Captain’s Log
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Captain’s Log #11: Smoking the Good Book and Other Privileges
There are certain things you expect to find in jail. Bad food. Bad coffee. Bad company. Bad decisions, mostly your own. What…
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Captain’s Log #10: You Gonna Eat Your Cake?
There are easier ways to lose fifty pounds. You can join a gym, hire a trainer, or count calories on a phone…
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Captain’s Log #9: Four Stars for the Chicken Fingers
The first two times I was arrested, I went to the Mountain Brook jail. If you are going to go to jail,…
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Captain’s Log #8: The Whole Tree
I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness lately, mostly because I have discovered I am not particularly good at it. This…
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Captain’s Log #7: Born, Reborn, and the Subscription Plan
I was born on April 27, 1969. I was born again in the 1980s under the teaching of Frank Barker at Briarwood.…
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Captain’s Log #6: The Box Marked KEEP
The house was quiet, which was unusual. For years it had been full of music, children, arguments, laughter, and appliances openly threatening…
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Captain’s Log #5: Five Songs in a Parking Lot
Before I had trouble finding the right button on a website, I had trouble finding the right chord. This was better trouble.…
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Captain’s Log #4: Headlights on the Ceiling
Nobody announces the last summer of childhood. There is no ceremony, no certificate, no kindly county official standing beside the road with…
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Captain’s Log #3: The Volume Knob Rebellion
The first time I understood that a door could be both an invitation and a warning, I was old enough to reach…
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Captain’s Log #2: Fingers With Opinions
Every family has rules. Some are written on the refrigerator, where they compete with grocery lists and invitations to events nobody intends…