NRA (No Reasonable Alternatives) How much is enough, American male? This article, though not quite up to date, carries some painful truths about masculinity, entrenched power, the #metoo movement, and gun violence. Our national disgrace seems to arise from Toxic Read more…
It was June 22, 1987, and I was hiking up to Larch Mountain, a beautiful peak that overlooks the Columbia River valley. From its elevated vantage point it oversees all of the major mountain peaks of the area. In the Read more…
Death is a short-term, medium term, and an eternity event. The sense of loss at losing my ability to walk, to run, to bike, to participate in group activities, to get up off of the couch without worrying about permanently Read more…
I am serving up a little vitriolic monologue today. “Dirt” bags come in many forms, and not all are attached to vacuum cleaners. Rep. Nunes certainly has earned the Dirt-Bag Award of the Year, so far. An informed observer Read more…
Please Ignore, if you must, listen with your heart, if you can trust! Our POTU$ has unleashed more hatred and anxiety than any president in recent memory. Congratulations to the Commander of Thieves (oops, I think that I mean Commander-in-Chief). Read more…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYlwF0jP5-w&feature=share Remember those late night television commercials in the 1960’s and 1970’s, where Tom Peterson would come on the air, and knock on the inside of the screen of our TV’s, yelling “WAKE UP! WAKE UP!!” ? This is John Read more…
I was asked on my birthday in 2017 what my most “memorable” birthday was, and here, to the best of my recollection, is an account of the near death experience.. I was 21 years old, and my best friend Read more…
We visited Mom and Dad’s grave site today for the first time since dad’s death. (Rocky and Peaches are buried with them, too). One of Dad’s favorite expressions about people who get ignored, rejected or neglected was that “he got Read more…
I first met Marie Schmidt, a diminutive old woman in her late eighties, in July of 1987. She hosted a weekly meeting at the downtown YWCA, which she played one hour tapes every Sunday, since 1961. I had seen a Read more…
This story is a thumbnail sketch of my relationship with Randy, and with the recovery process from the human condition, including my suffering, isolation, insanity, loneliness, and ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ADDICTION). Friends and family, there is nothing new here, so Read more…
Two poems for our present time. 1). The Wall HumpT DumbT sat on hate’$ wall, HumpT DumpT is about to have a great fall. All of Mercer’$ dark billion$, and all of Putin’$ tech henchmen, Will not be Read more…
I get questioned from time to time about why I need to write about doing personal inventory and remaining “mindful” around the impact of Toxic masculinity upon my life, and upon the human race in general. Some perceive that I Read more…
I am deeply disturbed by the present developments within our shared world, within my individual and our collective human consciousness, and the points of connection between the self and other, through language, religion, and philosophies that create oppression, repression, and Read more…
I never chose this uneven life path of recovery from trauma, life chose it for me. I choose how to deal with the sights along the way, however. The amygdala in our brains under duress from trauma creates new Read more…
Belief, faith and irrationality need not travel together as companions hopelessly chained together on the road to “salvation”. Evangelicals have a strong tendency to conform to worn out modes of thought and understanding, and are quite slow, as a religious Read more…
Brain Damage (Written by Roger Waters of Pink Floyd) The lunatic is on the grass. The lunatic is on the grass. Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs. Got to keep the loonies on the path. The lunatic Read more…
After the recent death of my father, on September 16th, I have had the privilege and challenge of going through and sorting a lifetime worth of writings and papers from my parents, and from myself. After reading some of my Read more…
Throwing A Blanket Around The Moment, And Walking Away, As a baby, my parents placed a blanket around my baby body, and deposited me in a car in their garage so that my father could get at least 5 hours Read more…
Notes to myself Trump, and the NRA’s ideas around guns, are filled with holes, BULLET HOLES. I have written extensively about Toxic Masculinity, and there is a direct relationship between the damaged American Male, and the incidence of gun Read more…
There are those purporting to be “spiritual teachers” and advisors, who are admonishing their followers to abhor using human emotions with their dealings with the public. Specifically, I am frequently hearing that a “requirement for maintaining spiritual integrity” is to Read more…