Here are some things I’m thinking about this Friday morning:
- This may be my final post of 2012. I’m adding a post per week to the blog next year, and need to recharge my blog batteries a bit before doing so.
- I moved to 3 posts per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) last year in an effort to share fewer, better posts. However, I’m moving to 4 believing it’s both doable and can help build better conversation through consistency.
- As we approach the end of the year, it’s appropriate to spend some time reflecting on 2012. When I look at how I spent my time: I read a little less, I wrote a little more, and spent more quality time with my family. My reading also shifted a bit more toward politics (it was an election year), and technology, and away from fiction. I read 1 fiction book all year—an all-time low, though I’m hoping to finish a second before the end of the year. The rest (20+ books) was non-fiction. That’s likely to make me a smarter, more bland individual. It may give me some interesting things to share, but it will also dry out my ability to share them in a way that will bless people.
- Reading fiction is so enjoyable, and helps me tell better stories better. It isn’t for non-intellectuals, as some of my colleagues believe. It’s for everyone. If you have to be a snob about it, at least read the classics of literature. Some of the best non-fiction is found in fiction.
- Grammar it also helps with…Did you get that joke?
- I took the girls to see Life of Pi. What a great movie! It was deep, had a great story, and even great action. There’s quite a bit of animal on animal violence, but it’s not filmed in a gruesome way.
- There’s nothing like a long trip full of inconveniences in an overcrowded car with your kids to test your patience and faith. Though this week’s journey was a challenge, I realized we travel far better together as a family now. If our “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” experience (yes, it was that bad) had happened when we had all younger kids, I might be typing this from a padded cell. As it turns out, with kids 10, 8, and 2, only one was true thorn in the flesh. Guess which one
- On the trip, I realized I’m sounding more and more like my parents. Among the classics I echoed were, “Turn that music down, you’re going to hurt your hearing,” “Put down the [insert electronic device here] and spend some time with the family,” and the infamous, “Don’t make me pull over.” Yikes. But, wouldn’t my mom and dad be proud?
- Skiing and surfing have this in common: there is hardly anything more fun, terrifying, and difficult than to do them even moderately well in high surf/steep mountains. In both cases, it’s totally worth the journey–and an opportunity to enjoy creation far larger than oneself.
- I was all set to write my “Top 10 Books of 2012″ post, and then I realized I hadn’t read enough books to make out a legitimate top 10. I did read more than 10. I just didn’t read enough that picking the best 10 meant much. If you read 20-25, picking out the best 10 doesn’t mean much So maybe I’ll pick out a top 3 or 5 and post on those.
- People continue to rib me about buying a Windows Phone 8 and moving away from the iPhone. Keep partying like it’s 2008.
What’s on your mind this Friday?
