2012 in Cities

Following tradition, here’s a record of all the cities, towns, hamlets, or dots-on-a-map in which I’ve spent at least one night this year: Birmingham, AL Charlotte, NC Chattanooga, TN Holland, MI Kingsport, TN Shenandoah National Park, VA Nashville, TN Rodanthe, NC Sylvania, OH Woodbridge, VA Washington, DC cf. 2005/1999, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.

3 State 3 Mountain Challenge 2012, Part 3

[Continued from part 1, and part 2] Lookout Mountain Lookout Mountain is an icon of the South.  As a kid, en route to see my grandparents in Alabama, we’d circle the hump-backed juggernaut as we passed through Chattanooga.  It’s lore was spread via one of the most innovative advertising campaigns in history — painted barns throughout … Read more

Knuckleball! is a hit you shouldn’t miss

As a kid, I remember playing catch with my Dad when he would throw peculiar pitch that didn’t spin like the others — it sort of floated in the air without spinning and seemed like it would never get to my glove. It was, of course, a knuckleball — a pitch that goes against everything … Read more

Christ, conspiracy, and code

A big thanks to The Gospel Coalition for running my thoughts on Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code as part of their “Reading for Worldviews” series: Conspiracy theorists may operate under the guise of seeking truth, but in reality they’re driven by cynicism. Any new revelation casts further doubt, and truth becomes separated from the … Read more

Voter ID and Voter Ego

Last week, I got my Virginia voter registration card in the mail. My wife’s card also arrived on the same day. So did the card above, which is neither mine nor my wife’s. The address is correct, but the name (blurred intentionally in the photo) belongs to a previous owner of my house. A previous … Read more