If things go according to plan, this fall, I’m going to see The South. The Mississippi Delta where the blues were born. Graceland. I’m going to eat BBQ and greens. A state or two will become more than just an outline on the map. I was genuinely thrilled until my friend B said this: “You shouldn’t spend one nickel in Tennessee. Do you not know about their anti-gay legislation?”
I did know about this, but only in a passing sort of way because I’d heard about the bill that had been mocked as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.… continued…
I recently received what I thought was an invitation for a press trip to Israel. It turned out to be an invitation to apply for a spot in the trip. (Take note, PR folks, and remember to be clear in your language when you send out invitations.) It was a curious little invite, written by a student at the university in Haifa. The English was very good — not quite native, but excellent nonetheless.
The trip agenda included things like Security and Technology and conversations with real Israeli soldiers.… continued…
Osama wasn’t in my backpack full of photography gear in the Dallas-Fort Worth domestic terminal. The TSA agent was unflinchingly polite, but all the same, I was irritated when she pawed through my bag. I’d just arrived from Santiago, Chile. I’d been in the airport for an hour or so, that time spent in customs and immigration, one floor down. Prior to that I’d spent about ten hours in the air. Osama was also not in my water bottle, tossed on to a heap of water bottles at the Newark airport.… continued…
Heads up, internet-y rant ahead. Rather read about travel? Here’s an ode to Hawaii from my archives.
Let us assume, for a moment, that you are a professional writer, the kind that writes for a living. You make your living as a writer. You don’t have a project to promote. You don’t have a patron spouse. You didn’t make a killing in the dot com years on stock options or start ups. You’re just a working hack, a person who builds their living out of sentences.… continued…
What? Huh? Don’t know what this is about? You need to read this first.
Wow, that was dizzying. Really, really dizzying. I have responded to many of the comments, but it occurs to me that it is easy to get lost in there, and there are a few things I would like to respond to directly because they came up consistently. This is my blog, so I get to write a whole post as a comment response.… continued…
