After three hours of driving or so, we arrive at our destination, Saint Catherine's Monastery, officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai. The monastery was sanctioned by the orders of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, between 548-565 BCE. But,in the year 330 ACE, the Empress Helena, the mother of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, built a church with massive granite blocks, believed to be on the site where God spoke to Moses through the burning bush.

After our UNIWORLD riverboat docked in Luxor, we flew back to Cairo and then to Sharm El Sheikh International Airport on the Asian side of Egypt. To say we were fagged and weary was an understatement; we were overwhelmed by all that we had previously experienced and the daily five a.m. wake up calls on the riverboat added to it.

After staying in Iligan City (an industrial town in the Southern part of the Philippines) for 3 weeks, I could really appreciate the simple things we Americans take for granted. Things like clean beautiful architecture, cemented roads, clean air, reliable internet access, free movie channels, reliable phone service, etc. We're really spoiled here in the U.S..

It defies logic why anyone would want to become an actor. It’s a profession of pretensions. With a little makeup you are called to pretend to be someone you’re not. You pretend to be handsome or beautiful on stage and you need to keep appearances with wigs and plastic surgery off stage. To be true to your image, you pretend to be rich and successful so you buy into this extravagant lifestyle and feed the parasites around you. Because you are in a position of influence, you give endorsements and opinions about topics you know nothing about. Who cares what Bill Nye thinks about global warming? He’s not a real scientist. Who cares if celebrities threaten to leave for Canada if their candidate doesn’t win? And talk about privacy! --- paparazzi stalk you in your most private moments. You are no longer a person but a property that can be exploited. Hollywood is a breeding ground for narcissists.

A photon walks into a hotel. The desk clerk says, "Can we help you with your luggage?"

Differences 40 years can make...