Survivorship is Not a Phase | Part III
“As we approach the eighth #PowderedDonutDay, this coming Sunday, Father’s Day, I am beginning to realize that Maureen wants me to architect a new skyline. Her love will permeate every aspect of my blueprints for the future. I am a survivor, and I am no longer afraid.” I wrote...
I Have Been Provoked | 7.31, 10.21, and MBC
14 Years. Except for the year of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf in 2010 and Hurricane Ivan in 2004, we’ve been to Ft. Morgan, Alabama each and every year. We started going to this beach in 2003, the year of my bride, Maureen’s, mom and dad’s...
I Have Been Provoked | St. Peregrine, Peculiarities, and Time Loops
“I am stronger than lymphoma.” Those few simple words on a friend’s Facebook page over the holidays said it all. Just a few short weeks ago, that same friend and I were having lunch at Cured in San Antonio during the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. I had driven...
I Have Been Provoked | Putting the Gloves Back On
It is a cool and beautiful morning in Austin, Texas. I am sitting at my favorite coffee shop, Teo’s. As I drove into town with my youngest daughter, the light was crisp. It had the orange hues of the approaching fall. As the sun came up, you could see...
I Have Been Provoked | David Bowie’s Heroes & CLOUD
1983. September. Freshman year at Northwestern. Although I joined a residential college at Northwestern University, rather than a fraternity, I still remember heading to the rush parties. My dorm room was in the fraternity quad, so the music was going to keep me awake anyway… may as well dance…...
I Have Been Provoked | Part Two
I ended Part One of “I Have Been Provoked” with these words, “we have to rethink the fight with cancer.” I never expected to be in the middle of this fight. Heck, I never expected to hear the words, “you have cancer.” Even worse, those words were not spoken...
I Have Been Provoked | Part One
I am frequently asked “what do you do?” That is always a hard question for me to answer, because what I do is a function of who I am. To understand what I do is to understand what makes me tick. What drives me. Who I love. What makes...
Penang Monthly | Gary Thompson on the Internet’s CLOUD-y Future
On October 12, 2013, CLOUD co-founder, Gary Thompson, had the privilege of starting his TEDx World Tour at TEDxWeldQuay in Penang, Malaysia in tribute to his honored hero and daughter’s classmate, Kethan. Following his talk at the Whiteaway Arcade, Ch’ng Chin Chin from Penang Monthly caught up with Gary...
Trophic Cascades, A Human Ecosystem, TED, Love and Cancer
Before I talk about the trophic cascade, I need to provide a little locational context. I am sitting next to the woman I love. Let me repeat that, I’m sitting next to the woman I love. Unfortunately, we are at Seton Central hospital after some outpatient day surgery. This...
Dropping Our Pebble in the Pond of Humanity
After 60 hours in a plane over the last two weeks and the privilege of speaking at TEDxWeldQuay, TEDxTrastevere and TEDxTallaght, I just returned home to Austin, Texas and to a big hug from my beautiful wife, Maureen. On the way home from Dublin, I stopped in San Francisco...