Calling the new girl, Lucy, odd ends up more than a tad bit of understatement. In a short period of time, she frees Amber of her inhibitions, her prestigious corporate project, her teeth, her sense of style…and her sanity. A bizarre tale of corporate cannibalism…or a generous sacrifice for a fellow human being? All depends on your perspective.Keywords: business, corporate humor, cubicle humor, insanity, hallucination, magical realism, fantasy, dark fantasy, witchcraft, vampire, bod...

A personal and theoretical look at “Liber Primus,” the first of the collection of books written by psychologist Carl Jung that were collectively entitled “The Red Book.” Unpublished until October of 2009, “The Red Book” is considered by many, including Jung himself, to be the foundation of all of Jung’s groundbreaking theories and writings to follow. This is an essay detailing meanings behind the first half of that book.

Semi-autobiographical but mostly fantastical essay on growing up in the outdoors of California in the 1970s, and the importance of having family just as quirky and not-quirky as you are. A coming of age story not really about adolescence, but maybe about being an oddball among oddballs.Keywords: memoir, California, Steven Spielberg, Saratoga, Bay Area, metaphysical and visionary, philosophical, environmental, coming of age, apocalypse, end of the world, family, growing up, childhoo...

“On Individualism and Conformity: Borat, Wall Street and the Problem with Cults,” embarks on a discussion of the current conceptions of individualism and identity in the United States, and how this gets warped in such a way as to actually reinforce conformity and compliance. This is the first in a series of essays making up what was titled, somewhat tongue in cheek, The Brain Trust, a group of philosophical, psychological and political essays by Jules Okapi, dealing with concepts of identi...

Tugli lives happily in a metal box on a friendly street where vendors hawk wares and a Buddhist stupa sits at his back. Everything pretty much goes the same way for a long time, until one day, the pickle lady stops delivering the pickles. After that, a disgruntled monkey, a three-legged dog and a kindly old woman pretty much disrupt the course of Tugli’s life forever.Keywords: monkey, fable, talking animals, animals, monkey, dog, pickles, children, middle grade, India, Tibetan, Dha...

Due to an untimely mishap with a runaway piano, a thief and a homeless lady with a very pointy umbrella, Harold meets an unusual segment of the neighborhood, all of whom live inside a single tree planter box on a New York City Street.Keywords: absurdist, dark humor, metaphysical, visionary, city life, New York, philosophical, caffeine, coffee, humor, magical realism

Drug-crazed, iconic, outrageous--Hunter S. Thompson’s own reputation as the rock star writer of the 1970s obscured the meaning behind much of his work, even for many of his fans. An essay on Hunter S. Thompson as a journalist, and the implications and intention behind his style of “gonzo journalism” on current day media…as well as what set him apart.

Priscilla putters along in her usual life of bridge and gossip and coffee shops and shopping at the local markets in the small Indian town where she lives. Until one morning, a mysterious man known only as the Pharsee gives her a box.The thing is filthy, twitchy and just plain wrong…but no matter what Priscilla tries, or how many cleaning boys she fires, she simply cannot get rid of it.keywords: India, love story, humor, metaphysical, Himalayas, Dharamsala, McLeod Ganj, Ind...

A successful, beige-wearing businesswoman makes an art of minding her own business, blending in, not making waves. But after hundreds of identical business motivational conventions, each with their own system for getting ahead, maximizing her potential, executing success, demonstrating excellence…she meets someone who offers to show her the evil pattern behind it all. Sort of.Keywords: business, corporate humor, cubicle humor, insanity, hallucination, magical realism, fantasy, dark...

Marla's boyfriend, Billy, might live a little too much in a fantasy world. Then again, Marla sees lemurs in the apple tree outside and wonders if the little man she sees screaming at her from Billy's shoulder is really there. Insanity might be one way to get out of a bad relationship. Following your boyfriend into his imaginary world might be another.Keywords: women's fiction, dark humor, humor, fantasy, dark fantasy, gaming, domestic violence, bad relationships, insanity, psychosi...

Didier lives life as a normal, largish elephant in Mumbai, India with his mother and the rest of the herd owned by Mr. Rahol. Discontent with his elephant life, Didier wonders if he’d prefer to be another animal, instead. His mother tells fantastic tales of the wild, before humans captured her and turned her into a domestic animal, but neither she nor the rest of Mr. Rahol’s herd understand Didier's obsession with fighting his destiny.With his friend the field mouse, Didier embarks...

Capturing the essence of Hunter S. Thompson’s “Gonzo” style, short story Mescalito details his dark and miserably comic first mescaline drug trip. First published in Songs of the Doomed, Mescalito suggests the nascent ideas and energy of Thompson’s seminal work on the ‘60s experience, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."We live in a jungle of pending disasters," the author warns. Alone in a hotel room in Los Angeles in February, 1969, Thompso...