Thanksgiving A lot of people have been doing the whole “Thirty Days of Thanksgiving” thing on the internets, and to be completely honest, I’ve never been good at that sort of thing. Because the truth be told, I’m continuously thankful for my life. I have a beautiful loving wife, a great job, no debts weighing me down, I live in Santa Barbara, and the list goes on and on. I’m continuously surprised at the amount of blessings I have been given. But if there is one thing that I could be especially grateful for, it would be having the ability to help others who haven’t been given so much. I was in San Francisco this week for a conference, and in the span of two days, I saw two different individuals being chased by retail store employees. One came flying out of a Walgreens and the other out of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Store in my fancy-ass hotel. Both running as fast as they can. I stopped and stared for a bit, and then like the rest of San Francisco, I stopped looking. Then I stopped caring. In the three and a half years that I’ve been living in Santa Barbara, I’ve never seen people as desperate as that. Can you imagine that sort of desperation? I can. It weighs on me just as continuously and just as heavy as my good fortune. So much so, that even when my wife and I were still paying off our massive mountain of debt, I started to do something more. I’ve always tithed on my money. It’s not something I talk about, just a way of life that I learned from my father. But instead of giving it to large churches so they can buy new audio equipment, I started giving that money to a local ex-pastor who now focuses exclusively on helping the poor in Santa Barbara. That change in behavior started this year. Before that, since December 5, 2009, I’ve taken $25 every month and made a loan through Kiva to someone in the world. And when the borrower paid that loan off, the money would then snowball into another loan for someone else. Want to know one of my life goals? I want to keep making this loan every month for the rest of my life, and after my death, the money I’ve given and continue to give will increase and perpetually be re-lent to entrepreneurs in poor countries throughout the world. This year, I’ve started to add on top of that through the Rolling Jubilee. What is Rolling Jubilee? It’s a project that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it. Jubilee is actually a Biblical idea, a large part of which includes forgiving debts. In this country, in this political climate, with me claiming the faith that I do, of course I have to get involved. Of course. Why? Well, for starters: Acts 20:35 Proverbs 14:31 Proverbs 19:17 Proverbs 22:9 Proverbs 28:27 Matthew 5:42 Matthew 6:24 Matthew 25:35-40 Galatians 6:2 Deuteronomy 15:11 Luke 6:38 Luke 12:33-34 James 1:27 Mark 10:21 Mark 12:31 The list is endless. I consider myself so privileged that I am in a place where I can give to others. I don’t say any of this to brag (because to be honest, there is nothing to brag about), but to inspire. Tithing has always been a deeply personal decision, but I’ve never regretted it. And you can ask my wife, who was a skeptic at first, what she thinks of tithing now. She’ll tell you that it’s not an option. Call it God, call it karma, call it whatever you want, the success of the practice has been undeniable. When I started doing Kiva, I started with a single $25 dollar loan. Three years later, I’ve lent $4,100.00. I’ve made 164 loans now. The picture you see above is only 64 of the loans. There are a hundred more. Look at all those faces! With the money that is being paid back by previous borrowers adding to the additional loan I make every month, I’m running about seven loans per month right now. And that number is only going to get larger. Imagine what numbers I might have in 10 years. Imagine what kind of numbers you could have. Yesterday, I gave my first $50 donation to Rolling Jubilee, which will be enough to abolish about $2,000 of anonymous debt. Debt that is usually bought by shitball collectors so they can hound and abuse individuals into collection. Doesn’t matter if that person is choosing between buying groceries or paying a debt. Call ‘em! Hound ‘em! Yell at ‘em! Not anymore. Now Rolling Jubilee is buying it. And then squashing that bullshit. I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty good return on investment. Not for myself, but for the benefit of everyone. Isn’t that the very model of Christianity? Didn’t Jesus pay our debts? This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for the opportunities I have to help others and all I want for Christmas is more. It may sound like I can do this because I can afford it. But I wasn’t always able to afford it. My wife and I scrapped by for a long time. We made a lot of sacrifices. But things are different now. And I think that’s true due to some discipline, sure, but I also think it’s due to decisions like this to give where we could. By simply living out our faith, doing what those verses I listed out told us to do. Giving money is the easy part. I’m not a people person, and for me, that’s probably the obvious next step. Getting involved on a more personal level. But for now, I’m just thankful for this. Just this. I mean. God fucking damn it. Look at all those faces. Just look at them. High-res

Thanksgiving

A lot of people have been doing the whole “Thirty Days of Thanksgiving” thing on the internets, and to be completely honest, I’ve never been good at that sort of thing. Because the truth be told, I’m continuously thankful for my life. I have a beautiful loving wife, a great job, no debts weighing me down, I live in Santa Barbara, and the list goes on and on. I’m continuously surprised at the amount of blessings I have been given.

But if there is one thing that I could be especially grateful for, it would be having the ability to help others who haven’t been given so much.

I was in San Francisco this week for a conference, and in the span of two days, I saw two different individuals being chased by retail store employees. One came flying out of a Walgreens and the other out of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Store in my fancy-ass hotel. Both running as fast as they can. I stopped and stared for a bit, and then like the rest of San Francisco, I stopped looking. Then I stopped caring.

In the three and a half years that I’ve been living in Santa Barbara, I’ve never seen people as desperate as that.

Can you imagine that sort of desperation? I can. It weighs on me just as continuously and just as heavy as my good fortune. So much so, that even when my wife and I were still paying off our massive mountain of debt, I started to do something more.

I’ve always tithed on my money. It’s not something I talk about, just a way of life that I learned from my father. But instead of giving it to large churches so they can buy new audio equipment, I started giving that money to a local ex-pastor who now focuses exclusively on helping the poor in Santa Barbara. That change in behavior started this year.

Before that, since December 5, 2009, I’ve taken $25 every month and made a loan through Kiva to someone in the world. And when the borrower paid that loan off, the money would then snowball into another loan for someone else.

Want to know one of my life goals? I want to keep making this loan every month for the rest of my life, and after my death, the money I’ve given and continue to give will increase and perpetually be re-lent to entrepreneurs in poor countries throughout the world.

This year, I’ve started to add on top of that through the Rolling Jubilee. What is Rolling Jubilee? It’s a project that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it. Jubilee is actually a Biblical idea, a large part of which includes forgiving debts.

In this country, in this political climate, with me claiming the faith that I do, of course I have to get involved. Of course. Why? Well, for starters:

Acts 20:35
Proverbs 14:31
Proverbs 19:17
Proverbs 22:9
Proverbs 28:27
Matthew 5:42
Matthew 6:24
Matthew 25:35-40
Galatians 6:2
Deuteronomy 15:11
Luke 6:38
Luke 12:33-34
James 1:27
Mark 10:21
Mark 12:31

The list is endless.

I consider myself so privileged that I am in a place where I can give to others. I don’t say any of this to brag (because to be honest, there is nothing to brag about), but to inspire.

Tithing has always been a deeply personal decision, but I’ve never regretted it. And you can ask my wife, who was a skeptic at first, what she thinks of tithing now. She’ll tell you that it’s not an option. Call it God, call it karma, call it whatever you want, the success of the practice has been undeniable.

When I started doing Kiva, I started with a single $25 dollar loan. Three years later, I’ve lent $4,100.00. I’ve made 164 loans now. The picture you see above is only 64 of the loans. There are a hundred more.

Look at all those faces!

With the money that is being paid back by previous borrowers adding to the additional loan I make every month, I’m running about seven loans per month right now. And that number is only going to get larger. Imagine what numbers I might have in 10 years. Imagine what kind of numbers you could have.

Yesterday, I gave my first $50 donation to Rolling Jubilee, which will be enough to abolish about $2,000 of anonymous debt. Debt that is usually bought by shitball collectors so they can hound and abuse individuals into collection. Doesn’t matter if that person is choosing between buying groceries or paying a debt. Call ‘em! Hound ‘em! Yell at ‘em!

Not anymore. Now Rolling Jubilee is buying it. And then squashing that bullshit.

I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty good return on investment. Not for myself, but for the benefit of everyone. Isn’t that the very model of Christianity? Didn’t Jesus pay our debts?

This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for the opportunities I have to help others and all I want for Christmas is more. It may sound like I can do this because I can afford it. But I wasn’t always able to afford it. My wife and I scrapped by for a long time. We made a lot of sacrifices. But things are different now. And I think that’s true due to some discipline, sure, but I also think it’s due to decisions like this to give where we could. By simply living out our faith, doing what those verses I listed out told us to do.

Giving money is the easy part. I’m not a people person, and for me, that’s probably the obvious next step. Getting involved on a more personal level. But for now, I’m just thankful for this.

Just this.

I mean. God fucking damn it. Look at all those faces.

Just look at them.

Jet Lag

Harold is most certainly apathetic in his jet-lagged state. He stares at the red, blue, and green pixels of his computer screen, of his television, of his phone, and blinks his eyes slowly. Keep them honest, keep them open he thinks to himself, like a clever man. Thinking he’s a genius while his mind works like a drunk. Hemingway with a shotgun, that sort of thing. The hard weight of the epicanthic folds relentlessly bear down like Catholic guilt, and with each passing moment, the marginal benefit of victory in this war slopes down and right in what can only be described as a completely straight line.

Harold is desperate to sleep.

Sorry for the delay in updates. Our WiFi connection in Florence has been less than stellar.

We’ve been in Florence for about two and half days and out of all the cities that I’ve seen in Italy, Florence would probably be our pick if given the dream option of “What city in Italy would you like to live in?”

We rent a car tomorrow, so that we can drive to our Agriturismo, which I’m worried about because driving in Italy is an art form. I’ve never seen a wreck, but there is some sort of ordered chaos here that I don’t quite understand. 

But we’ll see what happens. 

The David was breathtaking, the Duomo was fantastic, and I’ve crossed the Arno river probably ten times. But the food here has been our favorite (Tuscan).

I’ll update when I can.

Murano and Burano. At first, they sound like a pair of twin clowns you might find at the circus, but it turns out that they’re neighboring islands to Venice that you can travel to quite easily. 

Murano is known for two things in my mind. Artisan glass blowers and a restaurant featured on Anthony Bourdain’s show No Reservations. I’ll talk about the first and then the second.

Every shop in Murano is a glass shop, and if this isn’t the case, then it feels like it. The problem is, Murano seems to be populated by 95% tourists, which leads to a lot of the glass shops to carry other glass work not native to Murano. This is a problem because they’re going to charge you for native Murano glass. However, there are a few shops where you can look around and also actually watch a glass blower make glass ornaments and trinkets, and a couple of shops where you can purchase chandeliers like you’ve never seen before.

Trattoria Da Romano is known for its Goh Risotto (link will take you to the No Reservations segment that covers this), or Risotto “Romano” as it’s known on their menu. Goh isn’t a prized fish, but it’s a fish you would use for flavor, but the bottom line is, Vida hates fish.

But she didn’t hate this risotto. In fact, I would say that even though I’m not a big fan of risotto, I would fly again to Venice just to have this risotto. It’s that good. All the people in the linked video were working today. I’ve seen the signatures of Hemingway, Matisse, and Dinero. They have a book full of signatures, a 100 years worth of signatures. It’s amazing.

Burano is known for lace. The shops there are a little more varied, but a lot of them are lace, and yes, they have a lace from China problem. But right across the street from Trattoria Da Romano is a lace shop where you can still watch the women stitch. Some pieces take seven different women all specializing in a single stitch and two months of work to make. It’s lace you can pass down for generations.

Burano is much more colorful than Murano. Vida was in love with all the different house colors, obviously.

Our first full day in Venice.

Let’s just start with the obvious, Venice is confusing. Last night, we finally get in off the boat and dragged our luggage to San Marco square where I was just blown away by being there and then subsequently having to figure out where in the hell the place we were going to be staying was. It was through one of the arches of the square. Wasn’t sure about which one.

We finally found it and it is amazing. If you haven’t used Airbnb, then I highly recommend it. Our apartment was once the apartment of Carlo Goldoni and the current owner has redecorated it with his own art, furniture and tiles.

Today we just wandered around Venice, getting lost and then finding ourselves again. We saw the Rialto bridge and took a gondola ride. We at food and drank wine and had gelato for dessert. The buildings are all old, some of them more than a 1,000 years. Renovating them is very strict (inside only, the outside facade is very regulated). And buying a place here is more expensive than Santa Barbara.

But Venice is great because no cars or bicycles are allowed on the main island. The streets wouldn’t support it, and you can see why by one of the pictures of Vida touching both walls of the street. But Venice is charming and easy and very laid back.

I could write poetry here. I could write for a lifetime.

The Vatican. Historically, I’ve always had a problem with it, due to the vast amount of wealth they possess and the fact that they are essentially an independent country, accountable to no one. And despite its Baroque grandeur and the awe that escaped from my lips multiple times, I still have problems with it. Because this place is, in the minds of many, the very seat of God’s presence on earth, the Pope being the direct connection with God, and yet the cripples littered the entries and exits of the Vatican, as well as the poor, as well as the swindlers. It’s was heartbreaking. It was a sham.

But with that being said, the Vatican, St. Peter’s square, church, and basilica are just flat-out overwhelming. There is no other word for it. Overwhelming. The amount of art, history, beauty, the sheer amount of space and materials, the details, the pomp, all of it is (and I’m being completely objective about this), just breath-taking. I can’t think of the right word. I was dumbstruck. Still am, to be honest with you.

Every Christian should see it. For both the good and horrible reasons.

On a related note, if you do go, I have a tip that Vida and I just sort of figured out through Rick Steves and some others guides. Don’t start at St. Peter’s square. Swindlers, there are no other words to describe them, will try and sell you guided tours for way more than you should pay. We were offered prices 35 and 40 Euro per person , by two different people. And the first swindler tried to talk shit to the second swindler about us and in front of us (because we told them that we could do it all cheaper) in Italian until Vida told them that she could understand them.

And you can do it cheaper. The tours they were offering didn’t even cover the Cupola, which is the top of the basilica dome where you can see the view of the city. So instead of St. Peter’s square, start at the Vatican Museum, pay 15 euro per person and see all of that (It’s a lot, about four miles of things if you want to), the climax being the Sistine Chapel. The crowd only flows one way and when you reach the back of the chapel, take the door in the back right corner (follow a group if you have to) and when you reach the outside, you’ll see the signs for the Cupola. Pay 5 or 7 euro here per person (depending on if you want to ride the elevator or not, and you do), then go up top.

After you make your way down the stairs of the dome, the hall will exit you right into St. Peter’s church where you can look around to your heart’s content, skipping the huge lines that form for the church in the square. Skipping the asshole tour guides as well, all for the low price of 22 euro per person, plus you got to see something extra, St. Peter’s square from as high as you can get.

We saw the same guy when we left, you know, the one who was talking shit about us in Italian. I flipped him off because he deserved it. If I was Jesus and there was a table somewhere, I would have flipped it over.

One more thing, when you stare up at the Sistine Chapel, it’s like the figures that Michelangelo painted on the ceiling just jump out at you. I don’t know how or why, but it was amazing.