personal growth Practice makes...better The goal of mindfulness meditation is to simply be aware of how things already are. It can greatly improve your life and you don't need anything to get started.
humanity The world has changed again and it hasn't As I sit here at my desk, in a small home Jena and I built in the foothills of the Cascade range in North Central Washington I am struck by
meta Alt Text is back on its own After a multiyear experiment on Medium, I've reclaimed the ownership of the content on this site.
society What are you doing? Remember sitting in history, thinking “If I was alive then, I would’ve…” You’re alive now. Whatever you’re doing is what you would’ve done. — David Slack
society Let the record show John Pavlovitz has been on fire recently — or I should say I just became aware of him and his writing during the campaigns — and it’s great. He’s a
society At least now I have a plan First, I have to address my conservative friends who may not understand why I have not called them, blocked them on Facebook, or otherwise ignored their sympathetic and (sometimes) sincere
personal Expat I just got back from two months traveling abroad but as I stand here, awaiting my luggage, I have never felt like I was entering a more foreign country. I
travel An epic road trip in the rearview Jena and I have just returned from a pretty epic road trip across the western and central parts of the U.S. We were afforded such an opportunity as we
writing A return to long form posts While I won’t go so far as to say I will be blogging again like the old days, I can say I will be writing again. And I plan on using this old site to do it. There will only be a few
personal A storyteller’s story I want to tell you a story — a story about my dad. It was from him that I first learned about stories, while sitting on my his lap (well I was still too young to even sit up, actually). It isn’t hard to
personal My life story I have been reading posts that my father has been making on his his newly minted blog. They are great, they give me insights into what my dad’s life has been like and I can see him how he sees himself via the
photography Published photographer A couple photos of mine were used in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal (both online and in print). There were from a Cloud Cult concert here in Minneapolis and have
pop culture Mario Cake Makers on the Food Network Some may remember the photos I took at my friends Brent & Annette’s wedding cake. They are among my most popular photos with this one having 82 views yesterday,
music Let it Rain On Monday night Jena and I took my Dad to see Rain: The Beatles Experience, or less cryptically, a Beatles tribute band. Year’s ago I had the opportunity to
architecture New bridge need not be ugly I attended the MnDOT open house at Roseville High School last night, or I should say I walked through the job-fair like gym full of MnDOT employees. I was pleased to see that there were folks asking all sorts of questions, but disappointed that
breaking news Breaking News: Bridge over 35W Collapses This was a major bridge for commuters and it has just collapsed. I was nearly on this road at this exact time (6:05 to 6:15 pm) but decided at the last moment to take a different route. Live video. UPDATES: 50 or
personal What has Ben been up to? Not that anyone was really asking, but I want to tell the few of you who aren’t search engines and spiders, what I have been up to recently (and hey if the spiders are amused, all the better). It has been a very
community MinneBar remembered By our count nearly 350 geeks and “geeks at heart” converged on the Railroader building in downtown Saint Paul this past Saturday and I think most everyone has been very
personal Getting things done In a recent post over at the Web Worker Daily, Anne Zelenka asked the question: How do you decide what to do from your to do list? The focus was on a couple hosted software apps that help people follow the Getting Things Done
music Music in 2007 to pick up where 2005 left off After a bit of a down year for music that you may not have noticed because you were still so happy with the great crop from 2005. The year 2007 is set to be a great year for new stuff. In the first 4
apple My first 48 hours with MacBook I didn’t really ever think I would be here. For years I have looked on as many of my friends and colleagues turned toward Apple for something better in a computer but I was scared. I thought that switching at this point would
work Show and tell It’s not the computer game, The Sims, but it looks just like it. It’s Jon Haddock’s latest creation: Isometric Screenshots where Haddock recreates famous media scenes from the past and not-so-past, like the one shown at right depicting Wang Weilin’s
personal Homes, buildings, and architecture One of my passions has always been homes, buildings, and architecture. I wanted to be an architect, like many kids, but then I realized that it is a dying profession — thanks, in large part, to the cookie cutter mentality of many builders today. It
technology Damn Cobol programmers! Damn terrorists! This may seem sorta cruel, or selfish, or whatever, but I was pretty disappointed with “Y2K”. The switch over from 1999 to 2000 was a big non-event. Not even a power outage or mail bomb to speak of. I was really hoping that something
personal New puppy I gots myself a new puppy last night and boy (or girl) is she cute. I didn’t think I would be smitten so fast. Look how low res photos are in 1999.
