Like anywhere else in the world, people in prison really enjoying creating and using nicknames. Yankton has it’s fair share of typical prison nicknames. Killer, Chainsaw and Tiny (who is obviously huge) to name a few. I was here for roughly one hour before I had a nickname. One of the first inmates I meet …
Tuesday morning started in a way I never could have planned for. First, I recently finished Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind. The final chapters of the book, the culmination of everything Harari writes, comes together in an absolutely soul stirring way. Through his insights on hunter/gatherer societies, to the agricultural, cognitive and scientific …
I have an orange and yellow spiral bound notebook I’ve been using for a variety of writing topics. Not long musings, but short, spur of the moment inspiration I want to save and come back to later. If an idea from a book or a conversation catches my attention, it goes in the notebook. A …
I figured it was time to share more about what this gem of fitness center is like at Yankton. First off, it’s a total mad house. Picture your local gym on the first Monday after New Years Eve. Everyone’s resolutions are in place and they are starting the new year off on the right foot …
I have been setting fitness goals that at first felt a bit lofty. However, I like the idea of a goal that I can’t complete in a short amount of time. My sit-up routine is up to 500 per session. Push-ups go to 300. While my pull-up training program still has 10 weeks left to …
Earlier this week I was at work call and the compound was eerily quiet. We are held up and not allowed out on the compound for one and a half hours. Shortly thereafter, we’re told to go to the gym and wait there. We walk in to find all the other inmates from our unit …
Before I came here I remember watching a you tube video of a gentleman talking about life after his release. He said that “the sooner you put this behind you, the sooner you have one less day of your life to stand for count.” At the time, it did not deeply resonate with me. I …
This is a small win and also a big win. The exact instance itself isn’t such a moment to celebrate, but I am inspired by how this line of thinking is bleeding over in to other parts of my life, and more so the impact it is going to have on me when I get …
Faith, surrendering, and no commissary this week Read More »
One day soon enough I will look back on all this like I now look back on my time in quarantine. In those moments, I was devastated. Sitting in a room by myself in South Dakota, locked inside for 17 days straight, my head spinning with how I was going to manage this. I spent …
The commissary list in prison includes quite a few things that at first seem random and misplaced. However, what inmates make with this disjointed availability never ceases to amaze me. I had heard the lore of prison cheese cake upon my arrival, but am an even bigger advocate now that I’ve experienced it. It’s odd, …