I just finished reading The Way of the Samurai by Inazo Nitobe.  Nitobe was of the samurai class in Japan but was western educated.  He wrote The Way of the Samurai in English in 1900 around the time Japan was westernizing.  Nitobe does a good job of explaining the philosophy of the samurai as it […]

I was riding in the car the other day and a familiar song came over the radio: “No New Tale to Tell” by Love and Rockets from their Earth, Sun, Moon album. At the time, my brain was hopping around like a frog trying to avoid capture.  (Like the tree frog that got into my house […]

Where do your writing ideas come from?  For a long time I didn’t really have an answer for that question.  Where did they come from?  Imagination, yeah of course, but what was the spark that brought the idea to life? Many of my stories, especially my short stories, have come from writing prompts.  I’ve belonged […]

Recently, several companies that work with developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) sent an open letter to the UN.  The letter was to voice concerns over the use of AI in weapons.  These companies are concerned that AI will be used to develop weapons that will act independently of humans.  They call it the “third revolution in […]

My daughter calls me Super Genius, but not in a good way.  She doesn’t mean Fruit Loops with marshmallows genius (If you haven’t tried this perfect breakfast cereal, stop denying yourself).  When she calls me Super Genius, the words are accompanied by a smirk and an eye roll.  She means Wile E. Coyote Super Genius. […]

I actually wrote the draft of this post about a week ago.  Here is what happened: I was walking with my wife on the sidewalk.  A lady was approaching us from the opposite direction with her dog on a leash.  It was an older yellow lab.  As we approached, I moved over to the right […]

My new favorite protagonist is Cullen Bohannan from the Television show Hell on Wheels.  I just finished watching the show on Netflix. Wow, great writing, and great acting by Anson Mount.  The character is flawed, and yet you can’t help but cheer him on.  Throughout the show, the complexity of his character is revealed in […]

Here is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The original church on this site was built in 1626 but was destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo revolt.  This particular church was built in the late 1800’s. The San Miguel Mission church in Santa Fe is the oldest church structure […]

The new school year just started up in my area, and the traffic to go with it. I had forgotten, as I drove around town over the summer, just how crowded the roads get when parents drive their children to school. It makes me wonder, not for the first or last time: What’s wrong with […]

I’m not quite sure why I’m so embarrassed to admit this.  Well, I know that I’m a grown man that likes to watch cartoons, and some people think that’s weird, but I’m starting to get old enough that I don’t care.  To tell the truth, I’ve never truly cared about what other people think, but […]