So I am planning an album. I am currently in conversation with many people about it. I have been a regular at the pub for going-on twenty years. During those years – mostly recently, I have met many musicians, audio engineers, and producers at the Pub, so I thought it was fitting to draw upon…

I’m in a bit of a rut. I am window-shopping expensive pro-audio gear that I can’t afford. Scrolling video-shorts. Checking social media. Going down my list and texting friends. Calling people. What I am not doing is what I need to be doing: Writing, photography, music. My muse is silent right now. I feel like…

I have never been a practical person. This has led to the situation I now find myself in. My midlife crisis. I saw the technological revolution in the ’90s and I was a part of it. My father worked for Pacific Bell Internet as a technical analyst. That’s a fancy phrase for tech support, or…

 A natural vista, more impressive to me than any cathedral. My parents moved over three-thousand miles away from their parents and extended family. Years later, and perhaps for want of community, my parents joined the Unitarian Universalist church sometime in ’80s. The First Unitarian Church of Kensington, or FUCK for short. They have since changed…

A short love-letter to Schmidt’s Pub in Albany, California. Includes a brief history, photos, and funny anecdotes about this unique place.  Sam, Pascale, Elizabeth, Cecy, Decklan, Cooper. Pubsters. Regulars. Extraordinary people full of promise and hope for the future… and eye-rolls. Schmidt’s Tobacco & Trading, also known as Schmidt’s Pub, or simply The Pub is…

There is a place for politics, ostensibly a blend of conflict and cooperation. But recently, we have elected leaders who seem to adhere to the Carl Schmitt friend-or-foe-style politics… Whether I like it or not, I have become a leader of sorts. I think it’s due to my age. Young people look up to me.…

The garden is a celebration of life. She took the wheel on this one, so in this article I celebrate her life as well.  Our little garden. Anybody who knows me knows that I am out-spoken about my stunning mystery companion and long-time partner, Jennifer Brunswig and her amazing daughter, Pascale Brunswig-Sanborn. It has been…

Bill and I have known each other for a little while. I think I might’ve met him before we connected at the Pub, because I used to frequent the Ivy Room many years ago, but I can’t be sure. What I am sure of is we know a lot of the same Berkeley and Oakland…

If there is someone in your life who you love but have lost contact with for whatever reason, try to hurry up and process whatever you need to and get back in touch with them as quickly as possible.  My parents, Pat and Charles Byrne. My parents have been married since 1976. Not without trouble.…

After tying the knot in amongst the trees in Tilden Park, a very special night at the Rigger’s Loft turned into a jam-packed party at the Pub. After tying the knot in amongst the trees in Tilden Park, a very special night at the Rigger’s Loft turned into a jam-packed party at the Pub. Todd…

As many readers will know, I carried around a camera at the Pub for a couple of years. I didn’t know what I was doing at first, but I found people’s faces and expressions the most interesting subject matter. So I began taking impromptu portraits. As many readers will know, I carried around a camera…

A deeply personal essay about computers, music, and life challenges. Documenting growing up as a troubled teen in the East Bay in the 1990s.  Jenny and I in 2015 at the Albany Bulb. A deeply personal essay about computers, music, and life challenges. Documenting growing up as a troubled teen in the East Bay in…