I’ve been traveling across country for a few years now with little to no mission, just following work and looking for a place I might like to live. I met Jess in Des Moines in the fall and we spent the winter together holed up from the cold, fell in love, and mapped out a … Continue reading Back in your Inbox
Atari
For the past six months I've been playing a geographical game of pong (Atari, not College). From Los Angeles to Canada then Haiti and LA and Canada again followed by Iowa and Haiti, scribing in my path an isosceles triangle spanning more that 2,500 miles on each side. I've drove, flown, motorcycled, boarded, biked, hiked, … Continue reading Atari
The Book Bout
I finished Infinite Jest. I did. And I don't know what that entitles me to. Literary enlightenment? bragging rights? A cookie? Honestly, when I finished the book, I didn't know how to feel for a while. I tried to take some time to process it but my mind kept circling around one conclusion: That was so … Continue reading The Book Bout
7 reasons why your two-week Haiti trip is NOT useless: you’re just looking at it wrong
For the past few years, I have been focused on listening to what it is Haiti really needs. I’ve studied the multitude of problems and listened to the endless solutions. I’ve come to see that no single business plan or organization is going to suffice in pursuit of raising the quality of life and spreading … Continue reading 7 reasons why your two-week Haiti trip is NOT useless: you’re just looking at it wrong
The Way I See It
I remember the first time I looked at one of those images of patterns, lines, and shapes. The ones that you stare at for a long time and magically something else entirely appears from the fourth dimension. I was given a small book full of them, I think it was called, “Do you see what … Continue reading The Way I See It
To know and love it still
Ever since I caught wind of Haiti, a high-octane passion has fueled my approach. I was aware of all the problems in the country, but my evangelical background and my middle-class roots fed me American idealism by the spoonful. As I’ve grown older and explored outside of my home, I have experienced bad first hand. … Continue reading To know and love it still
Ticket To Ride
The essence of my love for Haiti is the same reason you love your siblings and your first grade teacher… you just have to. And it came upon me like a sunburn. All I had to do was expose myself for too long and I am left with a burning passion… and a sunburn to … Continue reading Ticket To Ride
To The Beggar
I know what happens when heartfelt generosity meets a desperate need. I’ve seen a hundred different ways a mob can form when there is something-anything to be gained. Time after time I witness white folk with butter hearts pass out diapers and food to one desperate person who melts their soul, then another, and within seconds … Continue reading To The Beggar
The Way We Are
A personality theory is basically a literary explanation of why people do the things they do. At one point in high school, I got really into reading up on PhD’s personality theories. Some of the philosophers would have really complex, drawn out explanations going over the intricacies of human thought dating back to cavemen and … Continue reading The Way We Are
Oh yeah, hey there
I'd like to say the fast-paced, new-year-new-me life renovations have been what has kept me from posting anything since the ice age, but to be honest I don't really know why. I suppose it's a little mix of laziness, some distraction, combined with finishing off some American novels that are so beautifully written that anything … Continue reading Oh yeah, hey there