The one time in years I deliberately point people to my blog for ONE PURPOSE, I discovered that WordPress hid the thing I wanted them to see. Neat.

I noticed something about the way I read books, yesterday. When I start a book, it's like I'm sitting in an empty space, completely surrounded by the fog of war. Over some number of pages, that fog is pushed back and the world in the book begins to populate the formerly-empty space. Eventually, that space is on the other side of a portal that I step through as effortlessly as I open the cover of the book. I guess I've been doing this my whole life, but I didn't actually notice and note it until yesterday.

Originally written in 2021, The Ghosts of Christmas Past is a tapestry woven from painful and joyful memories that all decided to surround me that December. I've added to it once, in 2023, and I added to it again this year.

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, in the 70s and 80s. I remember when this kid -- who nobody thought could even make the final, much less win -- in the All Valley Karate Championship.