So what tends to happen this time of year is that I rebuild my site for whatever reason I can come up with. It’s what keeps me engaged, finding cool things to do, solving problems, and playing around. This time, I kept most of the basic style of my previous site but amped it up a notch with more flash. There are 5 main updates that I want to highlight: continue reading...
By the very last few days of 2018, I was able to meet my reading challenge of 52 books for the year. That is crazy! I read more non-fiction this year than any other year, and I hope to read a more steady dose in the future. But it also meant that if it wasn’t for my early lead I had at the beginning of the year, I probably wouldn’t have made my goal. continue reading...
Guilt versus Shame has been a specific issue I’ve been considering. For a long time, I considered them synonymous. Through discussions with other people, counselors, and my reading; I’ve come to realize they are different. Different not in just how they are defined, but different in their core. Definitions Guilt is defined by Webster as: : the fact of having committed a breach of conduct especially violating law and involving a penalty continue reading...
I’ve been thinking heavily on the KalΔm Cosmological Argument. I’m finding it a fairly significant and well reasoned defense for the existence of God. I understand that there are fundamental arguments against this, but from a simple reasoned defense, it is very compelling. Most defenses against this argument for God tend to require a bit of mental gymnastics that go against Occam’s Razor. The Argument First, let’s define the argument. The video above does a decent job of defining the argument and some of the rational behind them. continue reading...
The other day, I listened to a podcast from Preston Sprinkle speaking to questions provided by some listeners. The first question asked, “Has relativity disproved predestination of the Calvinist tradition?” Preston’s answers were good within the realm of his expertise, but left me highly lacking. I’d like to offer my thoughts. Note: I am not a theologian, philosopher, nor a scientist. But I have given this quite a bit of thought and I think where I land is substantially reasonable. continue reading...
I was listening to a podcast the other day that spoke about (as an aside) how video games effect daily activity. A number of points became seriously poignant to me when I really started thinking about what they were talking about. I hope to lay out some points of thought here. Preface I first need you to understand that I am not a video game sensationalist. I have seen the studies and seen other things shown, but I don’t believe that the violence in video games are destroying our youth. continue reading...
The lack of standardized rating systems sucks. There’s so many ways to rate something that you begin to lose all understanding what what something means. Even systems designed to simplify things muddy the waters, because they often lack the granularity that allows for meaning to be derived. I’ll offer a guide… TL/DR - After distilling all other rating systems, this is where I sit when I rate things. Current Systems There’s a ton of rating systems out there but, in most cases, they follow a simple numerical ranking to the need. continue reading...
Wow! Sixty (60) books! 2017 was another good year with regards to reading for me. I was able to once again power through a ton a of books. It was a year of series; only roughly 18 books out of the 60 were stand alone books. Many of what I read were serial in nature and, towards the end of the year, I was beginning to get a little burned out on these stories. continue reading...
Ever heard the saying, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”? What does that mean. Think about it, if I have cake… I’m going to eat it. Seriously, why can’t I have cake and eat it as well? I know I can… Lately I’ve been thinking about the things we say. Words have meaning. And although I’m a mess of incorrect word usage, things like this make me think a bit. continue reading...
So I’ve been tossing around the idea of starting a newsletter but didn’t really like any of the options out there in circulating one. Yes, Mailchimp and other services aren’t difficult, yes things like TinyLetter make it even more simple…but what I really wanted to do is basically share links. I never really wanted to create content for a newsletter. Digging up all that content for a quality letter is a pain and what I really wanted is a simple way of curating links I find across the net for the week and sharing those. continue reading...
Just watched Netflix’s latest entry into the blockbuster movie scene, Bright. I have to say, I’m conflicted. The movie is not good, but neither is it bad. As I consider it, over and over in my head, I get more and more conflicted in my reactions. Because of that, I am going to say you should watch it…but go into the viewing with an open mind. I’ll barely touch on the good to avoid spoilers, but it’s worth watching. continue reading...
For posterity sake, I figured I’d make the definitive list of the best sports teams and people ever. The best in the mind of me, Trae. If I did keep up with all these sports/leagues/people, then this would be who I’d follow. Yes, that’s right, I don’t follow all these. But I don’t really care about your opinion on the matter. This is driven by this particular data that I can easily update from time to time. continue reading...
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is about to be released and since they announced the title, I’ve had a theory that I’ve really wanted to hope come true. A brief analysis of the previous films and a few comments from the previews for the new file–taken completely out of context–leads me to what I hope happens for The Last Jedi. We’ll see though, won’t we. Balance to The Force What does it mean to bring balance to The Force? continue reading...
You may have noticed that I haven’t posted much since getting the site up and running. That’s common. It happens on most people’s sites as they run out of time. I haven’t completely abandoned writing…but typing things out on the site has had its hurdles. So What’s Up? Time has gotten away from me. Yes, it’s an obvious excuse, but it’s true. But writing and time aren’t 100% what is going on. continue reading...
It was another great year in book reading. I didn’t travel as much I did the previous year, but my commutes to work and various other reasons allowed me to keep the words flowing. I bumped up my goal from 40 to 42 last year, assuming that since I wasn’t traveling as much it wasn’t worth moving up to 50+ books. But even with the modest change, I still read 54 book by year’s end, and a number of good ones in fact. continue reading...