The German Bundeswehr meant to draft me for two years of service for the fatherland. But I was already an expatriate, had other notions for my life. [Read More]
Rabbinical Reflections on the Season
Once again, here we are, in the juxtaposition of Jewish and Christian redemption and renewal holidays – Passover and Easter, respectively – and I find myself acting in two plays, one of which tells the Old Testament story of Joseph in musical form. [Read more]
Myths and misunderstandings
A writer friend told me I was passed over for a recent book-signing because the organizer finds my book title “scary.” This wasn’t the first time I learned of such a reaction to Jesus Loves Women: A Memoir of Body and Spirit.[Read More]
Adventures with author Charles de Lint
It has been almost three years since I read an article on the Upper Left Edge by Watt Childress. It was a review of Someplace to Be Flying by Charles de Lint. I had never heard of de Lint (in talking to friends I have since discovered that I was not the only one), but based on Watt’s review I gave Someplace to Be Flying a try. What a good decision. [Read More]
Speech to Neah-Kah-Nie High School National Honors Society: Service
What I love most is that you don’t have to be a hero to serve. No matter what little you do of it. It still helps whether it be a grandiose or subtle gesture. But, you’re either serving or not. [Read More]
Celebrating 60 Years of Disneyland and the Spiritual Undertones of Walt’s Kingdom
Disney. For many, like me, the very name delights the heart and conjures up images of whimsy and “magic.” For others, perhaps those less childish at heart, it denotes something flimsy, artificially sweet and, well, too childish. [Read More]
Heck: Beyond the Lines
It’s ridiculous, I know, to suggest the squiggly lines of a comic can make you cry. Or that a story about a man and his mummy investigating a basement gateway to Hell can make you question your identity. [Read More]
Portland pays an old debt of gratitude to Billy Hults
It’s taken three decades for Billy to receive public recognition for the magic he stirred up in Portland. He’s been honored as a “side player” by the Oregon Music Hall of Fame, an eight-year-old organization that few musicians here on the coast have heard of. Better late than never, some might say. Lessons can be gleaned from the lag time. [Read More]
Meeting Billy Hults
Billy didn’t bat an eye and proceeded to give the flack a highly polished and brief lecture on the First Amendment and freedom of the press. The Flack had no authority to determine what qualified as a legitimate publication. If he didn’t let Billy pass, he’d be violating Billy’s Constitutional rights (and mine) and adding another unwanted twist to this controversy. Read More
Psyche combs the clearcut for lost souls
After the cutters were finished, 50 acres of forested watershed near our home was pretty much gone. Familiar habitat was replaced by strips of trees surrounded by stumps, slash, and orderly heaps of logs — cash crop to grease the skids of our consumption. Read More