Friday:
I am on a plane from Phoenix to Chicago to Detroit. Once in Detroit, I’m going to hop in a car and head north into Canada. There in Canada I’ll do a talk tomorrow morning. Then I’ll hope from Detroit to Chicago then land in Los Angeles.

I’ve not been very prayerful in the past few weeks, so I am captivated by worldly images of success. Last night a joined some friends for fourth-row seats to watch the Suns play the Magic. With the thousands of people stacked up behind me, I felt big. It’s fun being on TV because people know me. I get to make a new friend every day.; Wow. So much has happened in my life since high school. I looked around the court and on the sidelines and wondered what’s gone on in everyone else’s life.

Stephon Marbury went to Georgia Tech like me, but left for the NBA the year I enrolled. Now he’s playing for the Phoenix Suns.

I have trouble reconciling movies and reality. I just watched “Alex and Emma.” Alex is trying to write a novel about the futility of love, but he struggles with writer’s block and finds himself with a gambling problem. To get rid of his debts, he must finish his novel in 30 days or be killed by loan sharks. He hires Emma, a stenographer, to help him finish his book so he can pay off his loans. But he challenges his ideas at every turn, unintentionally influencing his story and ultimately his belief in love. (I copied that from the airline magazine.)

I don’t aspire for fame. I enjoy fame, whatever brief minutes I get from MTV. Right now I have a little bit of fame, but soon it’ll pass again. What I love most about fame/popularity is being able to help people. But you don’t have to be famous to help people. I don’t know what I am trying to say.

I went to see the Hawks and Bulls play in Atlanta when I was in the seventh grade. We were stuck in the rafters and I couldn’t see much. But, I loved every moment. I was a farm-born boy raised in the mountains. But on this night I was surrounded by all-that-is- cool. My heart thumped just driving through Atlanta on our way home. It was one of the most excited days of my life.

The plane is about to land and then it’s a going to get wild. My life is quite exciting, but still boring. I just can’t confuse peace for boredom.