My life began in my mid-thirties, when it dawned on me that people don't bother convincing one another that things "don't exist" unless they, um... probably do. My science education left me in a deep hole, but the birds I specialized in pulled me through by showing me that they are altogether smarter and more pleasant than most ornithologists. I have been seeing amazing paintings and old maps lately, which led me to conclude that California had been crippling me for three decades with "Quality-Art Sensory-Deprivation".