Tag Archives: family

How to Host a (Virtual) Watch-and-Laugh Halloween Party

Posted on October 27, 2020 by

It’s a pandemic Halloween. Probably not the best year for a live Halloween party. And trick-or-treating is pretty iffy, too. So what to do? Amazon to the rescue! They’ve put together everything you need for a Virtual Watch-and-Laugh Halloween Party … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Movies, Popular Culture & Entertainment, Quips and Quotes | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Posted on May 5, 2020 by

Honestly? I’m a gringo. But I grew up near enough to take daytrips into México. And I always had enough friends with big Mexican families to get a taste of—and for—south-of-the-border culture. Which, to me, meant The Two Fs: Family … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Humor, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Mental Health: Acceptance (Part I)

Posted on January 15, 2020 by

Originally posted on K E Garland:
Around 2005, I found my biological mother’s side of the family, and with that came a narrative about my family’s mental health. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services sent me a thick…

Posted in Culture, Quips and Quotes, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Televolution: 30 Years of D’oh!

Posted on December 19, 2019 by

How television has evolved! This very week in 1989, civilization took a giant slouch forward with the arrival of the most wonderfully dysfunctional family ever. 30 years later The Simpsons is the longest running scripted primetime television series–and one of the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Memoir, Popular Culture & Entertainment, Videos | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

Loving the Wartzenalls

Posted on July 29, 2019 by

Family. A mixture of people we get and don’t get. People we like, and people we would never have chosen to be with if we had a choice. But we don’t. Because they’re family. Right? I haven’t seen my cousin … Continue reading →

Posted in For Pastors and Teachers, Humor, Memoir, Quips and Quotes | Tagged , , , , , | 35 Comments

Real Diversity!

Posted on June 13, 2019 by

Originally posted on Mitch Teemley:
Somewhere in the lush undergrowth of G.K. Chesterton’s essays is a delightful little piece about tolerance. In this essay, Chesterton avers that, because we crave diversity (the ultimate human adventure) some of us move away…

Posted in Culture, For Pastors and Teachers, Humor, Quips and Quotes | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Freedom Awaits

Posted on March 16, 2019 by

Even if I’d never been a father, this picture would touch me. But because I have, it touches me even more deeply. It pierces my heart and salves it all at once. Why? Because even as I write this a … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, For Pastors and Teachers, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , | 34 Comments

My Dress Rehearsal for Death

Posted on January 28, 2019 by

In the year 2000 I found a golf ball-sized lump in my neck. Not having swallowed any golf balls recently, I decided I’d better see a doctor. Dr. Yamagata was the opposite of the cold-but-efficient Asian doctor stereotype. He was … Continue reading →

Posted in For Pastors and Teachers, Humor, Memoir, Religion/Faith | Tagged , , , , , | 103 Comments

There Must be a Pony!

Posted on December 22, 2018 by

Last week we found out someone had stolen a credit card out of our mail box, activated it, and bought themselves a top-of-the-line computer from the Apple Store! Um, Merry Christmas? (Yes, we’ve disputed the charge.) The next day we … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

When Your Kids Surpass You

Posted on September 29, 2018 by

Yesterday, while shooting some additional film footage with our director-of-photography, Jeff, I launched into a sudden “that reminds me of the time when” narrative (something I limit myself to doing no more than once every five minutes). At that moment, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Humor, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , | 26 Comments