Please give me some feedback on these writings--my memoir and blog--how do they affect you? Have you faced serious lifestyle challenges, and how did you overcome them?

Let's share how we have changed our lives for the better, sometimes as the result of adversity.

My aim here is to post regularly, offering lots of photos of Tepoztlan, the Magic Pueblo, where I have lived in central Mexico for the past 10 years--the streets, hangouts, friends, and especially the magic mountains.

The Bumpy Road work continues. I got now have a bar code (ISBN) and it will be available from Amazon by August. You can still get it from lulu.com (click on link on the right of this page). Although I have sold about 50 copies, I have not gotten much serious feedback, so please do so if you read it. Should I make it into a one man play?

Calle Cinco de Mayo in Tepoztlan, Mexico

Church on Cinco de Mayo

Eduardo--at a fiesta with the family next door

View from a hike

Some friends in Wmass, April 2013 trip.

Top to bottom: Wolf at NOHO presentation, Karen after lunch at Survival Center, Men's group at DeJa Brew.

And Dexter holding court at Rao's

How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival [Paperback]

David Kaiser

I just finished reading this book today--a truly fun read!

Significantly, on the same day I received the first 26 copies of my newly published book:

The Bumpy Road, A Memoir of Culture Clash Including Woodstock, Mental Hospitals, and Living in Mexico.

This is the beginning of my regular blog section.

My logo is a shell commonly found at Zipolite Beach in Oaxaca, Mexico, and is pictured on the right side of the page.

I've been going to Zipolite for the past four years during the Christmas holidays to play in the band: The Zipolite Beach Billies.

This shape is very important to me. The point represents to me the calm center of a cyclone. This symbolizes the still centered focus during meditation. From this point the shell swirls upwards and outwards in a Fibonaci progression, growing from within. It's like spiraling out from meditation to the whorl of life's activities. Periodically I return to the calm center to reflect and meditate.

Bumpy Road Description

Everyone lives a personal “hero’s journey”.  

The Bumpy Road shows how culture clash is a muse for creative transformation. It tells the story of childhood followed by adolescent confusion. 

A boy struggles to become a man by buying into institutions that did not work for him:  marriage to a woman whose entire self-concept was tied to “the relationship”; academia where as a science student success is about publish or perish; the old boy club where lies and back-stabbing were rampant. 

 The 60’s culture came and personal chaos ensued. Relying on mental hospitals to correct these institutional evils created new problems. But the human spirit is resilient.  

The Bumpy Road details how the habit of going to the hospital for help was broken and how a new artistic identity emerged. Exposure to cultural diversity provided opportunities. New struggles and successes were encountered in Mexico. 

Reading The Bumpy Road promotes self-examination and encourages transformation

Promos for my book

The Bumpy Road- A Memoir of Culture Clash Including Woodstock, Mental Hospitals & Living in Mexico

The "Bumpy Road Phenomenon"

The "Bumpy Road Phenomenon"

Imagine you are driving along the road in Central Mexico, south of Mexico City in the formerly volcanic region known as Tepoztlan, "the Magic City". Relaxing and enjoying the scenery, you see the mountains sculpted as mushrooms and temples. Suddenly you hit a bumpy section. You jam on the brakes to avoid destroying the car. Now you need to focus on the next pothole. Everything is up close. A Mexican tells you that the bumps are "dead policemen". Speedbumps and potholes are very common.

Jamming on the brakes is one way to survive life's jagged areas of culture clash.  Unlike the bumps in the road, the bumps of life offer opportunities for reflection and growth.