by daniel | Sep 4, 2018 | Civil Society, Climate Crisis, Democracy
In the cool of the late Los Angeles evening, I walked through the core of the city, at one point clocking nearly a half mile without seeing a single tree or other living vegetation. Wow. I was in LA attending a conference of the Climate Reality Project hosted by Al...
by daniel | Jul 9, 2018 | Art, Civil Society, Climate Crisis, Democracy, Nature, Perception
I spent a half hour this morning in the company of a hummingbird. This is unusual. Mostly I see hummingbirds zipping past on their way somewhere, flitting and probing from one flower to the next, or performing grand sweeping dives, chattering in pursuit of mates. But...
by daniel | Apr 3, 2018 | Art, Civil Society, Design, First Nations/Aboriginal People, Indonesia, Perception
The town of Ubud is like ice cream: It is a rich and wonderful place, but take in too much of it, and the pleasure disappears. On Valentine’s Day, I arose early and cruised Ubud seeking flowers and a latte for my sweetheart. This marked a new phase in my use of...
by daniel | Mar 3, 2018 | Art, Civil Society, Education, Indonesia, Teaching
The final days of our time teaching English in Samasaman Village were quite enjoyable. We had developed a wonderful rapport with Intan, the resident teacher and a notably curious and bright individual. Having hired dozens of teachers over the years, I know what to...
by daniel | Feb 12, 2018 | Civil Society, Education, Education Policy, Indonesia, Nature, Parenting, Teaching, Working with youth
The girl pumping gas into our scooter couldn’t have been more than 10 or 11 years old, but she had a wonderful warm smile. And she actually pumped the gas using a hand-crank pump on a tiny stand that might have been made in the 1940’s. Nonetheless, we bought our two...
