My Paris Bucket List

Everyone who visits Paris has their list of must-do activities. The standards include going up the Eiffel Tower, viewing the Mona Lisa, seeing the Arc de Triomphe, and having a grand love affair with a beautiful Parisian. But I’ve already done those…so this is my recently concocted, must-experience-before-I-leave list… Write at a fabulous cafe in […]

My Very Excellent Mother…

I just won two beers off bets with my French coworkers about whether Earth or Mars is closer to the sun. I gave them fair warning that we had that drilled into us in elementary school in the US, but they were CERTAIN I was wrong. Probably the only “geography” bet I’ll ever win. It […]

The Content of My Character

“…the sexual orientation of my parents has had zero effect on the content of my character.” – Zach Wahls This speech was given during the public forum on House Joint Resolution 6 in the Iowa House of Representatives. FWIW, the resolution passed the House, but it is unlikely to even make it to the floor […]

In Memoriam

On this, the 9th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and the assassination of 2,977 civilians, I pause to reflect on what got us to that point and why we have only moved backward from that day. Suffering is a human condition; it is not the domain of any one country or […]