who are you?
I am a former newspaper reporter who decided to abandon an industry trapped in a horrible cycle of mediocrity. I now make my living as a freelance journalist based in Lima, Peru. Basically, it is a way to travel about to places I want to go writing stories the things I want to write. I try to sell enough of these articles to make enough money to afford more travels.

what is 'Kleph'?
'Kleph' is a phonetic mispelling of my first name - Cliff. I adopted it in junior high school after reading a very humorous article about the problems the original writers of Star Trek had coming up with Vulcan names. (No, I am not a Trekkie) With the advent of the internet Ire-assumed this moniker.

what is kleph.com?
Originally it was simply a repository for my photos and stories so my mom would know that i was OK. It has since become a clearing house for my journalism and photography as well as a location to post information about my other interests and various essays on different topics I have penned.

what is klephblog?
Klephblog has become the primary hub for most of my work. It contains links to stories I have written, essays on various topics - usually music and movies, update information for the site and a random photograph now and then. It is now organized by category indexes which are linked at the bottom of each post. I have recently added an RSS feed so it is easier for folks who are interested to keep up with things.

what are those other blogs?
I have created several sub-blogs that cover various areas of interest in my life. These are linked to from Klephblog under the 'Features' heading in the sidebar.

Kleph's Kitchen - A collection of recipes and observatoins about my cooking interests. It includes cookbook reviews, links to other cooking weblogs and is organized by index. Updated regularly. RSS feed.

Klephrun - A running diary documenting my efforts to prepare for the Sydney Marathon in September. Updated regularly.

Andean Currents - A compendium of information and errata from the left coast of South America. Updated daily.

Points South - A blog on the Engineering News & Record website featuring items concerning the construction industry in Latin America. Updated weekly. (The former version of the blog can be found here.)

can I help somehow?
I am always willing to accept donations to the cause. There is a PayPal button on the sidebar of Klephblog for this purpose. I pay for the site hosting through my PayPal account so pretty much any contributions I get go to the site itself. I have also started a store selling t-shirts and calendars.

can I reprint your work?
Maybe. Send me an E-mail and we can discuss it. Everything on the site - except where noted - is copyrighted by me and permission is required for re-use. This includes all the individual blogs as well.

who is the kid in the hat?
That's a picture of me circa 1972 in Vicksburg, Mississppi. My prized cowboy hat had blown out the truck and I screamed so loud my dad had to retrieve it out of traffic on the highway. He got the hat back and he got me a coke-cola to make me feel better.

is there anything else?
This site is made possible by the good folks over at 1337.as. There is nobody less computer literate than myself and they took me by the hand and got this thing up and running. Despite the fact they can't pronounce the letter 'Z' correctly, they are top notch people and deserve your business.