Archive for June, 2009

This is the first in what I hope to be a short series of posts explaining how I was able to conquer some of my core life fears and anxieties. I am publishing these in the hope that this might be of some assistance to someone else on the same journey as I have been [...]

Satellite views like this one are what make conspiracy folks and lovers of the mysterious have “squee” moments. View Larger Map In Oregon’s remote Christmas Valley, coming upon this military installation of debated purpose is certainly eerie. The Internetty consensus is that the establishment has something to do with Over-the-Horizon radar or some such–at least [...]

The first thing in my life that I both recall and can put a date to are two vignettes from May of 1980. One is scouring a closet with my mother for a red bandanna to tie around my face, the other is a dim, gray moment-memory of an ashen street scene. So, I can [...]

A HIDA scan, which stands for hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid scan, creates pictures of your liver, gallbladder, biliary tract and small intestine. A HIDA scan can also be called cholescintigraphy, hepatobiliary scintigraphy or hepatobiliary scan. A HIDA scan is a type of imaging study called a nuclear medicine scan. This means the HIDA scan uses a [...]

By now you might have heard, or maybe you were party to the chaos all along as I Tweeted the hell out of my Vegas experiences. I got pretty sick while I was down there. I still don’t know what ailed me–I see Dr. Gravitas tomorrow morning–but it set me on tense-edge and I’m still [...]

This isn’t the first time I’ve read this book, but it is the first time I’ve read it with an eye to notice Steinbeck’s drama-like structure. Almost entirely dialogue and scene description (stage instruction, as it were), this novella is more of a play than was initially obvious to me. As such, being dialogue-driven and narrative-sparse, this is not my favorite Steinbeck by a long sight.

Ah, this city! The city that shouldn’t be. A criminal offense of a city! My  moral inverse! And thus of course I would come here as a destination for my transformation, because it is an oasis free of meaning in a landscape so stark even Philip Glass would be intimidated. From here–12th floor of the [...]

Alaska Airlines flight 622 PDX-> LAS Me Seat 1A Various happy sounds. Now am very tired. More later?

You may already be ahead of me here. Collate the books you have collected so far. The first book has something to do with where we are going to sleep. The adjectival form of the city name, specifically. The second book has something to do with where we are going to visit. The third book [...]

Thanks–I received your email! Sounds like you’re getting along nicely. Now we will find your final book-related clue. Act like you are about to pour yourself a nice glass of Oregon Pinot noir. What would you need to accomplish this task with flair? As you collect the equipment necessary for a connoisseur’s tasting you’ll come [...]