I’m very, very happy to announce that my novel Java Wake has just been published and is available starting today in print edition and e-book on Amazon. Here’s a little more from the back cover: “Stephen Cranton’s mid-life crisis is coming on a decade too early. On a business trip to Indonesia, he evaluates his …
My five-year-daughter Naomi and I recently went swan hunting along the banks of the Colorado River which flows through our fair city of Austin. Before you notify the Humane Fowl Society, I mean “hunt” in the sense of looking for them to admire their majestic beauty. We were strolling along this river during half time …
I received a phone call this morning at 6 AM from the Austin Independent School District, a recorded message announcing that school was cancelled today for “inclement weather.” That inclement weather is a winter storm blowing in, icing over the roads and teasing Austin with a tiny bit of snow, a rarity for Central Texas. …
“Are my straps on tight enough?” “Yes, they’re fine,” Robby answers calmly, not seeming to really check. “The important thing to remember is just relax.” “And what do I do with my hands? Do I leave them out or fold them across my chest?” “Either way is fine. The important thing to remember is just …
The outlandishness of God’s grace is well described in an analogy I heard years ago which differentiates between justice, mercy and grace. Justice is getting what you deserve. A police officer pulls you over for speeding and gives you a ticket. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. A police officer pulls you over for …
(posted July 2012 during the London Summer Olympics) This is really foolish and I’m going to pay for it tomorrow. It’s 2 AM Indonesia time and I really should be sleeping before a big day tomorrow. But I can’t help myself. In exactly one more hour the 2012 Summer Olympics will officially begin at Olympic …
One thing that continually amazes me, after calling Indonesia my home for the last 12 years, is how fertile the soil is on Java. Fertile is actually an understatement. Active volcanoes pour their nutrient rich dust on the landscape year round and the rainy season drenches our island for about half the year, the result …
Honor is an affirmation that who someone is and what he contributes is valuable. Honor is not something that can be selfishly grabbed…it is bestowed. There is no such thing as self-honor. Honor is a choice, an act of the will given to someone else to recognize his or her valuable identity and contribution. It’s …
I’m attending some meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this week and while here I had a chance to visit K.L.’s most famous landmark, the gloriously tall Petronas Towers. It brought back a memory from a few years ago when on the way to an international conference, our family and some teammates had 20 hours of …
Recently I was trying to wedge my motorcycle into the tight bike parking area of our local grocery store’s parking lot. There was a tree one one side, a car on the other, and in the middle an older lady trying to get on back of a motorcycle which her daughter was driving. Before she could get …