Writing in the Age of Trump

There are days when the writing just flows.  Where the ideas are coming left and right and can move to the fingers very easily.   Where emotion, frustration, inspiration, or celebration make it easy to share and to document.  

On the other hand, there are days where nothing comes.  No ideas. No even an inkling.  Just completely at a loss.  Writer’s block.  Hit the wall.  Done.

But writing in the age of Trump has a third problem. 

There’s no shortage of ideas.  In fact, it’s overwhelming.  There is so much to be frustrated by, saddened by, angered by, to the point where there are topics that could go on for days.  Our government, our country is being dismantled piece by piece and handed over to the world’s richest man to do with as he pleases.  We should all be enraged and moved to action.

And yet, it’s so overwhelming, it’s so all-encompassing, it’s hard to sit with.  It’s all coming so fast and from some many different directions, it’s impossible to keep up.  

There’s no time to react, there’s no time to grieve, you just have to move on to the next thing and pray it’s not as bad as what came before.

It creates a different type of writer’s block.  An overwhelming paralysis moving to apathy.  So much we care about is being utterly destroyed, that it’s getting hard to care about any single piece. 

And that’s where I’ve been.  These first two weeks have been overwhelming and dizzying.  It’s been hard to process it all and to determine what can be prioritized to discuss.   

Plus there is the overwhelming need to remove all expletives from my vocabulary before I start to write, because otherwise, this would be a very different blog.

And that’s the point of this whole blitz.  They are trying to break all resistance in addition to everything else.  They are trying to wear us down to the point where we don’t care anymore.  To where we don’t speak up, don’t fight back, just let it pass by.

We can’t let that happen.  

Take a break.  Take a breath.  Step away and relax.  

Listen to comedians to help diffuse the blow.

Implement time constraints on social media and the news.  

But don’t become numb to it. 

It all still matters.  None of this is normal. None of this is appropriate.  Much of this is illegal.

We have to remember it.  

We just have to be prepared to keep it up.  It’s going to be a long four years.

An Updated Reminder

 If I’m going to be really starting this up again, it is probably wise to give the periodic reminder about this blog.

First, I want to thank you all for your readership and your kind words.  This is largely a writing exercise and an opportunity for me to get thoughts out of my head.  I remain humbled by positive response and the appreciation.  To everyone who has let me know you are reading, ever liked a post, or commented, thank you.  It is appreciated more than you could know.  To those of you who read in silence, thank you as well.

I would also like to use this time to post a reminder of the blog rules, and to provide advance warning.  There will be blogs that will either make you mad or will upset you or challenge your position on a particular topic.  The blog is my personal space and soap box, so it will reflect my biases and my contrarian streak.  I will also likely question things that many people believe are and should be settled.  

I do remain open to civil discourse on almost any topic.

Finally, I wanted to pass along a reminder that I have an email subscription option on the page.  With that, you'll receive an email link each time a new post is added.  There is also an RSS feed option, in case anyone prefers that method.

Further, an update of the reminders that have been previously posted:

1. This blog represents the thoughts and opinions of its writer, me.  I stand behind what I write, but it does reflect my views and opinions at the time of writing.  I provide myself the opportunity to change my mind and to learn new information.
2. I promise, I will post on topics that are so niche-focused, so utterly nerdy that anyone but me is going to be bored to tears.  I try to keep those to only once or twice a week and to rotate through a variety of topics throughout the week to keep it interesting.  I use the labels so that you can screen out certain topics if you want to.
3. I will post things that you will disagree with and that will potentially make you upset.  I know I am more liberal than the majority of my audience.  Probably regarding doctrine and politics both.  These are both topics I'm going to write on from time to time.  I personally favor moderation and lean center-left, but will post on a variety of viewpoints from center-right to hard left (maybe even hard right in a few instances, though increasingly unlikely).
4. I am going to be harder on Republicans than I am on Democrats.  While I am not a fan of many politicians of many different political parties, I am growing to despise what the Republican party is becoming.  And I reserve the sharpest criticism for them due to one fact above all: the perverse mixture of politics and religion that Republicans promote. Because they purport to hold themselves out as the Christian party, I'm going to hold them to that impossible standard.  
5. I am likewise harder on churches and Christians than I am on non-believers.  Those who profess to believe have identified themselves as recognizing a higher standard.  To put it simply, "we should know and act better."  And do so based on a reading of the entire Bible.  Sadly, we all too often fall far short of this.  While I do want to extend grace to those that slip, when errors occur as abuses of power in the church  or in ways that belittle the faith they claim to hold, I will be discussing it. 
6. I'm generally more interested in questions than concrete answers.  I think we as a collective are less curious than we should be and settle for comfortable answers when we should still be asking harder, more difficult questions.  
7. I am completely open to disagreement and debate. Honest and open dialogue is the only way we can move forward in any civilized society.  However, I have a few ground rules for debate:

• I will not tolerate name calling or muckraking.  When the thread resorts to calling each other racists, "liberal snowflakes," "libtards," or four-letter words, I will shut it down.  Likewise, I'm not going to let stereotypes and sweeping generalities go unchallenged.  All liberals do not want the destruction of our country, all conservatives are not bigots, etc.
• I hope for discussion that will foster conversation, not end it.  So I expect more than "guns don't kill people, people kill people" in a discussion on gun control, for example.  I will not let those conversation-enders stand unchallenged.
• Compromise is not a dirty word.  And likewise, I do hope people change their mind from time to time based on what they learn. Including me.
• I follow this hierarchy for the value of information: facts, then informed opinions, then general opinions.  Saying "that's just my opinion" is going to get nowhere with me if it is not supported by the facts.

As always, thank you for reading!

A Reminder

It's probably a good time to give the periodic reminder about the blog.

First, I want to thank you all for your readership and your kind words.  I remain humbled by the response.  To everyone who has let me know you are reading, ever liked a post, or commented, thank you.  It is appreciated more than you could know.  To those of you who read in silence, thank you as well.

I would also like to use this time to post a reminder of the blog rules, and to provide advance warning.  There will be blogs that will either make you mad or will upset you or challenge your position on a particular topic.  The blog is my personal writing exercise and soap box, so it will reflect my biases and my contrarian streak.  I will also likely question things that many people believe are and should be settled.  I am open to civil discourse on almost any topic.

Finally, I wanted to pass along a reminder that I have an email subscription option on the page.  With that, you'll receive an email link each time a new post is added.  There is also an RSS feed option, in case anyone prefers that method.

Further, an update of the reminders previously posted:

1. This blog represents largely a writing exercise and an outlet for me to get thoughts out of my head.  It contains my opinion on variety of issues from serious to silly and is filtered through my experiences, biases, etc.
2. I promise, I will post on topics that are so niche-focused, so utterly nerdy that anyone but me is going to be bored to tears.  I try to keep those to only once or twice a week and to rotate through a variety of topics throughout the week to keep it interesting.  I use the labels so that you can screen out certain topics if you want to.
3. I will post things that you will disagree with and that will potentially make you upset.  I know I am more liberal than the majority of my audience.  Probably regarding doctrine and politics both.  These are both topics I'm going to write on from time to time.  I personally favor moderation and lean center-left, but will post on a variety of viewpoints from center-right to hard left (maybe even hard right in a few instances).
4. I am going to be harder on Republicans than I am on Democrats.  While I am not a fan of many politicians of many different political parties, I am growing to despise what the Republican party is becoming.  And I reserve the sharpest criticism for them due to one fact above all: the perverse mixture of politics and religion that Republicans promote. Because they purport to hold themselves out as the Christian party, I'm going to hold them to that impossible standard.  
5. I am likewise harder on churches and Christians than I am on non-believers.  Those who profess to believe have identified themselves as recognizing a higher standard.  To put it simply, "we should know and act better."  And do so based on a reading of the entire Bible.  Sadly, we all too often fall far short of this.  While I do want to extend grace to those that slip, when errors occur as abuses of power in the church  or in ways that belittle the faith they claim to hold, I will be discussing it. 
6. I'm generally more interested in questions than concrete answers.  I think we as a collective are less curious than we should be and settle for comfortable answers when we should still be asking harder, more difficult questions.  
7. I am completely open to disagreement and debate. Honest and open dialogue is the only way we can move forward in any civilized society.  However, I have a few ground rules for debate:

• I will not tolerate name calling or muckraking.  When the thread resorts to calling each other racists, "liberal snowflakes," "libtards," or four-letter words, I will shut it down.  Likewise, I'm not going to let stereotypes and sweeping generalities go unchallenged.  All liberals do not want the destruction of our country, all conservatives are not bigots, etc.
• I hope for discussion that will foster conversation, not end it.  So I expect more than "guns don't kill people, people kill people" in a discussion on gun control, for example.  I will not let those conversation-enders stand unchallenged.
• Compromise is not a dirty word.  And likewise, I do hope people change their mind from time to time based on what they learn. Including me.
• I follow this hierarchy for the value of information: facts, then informed opinions, then general opinions.  Saying "that's just my opinion" is going to get nowhere with me if it is not supported by the facts.

As always, thank you for reading!

Five Years of Writing

Five years.

1,112 posts.

It's almost hard to believe.

So much has changed over these years of posting.  New home, new state, new job.  Highs and lows, and everything in between.  It's been an amazing journey.

I want to thank everyone who has continued to read these entries.  It has been many things especially over these last three years.  A sanity check.  A sounding board.  Therapy.  All well beyond the original writing exercise.

Your readership has been encouragement.  It has been humbling.  For all that have expressed their readership and for those that have remained anonymous, thank you.  It means more than you can imagine.

To the next few years.

Yuletide, A Preface

"From Coney Island to the sunset strip
Somebody's gonna make a happy trip
Tonight
While the moon is bright

He's gonna have a bag of crazy toys
To give the groanies of the girls and boys
So dig
Santa comes on big

He'll come a callin' when the snow's the most
And all you cats are sleepin' warm as toast
And you gonna flip when Old Saint Nick
Takes a lick on the peppermint stick

He'll come flyin' from a higher place
And fill the stocking by the fire place
So you'll
Have a yule that's cool"

We are now officially in one of my favorite times of year.  The Christmas season is finally here.  

There is just something magical about Christmas.  I know it is not always happy, it is not always bright, but there is an undeniably different energy in the month of December.  Perhaps it is simply that everyone is just done with the year.  Everyone is checked out of work and school, etc., I know, but there is still something beyond even that.

It's also an easy time to write about, and this December will be packed with content.  Most may look familiar, but I've touched up and added where I can.  I'll include my Advent material and Twelve Days of Christmas breakdown, as well as just touching on my favorite points in the season.

It will all be labeled under the Yuletide banner, referencing the pre-Christian celebration held at this time of year, many practices of which have been folded into our modern celebrations.  A reminder that our experiences predate us and will long outlast us.

I hope this season will bring you warm and bright, and above all else, may it bring you peace.

As always, thanks for reading.

A Reminder

It's probably a good time to give this reminder about the blog.

First, I want to thank you all for your readership and your kind words.  I remain humbled by the response.  To everyone who has let me know you are reading, ever liked a post, or commented, thank you.  It is appreciated more than you could know.  To those of you who read in silence, thank you as well.

I would also like to use this time to post a reminder of the blog rules, and to provide advance warning.  There will be blogs that will either make you mad or will upset you or challenge your position on a particular topic.  The blog is my personal writing exercise and soap box, so it will reflect my biases and my contrarian streak.  I will also likely question things that many people believe are and should be settled.  I am open to civil discourse on almost any topic.

Finally, I wanted to pass along a reminder that I have an email subscription option on the page.  With that, you'll receive an email link each time a new post is added.  There is also an RSS feed option, in case anyone prefers that method.

Further, an update of the reminders previously posted:

1. This blog represents largely a writing exercise and an outlet for me to get thoughts out of my head.  It contains my opinion on variety of issues from serious to silly and is filtered through my experiences, biases, etc.
2. I promise, I will post on topics that are so niche-focused, so utterly nerdy that anyone but me is going to be bored to tears.  I try to keep those to only once or twice a week and to rotate through a variety of topics throughout the week to keep it interesting.  I use the labels so that you can screen out certain topics if you want to.
3. I will post things that you will disagree with and that will potentially make you upset.  I know I am more liberal than the majority of my audience.  Probably regarding doctrine and politics both.  These are both topics I'm going to write on from time to time.  I personally favor moderation and lean center-left, but will post on a variety of viewpoints from center-right to hard left (maybe even hard right in a few instances).
4. I am going to be harder on Republicans than I am on Democrats.  While I am not a fan of many politicians of many different political parties, I am growing to despise what the Republican party is becoming.  And I reserve the sharpest criticism for them due to one fact above all: the perverse mixture of politics and religion that Republicans promote. Because they purport to hold themselves out as the Christian party, I'm going to hold them to that impossible standard.  
5. I am likewise harder on churches and Christians than I am on non-believers.  Those who profess to believe have identified themselves as recognizing a higher standard.  To put it simply, "we should know and act better."  And do so based on a reading of the entire Bible.  Sadly, we all too often fall far short of this.  While I do want to extend grace to those that slip, when errors occur as abuses of power in the church  or in ways that belittle the faith they claim to hold, I will be discussing it. 
6. I'm generally more interested in questions than concrete answers.  I think we as a collective are less curious than we should be and settle for comfortable answers when we should still be asking harder, more difficult questions.  
7. I am completely open to disagreement and debate. Honest and open dialogue is the only way we can move forward in any civilized society.  However, I have a few ground rules for debate:

• I will not tolerate name calling or muckraking.  When the thread resorts to calling each other racists, "liberal snowflakes," "libtards," or four-letter words, I will shut it down.  Likewise, I'm not going to let stereotypes and sweeping generalities go unchallenged.  All liberals do not want the destruction of our country, all conservatives are not bigots, etc.
• I hope for discussion that will foster conversation, not end it.  So I expect more than "guns don't kill people, people kill people" in a discussion on gun control, for example.  I will not let those conversation-enders stand unchallenged.
• Compromise is not a dirty word.  And likewise, I do hope people change their mind from time to time based on what they learn. Including me.
• I follow this hierarchy for the value of information: facts, then informed opinions, then general opinions.  Saying "that's just my opinion" is going to get nowhere with me if it is not supported by the facts.

As always, thank you for reading!

1000

1000 posts. 

That’s a lot of writing. This is the number I couldn’t believe that I was so close to. It’s why I was surprised that I had let the blog sit for as long as I did. When I started the hiatus, I was only twenty blogs or so away from post 1000. 

And now, here we are. 

When I started this process four years ago, I had no idea how long it would last, how much I would find I had to say, or how much I would find enjoyment in it. I certainly had no idea that it would still be going this long after. I just knew there were things in my head that I needed to get down in writing. To put down on paper, metaphorically. 

That still remains true. The content has changed a bit, but the process is still important to me. To write, to express, and to share.  For that reason, I will keep at it. I don’t know if I’ll make a thousand more posts, but I very well may.  Right now, I’m focusing on just one post at a time. 

Over the next month and a half, the posts should be very consistent. The holidays are always easy to write about, at least for me. So, there should be a daily post coming up into the new year. From there, we’ll see how the rhythm lands. 

As always, thank you for reading this far. 

A Reminder 2022

We've made it to 2022.  Through the set of Christmas posts and into the new year, and there were a lot more eyes on the posts this December than there have been over the past year.  With that in mind, it's probably a good time to give this reminder about the blog.

First, I want to thank you all for your readership and your kind words.  I remain humbled by the response.  To everyone who has let me know you are reading, ever liked a post, or commented, thank you.  It is appreciated more than you could know.  To those of you who read in silence, thank you as well.

I would also like to use this time to post a reminder of the blog rules, and to provide advance warning.  There will be blogs that will either make you mad or will upset you or challenge your position on a particular topic.  The blog is my personal writing exercise and soap box, so it will reflect my biases and my contrarian streak.  I will also likely question things that many people believe are and should be settled.  I am open to civil discourse on almost any topic.

Finally, I wanted to pass along a reminder that I have an email subscription option on the page.  With that, you'll receive an email link each time a new post is added.  There is also an RSS feed option, in case anyone prefers that method.

Further, an update of the reminders previously posted:

1. This blog represents largely a writing exercise and an outlet for me to get thoughts out of my head.  It contains my opinion on variety of issues from serious to silly and is filtered through my experiences, biases, etc.
2. I promise, I will post on topics that are so niche-focused, so utterly nerdy that anyone but me is going to be bored to tears.  I try to keep those to only once or twice a week and to rotate through a variety of topics throughout the week to keep it interesting.  I use the labels so that you can screen out certain topics if you want to.
3. I will post things that you will disagree with and that will potentially make you upset.  I know I am more liberal than the majority of my audience.  Probably regarding doctrine and politics both.  These are both topics I'm going to write on from time to time.  I personally favor moderation and lean center-left, but will post on a variety of viewpoints from center-right to hard left (maybe even hard right in a few instances).
4. I am going to be harder on Republicans than I am on Democrats.  While I am not a fan of many politicians of many different political parties, I am growing to despise what the Republican party is becoming.  And I reserve the sharpest criticism for them due to one fact above all: the perverse mixture of politics and religion that Republicans promote. Because they purport to hold themselves out as the Christian party, I'm going to hold them to that impossible standard.  
5. I am likewise harder on churches and Christians than I am on non-believers.  Those who profess to believe have identified themselves as recognizing a higher standard.  To put it simply, "we should know and act better."  And do so based on a reading of the entire Bible.  Sadly, we all too often fall far short of this.  While I do want to extend grace to those that slip, when errors occur as abuses of power in the church  or in ways that belittle the faith they claim to hold, I will be discussing it. 
6. I'm generally more interested in questions than concrete answers.  I think we as a collective are less curious than we should be and settle for comfortable answers when we should still be asking harder, more difficult questions.  
7. I am completely open to disagreement and debate. Honest and open dialogue is the only way we can move forward in any civilized society.  However, I have a few ground rules for debate:

• I will not tolerate name calling or muckraking.  When the thread resorts to calling each other racists, "liberal snowflakes," "libtards," or four-letter words, I will shut it down.  Likewise, I'm not going to let stereotypes and sweeping generalities go unchallenged.  All liberals do not want the destruction of our country, all conservatives are not bigots, etc.
• I hope for discussion that will foster conversation, not end it.  So I expect more than "guns don't kill people, people kill people" in a discussion on gun control, for example.  I will not let those conversation-enders stand unchallenged.
• Compromise is not a dirty word.  And likewise, I do hope people change their mind from time to time based on what they learn. Including me.
• I follow this hierarchy for the value of information: facts, then informed opinions, then general opinions.  Saying "that's just my opinion" is going to get nowhere with me if it is not supported by the facts.

As always, thank you for reading.  Here's to the new year of posting!

Mitchuation Update: Back Again

I thought a good way to jump back into this would be to provide another Mitchuation update. It’s hard to believe we are already at September this year. We’re rapidly approaching fall and the weather is starting to actually reflect it. 

I must admit, I hadn’t intended to take a two month hiatus from the blog, but here we are. Summer was a bit frantic and we were, quite literally, all over the place. Looking back, we only spent half the summer in Indiana. The other half, we were in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. A benefit of this remote work environment - it can literally be done from anywhere. As our return to the office date has been pushed back once again, I must remind myself that there are benefits like this. 

Avalyn has been in school for over a month now, and Jude has also started his part time pre-school. We’re quickly finding a new normal routine again. 

But our hectic schedule only addresses part of the lack of posts.  That is actually harder to describe. 

It’s not from a lack of content. There’s been a lot that has happened to us, around us, and across our country that warrants a post. Some of it will be future blog posts, like the status of our adoption journey*. For a lot of it, the relevance and urgency has passed. 

It’s also not from being overwhelmed by content either, as I’ve written about before. 

This time it came from a specific form of burnout.  I’m tire that we are still having to address the same issues over and over again. This last year and a half has been draining for everyone, but we’re making it worse by continuing to fight the stupidest battles. We’re still fighting over masks. We’re now fighting about ivermectin, an anti-parasitic often used for animals instead of hydroxychloroquine. To the point where some people would rather overdose themselves with a horse’s dosage instead of them getting vaccinated. We’re raising up in arms about Critical Race Theory, the latest school boogeyman issue without even understanding it.

I’m tired of the keyboard experts, who somehow can jump from constitutional law, to infectious diseases, and now to foreign policy. I’m tired of the systems that prop up this ignorance and over-distrust of any form of expertise.  The over-valuing of anecdotal information. The continued anti-intellectualism on display.  

It’s exhausting. 

It’s recognizing we’re going to keep repeating these same cycles. We’re going to drag this pandemic out until the very last possible case. Until we become numb to the deaths and permanent damage that it is inflicting.

I needed a break from that fight. 

It has been refreshing but it’s time to get back into it. It’s not as if I’ve been off social media in the interim. I’ve just been a consumer, and that has to stop. It’s time to be productive again. 

So, expect more posts in the days to come.  Some catching up from the summer, with trip reports and the like.  Some with just general status updates, like a more in depth status on where we are in the adoption process.  Some hitting on the current events and trying to bring a more fair approach to them.  Many begging you to stay safe and to take every precaution including masking again to stay healthy through the colder months coming.  Maybe I’ll even get to one on why the American Evangelical church’s fetish for “persecution” had exacerbated many of the issues we are facing right now in this country. 

It’s good to be back.  And I’m glad that tomorrow’s post is a really fun and happy celebration.

Until next time…

——————————————————

*The short version is we are finished with all of our paperwork and most everything in our control.  We are now in the waiting, where our profiles are out there and just waiting for a birth mother to pick us.  We’ve been prepared for it to be possibly one to three years, but at this point it could happen at any day.

Mitchuation Update - All Over the Place

It's been a while since I've done one of these, so I thought it might be good to pass along a little update about what's going on in our lives.  Especially as the world starts to see the light at the end of the tunnel, regarding this pandemic and how that is impacting the world around us.

I think the last one I wrote in this vein related to an update at the year mark in Indiana.  Since that time, we've traveled back to Texas for a couple of weeks for Spring Break to see family (one thing I love about Indiana schools - two week spring break, two week fall break, two weeks at Christmas/New Years).  Jamie and I have both gotten our first vaccination (I got the Moderna vaccine, Jamie got the Pfizer vaccine).  We're trying to settle back into a routine for these last few weeks of school.  And we got to take our first get away since the pandemic started that was not back to family.  We made a quick weekend trip to Michigan to see tulips and to step in Lake Michigan.  That one was our first trip since moving to Indiana, our first trip that was just the four of us, and our first since the pandemic.

So there will be a new traveler's report coming up with photos from that little getaway.  There will be a few posts this week on the news that has broken today, the celebrations of the week, and prep for the Oscars this weekend.  

In looking over the last year plus of posting, it's also made me realize I have left one part of our story off the blog and I look to correct that - our adoption journey.  We're nearing the completion of our homestudy for domestic infant adoption, so I want to share that story too.  And that will let me talk about why this weekend was so stressful.  That story will come far in the future when I've taken enough anti-anxiety medication to put it behind us.

Lot's to look forward to and lot's to share.   Hopefully can be a little more diligent about sharing it going ahead.

800

Another milestone in the blog - post number 800! 

First, I want to thank you all for your readership and your kind words.  I remain humbled by the response.  To everyone who has let me know you are reading, ever liked a post, or commented, thank you.  It is appreciated more than you could know.  To those of you who read in silence, thank you as well.

I would also like to use this time to post a reminder of the blog rules, and to provide advance warning.  There will be blogs that will either make you mad or will upset you or challenge your position on a particular topic.  The blog is my personal writing exercise and soap box, so it will reflect my biases and my contrarian streak.  I will also likely question things that many people believe are and should be settled.  I am open to civil discourse on almost any topic.

Finally, I wanted to pass along a reminder that I have an email subscription option on the page.  With that, you'll receive an email link each time a new post is added.  There is also an RSS feed option, in case anyone prefers that method.

Further, an update of the reminders previously posted:

1. This blog represents largely a writing exercise and an outlet for me to get thoughts out of my head.  It contains my opinion on variety of issues from serious to silly and is filtered through my experiences, biases, etc.
2. I promise, I will post on topics that are so niche-focused, so utterly nerdy that anyone but me is going to be bored to tears.  I try to keep those to only once or twice a week and to rotate through a variety of topics throughout the week to keep it interesting.  I use the labels so that you can screen out certain topics if you want to.
3. I will post things that you will disagree with and that will potentially make you upset.  I know I am more liberal than the majority of my audience.  Probably regarding doctrine and politics both.  These are both topics I'm going to write on from time to time.  I personally favor moderation and lean center-left, but will post on a variety of viewpoints from center-right to hard left (maybe even hard right in a few instances).
4. I am going to be harder on Republicans than I am on Democrats.  While I am not a fan of many politicians of many different political parties, I am growing to despise what the Republican party is becoming.  And I reserve the sharpest criticism for them due to one fact above all: the perverse mixture of politics and religion that Republicans promote. Because they purport to hold themselves out as the Christian party, I'm going to hold them to that impossible standard.  I also hold them more accountable partly because they are in power, and I'm going to criticize whoever has power more than those in the minority.
• I'm going to be extremely hard on the current administration and this president in particular.  This administration has moved much farther beyond normal bounds and are in completely new levels of deterioration.  Their actions must continue to be called out and we cannot allow them to be normalized.  
5. I am likewise harder on churches and Christians than I am on non-believers.  Those who profess to believe have identified themselves as recognizing a higher standard.  To put it simply, "we should know and act better."  And do so based on a reading of the entire Bible.  Sadly, we all to often fall far short of this.  While I do want to extend grace to those that slip, when errors occur as abuses of power in the church  or in ways that belittle the faith they claim to hold, I will be discussing it. 
6. I'm generally more interested in questions than concrete answers.  I think we as a collective are less curious than we should be and settle for comfortable answers when we should still be asking harder, more difficult questions.  
7. I am completely open to disagreement and debate. Honest and open dialogue is the only way we can move forward in any civilized society.  However, I have a few ground rules for debate:

• I will not tolerate name calling or muckraking.  When the thread resorts to calling each other racists, "liberal snowflakes," "libtards," or four-letter words, I will shut it down.  Likewise, I'm not going to let stereotypes and sweeping generalities go unchallenged.  All liberals do not want the destruction of our country, all conservatives are not bigots, etc.
• I hope for discussion that will foster conversation, not end it.  So I expect more than "guns don't kill people, people kill people" in a discussion on gun control, for example.  I will not let those conversation-enders stand unchallenged.
• Compromise is not a dirty word.  And likewise, I do hope people change their mind from time to time based on what they learn. Including me.
• I follow this hierarchy for the value of information: facts then informed opinions then general opinions.  Saying "that's just my opinion" is going to get nowhere with me if it is not supported by the facts.

As always, thank you for reading.

750

Time to celebrate another milestone - post number 750!  I cannot believe the blog has lasted this long.  To go from a general writing exercise, to now a valuable journal for me, even though this year has had its challenges in keeping up.

First, I want to thank you all for your readership and your kind words.  I remain humbled by the response.  To everyone who has let me know you are reading, ever liked a post, or commented, thank you.  It is appreciated more than you could know.  To those of you who read in silence, thank you as well.

I would also like to use this time to post a reminder of the blog rules, and to provide advance warning.  There will be blogs that will either make you mad or will upset you or challenge your position on a particular topic.  The blog is my personal writing exercise and soap box, so it will reflect my biases and my contrarian streak.  I will also likely question things that many people believe are and should be settled.  I am open to civil discourse on almost any topic.

Finally, I wanted to pass along a reminder that I have an email subscription option on the page.  With that, you'll receive an email link each time a new post is added.  There is also an RSS feed option, in case anyone prefers that method.

Further, an update of the reminders previously posted:

1. This blog represents largely a writing exercise and an outlet for me to get thoughts out of my head.  It contains my opinion on variety of issues from serious to silly and is filtered through my experiences, biases, etc.
2. I promise, I will post on topics that are so niche-focused, so utterly nerdy that anyone but me is going to be bored to tears.  I try to keep those to only once or twice a week and to rotate through a variety of topics throughout the week to keep it interesting.  I use the labels so that you can screen out certain topics if you want to.
3. I will post things that you will disagree with and that will potentially make you upset.  I know I am more liberal than the majority of my audience.  Probably regarding doctrine and politics both.  These are both topics I'm going to write on from time to time.  I personally favor moderation and lean center-left, but will post on a variety of viewpoints from center-right to hard left (maybe even hard right in a few instances).
4. I am going to be harder on Republicans than I am on Democrats.  While I am not a fan of many politicians of many different political parties, I am growing to despise what the Republican party is becoming.  And I reserve the sharpest criticism for them due to one fact above all: the perverse mixture of politics and religion that Republicans promote. Because they purport to hold themselves out as the Christian party, I'm going to hold them to that impossible standard.  I also hold them more accountable partly because they are in power, and I'm going to criticize whoever has power more than those in the minority.
• I'm going to be extremely hard on the current administration and this president in particular.  This administration has moved much farther beyond normal bounds and are in completely new levels of deterioration.  Their actions must continue to be called out and we cannot allow them to be normalized.  
5. I am likewise harder on churches and Christians than I am on non-believers.  Those who profess to believe have identified themselves as recognizing a higher standard.  To put it simply, "we should know and act better."  And do so based on a reading of the entire Bible.  Sadly, we all to often fall far short of this.  While I do want to extend grace to those that slip, when errors occur as abuses of power in the church  or in ways that belittle the faith they claim to hold, I will be discussing it. 
6. I'm generally more interested in questions than concrete answers.  I think we as a collective are less curious than we should be and settle for comfortable answers when we should still be asking harder, more difficult questions.  
7. I am completely open to disagreement and debate. Honest and open dialogue is the only way we can move forward in any civilized society.  However, I have a few ground rules for debate:

• I will not tolerate name calling or muckraking.  When the thread resorts to calling each other racists, "liberal snowflakes," "libtards," or four-letter words, I will shut it down.  Likewise, I'm not going to let stereotypes and sweeping generalities go unchallenged.  All liberals do not want the destruction of our country, all conservatives are not bigots, etc.
• I hope for discussion that will foster conversation, not end it.  So I expect more than "guns don't kill people, people kill people" in a discussion on gun control, for example.  I will not let those conversation-enders stand unchallenged.
• Compromise is not a dirty word.  And likewise, I do hope people change their mind from time to time based on what they learn. Including me.
• I follow this hierarchy for the value of information: facts then informed opinions then general opinions.  Saying "that's just my opinion" is going to get nowhere with me if it is not supported by the facts.

As always, thank you for reading.

A Little Light Blogkeeping

Yesterday's post marked the 650th entry in this blog.  While the past year has been a little more sporadic than I would have liked, I seem to be finding a new rhythm to slip into.  Plus, 2020 has provided ample material to write about.

To that end, I wanted to take a little time to provide some reminders, and to give a glimpse into what topics will be hit over the coming days.  For one, I've been challenged by Jamie to do the 10 albums that have influenced me on Facebook and I'll eventually be doing my spin on that here through the blog over a period of 11 days or so.  I'm looking for a good time to start that series, but so much of current events and issues are requiring attention at the moment, that it keeps getting pushed back.  It will happen, but it may be a week or so out at least.

In the interim, there's a lot to talk about.  About kneeling, and what all that encompasses now.  About shopping small as things reopen.  About de-escalation.  About statues.  About the Texas Rangers.

About reasons for hope in all of this.

About upcoming celebrations and milestones.

And just about life.

A lot to discuss and the events of the day keep increasing that list.

To that end, I am going to include an updated reminder list with this blog entry.  A few points on why I post on the topics that I do and why I post in the manner that I do.

As always, thank you for reading.  For those that read regularly, I am humbled and amazed.

There will be blogs that will either make you mad or will upset you or challenge your position on a particular topic.  The blog is my personal writing exercise and soap box, so it will reflect my biases and my contrarian streak, but I am open to civil discourse on almost any topic.

Finally, I wanted to pass along a reminder that I have an email subscription option on the page.  With that, you'll receive an email link each time a new post is added.  There is also an RSS feed option, in case anyone prefers that method.

With that, an update of the reminders previously posted:

1. This blog represents largely a writing exercise and an outlet for me to get thoughts out of my head.  It contains my opinion on variety of issues from serious to silly and is filtered through my experiences, biases, etc.
2. I promise, I will post on topics that are so niche-focused, so utterly nerdy that anyone but me is going to be bored to tears.  I try to keep those to only once or twice a week and to rotate through a variety of topics throughout the week to keep it interesting.  I use the labels so that you can screen out certain topics if you want to.
3. I will post things that you will disagree with and that will potentially make you upset.  I know I am more liberal than the majority of my audience.  Probably regarding doctrine and politics both.  These are both topics I'm going to write on from time to time.  I personally favor moderation and lean center-left, but will post on a variety of viewpoints from center-right to hard left (maybe even hard right in a few instances).
4. I am going to be harder on Republicans than I am on Democrats.  While I am not a fan of many politicians of many different political parties, I am growing to despise what the Republican party is becoming.  And I reserve the sharpest criticism for them due to one fact above all: the perverse mixture of politics and religion that Republicans promote. Because they purport to hold themselves out as the Christian party, I'm going to hold them to that impossible standard.  I also hold them more accountable partly because they are in power, and I'm going to criticize whoever has power more than those in the minority.
5. I am likewise harder on churches and Christians than I am on non-believers.  Those who profess to believe have identified themselves as recognizing a higher standard.  To put it simply, "we should know and act better."  And do so based on a reading of the entire Bible.  Sadly, we all to often fall far short of this.  While I do want to extend grace to those that slip, when errors occur as abuses of power in the church  or in ways that belittle the faith they claim to hold, I will be discussing it. 
6. To drive a point made above home, I'm going to be harder on those in power than those that are not.  For example, in the current environment, I'm going to be harder on cops than I will be on the protestors and looters.  While there may be bad actors on both sides, one involves an abuse of power and one is a symptom of a larger disease.  The two cannot be discussed with the same fervor and volume.
7. I am completely open to disagreement and debate. Honest and open dialogue is the only way we can move forward in any civilized society.  However, I have a few ground rules for debate:

• I will not tolerate name calling or muckraking.  When the thread resorts to calling each other racists, "liberal snowflakes," "libtards," or four-letter words, I will shut it down.  Likewise, I'm not going to let stereotypes and sweeping generalities go unchallenged.  All liberals do not want the destruction of our country, all conservatives are not bigots, etc.
• I hope for discussion that will foster conversation, not end it.  So I expect more than "guns don't kill people, people kill people" in a discussion on gun control, for example.  I will not let those conversation-enders stand unchallenged.
• Compromise is not a dirty word.  And likewise, I do hope people change their mind from time to time based on what they learn. Including me.
• I follow this hierarchy for the value of information: facts then informed opinions then general opinions.  Saying "that's just my opinion" is going to get nowhere with me if it is not supported by the facts.

Again, thank you for reading.  Please let me know if there are topics that you particularly enjoy or there is changes you could envision.  Here's to the many more posts to come.

Reminder

Starting the next year of posts, I wanted to post a reminder of the blog rules and regulations, and to provide advance warning.  There will be blogs that will either make you mad or will upset you or challenge your position on a particular topic.  The blog is my personal writing exercise and soap box, so it will reflect my biases and my contrarian streak, but I am open to civil discourse on almost any topic.

Finally, I wanted to pass along a reminder that I have an email subscription option on the page.  With that, you'll receive an email link each time a new post is added.  There is also an RSS feed option, in case anyone prefers that method.

With that, an update of the reminders previously posted:

1. This blog represents largely a writing exercise and an outlet for me to get thoughts out of my head.  It contains my opinion on variety of issues from serious to silly and is filtered through my experiences, biases, etc.
2. I promise, I will post on topics that are so niche-focused, so utterly nerdy that anyone but me is going to be bored to tears.  I try to keep those to only once or twice a week and to rotate through a variety of topics throughout the week to keep it interesting.  I use the labels so that you can screen out certain topics if you want to.
3. I will post things that you will disagree with and that will potentially make you upset.  I know I am more liberal than the majority of my audience.  Probably regarding doctrine and politics both.  These are both topics I'm going to write on from time to time.  I personally favor moderation and lean center-left, but will post on a variety of viewpoints from center-right to hard left (maybe even hard right in a few instances).
4. I am going to be harder on Republicans than I am on Democrats.  While I am not a fan of many politicians of many different political parties, I am growing to despise what the Republican party is becoming.  And I reserve the sharpest criticism for them due to one fact above all: the perverse mixture of politics and religion that Republicans promote. Because they purport to hold themselves out as the Christian party, I'm going to hold them to that impossible standard.  I also hold them more accountable partly because they are in power, and I'm going to criticize whoever has power more than those in the minority.
5. I am likewise harder on churches and Christians than I am on non-believers.  Those who profess to believe have identified themselves as recognizing a higher standard.  To put it simply, "we should know and act better."  And do so based on a reading of the entire Bible.  Sadly, we all to often fall far short of this.  While I do want to extend grace to those that slip, when errors occur as abuses of power in the church  or in ways that belittle the faith they claim to hold, I will be discussing it. 
6. I am completely open to disagreement and debate. Honest and open dialogue is the only way we can move forward in any civilized society.  However, I have a few ground rules for debate:

• I will not tolerate name calling or muckraking.  When the thread resorts to calling each other racists, "liberal snowflakes," "libtards," or four-letter words, I will shut it down.  Likewise, I'm not going to let stereotypes and sweeping generalities go unchallenged.  All liberals do not want the destruction of our country, all conservatives are not bigots, etc.
• I hope for discussion that will foster conversation, not end it.  So I expect more than "guns don't kill people, people kill people" in a discussion on gun control, for example.  I will not let those conversation-enders stand unchallenged.
• Compromise is not a dirty word.  And likewise, I do hope people change their mind from time to time based on what they learn. Including me.
• I follow this hierarchy for the value of information: facts then informed opinions then general opinions.  Saying "that's just my opinion" is going to get nowhere with me if it is not supported by the facts.

Again, thank you for reading.  Please let me know if there are topics that you particularly enjoy or there is changes you could envision.  Here's to the many more posts to come.

Reminder 2020

As 2020's posts start, I wanted to take a minute to say thank you and to give a reminder to the readership.

First, I want to thank you all for your readership and your kind words.  I remain humbled by the response.  To everyone who has let me know you are reading, ever liked a post, or commented, thank you.  It is appreciated more than you could know.  And to those of you who read in silence, thank you as well.

I also wanted to use this time to post a reminder of the blog rules and regulations, and to provide advance warning.  There will be blogs that will either make you mad or will upset you or challenge your position on a particular topic.  The blog is my personal writing exercise and soap box, so it will reflect my biases and my contrarian streak, but I am open to civil discourse on almost any topic.

Finally, I wanted to pass along a reminder that I have an email subscription option on the page.  With that, you'll receive an email link each time a new post is added.  There is also an RSS feed option, in case anyone prefers that method.

With that, an update of the reminders previously posted:

1. This blog represents largely a writing exercise and an outlet for me to get thoughts out of my head.  It contains my opinion on variety of issues from serious to silly and is filtered through my experiences, biases, etc.
2. I promise, I will post on topics that are so niche-focused, so utterly nerdy that anyone but me is going to be bored to tears.  I try to keep those to only once or twice a week and to rotate through a variety of topics throughout the week to keep it interesting.  I use the labels so that you can screen out certain topics if you want to.
3. I will post things that you will disagree with and that will potentially make you upset.  I know I am more liberal than the majority of my audience.  Probably regarding doctrine and politics both.  These are both topics I'm going to write on from time to time.  I personally favor moderation and lean center-left, but will post on a variety of viewpoints from center-right to hard left (maybe even hard right in a few instances).
4. I am going to be harder on Republicans than I am on Democrats.  While I am not a fan of many politicians of many different political parties, I am growing to despise what the Republican party is becoming.  And I reserve the sharpest criticism for them due to one fact above all: the perverse mixture of politics and religion that Republicans promote. Because they purport to hold themselves out as the Christian party, I'm going to hold them to that impossible standard.  I also hold them more accountable partly because they are in power, and I'm going to criticize whoever has power more than those in the minority.
5. I am likewise harder on churches and Christians than I am on non-believers.  Those who profess to believe have identified themselves as recognizing a higher standard.  To put it simply, "we should know and act better."  And do so based on a reading of the entire Bible.  Sadly, we all to often fall far short of this.  While I do want to extend grace to those that slip, when errors occur as abuses of power in the church  or in ways that belittle the faith they claim to hold, I will be discussing it. 
6. I am completely open to disagreement and debate. Honest and open dialogue is the only way we can move forward in any civilized society.  However, I have a few ground rules for debate:

• I will not tolerate name calling or muckraking.  When the thread resorts to calling each other racists, "liberal snowflakes," "libtards," or four-letter words, I will shut it down.  Likewise, I'm not going to let stereotypes and sweeping generalities go unchallenged.  All liberals do not want the destruction of our country, all conservatives are not bigots, etc.
• I hope for discussion that will foster conversation, not end it.  So I expect more than "guns don't kill people, people kill people" in a discussion on gun control, for example.  I will not let those conversation-enders stand unchallenged.
• Compromise is not a dirty word.  And likewise, I do hope people change their mind from time to time based on what they learn. Including me.
• I follow this hierarchy for the value of information: facts then informed opinions then general opinions.  Saying "that's just my opinion" is going to get nowhere with me if it is not supported by the facts.

Again, thank you for reading.  Please let me know if there are topics that you particularly enjoy or there is changes you could envision.  Here's to the many more posts to come.

A Little Blogkeeping

Another double post today, this one with just a few blogkeeping notes.

I'm trying to get caught up.  In November and December, I was really good about writing ahead, but with January, I've nearly always been playing catch up.  Will be working to have things a little more regular in February.

Part of that includes moving the posts back into the morning.  It won't be an automatic change, but I'm going to start moving the posts back earlier, first to around noon, then back to the morning release.  It's been a little easier to have things ready and then proof day of, but I wanted to get back to having things automatically post in the mornings.

Finally, the next If I Were Disney CEO post for ABC is coming.  It's proving to be one of the more challenging posts to put together, because while I have a framework for general recommendations, I'd also like to get in a chart that has a proposed generic primetime schedule.  That's the harder part.

All in all, this has still been a fun exercise and I thank you for reading.  As the year mark comes closer and closer, I'm putting together my thoughts on what I've learned and discovered.  There's one in particular that gives me hope.

Facebook Stinks and Other Updates

So, Facebook has apparently made changes to its policies, particularly those that allow third party apps to post to Facebook.  This includes scheduling apps like If-This-Then-This and Hootsuite, which can be used in a variety of ways to pre-plan posts and links, and to schedule them in advance.   I understand this is a method of combating bots, but it seems there would be a way to help real individuals keep using the service in a more convenient manner.

I have generally been using If-This-Then-This to automatically link blog posts to Facebook.  Blogger lets me schedule a day and time for the blog post to hit the blog and then IFTTT would automatically post to Facebook when a new blog was posted.  It made the whole process nearly seamless and ensured that if I were on top of things, new posts would hit the blog at 6:00 am each morning and a link would be posted to Facebook at that same time as well.  This is important because I can see that most of the readership is coming from Facebook links.

With the new changes, I can no longer seamlessly link the blog to my Facebook page.  The new post is still generally hitting the blog at 6:00 am each morning (including this one), but I'm having to manually post the link to Facebook.  It seems something may also be going on with their algorithm downplaying linked postings, as the readership numbers have dropped to a single digit.  I'm not sure they the links are even being seen.

With that in mind, I'll also be pasting the entire content of this blog to Facebook just as a separate post to see if it breaks through without the link.

Further, I want to remind readers that are so interested, that I have enabled subscription options to make sure you can continue to follow the blog in other ways should you so desire.  You can get an email sent to you each time a new blog is posted with the Follow by Email box to the right.  You can subscribe to the posts below that, even using an RSS feed if you so desire.  If you want to keep reading and there is any way I can help you do so, let me know and I will assist in any way I can.

I appreciate everyone who is reading and the feedback I have received.  I'm going to keep plugging away at this and just wanted to let you know, I'm up to making alternate arrangements to keep this accessible.

Thank you all.  Will keep you posted.

A Reminder

I have gained a lot of new readers and a few new Facebook friends over the past couple of days and with that, I wanted to pass along a reminder about the content of the blog.

Mr. Thomas calls this "The Rachel Rule."  His rule states that there will be blogs that will either make you mad or will upset you or will go against anything or everything you possibly believe in.  I don't know if my reminder will go that far, but I want to lay a few ground rules and things you need to know about me.

So, without further ado:

1. This blog represents largely a writing exercise and an outlet for me to get thoughts out of my head.  It contains my opinion on variety of issues from serious to silly and is filtered through my experiences, biases, etc.
2. I promise, I will post on topics that are so niche-focused, so utterly nerdy that anyone but me is going to be bored to tears.  I try to keep those to only once or twice a week and to rotate through a variety of topics throughout the week to keep it interesting.  I use the labels so that you can screen out certain topics if you want to.
3. I will post things that you will disagree with and that will potentially make you upset.  I know I am more liberal than the majority of my audience.  Probably regarding doctrine and politics both.  These are both topics I'm going to write on from time to time.
4. I am going to be harder on Republicans than I am on Democrats.  While I am not a fan of many politicians of many different political parties, I am growing to despise what the Republican party is becoming.  And I reserve the sharpest criticism for them due to one fact above all: the perverse mixture of politics and religion that Republicans promote. Because they purport to hold themselves out as the Christian party, I'm going to hold them to that impossible standard.  I also hold them more accountable partly because they are in power, and I'm going to criticize whoever has power more than those in the minority.
5. I am likewise harder on churches and Christians than I am on non-believers.  Those who profess to believe have identified themselves as recognizing a higher standard.  To put it simply, "we should know and act better."  And do so based on a reading of the entire Bible.  Sadly, we all to often fall far short of this.  While I do want to extend grace to those that slip, when errors occur as abuses of power in the church (like the president of Southwestern Theological Seminary) or in ways that belittle the faith they claim to hold, I will be discussing it. 
6. I am completely open to disagreement and debate. Honest and open dialogue is the only way we can move forward in any civilized society.  However, I have a few ground rules for debate:

• I will not tolerate name calling or muckraking.  When the thread resorts to calling each other racists, "liberal snowflakes," "libtards," or four-letter words, I will shut it down.  Likewise, I'm not going to let stereotypes and sweeping generalities go unchallenged.  All liberals do not want the destruction of our country, all conservatives are not bigots, etc.
• I hope for discussion that will foster conversation, not end it.  So I expect more than "guns don't kill people, people kill people" in a discussion on gun control, for example.  I will not let those conversation-enders stand unchallenged.
• Compromise is not a dirty word.  And likewise, I do hope people change their mind from time to time based on what they learn. Including me.
• I follow this hierarchy for the value of information: facts then informed opinions then general opinions.  Saying "that's just my opinion" is going to get nowhere with me if it is not supported by the facts.

For those Facebook friends, you can look back to rants on my page to see how I moderate.  I will push for discussion, but it is only in the interest of trying to reach common ground and continuing discussion.  It should be easier than we all too often make it.

I do want to thank everyone again who is reading.  It really does amaze me that people are.  I am humbled by the response.

I did want to get this out there though so if this is not someone's cup of tea, they can back out now.