Mountain Buddha: The Origin Story

I never pictured myself as a blogger.  After graduate school, most of the writing I did, when I did it, revolved around literary criticism.  That was the original plan: get an MA, work as an adjunct for one, maybe two years, then apply to a Ph.D. program somewhere to finish up my education and get…

Nature Boys from the ‘Hood

Above timberline, with sustained winds around fifty miles per hour and gusts approaching ninety, while the temperature hovers somewhere just under thirty below, Pierre and Jon hunker down behind a rock for shelter, Pierre’s side screaming in pain.  He calls out to Jon, his brother, “Dude, for some reason the side of my body is…

A Man of Leisure’s Brief Guide to Understanding Wellness and Productivity

Change.  Life’s great constant.  Humans possess a remarkable ability to shape their circumstances in life.  While there is no doubt that there exists a great many factors in life over which people have no control—circumstances of birth, the past, what others think, life and death, catching up with the Joneses—there also exists a good many…