My parents are conservative evangelical Christians.  In most ways, they are what you’d think they are.  They identify as republican and pro-life.  They think being gay is a sin and likely a choice.  But something snapped during the 2008 presidential election.  When Joh...

Like many angst-ridden kids, I found an identity in rock music.  As an Asian kid in a predominantly white suburb of early 80’s Los Angeles, the sound of cranked guitars, big drums, and powerful vocals was a reassurance that others were angry and disenfranchised like me...

This was my first "popular" post on Facebook ten years ago.  I have updated it for today. Bah Humbug.

Conservatives are always complaining about some "attack" on Christmas.  To me, the desire to be inclusive of all beliefs and cultures during a season with lots of celeb...

Given the daily and sometimes hourly apocalyptic news happening (fall, 2019) these days, it’s almost comforting to think back to simpler times.  My journey out of christian faith had lots of steps, some more significant than others.  I’ve already written about...

When I was in college, a white friend and I were talking about our families, telling stories and sharing insights into the things that made us who we were.  I think it was part of a leadership retreat or something.  I talked about my great-uncles who joined the US Army...

Prominent evangelical leaders and celebrities seem to be raining down from the heavens, announcing they are no longer Christians.  Pastors, worship leaders, rock stars, celebrities, and writers. The fallout has been predictably chaotic with many people on my timelines...

Preface

If we’re honest with ourselves, there are countless reasons for a parent to be mad in every sense of the word.  Whether due to loss of sleep, hopes, dreams, or sex, to mind-numbing routines of feedings, rides to school, practices, or rehearsals, “madness” as an...

There’s a scene at the end of the movie, A Beautiful Mind, where John Nash, having found a way to deal with the people his mind has created, looks across the street to see his self-made characters casually, if sheepishly, following him.  They no longer have the influen...

As the debate rages about what went down at the nation’s capital this past weekend between Nathan Phillips and his Native American activist group and the MAGA-hatted white boys, I have noticed one thing all people of color in America understand that most white American...

A lawyer gets labeled a troublemaker because she gives her opinion and asks questions.  A professor gets ousted from her department for having too many opinions.  I once got written up by a university librarian as being “out of control” and “aggressive” because I was s...

Old guy music rant.  This one should annoy everyone.  Including me.

My friends hate it when I make fun of some commercial hip hop and let my music nerd/snob flag fly. No matter how much I express my deep love for the likes of James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Stevie Won...

Blog update: After starting off the year writing regularly here, I regained the rhythm and momentum to return to finishing my book about APU and my loss of faith.  I'll now be posting here once in a while as thoughts pop into my head, seldom as that is.

When Keiko told...

I wrote this little rant this morning on Facebook:

I'm losing faith in education. While I always believe the liberal arts is the only hope for saving society,I don't see how it helps anyone in this capitalist system succeed. Teachers are poorly compensated for the amou...

Day 14- Sunday, July 9

It was our 23rd wedding anniversary.  Of course we forgot about it until we boarded our flight that afternoon.  We spent the morning packing up our suitcases for the last time and cleaning up the apartment.  It had been a nice 4 days and 4 nights...

Day 13, Saturday, July 8

On our last full day, we were determined to get to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market, said to be the largest fish market in the world.  We cattleprodded the children up earlier and were able to get out the door at around 9:30.  It took about 45 min...