film Festival Screens Treats for All Tastes - October 31, 2003 Depending on how you look at things, it's either a wonderful or a terrible time to be an independent filmmaker.  Read more... Oakland Grounds Fireboat, Cuts At Fire Stations Imperil Citizens - October 21, 2003 The East Bay has gotten a little more dangerous in the past few months. Without fanfare, the city of Oakland closed the fireboat. Not for a day, not for a week, but indefinitely. Shutters down, tanks empty, the Seawolf is destined for drydock.  Read more... Woe Betide the Hapless Hummer Driver Here - September 19, 2003 I saw a Hummer last month. More than that, I touched it. I rode in it. I even sat in the driver's seat and pretended to run an armored car off the road. For a Berkeley kid like me, getting intimate with a Hummer is the ultimate taboo. It's like a Bostonian rooting for the Yankees or a Kennedy marrying a Republican weight lifter.  Read more... Remembrance of Streets Past - August 12, 2003 Growing up in Berkeley, my friends and I sometimes amused ourselves by creating elaborate histories for the familiar homeless people who were fixtures of the Elmwood district.  Read more... This Sunday Brunch Fit to be Thai'ed - July 29, 2003 I've always held a fairly dim view of foreign countries. It's not that I begrudge them their right to do whatever it is that foreign countries do, it's just that I've never had the burning impulse to be a part of it. Oh, don't tsk-tsk me. I've done my share of traveling to exotic land.  Read more... Confessions of a Pack Rat - June 10, 2003 My baby, just a mere speck of a thing, a child smaller than most honest housecats, has, in the space of a few brief, non-ambulatory months, managed to acquire enough crap that we're on the verge of being forced to move our queen-bed onto the balcony.   Read more... After Years Waiting, Our First Walk in the Park - May 16, 2003 The balcony of my apartment overlooks a Berkeley park with swings, a grassy field and a jungle-gym. Every day it's packed with happy parents, and the laughter of kids filters up through the windows into our living room.  Read more... Cheering for the Intruders Among Us - April 22, 2003 For the last two years I've been watching the woman across the street plant and replant her garden every couple of months. It's about 50 feet long and eight feet wide and has gone through so many iterations - from Japanese to xeriscape to tasty herbs - that she now has to truck in fresh soil every time she changes her mind.  Read more... Raised on Revolution - April 8, 2003 I took my infant daughter, Percy, to her first protest march a few weeks ago in the hopes that nine pounds and 10 ounces of pure political muscle in pink footsie pajamas might be just enough to tip the scales toward peace.  Read more... [top of page] return to articles page © 2006 Zac Unger.  All rights reserved.  Site by Pixel Perfect Media.