Category: Musings
Posted on May 13, 2025
Board Game Theory: Winning at the Games of Life
Before we had children and lost all control over our lives, my wife and I enjoyed playing board games together. Our personal philosophies on those games, however, differs somewhat. While she plays to have a pleasant evening with …
Posted on April 3, 2025
The Monsters in Our Closets: A Grown-Up’s Guide to Conquering the Unknown
I stare at the cracked closet door in our bedroom night after night. That slight gap—maybe five inches wide—between door and frame haunts me more than I’d care to admit. My wife often reminds me I’m a grown …
Posted on January 5, 2025
The Magic and Mastery of Brandon Sanderson’s Writing Universe
To say Brandon Sanderson is a prolific author does him a disservice. His most recent book, Wind and Truth, comes in at 1,344 pages. That brings the series the book is a part of—the Stormlight Archives—up to 5,890 …
Posted on December 22, 2024
On Christmas (2024)
‘Tis the season, as it were. A time of joy and hope, prayer and merriment. The Christmas season is one many of us cherish, and for good reasons. But as I sat down to consider what it means …
Posted on October 27, 2024
Lessons from Sue the T-Rex: Why We All Need Moments of Wonder
Last week, I went to Chicago’s Field Museum to visit Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Did you know it’s the most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found? Or that one of the only artificial parts of the skeleton on display …
Posted on October 13, 2024
Our Love is Radioactive: Why Love Needs More Control Rods and Less Firewood
In the yonder days of the internet, there was a brief moment where people realized potatoes make a better metaphor for love than roses. When I first heard this, it opened up a world of terrible metaphors and …
Posted on May 19, 2024
An Empty House
An empty house is an interesting thing, particularly one you have no intention of filling. I have had six major moves in my life and we are in the midst of number seven. Movers showed up this week …
Posted on March 10, 2024
On Speechwriting
Fifteen months is long enough to feel like an age and short enough to vanish in a blink. It’s also short enough to make you feel like an expert in something, but long enough to know better. I …
Posted on February 25, 2024
I Use 100% of My Brain and You Can Too! The Nature of Pervasive Myths
I’m currently reading Adam Grant’s Hidden Potential, which has been quite enjoyable so far. One data point from the book, however, stands out. The popular educational belief that each of us has a preferred learning style (e.g. audio, …
Updated on December 25, 2023
On Christmas
Tomorrow is my 34th Christmas. I have had Christmases full of joy, and some tinged by sadness. One year involved cutting down our own snow-covered Christmas tree with thermoses of hot chocolate holding off the crisp winter air. …
