July 25, 2008
Two weeks ago my neighbor Kevin was kind enough to guide me through the process of converting a fairly sizable portion of my back yard into a garden. He even gave me all the plants out of his own yard. Such a generous fellow. It has been such a joy to turn the patch of grass and weeds and dirt …
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July 13, 2008
After nearly fourteen years of operation, Four Friends Coffeehouse in downtown Grand Rapids opened its doors for the last time yesterday. Day One When Sara and I and our friends David and Melissa LaGrand opened Four Friends Coffeehouse in 1994, we had no idea it would last as long as it did. In fact, we weren't sure if we'd be …
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December 20, 2007
It's my birthday today. I'm 40 years old. And I feel surprisingly young. When I got home from work this evening, Sara presented me with the best birthday present I've ever received — a stack of emails from friends in response to one that she had written to them. Here is what Sara wrote: Karl turns FORTY next week and …
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August 20, 2007
Sara's book club gets together once a month to talk about everything except the book they had decided to read. This year they decided to include the rest of their families for a camping trip up in Manistee, MIchigan. Most of us arrived early Friday evening and planned to stay until Sunday, but when the rain started coming down Saturday …
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December 15, 2006
Here we go again with the proud father routine. I can't help being fascinated by the art that my kids create. It's such a clear indicator of their development that I look in awe as their little drawings and paintings and sculptures become more mature and sophisticated as they get older. Somewhere along the way, they'll probably stop creating visual …
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October 14, 2006
When my former student (and current friend) Nicole Tieri sent out an email message a few days ago describing her concerns about a new documentary airing next month, I thought that her thoughts deserved wider circulation. Here is what she had to say: Greetings! To those I see daily and to those who have forgotten what my voice sounds like, …
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March 26, 2006
From what I can tell, it's common practice among bloggers to apologize when their entries get less frequent. But an apology seems a little presumptuous to me. Do people really feel dejected or neglected when the blogging gets thin? Doubtful. So, excuse me while I skip the remorse and instead mention a couple things that have been occupying the time …
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July 17, 2005
Yesterday the neighbor boy two doors down turned 5, so his parents threw him a little birthday party—just a small, low-key gathering of friends and family to wish him well. Ha! Really it was a total blowout, a superhero extravaganza. I must say that the things a few of us neighbors agreed to do for this party would be much …
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June 9, 2005
The premiere episode of The Cut is airing tonight at 8:00 p.m. on CBS. It's a "Project Runway" type of show—not that I've ever seen "Project Runway," but that's what I've read. Tommy Hilfiger puts 16 fashion designer wannabes through their paces to decide who will get a gig working for the master. I plan to watch the show, not …
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December 26, 2004
What a bookish Christmas I've had! I received so many wonderful new books for my birthday and Christmas that I worry about how I'll ever find the time to read them all. Here they are, in no particular order, all of them linked to further descriptions on amazon.com: The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears: From what I can tell, …
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October 30, 2004
Our neighbors refuse to give up, even after seven of their signs have been stolen. I wrote about these Kerry supporters a couple weeks ago when all they had remaining on their yard was a single homemade sign decrying the thefts. Now they have five or six signs of various sizes, as well as a few flags and a "support …
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July 5, 2004
A good friend of mine, Michael VanHouten, just informed me that his tiny, family-run company won the 2004 Apple Design Award in the Best QuickTime Content for Education category. The company, Conflict Lab, creates multi-player negotation simulations for the educational market. Their first product is a strategy game of sorts: One group of players, the friends of Chris, try to …
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March 14, 2004
I've just added a section to this site for Virginia Wieringa to showcase some of her artwork. The artist, also known as "Aunt Ginny," has used watercolor paints, charcoal, and oils to create gorgeous nature scenes and intimate still lifes. Now you can see some of her work by going to the Art by Virginia Wieringa pages. …
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March 5, 2004
Our dear friend Nicole, aka Scooter Girl, was among the top 60 or so singers on American Idol, but, alas, she didn't make it to the top 32. We were hoping that the judges might decide to bring her back for the "wild card" show, but it just wasn't in the cards. …
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January 27, 2004
Nicole Tieri, a friend and former student of mine, appeared on American Idol this month. She was among 8,000 or so people in New York City to audition for the show, and the judges—at least, Paula and Simon—thought she was good enough to go on to Hollywood for the next round. The show's producers seemed to like her, too. They …
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