articles by lil' buddha

When I first met Hunter, I felt like I was meeting an echo of my younger self. It happened in Houston, of all places, the least cowboy-like corner of Texas. I was there in between thru-hikes, planning another long walk along the CDT come spring. Cricket, my host, had this jokingly British air about him when...

There’s an expression from the Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca that goes “luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation.” The expression is best interpreted as things worthwhile don’t just happen by chance...  

At the end of 2022 I’ll be starting a multi-year thru-hike called the Pangea Traverse. I’ll be flying down to Key West, Florida, and will make my way to the Southernmost Point Buoy. As its namesake suggests, the buoy marks the southernmost point of the continental United States... 

There’s a scene in “Paris is Burning”, the documentary chronicling the lives of New York house-ballroom subculture by Black, Latino, gay, transgender and the queer community, where the iconic Willi Ninja introduces the House of Ninja...  

There’s a scene in the movie “The Hobbit’’  that struck me to the bone: a group of dwarves return to their homeland to reclaim their lost heritage from the dragon Smaug. After one of the group’s elders opens the door to their ancestral home in the Lonely Mountain, the leader Thorin gently caresses his hand...