Autobiographical

Chapter 56’s view that one who speaks does not know should logically include writing and thinking as well. After all, speaking, thinking and writing are all interconnected, which suggests that I don’t know what I’m talking about! So what the heck am I doing here? Why do I think and write anyway? I was born […]

About ten years ago, humanity’s plausible future became increasingly obvious to me. I saw our advancing technology leading toward a time of plunging human population to a point where, for example, governments would support citizens during their parenting years. Now, when I travel on freeways, I eerily see a time when they will be half-empty […]

I was one troubled teenager for a time. I’d go off to the mountains for some peace and solitude. I wasn’t very concerned with my safety; life didn’t seem to offer much advantage over death. One year I climbed Finger Rock without ropes. Going up was easy; going down was terrifying. Was this a latent […]

We can prove something exists by evidence of its existence. Similarly, we can’t prove something doesn’t exist through a lack of evidence. So, what evidence exists supporting the existence of God? That depends upon what you believe qualifies as evidence I imagine. Oddly, for a believer, belief itself appears to qualify as evidence. This kind […]

While working in Australia in the early 60’s, I met folks who intrigued me with their stories of traveling over land through India and Southeast Asia. Instead of returning to USA as planned, I decided to travel to Europe overland through Asia. Lack of funds meant hitchhiking a lot, and this felt weird considering I’d […]

Soon after hitchhiking to Vietnam from Cambodia, some journalist in Saigon invited me to stay with them. They told me that if I got a press pass from the USIA (United States Information Agency), I could hop rides on military flights. Fortunately, I didn’t have to be a journalist; I just had to say I […]

After living years of hand-to-mouth existence in the developing countries around the world I settled down in Japan for an extended period. My hand to mouth living habits slowly waned as I began to enjoy the comforts of wealthier circumstances. For example, I began to treat myself to a weekly can of peaches. This was utterly […]

I was hitchhiking through West Africa with my future, now ex, wife, when I came down with hepatitis. That knocked the wind out of my sails enough to return to California to see my folks, after seven years abroad. Happily, I recovered within a few months, but sadly, my girl friend and I broke up […]