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On Eagles Wings & Gimpy Knees
This morning I went out to get the mail and saw this big boy take off over the windrows across the road from my house.My knee has been in a bad way for the past week, and I've been trying to avoid...
View ArticleOde to Nasal Decongestants
I'm awfully congested today.I only take an over-the-counter nasal decongestant about once every three years. And that's probably a good thing, because whenever I do I'm always like: "You complete me,...
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How to fix a high-end grill in three steps or less
It is the very height of outdoor barbecue season. Unfortunately, the gas grill that my parents left behind at the house––a very nice grill at that––is not currently working. Something to do with it...
View ArticleUnsureness
This morning I spoke at a church. It was the third one in the past month, and I'm somewhat surprised how comfortable it's started to feel.Not that I ever disliked public speaking (on the contrary, I...
View ArticleMemories of home, thoughts of friends
This afternoon I watched Gladiator. There's something about the story of that film that always gets me. I think it's the sense of longing for a past you can never return to even as you're pressed to...
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We Own The Night
I've always loved night photography. About five years ago I got a Lumix point-and-shoot that had a night photo setting as well as a very-wide angle attached lens and while attempting to capture a...
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This chicken crossed the road and you won't believe what happened next - the...
I hate the way online articles are titled in 2014. That is all.
View ArticleThe local news
I'm back in Beirut now. Most likely for a long while. The trip over went pretty smoothly. Detour around the Ukraine, but I guess that should be expected. I learned Qatar looks ridiculously amazing from...
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Intensive
A lot of people who read this blog are surprised when I tell them I didn’t learn to read until I was 12. It’s true, though. I had some tests done when I was ten or eleven and found out I have a type of...
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The Rose Salesmen of Lebanon
I try, as a discipline, not to be super-depressing when I write. Unfortunately, sometimes––if not usually––the most evocative things in life are extremely depressing. And the more you think about them,...
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The Compartmentalizable Country
One of the many funny things about Lebanon is how compartmentalizable it is. It's a tiny country, yet there can be a vast array of situations, moods and events from one neighborhood and one village to...
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Running in Beirut
Running in Lebanon is rather dangerous. Even registering for a race can be somewhat hazardous.Today I went downtown to pick up my number for the Beirut Marathon 10k event this Sunday and found the...
View ArticleAnother Day in Beirut
Last night on the winding eight mile drive up the mountain my taxi driver pulled over to get another 24oz beer and asked if I wanted one too, and I was pretty close to saying yes. But let's back up....
View ArticleGetting medication in Lebanon vs. in the United States
I've been somewhat ill for the past several weeks. During that time I moved to a new house, ran a 10k, flew to Turkey for ten days, and had lots of smaller but still exhausting adventures. It seems it...
View ArticleThere and back again in Lebanon
This evening I had a small adventure getting to a neighborhood that is quite a long way from mine. It involved a school bus, a fruit-truck and a McDonalds delivery moped.Actually it's not that far,...
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The Magic Carpet of Death
Long before I read books like Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist or Michael Chabon's Gentlemen of the Road, I dreamed of traveling through the desert. This fantasy inevitably took the form of riding a magic...
View ArticleNew Year's Resolution
On New Year's Eve the other night I went downtown and stood in a crowd to watch the big Rolex clock tower in front of the Lebanese parliament strike midnight.The clock is at the center of a round-about...
View ArticleCaught in a Lebanese cat fight
Since I came to Lebanon, one bright spot in my life has been that Misha––one of my many little sisters––started emailing me regularly. Most our correspondence is mundane, consisting of short anecdotes...
View ArticleHow to get the internet
In Beirut, there are really only two ways to get decent internet. One, is to pay for it in the form of cellular data at the rate of about $16 per gigabyte. The other is to sit in extremely posh cafe’s...
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