Take cold showers in the morning. Don't do it all at once. Start with a warm shower, and then turn down the temperature for about 30 seconds before getting out. Thanks to Daily Stoic for this idea. Feeling the stoicism groove here! Help increase the meaning of my nightly prayer with my wife by discussing... Continue Reading →
Yes, Lewis said that: “The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins.”
I love finding opportunities to read books together with others, because I can share in the enthusiasm and excitement of new ideas and thoughts. I am currently reading The Spiritual Roots of Human Relations with my dad and my brother. I had it recommended to me by an Institute teacher a few years ago, but... Continue Reading →
PC or NPC, that is the question: A few thoughts on ministering
I wanted to piece together some thoughts surrounding the Church's newly minted ministering program that coalesced this past week after my stake conference. To me the spirit of ministering is profound: to care about another person to the point that you become a part of their life. I loved the way that President Jean Bingham... Continue Reading →
Sprint to the end: Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres and the Last Enemy/ and the Philosopher’s Stone
"You'd have lost," said Alastor Moody. "And the Boy-Who-Lived didn't just take out Voldie, he set it up so that his good friend Hermione Granger came back from the dead at the same time Voldie resurrected himself. There's no way in hell or double hell that was an accident, and I don't think it was... Continue Reading →
Hermione Jean Granger and the Phoenix’s Call
The fourth book in the Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality brings Hermione more onto center stage than in previous books. After all, the title takes her name rather than Harry's: Hermione Jean Granger and the Phoenix's Call. I will again have to make a SPOILER WARNING right up front, as I am going... Continue Reading →
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: The Shadows of Death
It took me a while to finally finish the 3rd installment of Methods of Rationality, as my wife's interest waned as she began to see that Harry Potter was still obnoxiously proud to the point of being insufferable. I was still intent on finishing the series, so after a few months of not reading in... Continue Reading →
In it for the long haul: Book review of Sanderson’s The Way of Kings
I have moved away from reading fantasy fiction since my high school days, often viewing that period sentimentally as the gateway that really got me into reading, but perhaps also a little condescendingly as of "lesser" worth. Look what I've become-- a literary snob. This book was recommended to me by a fellow graduate student... Continue Reading →