A Brief Introduction to Illumination...

Dynamic Pluralism: There's always a reason to go to war...

At the March for Science in Fullerton...

Fine Dining on the PCT..

Cowboy Camping for the First Time on the Pacific Crest Trail...

The World's Worst Backpacker on the PCT: Scissors Crossing to Warner Springs...

Just three weeks until the Pacific Crest Trail...

Illumination Trailer #1...

Just one month until I hit the PCT...

Preparations for my 2017 PCT hike continue...

Illumination is coming this week...

Everything you may have heard about enlightenment, which I call Illumination, is based on hearsay derived from metaphors too out of date for most people to fully understand. That is why I have reinterpreted the metaphors for the 21st century, making your path to Illumination easier to follow than ever!

But I wasn’t always Illuminated. I was born a Christian, born again, brought to Atheism through critical thought, and only found my way through Buddhism after a decade of hard work. Illumination was not found by following what I had been told but by searching deliberately. If you want to see the kingdom of heaven, you have to actually look.

Illumination is the essential ingredient missing from much of western religion and atheism is not designed to help you find it. Though it fits well in the atheist system – Illumination requires no god or worship – Illumination should be sought by Christians as well, for a more complete understanding of where they fit in the universe.

Because, as it turns out, Illumination (or enlightenment) is not as difficult to find as you might think. Heaven (or Nirvana) is all around you; you just need to know where and how to look. Understand such concepts as Samsara, Reincarnation, Karma, and Sunyata in ways you probably never imagined, ways that enrich your life – the only one you’ll ever get – so you don’t spend all of your time expecting it in a life after this one.

Illumination can be as simple as a change in perspective or as difficult as the destruction of the self, comprehending the significance of your own insignificance. But you can do it right now without dogma, without authoritarian rule, and without god.

Look for Illumination coming this week in ebook, with paperback and audiobook versions available soon!

Illumination is coming soon...

And now, the cover of Illumination, coming soon in ebook, paperback, and audiobook.

If you want to see the Kingdom of Heaven, you have to actually look.

Dawn Helps Save Wildlife???...

Women's March Santa Ana...

Look familiar?...

An extended look at Dynamic Pluralism: A Revolution in Ethics...

At Trump's Inauguration Try Ipecac...

Preparing for the PCT - Part 4!...

How Are We To Survive Trump?...

Dynamic Pluralism is coming soon!...

After more than a decade of work, I am pleased this morning to finally be able to share this...



In the history of philosophy, there have been many theories about ethics but none have been straightforward enough to understand and use in everyday life. That ends now with Dynamic Pluralism.

Dynamic Pluralism presents a system of ethics that is not only easy to understand and easy to use but beneficial to the lives of those who do so. Dynamic Pluralism filters out the philosophical jargon so popular in academic circles and structures ethics so it is accessible to everyone. Not only does it present and understandable system of ethics but it also shows the reader how they can use ethics to create a better world.

Dynamic Pluralism casts a clear and defining light on the challenges of our century – war, overpopulation, climate change, energy dependence, equality, and much more – and illuminates our path into a brighter future.

We live in a world without a working system of ethics available to all people and this explains how and why the United States has ended up with a President-Elect like Donald Trump, a man bereft of ethical clarity, a moral compass, or any sense of justice. Dynamic Pluralism defines ethics, morals, and justice so that we may all understand them, what happens when we live without them, and how they should be used to create a better world.

Dynamic Pluralism is not just a book of philosophy. It is a Revolution in Ethics. It is a system for creating a new world based on ethical treatment, fair and fulfilling relationships, and a future in which we can finally live in peace.

Dynamic Pluralism is coming very soon in ebook, paperback, and audiobook!

I'm through buying new music...

Only 4 months until the PCT...

How are we to stand against trump?...

Preparing for my 2017 Pacific Crest Trail journey... Part Three!...

Welcome to the Great American Shit Show...

The civics lesson we should all take from this election...

My 2016 California ballot...

Why isn't it illegal to harm a tree?...

Let's get rid of The Pledge!...

Preparing for my 2017 PCT Attempt - Part Two...

Why GMOs are harmful and how Monsanto profits from your apathy...

Talking About What Trump Isn't...

Preparing for my 2017 Pacific Crest Trail Journey... Part One...

(After Donald Trump's Visit) Dear Mexico...

Fellowship, authoritarian dictatorships, and the “Good” that Christianity does...

Holding accountable the idiots who are always wrong!...

Things I Love: Ted Danson has me Bored to Death!...

Post-Conventions. Saying NO to Hillary AND Trump...

The Last Black Man...

Do ANY Lives Matter?...

So, why do we celebrate Independence Day, anyway?...

Apple Absolutely Sucks...

The First Five Minutes of The World's Worst Backpacker...

It's 2016 and we're still "Supporting" the troops...

Women are vile creatures...

The World's Worst Backpacker on the Pacific Crest Trail...

That's a strange use for a barn...

Pacific Crest Trail preparations and Living Hard...

What can we learn about someone who refers to children as "super predators?"...

There's been some talk online recently (or, at least, since last night) of Hillary's use of the term "super predator." Was it a racial slur or wasn't it?

 Tell you what. Let's take race out of the equation and just focus on what we know. We know she was referring to "gangs of kids." So, let's assume that, instead of black kids, Hillary was referring to all kids. That all kids/any kids/any child/your child was a "super predator." Seen in this light, I believe that race is not the biggest issue here. I don't believe any child should be referred to as a predator of any kind.

 But hey, that's just me. I don't have kids so I probably have no idea what I'm talking about. But I'm not voting for someone who had the poor judgment and shortsightedness to say something like that to begin with.

Can you be a victim of your own success?...

I can hit the PCT but I'll never jog again...

Look kids! It's Ricochet Num Num!!...

Ken La Salle Addresses the Vaginal Orgasm... (just like a man)...

Just about a month until I hit the Pacific Crest Trail... Maybe...

Trouble in the Emergency Room...

The Fallacy of Environmental Protection...

It’s the “Too Late To Be A 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Preview” Preview...

The question of Hillary...

I've spent a lot of time considering the question of Hillary Clinton and if I would vote for her if that became an issue. And, of course, I can think of a lot of reasons why I wouldn't: how she's taken money from big banks and private prisons, how her message of "leave everything as it is and don't hope for anything better" is about as cynical as anything I've recently heard, how she has supported just about every use of our military no matter the cost, and on and on.

But if you were to ask me today why I simply cannot support Hillary, I would have to say that Hillary strikes me too much like the kind of candidate the Republicans used to run: one who pays lips service to the needs of the many while protecting the interests of the few.

The choice in any election is never between the two most popular candidates. Telling me it's either her or Drumpf just tells me you've misunderstood the choice. The choice is between what your conscious, along with any system of ethics or morality you choose to follow, will allow. Mine just simply will not allow me to vote for this candidate.

2016 Academy Award Predictions... from someone who hasn't seen a single one of the films...

Two months until I hit the Pacific Crest Trail...

Torn Rotator Cuff...

Ding Dong! Scalia is Dead!...

Why We Should End Black History Month...

Super Bowl 50 and a bag of crushed Doritos...

Incrementalism - and why I will not vote for Hillary Clinton...

It's time for a car alarm intervention...

Donald Trump Sucks...

There can be no justice so long as there is an NRA...

Three months until the Pacific Crest Trail...

Teaching peace...

Picking and Choosing the News...

First thing in the morning thought...

(This is one of those "first thing in the morning" thoughts. So, I apologize if it is not fully formed.)

We're all basically the same. White. Black. Muslim. Jew. Republican (kinda). Whovian. We all have, basically, the same wants and needs. Many of us fear that we won't be able to satisfy those wants and needs, that someone will take away that which satisfies those wants and needs.

  And I can't help but wonder how much of that fear is just selfishness with a slightly more acceptable costume. I wonder how much misery and death and pain and suffering might simply go away if we stopped justifying our selfishness by calling it fear.

 Probably a great deal.

Target Practice with Wayne LaPierre...

2015: A Year in Review...

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!

The Wrong Magic @ The Right Price!...

You can pick up a copy of The Wrong Magic right now for your Kindle at the incredibly low, low price of ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING! That’s right. It’s FREE!

(Just click that link!) 

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!

The Dumbest Democratic Debate Happened Last Night in New Hampshire...

Is success the same for everybody?...

Letting Go of Dissatisfaction...

Street Tacos!...

The news they don't mention on "the news"...

All the news the media has been leaving out about the murders in Colorado Springs...

Remembering our wonderful dog, Suki...

Giving you the dope on men's soap...

The false choice between the lesser of two goods is a lie...

A few words on those who leave us...

Things I love: Cultural Perspectivism and Singing in the Rain...

Why does science beat religion every time?...

Auschwitz memes that piss me off...

My Other Physical Therapy Story...

Kids Eat Free this Tuesday at Propaganda World...

40 pound pack on the Pacific Crest Trail...

Laughing in the face of danger...

Trailer 2 - Climbing Maya...

What is success?...

Climbing Maya - trailer #1...

Finding Your Place... the video...

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?

I am anti-gun. And you should be, too.