Jazz is a state of mind, Zen is a way of life

My mother was an amateur artist, and my father was an amateur photographer and sang with a voice like Bing Crosby.   So artistic expression has always been around me.  Growing up with my mother after my siblings left the house, was when my true introduction to art took place.   She took me to museums, art shows and shared with me her works in progress.  Iimpressions made and kept.  Literature was something that I responded to at an early age, writing my first haiku in grammar school.  Though, it was my older brother Steve who created a love of writing in me, introducing me to authors such as Hemingway, Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dostoevsky, Pasternak, Mark Twain while expressing his intellectual curiosity and excitement about the art of writing.  Through the years I've added a few favorites of my own - Sam Shepard, Kurt Vonnegut, Kahill Gibran, and Usula Le Guin.

Writing, listening to music and now photography are my emotional outlets.  I've been writing poetry since my early teenage angst years and continue to this day.  Short format fiction is a new endeavor for me.  Hard but satisfying.  Each day is a new opportunity to explore the inner echo chambers.  Welcome!