Illuminatus! vs Atlas Shrugged

I never met Robert Anton Wilson, but after reading him closely for years, I like to think I know him pretty well. When I went to college in the 1970s, I encountered Illuminatus!, and it had a greater effect upon me than anything I learned in class. It's impossible to minimize the impact the book… READ THE REST

It was raining hard and I came into work soaking wet. My Dr. Martens had that darker sheen around the toes where the water had sunk into the petrol-resistant exterior. The smell of damp and of dusty books filled my nose as I prepared for another day of work at the library. It was 1995… READ THE REST

Photo of Tiffany Lee Brown by Wiley Wiggins Someday I hope to share with you audio from an interview I conducted with Mr. Wilson, but it's entirely possible the old cassette is long gone. I'm still looking. For now, here's text: Robert Anton Wilson was kinda more George Carlin and less Timothy Leary than he… READ THE REST

If mobile devices had been around when the Boy Scouts were organized over 110 years ago, it feels likely that telling scouts to have a stable supply of standby power around in case of emergency would have been high on the essentials list. The Boy Scouts are all about being prepared — and that's pretty… READ THE REST

Trying to sleep during the height of the summer heat isn't always easy. If you live in a warm climate and if you have upstairs bedrooms, you know the heat rises — and while the air conditioning keeps things feeling comfortable downstairs, that isn't always the case upstairs. Once you throw some sheets and blankets… READ THE REST

No one wants to sleep on soggy, unstable, or unsafe ground when they go camping. If you've got an SUV, you're probably halfway tempted to just sleep in the vehicle sometimes, even though that kind of defeats the whole outdoor experience. However, you can still use your SUV to your advantage and craft yourself a safe,… READ THE REST