Letters at 3AM: In Greta Garbo's Bungalow

As beautiful as Greta Garbo was, she was something more

"...This happens and that happens and you wind up spending the night somewhere..."

Nov. 1, 2013 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Articles of Faith

"That all things are possible is God"

"...in the Bronx, but I wanted to work in Manhattan. I'd ride the Woodlawn line to Grand Central Station..."

Oct. 18, 2013 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: He Took the Cat to Texas

This is the final story in the many-storied life of Mayer Vishner

"...Mayer couldn't kill himself until he took the cat to Texas...."

Sept. 20, 2013 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Me, Myself, I, and Muriel

A poem can awaken many selves

"...I'd write I and i in varied sizes and at varied angles, and note that an upside-down I looks..."

April 5, 2013 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Miss Sunshine Takes Another Bow

Those who are both greatly gifted and severely damaged must remain true to their gifts

"...Not long before your death, you attended a funeral. Furious as hell, you called..."

March 22, 2013 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3am: Doppelgängers

Across generations and geography, doppelgängers emerge

"...the walls of my apartment are hundreds of photos that have accrued for years until my entire dwelling has..."

March 8, 2013 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: The Revolution Will Be Printed

Digital fabrication will change the course of the future

"...That headline has been digitally duplicated (plagiarized) from David Bjerklie's..."

Feb. 8, 2013 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Winter Reveries

No matter the season, no matter the climate, when I write I write in winter

"...really pretty. She was kind of scrawny. No stunning features. I remember a pale face, dark hair, gray eyes..."

Dec. 28, 2012 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: The Lincolns of Hollywood

It is dangerous to view history through the eyes of sentimentality

"...grit and grind of film production, so even the sophisticated prince of Fitzgerald's story is wide-eyed at everyday studio..."

Nov. 30, 2012 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: A Century Since 'The Water Nymph'

On September 23, 1912, Keystone Films released its first comedy, which starred Mabel Normand

"...September 23, 1912: an important date in the history of cinema and the cultural heritage..."

Sept. 21, 2012 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Why Not Chicken Fat?

The most important political question of our time: Who benefits from military spending?

"...on ... biofuels ... [made from] algae or chicken fat. 'It works in the engines that we have, it..."

Sept. 7, 2012 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Created He Them

From Miss Universe to the military, gender roles don't mean what they used to

"...Jenna Talackova, 23 years old, took it for granted that a transgender beauty like herself had a shot at..."

April 20, 2012 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: These American Dreams

Steve Erickson's novel 'These Dreams of You' is a profound and hilarious salute to family values and America

"...An image haunts me lately. It is from The Autobiography of Cecil B. DeMille...."

Feb. 24, 2012 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: James Hillman (1926-2011)

Remembering James Hillman

"...Santa Barbara is a city on the California coast that teeters over the sea and will one day be..."

Jan. 13, 2012 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Flash Mob Dance Revolution: Part 1

It is only a matter of time before an interconnected world work force begins to ask, 'Who are we really working for?'

"...If I were to tell you that we will soon reach a moment in history when..."

Nov. 4, 2011 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: About 18 a Day

About 18 U.S. veterans commit suicide on an average day

"...an average of more than four years to fully adjudicate a mental health claim. When a veteran appeals a..."

July 1, 2011 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Obama, Nukes, and Us

President Barack Obama fudges the truth of his nuclear policies

"...Obama told an Iowa audience about "the only nuclear legislation that I've passed." His Illinois constituents had raised hell..."

April 8, 2011 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: The Inevitability of the Unexpected

The unexpected always happens

"...To call anything "safe" is only to state that it is safe relative to what is expected...."

March 25, 2011 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Some Kind of a Man

After a certain age, there's no avoiding how death is a permanent part of life

"...people die. They start dropping like leaves. It's as natural as the wind...."

Feb. 25, 2011 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: A Prayer at the End of My Rope

The crucial element of prayer is "no alibis"

"...Smith called me the other night to tell me that, in a disembodied way, I'd participated in Smith's meetings...."

Feb. 11, 2011 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Shindig on Effie Street

The silent film comedians at Keystone Films lived their art

"...Effie Street dead-ends a block west of Glendale Boulevard at a hill too steep to pave. At the dead..."

Dec. 17, 2010 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: The 'Austin Sun' Gets Hung

Old Austin Sun writers may have expected to hang, but not in a museum

"...memory, leaving in its place a bright plastic artifact that pretends to be one's past. Not that the past..."

Sept. 10, 2010 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Jesus Walking the Panhandle

The Christian cross is a question mark

"...by the Salt Fork of the Red River. Texas State Highway 70 ran by our – our what? Encampment?..."

Aug. 13, 2010 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: 'O' Is for Oligarchy (Continued)

The American Oligarchy has been growing for decades, and we've been its enablers

"...Part 1: What They've Done and Do..."

April 23, 2010 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: 'Roadie': 30 Years Later

The screenwriter of Roadie visits his younger, more serious self

"...Kaki Hunter's front tooth was a little broken at one corner and its sidekick bent backward funny –..."

March 26, 2010 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: The Dragon on Sennett's Hill

Hollywood is an electric dragon

"...With the Wind leaned over and The Bandwagon's train station wasn't safe to walk upon. All such defunct sets..."

March 12, 2010 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3am: Somehow It Gets to Be Tomorrow

For many American families, one salary is not enough to keep everyone in the household fed

"...That headline is the title of a 1963 Stirling Silliphant..."

Feb. 26, 2010 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Open Letter to Sharon Doubiago

The reason I can't read Sharon Doubiago's book is that I, like she, was shaped by incest and rape

"...weeks ago, I've owed you a letter and an explanation. My Father's Love: Portrait of the Poet as a..."

Feb. 12, 2010 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: My Top 10 of All Top 10s

A list of the Top 10 cultural artifacts that have shaped my life

"...in "know thyself": List the Top 10 cultural artifacts that shaped you most. Be honest and unembarrassed. That's the..."

Jan. 1, 2010 Column by Michael Ventura

Letters at 3AM: Conditions on the Ground

This is no war on terror; we're taking sides in a civil war

"..."These [30,000] additional American ... troops allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces," said our president..."

Dec. 18, 2009 Column by Michael Ventura

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