I’m a terrible writer. I mean, I think I’m a decent enough WRITER, but the business of writing… I’ve always kind of struggled with. If you’ve followed me for very long you know the truth of this. I don’t post often enough, I’m all over the place with my subject matter, I don’t promote my…
Category: Wiser Wilder Weirder
Breaking Down the Walls of RECEPTION
I just wanted to be ALONE, damn it. But the Universe brought in a sledgehammer to bust down my walls
Angels in Colombia
Yes, weird things happen to me. It isn’t news. In fact I have another book on the horizon detailing all my weird little adventures. Or at least the ones that are appropriate to publish. (Actually, no guarantees on that – some of the best stories are the slightly inappropriate ones). Anyway, I’m so excited about…
Foot in Mouth disease
I met him for the first time on a warm summer night several years ago. I was relishing the opportunity to enjoy a glass of wine outside one of my favorite establishments with the sun on my skin and the cool of the evening brushing past my face. A dear friend of mine joined me…
Toilet tales
You may have recently discovered your personal level of gratitude and appreciation for toilet paper. And I’m happy for you. I really am. Because I learned that lesson, back in June when I made my first trip to Colombia. In my now-favorite country, you often have to pay to use public restrooms and TP isn’t…
Milestones
Last week, I received a phone call that brought tears to my eyes.
Thank you for the (poison ivy) pain.
I like to think of myself as, um, durable? You know, rugged, kind of… in a ‘put-your-head-down-and-get-through-it’ sort of way. But as I recover from one of my more difficult physical challenges I feel compelled to tell you that my perception of myself was somewhat shaken. Or, more accurately, rocked to the core. Last month…
Crazy. Messy. Beautiful.
It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in my world… this time of year in the Black Hills of South Dakota often is… especially for a motorcycle lover. I got to do several book signings throughout the event, met some incredible people, made some new contacts… all in all it was great. And there were…
Just wild.
It’s been a wild few weeks here in my little corner of the world. Well, more like a wild month. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s been a pretty wild year. Of course, I know I’m not the only person harboring that sentiment, but, since I can only really tell my story… I…
Weird Ones… Hands UP!
Not long ago, I had the chance to visit Phoenix, Arizona for the premier of a movie directed by a documentary film maker whose acquaintance I’d recently made. It was a great trip, overall, it really was. I had the chance to actually hang out with a friend of a friend of mine, with whom…
Squirrel Dreams
There are a lot of things I love about hiking with my pup, Rumi. The way her tail gets a kink in the end when she’s really, really excited, for example. The way her tongue falls out of the side of her mouth when she’s really tired. The way she runs and wags her tail…
Egg In My Hair
I stink. No, like I actually stink. A lot. It seems that no matter how much I scrub, shave, or employ my hippy-style deodorant, I always smell just a little bit like garlic and onion. Which is especially weird because I don’t eat many onions. I do eat a lot of garlic though. I know…
When shutting up isn’t enough
I’ve never taken criticism very well. It’s something I want to work on because I know that constructive criticism can be valuable. Not easy to hear, perhaps, but valuable. General criticism, on the other hand, is never valuable. Assuming we have any real understanding of others lives and how they should be lived is, in…
Be. Be still.
Last year about this time I took a little road trip. Just me and my dog, wandering around the Northwest Coast, looking for… well, I’m still not really sure what I was looking for, but something in me said I’d find it in the Redwoods or the ocean. So we headed west. I learned a…
Being a being, sometimes takes some doing.
I got older this weekend. I mean, of course I did – I get older every day – but this weekend the calendar marked the occasion. This fact by itself doesn’t bother me. In fact, for a couple of months now I’ve considered myself as old as the calendar just made me – and said…
Just a little more “out there”
A little while ago I came to the realization that I need to get out more. That’s one of the things about working as a writer / marketer / event planner… I end up spending a lot of time alone. And because I like to be alone, I spend a good bit of my personal…
Little Miss Fix-it
I do it a lot. A LOT. I don’t really want to be doing it. It fully contradicts my entire belief system in terms of the way we treat each other. It sounds both demeaning and pretentious as it comes out of my mouth. I cringe and bristle and scold myself even as the words…
Shine on, Stumpy.
It had been about a year or so, I suppose, of attending classes at my favorite yoga studio in town with some regularity; usually the same three or four classes on the same three or four days. It was inevitable then, really… despite my desire to remain somewhat anonymous, keep my focus on myself, and…
Lessons from a hobbit-hike.
I hiked like a hobbit on Sunday. Barefoot. There wasn’t really any one reason why… I’d heard many times about the benefits of direct contact with the earth, it was hot, my socks were itching me… it happened about 200 feet in or so, I guess. I stopped for a drink of water and noticed…
Just LOVE
“Church” today was incredible. As my loyal readers and dear friends know, I “get to God” differently than the term ‘Church’ would imply. I think of God differently than the term God would imply too, but it makes sense to people so I use it anyway. I won’t get in to what I think or…
THE GIFT OF SOLITARY TRAVEL
It’s the kind of freedom that makes it OK to sleep in your car, eat at nice restaurants in otherwise-unacceptably-casual clothes, and take pictures of EVERYTHING.
THURSDAY IN THE BADLANDS
It’s been a weird winter here. Extraordinarily long. Our first (HUGE) snowfall came in the first week of October. And It’s snowing today. Big, fat, beautiful flakes that I’m trying really hard to enjoy, instead of wishing them away. We’ve also had a lot of random occurrences of “Spring”. Even in February when snow and…
Please. Throw a party.
A different kind of life celebration