So today is the day I’m mailing off my Eagle Scout awards to the Miami Valley Council of Boy Scout of America and the National Office. For the past few days I’ve been reminiscing about my Scout experience. I even found my Eagle application. The first paragraph includes this:
What I will major in is unknown to me at this time. I feel that I am about to reach a major crossroads in my life, and the fact that I do not know what my field of study will be is weighing on me. I enjoy writing. Science intrigues me. Business is always a possibility. I know I will find that place where I belong, my niche in life.
“I enjoy writing.” I was closer than I…
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(I’m at the right, attempting to grow into my ears and noes at my 1997 Eagle Scout court of honor)
In case you haven’t heard, I have joined the ever-growing number of Eagle Scouts across the country who are turning in their awards in protest over Boy Scouts of America’s anti-gay policies.
I first announced my position here on my blog and then I cross-posted over to the Huffington Post. Three days later the Huffington Post approved the post and placed it on their front page for more than a day.
Folks at Talk of the Nation read the post and invited me on. Listen to me chatting with host…
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Adam and I snuggled in the woods beneath our makeshift lean-to. We were 14. We weren’t gay; we were cold. If we were gay, we would have been booted from Scouts, at least according to the discriminatory policies of the Boy Scouts of America’s national leadership.
We adhered to our own don’t ask don’t tell policy. When our Wilderness Survival merit badge instructor asked us how we survived our night alone in the woods, we left out all the details about spooning and just told him about the structural integrity of our shelter.
Adam and I both went on to become Eagle Scouts.
Now I’m worried about the moral integrity of Boy Scouts of America and whether they can stay relevant and survive in…
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You can barely press an on button in the last 24 hours and not see someone in Congress complaining that the USA’s Olympic uniforms designed by Ralph Lauren were made in China.
This is grandstanding except when it isn’t
Yes, it’s an election year, but one of the most outspoken members of Congress Senator Sherrod Brown has always been outspoken on this issue. He suggested that Hugo Boss could have designed the uniforms and manufactured them in his home state of Ohio where they have a factory.
I had no idea Hugo Boss had a factory in Ohio. Brown’s point is a good one: Yes, 97% of our clothes are made…
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Winthrop Students receives copy of WHERE AM I WEARING?
I am blown away by the amount of schools using WEARING in their common reader programs this year.
In case you are wondering what a common reading program is: They are typically directed at freshmen. Every freshmen gets a copy of the book and participates in discussion sessions about the book in the Fall. Normally they invite the author to speak as well.
From 2008-2011 eights schools have used WEARING as a common reader. This year the following schools are using it (I’ve noted when I’m visiting the campus):
Ball State University – 9/18/12
Texas State – 9/26, 9/27
Winthrop…
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The Facing Project is really taking off. J.R. Jamison, my co-founder, knows a ton of people who are interested. We’re not just talking in Indiana, but in other countries. We’re not just talking a small group, but campus-wide projects and mayoral commissions. I promised I would follow up my introductory post about the project with the foreword to the initial project we launched in Muncie with the help of TEAMwork for Quality Living. Here it is…
(Oh, one more thing. I’d love it if you liked the Facing Project on Facebook. We’re almost up to 100 likes)
Every Community has a story. What’s yours?
Poverty is a hot button issue in the Muncie and Delaware County communities, as it is nationally, and internationally….
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The young couple jokes and laughs over their entrees. She forks him some steak. He spoons her some soup. I imagine delicately slamming their faces into their mashed potatoes. But when our 1-year-old chucks his milk, splattering it everywhere, and our three year-old-starts to cry about us not letting her sit upside down on the table with an elephant (or something), I look at them and apologize.
Maybe they looked at us while we juggled toy cell phones, sippy cups, and outrageous demands, and they thought, “We are SO glad we don’t have any kids,” or maybe they thought our kids were charming…
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