Huang Family Newsletter, March 2010

Kids - Jada got her official acceptance letter into her neighborhood school for kindergarten; not that it's selective, but because of high demand, we were holding our breath until we knew for sure they'd have a spot for her. She's learning to read and is becoming quite a prolific artist. Aaron now gets picked up in a little yellow school bus for his "circle school" two mornings a week, and luxuriates in "Mama time" the rest of those days, while chilling with friends at his regular school the other three days a week.

Adults - Amy has one more month of school, and she's not sure what's next in terms of employment. Lee made two work trips to DC, and co-authored well-received reports for PhillyCarShare (on the economic and environmental impact of its existence on the Philadelphia region) and Digital Impact Group (on the economic impact of 100 million people in the US still not having "always on" broadband Internet access in their homes). Ten years after buying our house and five years after becoming parents, we made two big steps towards the more permanent arrangement of both kids sleeping up on the 3rd floor: we carpeted Jada's room and bought her a bed.

On Networking

As I understand the difference between extroverts and introverts, extroverts draw energy from being around others while introverts draw energy from being alone. As a natural introvert, I am challenged both by my faith and my profession to be engaged with others: Christians and consultants both need to be out there, interacting with and learning from and influencing others. Naturally, I approach networking as an introvert (INTJ in the Myers-Briggs sense, to be more specific) would: systematically, picking my spots, intentionally working on it rather than it being a breezily easy thing to do.

Thank goodness for tools like Facebook and LinkedIn, which I use to "collect" contacts. I hope that doesn't sound too creepy or shallow, but it's nice to have lots of contacts, because you never know when you can be useful to someone or when someone can be useful to you. For example, after my mom's car accident, I searched my contact lists and found out that a friend of mine who I used to go to church with and who subsequently moved out of the US cared for people with spinal cord injuries for a living. Her occupation was not a piece of information I knew her well enough to know when we were actually living in the same city and going to the same church; but, months after she had moved away, we exchanged messages on Facebook and she was incredibly helpful to me as I was trying to make sense of my mom's new challenges. Indeed, studies have demonstrated "the strength of weak ties" - people with lots of weak ties tend to get more job and business offers, because their weak ties connect them to circles they don't otherwise have access to, versus those who just maintain strong ties end up only being able to access the same circles they're already established in.

Some may hold out for a higher bar for being linked. Meanwhile, others will "friend" or "follow" complete strangers in a frenzied effort to up their numbers. I tend to be somewhere in the middle: I have to at least know you well enough that I could actually have a non-generic conversation with you. And, in fact, I do try to have at least the occasional "touch" with every one I'm connected to, if only to say "happy holidays" or to announce some big thing going on in my life.

But real relationships aren't formed by sending generic end-of-year greetings or press releases. They take work; but they are worth the work, for ultimately, in business and for the Kingdom, relationships are all that matter. So I do try to make time to work on relationships, to make deposits in as many relationship banks as possible: emailing folks to congratulate them on a recent honor, forwarding them an article I think they might be interested in, calling them to see how they're doing, or taking them out for coffee to pick their brain about something.

It can seem there's hardly any time for this sort of work, between work and kids and church and house and life. But, when it comes to being a Christian and being a consultant, life is relationships. So this introvert will keep on working on it.

Our Journey Together

One of the things I like about being an elder at my church is getting to meet new members prior to having them presented before the whole congregation. This past weekend, we elders crowded into the church office before the morning service to hear from 12 people who had completed our new members' class and desired to join the church. What a beautiful thing it was to hear story after story of God's work in each individual's life. Twelve people, ranging in age from 20's to 60's, from cultures representing four continents. Adding in the brief testimonies each of us elders shared about our own faith journeys, you had such a diversity of upbringings and moments, all with God's fingerprints indelibly evident.

And it reminds me of where our confidence lies in our church's ability to touch a neighborhood and change the world. For counted among these life stories were not a few moments of peril and brokenness. Some of us had dubious intentions, some of us walked the crookedest of paths, and some of us found ourselves in tight spots. We had all sinned, and been sinned against. If the world were to assemble a team of difference-makers for society, it would not likely be persuaded by the stories shared that morning.

But God's hand was on all of us, and it was clear that He had claimed us and was yet in the process of more fully claiming us. And that is all He needs to do His work in this day: people, however messy and wandering and downtrodden and pained, who say yes to His journey and yes to His ways. I am glad to have heard a little from those who joined our church this weekend of what their journey has been like so far, and gladder still that our journeys can co-mingle now and into the future. However we may look to the world around us, we are the church - His church - and we ready and available to do His work.

Check 'Other Asian'

As a good American, I dutifully filled out my Census form as soon as I got it. And, as a good Taiwanese, I dutifully filled in "Other Asian" and wrote in "Taiwanese." See the press release below for more information on what the Taiwanese-American community is trying to get circulated concerning its approach to the Census.

***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact
March 17, 2010 Leona Chu
leona.chu@tacl.org
(626)551-0227

ASIAN AMERICANS ASK, WILL CENSUS EVER GET IT RIGHT?
The missteps and causes of recurring undercount of Asian Americans in the U.S. Census

Within the Asian American community, there are genuine concerns that minorities will not participate in the Census. Some of those reasons include unawareness of inclusion, language barriers, and fear of the government. Individuals whose race(s) are not listed as check-boxes, such as Indonesian, Sri Lankan, and Taiwanese would not automatically assume the option of writing in an unlisted response. "I didn't know there was a choice, I just marked off the next best option by default," said actor Adam Wang from the feature film, Formosa Betrayed.


Although the Census form will be offered in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese has been dropped from the in-language forms mailed to households. This neglects a number of Asians who do not read Simplified Chinese; for example individuals from Taiwan and older overseas Chinese schooled in Traditional Chinese, such as community members from Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Singapore.

In another effort to reach out to underrepresented minority groups, Census 2010 ran in-language public service announcements on TV, online and the radio. Unfortunately, the PSA targeted to the Taiwanese community did not use a native speaker, making the ad largely incomprehensible to those it was targeting.

Non-profit organizations such as, Taiwanese American Citizens League (TACL), an official Census partner since 1990, were not contacted for the official Census 2010 “Taiwanese” PSA. TACL in conjunction with TaiwaneseAmerican.org, Slideshow Pictures and several second generation Taiwanese American organizations have come together to create its own PSA on YouTube. Since the launch in early March, the "Write In Taiwanese" PSA has gone viral and generated over 150,000 hits. In addition, t-shirt orders for the TACL "Check Other Asian" t-shirt have spiked. Orders from across the country, even overseas countries such as Canada, Singapore, Taiwan, and United Kingdom, have been pouring in.

Despite the popularity of the Write in Taiwanese PSA on YouTube, some regard the campaign as being controversial. Heated discussions on the YouTube message board have sprung up with debates on the validity of a Taiwanese identity being the main argument. However, this is a moot point, since the choice to check a race box, or check "Other Asian," will come down to the individual. Census Day is April 1, 2010.

Data obtained from the Census Form’s race question are necessary for (1) evaluating racial disparities, (2) assessing the characteristics and needs of particular communities, (3) implementing laws and programs that promote equal opportunity, and (4) allocating funds and other resources.

TACL is a non-profit organization of education, public affairs and human rights representing Americans of Taiwanese ancestry. The mission of TACL is to enhance the well being of Taiwanese Americans and to promote Taiwanese American's participation in American democracy.


For more information please find us online at:
TACL Census 2010: http://census2010.tacl.org
TACL Census PSA: http://taiwaneseamerican.org/census2010

###
If you'd like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Leona Chu, please call: (626)551-0227, or email leona.chu@tacl.org.

Physical press-kits are available upon request.

Technology Bleg

OK, a 25-point toss-up for those of you out there who are more tech savvy than I (which is to say, all of you). You may know that I am still sans smart phone, and am thinking I would like to stay that way: for me, the downside of not having mobile access to email and Internet is more than offset by peace of mind that comes from not being plugged in at all times. And paying $80 to $120 a month for service is just completely untenable. So I don't really mind carrying two devices in my pocket at all times: a dumb phone (i.e. all it does is make calls), and a dumb PDA (i.e. it doesn't make calls and it doesn't connect to Internet or email).

But I may have to make a technology purchase in the near future, and am wondering what to do. My phone is kind of falling apart: the "3" and the "5" button don't work anymore, I have it on "vibrate" but when it rings it sounds more like a dying duck, and the battery poops out after two or three calls. I use it little enough to get away with a $20 a month plan, which gets me 75 anytime minutes and 500 weekend minutes.

My PDA hopefully will not poop out any time soon, but neither will it last forever. I use it extensively for calendar, tasks, notes, and contacts, and very little else; and I sync it daily to my MS Outlook at work. It cost me something like $99 three or four years ago, and because it's not tethered to anything, there are obviously no ongoing charges.

My default is to wait until my phone is completely dead, and then walk into a T-Mobile store, announce that I'd like to re-up my calling plan, and walk out with whatever handset is the cheapest for doing so (hopefully it would be free). And as for my PDA, I'll just try not to drop it anymore and hope it lasts for a few more years (I had my other PDA for eight years). So that would mean minimal if any financial outlay in the near future, the same monthly phone bill, and a few more years before I have to worry about another big financial outlay to replace my PDA when it poops out.

Anyone out there have a better suggestion? Hopefully, I have provided enough information as to my regular uses, preferences, and budget.

This Old House

Ten years ago today, Amy and I closed on our house. Sadly, much of our house remains in a temporary state. This month brought two big moves towards a more permanent arrangement: we carpeted Jada's third floor bedroom (she sleeps in a first floor room now) and bought her a bed (she sleeps on a mattress on the floor now). Soon enough, this old house of ours will actually feel like everything's in the right place. And soon enough, the kids will be out of the house and off to college. Boy, time flies.

Love and Obey

A common lament of the Christian faith is “all the rules.” Many appreciate many facets of Christianity but ultimately choose not to go “all in” because to do so would be stifling. Where’s the fun in not being able to do lots of things that you would otherwise want to do?

I’m reminded of a story my friend told me of a lesson from his mother that has stuck with him into his adulthood. Chafing at yet another of his mother’s stated boundaries, he complained that the parents of his friend at school let his friend do whatever he wanted. His mother replied, “Do you think that is a loving thing for his parents to do?” She then proceeded to explain to my friend that rules are given out of love.

Indeed, the Bible makes it clear that rules are given out of love. From Eden to the journey of the wandering Israelites to the prophets’ cries to Jesus’ teaching, far from stifling us, God’s commandments spring from His love for His people.

As a parent, I can understand this connection. Specific instructions are given for my kids’ wellbeing, safety, and edification. And, in general, a household in which there are rules and boundaries and structure is far more loving than one in which anything goes.

But I guess this is the real fork in the road for mankind. One side believes they know best, and are the final arbiter of their own lives, and are thus capable of making the best decisions for themselves without accountability to a higher authority. Another side believes in a different narrative, one in which there is a higher authority, who is characterized both by wisdom, to know what is right for us, and love, to want what is right for us.

Like my kids, who sometimes chafe at my rules, I too often choose out of a life lived within the confines of God’s instructions. My kids think they know better than I do, and too often I act as if I know better than God does. A far better way, which we were created to live but which we have perverted and twisted in so many ways since, is to believe in the love that undergirds the giving of commandments, and to reflect that love back in the living out of the commandments.

Activism in Action

A nice win for Kurt Kuenne concerning his "Dear Zachary" project. Here's an update from Kurt on how the parents of his slain friend saw victory through to the end, in the form of changed legislation in Canada. Kudos to Canada, kudos to Mr. and Mrs. Bagby, and kudos to Kurt.

***

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kurt Kuenne
Date: Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 2:04 AM
Subject: Bill C-464 is passed unanimously by the House of Commons

Hi Everyone,

Kurt here with some good news; on Monday, Canada's House of Commons (in Ottawa) unanimously passed our bail bill, Bill C-464 - An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Justification for Detention in Custody). The private member's bill was introduced by MP Scott Andrews of Newfoundland last fall after he saw "Dear Zachary" at a March 2009 screening that I hosted in Ottawa and decided to do something about our situation. The bill now moves to the Senate where it is expected to be embraced in a similar fashion. Senator Tommy Banks of Alberta will be the bill's sponsor in the Senate, and will shortly be distributing DVDs of "Dear Zachary" to all members of the Senate, just as he and MP Andrews distributed the film to all members of the House of Commons last fall when he introduced the bill. The bill if passed into law later this year, would justify detention in custody for those accused of a serious crime who are a potential danger to their own children under the age of 18.

http://www.cinematical.com/2010/03/23/dear-zachary-bill-gets-passed-unanimously-by-house-of-commons/
http://www.polemicandparadox.com/2010/03/andrews-private-members-bill-moves-to.html

Kate and David Bagby traveled to Ottawa last week to speak as witnesses for the bill before the House's Standing Committee on Justice & Human Rights. The committee passed the bill unanimously. I was pleased to learn that all members of the committee had seen "Dear Zachary" prior to the hearing. Scott Andrews then managed to immediately get the bill on the House of Commons' schedule for its 3rd and final reading this past Monday; MP Peter Stoffer of Nova Scotia generously gave up a spot he had on the books Monday morning to discuss his own bill so that MP Andrews might get C-464 passed through the House and into the Senate quickly, for which he deserves an enormous thanks.

http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=332836&sc=79
http://cbncompass.ca/index.cfm?sid=333719&sc=326

I'll keep you posted as the bill makes its way through the Senate over the next couple of months; with any luck, I hope to have very good news for you shortly thereafter.

Thanks again for your support of me & this project when it was just me in my apartment with a box of videotapes and a computer. And a huge thanks to Scott Andrews, his assistant Ken Carter, MP Peter Stoffer, Senator Tommy Banks, his assistant Thérèse Gauthier, Gord McIntosh and all those in Parliament who have seen across party lines and supported this bill to honor Andrew & Zachary and help prevent a recurrence of our story.

Happy Spring to you all,
Kurt

www.dearzachary.com

Let Kids Be Kids

I appreciated my friend's recent post on the over-emphasis on over-stimulation of kids at an early age. It's a core value of Amy's and my approach to parenthood: let kids be kids. Add the fact that Aaron and Jada are in school all day and all week, and we haven't felt too compelled to pile on the activities: so far, no sports teams, no music lessons, no summer camps. (I admit it may also be my innate cheapness that causes me to say, "the best things in life are free.")

Not that we park them in front of the TV all weekend; far from it. But, though we keep a busy social schedule, we try to be pretty low-key about it. Trips to the zoo, the children's museum, or downtown are intended to be experiential, not high-pressure. We are ever trying to instruct our kids in terms of discipline and education, especially given their delays and issues; but we do so with pretty soft gloves, and at a pace that is not rushed or pressured. And, a lot of times, stuffing the kids with activities and resources is just a game of parental "keeping up with the Joneses," and I just don't have the horses to want to get into that, so we tend to honor the other extreme: lots of time "off the grid," no parental helicopters in sight.

It takes a lot for this Type A, Ivy League-educated parent to rein in all of my wanting to infuse my kids with the same ambition and drive and hyper-competitiveness. But then I realize my kids are just 5 and 3, and that there's something precious about being able to be 5 and 3, and be a kid, and not have a care in the world, and discover things for the first time, and delight in the wonder and innocence of it all. So we let them be kids. And we get to experience some of that preciousness and discovery and delight and wonder for ourselves, which is, I think, good for our souls.

Information on Information

You may have noticed from my distribution of links that I have a bit of a man-crush on George Mason University's Tyler Cowen. So when Atlantic Magazine profiled him in its ongoing series, "What I Read," well, I just had to, um, read it. Given how well-read he comes across, I wasn't surprised to learn of the quantity and diversity of his information intake, although his casual comment, "If I don't have a social event, and am reading non-fiction, it is likely I will read a few books in an evening" - was startling; I believe Theodore Roosevelt was this prolific as well.

It got me thinking that it would be helpful for my own documenting's sake to answer the same question, and perhaps others may be curious to know what my approach to information consumption is. Because I am a consultant by day and a Christian at all times, accumulating and synthesizing information is one of two things - networking being the other, and yes I'm musing on a post about that subject soon - I feel I'm obliged to do as much as possible. Hence my drivenness in taking this task seriously - I find it enjoyable, but I also find it necessary to stay sharp, to stay informed, to stay on top of things.

To begin with, I watch zero TV and listen to zero radio. The only exceptions are fast-forwarding through a football or basketball game while I'm on the treadmill, and the few minutes a week that I'm in a car and will put on Q102 for the kids. Alas, this puts me woefully out of touch with the pulse of mainstream America, as evidenced by what show/movie/song everyone is talking about, or what commercials tell us about what we value. And, I realize TV and radio can be a really great source and a really efficient medium for high-brow stuff. But, it's just not my thing these days.

So for me, it's all Internet and print. On the Internet side, I check about 40-50 sites on a regular basis: econ blogs (ex: Cowen, Greg Mankiw, Paul Krugman, Tim Harford); columns (ex: Megan McArdle, David Brooks); political sites (Frum Forum, Keith Hennessey's blog); urban/governance sites (ex: Governing, Next American City); and other interesting aggregators (kottke.org, Chart Porn). I'd say I visit a handful of these daily and the rest maybe once or twice a week. (And, yes, "visit" is the right verb: I have them all saved as bookmarks on my desktop, and physically open them up, because I'm not savvy enough to figure out how to use RSS Feed or "follow" them on Twitter.)

On the print side, I read the Inquirer every morning while I and the kids have breakfast, and am usually able to get through the whole paper by the time dishes need to be washed. I use frequent flier miles to get subscriptions to Fast Company, Wired, and the Economist, each of which I try to read as soon as possible, either in the evening before bed or on subway rides. And I get about 30-40 free trade publications (our administrative associate knows to just roll her eyes when she brings the mail to my office and I reply with comments like "ah yes, Progressive Railroading . . . I've been waiting all week for you"), which I flip through during lunch at work, occasionally ripping out an article that looks interesting enough to actually read.

Speaking of articles that look interesting enough to actually read, about once a month, I have enough time at work to sift through emails and links I've sloughed off to a "Read Later" folder, and to make my way through about 100 sites I can count on for interesting publications: places such as the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, City Journal, and the Brookings Institution. Printing out executive summaries and short articles usually leaves me with a healthy stack of paper to power through on the occasional long train ride.

As for books, I keep a wish list at Half.com that is now about 600 titles long, and every few months, I'll order as many as I can find on the list whose price has dropped to less than a dollar (so long as I can get them all from the same seller, in order to save on shipping; yes, I am this cheap). So at any given time, there is a daunting stack of books on my desk that represents my to-do for the 30 to 90 minutes from the time the kids have gone to bed and when I myself am asleep. So, for example, next in the queue for my evening pleasure are a book on growing mid-sized companies, a biography of C.S. Lewis, an account of the general manager for the New York Giants football team, Halberstam's book on the Korean War, a devotional book by Presbyterian minister Sinclair Ferguson, and a book written in the mid-1990's by former Indianapolis mayor Stephen Goldsmith about what cities will look like in the 21st century. By the way, I've become a serial book-reader: I have enough multi-tasking in my life, so when I start a book, I either finish it or quit it before I move on to the next title.

Of course, no account of information intake would be complete without a little frivolity. I have a pretty big stick up my you-know-what, so I don't have as much of the fun stuff as most, but I'd be dishonest if I didn't reveal my favorite time-wasting indulgences: the Onion (recent headline - "World's Leading Entomologist Calls For Someone To Get It Off"), Oddee.com (Funny Facebook Fails are always good for a laugh), the Baseball Reference blog (you know, because I actually do want to know how many players have reached base 4+ times in a deciding playoff game), and LeBron highlights on YouTube (I think I've watched his "25 straight points against the Pistons in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals" video about two dozen times by now). And I just splurged for Seasons 2 and 3 of Arrested Development and all three Bourne movies - all used, on Half.com, for less than $40 total, including shipping! - so I'll have additional indoor running entertainment content for quite some time.

News Flash: Flash Mob Thwarted

Earlier this week, I got an ominous email forwarded from my boss from Penn Public Safety about avoiding 40th and Market Streets that afternoon because of rumblings of a flash mob congregating there. 40th and Market, you may know, is where my son goes to school, and in fact I would be walking down there that very afternoon to pick him up, like I do every other day of the week.

I heard no other alerts throughout the day and so gingerly walked in the direction of school. As I approached 40th and Market, I noticed significantly more police presence than usual. I asked a uniform on a bicycle if anything had happened, and he breezily said not yet. Aaron and I got out of there with no complications.

Flash mobs can be clever and their results can go viral. But they can also be scary, especially when the intersection where your kid goes to school is involved. Thankfully, the police department did its homework, made its presence known, and effectively quashed any possibility of anarchy breaking out. The story made the front page the next day, not because of violence that had occurred, but because of violence that had not occurred. In this town, you see, no news is, in fact, good news.

Day 2 Agenda: Standing, Falling, Singing, Weeping

The contents of this, my second time fasting one meal a week during this Lenten season, are too private to go into too much detail in this space. But, it was appropriate, in a week in which there was both standing and falling, that I both sang and wept as I listened to one of my very favorite Christian songs, "If I Stand" by Rich Mullins (see lyrics below).

Mullins' songs tap into a sense of hunger and homelessness, of wonder and wandering, of longing and loss, that I think anybody that wants to take the Christian journey seriously circa 2010 feels. And "If I Stand" is one that particularly resonates with me. Thank you, Rich, for putting into words and music what I sometimes feel in my soul. And thank you, God, for grace and love and loyalty and victory and defeat and home.

There's more that rises in the morning than the sun
And more that shines in the night than just the moon
It's more than just this fire here that keeps me warm
In a shelter that is larger than this room

And there's a loyalty that's deeper than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs that I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes for the allegiance
I owe only to the giver of all good things

CHORUS:
So if I stand, let me stand on the promise that you will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to You
And if I sing, let me sing for the joy that has borne in me these songs
And if I weep, let it be as a man who is longing for his home

There's more that dances on the prairies than the wind
More that pulses in the ocean than the tide
There's a love that is fiercer than the love between friends
More gentle than a mother's when her baby's at her side

And there's a loyalty that's deeper than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs that I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes for the allegiance
I owe only to the Giver of all good things

CHORUS (2X)

And if I weep, let it be as a man who is longing for his home

The Return of Fast Company into My Life

Instrumental in my early years in employment and management was a magazine called Fast Company. I devoured each issue in the mid-1990’s and often incorporated things I learned into things I was working on at work. But Fast Company started to tail off earlier last decade, and at some point, I didn’t renew, and didn’t seem to miss it.

But with some airline miles about to expire, and Fast Company on the list of magazine subscriptions you could use miles to purchase, I decided to give the magazine another go. And, so far, very good: some of the same “I can’t put this issue down” mojo last experienced well over a decade ago.

In fact, it appears Fast Company will join Wired as the two things I simply must drop everything else I’m reading and plow through as soon they arrive in the mail. Here are some links to articles from recent issues that I particularly liked:

The Telltale Brown M&M. David Lee Roth of Van Halen asked venues for all the brown M&M’s to be removed from his candy dish not because he was a diva, but because he wanted to know the other side was reading every single line of his contract.

50 Most Innovative Companies - #1: Facebook. My baby’s all grown up! Not sure why there is so much FB-hating going on; there’s a lot to like about this company.

#9 Walmart and #28 Frito-Lay. A nice look at how these two behemoths are going green. This is how you change the world: 2.5 billion bags at a time.

#31: HTC. Wait, the CEO of this mobile phone manufacturer is Taiwanese and a Christian? I think I have a new role model.

First, Do No Harm. FC’s right: there’s a lot more social, environmental, and economic good that can be squeezed out of hospital design.

Transition Game. Steve Nash lays the foundation for a successful post-basketball career. A killer quote from his friend, Jeff Mallett of Yahoo!, got him going: “It’s 20 years from now and you have 15 minutes to tell what you’ve done in the last 20 years; if you mention basketball, you fail.”

Forman Mills

Forman Mills holds a special place in my heart, as they were one of the first sponsors of my youth entrepreneurship program, and one of the first major tenants to move back into the neighborhood after The Enterprise Center renovated and moved into the old American Bandstand building at 46th and Market streets. Rick Forman is the nicest guy, always available to provide mentoring and inspiration to up-and-coming entrepreneurs; and their marketing guy, whose booming voice is featured in every one of their radio ads, always had me and my young entrepreneurs in stitches.

And so when Amy said the kids were in desperate need of summer clothing and that our first stop should be Forman Mills, I exclaimed, "Yes!" In fact, this is absolutely the way to do shopping for kids. The selection is a crap shoot, so you're not going to get everything; but whatever you can get, you'll get for dirt cheap. And, I was able to replenish my essentials, thus minimizing the chance of being embarrassed at an airport security line or doctor's office when others are left to wonder why someone who otherwise seems put together has holes in his socks and undershirts.

So hats off to Forman Mills for providing this family with a ton of loot for not a ton of dough. As our kids continue to grow, and as my socks and undershirts continue to develop holes, we'll be sure to be back.

More on the Clark Park Shooting

Courtesy of Penn's student-run paper, here's more on that Clark Park shooting I referenced the other day: "No Arrests in Clark Park Attack." So apparently four dudes went up to a guy who was in the middle of a basketball game and started roughing him up, and then one of the attackers pulled out a gun and shot the guy in the leg before running away.

Needless to say, this led to considerable chatter on the online forums, such as the Clark Park Tot Lot and Philadelphia Speaks. Some parents wrung their hands nervously, while others dismissed the incident as commonplace in a city as big and bad as Philly.

My thoughts are, naturally, somewhere in the middle. To be outraged too much is to discount the fact that this is an almost everyday occurrence in many local neighborhoods: it's as if this sort of stuff only matters if it happens in neighborhoods like mine, when in actuality we should find this unacceptable anywhere people live and kids play. And yet, it is only natural for this to hit home more forcefully when it is your playground and your gathering place and your children: I shuddered when I read the police report, realizing that but for the fact that our afternoon nap time ran longer than usual, we would have been at the scene during the dust-up, rather than having arrived 20 minutes after it had happened. If you are familiar with Clark Park, you know that the basketball courts are right next to the playground area, close enough that a fired gun that is pointed just so could easily hit an innocent kid.

Clark Park has vastly improved in the short time I have lived in University City. I will not hesitate to bring my kids to play there again; nor will I hesitate, when they get old enough to go by themselves, to let them go by themselves. But I am unnerved by the fact that conflicts in the city have become so heated, and gun-toters so brazen, that shots could be fired in broad daylight on a weekday afternoon in which hundreds of people were enjoying the beautiful weather.

Commuting in the City

For the longest time, our commute was the same thing five days a week: I walk the kids in the double stroller to school and walk to work from there, and then reverse the process on the way home. With Jada's transfer to another, further away school, the commute got a little more complex: I would do the same as before but with just Aaron in tow, and Amy would drop off and pick up Jada with our car.

This semester, with Amy taking a class in the late afternoon one day a week, and with Aaron going to "circle school" two days a week, we now have further complexity. Two days a week, Amy stays home with Aaron, makes sure he gets successfully picked up by bus to his "circle school," and is waiting for him at home when he is dropped off so she can spend the rest of the day with him. On those days, in the morning, I take Jada to school by bus and walk to work from her school; and in the evening, if Aaron is still napping or Amy is in a cooking groove, I will walk to Jada's school from work and we'll get home by bus.

The one day a week Amy has class, I typically take the car and both kids in the morning, dropping Jada off first and then stashing the car near Aaron's school, from which I can walk Aaron into school and then walk to work; in the evening, I reverse the process. And the other two days a week, it's business as usual: me and Aaron by foot to his school, and Amy and Jada by car to her school.

With the weather improving, throwing the bicycle into the mix might be a possibility, especially given how much of a treat it is for the kids. And, this coming fall, Jada will be starting kindergarten two blocks from our house and going to an after-school program on the same campus; while Aaron will be transferred to where Jada is currently going to school. Who knows what Amy's schedule will be, given the possibility she may get a job; but once that's figured out, we'll have a new commuter schedule to figure out.

Books That Have Influenced Me

Tyler Cowen's "Books Which Have Influenced Me Most" post earlier this month has sparked other bloggers to follow suit, leading to tons of book recommendations for me to add to my Half.com wish-list, which now clocks in at almost 600 (!). It calls to mind a post I posted a couple of years back on "my fifteen 5's."

Which is not quite the same as "most influential." So here is my list of "most influential." And, since I am not yet done being influenced, hopefully there are books to be read that will eventually make this list. I welcome your suggestions, as well as your own list.

* The Holy Bible. Goes without saying. And yet the more I read it, the more layers there are to it. Easily the book that has shaped me the most, and that has the most left in the tank to continue to shape me.

* Pleasures of God (Piper). Relatively early into my Christian faith journey, this book jolted my notion of what God's like, and what life I wanted to live in response.

* Good to Great (Collins). I just adored how counter-intuitive Collins' findings were, as it related to what makes for successful organizations. Those findings continue to influence the way I think about organizations and try to influence the ones I am a part of.

* Free to Choose (Friedman). I still need to read his "Capitalism and Freedom," but "Free to Choose" was plenty good for staking out a free market position in the midst of rapid expansion of government bureaucracy. I continue to reference Friedman's point of view when I examine the public sector.

* Crabgrass Frontier (Jackson). This classic turned me on to the systemic forces and policy choices that led to our current urban/suburban divide. I continue to see these issues through the lens Jackson's work has provided me.

* The Night is Dark and I am Far From Home (Kozol). A haunting critic of our public education system. Once again, an eye-opener as to the underlying causes and far-reaching ramifications of the inequities in our society.

* Strangers from a Different Shore (Takaki). A fish has no appreciation for water until it is outside of it. Similarly, I had far less appreciation for what it means to be Asian in America until I read these beautifully written historical accounts.

* Founding Brothers (Ellis). We tend to think of our founding fathers, and the events they were involved in, in a stylized and sanitized way. I loved how this book presented the deal-making, the messiness, and the compromises that defined this most revolutionary and formative time in our nation's history.

* The Making of a Leader (Clinton). Wasn't on my 5's list, but probably should be. An exhaustive study of Christian leaders throughout history yields nuggets of wisdom for knowing how to become one yourself.

No Free Lunch

If there's anything you ought to remember from your Econ 101 class, it's that life is all about trade-offs. Seems patently obvious, yet in our "I want it all" culture, how quickly we forget. Politicians, who are voted in by a populace that has been led to believe it can in fact have it all, are not as dumb as you think: they know that pointing out that inconvenient truth of there being "no free lunch" is a sure-fire way to not have a job after the next election.

And so you have the continuance of irrational behavior to the point that the system is under complete stress. In California and in other states, Democrats refuse to cut services and Republicans refuse to raise taxes, leading to fiscal distress. The current health care debate would be a lot more constructive if one side realized that you actually have to pay for stuff, and if the other side realized that it matters for history what we were able to do for the least among us in terms of health care coverage. People have "conveniently" forgotten that the "inconvenient truth" Al Gore was talking about was that if we really care about the environment, we actually have to change personal behavior and bear financial cost. And let's not forget already that this recession we have just recently emerged from, and that continues to weigh heavily on our employment statuses and public finances, is largely as a result of individuals and companies thinking they could have it all.

This may be unpopular to say, or so seemingly obvious that it hardly warrants stating, but here goes anyway: there's no free lunch. If we will all realize that, maybe we can get to making some real progress in the real world, rather than prancing and preening to look good in the artificial worlds we have made up to feel good about ourselves.

First Day of Spring at Clark Park

First day of spring, and it’s 70 degrees out, so of course we headed down to Clark Park to take it all in. The scene had everything you’d expect: hundreds of people out, kids everywhere, water ice being sold hand over fist. What a glorious thing!

Unfortunately, there was another unsurprising element to the setting: yellow tape and a police car, evidence of two guys pulling out and discharging their firearms during a basketball game, which took place not 20 minutes before we arrived. You’ll notice in the video how uncomfortably close the basketball court is to the playground.

The weather was too nice, and people too resilient, to let this minor incident hang a cloud over everything; kids kept on playing and things kept on flowing, with nary a sign to tell us something had gone awry, save for the yellow tape and police car, and for our friend who was there when it happened and who gave us the account of what had gone done once we had arrived. Alas, crime in this city is no abstract thing; let’s hope, for the sake of the kids, each day brings less and less of it.

Glimmers of Spirituality

Between their behavioral issues, development lags, and communicative challenges, our kids give Amy and me lots to worry over. Ultimately, we do what we can, get extra help as is available for their particular diagnoses, and entrust them to God to grow them.

And, of course, we do our best to cultivate in them a sense of faith and discipleship. We bring them to church, teach them right and wrong, and get them in the routine of praying and reading the Bible. But at some point, a personal relationship with God will have to be something they want and own for themselves.

So it was heartening to see glimmers of spirituality earlier this week. I was home alone with the kids at the dinner table, as Amy was at school. The kids had finished eating and I was still washing the dishes, so I asked them to play nearby until I was done so we could go upstairs, take bathes, and get ready for bed.

Instead of going to the next room over to play with toys, they both climbed onto the same chair, and pretended to have dinner again. But, notably, they told each other that they needed to give thanks first. So first Jada prayed, and then Aaron.

So what if they were echoing words and phrases they've heard us pray, and so what if it was in the context of them having fun and role-playing. It was still neat to see that they had observed us praying and wanted to do the same. To date, other kids their age have impressed me with a recognition of Bible stories and concepts that my kids don't yet have; but it does appear that they do have an appreciation for the spiritual and the divine, and for that I'm thankful.

Real Friends Don't Let Friends Agree with Them All the Time

Earlier this week, I caught the Facebook status update of a high school friend of mine, in which he lamented the fact that he had been "defriended" by someone who he had been having a disagreement with online about the current health care debate. I don't know any context beyond this one update, but it saddened me to read this. Real friends are friends not because they always agree with you; and having only friends who agree with you is a sure way to become narrow-minded and self-congratulating.

Alas, a lot of this happens in this country. "The Big Sort" is a recent book that discusses this phenomenon of people congregating near other like-minded people, to the detriment of open and civil discourse. California is just the most prominent example of the radicalizing effect of gerrymandering, in which the real elections are at the primary level, thus rewarding extreme positions rather than a more compromising, moderate perspective. And the 24/7/365 news cycle has become so glutted that only the most outlandish views get staying power, further cementing our incomplete stereotypes of what "the other side" thinks.

I recall a few years back waiting in the lobby to meet a friend for lunch. When he came out to meet me and saw me reading a book on Ronald Reagan, he practically slapped the book out of my hand and proceeded to question me loudly as to how I could possibly be reading about him. Yet whether or not you think President Reagan had any redeeming qualities, or even if you think he had none, you have to think that reading a biography about him is a good thing, as it relates to being informed; but my friend would have me do no such thing.

"Defriending" those with opposing beliefs on Facebook would seem to be all the more puzzling, given the generally open and genial nature of the social networking platform. Sure, I've read my share of inappropriately incendiary and close-minded dreck on FB; but, in general, it's hardly a setting where a cordial disagreement about a hot issue can't take place.

Alas, we stroke ourselves in the wrong way when we only huddle up with those who agree with us. Their affirmations make us feel good that we are indeed right; and our rejections of those different from us make us feel we are being doctrinally "pure." But isn't American democracy founded on open discourse, political parties, and peaceful transfer of power, and spirited opposition? Bah, but who needs that patriotic crap, when you can feel good about what you believe in and get some good licks in against "the enemy."

As for me, I'm going to try to remember that every debate has two sides, neither side has a monopoly on the truth, and the goal of an argument may not be for one side to win but rather for both sides to be better for having exchanged ideas and concepts. And, I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to make a connection to Jesus, who bore the snickering and judgment of the established religious leaders of his day, who wondered aloud why he would associate with society's marginalized and sinful; never mind that their faith heritage spoke often of helping the outcasted, and not about holy huddling.

"The Big Sort"? "Defriending" those who disagree with you? Talking ill of a curious rabbi who dared bread bread with the most scandalously immoral people around? It is tempting to be like this. Let us instead value diversity of opinion, and be humble enough to believe that those who disagree with us may have something to teach us now and then.

Day 1 Agenda: Breakfast, Breakfast, Fast Fast, Break Fast

As a follow up to a post from earlier this month on fasting, here are some musings from my first attempt this Lenten season. I'm impelled to share to try to start an honest conversation on the subject, since it's such an incredibly fundamental spiritual discipline, and yet there is almost no sharing on the subject, because:

1) We have decided it is so antithetical to our otherwise me-first mentalities that we just don't do it,

2) We associate it with way-out-there ascetics and don't see its relevance to our lives (or don't want others to think we're way-out-there ourselves), and/or

3) We're afraid to be seen as flaunting how spiritually awesome we are (never mind that you can have just as much pride and self-righteousness about how you don't tell others than if you do tell others).

And, also, I'm reminded about a discussion I led last year in our couples' Bible study at church about having morning devotional times, and one participant thanked me for choosing the topic, since it is also an incredibly fundamental spiritual discipline, and yet there is almost no sharing on the subject. So, again, here's my story, and hopefully over the next few weeks, I'll share some more as I try to integrate fasting, one time a week, into my life this Lenten season.

First of all, let me note that this first fast was a pretty lame one. I had breakfast, and then my first work meeting was a breakfast meeting. So skipping lunch didn't really mean missing a meal, since I'd already had two meals by 9 o'clock. In other words, it was a fast fast, and by dinner I broke the fast having gone without food for not a very earth-shattering number of hours.

Furthermore, skipping lunch on a work day didn't make for much physical or psychic space to use that time and that food-deprived state for much spiritual good. I've become very compartmentalized in my schedule - I kind of have to, in order to juggle work and family and church and civics and self - and so being in my office, it was hard to not be in work mode.

That said, there's good in mixing up the times and places, to remember that one can and should connect with God anywhere and anytime. There's good in being reminded in a place of busyness and professionalism that this significant part of me also belongs to my Maker. And there's good in being able to intersperse in a long spell of work assignments some thoughts and meditations about other, weighty matters. Likely I'll mix up my fasts for this very reason: to practice being still in different places and at different times.

As for what I did re-allocate my thoughts to, pathetically, a lot of it was about how hungry I was. But even this can be used for good: however pitifully short my hunger spell was, it's at least some bridge to the world so many in this world face on a daily, even perpetual basis. And so I found myself inching closer, though still far away, to a place of solidarity with those around me and around the world who are physically hungry.

I also contemplated the empty feeling in my belly as a metaphor for being emptied so I could be filled up by weightier things. How willing am I to be emptied of that which does not eternally satisfy, in order to partake of that which does? Given how quickly I fill my belly, my brain, and my schedule with things just for the sake of being filled, I must not be very willing. And so being physically hungry for a short spell did in fact help me to be more spiritually hungry.

On a related note, skipping a meal makes me crabby, makes my head ache, and makes it hard to concentrate. This is what happens when your blood sugar drops, and there is nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with needing to eat. But - and I realize many people have taken this to an extreme, leading to disordered eating and irreparable physical and psychological harm - it is good to learn to master your body, to be able to not always be beholden to the carnal and physical, to have enough self-control that eating enough doesn't have to be a prerequisite to being nice to others.

There is so much more to fasting as it relates to our relationship to God and to His work than I covered in this first, shallow attempt of this Lenten season; quite frankly, anyone else's fasting experience would have had to have been more deep and meaningful than this one of mine. But I was happy to have made this effort, however pathetic it was. And I am happy to share it in this space, in the hopes that it encourages others, pulls the curtain away on some of the mystery, and brings honor to the God who invites us to fast and who invites us into deeper relationship with Him.

Blogging About Blogging

As an X'er, and one without a smart phone to boot, I find myself with a strange, tweener kind of relationship with social media. In between Gen Y and the Boomers, we X'ers can go either way on Twitter, Facebook, and the like. As this blog is just as much documentation for me to look back on as information for others to ponder, I thought I'd use today's post to describe what I do and where I am on the Internets.

Circa 2010, my swath seems bigger than it actually is, because of the way things can get automatically posted and reposted. I keep a personal blog called "Huang Kid Khronicles," and a professional blog called "The Musings of an Urban Christian," and I post my videos to my YouTube page. (I used to post my pics to Flickr but stopped doing so, I think either because it would have cost money, or because the interface was too clunky; but perhaps both have changed since I stopped doing this?) And that's it.

But thanks to the magic of automatic posting and reposting, you can find this stuff in all sorts of places. At LinkedIn and Brazen Careerist, you can read "Musings." At Facebook, you can read "Musings" and watch my YouTube videos. At Twitter, you can find links to "Musings," "Khronicles," and my YouTube videos. And at Google Buzz, you can find links to all three as well, plus my Twitter posts, meaning you see two of everything there.

In other words, I don't actually use these sites that often. Occasionally, I'll go to Facebook to see what my friends are up to. And I'm a serial collector of friends on Facebook and connections at LinkedIn; per Malcolm Gladwell's reference to "the strength of weak ties," I can't tell you how often I have benefited from information provided by or asked of from someone who I would not consider a close friend but who I know well enough to be virtually linked to.

As noted above, I think this kind of online behavior places me squarely between Gen Y and the Boomers. I try to engage with social media and use it to my benefit. But I use it in a very old-school, analog way: my posts are thought through instead of stream-of-consciousness, I don't do anything real-time, and I don't participate in many online conversations. For that matter, I've never used Yelp, Skype, or Digg; I still don't know how RT or hashtags work on Twitter; and I know that RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and yet apparently it is not simple enough for me to know how to use.

Time and temperament constrain me to this level of engagement at this juncture, and only the future knows how I'll age with this process over time. Although you probably shouldn't hold your breath waiting for me to tweet my way through each day; the more ubiquitous the grid becomes, the more I'll likely want to guard my time off it.

He Bore the Punishment Due Us

I'm currently reading a gripping biography of abolitionist John Brown entitled "Patriotic Treason." In describing Brown's morals, the author recounts a memorable lesson Brown taught to his oldest son. Wanting to raise him up in the right way, Brown kept a ledger of his son's moral mistakes, as well as of his virtuous moments. At one point, Brown tells his son to come with him to "settle accounts." One by one, he goes over his son's minuses, asking his son if they were fairly recorded. Brown backs out his son's pluses, leaving a total of 25. He takes his son to the family shed, takes a whip (Brown owned a tannery), and asks his son to bend over but not take his shirt off.

Eight lashes Brown administers to his son's back. And, just as his son begins to fight off tears, Brown stops. He hands his son the whip, takes his own shirt off, and tells his son, "I deserve the remaining punishment for failing to instruct you properly." His son protests, but Brown insists. With tears, Brown's son lays the whip on Brown's naked back 17 times, drawing blood and eliciting Brown's exhortation throughout to not hold back. Brown's son recounts this story some 60 years later, remembering every detail.

Whether or not you would attempt the whipping or being whipped in the present day, it is a vivid way to teach a lesson. And I cannot help but think of a Father who provided His own Son to bear the punishment due me. Within decades of Jesus' death, the apostle Paul would have to chide believers in Romans for exploiting their forgiven status in order to sin all the more. He knew, like John Brown, that someone else more virtuous than us bearing the brunt of our transgressions was a far more heart-wrenching thing than for us to bear the brunt ourselves. We should be grateful if we know we will be spared the sting of the punishment we deserve; but the fact that that is true because One more righteous than us bore that punishment should still sting us, and provide us with sufficient instruction and motivation to not go astray.

Lazy Linking, Seventh in an Occasional Series

Here's what I've found interesting on the Internets lately -

* In honor of Pi Day (March 14), here's a great link. I mean, because you've been dying to know where your birthdate, Social Security number, and Tommy Tutone's phone number falls in pi's infinite sequence of numbers, right?

* Ever want to know the difference between Pigovian taxes and sin taxes? Here's a start: Greg Mankiw riffs on taxing gas vs. taxing cigarettes.

* Green jobs: magic bullet or pixie dust? The Economist moderates a spirited debate.

* When bankers run zoos, you get zoos that get serious about performance metrics. That's what's happening here in Philadelphia.

* Here's a conservative argument for not repealing the death tax.

* Sorry, Denver lovers, your transit plans are hitting a snag. This is why older, less sexy cities have a huge advantage over newer-infrastructure places like Denver and Phoenix and Seattle and Portland: we are already have billions of dollars of transit infrastructure in place.

* What happens when you try to soak the rich? In Maryland, they move to where it's dry, which isn't hard to do since there are so many other states nearby and you wouldn't even have to change your job.

* Ryan Avent gets at what's difficult about good affordable housing policy, namely that rich people simply would rather not have to live with or share schools with poor people.

Fast Company

Between our consumeristic culture, an aversion to legalistic piety, and the danger of tipping into disordered eating patterns, fasting doesn't have much of a good reputation around these parts. Which is too bad, because it is such an important spiritual discipline. Fasting intensifies our hunger for God, empties ourselves so we can fill up with what His heart beats for, and puts us in the right frame of reference to cry out to God for discernment over excruciating decisions and help in desperate situations.

But it has been awhile since I read John Piper's "A Hunger for God," since I mulled over the ramifications of Bible passages like Isaiah 58, and since I followed after the example of Nehemiah and Ezra and Daniel and Jesus when they were confronted with a need to really connect with God. It has been awhile since I last fasted.

But, this Lenten season, let's get back to this basic of Christian discipline. Let's do this together, and encourage one another to do it, and to do it in the right spirit. If you want in, let me know, either publicly or privately; and if God moves you in any interesting way, feel free to share with me, either publicly or privately. For what we fill our bellies with may be necessary and delicious; but far greater satisfaction (and wisdom and break-through) awaits us if only we will cultivate a deeper hunger for God.

I Live with Three Farmers

[This was originally posted over at Huang Kid Khronicles earlier this month.]


It has come to this: Amy, Jada, and Aaron all have virtual farms on Farmville, a Facebook application. First, Amy got hooked. Then, she set up Jada with an account just so she could have her own farm (and be a "neighbor," in the Farmville parlance). Then, she convinced me to give her my Facebook password so she could log in as me and set up Aaron with his own farm using my account: "I'm teaching them about economics," she pleaded with me, arguing that Aaron was learning how to defer present purchases for bigger future purchases. Fine by me; for this urban family, this is as close as it gets, I suppose, to milking cows and tending to crops.

Life is Complicated

I'm trying to teach Jada how to read, which is hard to do given her communicative delays. But we're making progress every day. What's frustrating is the irregularity of English spelling. She knows what sounds all the letters make, as well as what sounds common combinations of letters make; but sometimes you just have to throw all that out and memorize whole words. Try sounding out, for example, the following common words: two, sure, could, laugh.

It is a metaphor for life in general: for a parent trying to raise kids, it's more complicated than you want it to be. Aaron and I were coming home from school one evening and were approached by a panhandler, who had a sad story to tell to explain her need for a dollar-sixty. Without being rude but neither giving off that I wanted to extend this conversation, I declined her request and headed off with Aaron. Aaron, ever the empathetic one, declared to me, "she's sad," and then, after thinking about it, added, "she needs to go night-night."

Oh, Aaron, your sadness may be easily remedied by a good night's sleep; but hers will likely not. I was at a loss to know what to tell Aaron in response. Life is complicated, and my kids are simple. I hope Amy and I have what it takes to prepare them well.

A 25-Point Toss-Up on the Health Care Debate

At the risk of being flame-broiled here in the blogosphere, I'll ask a question that perhaps belies my ignorance on the issue at hand: why are Democrats now protesting the fact that health insurance costs are skyrocketing? Wasn't the big ideological divide between Obama and McCain that Obama was for expanding coverage, and McCain was for controlling costs? Wasn't the campaign narrative that Obama thought expanding coverage would eventually get you to lower costs, while McCain thought that you should directly attack cost control which would then enable more people to afford coverage?***

I'm biased, I admit, but it's hard not to see these protesters set up the Republicans and insurance companies as some straw man opponent that they get to look good protesting against, rather than admitting that if out-of-control costs were what really riled them up, they may have voted for the wrong candidate in 2008. Maybe McCain's then controversial planks of attacking the systemic distortions first, and his related proposal to eliminate the distortions caused by not taxing employer-funded coverage, would have been the right way to go. But why admit that your candidate's opponent's ideas are worth another look when you can look more righteous hollering at greedy insurance companies and obstructionist Republicans?

I haven't followed the debate in Washington as much as I ought, given that the history books may one day tell us this was THE issue of Obama's first term. So I'm speaking from gut reactions and thin-sliced perceptions (and, perhaps a little cynicism). Somebody please school me as to whether I'm reading this right or wrong.

*** At least that's how I understand McCain's approach, as articulated by his #1 econ dude, Douglas Holtz-Eakin. From a recent interview in Newsweek:

You've also said the country would be better off without the Obama-backed health proposals in Congress. Why?

Health-care reform has twin goals. One is to reform the delivery system [hospitals, doctors, clinics] to make the cost of medical care grow more slowly or even fall—without diminishing quality. There's little of that in these bills. The second is to increase insurance coverage; that's what Obama is about. Politically, it would have been better to do it the other way: start with delivery--system reform and, as savings showed up, plow those into coverage expansion.

A Beautiful Day in DC

A beautiful day in DC yesterday. Easy train ride into Union Station, attended the Digital Inclusion Summit at the Newseum, had a good meeting with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lunch and a brisk walk after with a good friend and grad school classmate, and finally back to Union Station to catch a train back to Philly. If the electronic displays were to be believed, it hit 70 (70!) in the afternoon. After getting slammed with snow, it seemed the entire town was out enjoying the sunny skies; complete strangers couldn't help but smile at me and say things like, "can you believe this weather" and "what a beautiful day." Spring, it seems, has sprung. Now if we can just transfer all of this happiness to Congress . . .

Recharging My Batteries without the Use of Technology

Here's a follow-up to yesterday's post about slowing down. I was in DC, a good 45 minutes to kills between a business meeting and meeting a friend for lunch. Lately, I've been doing some low-level research on replacements for my dying phone and my archaic dumb PDA: do I get similar replacements or better ones, or do I combine them into one and get a smart phone? So I was thinking about gadgets I had looked at when I was heading out of my work meeting, thinking about how useful one of them might be at that moment: to see what bookstores were nearby, to check my email, to get a review on the restaurant I was meeting my friend at, anything to help pass the time.

Then, I snapped out of it. It was a gorgeous day in DC. I was right in DuPont Circle, with plenty of benches to choose from and copious street life to make sitting down and people-watching worthwhile. I had my Economist magazine to look at, lots of thoughts racing through my head, and not a few significant prayer requests I could lift up to God. In short, I didn't need a technological device to help me "pass the time," for I could simply be in the present, soaking in the rays and being still.

And so, for the next 45 minutes, I did just that. And, maybe my body really needed the sunshine after months of cold and snow; but I think my soul benefited from the chill time. So body and soul were refreshed, and I made note to postpone any gadget purchase.

Slow Down

I used to attend a men's Bible study on Wednesday mornings, and one of the books we studied was Numbers. There are some great sections in this book. The seventh chapter is not one of them. It is, to put it kindly, repetitive; and, in the interest of time, we men breezed through it instead of reading and studying it word for word.

So it was fun to read a recent post on the Desiring God blog about the purpose of wordiness. The last reason arrested me: "Patience in reading God’s word may be a test of the frenzy of our pace and our demanding attitude toward the Bible that it be the way we want, not the way God made it."

This hyper efficiency seeker says "ouch." Repetition gnaws at us because we care about maximizing productivity. But what if we valued truth over that? And what if slowing down was itself a useful thing to do now and again? Not a bad thing to consider during this season of Lent, amidst a generation and society that ever seems on the go, about a faith discipline that is best described by Eugene Peterson as "a long obedience in the same direction."

"Slow," of course, is a bad word in our times; an insult, if you call someone or something it. "Still" is even more foreign, for who has time for "still." Tragically, we avoid "slow" and "still" because we are afraid of ourselves, of what we will have to think about if we cease our striving and put aside our self-medicating forms of entertainment and avocation.

You don't need to join a monastery. You don't even need to read Numbers 7. But it may be good for your soul to slow down every now and again.