As some of you may remember, Animated Meat first came to life in 2008 as a way to document some sights that managed to slip through the cracks of most popular travel websites. You may also remember that the original website was built on Apple's now defunct iWeb. From there, it migrated over to WordPress where it met an untimely demise at the hands of Russian hackers. Many of those old, pre-2012 entries have found a new home here in the Before the Now section. I would consider these posts as my starting place as a writer, probably comparable to a musician's first demo tapes. They are very rough, but I took them all seriously and wrote each one with passion. While I would like to believe that I have matured in my abilities as a writer, it is my hope that I carry this same blind passion into all of my new efforts.

Calico Ghost Town - Originally Published July, 2010

July 4, 2018

People who want to go back and relive their lives are weirdos. Believe me, they’re out there. I work with a few of them. It’s not always an obvious thing, but they’re stuck in a moment from their past and they would do anything to recapture it.

Being a kid again? The hell with that. I like being an adult. Sure, I need to work so I can pay my bills but along with that I get freedom. Take the Calico Ghost Town near Yermo. I’m a full-grown adult. If I feel like pulling off the 15 and taking a look, that’s my business.