On the demonstration of joy
I want to take a second to talk to you about joy. So we can be on the same page, here is an official definition of it, from my favorite dictionary, Merriam-Webster: This a fine, workable definition for now. Now…
“Don’t be an asshole” can’t be the full moral of this story: a blog post with no resolution
This weekend, I taught for a couple of days at the incredible Mt. SAC Culturama. I’ve been involved in this event for four or five years now, and it’s an event that never fails to leave me feeling so satisfied,…
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I visit with museum guards
Museums are my happy places. I visit them when I find a new city; I re-visit them when I go to cities I’ve been to before, too: I like to know what new things they are exhibiting, and maybe what…
My students want to read more, and it is a huge win for two reasons
Hello, everyone. This will be a short post, but I have been thinking about this thing that happened since it happened, and so I want to share it with you. Some of you may know that I teach creative writing…
I’m reading Moby-Dick, so you don’t have to
…Actually, I think everyone should read Moby-Dick. That doesn’t mean I admire the thing, it just means I’m finding it intriguing. This is my second attempt at reading it; I last tried in 2015 and made it all the way…
Accountability in the disaster-relief world
Hello from Dubai, where I’m on a long layover on my way home from my 13th deployment for ShelterBox. I want to take some time to tell you a little bit about something I don’t think a lot of folks…
That smirking boy is me, or, the old world has a thing to say
In my home country of Taiwan (and probably in many other cultures), your elders are not to be questioned. Whatever they say goes. There is no discourse, no discussion, and you are most definitely in for a world of hurt,…
The lenses through which we see may not be our own
When I was 18 or so, I went to Oregon to be a camp counselor. All the counselors had camp names–Seaweed, Alpine, Whinny, Weed, Shaggy, Scribbles, Moondog, Kramer. One of the ones I admired the most was about my age,…
A small-but-significant change for 2019
If you’re anything like me, you like shiny things. I don’t mean shiny things like diamonds and pearls and watermelon tourmaline, but I mean shiny things like all that distracts from the work you do to make a living or…
