Blogs

  I recently watched BILLY BUDD, a 1962 movie based upon Herman Melville's short novel.  Directed by Peter Ustinov, who also played Captain Vere, BILLY BUDD starred twenty year old Terrence Stamp in the title role, a stunning debut that earned him an Academy Award nomination.  It was independently produced on a modest budget and is a taut and compelling

  I know it's not really the end as the Mayan calender says but more like the completion of a cosmic cycle, but just in case it actually is the end I'd like to briefly summarize what I think of my life till now.  I haven't achieved all I want to achieve, and I'm not where I thought I'd be at this age, but I have lived the life I've wanted to live, and for

    This short story began as a writing exercise for a class I took at Cabrillo last semester.  The exercise was writing a conversation between two characters, describing the setting, then creating a back story and future story for one or both of the characters.  The instructor liked it, so I decided to turn the completed assignment into a short story. 

    There's a scourge that's plaguing the roadways of Santa Cruz, and it's drivers who open the car door into the bike lane right in front of oncoming bicyclists.  As I long time bicyslist I can say that this used to be a very rare occurrence, done by complete accident by drivers were appropriately apologetic.

But over the past year, I've noticed a sharp

 

Yes, at long last I completed the seventh draft of my novel.  It was a long, hard climb  and I'm glad to be finally over the mountain top.  There is still more editing to be done and more than a few sentences to be rewritten, but I feel good enough about it to show it to people.  A coworker who read it made notes on grammar errors and misspellings, very

This is the third chapter of my novel, Heart's Delight, it begins about four hours after the end of chapter 2, and is the Friday night of Todd's 25th birthday party.  Still a work in progress but hope to have this whole thing wrapped up soon. 

WARNING!  Does contain some profanity and substance use. 

 

            “Everybody at work is optimistic,” Jason

Selling a cruiser with rack, folding rear baskets, and U-lock, perfect for shopping and cruising around town.  Asking $120, a good deal considering that folding baskets go for $25 a piece and racks can run anywhere from $50-$100, but I'm willing to

I added an alternate ending to a short story I first posted onto this site almost two years ago.  The name of the story is The Dealers, its mini-blog post title is Short Story (not Short Story II) and was posted on July 1, 2008. 

I actually came up with the new ending when I turned this story into a short film script about a year ago, but due to a changing

  Last Friday night (Halloween eve) I attended my second Guerilla Drive-In event.  I went with some trepidation because this Guerilla Drive-In was being held in San Lorenzo Park as a challenge to the ordinance which says that all public parks are to closed after sunset.  I envisioned a large crowd ready for confrontation for when the police would inevitably

Here is chapter two of my novel, Heart's Delight.  This is a shorter chapter than the first, and is more of a bridge into the longer third chapter.  The action takes place on the following day during the late afternoon.  We see the protaganist, Jason, at his job and get a more detailed view of his personal life during a phone conversation with his

This is the first chapter of my novel, Heart's Delight.  The story is set in San Jose, CA during 1990, and this chapter takes place in the late spring/early summer.  The central character is named Jason, and we join him as he's driving home from work.  This is the first time I've shown any part of my novel publically, so feel free to send me any kind of

Last night President Barack Obama was on Late Night with David Letterman.  Among other things they discussed pending health care legislation.  When Obama talked about how the new plan was going to set up co-ops and help people buy medical insurance, dead silence throughout the Ed Sullivan Theater.  When Letterman almost apologetically mentioned Canada,

   As the health care dedate drags on, President Obama is now back pedalling on the public option and is focusing instead on reform that ensures "competition", as if health care is nothing more than a business and a way to generate wealth for corporate stock holders.

No doubt Obama and other middle of the road Democrats feel the need to compromise, and in

  I was at the health care reform Town Hall meeting being given by Congressman Sam Farr last night, an what an event.  As I was biking up High Street, I noticed a steady line of traffic heading in the same direction.  The hot setting sun glared down as I pedaled hard to get my heavy bicycle up the incline (my own insurance plan, stay healthy), and I

  I'd heard of the local Guerilla Drive-In for some time, last Friday night I finally partook of this event, and I'm glad I went.

The idea is simple, local people find a spot here in town where they can project a movie at night for the enjoyment of the community.  People bring something to sit on, something to eat and drink, and enjoy the movie.  It's like

 

Ignorance is bliss

But it won't make you

  There have been quite a number of deaths of famous people lately, more than I can remember at any single time during my stay here.  People die all the time, many cruelly and for no good reason at all, but when someone of notoriety dies, it has a greater affect because the deceased touched so many lives beyond their own physical existence that their

On Saturday I went to my car to put my old monitor into the trunk, and discovered that my new registration tag was missing.  My guess is that someone with expired tags saw my current tag which was precariously stuck atop a large stack of old tags, removed it thusly, and placed it onto his own delinquent license plate.

I have no problem with people beating

  Last week, the Senate Finance Committee held hearings on reforming health care.  Present were representatives of the health insurance companies, pharmaceutical industry, hospital owners, and the American Medical Association.  Uninvited were advocates of single-payer health care, which most U.S. citizens favor according to recent polls.

The committee

   The TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder) which I wrote about in previous posts is getting better.  My jaw is more aligned, my teeth are straighter, and my bite is more even than it's been in years.  I'm also getting out of my apartment a little more often these days. 

I'm not out of the woods completely however.  Loud noises still grate on me