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Showing posts from 2025

Update

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 Once upon a time , someone asked me if I would be happy working a job that was not at the university. Since my position at the university closed in 2020, I found myself doing exactly that— working in jobs not at the university. It has been a very difficult transition.  Recently, things shifted quickly and in unexpected ways. The short version is that I am leaving the hotel which I am currently working, having taken a position at another.  The longer version of the story is that I stopped by to see my good friend and former GM at his new hotel. While I was visiting with him, one of the owners came out and introduced himself and we got to talking. After a few minutes, he said he wanted me to meet his brother. Our conversation turned into a job interview and 48 hours later I accepted a new position as front desk, manager and assistant operations manager. After some negotiating, we reached an agreement and I start my new position on April 9. It’s a much nicer hotel and these...
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Update

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 Once upon a time , someone asked me if I would be happy working a job that was not at the university. Since my position at the university closed in 2020, I found myself doing exactly that— working in jobs not at the university. It has been a very difficult transition.  Recently, things shifted quickly and in unexpected ways. The short version is that I am leaving the hotel which I am currently working, having taken a position at another.  The longer version of the story is that I stopped by to see my good friend and former GM at his new hotel. While I was visiting with him, one of the owners came out and introduced himself and we got to talking. After a few minutes, he said he wanted me to meet his brother. Our conversation turned into a job interview and 48 hours later I accepted a new position as front desk, manager and assistant operations manager. After some negotiating, we reached an agreement and I start my new position on April 9. It’s a much nicer hotel and these...
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Finished reading: “Trail of the Lost”

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“Beautifully written, heartfelt, and at times harrowing, TRAIL OF THE LOST paints a vivid picture of hiker culture and its complicated relationship with the ever-expanding online realm, all while exploring the power and limits of determination, generosity, and hope. It also offers a deep awe of the natural world, even as it unearths just how vast and treacherous it can be. On the TRAIL OF THE LOST, you may not find what you are looking for, but you will certainly find more than you seek.” (Goodreads)
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It’s not Saturday, but . . . Don’t You Forget About Me

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 Happy Breakfast Club Day!  “Saturday...March 24, 1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois. 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon...we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was that we did wrong, what we did was wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are, what do you care? You see us as you want to see us...in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athelete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed...”
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Finished Reading: Epictetus, Discourses

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  I thought to try reading this in bite-size portions for ease of digestion, so starting on January 1 I began Book 1. Yesterday I got impatient and finished the book (ending with Book 2). So much practical advice here from a Stoic slave who lived during the reign of Nero. Like opening one fortune cookie after another. Straightforward and convicting lessons on cutting the crap and using your God-given reason for virtuous living. 
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Only Human

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Finished reading: Daniel

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 It’s been a tough couple of weeks. In short, I’ve been sick with no time off, so I’m burned out. I’ve been doing what it takes to get through a day, not much else.  I’ve decided to get the fitness thing going again by walking at least 15 minutes per day. I’ve not trained since 2020 and have been battling depression since leaving the University. I remember feeling better when training so I need to try again. High blood pressure and now officially diabetic—life goes on.  At least I finished one book.
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When AI goes Country

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Finished Reading: The Man Who Never Was

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  What will it take to deceive the enemy? This is the straightforward account of how Two British Intelligence Officers used a cadaver to misdirect the German invasion of Sicily in WW2. Fast, yet intriguing read. 
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Finished Reading: The Reading Life

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  Finished reading “The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds Through Others’ Eyes”, excerpts from selected writings of C.S. Lewis wherein he addressed the subject of reading. A careful reader will find wise instructions meant for the writer scattered like gemstones throughout his reflections and critiques. My favorite chapters are “The Case For Reading Old Books”, “Why Fairy Tales Are Often Less Deceptive Than ‘Realistic’ Ones,” and “The Achievements of J.R.R. Tolkien.” Though I borrowed my copy from our local library, this is worth purchasing and re-reading (a subject upon which Lewis has much to say). Makes a perfect gift for an avid reader! 
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Happy Valentines Day!

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Finished Reading The Gospel of Mark and Paul’s Letter To The Romans

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Finished Reading: Cato

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Finished Reading: Esther

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 A Beauty pageant and a hangin’! 
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Yes, Please

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Finished Reading . . .

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 The Gospel of Matthew The Acts of The Holy Spirit 
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Finished Reading “Heretics”

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  "G. K. Chesterton, the "Prince of Paradox," is at his witty best in this collection of twenty essays and articles from the turn of the twentieth century. Focusing on  "heretics" - those who pride themselves on their superiority to Christian views - Chesterton appraises prominent figures who fall into that category from the literary and art worlds... those who hold incomplete and inadequate views about "life, the universe, and everything." He is, in short, criticizing all that host of non-Christian views of reality, as he demonstrated in his follow-up book Orthodoxy. The book is both an easy read and a difficult read. But he manages to demonstrate, among other things, that our new 21st century heresies are really not new because he himself deals with most of them." (Goodreads)
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Willy-nilly

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Into this Universe, and Why not knowing  Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing;  And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,  I know not Whither, willy-nilly blowing. Stanza XXXII of “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” by Edward Fitzgerald (1809–1883)
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Plutarch’s “Moralia”

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  “They say those discourses,” the Greek philosopher Plutarch (46-120 AD) writes, “like friends, are best and surest that come to our refuge and aid in adversity, and are useful.” This is an appropriate summation of his 26 chapter work called “Moralia.” This work contains sage advice on topics including    education, love, virtue and vice, marriage, parenting, character development, friends and enemies, divine punishment, grief and consolation, borrowing money and even talkitiveness. Each thought-provoking chapter can be read “devotional” style. If you keep a journal, each chapter could fuel your thoughts for reflection. I found my copy at no cost in the public domain on Kindle. 
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One of my favorites

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  "’Has no one told you, “In the Country of the Blind the One-eyed Man is King?”’”  “‘What is blind?’ asked the blind man carelessly over his shoulder.’” This is one of my favorite short stories published by H.G. Wells in 1904. It deserves to be revisited every now and then— plus, has all the makings of a long-lost “Twilight Zone” episode.
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Finished “Lives Of The Stoics”

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  In the spirit of Plutarch’s “Lives,” Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman present “The Lives of The Stoics. The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius.” The work is an uncomplicated biographical history of Stoicism starting in late Greece through the Roman Empire, centralized on practicing Stoics, who they were and what they did. Students of the Bible should give careful attention to this book, as it provides insight to the world of the early church from a historical perspective. Most telling are the trends that led to the persecution and exiles of the philosophers long before Christianity appeared on the scene. That so many notable Stoics came from Tarsus should be of particular interest. While the book provides an indirect introduction to the thinking of those who met Paul on Mars Hill (Acts 17), the authors present principles for present-day living. 
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The year took off without me already!

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