Once upon a time, I was in a meeting with the president of a new startup film company.  We agreed to meet in his Santa Monica apartment where he had set up shop before finding a permanent office.

The president, a smooth and likeable talker, told me that years back Rod Serling had leased this very same apartment while he was working on the Twilight Zone series. Now, I don’t believe in ghosts, although I do know ghosts of our making can haunt us.

I thought: Would Rod give me a sign that he was somewhere in this plane of existence?

MORE...

If there is any doubt that your eyes can fool you, try the following experiment. Take a ruler with you and look in the bathroom mirror. It seems that the face looking back is about life-size. Now, measure the image in the mirror and you will be surprised. We see what we want to see. It’s for this reason that lawyers love having eyewitnesses to a crime. What you saw can be picked apart until you are no longer certain of what took place.

And if our perceptions of things are in question, there is a larger issue here. No one ever saw anything outside his head. Think about it and you will see the truth in it. Perception takes place solely in the mind’s eye. What appears to be in front of you is taking place within you.

Buddha knew this and saw the maya, or illusion of the world—and in that moment, he was released to experience things as they are.

So, here’s looking at you, kid—with deference to Bogey.

The large stone three-story monolithic type building stood one block from the Pacific Ocean on the borderline between Venice and Santa Monica. There was no sign or name on the front, and it was clear the owner didn’t want company.

I did learn that the building was the property of a real estate developer who had made a fortune in Orange County during the mad rush to buy a house boom of some years ago.

But, what was inside the building?

MORE...

I was visiting a fellow artist, a painter. He lived in a small apartment complex in Santa Monica, California. His place was tidy. Art filled the walls of all three rooms. There was a canvas in progress on an easel, and art supplies were laid out on a large drawing table. A variety of oil paint smears covered my friend’s shirt and pants.

A lady was getting ready to move into one of the nearby one bedroom units on the second floor. She was redecorating the apartment, and there was a painter helping her. My friend knew the painter whose name was Sam. He was reliable and did a lot of house and apartment painting in the area. The woman went out and left Sam to the walls, wood trimmings, and windows.

MORE...

Most of us have heard or read about a “con man” who defrauded some individual.  Usually, the “victim” is portrayed as an innocent. Through some manipulations the con man gains the confidence of the person about to get scammed, which usually means that the “mark” and his money will soon part company.

Look closer.

MORE...