Asimov’s Foundation Fails as Fiction

While I love the idea-driven, philosophically oriented science fiction authors of the 50s and '60s, the likes of which include Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clark, Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, and Isaac Asimov---I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by the first in Asimov's Foundation series. I truly, truly wanted to love... Continue Reading →

Why MAUS Matters

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard about MAUS, Art Spiegelman's moving holocaust graphic novel, now recently banned by the Tennessee School Board. Schools in Tennessee are run by ninnies, apparently, because all seven members voted to keep the book from the hands of middle schoolers owing to the book's depiction of... Continue Reading →

Love and Sex among the Ilmarin People

Solstice Night by Alice Gastaldon I am passionate about my heroes, Xandr and Thelana, because I share their values, and attitudes, regarding communal nakedness. Since clothing is utterly unknown to their people, the Ilmar, they have no sense of body shame, no understanding, actually, of what it means to be "naked". The Ilmar manage this... Continue Reading →

My friends voted for Trump

I have a problem, and it's a problem that I think many Americans share. My friends voted for Trump. The fact that they could do this utterly mystifies me. Since the day we elected this monster, I have been trying to rationalize the choice they made. But as news reports continue to lend credence to the very worst... Continue Reading →

SNEAK PEAK #4: THE ONE SEA

Every now and again, I like to take a mental detour from whatever book I am writing, to explore the goings on of my favorite naked heroes, Xandr and Thelana. This is a very early rough draft from the upcoming sequel to Ages of Aenya and The Princess of Aenya, tentatively titled, The One Sea (originally Skyclad Warriors). Previously, as seen in parts #1, #2 and #3,... Continue Reading →

JE SUIS CHARLIE and the Threat of Absolutism

The Prophet Mohammed? "I am Charlie," people around the world have been saying since twelve staffers who worked at Charlie Hebdo, a satirical Parisian periodical, were massacred.   I am not terribly political by any means, aside from my ritual viewing of The Daily Show and the late great The Colbert Report, but I have had first hand... Continue Reading →

Sex, Marriage, and Morality

What is marriage? How has it changed between cultures, time periods and individuals? And what, if anything, does it have to do with love? However we choose to define it, morality is the glue that holds marriage together.  For decades, I have passionately argued that nudism does not = sex, and clubs like AANR (the American Association... Continue Reading →

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