Michael Blood

I was born in San Diego, CA in 1946, attended St. Didacus Grade School and St. Augustin High School, in which I lacked motivation for academics but was highly involved in sports, dances, acting and other activities associated with school. In High School I had 2 teachers that profoundly impacted my world views. Some of my fondest memories took place due to the degree I adored surfing throughout my teen years during which I spent every free moment riding waves. In the late 60s I had a brush with professional acting but became more involved with the counterculture movement, especially as exemplified in the Height-Ashbury district of San Francisco. This included some activities that, even lo these 50 years later are still probably best omitted from print. In the 70s I became deeply involved in meditation and after an early marriage and child ....and discovering the monotony of work I returned to academia determined to pursue a career in teaching. I became an academic animal - was surprised by how much I had learned in Catholic schools, despite having been unmotivated, and began attacking courses as though they were football games. I did not want an "A" - I wanted the highest "A" in any given class and ended up finishing a dual major BA in Anthropology & Sociology Magna Cum Laude in 3 years. I then went through the Graduate School Of Anthropology at San Diego State University and immediately followed that by entering the Graduate School of Social Work, earning an M.S.W. I worked many years with runaway teens and their families as well as with couples but eventually returned to my original goal of teaching. For the last 25 years I have been teaching Physical Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, Social Psychology, etc. One of the areas of greatest interest to me is the Western perception of "objective reality" vs. the experiential knowledge that HOW we look at things - how WE define things is at the heart of how we experience "reality." I love insightful quotes and jokes that challenge how we define things by showing us other ways of seeing things. I also am fascinated by how decisions we make as children dramatically impact how we see things, how we react to others, etc. - and am particularly fascinated by the complexity of our own culture - let alone the amazing diversity of multiple cultures around the world - in particular in how they shape how we perceive ourselves, our environment and others.