Among the very few problems I have is having to regularly confront people about misconceptions of fat, self worth, and what it really means to be healthy. I never cease to be amazed by the people who think they are awesome just because they are fit, even when failing to demonstrate the most basic of human niceties, let alone traits which are actually admirable such as empathy, intelligence, or humor.
Read MoreWhen I was a young man struggling with my homosexuality growing up in the midst of a bigoted and conservative Mormon community I was constantly perturbed by stories in the scriptures of God either relieving or sending plagues upon the various characters in the stories and their communities.
Read MoreI don’t have to tell anyone how the coronavirus COVID-19 has disrupted markets, caused massive layoffs and financial losses, and contributed to panic, fear, and economic instability and hardship across the globe. Ironically, the panic has been no where worse than in the United States, a country blessed with obscene economic property with no real need for panic, except that it is now a country full of angry, ungrateful, suspicious, selfish human beings
Read MoreEver since recovering from cancer I have only gotten sick twice—a cold once and a more serious viral throat infection which took about a week to fully resolve. But in spite of having been recently very ill with cancer and thyroid disease, before and during which I would catch the flu every year and which took near a month each time to fully recover, I have not gotten it once since recovering. This is no accident, as some of the various techniques I use to help improve my own health
Read MoreWhen I was fifteen years of age and struggles with my parents began to reach a fever pitch, my mother one day came into my room after a row and told me she was afraid I would not be able to provide for a family when I grew up. She was not concerned about an abundance of employment opportunities or the decreasing trend in wages compared to inflation and the const of living..
Read MoreOne night when I was still fairly new to Los Angeles I attended the premier of a friends’ comedy show. If I had known then that making friends with aspirational actors would be a liability to my happiness I would gladly have altered course in this time of my life (people whose purpose in life is to “make it” do not make good friends).
Read MoreAs soon as I got home from a trip to visit my family I promptly fell asleep for sixteen hours straight, waking only once to pee and take a bite of an apple. I have spent so many years around people who are intensely afraid of everything, and I can hardly bear it anymore and was totally drained. Humans are an incredibly fearful animal. Perhaps it is our position halfway between the prey and the predators. Perhaps it is our superstitions. Perhaps there really is much to be afraid of.
Read MoreLike most people in Western societies at this time of year I will be traveling to visit my family, and like a great portion of these people I found myself experiencing some intense anxieties about my upcoming trip which were making my daily life at the moment a bit unbearable
Read MoreSeveral years ago I was on a phone call with one of my sisters. She began venting about how her children were not eating. “What are you feeding them?” I asked. She rambled off several different food items, most of which were vegetables. I began to explain to her why kids don’t like vegetables, and how she could get around it,
Read MoreOne bright, beautiful summer Saturday when I was twenty-eight I was at a party in the Hollywood Hills. My friend's pool was once Walt Disney's, though this contemporary house had been built between Walt Disney's actual house and the pool so we were not in the same rooms that Walt used to walk. The house looked over the whole of Los Angeles, and since there were only about twelve people at the party, all of us familiar with each other now for a number of years, there was a more intimate feeling than usual L.A. pool parties.
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