Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Bio
I am first and foremost an explorer of the human experience, and my eternal goal is to make manifest ever more joyous ways of being and effective modes of living. Writing is an integral part of this journey; it's my technique for alchemizing the points where mind, body and spirit intersect into palpable form, as well as being a meditation on the process itself.
It's silly to talk about writing as palpable, though, since it's anything but. Words define reality as much as reality defines words. I feel sometimes absurd and always humbled coaxing concept into language fit to preserve.
I don't remember when I first decided to become a writer the same way I don't remember uttering my first syllables or taking my first steps. It is an innate urge. I grew up in Bakersfield, California with my nose stuck not only in books, but anywhere else I could wedge it, too. Being an outsider and an observer, I gained my wisdom from the fringes and tangents--a bent that has developed into a lifelong odyssey through tribal subcultures and iconoclastic philosophies.
I went to college at UCLA, where I dove deeply into the texts required by my English literature honors courses. In the city at large, I dove even more deeply into Los Angeles culture, both high and low, and got to know many pivotal characters in the ongoing narrative of the sprawling metropolis, several of whom have greatly informed my worldview and approach to subject matter.
Both during and after college, I traveled extensively through Europe, where I experienced firsthand all the many things I'd soaked up from a life of reading and looking at art. Two years out of college and still working an office job, I sold everything I had and bought a one-way ticket to Kathmandu. From there, I explored Nepal, India and Thailand for eight months before settling for a year in Kyoto, Japan, where I taught English as a second language, did some runway modeling, and wrote public relations material for the Osaka Prefectural Government. My travels and exposure to different cultures have affected my life as a writer as much as, if not more than, my education, both widening my vision and honing my aesthetics.
Back in Los Angeles, I started my career as a writer, turning first to newspaper and magazine journalism. Though I proved that I could be just as authoritative, suave, witty or bizzare as any multi-faceted journalist when writing for various markets, I found that everything I wrote was an exercise in healing and integration, no matter what the subject. This continues to be the case.
I have always written fiction, but I have published mostly non-fiction, including a book of essays and two guidebooks, a plethora of news, health, entertainment and culture-related articles for every kind of publication, from local newspapers to national glossies, and a series of strong art criticism pieces during my stint as deputy editor for an alternative weekly in 2003-4.
Please visit my sidebar to the left (still much to come!) for links to my books, including excerpts and reviews, clips, resume, agent website, and works in progress, among other vital connections. And if you want to know more about me, my life, my views and my writing, be sure to visit The Naked Animal, where I download my brain onto the Web in order to find the connections within the connections between our inner and outer circuitries.
Anything else you want to know? Just email me.
It's silly to talk about writing as palpable, though, since it's anything but. Words define reality as much as reality defines words. I feel sometimes absurd and always humbled coaxing concept into language fit to preserve.
I don't remember when I first decided to become a writer the same way I don't remember uttering my first syllables or taking my first steps. It is an innate urge. I grew up in Bakersfield, California with my nose stuck not only in books, but anywhere else I could wedge it, too. Being an outsider and an observer, I gained my wisdom from the fringes and tangents--a bent that has developed into a lifelong odyssey through tribal subcultures and iconoclastic philosophies.
I went to college at UCLA, where I dove deeply into the texts required by my English literature honors courses. In the city at large, I dove even more deeply into Los Angeles culture, both high and low, and got to know many pivotal characters in the ongoing narrative of the sprawling metropolis, several of whom have greatly informed my worldview and approach to subject matter.
Both during and after college, I traveled extensively through Europe, where I experienced firsthand all the many things I'd soaked up from a life of reading and looking at art. Two years out of college and still working an office job, I sold everything I had and bought a one-way ticket to Kathmandu. From there, I explored Nepal, India and Thailand for eight months before settling for a year in Kyoto, Japan, where I taught English as a second language, did some runway modeling, and wrote public relations material for the Osaka Prefectural Government. My travels and exposure to different cultures have affected my life as a writer as much as, if not more than, my education, both widening my vision and honing my aesthetics.
Back in Los Angeles, I started my career as a writer, turning first to newspaper and magazine journalism. Though I proved that I could be just as authoritative, suave, witty or bizzare as any multi-faceted journalist when writing for various markets, I found that everything I wrote was an exercise in healing and integration, no matter what the subject. This continues to be the case.
I have always written fiction, but I have published mostly non-fiction, including a book of essays and two guidebooks, a plethora of news, health, entertainment and culture-related articles for every kind of publication, from local newspapers to national glossies, and a series of strong art criticism pieces during my stint as deputy editor for an alternative weekly in 2003-4.
Please visit my sidebar to the left (still much to come!) for links to my books, including excerpts and reviews, clips, resume, agent website, and works in progress, among other vital connections. And if you want to know more about me, my life, my views and my writing, be sure to visit The Naked Animal, where I download my brain onto the Web in order to find the connections within the connections between our inner and outer circuitries.
Anything else you want to know? Just email me.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
All about Plato's Garage
In 1997, an editor at St. Martin's Press contracted me to write a book about cars. My idea was to employ the sociology, psychology and symbolism of the automobile as a divining rod to the human condition. What I devised was a web of essays both impressionistic and journalistic that examine how people--including myself--forge symbiotic relationships with cars to effect their own self-transformations.
Before the manuscript was finished, the editor abruptly left St. Martin's to pursue a career as an agent, dropping a few dozen projects along the way. Mine was one of a few to be picked up, thanks to Senior Editor Keith Kahla, who helped me reach deeper into the realms I was exploring, and championed the book to the press.
I have received a lot of positive feedback about this book, but what most tickled me was when I found out that it was being used on syllabi for two widely divergent courses at two different colleges--one in New England and one in California.
Please follow the links below to find out more about it (the title of this post is linked to Plato's Garage at Amazon.com).
Plato's Garage at Barnes and Noble, with first chapter excerpt
Plato's Garage at Stonewall Inn, the glbt division of St. Martin's Press
Once you get there, follow the links to five full-chapter excerpts.
Read the New York Times review (requires registration).
Read editor Keith Kahla's radical response to a shortsighted San Francisco Examiner review.
Plato's Garage on Palm Reader eBooks
Plato's Garage on Diesel eBooks
The yin and yang of guidebooks
After Plato's Garage, I compiled and wrote two wildly divergent guidebooks: one on shopping in LA, the other on hiking in LA. Though diametrically opposed, they turned out to be complementary activities:
The Serious Shopping Guide: Los Angeles
Ecstatic Trails: The 52 Best Day Hikes and Nature Walks in and around Los Angeles, with hand-drawn maps!
The Serious Shopping Guide: Los Angeles
Ecstatic Trails: The 52 Best Day Hikes and Nature Walks in and around Los Angeles, with hand-drawn maps!
Links to selected culture/film articles
"In the Land of the Supermodels"
Buzz, 1996
...through the looking glass of Las Vegas with Eileen Ford's Supermodel of the World contest, a precursor to TV's current America's Next Top Model.
"Teen Angel"
Out, 1997
...a personal essay about being a 30-year-old ex teen sex fiend into older men who is in turn being chased by teen sex fiends.
"The Doppelganger"
Genre, 2000
...a quick analysis of the image of the twin in cinema, where I connect Brad Pitt, Patty Duke, Bette Davis and ETA Hoffman, among others, in one fell swoop.
"Rave Pride"
Genre, 2000
...a review and comparison of two very different movies about rave culture.
"Gotta Be Demented"
an interview with John Waters for Genre, 2000
"Conversion Therapy"
an interview with Tammy Faye Baker for Genre, 2000
Buzz, 1996
...through the looking glass of Las Vegas with Eileen Ford's Supermodel of the World contest, a precursor to TV's current America's Next Top Model.
"Teen Angel"
Out, 1997
...a personal essay about being a 30-year-old ex teen sex fiend into older men who is in turn being chased by teen sex fiends.
"The Doppelganger"
Genre, 2000
...a quick analysis of the image of the twin in cinema, where I connect Brad Pitt, Patty Duke, Bette Davis and ETA Hoffman, among others, in one fell swoop.
"Rave Pride"
Genre, 2000
...a review and comparison of two very different movies about rave culture.
"Gotta Be Demented"
an interview with John Waters for Genre, 2000
"Conversion Therapy"
an interview with Tammy Faye Baker for Genre, 2000
