Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

“I could never live abroad, it just plain costs too much,” announced one retiree, blithely ignoring the fact her home was in an area of California where the cost of living was more than twice the national average, and the median cost of a house was upwards of $900,000. A lot of my US friends…

“I spent a weekend here last spring,” a newbie expat told me, “and I loved Seville so much that I just flew right home to San Francisco, sold everything, and moved here!” Six months later, deeply disappointed that Seville didn’t match her glorious, sun-drenched, wine-soaked memories, she was gone. The antidote to Syndrome de Paris…

There’s nothing like a little brush with the forces of evil to cheer people up. Apparently we all need to let ourselves be terrified occasionally, if only to prove to ourselves that we are strong enough to handle it. That’s why we embrace horror movies, ghost stories, Ouija boards, and Halloween. In America, we spend…

Normally when I meet a friend for drinks after work, I don’t need to go through two security checkpoints, have my picture taken, and sign a non-disclosure agreement. But this was one of the Bay Area’s hottest high-tech superstars and it was just a wee bit twitchy about its privacy. “Don’t even think about taking…

Time to declutter? Ya think? Photo: Tomwsulcer What’s your clutter threshold? I usually hit mine when I’m just about to hit the road and I realize I can’t find any of the things I’ve been squirreling away for the trip: My reversible rain jacket has gone to ground somewhere in my closet, my travel toothbrush…

When I say the words “chocolate cake” do you immediately think “guilt”? Most Americans do, according to Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto . The French, on the other hand, go right to the idea of “celebration!” I have no official knowledge about the Spanish response, but I can tell you this:…

At a Transylvania guest house “I used to dream about all the places I would go as soon as I was old enough to get away,” says blogger Stacy Monday . “But then … life happened.” After a career as a paralegal and mediator, Monday (who’s just a kid of 50) decided to join the…

This was up in Napa; my house was spared. Photo: Sscknapa At 3:20 on Sunday morning, I was jolted awake when my bed started doing the jitterbug. Earthquake! And this was no minor tremor, but a serious effort by Mother Earth to realign a couple of plates that met at the long-dormant West Napa fault.…

Not long after we decided to make San Anselmo, California, our home base when we we’re in the US, Rich and I were invited to a casual neighborhood cookout. The main course? Barbecued whole baby squid . “I am so outclassed,” I whispered to Rich. “I am going to have to get all new recipes…

“So how much rent do you pay?” Spanish friends ask, not realizing that to Americans, providing specifics about our finances is as personal and taboo as giving the details of our most outlandish sex acts. “Who do you think is prettier, me or my daughter?” a Spanish hostess once asked, boxing me into an excruciating dilemma in which…