August in sub-Saharan Los Angeles is one of the great and awful tests of one's endurance, sanity and stamina.

With age, life becomes complex and difficult, often fraught with risk on several levels, from the practical to the fiscal.

It's difficult for me to be around anyone for longer than an hour. Love, death, elation, sorrow, I just don't care all that much about any of it. I am at this point, more of an observer/journalist.

I'm not trying to say I'm a big tough guy... I'm a typical American-waist deep in this violent culture.

I like how I write better than how I speak.

I guess, topic to topic, you could consider me a left-leaning person.

My favorite species to study would be Cobras and King Cobras which are two different families. They're very intelligent, and they're beautiful looking animals. Where they come from are countries and regions which I spend a lot of time in - South East Asia and India, those are places I go to fairly often, and so the cobras are my main interest. It's not a snake I can maintain, but when I see them in zoos and what not, I find them interesting.