Year of the Dragon
It was time to celebrate the Lunar New Year, and 2012 was the Year of the Dragon. I picked up my 15-year-old son Colin from Herndon, VA and drove him…
Building Bridges in Northern Ireland
During the summer of 2007, I was running on the National Mall during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival which focused on Northern Ireland. The country was experiencing a seminal moment…
Joplin Tornado Relief
After 27 brutal hours withering on a Greyhound, with frequent stops and middle-of-the-night bus transfers done in a daze, I arrived in Joplin with little rest but lots of pent-up…
A Home in Joplin
It couldn’t have come any sooner. After weeks on end of school and mind-numbing web design, I was ready to head west on my cross-country bus trip, leaving behind my…