Hula hoops, goannas and the games we play
Here’s a confession: I can’t make eye contact with good-looking strangers. Once we’re in a conversation I’m totally fine, but once I’ve assessed that you’re a hottie I will try pretty hard not to look at you at all.
Just because you’re handsome doesn’t mean I want you, okay?
Dating and attraction is such a game – and a messy one at that. Valentine’s Day and what you do or don’t do is just an annual component of this game. Continue reading Hula hoops, goannas and the games we play
Cambodia: Cycle. Sweat. End slavery.
This month Cambodia marked the fortieth anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge. It’s prompted me to finally share on this blog something of my visit there late last year. My 9-day trip involved a 5-day cycle tour (with law firm Wotton+Kearney in support of International Justice Mission), plus time in Phnom Penh and Kampot. * Day 1 Day 1 of the Cambodia Cycle Challenge … Continue reading Cambodia: Cycle. Sweat. End slavery.
Do what gives you life
Do what gives you life. That’s what some of my expat friends used to say, with tongue in cheek, when one of us announced we were going for a coffee, or staying in for the night, or some other kind of simple indulgence. I thought it must be one of those kooky lines Americans drop, but it’s a phrase that’s stuck with me. Do what … Continue reading Do what gives you life
An awkward romance
About a month ago I heard a talk about how God made the first move with us and goes to crazy lengths to woo us. Yet framing my relationship with Jesus as an epic romance is a bit, well, off. Friend, yes. Father, yes. But this? Continue reading An awkward romance
Pinch yourself and hit send
One my favourite simple pleasures in life is rediscovering songs from the 90s – and in particular, the one-hit wonders. My most recent nostalgia hit is Pinch Me by the Barenaked Ladies. Remember them? Yeah!
Ten years ago to the day, I posted this brief status update to Facebook (in the third person – I guess that’s how we did it back in the olden days).
Intriguing! So … what was my youth all about again? Continue reading Pinch yourself and hit send
Made to wonder: string theory and the resurrection
What does string theory have to do with the Resurrection? What’s the difference between wanderlust and “wonderlust” (is that even a thing?)? Why do adverb particles matter?
This Easter I really went down the rabbit hole …
String theory and the Resurrection
I was listening to a podcast the other day, an interview with a physicist who was explaining the holographic principle. Based on string theory, one of the concepts is that our lived reality is two-dimensional data expressed in three dimensions. In other words, reality is a hologram.
It made me think about dimensions in general. If two dimensions can express three, and it’s generally accepted that we inhabit four dimensions (the fourth being time), what would 5D* projection mean? Because I’m convinced the material world isn’t all there is to existence.
As a person of faith, I believe we exist in more than four dimensions. But for most people – Christians, followers of other faiths and those of no faith alike – our active engagement in the fifth is limited.
This Easter I was reminded that the Resurrection invites us to walk beyond the four dimensions and live a bigger, richer reality. Continue reading Made to wonder: string theory and the resurrection
Love and ashes
Happy Valentine’s Day! Happy Ash Wednesday! Not since 1945 have both occasions fallen on the same day. And not since ever have I cared much for either. Guess I’m just a little jaded. Today, couples make very visible shows of their affection for each other. And florists and restaurants make a killing. Today, the faithful step out of Mass with a dusty cross brushed onto their … Continue reading Love and ashes
Embers eternal
Embers eternal but we’re a ways from raging with the fire Roll another one and take me back to other alleys, streets more lit other lives more lived, more alive when I soaked myself in rum-laced coke with lime, for you a line and we laughed oh the laughter it was intoxicating, wicked so fleeting yet so divine For the post-sober night prolongs your smile … Continue reading Embers eternal
Two thousand bucks on booze
At the start of last year, I made a commitment to donate as much as I drank. Now, in the interests of accountability and transparency, I’ll show you how I matched every cent spent on alcohol this year with donations to charity. Continue reading Two thousand bucks on booze
Dressember reflections
After Movember came Dressember, and suddenly it’s January 2018 and I’m in a pair of shorts. I won’t pretend that I have any new appreciation for pants, that it was somehow difficult to wear only dresses – all day, every day – for 31 days. It isn’t like the 40-Hour Famine, where you get a taste of what it means to go without. It isn’t … Continue reading Dressember reflections
