Two Women Search for the Meaning of Life
I finally got to see Julie and Julia over the weekend. Unlike many stories, it doesn’t serve as a means of escape. Rather, there is substance and inspiration woven through it. The film compares the stories of Julia Child and Julie Powell. Both faced an impasse in their lives; both set out on a search […]
Are You Having a Merry Christmas?
It’s the last day before Christmas. Each year, the kids at church perform at our Christmas Eve service. And this year, Sondra (of In the Deep) has put together a wonderful kids program, with lots of special music. And I’m happy to have been a part of it. I’ve been trying to spend more time […]
“Dirty†Really Is Dirtier
A fun article I ran across while catching up on my reading today. Mentioned in ADVANCE for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (a health-industry trade website I’ve been reading in order to understand one of my fictional characters): a soon-to-be published study indicates that the smell of a clean room makes people behave better.
Finding the Answer to the Meaning of Life
I’ve been absent here, because I’m working on a new novel. After collecting mounds of marketing data, I’ve discovered that I absolutely must write Confessions of a Veteran Software Developer— That’s not a novel, but a true story of my years as a professional software developer. However, I have to find a new title. (Apparently, […]
The Psychology of Worship Music
Isn’t it amazing, with the amount of time we as Christians spend in worship, and especially singing in worship, that we understand so little about it. This thought strikes me now, just a couple nights away from the next “In the Deep” (Saturday night, at which I’ll be subbing on bass, because their usual bassist […]
Why Are We So Unhappy Having All These Things?
One of my daughters today was approaching tears, when I almost blew up at her. I didn’t actually yell at her, I hope, but I felt my temperature and voice rising in unison. She was upset, because we didn’t have an extra pool pass, so that she could go to the community pool party today, […]
Opening the Door to Your Own Destiny
This morning, after I dropped the Missus off at work, I headed down Washington Street toward Mishawum Road, where I needed to make a left turn in order to get to the highway. Now, this particular intersection has two left-turn lanes. That is, if you want to make a left turn, you can either get […]
I Wish to Remember to Feel What My Reader Feels
The most important skill a writer can develop, in any field or genre of writing, is to empathize with his reader, because the reader will always judge your writing ultimately by what he feels. Mastery of this skill has resulted in some of the greatest feats of writing magic, especially among writers of sales copy, […]