77% Weekly

Clown-walking with fins After scuba diving for the first time around the age of 15, I became a bit of an aficionado. Consequently, when I was vacationing and saw a friend in snorkeling gear, walking, horribly awkwardly, towards the water with fins on, I called out, “You might want to turn around.” (It’s much easier

My elbows in my blue sport coat touch my body just above my belt. My hands rest on my computer, on the tray table, above my jeans-wearing legs. My stomach feels awkwardly compressed. I feel physically constricted. Considering I am 35,000 feet in the air traveling at a speed in excess of 500 miles per

I’m not a big theist. I don’t believe that there is a God controlling the weather.   This is not an article on theology. My book, podcasts, and more about God can be found here.   I don’t believe God controls the weather. But I do see the weather. I live in Portland, Oregon –

There is nothing that does not become lighter through habit and familiarity. – Shantideva   There is nothing that does not become easier through practice. Wonderful words from the great Shantideva. There is nothing that does not become easier through practice. If I start smoking and smoke on a regular basis, it becomes easier for

“Have To” Like This Story    Maggie and I were having coffee in the bakery that used to be the library of Northeast Portland – the neighborhood in which birthed Ramona and the pantheon of Beverly Cleary’s characters. Maybe pantheon is too strong of a word.   Maggie is ROTB’s volunteer publicist. The monthly cup of coffee

Introduction “She holds her fork like this,” Annie explained to me as she bear-gripped the fork in her small, almost 9-year-old hand. “And, she pretends to talk like she is a princess.” We were sitting in a booth at our favorite pub, the Laurelwood. We are in the loud room – the one with families of