Weird stuff, awkward stuff, and where’d-that-come-from stuff. Very helpful resources here.
I'm in Fremont with my brother and sister-in-law. We put eight potatoes in foil and bake them in the oven. 90 minutes later, I prod one and it is squishy. The potato burns the pad of my finger. Ashley and David prod them, and maybe the potatoes burn the pads of their fingers too, but…
In June of 2019, I had the honor of delivering the commencement speech to graduating seniors at my former elementary and high school in Tacoma. Here is its text: Concordia Christian Academy, Class of 2019, I first want to offer my congratulations to you all. Getting to graduation is hard, and it takes a long…
I'm finishing up the edits on the draft of my book because I'm writing a book about my experience on the World Race in 2014. It's so much work and I'm still chugging, I've been chugging since it was dark and cold and now it's hot and light and I'm still chugging. I still don't have…
I boarded the 40 around noon on Thursday and there weren't many people on it, but there was a woman with sensible pink lipstick and cropped gray hair and a pleasant demeanor speaking with a man across the aisle who had a red beard and a dirty reusable grocery bag full of old things and…
I'm writing a book. It's about... just click that link. I'm halfway through a painstaking round of edits: so far, I've got through Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Bulgaria, Albania, and Zambia. I'm keeping a list of everything I've fact-checked. why scary airplane landing tegucigalpa la ermita meaning honduras how dangerous ranking what's up with rebar cinderblock…
I finished working at 11, so I put some cheese, an apple, and a day-old pistachio-blackberry croissant in the passenger seat and drove to Issaquah to hike to Poo Poo Point, a knoll on the side of Tiger Mountain. The Washington Trails Association is adamant that Poo Poo Point is named for the train whistles…
One day on the camino, I got talking to a woman and she told me this story, this fable: “Sometimes I do some personal assistant work for this older man back in Scotland. He lives downtown, and he’s got a terrier, and the terrier gets a walk every day, on the same route on the…
I stumbled across a poem by Constantine Petrou Cavafy called Ithaka. As I walked, I memorized an English translation of it, and it’s served as a guide throughout the Camino, urging me on when I'm unmotivated, slowing me down when I rush, inviting me to enjoy myself when I'm afraid of spending money, reminding me…
TRANSCRIPT OF A FAKE SERMON. Good morning, and it’s a blessing to be guest preacher at you all, brothers and sisters, this morning. I have just returned from Spain and there was a big adventure I had there. It was really good and it was spiritually dark because many people in Spain are Catholics and…
Continue reading ➞ Satan the Prowling Lion Will Lead You Stray if You Stray from the Way
I prayed I would meet someone on the Camino, and I met someone. On the morning of the 9th, a German we will call Mike, because that is his real name, asked to walk with me. He said that I wasn’t like the typical American with my big sunglasses and dorky hat and I said…
I wanted to eat the yam in my cupboard for lunch, so for breakfast I walked down the road to a bustling coffee shop across the street from Starbucks. I selected a bagel and a twelve ounce drip and I tried to apply for a job, but the internet was down. So I seized the…
