When I first started this blog I saw it as a writing exercise, flexing a noodle that was quite active in my younger days. I read and wrote voraciously as a teenager, but in the years since I have litterally limped along, pining for those days and doing little or nothing to recapture the energy that made writing almost as necessary as breathing.

As I continue to pursue interests and dreams outside of my regular work, and with the unconditional support of family and friends, that old energy seems to be returning. Stringing words together seems more natural and less a chore than it did just a year ago. While I’ve got a long way to go, I see a time not unlike the old days, when I’d spend hours laboring away at the typewriter, writing for myself, and for my friends. Believing if you can make yourself and your friends happy, the rest takes care of itself.

Over the past several months I have captured much of the writing of those years as computer files. Some of it’s good, and some well.. is frankly embarrassing, some aren’t even finished. A couple of pieces I don’t remember writing at all. But I’ll be posting them all here for your reading pleasure, or pain, depending on the piece :). I’d love to hear your feedback on each story… good or bad, what you liked, didn’t like, and maybe if it’s worth revisiting. I will be doing a bit of touch up on each story, fixing spelling/grammatical errors for the most part, but they will remain intact. The stories will be posted as PDF files, so you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader or similar to view. You can download the Adobe Acrobat Reader software by clicking here.

I will start with a story called “The Journey”, which I wrote a few years ago. It’s been revised recently and is one of the stronger pieces I have written. I’ll be working my way backwards in time from here, and it’s likely to be downhill much of the time, so hang on. 🙂 Anyways, I hope you enjoy it. Download The Journey.

Warner Brothers has come under legal fire from a group of Greek lawyers for portraying Alexander the Great as a bisexual in the film of the same name. The lawyers are threatening to bring suit against both the studio and director Oliver Stone unless the credits of the film are altered to indicate that the film is a fictional account with no basis in fact.

Pardon me, but with all the fornicating flatware in museums and the sexual connotations of the term “greek” not withstanding, these greek lawyers need to give it a rest. I think their time would be better spent practicing law than trying to clear the name of man who died two
thousand years ago. Much of the historical texts describing the period indicate that Alexander batted for both teams, as did many of that time. It was not uncommon to have a wife and multiple lovers.

Perhaps the lawyers find the suggestion that Alexander was bisexual or gay a threat to their masculinity. How could such a man have conquered much of the known world by the age of 32 as well as taken a lover? Please. Alexander is one of many historical figures that enjoyed the
company of the same sex. And none has brought about the collapse of civilization, nor tainted the masculinity of any one man.

Go home to your husbands or wives greek lawyers. Your masculinity is intact.

I would like to draw your attention to a worthy cause highlighted by my good friend Mark D’Elicio with regards to the San Francisco Zoo, and the proposed legislation that would ban elephants and give the city oversight of the care and condition of the zoo’s animals.

You can read more about the propososed legislation on his blog here.

That Disney is pursuing the Toy Story franchise alone disturbs me on so many levels I can’t even begin to describe the terrible and awful impact Eisner has had on Disney and the sooner he is gone, the better. It is so painfully clear that Disney can nolonger develop the kind of films that formed their renaissance back in the 80s (Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc.) so they have to latch onto the only thing that has been successful for them over the last 10 years. Pixar. I hope Steve Jobs and John Lassiter can put a stop to this. I am afraid Mickey has lost his mouse ears and sprung horns in their place.