Which ‘Book’ Exactly?
Prospero’s book. From Shakespeare’s The Tempest. In Act 5 Scene 1, Prospero vows to give up magic, his powers and spells, and his records of this: ‘I’ll drown my book’. I’ve always been intrigued with contrasts, with opposites, the yin-yang, the duality of so many phenomena that propel the universe. And language. Growing up, Pop made admission to nightly television a writing exercise. He would hand out notepads and pencils to us kids assembled in front of the set. For each show we watched, we had to summarize the story in our own words. I found it rather rote, so I quickly began to improvise alternate endings, new characters, and dialogue. No, this didn’t charge me with some deep appreciation for writing, or composition, or the beauty of the language, or the majesty of metaphor or irony, as much as the value of ripping off Hollywood writers’ plotlines. Sometime around then, I was sent home early from school for the act of presenting an essay which apparently resounded sufficiently among my classmates and teacher that the principal was summoned to our homeroom, right at that moment. Again, I read aloud, from what I don’t remember, other than the subject was ‘responsibility’. The class stared at me, dumbstruck, then the applause and yelps of glee rang out. The principal wrote a note to my parents and sent me packing with my composition. My first half-day off. With pay(!)
Photography
Meanwhile, at home, I got to read the same piece again to the singular audience of my mother. At the conclusion of which she hugged me, broke a small glass piggy bank and handed me the proceeds, and followed all with a fat, fresh slice of double-chocolate layer cake from the fridge and a cold glass of milk. I should have held out for a smartphone. I watched the joy in her face as I ate my reward, counting my coins on the table-top, not at all inspired by the power of the proper arrangement of the written word on fellow human beings, and mothers, as much as the importance of North American Serial Rights, a lesson that would serve me years later as I mined the very lucrative resale market for stuff that I wrote.
My writing and photographic experience came from the earlier work I did for Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Better Homes & Gardens. More recently, my fiction, non-fiction, photography and graphics have appeared in these publications:
- Agave Magazine
- Apeiron Review
- Arcadia Magazine
- bohemianizm
- Bartleby Snopes
- Cactus Heart
- Cheap Pop Lit
- Chicago Literati
- The Coffeelicious
- Crab Fat Magazine
- Crack the Spine
- Dark Matter Journal
- Dirty Chai Magazine
- eFiction India
- Far Enough East
- FIVE:2:ONE
- Foliate Oak
- Gambling the Aisle
- Gravel Magazine
- Hayden’s Ferry
- Jersey Devil Press
- Loco Magazine
- matchbook
- Marathon Lit
- Medium
- McSweeney’s
- Mojave River Review
- Mud Season Review
- Necessary Fiction
- NewPopLit
- North American Review
- Olivetree Review
- Per Contra
- Petrichor Review
- Pithead Chapel
- Points in Case
- Prairie Schooner
- Prick of the Spindle
- Razed
- SmokeLong Quarterly
- Stoneboat
- Storyacious
- Thin Air
- Thought Catalog
- theNewerYork
- Typehouse
- Up the Staircase
- Utter Magazine
- Vestal Review
- Vine Leaves
Fiction
Beets, Three Ways – Bartleby Snopes
Three Milks – Cheap Pop Lit
Existential Hurricane Watch – Chicago Literati
Nine Steins on the Matter of Light – Crab Fat
To Play’s the Thing – Crack the Spine
Palus Job ♦ Indigo Wind – eFiction India
What Smith Knows – Far Enough East
Bono Sapiens – FIVE:2:ONE
The Cuban as Food – Gambling the Aisle
Take Me to the Pilates – matchbook
The Breathing Game – Marathon Literary
Keeping Up With Cait – Mojave River
The Garden Sky – Necessary Fiction
Crash Tested – New Pop Lit
Solo Sapiens – North American Review
Secret Valley Birds – Per Contra
Tennessee’s Woman – Prairie Schooner
Your Lazarus Dream – Storyacious
Creative Non-Fiction
Godzilla Movies – Crack the Spine
Other EpiPens – Crack the Spine
The Paleo Diet ♦ Cars on Mars – Dark Matter
The Ambien Variants – Five:2:One
Self Driving Cars – Gravel Literary Journal
The New Activist – Gravel Literary Journal
Bitches Be Like 5 Seconds – Jersey Devil
An Ice Cream Headache – Loco Magazine
Other Tiny Houses – McSweeney’s
DeNiro & Trump – Medium/Coffeelicious
The Rape Kit Fail – Medium/Coffeelicious
What Drug Names Mean – Medium/Coffeelicious
When Dogs Can Purr – Medium/Coffeelicious
The Roomba Variants – NewPopLit
Nirvana Griddler Manual – Points in Case
Life From Space – Points in Case
19 Ways to Get Rid of Aliens – Points in Case
8 of the Hottest Burkinis – Points in Case
Games of Clones – Points in Case
New Antifa Groups – Points in Case
Woke Gear – Points in Case
Viewer Discretion – Points in Case
Seuss Seats – Razed
Author’s Page – Thought Catalog
Bake a Bone – theNewerYork
Da Vinci’s Other Code – theNewerYork
GMO Calculator – theNewerYork
The Lotus Eaters – theNewerYork
Photography
Qualm ♦ Water ♦ Pier – Agave Magazine
Life Ring ♦ Jail ♦ Tres ♦ Shade – Apeiron Review
Mixed Media – bohemianism
Orange-Blossom-Florida – Cactus Heart Press
Lines ♦ Sole ♦ Ring ♦ Trace ♦ Frosch – Crack the Spine
Pumphouse – eFiction India
Gallery – Foliate Oak
Cast ♦ Chain ♦ Augur ♦ One Fish – Gambling the Aisle
2014 ♦ Forms – Gravel Literary Journal
Series – Hayden’s Ferry
Flagirl ♦ Troutzilla ♦ Core ♦ Corde – Mud Season
Skull, Flood, Ducks – Olivetree Review
Boots-Florida – Petrichor Review
Kilnya ♦ Slice – Pithead Chapel
Gallery – Prick of the Spindle
Reef ♦ Specie – SmokeLong Quarterly
Featured Artist – Thin Air
Two Photos – Typehouse
Series – Up the Staircase
Chaz ♦ Avios – Vestal Review
Terns, Bliss – Vine Leaves
Graphics & Mixed Media
Surf | Verde – Gambling the Aisle
Bazooka No – Gravel Literary Journal
TV-MA-LSV – Chicago Literati
Azul (Paint) – Petrichor Review
Future Wine – Stoneboat
GMO Calculator – theNewerYork
Writing – Fiction & Not
To Play’s The Thing
Shakespeare’s characters have endured for hundreds of years; some of them feel that’s long enough.
Your Lazarus Dream
Wildlife, and the people that watch them, sometimes get away safely.
Bake A Bone
Not just for dogs anymore: new versions have hit the market, designed to cash in on this custom-baked treat craze.
The Lotus Eaters
Dinosaurs dug flowers. Flowering plants existed a hundred million years before previously thought, and T-Rex loved them.
Da Vinci’s Other Code
The Da Vinci Code. Hit book and movie series. But there’s also a little-known repository of the master’s documents that have eluded public scrutiny. Until now.
The Paleo Diet
The Paleo Diet is the hottest thing since sliced bread. Now there’s evidence that the menu in ancient times really was anything but boring, as well.
4 Reasons Why We Should Bring Back 1980s Hair
There’s a retro thing in the wind; even Boy George is back.
The Palus Job
Coupla guys sitting in a diner. Is that Al Pacino? And Joe Mantegna? Been a while since the Godfather, huh?
4 Ways Your T-Shirt Is Killing Us
The t-shirt, staple of the American wardrobe. It’s casual, soft, simple, personal, social and ‘natural’, right? Yeah, and it’s a killer, too.
The Presidents Who Loved Me
Nixon and Obama. Go figure.
Radio Daze
You owe your smartphone to this radio, the original communications and social networking appliance in one, easy-to-hold package.
Phillip Hoffman’s War
‘Doubt’, as his Father Flynn character said in the movie of that name, ‘can be a bond as powerful as certainty.’ Now we know what it took to be Phillip Seymour Hoffman. His life.
The Roam Depot
More waving. Less pursuing. Now you’ll know the method behind the vanishing help at your favorite DIY warehouse, and why they like it that way. And you should, too.
ISON Aglow
ISON was another ‘comet of the century’ that didn’t happen. Yet. But you can read all about these heavenly phenomena and try your hand at our comet-name calculator.
Extreme Remodeling
The shorter the schedule, the hotter the action. So, it was just a matter of time that they’d be vacuuming up after entire renovations before the dessert plates were collected. They’re the ‘Potty Pirates’.
Self Driving Cars
Self-driving cars are coming. Or going. Depends.
Etch a Sketch R Us
JFK loved the Etch a Sketch and used Caroline’s to save the world. Here are some other versions to ponder.
One Kyoto, Two Kyoto
A ‘Real Life Carbon Footprint Calculator'. Take our test. We factor more than just carbon impact, using some calculations that just aren’t that common. Here's why you should: no sooner did the ink dry on the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty designed to limit...
Cars on Mars
[ Published in the Summer 2013 Dark Matter Journal] Cars on Mars. Traffic jams. Off-Road Rage. Fender Benders. Pileups on the Interquad. Chop Shops! Were we asleep at the wheel of these driverless buggies? How, and when, did it get to this? Seems like it was...
Texting is History
A history of texting. A brand-new technology that's over 170 years old. “What hath God wrought?” was the first message Samuel Morse sent on his spanking new invention, the telegraph. Less is made of the reply he got, which was really just a repeat of his own words,...
Alive and Kickin’
Wildlife has a ways to go to keep their survival skills sharp. Here in Florida, all outdoor animals wake up running. It’s a hard life for most species. Every critter is someone else’s lunch, and they act like it. But with just a step or two more up the...
Graphics
I’m not a graphics artist, more a graphics designer. Maybe just a stylist. Whatever. During years of web design, I developed these passable skills out of the necessity of completing projects on time and on budget, and not have to wait on the schedules of other talent. But I do like illustrating my writing with visuals that will enhance the experience for the reader, that are the narrative as much as the words and photos. Uh, huh!
