The Sharwa Bazaar
I’m back with one of the many Deleted Scenes. This one is something of a hybrid — parts of it show up at a later time in the book. But here’s the original description of this amazing place, the … Read More
THE ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE
This is a post about a social movement, one of my favorite topics. Q: What is the difference between a social movement and a mental illness? A: The number of people involved. I remember a chilly weekend in New … Read More
Connecting with your Purpose
My guest this week is Kathy Pooler, whose memoir, Ever Faithful To His Lead was published in late July. First, her bio. Kathleen Pooler is an author and a retired Family Nurse Practitioner whose memoir, Ever Faithful to His Lead: … Read More
Exciting Times and An Empty Nest: My Book Launch
So reads the official launch announcement my publisher put together for me. It is exciting. I am excited. Truly. My rocket book is launched. For the past seven years my singular … Read More
Chickens, Run (and other exciting news)
We interrupt our regularly scheduled post to bring you this special, late-breaking announcement. MY BOOK IS LIVE! AT HOME ON THE KAZAKH STEPPE has launched, left the doorsill, flown the coop, left the nest. (are there others?) A Book Launch Party — for … Read More
Raw Herring and Other Peace Corps Dangers
This past Friday, the New York Times ran two stories on the Peace Corps. The first article I saw, Peace Corps Volunteers in Their Own Words by Michael Roston, is a collection of short first-person accounts from recent volunteers (more … Read More
Sitting on the Doorsill
A month ago we picked up thirty baby chicks (sex yet unknown): 10 meat birds (pale yellow) and 10 each of two types of layers (one black & white, one gold & brown). The pale yellow meat birds are off in their own pen … Read More
The Richness of Cross Cultural Experience – Ten Lessons One Learns
My guest today is Ian Mathie. I first met Ian just a little over a year ago on Belinda Nichol’s blog, My Rite of Passage. I was struck immediately by this sentence of his: “But there are stories about people … Read More
Acknowledging My Villagers
On that trip it was my good fortune to be wrong; being mistaken is the essence of the traveler’s tale. Paul Theroux (1941- ) Riding the Iron Rooster. Isn’t that a great quote? It’s going in my book. In … Read More