teaching, traveling, taking pictures
I don’t give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am - I really do - but people never notice it. People never notice anything. ― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye There will be times in your… Continue reading 11 Things to Do When You Feel an Assignment Is Beneath You
The other day at work, I attended a professional development session, which I thought was going to give me explicit instruction in how to design items for my appraisal action plan. Instead, participants at the session were asked to consider the things that brought meaning to their life and to create a vision for the… Continue reading 10 of My Core Values
Disclaimer: I am not a tax advisor with advanced training and knowledge of tax law. Do not assume that any information shared in this post constitutes tax advice. Please consult the IRS or a licensed US tax advisor for up-to-date expat tax information and laws.Now that it is nearing the end of January, many Americans… Continue reading Death and Taxes While Living Abroad (More about the Latter)
A log of the two weeks my boys spent with me in Doha, Qatar over the 2018-19 winter break. 25 December – Christmas Day 5 minutes into the start of Christmas Day, my sons were scheduled to arrive at Hamad International Airport in Qatar. About 30-40 minutes after their plane touched down, they both emerged… Continue reading My Days in Doha (with My Sons)
For over a week, I have been busy with my sons who are visiting me in Doha. Still, during the downtime that I have had, in the morning before they both wake up and get ready or after coming home at the end of the day, I have been playing around with the Deep Dream… Continue reading Travel Photos and the Deep Dream Generator
Christmas Past After my sons’ mother and I separated, she became a Jevohah’s Witness, which meant it would be entirely up to me to celebrate all future birthdays and Christmases with them. That first Christmas I took my boys to my hometown of Ironwood, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula. My plan was to take them… Continue reading Three Christmases
At the beginning of this week, I finally received the keys to my new apartment, so I spent most of my spare time moving the 10 feet from apartment #1906 to #1905. This had to have been the easiest move of my moving life. I was able to carry and drag all the worldly possession… Continue reading New Apartment Paradigm
This week's blog post was influenced by three things: me lying in bed musing about the different ways of pronouncing Qatar (see NPR newscast); me learning about the Nabati Poetry tradition and the subject matters for the form; and my love for Wallace Stevens' "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." Catara Before the start of class, a student tells me… Continue reading 8 Ways of Saying Qatar
“Sunday morning, rain is falling/ Steal some covers, share some skin/ Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable/ You twist to fit the mold that I am in” - -Maroon 5, “Sunday Morning” “You came in with the breeze/ On Sunday Morning/ You sure have changed since yesterday/ Without any warning” - -No Doubt,… Continue reading Sunday Morning, 11 November
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