I first went on a museum expedition in 1935 when I was 13. Since then, much of my life has been spent in areas remote from Western centers. I no longer have a permanent home & it's been years since I felt fully at ease in my own culture. I'm happiest when approaching a strange village.

My research is generally very restricted in subject, but often I scribble incidental observations on the backs of envelopes. Most of these never survive, but a few show up from time to time in the bottom of a pocket, like foreign coins left over from forgotten trips.

In glancing through these notes recently, I found the observations superficial, the comments petty. But I decided to include a number of them here because they refer to events which anthropologists rarely acknowledge. I'm reminded of Lyndon Johnson's reply to those who found him wanting: "I'm the only president you've got."

Anthropology covers a wide field, but with a restricted view. Real people & real events often get overlooked. The Mickey Mouse katchina shown in this book is an authentic Zuni specimen, circa 1950, but was not collected by an anthropologist or preserved by a museum. It was recognized & preserved by the surrealist artist William Copley.

The notes that follow belong to the world of surrealism where events are experienced from within, not observed from without.