USCCB’s For Your Marriage project review of my book:

The Transition: A Practical Guide to Engagement for the Catholic Man reads like getting advice from a good friend who passes on insights and suggestions gleaned from his own recent experience of being engaged and married. In a culture where there is less handing down of wisdom from generation to generation, Collins meets an important need.

All bacon is not created equal.

Judy Greer is tearing it up on the kids programming voiceover circuit.

Few things are more pleasant than reading a good book in a quiet house with the sound of rain coming in through the windows.

For these members of his Cabinet who remain and try to defend him, they’re not going to be able to go to a restaurant, they’re not going to be able to stop at a gas station, they’re not going to be able to shop at a department store. The people are going to turn on them, they’re going to protest, they’re going to absolutely harass them

Rep. Maxine Waters spoke those words earlier this summer. She was speaking to a crowd during the turmoil over the children separation policy. I trimmed the full quote, which you should read, because I wanted to focus on what could be seen as her advocating for some form of political violence. Rep. Waters wanted to bring pressure on those officials who backed the President’s policy, but regardless of the reason, I found the subtext to be troubling.

Rep. Waters is set to take on the chair of the House Financial Services Committee in January. A full story in The Wall Street Journal previewed just what kind of committee she may run. Other outlets are reporting that she’s put Wells Fargo and even Equifax in her sights. Good for her!

This illustrates the problem with partisanship. She gave too many people a valid reason to write her off as unserious and perhaps even dangerous. Political violence tears at the threads of democracy and should be rejected by all free-thinking people, regardless of the party affiliation of the advocate.

If you were to evaluate your own policy positions, you would likely find common ground with any politician. As Americans, I believe that we truly want what’s best for our Nation, even if we often fail to articulate it. The truth is, few Americans are partisans. Most of us are somewhere in the middle, coming down on either side depending on the issue.

There’s a political calculation to being a partisan. Rep. Waters was speaking to her base, wanting to fire them up, and get her party back in control during a dramatic, albeit boring election cycle. The problem is, when you are eventually given authority, your ideas come tainted with your previous rhetoric, even if those ideas are great.

When it’s pouring rain at 5am, and I go for a 4 mile walk anyway, that’s how I know I’m going to win.

Nation’s Fathers Engage In Time-Honored Ritual Of Telling Their Kids They Haven’t Seen Them Since Last Year - The Babylon Bee

Millions of other fathers all over America partook in the tradition as well, dutifully reciting the joke, which relies on the conflation of the colloquial and literal understandings of the term “next year.”

Guilty.

House Democrats Lay Out Plan to Reopen Government by Carving Out Wall Fight - WSJ

For example, the most recent bill funding DHS, which oversees the border, included money for fencing, bollard fencing, levees and technology, but not a concrete wall. Republicans have said those funds constitute wall money, while Democrats said that is border security, not wall funding.

This is so stupid.

New Year, new shoes.

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.