This is how I learned to drive a car: My dad took me to the Thompson High School parking lot. Then, I drove around. I am sure, looking back, that it was terrifying. I am sure that I wobbled left and right, and accelerated unevenly, and braked much too suddenly. And then, for the next … Continue reading
I bake bread. It is stupendous. It is relaxing, and it calms me down, and it’s a way to interact with my grandmother, and I don’t care if you make fun of me for it, because it is excellent bread. That’s the background. So the other day, I’m at home with the kids after school … Continue reading
That guy. That heroic guy. That heroic guy who gunned down his daughter’s laptop after she disrespected him on Facebook. THAT GUY now has an official website. And it is GOLD. Go read it–all of it–right now. But make SURE you read his response to Dr. Phil. Anyone who knows me well is familiar with … Continue reading
Today’s post is a challenge. It will easily be the weirdest post ever. I swear it is a genuine question. Close one eye. Now, poke your tongue out the OPPOSITE corner of your mouth. (As in, left eye, right side of mouth.) Easy, right? Now, attempt to simultaneously switch eyes and corners. Can’t do it, … Continue reading
Here it is: this week’s collection of links to cattle-prod you through five more days. reading this week: The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham. This on the advice of my father-in-law. Do not attempt if you’re not prepared for some thoroughly researched tedium. Cows of Our Planet. Because Gary Larson remains the Jesus of comic … Continue reading
This week, someone sent me Diana Nyad’s recent piece on Tim Tebow’s breakout season this year, in which she is highly critical of the vocal and visual way in which Tebow expresses his faith. I’ve had my own opinion on this season’s Tebow phenomenon; the short take was that, while I thought he was a … Continue reading
By now, you know the drill. These are links to help you survive the work week, assuming you hate your job, which I don’t. (Mine, that is. I might hate yours.) 1. Originally stumbled across this via boingboing some time ago. It’s a brief (but fascinating) account of how one becomes a shaman in … Continue reading
A smattering of this week’s best links. Some of them have language. Be warned, if you’re all offensible and whatnot. Via the inestimable Jason Kottke, an explanation of dubstep music in under three minutes. I am not sure why I find this fascinating. But I do. Fascinating story regarding professor Sebastian Thrun’s recent decision to … Continue reading
Here we go again: a few links, painstakingly culled from the fallow ground at the bottom of the depths of the internet. Skim around. See what’s interesting. Feel enlightened. Giggle. (In this metaphor, “painstakingly culled” means I tooled around Twitter and my RSS feeds for a while. And I was sitting in a Starbucks. It’s … Continue reading
A new feature here at 36: each Monday will highlight the coolest links of the prior week. You may feast on them like a Roman demigod, or hoard them like a fugitive to help survive the work week. 1. Boingboing reports that the IRS and Marvel Comics are embroiled in a legal battle over whether … Continue reading
Today’s roll call of stupendocity. You may feast on them like a Roman demigod, or hoard them like a fugitive to help survive the work week. 1. Inexplicable 13-pound balls of metal are falling out of the sky in Namibia. And I seem to be more concerned than the Namibians, who are evidently a patient … Continue reading
I’ve been reposting the most popular content of 2011 over Christmas Break. This piece was originally run on April 29. ___________________________________________ I am watching a man in church. As I’ve admitted previously, I often struggle to focus during the service. But this isn’t during the service. This is after the service. There are a group … Continue reading
I’ve been reposting the most popular content of 2011 over Christmas Break. This piece was originally published on May 18, 2010. So apparently it’s been hanging around, the crafty old Joe Dumars of this blog. _________________________________________ Our pediatrician swears. A lot. I would estimate that in the last seven years, we’ve been in his … Continue reading
If Mark Twain had been forced to go to an average American high school, a well-intentioned guidance counselor would have ensured that the world never knew his name by pushing him toward a business degree. Continue reading
I’m re-posting the most popular content of 2011 over Christmas break. This entry technically cheated, since it was published once in February and once in December. _________________________________________________ Dear Christendom: It’s time for a Christmas letter. I hesitate to publish it, because I didn’t want to ruin anybody’s Christmas. And by anybody’s, I mean mine. Here’s … Continue reading
I’m reposting the most popular content of 2011 over Christmas Break. This piece came in at #7. It was originally published on November 2, 2010 __________________________________________________________ This week marks the anniversary of the day Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Cathedral at Wittenberg. I’m certainly not Martin Luther. I am done … Continue reading
A new feature here at 36: each Monday will highlight the coolest links of the prior week. You may feast on them like a Roman demigod, or hoard them like a fugitive to help survive the work week. 1. Voxer is a nifty iPhone app, assuming you want to move the technology backwards. It turns … Continue reading
No one ever, in the middle of scanning a head of lettuce, or shaving my head, or x-raying the head of me or my children, has asked me anything remotely resembling “So, what’s with this Jesus thing everybody’s always talking about?” Continue reading
Trading time for money when you’re not having fun is vocational prostitution. Continue reading
NOTE: I’ll be shutting down most blogging activities for the next ten days, as we celebrate Christmas and then visit the Passion conference. Since I didn’t want you to head into the DTs, I’ve scheduled reposts of the year’s ten most popular pieces. They’re listed from #10 to #1, because that order seems to be … Continue reading
