The lives of cultural objects — books, films, TV shows — can take funny paths sometimes. In some cases, as with the recent blockbuster film Black Panther, they are loved instantly. In other cases, they stumble out of the gate and only become appreciated later on, like the works of Edgar Allan Poe and many a posthumously-famous author. In still other cases…
Read MoreAs the rain continued to threaten on that cloudy Sunday afternoon, there was one more mural other than the dragon in Hillsboro Village that I was intent on seeing. That one can be described by four words alone: "I Believe in Nashville."
Read MoreI awoke Saturday morning and was pleasantly surprised to discover that I hadn't died during the previous evening's shenanigans. Looking around, however, I did notice the yellow mustard stain on my pants, which had been hastily discarded on the floor some eight hours earlier.
Read MoreI don't know why exactly, but we had it in our heads that we were going to leave town at some ungodly hour. And sure enough, there we were, packed and ready to go, backing out of the driveway just after 5 a.m. on Friday morning, Google Maps fired up and pointing us in the right direction.
Read MoreThough I left the hallowed halls of learning for the final time a few years ago, even now, as an old man, I remember those days fondly. And I remember, especially, the first big spring break trip I took as a college student to southern West Virginia.
Read MoreThis was January 20, 2009, and I was in Washington, D.C. for the first time. Standing on the National Mall for the first time. Seeing the Lincoln Memorial for the first time. Witnessing the inauguration of the president, a black man sworn into the highest office in the land — for the first time.
Read MoreAlert, Nunavut, is the kind of place I used to look up on my laptop when I was supposed to be paying attention during class in college, the kind of place that is so unusual or awesomely difficult to get to that it presented a natural magnetic attraction for me.
Read MoreFor the past few months my friend Emily Mesner has been working as a media specialist for Denali National Park and Preserve in the Interior of Alaska. She has taken countless stunning photos during here time out on the Last Frontier and she was kind enough to let me share some of them on my blog.
Read MoreYou've heard of Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Zion. You could name in which state you'd find the Grand Tetons, the Grand Canyon, and the Great Smoky Mountains. But the most-visited national parks constitute just a fraction of the beautiful federally-protected lands that you can visit in the United States.
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