From the 'Where Am I Now?" File

The last six months have witnessed a number of staggering changes in my life. As many of you know, I was "exited" from San Francisco State University at the end of last year. A perfect storm of declining enrollments, administrative greed and incompetence, and the elimination of a required lower division writing class (see previous list item), all conspired to relieve me of the job I've held for the last seventeen years. 

The whole thing really sucked. The good news is that I put up a good fight, plastering the campus with "Missing" posters featuring myself and my other exited colleagues, disrupting the College of Liberal Arts Christmas party with some pointed "Ho, Ho, Ho-ing," and some quality protests.

Here's a short documentary movie made by a student in SFSU's journalism department about my fight: 

Eventually I landed on my feet. 

The crazy thing is that it was THIS BLOG that saved me. A post about Phil's time in Point Reyes Station drew the attention of a local resident and tech entrepreneur named Chris Hulls who is interested in preserving the town of Point Reyes Station along with the weirdness of West Marin county. 

Together we created an independent non-profit, the Point Reyes Reality Investigation Center or PRRIC. Here's a video introducing the Center, shot and edited by Paul Shelton, a Dick-Head I was fortunate to meet at last summer's Colorado Dick-Fest. 

So what does PRRIC do exactly? That's a good question. We're interviewing and photographing residents of Point Reyes Station; we are looking to fund serious scientific research involving consciousness, psychology, neuroscience, and psychedelics; and we're hoping to create a Esalen-style retreat in the area. 

Photo courtesy of The Philip K. Dick Bookshelf

Last week I moved into my new office above The Old Western Saloon on Highway 1 in Point Reyes Station. The building is more than 100 years old and it's haunted. It's also featured in Dick's Confession of a Crap Artist: "Then he caught sight of the Western Bar..."

So I know there a lot of people convinced that we're living in a Philip K. Dick novel, but only a lucky few of us have offices in one. 

Check out PRRIC's Substack, where I will be writing about reality, technology, science fiction, Point Reyes Station, and more...