That's what the American odyssey is really about: Leaving home. Leaving home and coming home, and trying to understand the difference.

People feel vulnerable when they travel. Nobody wants to be taken advantage of or talked into something they don't want. Staying at Motel 6 makes you feel smarter. In fact, I think it actually means you are smarter, but I have no hard data to support that.

I'm happy to report you still get nothing you don't need at Motel 6, and, therefore, you don't have to pay for it. I don't need valet parking. If I can drive the old crate 300 miles to the hotel all by myself, I can certainly handle the last nine feet to the parking space.

Mine is not a story to tell struggling writers.

I come from very common stock, and I've always been uncomfortable with pretension and all the forms it can take, including disingenuous broadcasting.

I'm not an impersonator. I've only got one voice and only do one guy and his first-person essays.

The difference between an optimist and a pessimist? An optimist laughs to forget, but a pessimist forgets to laugh.