I live in Eugene, Oregon and write essays, op-eds and satire.
Personal essay
Rogue Western Meditator in Thai Temples
Essay about meditating in Thai temples where meditation is rarely done.
Gaining a country, if not a language
Essay in Flung Magazine about finally feeling connected to Japan through my wife's family.
The liberal's guide to a chainsaw
Essay in High Country News on finding pride and pleasure in safely using a chainsaw.
Are we smarter than hummingbirds?
Essay in High Country News that asks why hummingbirds won't share the bounty of my hummingbird feeder.
Fixing on an image to help me cope
Essay on Cancer: The Emperor of all Maladies about how understanding the latest cancer science has helped me cope with my wife’s cancer.
Guided by memory through two Thai Chinatowns
Essay in Flung Magazine about revisiting Chinatowns of our younger days.
Filling an empty nest with chickens
Essay in High Country News about deciding what to do with backyard chickens who don't lay anymore.
Ninja fishing with wife
Essay in Tenkara Magazine about sneaking some fishing into a romantic walk in the woods.
Our love-hate of spirituality
Skeptical-spiritual memoir on Project Reason in response to Sam Harris' Waking Up.
Satire
Our plans to keep rural Americans unemployed finally pays off
Fake newsletter on McSweeney's Internet Tendency "celebrating" Scott Pruitt's takeover of the EPA.
Apology perks for tourists visiting New York during Trump's presidency
Tourist promotions announced on Points in Case to atone for the most powerfully embarrassing New Yorker on the planet.
Father's Day message: Mom and I need to divorce you
Imagined monologue on Points in Case wherein dad demands separation from his pubescent kids.
Activities for the coolest sleep-over ever...at the White House!
Invite from Donald T. to boyhood friends on Robot Butt promising big fun at all-night playdate.
11 inspiring quotes from American working jobs they are totally unqualified for
Words of wisdom on Points in Case from on-the-job know-nothings at the lowest level of society to the highest.
Our Dissident Art Needs Continued NEA Support to Expose the Meaningless Striving of People with Regular Jobs
Artist's manifesto on Points in Case by in-your-face artists who deserve federal support because they are more creative than you.
To please the gods, humans must make war great again
Op-ed on Points in Case by Mars, God of War applauding human's progress toward a new area of god-pleasing warfare.
How to beat iPhone addiction by smoking at the office
Advice on The Higgs Weldon for using office smoking policies to kick compulsive iPhone use.
McCain begins hunger strike to demand integrity from Trump
Fake news article on HumorOutcasts about John McCain's patriotic efforts to improve our president's behavior.
The lower the debate goes, the better for our democracy
Op-ed on HumorOutcasts calling for the presidential candidates to sink to the bottom for an engaged electorate.
A Trump secret that could please Democrats
Op-ed on HumorOutcasts revealing a truth about Donald Trump that may please Democrats and disappoint Republicans.
Science, technology and environment
Can Eugene, Oregon become a haven for startups?
Essay in High Country News about Eugene's uniquely friendly high-tech startup culture.
Of sex and death in the rain
Essay in High Country News about a stream-side education program that teaches salmon ecology to high-schoolers.
Don’t pick up the leaverite
Essay in High Country News on how a Ranger handles the hoards of wildflower tourists at Mount Rainier National Park.
Local tech firms leaders give back to the land
Essay for Register‑Guard on outdoor fundraiser to support restoration of river-side farmland to riparian habitat.
Eugene environmental alliance has global reach
Essay for Register‑Guard about grassroots group that illustrates what could grow from Paris Climate Accord.
The Eugene Orb Weavers
Essay for Register‑Guard on why summer spiders keep building webs, no matter how many times we knock them down.
Cover Oregon Not Alone
Essay in Register‑Guard on why the Cover Oregon website failed.
Old-growth Douglas fir frame of Eugene Oregon's Civic Stadium
Essay in High Country News on the enduring structural integrity of one of the country's last remaining wooden ballparks.
Coding the natural laws of a cartoon universe
Essay for Spotkin's Education Hub on the science behind the physics computer game Contraption Maker.
Prehistoric Mind: Evolutionary Psychology for Meditators
Essay in Inquiring Mind on evolutionary psychology and meditation.
Opinion
Obama's understanding of conflict
Essay for Register‑Guard about Barack Obama's wisdom in understanding conflict.
We interrupt this program
How to use science and mindfulness to ease the grip of self-drama.
Casting off electronic leashes a good thing
Essay in Register‑Guard about not being able to reach my daughter while she was in Amazon rainforest.
Nice people fight back
Profile of self-defense workshop leaders who explain how they ease women through the transition from “nice person” to “nice person who can punch, kick and gouge if she has to.”