Happy Holidays 2018

Family, Friends, and online strangers passing by, Happy Holidays. I think I’ve said this before about previous years, but 2018 has been a hell of a year, both good and not so good. Hard to believe that it’s been 10-years since I first left Long Beach and now I’ve bought a place in Las Vegas. Also second year in a

Little Ray of Hope: CA Certificate Renewed

Daily Random Shit for 2016-03-30: Little Ray of Hope: I was expecting this to take months, but it’s only been days…

When You’re a Stranger in a Strange Land

Daily Random Shit for 2016-02-01: When You’re a Stranger in a Strange Land I have a number of intelligent conservative friends who unapologetically vote Republican. I like that they have the freedom to choose, just like I do. But when I see this level of hate and scapegoating, I have to wonder what these friends, whom I respect, must think.

Subliminal Ethnicity

Ethnically not fitting in is something I’ve had to deal with my whole life. Some are even surprised that I’m of any particular ethnicity. The following essay was published in Fuller Theological Seminary’s student journal, Ember, in 1985. At the bottom of this post is a downloadable PDF version of the original submission and footnotes. Enjoy. Ethnicity. At my wedding

Diving into the Past without Drowning: Day Trip to Laguna Beach (1973)

Diving into the Past without Drowning: Day Trip to Laguna Beach (1973) Original 8mm Film by Joe Bustillos Edited by Joe Bustillos & Random Chance Music by Smartsound Music, “Visions 22K” Filmed on location in Laguna Canyon & Laguna Beach CA in 1973 Featuring Lynn Tschirgi & cute white puppy I just spent the last hour watching an 8mm film

Blog Action Day: Inequity and The Opportunity to Learn

My mom and dad grew up in the post-World War II boon when they really believed that you could achieve anything that you worked hard at. They grew up in San Gabriel, CA, where the joke was that everyone was related to one another and it was understood which side of the railroad tracks, which ran directly behind my grandparents’

The Journey from Doodler to Writer

It would probably come as a great surprise to my elementary or middle school teachers that I fell in love with writing, much less learning itself. I was always of a curious nature, but generally not in a way that worked well with staying in one’s seat or working without talking. It probably didn’t help that, as a kid, I also pretty much

Video Wednesdays: Caine’s Arcade

I can’t tell you how much I love this story. I was this kid and to this day get ribbed to death by family members for trying to make things with cardboard and tape all through my childhood. Rockets, cities, clubhouses, you name I tried to build a version of it using cardboard boxes and tape. It does my heart

The Threat the Internet Represents to What We Value in Life

Back from California, I had a great brief visit with family after a wonderful return to Macworld. During my family stay I spent some time doing the tech-support thing and got some work done bouncing between whatever computer I was working on, my MacBook air, iPad and iPhone. My niece exclaimed at one point, “how many computers do you have?!”