On August 26, I was invited to address the first meeting of the fall 2014 semester for The Florida State University College Republicans. Over 150 students attended, with more than half of them being freshmen – which meant most of them were hearing from me on their second day of college. It was a great […]
Is the “Man of Steel” a Christian allegory?
I finally got around to watching the 2013 film Man of Steel, which is yet another remake of Superman. In this particular movie, however, it starts with us first seeing the creation of Clark Kent – his birth on the planet Krypton. Shortly after his birth, the planet is destroyed. Clark’s real parents locate a planet […]
What’s Your Ice Bucket?
Over the past two weeks, unless you’ve been living off the social media grid, you have probably seen dozens and dozens of people doing the “Ice Bucket Challenge.” It is a phenomenon where someone records a video of themselves being dumped with ice cold water and then challenging three of their friends to do the […]
Alaska Cruise Part Three: Glacier Bay, College Fjord, and Anchorage
As noted in my previous blog, our cruise ship departed from Skagway on Wednesday night and set sail north towards Glacier Bay National Park. One of the main reasons we chose Princess Cruise lines is that they are one of the few cruise lines that has a permit to sail through Glacier Bay National Park. […]
Alaska Cruise Part Two: Juneau, Skagway, and the White Pass Railway
As noted in my previous blog post, our first two port stops in Alaska were Ketchikan and Juneau. That post concluded with the first half of our day in Juneau. Once we were done kayaking, we returned to the ship. I was pretty wet from all the water that had sprayed on us during our […]
Alaska Cruise Part One: The Adventure on the High Seas Begins
On Saturday, June 21, we departed from Vancouver on Princess Cruises – specifically on the Crown Princess, surely the nicest ship I have ever been on. The ship departed from Vancouver around 5pm, sailed under the Lions Gate Bridge (built by the Guinness Family), and up towards the last frontier, Alaska! Our port stops included […]
Vancouver: An Arrival, a Departure
Over the past 10 days (June 19-29), I took a trip to Alaska with my parents, my youngest brother Tony, his girlfriend Ann, as well as my friend Jesse and his parents. It was an absolute blast. After taking three planes (Tallahassee > Atlanta > Toronto > Vancouver) I arrived in Vancouver on the afternoon […]
The Tea Party Five Years Later: Five Major Contributions, Five Lessons Still to Learn
Five years ago on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17, 2009), I organized the first Tallahassee Tea Party at the historic Florida Capitol. It wasn’t my first tea party. I had actually been inspired by my friends Brendan Steinhauser, J.P. Freire, and John O’Hara. They had worked with Michele Malkin to host the first tea party […]
The Rock Boat at the Center of the Universe
During Sister Hazel’s final performance on The Rock Boat XIV, lead singer Ken Block told us that it is very hard for anyone in the outside world who has never been on The Rock Boat to understand what goes on here. Conversely, he said, it is very difficult for those of us who have been […]
My 2013 Year in Review: Filling Up the Bucket (List)
When I reflect on 2013, I think about the amazing number of new experiences I had: traveling to China, going to both a U.S. Davis Cup match and the Daytona 500, running a 15K (yes, that’s 9.3 miles) for the first time ever, going hunting for the first time, and doing so in a state […]