Up and away

From kindergarten on, Valentine's Day can be a traumatic experience for some. Society puts a lot at stake on the holiday, with hearts broken and egos bruised when things fail to meet our expectations. I believe that I dodged most of that growing up, but my wife can …

PodCamping

Samantha and I plan to attend the second annual PodCamp Nashville event next month on 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday, March 7 at Vanderbilt's Owen School of Management. It is produced by the same crowd that put together last fall's BarCamp Nashville. While the doldrums of my …

Coolest game on ice

Thanks to ticket deals, a 5K race and an inordinate number of games at home in February, we will be attending three of the ten Nashville Predators games this month. We went to our first of the set tonight, with the good guys knocking off the Anaheim Ducks 4-2. The win …

Because my wife insisted

I have an unhealthy disdain for chain letters, memes and any subject line that begins with "FW:FW:FW:FW:". It is for this reason and a few others that I have not taken part in the "25 [Random] Things" fad that has swept through Facebook. When I read the entries for a …

And call me in the morning

I have learned in my two years of marriage and five years of being with my wife that she and I handle illness very differently. She has a strong desire to know exactly what is wrong, whereas I prefer to just sleep it off. She prefers to be taken care of (I fail often in …

Doppler this

There has always been the running joke that television weathermen and local grocers are in collusion to sell more milk and bread whenever the word "snow" or "freezing rain" makes it into the forecast. I have not been presented with proof one way or the other, but I …

Pencil you in

I set aside a little time each day to glance at the calendar in order to see what lies ahead in the coming weeks and months. It helps keep perspective of what can moved up or back depending on my ever-changing priorities. I have had the pleasure of a somewhat full …

Nashville For All of Us

Nashville voters went to the polls today and defeated two charter amendments that would have specified that all business of metro government must be conducted in solely English (with very few exceptions). The second charter amendment would have relaxed requirements for …

Messages on windshields

Monday morning was our first significant amount of snow for the year. It barely amounted to more than a dusting, covering only vehicles and frozen puddles in the parking lot. It was just enough to play a bit in it before heading off to work.

My morning routine needed …

Excitement of a generation

It is going to be difficult to not get caught up in the moment of the coming week.

Polls, politicians and pundits have cluttered the news landscape with statistics and opinions. George W. Bush will end his presidency as the least popular on record. The economic outlook …

House party

Now that the gnashing of teeth is over at the statehouse and a sense of normalcy (read: hopelessly deadlocked) has returned to to our state government, everyone can take a deep breath and look at what happened. The Monday paper had it plainly: Rep. Jason Mumpower was …

The spirit is willing

Next month my wife and I will be participating in the Predators Fangtastic 5K, a race to benefit the Predators Foundation. It is a run or walk event, as most charity events are. We decided that our plan would be to do a little of both, but mostly run. For the past two …

Geek Social

Tonight my wife and I went to a "Geek Social" mixer event hosted by Firefly Logic, a Nashville-based technology company. I would normally have taken a photo, but this venue (Sam's Sports Bar in Hillsboro Village) has an ultra-secret VIP room for occasions such as this, …

Things you want to hear

The weather is slowly starting to match the seasons. It is much cooler out than the 75 degree days in December where we were all but convinced that winter was giving way to an early spring. As I walked out of the office this afternoon on my way home, I could not help …

Rewinding a bit

Here is the highlight reel from 2008:

• Wrote one letter to the editor


• Joined my employer's 401(k) plan


• Bludgeoned with primary election season coverage


• Enjoyed a nice, long period of quarterlife angst


• Endorsed a candidate for president


• Saw Ani DiFranco and Over the …

Keeping composure

This past month has had numerous occasions for tears. Very few of which have been my own, but rather others' expressions of joy and sorrow, hope and hopelessness. Take for example a young lady telling a story of how their group had donated food, clothing and toys to a …

Windshields and rear-views

Now with the Christmas holiday behind us, our attention turns to the new year and all of the challenges and opportunities that 2009 will bring. Samantha and I sat down a while back to talk about the next several years as a means to keep the "big picture" in perspective. …

Shepherds guard and angels sing

It is a real challenge to find anyone who says that they do not like the Christmas holiday. When separated from the hustle and bustle of the holiday shopping and traveling, Christians and non-Christians alike can seem to agree that the winter festival is among their …

The consumer's dilemma

Today my wife and I went to the bank to close a savings account we had set aside for special, short term purchases now that our big purchase is out of the way. We will now be resuming our regular contributions to the remaining savings account. The current economic …

The Servant Leader

I have taken to reading a few professional development books a month, although my budget will dictate that I start using the public library instead of picking them up at Barnes & Noble. "Read more" was one of those resolutions that I am just now getting around to …