Category: Musings
Posted on February 9, 2026
Not Broken Enough to Fix: My First Real Lesson in Accepting Limitations
I slid inside the off-white cylinder of the MRI machine, feeling an odd kinship with my infant daughter’s diaper cream. The anticipated claustrophobia never materialized, but the technician forcibly reminded me of our age gap when the classic …
Posted on December 24, 2025
Small Tests, Big Rot
I stared at the slow cooker, vexed. The mishmash of seasonings, broth, and chicken bubbled away, ignorant of the tragedy it unwittingly participated in. I looked at the clock and frowned, hoping daylight savings had struck early this …
Posted on July 22, 2025
Seven Layers Deep: Understanding Your Life Through Bean Dip
You’re trapped at a mind-numbing party, and it’s as exciting as listening to your spouse retell the same story for the 389th time. The guests bore you more than reading your friend’s fanfic, the 2010s-era playlist grates like …
Updated on June 12, 2025
Mud, Blood, and Life Lessons: My First Mountain Biking Crash
“This is not ideal,” I thought as I catapulted over my bike’s handlebars into the creek below. Time crawled as I plummeted off the small bridge, the three-foot drop now looking like a stunt jump from a Tom …
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 …
