There are two times a year I evaluate the direction of my life: New Year’s and my birthday. New Year’s resolutions are somewhat cliché, but the start of a new calendar year is a natural time to take stock of your life, look at your goals and determine course corrections. My birthday falls nearly eight … Continue reading My semi-annual appraisal
Tag: Atlanta
Flip flops and running shoes
What you pack for vacation says a lot about you. Vacation is that time of year when you are released from the bonds of work long enough for your true personality to emerge. Maybe it’s the only time all year you have real choices about how to spend your time. Maybe it’s when you discover there … Continue reading Flip flops and running shoes
Wedding faux pas?
Weddings in the New South bring up all sorts of issues never before encountered in the history of weddings. Last weekend, Carla and I took our oldest son, Barron, to his first wedding -- the marriage of his youth minister, Matt Hester, and our friend Courtney Phillips. It was a beautiful and somewhat unorthodox ceremony and reception that … Continue reading Wedding faux pas?
The old/new way to listen to live music
There’s something humbling and heart-warming about being invited into someone’s home. Hospitality stirs a powerful response of gratitude. Every time I sit down to a meal or stand around eating finger foods in someone’s home, I know they have gone to a tremendous effort and expense. I feel valued. Now, add in the experience of … Continue reading The old/new way to listen to live music
Pollen counts
Nothing says springtime in Atlanta like piles of facial tissues, billowing clouds of yellow dust and an encouraging addition to the weather forecast known as the pollen count. Simply defined, the pollen count is the number of grains of pollen in a cubic meter of air. It is measured by placing a silicon-covered rod outdoors … Continue reading Pollen counts
My cheatin’ foot
When you try a different hair stylist or dental hygienist, don’t you feel a little bit like you’re cheating on the relationship? Since the mid-1990s I have been buying my running shoes at Phidippides, the first-ever specialty running store which opened in 1973 in Tallahassee, Fla., and now operates at Atlanta’s Ansley Mall. Even when … Continue reading My cheatin’ foot
Selling encyclopedias
I was already hungry when I took my seat on the seventh pew on the right of the Decatur Presbyterian Church. After a long day fighting the crowds at Dragon*Con with the boys, Carla and I were enjoying a night out, so naturally I dragged her to the Decatur Book Festival and the panel discussion … Continue reading Selling encyclopedias
Patriotism … with lasers!
We moved to the Atlanta suburbs in March of 2003. When July 4th rolled around that first year, we naively thought we would just take the short, 10-minute drive to Stone Mountain to catch the fireworks. As it turned out, 20,000 other Atlantans had the same idea. The place was packed. We didn’t even get … Continue reading Patriotism … with lasers!
New South Essays 