25, err, 30 Facts About Yours Truly
On the eve of November 27, 2021, I’m listening to a cover by my favorite band, Phish, of one of my favorite artists, Jimi Hendrix, on what…
On the eve of November 27, 2021, I’m listening to a cover by my favorite band, Phish, of one of my favorite artists, Jimi Hendrix, on what would have been his 81st birthday as I compose a list of facts about me that, on some future eve, well, may have changed. But for now, here they are:
I was born on January 4, 1973.
That day had a solar eclipse, but it couldn’t be seen from where I was born, which was in Tacoma, Washington, USA.
I lived in a suburb of Tacoma until I was 18 years old. My childhood was, for the most part, rather idyllic.
I was crazy about sports back then, played baseball and tennis and loved watching football, too.
From an early age, people told me, “You are a writer.”
So I went to college at the University of Southern California to study print journalism and political science. I dreamed of becoming either a sportswriter or a politics writer.
I fulfilled both dreams over the next few years, working at the Los Angeles Daily News as a sportswriter and then at The Tacoma Reporter, an alternative weekly, as a political and cultural writer.
I realized dreams are meant to be experienced and then to wake up from. I’m still dreaming … and waking up.
One of my issues in my 20s was I always seemed to work for companies that were run by people who weren’t honest. On September 11, 2001, I was working for a company that represented truck drivers with legal issues. The owners were not honest. I realized on that day that life was too short for bullshit. I quit several days later, went to a forest, and asked the Universe to guide me to a job where the owner was honest. I wrote about those weeks here.
The next day, I was working at a used bookstore, another lifelong dream, and I stayed there until summer 2004 when I moved to Japan.
In January 2002 I met a girl. She was the girl next door from halfway across the world. In short, she was the niece of my parent’s next-door neighbor but she was from Japan.
So I moved to Japan, not only to marry her, but to experience life in a foreign culture and to get out of a culture I thought was on the wrong track.
I’m still here.
I still think the U.S. is on the wrong track.
I taught English in the public schools — junior high and elementary with occasional visits to pre-schools, including when I had to dress up as Santa and attempt to dance — for 15 1/2 years.
Now I teach various jobs, from kids as young as 6 to adults as old as redwoods.
I still suck at Japanese. I don’t study enough. I’ve never really liked the sound of the language, but I find it fascinating, especially the written characters which are from Chinese culture. But man, learning them is hard!
My favorite food has always been pizza. This is a fact I doubt will change.
Then again, my favorite drink had always been orange juice but I can’t remember the last time I drank it. I still love it, but love affairs don’t always last.
I believe Phish is, by far, the greatest rock n roll band ever. Don’t argue. Just submit.
Books are awesome, but these days I start way more than I finish. I’ll even stop reading a book I am enjoying. Media overload’s a bitch.
These days, I just can’t enjoy sports like I used to. I turn on games and usually end up doing something else. So lately, I just don’t bother to turn them on. Not sure why this is, it just is.
One of my hobbies is playing park golf. If there was a pro circuit, I’d consider making that my next career, but there’s not, so I just play it for fun and as a way to catch up with my friends without drinking.
I stopped drinking one year ago. In my mid-20s, I was addicted to heroin and cocaine. Addiction has been an issue for me. That said, I think we live in a predatory capitalist culture that addicts us — but some addictions are better than others, I suppose.
I haven’t bought a new item of clothing in two years. Besides being useful for making our bodies warmer, clothes are overrated.
I’m spiritual without a definition, but connection to Nature is at the heart of it. I like to meditate outdoors with my feet on the ground, I like to do the Wim Hof Method with my shirt off in the sun, I like to take long bike rides without a helmet so I can feel the wind in my hair and sun on my head and I like to jump into bodies of water to cool off.
Politically, I lean toward anarchism. I have enough trouble controlling my life without a need to control yours. But I get it — being a member of the human family is complicated — so I’m compassionate and realistic that perhaps we aren’t ready for anarchism. Still, a man can dream.
I don’t know how to count.
I usually end up writing more than I intend.
I believe Life is for Living, Loving and Learning.