You are reading Mastication is Normal, a somewhat frequently updated journal of nonfiction and fiction, more nonfiction than fiction at this point, but hey, who knows. There are essays, stories, recipes, and lists in here, as well as occasional graphics and a poem and a play. I made most of the things in here, but I’ve been honored with one guest entry so far, and I’m told there are more on the way.

I’m your host, Cheshire Dave. Only my friends from way back still call me Dave, as do the members of my family, though after the idiocy of the most recent family gathering, I’m thinking about revoking their special dispensation. You can call me Cheshire, Chesh, or whatever else pleases you. Just not Dave.

You can most frequently find me in the fabulous east bay (which is Pig Latin for “beast,” you know) of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco is nice and all, but the east bay is where it’s at. I live and work in Emeryville, which truncates rather nicely to E-ville, which must mean that I live and work in the belly of the Beast. That said, I have a pretty optimistic outlook on life — idealistic, really, if the truth were told. Truth isn’t always told, though.

I make Web sites for adult literacy programs and curriculum for a living. I’ve been a literacy tutor for the past few years, though I’m currently (July 2002) on a longer-than-planned hiatus. We’ll see what develops in the fall.

My other labors of love are an as-yet-unfinished novel and a kickass small theater company. My unlabor of love is Sarah, who makes frequent appearances in these pages.

In March 2002 SXSW selected Mastication as the best new online/personal diary to debut in 2001. That was hella cool. The Austin Chronicle also had some very nice things to say about the site. I’ve also been called a “self-aggrandising git” by a fan in England, who was a little miffed that I corrected his spelling (not the delightful Britishism of placing an s where Americans would place a z, but rather that he spelled aggrandising with only one g). He was a little charmed, however, by my use of wanker, but then he took me down a peg for blowing the syntax of slag. Hey, nobody’s perfect.

Thanks for coming by. Please drop me a line and let me know what you think.

Chesh

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