Stunning sunset to end 2018.

I guess every season is election season now.

In years past, I’ve set a variety of goals across different categories. I’ve decided to cast that method aside and focus on one area of my life: better compliance with my migraine management. There are certain things that I can do every day to reduce the incidence and severity of migraine attacks. If I can get this chronic condition better managed, all aspects of my life will improve.

I’m also going to focus on actions instead of outcomes. So while I need to lose some serious weight, I’m not going to set a weight goal. Instead, I’m going to set fitness goals that will result in weight loss.

So, here are my goals, each of which need to be accomplished daily:

• Close my Apple Watch rings & keep a food journal
• Read a book
• Meditate

That’s it. Four actions steps, accomplished daily, over a period of time. Simple, straightforward, no room for excuses.

Maybe I shouldn’t get on the scale at all. If I close my Activity Rings every day and keep a food journal, is it even necessary?

There’s a lot of talk about how our nation is more divided than ever. As Americans, we face a problem that many nations do not have to confront. We’re a non-homogenous people, with only our patriotism, freedom, and Constitution binding us together.

Many people have a perturbingly negative perception of what life in America is like today. Some even pine for the good old days of national unity, which I’m confidant is just a foggy illusion.

I went on The Polar Express earlier this month. For one hour, we rode on a historic train down the tracks. I was in a carriage with families of every race, creed, color, and political view. No one fought, no one was arrested and made to disappear, no one was killed. We sang together, our children danced together, and we enjoyed a magical evening on the rails.

There’s unrest, but there has always been unrest. There’s anxiety, but there has always been anxiety. What makes America great is not Her economic or military might, it’s Her citizens. Natural and naturalized, Jewish and Muslim, Christian and Buddhist, African-American and Asian, White and Native American, Left and Right, all living and working together to build the City Upon a Hill.

The perfect background music while reading on a Friday evening. 🎵

Picked up the new Mission Impossible and all of the Bourne movies on sale today on iTunes. Glad that I waited!

I love the woody aroma of fresh lavender.

Advent calendar that my Mom made for us.

Barely made it to recycling day. Now I have to hold on for two more days with a very full trash bin.

Finally getting the house put back together.

Coming up to the finish line of three years of daily journaling in Day One. Looking forward to getting them all printed in the New Year!

There’s a robot vacuuming my floor. This is the best.

Remarkably calm in the neighborhood this morning.

China Applies Xinjiang’s Policing Lessons to Other Muslim Areas - WSJ

China’s aggressive policing of Muslims in its western region of Xinjiang is being replicated in other parts of the country, particularly in areas with other Muslim communities.

The camps aren’t far behind.

My wife is either legitimately at work, or she is frantically driving all over town trying to find a Turboman.

I love this time of evening.

Date night.

Just put my garage on HomeKit with the Insignia WiFi plug. Product reviews were inconclusive, so I’m hoping things work out with my mesh network and HomePod home hub.

Apple’s Dan Riccio - MacRumors

Relative to the issue you referenced regarding the new iPad Pro, its unibody design meets or exceeds all of Apple’s high quality standards of design and precision manufacturing.

Thanks for all of the cash, enjoy your bent iPad!

Christmas lights at the civic gardens.

First time getting a Chinese robocall.

Crazy reporting in the Journal over the past few days about review scams on Amazon. Now I don’t know what to believe.

Airpower.

What is the design process for a minivan that results in 3 LATCH positions instead of a more reasonable 4?

NYT:

Facebook allowed Microsoft’s Bing search engine to see the names of virtually all Facebook users’ friends without consent, the records show, and gave Netflix and Spotify the ability to read Facebook users’ private messages.

Another day, another scandal!

Just found the website of Freedom from Facebook, which wants the FTC to break up the company. I don’t think we need government intervention, we need user intervention. Delete your account, and if you hold the company’s stock, sell.

WSJ:

The free service, called Experian Boost, will be used by consumers who opt in and link the bank accounts they use to pay their phone and utility providers to Experian, allowing the company to track their monthly payments.

Never.

America: after dark, Sonic etiquette requires that you turn off your headlights while parked in the stall.

The Verge on Facebook’s data download strategy:

In the meantime, Facebook’s data protection tools mostly serve to distract users from the more aggressive data collection happening behind the scenes.

It’s so refreshing to encounter the work of quality journalists.

It’s a bit foggy out there.

How slammed is UPS? I just saw a driver in a golf cart with a trailer making deliveries.

Fresh dill smells amazing. One of my favorite kitchen aromas.

Stunning sunrise. Happy Sunday!

Benedict’s cookie game is strong.

All aboard, The Polar Express!

iMac is semi-operational. Restored from Time Machine backup, but most preferences weren’t saved. Oh well.

My 2014 iMac on the lastest release of Mojave keeps freezing and restarting. Disk Utility can’t repair the corruption. Looks like I’ll be spending the day reformatting my hard drive and restoring from backup.

Candlelit dinner to celebrate the Feast of St. Lucy.

Mail carrier leaves a postage due notice in the mailbox. He came to my door to do a pickup and didn’t even ring the doorbell (I was home). I wish I could say this degraded service is a result of the holidays.

Nice little celebration for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Street tacos for dinner!

WSJ reporting:

The Boy Scouts of America is considering filing for bankruptcy protection as it faces dwindling membership and escalating legal costs related to lawsuits over how it handled allegations of sex abuse.

Hard to stay relevant when every move alienates more people.

On my list of services to shut down today:

• Google Domains
• Google Maps API
• Google Wifi

It was a good year for books. Maybe my best yet.

It’s so nice to walk around the neighborhood in the evening and enjoy all of the Christmas lights.

Changing the 529 rules to allow for accounts for expected children seems like an odd hill to die on. I’d much rather see a discussion around merging HSA, 529, and other tax-favored accounts into a universal savings account.

The state of iOS is really sad. There’s almost no more need for sites like The Sweet Setup. I guess this is what happens when customers aren’t willing to pay and indie devs can’t afford to create amazing apps.

Ordered new routers today. Replacing Google WiFi very soon. 🎉

iMessage image search is terrible.

I went to the Apple Store to look at the new Watches and iPads. That was a poor decision.

Did anyone bother to watch House of Cards season 6?

Walmart is doing an excellent job earning my business. The best prices, free grocery shopping/pickup, automatic refunds for recalled items, free upgrades for out of stock items. The best!

We use data to make Google products like Search and Maps as useful as possible. We also use data to serve more relevant ads. While these ads help fund our services and make them free for everyone, it’s important to clarify that our users’ personal information is simply not for sale.

On Google’s privacy principles page, they make the bold and reassuring claim that they never sell your personal information. Except that’s not entirely true.

Their language is precise. They’re not going to take the massive amounts of data that they’ve scrapped about you from across the Internet and the data that you’ve given them, put it in a spreadsheet, and put it up for auction. They’ve got a better plan.

They take all of that information, build out your profile, and then leverage that profile to sell to advertisers and “partner websites.” Hard to find out just who those partners are, by the way.

The truth is, your personal information is for sale, just not in a spreadsheet. Google, Facebook & Instagram, Twitter, and every other company that runs a “free” service is in the business of selling your profile, which inherently includes your personal information. These guys stalk you across the Internet and in ways that are far from transparent. You’d have to inspect every website’s source code or install an ad blocker to show you just how many trackers are on every website.

They’re creeps. But we let them do it.

How can we make it stop? Stop using their products. Close your accounts. Use macOS Mojave and iOS 11+ and enable every privacy setting in Safari. Advertisers hate the technology, so consumers should love it.

Here’s the real pain point. If you value your privacy and want these losers to stop, you’re going to have to start paying for services. Email, RSS readers, blogs, apps, software. There’s a cost to privacy, it’s slight, but its enough to keep most people happily forking over their personal information so that they can have free stuff. Not me, not anymore.

Microsoft Edge coming to Mac next year:

We also expect this work to enable us to bring Microsoft Edge to other platforms like macOS.

Don’t waste your time.

I wrote this back in March as I deleted my social media accounts:

There’s something very powerful about the concept of a social network… The problem comes when these networks have revenue targets to hit and shareholders to please.

I don’t go on BuzzFeed often, but when I do, I fail their quiz about “important” events that happened this year and I’m validated in my life choices.

Emoji + Things App = 👨🏻‍💻

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

I hate when big box hardware stores close entire aisles during business hours.

Got all of the leaves mulched before the heavy rains. Feels good to get the lawn back into shape.

One of the things that I miss about Twitter/Instagram are the digital friends that I made. I wish there was an easier way to keep in touch with them, but I’m not sure that I’m willing to recreate those accounts just to stay in touch.

Merry muggin’

Manton likes to talk about how owning your domain means that you own your own content. In fact, that’s the major selling point behind Micro.blog. I completely agree with him. When I post to a blog at a domain that I own, I control the content, and how it’s presented, from here forevermore.

I started a blog called Catholic Husband back in March of 2013. I launched the blog in the run-up to my transition out of the workforce and starting my new job as a stay-at-home dad. With just an infant to look after, I wanted to fill my time thinking and writing. It’s my longest running, and most consistently updated, blog. I’m coming up on my 800th post, almost all of which are over 500 words.

I care passionately about the design of Catholic Husband and how readers see the content, even posts that are nearly six years old. That’s why I’m working my way back, through every single post, and updating the blog photo to match a standardized format. I’m using Unsplash, and the visual upgrade that those premium photos bring to my posts cannot be understated. This process is tedious and multi-step, but that’s okay. I’m in the driver’s seat and I think that the effort is worth it.

My ability to reach back nearly six years and manipulate every single post is almost unheard of in today’s Internet silos. I don’t need to wait for the content host to decide to create a tool to make it easy, because I’m in control. I simply open my web development app, make the changes, and hit publish. Try doing that with a Facebook post from Summer 2013.

I don’t know what the Internet will be like in 20 years, but I can be confident that as long as I own my domain and control my content, it’ll be available, if I so choose.

Hulu/AT&T plans for ads in 2019:

Streaming TV services offered by companies like Hulu and AT&T are testing the waters for a new type of advertising called “pause ads” The idea… ads that play when they choose to pause a show…

Nope.

I did three different 2018 tax calculators (Turbotax, eFile, H&R Block). The same numbers gave me three answers with a huge swing. I guess we’ll just wait and see what happens!

It’s that wonderful time of year again when the soft glow of the Christmas tree fills my home with light early in the morning.

Sky clear.

To the scientists who gave us contact lenses: I salute you!

My spot in line to move domain registrations to Cloudflare opened up this morning. $8/year for .com with free WHOIS privacy. Easy decision.

Hello, December! 🎄

“Free shipping” that delivers in 7-10 business days is just as off-putting to customers as paid 3-5 business day shipping.

Lots of stuff in the pantry and refrigerator. Going to work over the next few days to eat all of these extras and get a fresh start.

I love the last day of the month and all of the financial reconciliation that I get to do.

There’s nothing smart about FedEx SmartPost.

Parental controls on iOS12 are way too complicated to set up.

Apple Watch Setup

Crazy slow process,

Hard to back up, long load time.

A bad job, Apple.

The Apple Watch has the worst onboarding experience of any products in their lineup.

How bad is Siri? She can’t figure out that when I ask for “PBS Kids Songs for the Holidays,” I am talking about the album “PBS Kids Music for the Holidays." Sad!

The way that the free market punishes companies for misbehavior is by starving them of business. So if you don’t like what Google or Facebook or Twitter are doing, punish them by deleting your account.

At every turn, I find another Google product or service that I’m using, which really shows how deep they are in the market. I used Google’s Product page to make sure that I had remember all of the services that I used at one point or another. I must say, every passing day, Google gives me a new reason to get them out of my life, forever. This year, I’ve deleted all of my accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Google is next.

Below are the Google services that I use and what I will replace them with.

1. Google Analytics: I never cared about traffic to my websites, and my web design clients don’t really have a need for them either. Our websites are important as they stand, not depending on how many visitors we get. There are use cases, but for the sites that I work on, it’s internet cruft.
2. Google Domains: I used Google Domains because of the wide TLDs available, the low prices, and the free domain privacy feature. I’ve done some research and after considering Hover, I Want My Name, and Cloudflare, I’m going to move all of my domains over to my web host.
3. Google Drive: I didn’t use Drive that much, but it turned out I was keeping a very important spreadsheet in there with listings of all of my blog posts. I moved that spreadsheet to Apple Numbers and will keep it locally.
4. Google Fonts: I used to use these files extensively in my web design projects. I used Font Squirrel’s font webkit creator to generate the necessary files and will now self-host my project fonts.
5. Google My Business: I’ve created a few pages for clients. I’m going to make them admins on those pages and remove my admin role.
6. Google Search: I moved all of my defaults to DuckDuckGo and have synced my preferences across my devices.
7. Google Voice: I tried to use a Google Voice number as a way of keeping my cell phone number semi-private, but it didn’t work. So I’ll just give everyone my cell number and deal with it.
8. Google Wifi: As a fluke on Amazon, I ended up with a free 3 pack of Google Wifi just over a year ago. (I was given their permission to keep them free of charge!) I’m going to replace the routers with a Netgear Orbi system.
9. Nest: I went all-in on Nest before Homekit and have several pieces of their hardware. They were subsequently bought by Google and later folded into the company. I’ve started replacing that hardware, one piece at a time. I’ll be Homekit exclusive moving forward.
10. Waze: I will miss Waze, but I actually prefer Apple Maps since the directions give feedback on my watch while I’m driving. Hopefully Apple will improve traffic and active rerouting in the future.
11. YouTube: I already waste too much time on YouTube, so this should be a net positive. Plus, you don’t need an account to watch videos.

I was never totally in Google’s orbit, but I had gotten myself pretty tangled up. Now the trick will be to wind down my usage and ensure that I’ve gotten everything deleted and closed.

I used to pass Lordstown all the time driving the Ohio Turnpike. I’m pretty sure that plant is all that’s there.

How does Pixelmator still not have type on a curve?

I finally took some time to set up shortcuts and sync in Transmit 5. Can’t believe it took me this long to make my life easy.

It’s been a month since Pope Francis accepted Cardinal Wuerl’s reisgnation. Perhaps he should ask Xi Jinping whom to appoint as the next archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington

Do I have to say a blessing before eating leftovers?

UPS is absolutely slammed right now. Lots of packages delayed due to “operating conditions.”

Google’s privacy quibble:

We do not sell your personal information to anyone. We use data to serve you relevant ads in Google products, on partner websites, and in mobile apps. While these ads help fund our services… your personal information is not for sale.

Every year I think that our taxes are going to be uncomplicated, but it never turns out that way. There’s always something that requires special treatment.

Many thanks to the folks in retail distribution for their hard work in getting my orders out the door!

Enjoying my coffee this morning and reminiscing about our time on Lake Michigan.

Perfect way to end a great day.

Gorgeous Saturday to enjoy the great outdoors

The thing about games like Reigns is that while it shows you how much a particular choice will influence a group, it doesn’t say if it’s positive or negative. Frustrating.

Beautiful evening for a walk in the neighborhood under the light of a full moon.

This iPad Pro abuse video was one of the most difficult things I’ve watched in years.

It’s in the mid-50s and this lady is walking her dog bundled up like she just got off the Moscow Metro in February.

Accepted Apple’s Give Back offer four days ago. They process it as a refund to the card used to make the purchase. Still no refund. Unbelievable. Seriously, do no use Apple Give Back.

Not ashamed to admit that Christmas music is now playing on the HomePod. Love this year’s Matt Maher release.

Made some more CSS changes to my hosted blog. I love the simplicity with pops of bright orange.

This is a good time of year to have the Deliveries app.

Wasn’t pardoned.

Walmart Grocery is automatically refunding me for all of the salad that I’ve bought recently. This is a huge advantage: auto-refunds for recalled items.

Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade reminds me why I don’t watch TV. More ads than content and ad naseum promotion of NBC programs.

I love that the United States has a national holiday dedicated to gratitude. As a nation, today’s celebrations go back to a singular event that would come to define who we are as a people. To be an American is to be generous. To be generous, one has to have a profound sense of gratitude.

Living in this nation is a tremendous blessing. I live in relative peace and security where opportunity abounds. My life and my property are not under constant threat. This reality, and the fact that it is not universal is not lost on me.

As my family gathers around our table this afternoon, ready to enjoy a feast of seasonal treats, I will give thanks to our Creator for the many blessings in my life.

Geeze, when will these government workers get the message that they need to stop using personal email at work?!

Made some closet shelves today. Not bad.

Gorgeous Fall day at the zoo

Apple 2FA is really weird. Why on earth would it offer the 2nd factor authentication code on the device that’s trying to log in?!

The iPad Pro should be my next computer? Ha, okay. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Apple Give Back: very slow process, zero communication, and final offer 17% below estimate with no explanation. Will not do that again.

Changing my iCloud password today. Send some thoughts my way.

Out grilling for an early dinner so that I don’t have to work in the dark!

It’s a beautiful Saturday, so I got outside with my son and took care of our fall yard clean-up. Hedges trimmed, plants cut back, both cars washed, and a lovely four mile walk in the sun. Burgers on the grill for dinner.

Apple’s Give Back program is ridiculously slow.

This is a time of great upheaval in American technological culture. For the past twenty years, technology companies have taken up an ever increasing presence in our lives through hardware and software. These technologies, like so many before them, changed the way we do business and live. As with all technology, what can be used for good can quickly become very dark.

For over a decade, I handed over troves of personal data to Facebook. Like so many others, my digital life resided primarily within that walled garden. As I left college and entered the workforce, Facebook took on a deeper focus on their business and increasing market value. More people were let in, algorithms took over the feeds, and soon I was mostly seeing ads or friends trying to hawk their latest diet.

Cambridge Anayltica was a tipping point for many, but for me, it was just the impetus to shut it all down. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, gone. I deleted my accounts, and this time, it stuck. I haven’t been back.

I was struck in late October by a particular public action of Google. I read news articles about how employees were pressuring management to not work on technologies that would benefit the United States military. Setting aside the fact that I come from a military family, for employees of an American company to request that our war fighter not have the best tools at their disposal for protecting our freedom, is inane. Google is one of the great American technology leaders, and their refusal to work on contracts for the Defense Department is shocking. Juxtaposed against that virtue signaling is Google’s full-throated efforts to dominate the Chinese market. They may be making progress, but they’re doing it on the Chinese government’s terms.

Reporting this year has revealed the depravity of the Chinese Communist Party and the lengths that they are going to in order to maintain power. They’re leveraging technology, stolen or otherwise, to bring into existence the dystopian police state that every free thinking person fears. One has to look no further than the proving grounds of the western Xinjiang province. Home to a large muslim ethnic minority, the Uighurs, the Chinese government tests and hones its use of surveillance technologies in Xinjiang before rolling them out to the rest of the country. The Communist Party has built an expansive network of concentration camps and, by some estimates, has interned over one million Uighurs without cause, subjecting them to “patriotic education” and, according to some former detainees, torture.

Google’s rejection of support for the United States military and implicit cooperation in the oppression of a minority group, let alone the Chinese people writ large, by their government is too much to let go unnoticed.

To Google, I am both a customer and a product. The more that I use their products and services, the better they understand me. They likely have enough information on me to tell you just about everything about me. In that way, I become the product, whom they can repackage and market to advertisers in exchange for fees.

In light of recent events, creeped out by their constant efforts to track and categorize me, and in consideration of our lack of values alignment, I have decided to quit Google.

It’s going to take me about a year, and during that time I’ll need to stop using the following Google services: Google Voice, Google Search, Google Wifi, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google+ (business), YouTube, Waze, Nest, Google Analytics, Google Adsense, Google Webmaster Tools, and I’m sure, others. There are plenty of alternatives out there in the market, and thankfully, they aren’t all owned by one company. This distributive approach to fulfilling all of my services needs will ensure that no one company can track me so expansively.

Google started out as the best search engine, and then became a juggernaut. In the past decade, they’ve betrayed what was enshrined in their corporate code of conduct as far back as 2000, “Don’t be evil.” They quietly emoved that tenant from their code in the past twelve months. In many respects, they’ve become everything that they set out to avoid.

Greg Ip for The Wall Street Journal, The Unintended Consequences of the ‘Free’ Internet:

The zero-price business model is a source of many of the problems plaguing the Internet. It’s no coincidence that Google, Facebook and Twitter Inc. —which garner more than 80% of their revenue from advertising—are the ones most often accused of propagating toxic content and eroding privacy…

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was a great game.

Realizing how deep my relationship with Google goes. Waze, YouTube, Google Voice. A twelve month transition away feels like the right amount of time to wrap things up.

Hierarchy of domestic shipping:

• UPS
• FedEx Express
• United States Postal Service
• UPS SurePost
• FedEx Home Delivery
• DHL

I love when the sunset paints the upper branches with that warm gold.

I wish that Apple had a really good iOS/macOS way to clean up “Recent Contacts.” So annoying.

Oh, Amazon. DC and NYC for HQ2? How original! How brilliant! How imaginative! What a colossal waste of everyone’s time.

I’m so disappointed in this season of Last Man Standing. They really lost their juice between networks.

Date night.

I’m so close to app and preferences parity between my iMac and MacBook.

It’s cold, overcast, and quiet outside. It feels like snow.

Special thanks to all of our American warriors who have served our common defense and for the families who have stood behind them, sacrificing time and memories for our freedom.

I love a soft, fresh doughnut from Dunkin’.

Made some new friends today.

This is still a delight.

French president Emanuel Macron in comments leading up to the centennial of Armistice Day:

We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America.

I need to upgrade my iMac internal hard drive, but I think I need to hire someone to do it.

Mixed content is my worst nightmare.

I’m starting to get my Botox super powers back.

I could eat the same thing for each meal for weeks on end. I’m trying to work harder on adding more variety to my childrens’ diet. This morning we’re going to enjoy some fresh cut strawberries.

Say what you will about Tom Cruise, he is very serious about his craft.

I think that explicit lyrics are a net negative to the art of music. It limits the scope of audience and offers no tangible benefits. If the intent is to emphasize strong emotions, use the scoring or develop a deeper, more personal lyrical narrative.

George knows how to play. So relaxing on a rainy autumn afternoon. 🎵

It’s been over a month since I’ve worn my Fitbit. I haven’t missed it for a moment.

It’s a bit wet out there.

I woke up with a sense of dread. Oh, yeah, Botox day.

I love a good grapefruit.

We now return to our regularly scheduled broadcast.

I love watching election results.

I miss Timetable.

I’ve decided to migrate my business away from Alphabet/Google. Already switched search engines and will move domains over the next 12. Switching out my hardware will take longer.

I’m so looking forward to Wednesday morning. No more talk about 2018 and these midterms; only wall-to-wall coverage of 2020.

Oh wow! I just got a text message. Did you guys know that there’s an election tomorrow?

I’ve become that maniac that listens to Christmas music right after Halloween.

App devs: please write better release notes.

No, sun, please don’t go away! It’s too early!

Netflix should have done the right thing and cancelled House of Cards last year.

Good Morning!

When are we going to turn off Internet comments?

Just participated in a national poll. I’m a bit surprised at the middle of the road views I actually hold. Seems to me that the only people who are full throttle one way or the other make their living off of politics.

What’s up, Kenny G?

At least this Halloween evening actually feels like October.

Halloween is going to be a bust with all of this rain

CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL.

No iPad Pro in my near future. Maybe in the next 12 months I’ll replace my Air 2.

The Babylon Bee:

‘I signed up to occupy Afghanistan, not defend the country,’ said one soldier. ‘When I said I’d defend Americans’ freedoms, I meant I’d defend them abroad, not defend them at home.’

They really knocked this one out of the park. It may be their best piece yet.

Visited this old neighborhood treehouse on a Fall afternoon. That brilliant blue sky never gets old.

Michael C. Bender for The Wall Street Journal:

In Indiana and Illinois appearances, Mr. Trump said he was inspired to keep his schedule in part because he remembered the New York Stock Exchange reopened the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The NYSE and Nasdaq reopened on Sept. 17.

This is quality journalism. The reporter corrects the record without comment and lets the reader draw their own conclusions based on the facts avaliable. We need more of this.

55 degrees is my ideal temperature.

I sent three identical requests to the three credit bureaus to freeze my three children’s credit a month ago. 8/9 requests came back just fine, but Equifax lost or didn’t process one. In order to find out if they did, I have to send another request, with all of the same sensitive documents through the mail, again. Stupid.

It’s remarkable just how much light the moon can cast on the ground

I love currency.

My kids fight over vitamins and Zyrtec.

Cold, rainy October days are the best.

The new UPS Follow My Delivery feature is nice, but completely meaningless. They show the truck’s location, but not the route. They need to add your delivery’s location on the driver’s route. Example: 35 more deliveries until yours.

Apple’s one year warranty for accessories is actually pretty good. In the cases where I’ve had a problem, they next day air me a replacement product. It’s great that they stand behind their warranty with such great service.

Mac App Store games do a terrible job updating to the new OS. Most of my past purchases crash on load. No updates in sight.

Can we all agree that unsolicited text messages from political campaigns are gross?

Having trouble making it through Getting Things Done. Keep stopping to add to-dos to Things.

I will never get over my love for a deep blue sky

I am the danger.

Happy Sunday!

Just had an entire conversation with my 4 year old. He woke up and apparently believes it’s still last night.

Nice night to ride.

Life without my Fitbit is way better than I could’ve imagined.

Accepting Cardinal Weurl’s resignation and then appointing him apostolic administrator, in an archdiocese with three auxiliary bishops, shows the complete lack of seriousness with which the Vatican approaches this moment of paramount importance. I’m not leaving the Church, but come on, this is totally unacceptable and embarrassingly inappropriate.

Rainy morning commute

Children’s activity venues should open at 9am, at the latest!

Why has Pixelmator still not learned how to type on a curve?

The amount of typos in news articles published online by major news organizations is embarrassing.

Writing down a record of my life each day with a picture in Day One is one of my most beneficial habits. I love looking at On This Day entries.

Have my leeks cooking in a base of pasture butter. Going to be making a delicious broccoli and spinach soup for this cold October night.

I think I’m going to do NaNoWriMo. It’s been four years since I’ve published a book, and I really enjoy the process. It’s not a novel, but my concept is a book about my experiences as a stay-at-home dad.

I’m thankful for a two car garage on a very wet morning. So nice to load/unload the kids under shelter.

It’s pretty unprofessional for a news website to not have an RSS feed.

Relaxing on the couch, reading a good book, while enjoying a symphony in the background of rainwater and Ólafur Arnalds.

Driving is a joy and a pleasure, a skill to be honed and practiced. Maybe it’s just the pilot in me, but autonomous vehicles aren’t appealing. I prefer safety systems to augment my driving and to serve as a redundancy.

Microcasting is one of the best parts of Micro.blog.

The Book of Wisdom was written in a confusing time for the people of Israel. They had come into contact with the Greek culture for the first time, which brought a groundswell of new ideas. Among them, was a dependence on the human intellect and language. Why need god when we can reason our way to truth?

King Solomon was offered any gift, and he asked for wisdom and understanding, that he might better govern his people.

The writer of Wisdom today asks for prudence, in the midst of confusing times. Maybe I should pray for the same gift.

First Reading: Wisdom 7:7-11

Second Reading: Hebrews 4:12-13

Gospel: Mark 10:17-30

Autocorrect gets more wrong than right.

About to build Benedict’s first LEGO set with him. He’s very excited!

I’m not okay with the new Mandy. She’s trying way too hard. Wish she’d make the role her own.

Having the Home app on macOS is so nice.

What crime against humanity was not committed under the banner of progress? What great human achievement was not brought to completion under the same banner? Progress is a poor moral guide. Believing itself to be supreme, it seeks to enslave the human person to whatever ends it currently is trying to attain.

The essential ingredient to the formation of a human person is answering the question: who is man? Too few of us even bother to spend a moment pondering.

I bought Nicomachean Ethics on Apple Books today. That great work of Aristotle commands a list price of $.99. You know that ain’t right.

I’m very concerned about the Google+ data breach now that all of this personal information may now be compromised.

Nice park.

Hello, my favorite pair of jeans.

I love rainy days.

Google on Google+:

The consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds.

lol.

Few things are as satisfying as pressing “Publish” in RapidWeaver.

Last week we celebrated the Feast of St. Francis, and today’s First Reading brings to us the story of creation of woman and a short discourse on marriage.

We are all created in God’s image and likeness, and we are all His children. It’s easy to see God in my seven month daughter, as she smiles back at you, but how easy is it to see in your political opponent? We’re quick to judge those around us, or that senator in media reports, but how often do we pause to look for Christ in them?

First Reading: Genesis 2:18-24

Second Reading: Hebrews 2:9-11

Gospel: Mark 10:2-16

I find iOS 12’s Screen Time to be completely useless.

For a society that claims to deny the existence of a right to another person, we sure do espouse a lot of ideas that are based exclusively on that right.

Washed, waxed, and ready for winter.

In the early morning hours, I contemplate the depths of Your love.

I refuse to buy International Delight Coffee Creamer until they bring back Wayne Brady.

Went to a local brewery with Alison for date night. I had a root beer and street tacos, which were delicious.

Breakthrough: I’ve discovered how to not display dates on blog posts in RapidWeaver.

Last night, I took off my Fitbit. I’m not planning on putting it back on.

I’ve worn a Fitbit almost every day since 2011. I started with the Ultra, moved over to the One, and for a very short time, wore the Charge HR. I ended up having that nasty rash everyone was talking about.

I’ve had dozens of friends wear a Fitbit over the years, with very few sticking with it more than a year. My friends list is a ghost town of inactivity, with probably only four users active on any given week. I’m soon to join the ghosts.

I’ve struggled to understand, especially in the Apple Watch era, how Fitbit remains so arrogant. They throw their weight around pretending to be the big kid on the block, when, from my perspective, they’re a mid-size semi-niche company. They get market share, but their customers don’t stick around. The move that’s emblematic of this misplaced confidence is their adamant refusal to add support for Apple Health, as if doing so would yield market share to Apple.

Fitbit’s business plan has them moving towards all-wrist trackers with the sole exception of the cheap, and easy to lose, Zip. They discontinued my One in the last few months, including the accessories (clip, sleep band) that need replacing about every 12 to 18 months. I’ve never liked wrist trackers for step counts because they’re less accurate than a waist-worn one.

I’m ending my near decade long relationship with the company. They failed to capture my imagination or loyalty, which is shocking given how long they’ve had.

In the end, I’m no longer motivated by a step count. I’m going to stick with my Apple Watch.

Walmart is killing Amazon on pricing.

I just played around with Shortcuts, and it’s as disappointing as Workflow. This is not an OS feature that will be easily adopted by normal iPhone users because it’s so unintuitive.

I’ve written about my activities and included a photo in Day One Journal every day since January 1, 2016. Today I received my first printed version, which was entries from the first six months of 2018. I’m delighted at the product and the historical record I’ve left for myself.

I opted to go for the hardcover and color printed pages, each of which was $5 extra. For the result, the overall staying power and the beauty of my pages in full color, it was well worth the extra $10.

This is an extremely well thought-out product. Assembling, choosing the photos, and ordering was very simple. The only hard part was waiting for delivery.

This simple habit has turned into something very special for me. Not only do I get to experience these great photos from my life, but when I take the time to write seriously about my activities of the day, I can look back and remember not just what I did, but how it felt.

I’m grateful for this app and I can’t wait to order the rest of my printed journals.

Dental cleanings are usually uncomfortable. Although there was a lot of descaling to do, I really enjoyed watching my children play and read books in the mirror above the dental chair.

Alexis de Tocqueville:

(The United States) is the product… of two perfectly distinct elements that elsewhere have often made war with each other, but which, in America, they have succeeded in incorporating somehow into one another and combining marvelously. I mean to speak of the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom.

I’m fascinated by logistics. More specifically, with the operations of services like UPS, FedEx, and the United States Postal Service. It’s amazing to me how letters and packages make it from their origin to their destination, and in such short order.

Many people are frustrated with the USPS because of their sluggish pace, outdated technology, and poor customer service. There’s no dispute that the Post Office is far behind their commercial competitors. More than a service problem or a technology problem, I think USPS has a people problem.

There was a time when the Post Office employed an army of employees. In force, they moved mail across our nation. Your post office would stamp each letter with the name and town of the post office cancelling the postage. Letters that you received would be instantly recognizable as a cancellation from Keene, NH would clearly be from your Aunt Susan.

These uniformed employees manned counters, drove trucks, and carried messenger bags heavy with correspondence up and down your street reliably every day. You may have even had a personal relationship with them.

Technology has disrupted this organization and, along the way, the Postal Service has lost touch with its roots. Instead of delivering mail with pride, the focus is put on achieving greater efficiencies at any cost. There is no brand story, no reason to do better.

Although they take the same route every day, the difference in delivery time can be as much as four hours. Packages are hurled onto porches instead of carefully placed at the door. I even had a carrier leave two large packages in front of my garage door with lightweight letters balanced precariously on top. Completely thoughtless.

The Post Office traces its roots to the beginning of our Nation, the brainchild of the venerable Benjamin Franklin. Although the work may seem routine or irrelevant, it’s still a job worth doing well. Until the leadership of USPS finds ways to integrate the mission and history of the Postal Service into the performance of its employees and contractors, customers everywhere will continue to suffer.

During today’s homily, our priest supposed that were we to follow this Gospel literally, we would all be blind. Sin touches each of us, and each of us face our own set of temptations. This truth dovetails nicely as I read the plotters correspondence in The Screwtape Letters. I’m not called to mutilate my body, but to excise with extreme prejudice, “whatever leads me to sin.”

A tall order to depart from my place of comfort for the pains of conversion.

First Reading: Numbers 11:25-29

Second Reading: James 5:1-6

Gospel: Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape on not relying on feelings of hatred:

In his anguish, the patient can, of course, be encouraged to revenge himself by some vindictive feelings directed towards the German leaders, and that is good so far as it goes. But it is usually a sort of melodramatic or mythical hatred directed against imaginary scapegoats. He has never met these people in real life—they are lay figures modelled on what he gets from newspapers. The results of such fanciful hatred are often most disappointing…

A great commentary that still rings true in today’s political climate.

Beautiful Fall evening for a walk.

I’ve been reading a lot about the life of St. Francis. I’m convinced, now more than ever, that if we truly want to live in the society that we all claim to want, it’s going to require a radical, top-to-bottom conversion that few of us have the courage to undertake.

I went through self-checkout this morning at Walmart to buy three items. It took me so much time to go through the steps to use Walmart Pay that the associate came over and asked if I needed help with something. lol

David Wallace was a fantastic character.

Analysts are reporting that Apple’s cost for storage is $.25/GB on this year’s iPhones, while they mark it up to $.78/GB. This is my main objection to the horrible pricing this year: a 212% mark-up on storage. But don’t worry, that 5GB of iCloud storage is still free!

QR payments vs NFC payments… they’re not even close. QR is sooooo bad.

Large red sign on refrigerator in snake exhibit at zoo: “ANTIVENOM INSIDE”

Thanksgiving preparations have begun.

We’ve been members of our current parish for over a year now. One of the biggest differences that I’ve noticed is just how warm and welcoming the people are. There are a few young families that go to our regular Mass, and the children are all loved and appreciated. This stands in stark contrast to the atmosphere I sensed before.

I’ve adopted my parents’ philosophy that if children are sitting right up in the front at Mass, they’ll be able to see what’s going on and be less distracted. We don’t bring food with us to Mass anymore, and the only “toys” that we bring are books and perhaps a soft friend.

Even still, I sweat. I sweat when they make noises, when they talk, and when they pace back and forth on the kneelers. This is age appropriate and understandable, but I still feel uncomfortable. At today’s liturgy, I spent the majority of it in the back atrium with my two year old daughter.

Yet, even in these stressful weekend liturgies, Jesus still wants me to know how much He desires children, and how I should imitate them.

> Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.

I guess I’ll hang in there and keep bringing them.

First Reading: Wisdom 2:12, 17-20

Second Reading: James 3:16 - 4:3

Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

It’s early on a Saturday morning. Benedict is cheerfully building train tracks upstairs, I have my coffee, and it’s pouring rain outside. Welcome, Fall!

A really great tool for finding lighter/darker shades of a color for web design.

I love ordering new stamps.

My children call the song Mrs. Hippopotamuses’ by Relient K the “Cat in the Hat song.” I can’t help but think this is high praise for Matt Thiessen and company. 🎵

My favorite season is fall and my favorite type of weather is rain. Forecast says I’m in for a very good weekend!

Oh, Google. You still don’t get it.

Completing online surveys for restaurants, businesses, and even doctor’s offices can be an inconvenience. But, they’re also a great act of mercy and just might earn someone a much needed promotion and raise.

My family gathers for a week at Thanksgiving each year at a rented beach house in New Jersey. We can only go every other year, and this is an off year. 😔

My dream home has no doorbell.

Tim Cook on iPhone pricing:

The way most people pay for these…they pay so much per month, so if you look at even the phone that’s priced over $1,000, most people pay $30 a month for it, so that’s about $1 a day.

I hate the way that he minimizes the issue.

Four hours after the public release and my resolve to stay on iOS 11 is flagging.

I’m going to hold off on the iOS 12/macOS Mojave updates. Not any particular reason, just self-control.

One of the themes that I’ve been reflecting on in recent weeks is that of comfort. Jesus said many times that we would be persecuted, and that our hope should be in the life that is to come. We all have a desire to be comfortable, but as Catholics, that isn’t meant to be.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells Peter quite clearly that He doesn’t need to be defended. Truth requires no defense. It’s not my job or responsible to convince people of the truth of Truth, but rather to live my life in accord with it. By my example, others might choose to believe.

First Reading: Isaiah 50:5-9

Second Reading: James 2:14-18

Gospel: Mark 8:27-35

Micro.blog is great in that your blog can be anything that you want it to be. I’m on version 2.0 of my blog, deleting everything and restarting after eight months of use. In version 1.0, I made it my Twitter. In version 2.0, I made it my own.

Getting kids up, putting phone away.

I watched the Apple Media Event earlier this week with a critical eye. To be sure, we’re at a point where there are few surprises. It’s troubling to think that after years of leaks in the supply chain, Apple still hasn’t figured out to prevent its own team from doing the leaks through bonehead moves. The sitemap XML, seriously?

Tim Cook, after seven years in the big chair, still hasn’t figured out how to appear excited about anything that Apple has accomplished. His cadence is slow and he smiles, but I don’t get a sense of wonder or excitement. Maybe it’s just my read. At least I know that Phil loves photography because he trips over himself trying to get all of the info out. I don’t even need to bring up Craig, who is just a delight to watch and listen to. Overall, the event was boring, which is the new normal.

There’s a deeper problem, though. Every year, the keynote follows the same contours and, in almost every segment, uses the same words, verbatim. The only nuance is the facts and figures that conform to the new device. It’s so much faster, the best iPhone ever, the world’s most popular camera, incredible advancement, our best line up. Trite.

They spent about 25% of the time talking about the truly noteworthy Apple Watch Series 4, and 75% of the time painfully going over details of the XS/XR updates. Reports have been out this week stating that the 6S and 7 are the most popular iPhones. Those same reports conclude that there’s pent-up demand for this year’s models. I’m not so sure.

I see three factors at play.

The Death of Carrier Upgrades

Carrier upgrades presented a nice, stable, and affordable way to handle our smartphones. The carrier picked up the major portion of the tab for the unit in exchange for a two year service agreement. For most of us, that was fine since we weren’t going anywhere anyway. We paid a few hundred dollars and we were set. When that business model disappeared, we had two options: pay in full or subscribe to your phone.

Phone Subscriptions

Offering interest free installment plans destroyed iPhone resale value. It used to be that you could sell your unlocked iPhone and get a large share of the cost of your new device. My iPhone 6S+ with 128GB was $949 when I bought it three years ago, and is valued at $150 today. Why would anyone pay a few hundred dollars for a used phone when they can just subscribe to it like everything else. $300 for a three year old phone, or $60/mo for the top of the line new phone? The problem is, if you don’t do the math, upgrading your phone every year or two on an installment plan is financial suicide. Device cost, AppleCare, taxes, and carrier charges, not to mention cases adds up incredibly quickly. You don’t get a sense of that large expense when it’s broken up into little pieces.

Underutilized Features

Let’s say you want to and can afford to upgrade your phone every year. An honest survey of how you use your phone will reveal that you may never use any of the features of the XS as compared to the X or even the oft-forgotten 8. Yes it’s crazy fast, yes FaceID is faster(?), yes it’s super retina, but if we primarily use our phones for web browsing, music, and texting, you’ll never need the high computational power that was the headline feature. Most of the pictures that I take aren’t for magazine covers, they’re for posterity, so a very small percentage of photos will need the enhancements that the XS offers. I never game on my phone, but if I did it would probably be something simple like Monument Valley or a puzzle. I’m also still waiting for AR to do something actually useful, in spite of Silicon’s Valley insistence that it’s the future for everyone. 512GB, half a terabyte, is huge. I struggle to think about a use case for a typical daily user that would need that amount of space within the 3-4 year window that they’ll use the phone. The only thing that seems to get close is if you’re shooting 4K video daily. Oh, but you’ll need a nice iCloud storage plan to make sure that you can back all of that data up.

The same can be said for the state of apps. In the early days, I was buying apps left and right. Most of my friends and coworkers couldn’t understand why, but they would ask my opinion. I’ve bought one app in 2018 and it was $5. If I download any new app, it’s usually because I have a personal connection with the developer (i.e. I follow them online, or a friend recommended it).

The hard truth is that the iPhone has become an excess. Lisa Jackson was right: the best way to be environmentally friendly is to keep your phone for as long as it works. It’s a pure commodity, a luxury, that holds no monetary value beyond its role in being a personal, mobile computer to the first owner. It’s capabilities far outstrip the typical user’s usage. The upgrade proposition has lost most of its allure.

I won’t be upgrading my 6S+, probably for a few more years, but I have nothing to worry about. Apple will always have the best iPhone ever for sale, in the best lineup that they’ve ever offered, that is an incredible achievement by the whole team. And when I do pay for a brand new phone and Apple Watch, I’ll do so with full knowledge that while the monetary value will not hold, it’ll be supported with updates for years, and in just a few months time, it will no longer be the best iPhone that they said it was. But at least I won’t be broke.

Honestly, enough with the mobile websites already.

Maybe I’ll do a clean install of iOS 11 before hopping over 12. Just strip out a lot of barnacles.

At a doctor appointment in the office suite next to US Rep’s district office. The office is locked down with a video doorbell. Honestly dude, no one cares about you that much.

Also, Apple, will you please be courageous and add watch band and case colors for men? Black and navy are trite.

🎾 tagmoji, so hot right now.

iPhone X S is the worst possible name. Except maybe for Pixel.

PEOPLE OF THE INTERNET: If we all stop clicking ads, maybe they will go away.

I love Brie.

The weather was cool this morning after several days of rain, the first few hints of Fall that’s at least six weeks away. It was also our first time back at our Parish after several weeks on the road. Sitting in the pew, meditating before Mass began, I was overwhelmed with a sense of comfort. This is where I belong, where my family belongs.

First Reading: Isaiah 35:4-7

Second Reading: James 2:1-5

Gospel: Mark 7:31-37

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.

These words of the Gospel of Matthew ring in my heart in light of recent reports on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. We’ve been dealing with this publicly for over 16 years, and still have yet to reach the bottom. It seems that Jesus’ stark warning is more true than we’d like to think.

The allegations, credible accusations, and testimony reveal an overwhelming darkness. It’s no wonder the Bishops have been so flat-footed in their response. I don’t believe that every single bishop is involved in a cover-up or conspiracy. I imagine that they must have been completely overwhelmed when confronted with these realities. The bishops made mistakes and erred in their various individual responses, but I don’t believe that very many of them would willingly or knowingly put children at risk for the sake of reputation. It was a terrible judgement error with dire consequences. What’s clear is that we need to do something drastic. We need thorough investigations in every diocese to get to a resolution.

It’s estimated that that about 5% of priests during the period investigated committed these horrific acts. Previous research and discoveries show that the rate of pedophilia roughly mirrors the general population. It’s not that the priesthood is particularly predatory, but rather it’s shocking that people would be so depraved as to abuse their positions of trust and moral authority.

Some may be quick to point to priestly celibacy as the issue. Others, homosexuality. More recently, many news articles have superimposed the American political division onto the Church. Of course, the terrible state of Catholic publications and journalism hasn’t helped in mustering a coherent and logical response. These conclusions are a distraction; people trying to take advantage of the situation to push a particular agenda.

When looking at predators in general, they come from both genders, all ages, and from all professions. They’re preachers, police officers, politicians, school teachers, vagrants, professionals, blue collar workers, friends, relatives, neighbors. They’re single, divorced, and married; predators are predators whether they have a wedding ring on their finger or not. The common link is their mental illness that drives them to sexually prey on children.

These abuses complicate the life and ministry of our priests. The vast majority of these men live the calling that they profess. Part of the power of the priesthood is the personal connection to the congregation. My children love our parish priest and, through their interactions with him, know that they are welcome and belong in the Catholic Church. Parents need to be naturally guarded when it comes to their kids, but it’s possible to be a responsible parent and still have your children develop rich relationships. We need to keep a close watch on our children and not put them, or any adult, in a potentially compromising situation.

As I consider what’s next for individual Catholics, I think the words of Peter in the Gospel of John are just what we need:

Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

It seems that every idea floated out there involves me sabotaging my own faith life. Abandoning the Church is not the answer. We need to shine an overwhelmingly bright light and confront this, now. We need to work through the criminal, civil, and canonical justice systems to resolve these matters. We need to continue to remove from the priesthood any man who has even just one substantiated allegation against him. We need to build robust systems to weed out the bad apples in the Program for Priestly Formation, and continue a healthy regimen of emotional fitness for priests in active ministry. The answer is to redouble our efforts to continue the constant work of renewal and reform.

It’s important to keep focused on the real issue. Predators have infiltrated the priesthood as they have infiltrated every segment of our culture. We need to root them out with extreme prejudice and not let the 5% destroy the multitude of good works that the Church carries out every day.

I do love an iced coffee on a rainy day.

I will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate anyone among me who does.

Carter’s “fun cash" is fake news.

Old Navy clothes just don’t last.

When iOS 12 comes out later this month, there will be a new feature that will tell me how long I’ve used my iPhone and how much time I’ve spent in each app. The data itself isn’t scary; the scary part is the fact that it will quantify something I minimize.

I’ve spent a considerable amount of time this year in deep thought over my digital usage. What devices do I use, how do I use them, and what benefit do I gain by them? Most of the time, I’m all “caught up” and am just mindlessly surfing. I’m reading news articles that aren’t worth the bytes they take up or I’m watching YouTube videos that aren’t sparking my imagination.

I recognize that I need to develop discipline in all areas of my life, and this is a major battlefield.

This isn’t just about me. I’m raising three kids in a digital world, where people, thoughts, and ideas can bypass me and speak directly to them. This isn’t about raising kids in a bubble. It’s Alison and I’s prerogative to raise our children the way we see fit, and we want them to be fully alive. This is about forming them as authentic human persons, with strong intellects, and a keen interest in the beauty of the world that they inhabit.

The digital world distracts and becomes a barrier between us. Not only that, the behaviors that I’m modeling for them don’t line up with the ideals that I want to impart to them.

So I’m putting my devices down. With few exceptions, when the children are awake, the computers will be asleep, the television will be off, and my phone will be on a shelf in the kitchen. I’ll grab it to log my food, text with Alison, FaceTime with family, and perhaps compose a haiku, but always with intentionality.

Many of us have made similar pledges and resolutions in the past, only to backslide. The great thing about my life is that I’m in control. I am master of my devices, and they serve at my pleasure. It’s not about the last play, it’s about the next play.

The first morning back on the walking trail is always the hardest

Just catching up on the word about Evernote. I’ve been a customer for 7+ years now. Hope I don’t have to find a new system!

I texted my sister-in-law a haiku at midnight the other day and have no recollection of typing it. I was off by one syllable, but I think I may have a gift.

A bit wet out there today.

Airport sunrise for the long journey home.

There’s a lot to the Christian life. We have a law that’s designed to guide us, to keep us truly free. The struggle, as with all change, is where the rubber meets the road. James tells me today to, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only.” I can’t pick and choose which parts of Christianity I’ll partake in and which parts I’ll let slip by. It’s a lifestyle, an all encompassing worldview that should shade my every decision.

Jesus makes clear His distain of those lukewarm souls who are neither indifferent nor on fire. I hope, by my actions, to not fall into that crowd, despite how easy it may be.

First Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8

Second Reading: James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27

Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Finally listening to Ólafur Arnalds’ latest release, re:member. He’s my favorite modern classical composer and I found him thanks to Apple Music! 🎵

I remember a time when flight attendants were responsible for the safety and comfort of passengers. Now they’re butlers who push credit cards, responsible for mediating petty disputes between people.

There’s something romantic and whimsical about airport terminals.

What a great start to the day!

Good morning!

What would the Internet be like if we didn’t immediately assume the worst in everyone else?

How does an airline set a 50 minute delay on a 6am flight the night before at 9pm? Crew? Maintenance?

Clothes for little girls are so much fun.

After listening to the Micro Monday microcast, I’ve updated my bio. I really love the way this whole platform feels. Bonus: now you can be sure that I’m not a bot.

In these dark times, it’s important to focus on small wins.

Safari bookmarks are so bad at favicons. I hope that improves in Mojave.

This weekend’s readings were a non-stop blockbuster of well know biblical passages. Just in time for my wedding anniversary, there was Paul’s exhortation for married couples. What really struck me came from Joshua, “As for me and my household, we shall serve the Lord.” (Jos 24:15)

We’re coming to a very difficult journey in the American Church as the misdeeds of a few wolves in the clergy is coming to light. In these soon to be dark and tumultuous times, I know that the antidote to pride, lust, and deceit is to live as saints.

So that is what my family shall do. We shall remain faithful to Christ’s Church, we shall pray for and assist the victims, we shall advocate for justice and repentance, and we shall continue to serve the Lord with all of our minds and all of our hearts.

First Reading: Joshua 24: 1-2, 15-17, 18

Second Reading: Ephesians 5:21-32

Gospel: John 6:60-69

Few apps are as indispensable as Ulysses.

It’s moony out here. (Photo doesn’t do justice.)

For the first time in my life, I just Shaked and Baked.

I love journaling in Day One. It’s an incredible app that really starts to shine the more that you use it. I’ve journaled every day since December 31, 2015. Each evening, I sit down at my desk and write about what’s going on in my life and attach an image from the day to the entry.

I regularly use the “On this Day” feature to find journal entries from years past. I’m amazed at just how vividly I experience those memories. I can feel the emotions, recall the themes, and in some way, connect with my former self.

We’re a year into our grand family adventure in the American West. Perhaps more importantly, we’ve lived in a single family home for a whole year. Living in an actual house is something that I’ve dreamed of since moving out of my parents’ house eight years ago.

After graduating from college, I moved into a duplex in an old steel town in West Virginia. It wasn’t glamorous, it was cheap, and it was fine for a bachelor and his cat. When Alison and I got married, she moved into a two-bedroom apartment that I had been renting for a few months. During residency, we lived in another duplex, which could also be considered a town house.

Now, we’ve finally made it. A nice big house, with a master suite, formal dining room, two living rooms, a garage, and a yard for the kids. I spent some time this morning after my walk sitting in one of the living rooms and looking out at a verdant yard backing up to the creek and neighborhood greenway. I’m in awe of the beauty that surrounds us.

Many times, I’ve built milestones up to be bigger and better than they are, only to be disappointed when I finally get to that point. Living in a house is everything that I hoped it would be. It’s been a great year.

Goodreads is awesome tool and is a positive impact on my reading this year. I wish more of my friends used it.

I love the sound of the Keurig warming up early in the morning.

Baking sugar cookies with the kids.

It’s so much fun watching Benedict build with LEGOs.

I love when the clouds do this.

New friend at the Zoo

I can choose way of the just or the way of the wicked. I pray for the wisdom of God to make the right choice and it’s up to me to make that choice, daily.

I won’t get it right every day, but life isn’t about the last play. It’s about the next play.

First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6

Second Reading: Ephesians 5:15-20

Gospel: John 6:51-58

Gorgeous day to be outdoors!

Apparently political campaigns can text you now. It’s quite gouache. I’m going to stop giving out my phone number, period.

Using emoji in my Things projects is quite useful.

It’s nice to not be on Twitter. Or Facebook. Or Instagram.

Cleaning car seats is such a chore.

Goal for the day: put house back in order

My personal spiritual philosophy is based around the concept of attunement. I want to be grounded enough in my prayer life to venture out into the world. I make decisions based on an educated guess and remain alert to clues that I have chosen correctly or incorrectly.

This suits me very well. I fear presuming to know the mind of God, so by making decisions in light of our relationship, I can be open to hearing His wisdom for my life. After all, He sent His disciples out into society, not up onto the mountain. Having this philosophy also prevents me from paralysis of decision making or the temptation to over analyze what may or may be a sign.

The opening prayer at Mass today calls for us to be attentive. Pray, work, and in all things, be ready to make adjustments to conform more perfectly with God’s Will.

First Reading: Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:20-27

Gospel: Luke 1:39-56

That moment when you look at the recipe for dinner and realize it should’ve got into the slow cooker 6 hours ago

I was reminded this evening about the importance of our eyes. The most delicate and wonderful organ, they are the windows to the soul. The eyes and heart work together. So much good is possible if I choose to protect them both.