Further Up Further In

In Haiti

2011-12-27T18:14:00.000-08:00

A week ago a friend asked if I was busy, today I'm in Port-au-Prince with a group of people I've mostly never met before. I'm curious to see what happens next. If I were to judge a place by its sunsets this one would get high marks, if by traffic, not so much. Looking out over the orphanage we'll spend the next week at, I wondered what it could look like with a few more repairs, construction

Not talking about George Michael or Limp Bizket

2011-11-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

Faith is a strange mistress. She is different for everyone and her complexities hide her from our attempts to box her in. I don't think I'd have it any other way.Over the past few days I've talked with a couple friends about their faith walks (sorry for the christianese, sometimes it's just easier). Both times I've wanted to be the wise sage able to fix everything with the turn of a phrase. Only

An odd little huccup, and why media can be kinda cool

2011-09-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

The disclaimer:I don't think I've ever written about a movie, I mean this was never meant to be a media or pop-culture blog. That said, almost a week after watching it, I can't get Drive out of my mind. Not the characters, the cinematography, the music, or the deeper heart of the thing. I watched Moneyball a few days ago and walked out of it thinking about how good Drive was.This is not me

Like a Jerk

2011-09-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

I felt like a Jerk the first time I said it, though the more I thought about it the more I believed it: Poverty is relative.I recently read two articles/blogs that echoed my statement but articulated it in ways not "Jerky". If you want to hear people say things better than me, check these out:http://www.elchupacabrawrites.com/2011/09/poverty.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign

Maturity? #2

2011-09-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

In the midst of a recent two day road trip with my dad he asked the question. Most men still on speaking terms with their fathers know what I'm talking about. He did his part to keep it from sounding "disappointed father nagging-ish", which I appreciated. The paraphrase went like this: Don't take this the wrong way, I don't have any problems with the way you live your life, but I'm curious. How

Maturity? #1

2011-09-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

I've changed over the last few years, perhaps even grown. Of course this is what we're supposed to do... isn't it?Re-acclimating to the Western world, and seeing friends for the first time in close to two years, highlighted a few shifts for me. One of the big ones is my growing ability to not give a shit. I consider this a positive shift. I still have an opinion on American politics, I just don't

The Beautiful Hag

2011-08-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

Cathedrals have always been a sketchy point for me. From a strictly aesthetic standpoint, as someone who builds things, I think most are beautiful and amazing. As a christian constantly bothered by the Church's eagerness to squander and misuse funds, especially in times of poverty, famine, and disease, the massive expense to build and maintain cathedrals bothers me. As cool as they are,

Turkish Observations

2011-07-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

A few observations from Istanbul:1. Istanbul is in serious competition for the Oscar for coolest city ever.2. Some Turkish women are quite attractive and all Turkish men look like gangsters or Eurotrash D-bags.3. It's appropriately ironic that the 'Blue' Mosque was specifically designed as a one-up to the mosque directly across from it. Not so ironically it succeeds in it's task.4. To the chick

Sting shoulda known not to mess

2011-07-18T02:27:00.000-07:00

With only a few hours left in Uganda I feel like I should be reflecting and having deep moments... I'm not. Mostly I'm just checking non existent emails, not caring too much about the U.S. loss to Japan (not sure if it's because Japan has been through so much lately and it's nice to see them happy, or if it's because it's women's soccer and, as much as I'm a feminist by African standards, I'm

Little Monsters... every one of us

2011-07-11T03:48:00.000-07:00