Alex Shakar’s “Luminarium” and Why Everyone Must Read It

“Luminarium” is, perhaps, the “L’Etranger” of America’s 21st century. It is a quintessential existential appraisal of life in the jet stream; a marvelous re-examining of all that Americans hold dear in our fast-paced, ambitious, over-eager, petty little lives. “Luminarium” follows the life of Fred Brounian – whose identical twin brother has fallen into a coma…

Read More

And Then I Found Myself

Over the last few days, I have found myself in a number of places and situations that, whether expected or unexpected, took me by surprise. They were also largely beyond my control. Alas, I don’t think that after three days here I can say that I have truly “found” myself in any meaningful sense of…

Read More

Turning On A Dime: A New Outlook On The Recession

So guys. Recession: 2008-present. We still in it, and it don’t look like it goin’ nowhere. It stickin’ around for a wee little while longah. And how many of us have wished, at least once, perhaps occasionally, perhaps on a semi-daily basis, that it were over with? That we could return to the days when…

Read More

Make Way, Joseph Heller, for Dostoyevsky

“THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV is a joyful book,” begins the introduction to the Pevear and Volokhonsky 1990 translation. These were the first words within the hard copy that I read when setting out on this adventure, and given what I knew about its subject matter, this seemed a strange and perplexing statement. How could a book…

Read More

Book Review: Slant of Light by Steve Wiegenstein

Blank Slate Press, a young, indie publishing company in St. Louis, Missouri, is putting out a new historical fiction book this spring called Slant of Light. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of the book, because I’m also lucky enough to be able to call the founder of Blank Slate Press “Mom”. So…

Read More

The Political Language of War

This morning, I got an email from CREDO Action, a liberal, grassroots activism website that keeps me up to date on political campaigns, circulating petitions, and key Democratic issues. The subject of the email was: “Take Down these six Tea Partiers”. The message continued: “Even in the most extreme Congress in history, these six stand…

Read More

Digital Photography & Environmental Preservation

Hey world! I recently watched two videos featuring some incredible time-lapse photography out in the wild of the Pacific Coast. The first, entitled “The Majesty of Oregon” instilled in me a tremendous desire to go look at all of the places featured in the video, especially since I was living in Oregon at the time.…

Read More

A Walk In The Wood on Christmas Day

My family decided to do a theme of “Zen” this year for the Christmas spirit, meaning we all had to buy or make gifts for each other that encouraged, for either the gift giver or the gift receiver, a state of peace, calm, and contentment. In that spirit, I cannot think of a better way…

Read More