Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Monday, December 28, 2015
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Donut-er...
Been hearing a lot about Tinder lately and as a married man of 50, I'm feeling a bit left out.
That's why I'm suggesting someone create an app called "Donut-er!" It's very simple. The app shows you donuts in your area and, if you like them, you just swipe and you're in donut heaven! (Okay, so you have to go pick them up - but when has a donut ever let you down?)
Someone get to work on this!
That's why I'm suggesting someone create an app called "Donut-er!" It's very simple. The app shows you donuts in your area and, if you like them, you just swipe and you're in donut heaven! (Okay, so you have to go pick them up - but when has a donut ever let you down?)
Someone get to work on this!
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
That Olympic Peninsula Layby - the first five minutes!...
Have you been considering picking up my first, full-length, autobiographical monologue from Audible or iTunes but haven't been able to make up your mind?
I'm here to help - with the first five minutes! Give it a listen!
I'm here to help - with the first five minutes! Give it a listen!
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Friday, December 11, 2015
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
Tuesday, December 08, 2015
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Friday, November 13, 2015
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Monday, November 02, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Monday, October 12, 2015
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Monday, October 05, 2015
Finding your place inside a single glass of water...
So, I was getting a glass of water last night before I went
to bed. Nice glass of water with a few ice cubes. And I looked at those ice
cubes and I thought about the life span of those ice cubes. You see, those ice
cubes came out of my fridge, which took hours of churning and spinning or
whatever the hell it does to spit out ice cubes in my glass on command. And
that’s exactly what it did, giving me this nice glass of ice water.
And as I brought that glass up to my mouth, I realized that
the life span of those ice cubes traces back a lot longer. Because those ice
cubes were made of water pumped from miles – hundreds of miles – away. Since I
live in Southern California, I could even say thousands of miles away. A rain
cloud smiles on a flower somewhere in Yakima or Boise and through the magic of
semi-modern engineering I’ve got ice cubes.
And not a second passed before I understood that I had no
idea of scope here. And I just gave up on the ice water. Those ice cubes had come
from water that went far beyond Yakima or Boise or wherever it fell as a
raindrop. Because that raindrop had been collected on the other side of the
world, and those water molecules predate even semi-modern engineering. They
predate all of our cities. They predate anyone we’ve ever read about and
anything anyone has seen. They were old when the first creature walked and that
very same water was imbibed then, too.
And it passed through their bodies and it evaporated and it
froze and it eroded and it shimmered and it cleaned ecosystems and it hit
umbrellas and maybe just things that looked like umbrellas until it fell on
that flower and took a ride to my ice maker.
Now, this is where my mind took a turn. Because once you
follow that water up from the primordial goo, you also have to take it far past
you. And me. That ice is going to shoot through me at a rate that would make it
dizzy, if such a thing were possible. I’ll eject it in the standard way –
please let our standards be equal here – and it’ll sail off to some new
horizon, some distant shore, some foreign tap.
And it will outlast you and you and you. It will be around
long after all of your children turn into little, old people. It will pass
through no type of creature you’ve ever heard of and that will be right here on
Earth. It will bathe the flesh of people we probably wouldn’t recognize who
worship dieties of one type or another you’ve never heard of before, who use
currency more valuable than anything you have, own technology so much better
than yours it’d make you sick.
Everything will pass before and behind and beneath and all
around that water until it has passed as well. And through this glass of water,
we are given an incredible gift. A way to not only observe our world but to
taste our world, to be a part of our world, to see our place in our world, and
to partake in the miracle that is our world.
What more do you need?
Sunday, October 04, 2015
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
Friday, September 11, 2015
Remembering...
While you're "REMEMBERING" 9/11 today, take a moment as well to remember how our nation reacted to that day, with paranoia, racial hatred, and the most childish kind of temper tantrum. We invaded a country that had nothing to do with it and killed hundreds of thousands all in the name of getting revenge. We tortured thousands of innocent people and we bombed innocents in numerous countries.
Take a moment to remember that because while we cannot change what others do to us we can certainly change how we choose to respond. And that is the lesson we all should learn.
Take a moment to remember that because while we cannot change what others do to us we can certainly change how we choose to respond. And that is the lesson we all should learn.
Tuesday, September 08, 2015
Sunday, September 06, 2015
Friday, September 04, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Friday, August 21, 2015
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Friday, August 14, 2015
Monday, August 10, 2015
Friday, August 07, 2015
Thursday, August 06, 2015
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Friday, July 24, 2015
Monday, July 20, 2015
Friday, July 17, 2015
Friday, July 03, 2015
Monday, June 29, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Friday, June 12, 2015
Monday, June 08, 2015
Tuesday, June 02, 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
Friday, May 22, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
Tuesday, May 05, 2015
Heaven Enough: Finding stories on the PCT without going "Wild".
With the success of Cheryl Strayed's "Wild," authors are finding their inspiration along the Pacific Crest Trail.
Since the 1920's, the idea of the Pacific Crest Trail has inspired people from around the world to achieve more and to be more while connecting to the western crest of the United States and the Earth from which they were born. Before its completion in 1993, the Pacific Crest Trail (or PCT) saw thru-hikers from around the world. Then, in 2012, Cheryl Strayed popularized the PCT with her dynamic memoir, Wild.
Strayed's is not the only story on the PCT, however. There are, in fact, thousands.
Recently, the PCT has also begun inspiring novelists to place their stories amongst the switchbacks and water caches of the trail. One of those writers is Ken La Salle, who placed his romantic tale of lost souls in the first stretches of the trail, giving it the name Heaven Enough. The title refers to a poem left by the wife of the story's protagonist, after she suffers an untimely death. "What would it be like if I had Heaven Enough," it reads. When Matt, now a widower, takes to the trail to leave the ashes of his wife, he is met by a woman just as shattered by life as he. Her name is Heather.
Without the crucial ingredient of the PCT, this might become just another love story. But it is the PCT that tests them, that breaks them down even more, that takes from them everything but who they truly are. That is, after all, the power that the thru-hiking experience provides, a method of stripping away all the nonsense of everyday life. Novels placed in this environment benefit from this power in an environment as uniquely American as the Pacific Crest Trail.
Heaven Enough has been called "a strong narrative of redemption and hope" and "the perfect book to curl up with on a rainy day" by reviewers. One reviewer wrote: In a journey of self-reflection, Ken La Salle asks the one question we never really ask in marriage: do we really know the person we love most? In the heart-wrenching and sometimes comical journey of Matthew (Matt) Murphy, Mr. La Salle shows us through tragedy, anger, remorse, and grief one can find their soul and true purpose in life in the least likely places.
La Salle is an avid hiker and the author of several books including The Wrong Magic (WiDo Publishing, 2014), the forthcoming memoir, Climbing Maya (Kal-Ba Publishing, 2015) and Dynamic Pluralism, a revolution in ethics (Kal-Ba Publishing, 2015). As a lifelong resident of Southern California, he has hiked sections of the PCT and looks forward to undertaking his own thru-hike very soon.
You can find Heaven Enough in ebook and paperback from Limitless Publishing (http://www.limitlesspublishing.net). Ken La Salle can be reached through his website at www.kenlasalle.com.
Strayed's is not the only story on the PCT, however. There are, in fact, thousands.
Recently, the PCT has also begun inspiring novelists to place their stories amongst the switchbacks and water caches of the trail. One of those writers is Ken La Salle, who placed his romantic tale of lost souls in the first stretches of the trail, giving it the name Heaven Enough. The title refers to a poem left by the wife of the story's protagonist, after she suffers an untimely death. "What would it be like if I had Heaven Enough," it reads. When Matt, now a widower, takes to the trail to leave the ashes of his wife, he is met by a woman just as shattered by life as he. Her name is Heather.
Without the crucial ingredient of the PCT, this might become just another love story. But it is the PCT that tests them, that breaks them down even more, that takes from them everything but who they truly are. That is, after all, the power that the thru-hiking experience provides, a method of stripping away all the nonsense of everyday life. Novels placed in this environment benefit from this power in an environment as uniquely American as the Pacific Crest Trail.
Heaven Enough has been called "a strong narrative of redemption and hope" and "the perfect book to curl up with on a rainy day" by reviewers. One reviewer wrote: In a journey of self-reflection, Ken La Salle asks the one question we never really ask in marriage: do we really know the person we love most? In the heart-wrenching and sometimes comical journey of Matthew (Matt) Murphy, Mr. La Salle shows us through tragedy, anger, remorse, and grief one can find their soul and true purpose in life in the least likely places.
La Salle is an avid hiker and the author of several books including The Wrong Magic (WiDo Publishing, 2014), the forthcoming memoir, Climbing Maya (Kal-Ba Publishing, 2015) and Dynamic Pluralism, a revolution in ethics (Kal-Ba Publishing, 2015). As a lifelong resident of Southern California, he has hiked sections of the PCT and looks forward to undertaking his own thru-hike very soon.
You can find Heaven Enough in ebook and paperback from Limitless Publishing (http://www.limitlesspublishing.net). Ken La Salle can be reached through his website at www.kenlasalle.com.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
Tuesday, April 07, 2015
Nestor...
This morning, I learned about the loss of someone I haven’t
spoken to since possibly 1983. And yet, this was a person who had at times been
my closest friend, my mentor, and the only other person who knew what I was
going through.
His name was Nestor Tajalle. He was one year older than me
and one grade higher.
When I entered Valley High in 1980, he was already
established prominently on Valley’s stage. He had a voice too large for the school’s
theater. He possessed a talent too large for the entire school. There was
something great about him, even in our little corner of Santa Ana, a magnitude
that was undeniable. Yes, he was physically large but that’s not what I’m
talking about.
Nestor embodied all the qualities that make theater great.
Sure, his performances were huge and his voice clear as some perfect bell but
he also possessed a terrific generosity of spirit that I’ll never forget. When
I was cast in my first play, in November 1980, I worked right alongside with
Nestor. I remember him telling me to remember that nobody else knew anything I
didn’t know. They were guessing, too. He would share with me my best qualities,
always the ones I was too embarrassed to embrace. When I made a misstep, in
theater or in life, he would let me know – always very gently – where I went
wrong.
I needed Nestor because I needed someone to believe I could
be great, too. As I rose on our school’s stage, Nestor and I found ourselves
working together often. And there was no one better. He made me better, and I
needed that because I wasn’t all that terrific.
We spent three years performing together, and there is
something of those three years that anchors the core of who I became. Those
years were invaluable; it just took me 30+ years to understand it. It took
Nestor’s death to understand it.
When 1983 came, so did Nestor’s Senior year. His sadness
over losing the most plum spot on Valley’s stage took the shape of what I
misinterpreted as hubris. I won’t kid you; I thought it was ego. Nestor had an
ego nearly as large as my own. He had every right to it. We had both been
chronic scene-chewers but when his Senior year came and Nestor took every opportunity
to milk every moment out of every performance, I am ashamed to say I thought he
was showboating.
And we got into a fight.
And Nestor wasn’t the kind of person to do anything halfway,
so our fight got ugly. And this person who meant so much to me, I allowed to
pass out of my life because I was too embarrassed to do anything else. I spent
more than 30 years in that embarrassment, in that shame. I wish I could tell
you that Nestor and I spoke before he died but that was not the case.
When I screw up, I tend to allow my regret to isolate me. I
isolate myself. Hell, I screwed up so much at Valley that I still don’t talk to
most of the people I knew there. I never dared show my face at a class reunion.
Maybe, if I had, I would have met Nestor. Maybe, if I had, we would have
realized how silly our distance really was and I would find myself, today,
thinking not about the wasted years after that stupid fight. Instead, I would
find myself thinking about the friend I had found once again.
One day, perhaps, I’ll find it easier to show my face in a
world where I feel so much shame over so many trifling nothings nobody but
myself even remembers.
Nestor’s death reminds me that I should. His loss reminds me
that I must.
Nestor will always be an inspiration. He will always be the
person who believed in me. I am grateful to have that much.
Monday, April 06, 2015
The Ultimate Triple-Feature...
Tonight, I sat down and enjoyed what may be the most
original triple-feature of films ever conceived by man. It ran as follows:
- The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!
- Before Sunset
- The Human Centipede
Drawn Together – comedy. Before Sunset – drama. The Human
Centipede – horror cheese. I really believe you can combine these three to make
nearly any film out there.
You’re got the inanity of Drawn Together to kick it off.
After a few seasons and subsequent cancellation, the creators decided to put
out a final “Fuck You” to wrap up the show. It doesn’t get any weirder and funnier
than this.
That is followed by the natural romanticism of Richard
Linklater’s Before Sunset. This is my favorite romantic film of all time. You
just can’t go wrong.
And you wrap up with one of the dumbest of all possible
films: The Human Centipede. The Human Centipede shows just how stupid film
characters and writers can be and still get paid.
Each film clocked in at about 90 minutes so it didn’t even
take too long! Now to go have some fucking nightmares!
Friday, April 03, 2015
Monday, March 30, 2015
Monday, March 23, 2015
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
The Most Amazing Book You've Ever Heard In Your Entire Life...
... is NOW AVAILABLE! You can pick it up today on Audible and iTunes.
But, if I were you, I'd get it for FREE by joining Audible today. It is truly like nothing you've heard before.
Click this link to see more!
Take a journey unlike any you've taken before with Illiturature Books. When has a book ever showed you the view from the top of Mount Everest or accompanied you to the moon or picked up lunch? But you'll find all of that and much more in the first title by Illiturature Books: The Most Amazing Book You've Ever Heard in Your Entire Life...just make sure you're worth it.
Take a trip across our known world and beyond! You'll not only experience the highest point on Mt. Everest (nearly), the depths of a live volcano, and even the surface of the moon; you'll also learn a few secrets along the way. You'll discover why ownership isn't as possible as you've been told, why straight lines never are, and why there aren't as many new masterworks from the Renaissance as there probably should be. Discover the pitfalls of aesthetic judgments while somehow also learning the meaning of truth and beauty. And learn how it's not always the lies we are told that cause us problems. Sometimes it's the truth you don't see right in front of you.
Ken La Salle takes his own brand of twisted humor and the shattered remains of what you once thought of as an audiobook to bring you The Most Amazing Book You’ve Ever Heard in Your Entire Life. Enjoy the view.
But, if I were you, I'd get it for FREE by joining Audible today. It is truly like nothing you've heard before.
Click this link to see more!
Take a journey unlike any you've taken before with Illiturature Books. When has a book ever showed you the view from the top of Mount Everest or accompanied you to the moon or picked up lunch? But you'll find all of that and much more in the first title by Illiturature Books: The Most Amazing Book You've Ever Heard in Your Entire Life...just make sure you're worth it.
Take a trip across our known world and beyond! You'll not only experience the highest point on Mt. Everest (nearly), the depths of a live volcano, and even the surface of the moon; you'll also learn a few secrets along the way. You'll discover why ownership isn't as possible as you've been told, why straight lines never are, and why there aren't as many new masterworks from the Renaissance as there probably should be. Discover the pitfalls of aesthetic judgments while somehow also learning the meaning of truth and beauty. And learn how it's not always the lies we are told that cause us problems. Sometimes it's the truth you don't see right in front of you.
Ken La Salle takes his own brand of twisted humor and the shattered remains of what you once thought of as an audiobook to bring you The Most Amazing Book You’ve Ever Heard in Your Entire Life. Enjoy the view.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Monday, March 09, 2015
Sunday, March 08, 2015
Friday, March 06, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Heaven Enough - available now!
Heaven Enough
Is a poem about longing, about wishing for something more. "What would it be like if I had heaven enough?" it reads.
Matt Murphy reads these words for the first time at his wife's funeral. After a death shrouded with mystery, it is the first time he learns that she wrote poetry. He and Diva were married for nearly twenty years, yet he did not "know" her. A poet and lover of culinary delights, she is struck by a car and killed instantly—randomly—on the wrong side of town.
When her brother, the "monk," appears for the funeral, Matt is set on an unprecedented course. The two find Diva's computer filled with preparations to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Over 2600 miles from Mexico to Canada...and she was leaving without her husband.
Matt takes it upon himself to hike the trail and sprinkle her ashes along the way. What happens in the first two hours is dumbfounding.
What happens next changes his life forever…
Heaven Enough is available now for the Kindle and in paperback!
Is a poem about longing, about wishing for something more. "What would it be like if I had heaven enough?" it reads.
Matt Murphy reads these words for the first time at his wife's funeral. After a death shrouded with mystery, it is the first time he learns that she wrote poetry. He and Diva were married for nearly twenty years, yet he did not "know" her. A poet and lover of culinary delights, she is struck by a car and killed instantly—randomly—on the wrong side of town.
When her brother, the "monk," appears for the funeral, Matt is set on an unprecedented course. The two find Diva's computer filled with preparations to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Over 2600 miles from Mexico to Canada...and she was leaving without her husband.
Matt takes it upon himself to hike the trail and sprinkle her ashes along the way. What happens in the first two hours is dumbfounding.
What happens next changes his life forever…
Heaven Enough is available now for the Kindle and in paperback!
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Waking up and leaving the world of dreams behind...
You ever have a dream that feels incredibly vivid, and you
meet someone in that dream with whom you form a very close bond? And the whole
dream feels like it lasts a long time, such as a weekend? And once the dream
ends you marvel at how great your imagination is and this terrific relationship
that your imagination created from scratch…
… until you realize you’ll never see that person again.
Maybe it’s all thanks to this imagination I’ve developed as
a writer. I don’t know. But this happened as I woke up this morning and now I
find I miss that person terribly – and I really hope I’m not alone in this,
that it happens to others as well.
Has this ever happened to you?
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Monday, February 09, 2015
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Monday, January 26, 2015
Sunday, January 25, 2015
On tomorrow's episode of the Monday Morning Show...
"Anyone who uses a gun is worse than a coward in my book, as is anyone who resorts to violence. They’re terrified that humanity might possibly transcend our childish notion that there’s nothing better than killing. They refuse to face the fact that all this killing brings us no closer towards working together to solve the very real problems that face us – a dying planet, a human family split into competing and downright warring groups, and much worse. All they do is bring pain and death."
Monday, January 19, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
Monday, January 05, 2015
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