In Crossing the Lines: A Novel, author Richard Doster enabled me to enter the world of Jack Hall, an idealistic white reporter based in the South during the late 1950s who struggled between his need to report the truth with…
As an urbanite fortunate to live within walking distance of work and trendy restaurants, I rarely drive these days. But running late to a pickup basketball game recently, I was low on gas and quickly pulled into the first station…
An update to an ongoing discussion with our Asian and Asian-American friends. We tried to apologize in some of our earlier messages delivered through texting, blogging and on the iPhone, but unfortunately those efforts were mixed in with some defensiveness on…
One of the toughest parts of being the author of a book about racial reconciliation is that when the latest racial incident flares up, everyone expects you to chime in with your two cents. I’m feeling a bit penniless on…
An open letter to Zondervan and to Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite, authors of Deadly Viper Character Assassin: A Kung Fu Survival Guide for Life and Leadership.
Let me begin by stating that I applaud the intent and subject matter of…
Halloween is over. I was standing in the kitchen tonight pilfering through the bowl of chewy, crinkly wrapped treats that my children acquired last night. Poor things. They do all the work of running up and down the sidewalks, climbing…
I had starting writing this post last night, before receiving Gareth Higgins’ latest post, which makes extensive references to Gran Torino. But now that my reflections will seem less out of the blue, I want to lift up some contrasting…
It’s that time of year again — you know, when Clint Eastwood releases a trailer for a movie that looks fascinating and completely different from the last thing he did, and your trio of reactions run something like this: 1)…
This is what a girl power movie should be. I went to see Whip It because it looked fun and was a totally Austin film (there’s something fun about sitting in the Alamo Drafthouse watching a movie where the characters go…
One of the big conversations in my household this year has revolved around the question of whether my 9-year-old daughter is ready to get her hair “permed.” Some girls at her school have already been initiated into the world of…
Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code and of Angels and Demons, has a new book out – The Lost Symbol. It has fired up a whole new round of discussions about that brand of secret knowledge that can…
When covering film festivals, I find I have to be careful not to see too many war-themed flicks in rapid succession. I can only absorb so much violence within a relatively short time frame without becoming one of the walking…
I just saw a really good movie in which an overweight, pasty-looking guy makes outrageous statements related to capitalism. No, it’s not Michael Moore — rather, it’s a flack for Chevron, standing in the middle of the Ecuadoran rainforest telling…
Argentinian singer Mercedes Sosa died yesterday. I don’t know much about her life, so you can join me in reading her Wikipedia entry. But what I do know is that she’s one of the best-known performers of Leon Gieco’s heart-rending anti-war…
So I’m a fan of So You Think You Can Dance. I enjoy watching dance and I used to dance, so I like the show even though it is a mostly scripted reality TV program. At this point in the…
In Crossing the Lines: A Novel
Halloween is over. I was standing in the kitchen tonight pilfering through the bowl of chewy, crinkly wrapped treats that my children acquired last night. Poor things. They do all the work of running up and down the sidewalks, climbing…
It’s that time of year again — you know, when Clint Eastwood releases a trailer for a movie that looks fascinating and completely different from the last thing he did, and your trio of reactions run something like this: 1)…
This is what a girl power movie should be. I went to see Whip It because it looked fun and was a totally Austin film (there’s something fun about sitting in the Alamo Drafthouse watching a movie where the characters go…
One of the big conversations in my household this year has revolved around the question of whether my 9-year-old daughter is ready to get her hair “permed.” Some girls at her school have already been initiated into the world of…
. It has fired up a whole new round of discussions about that brand of secret knowledge that can…
Recenly, I had a bad day. Epically bad.
So I’m a fan of 
