Who doesn’t love the Discount Bin at Best Buy, WalMart, and Target? It’s an assortment of flops, hidden gems, and everything in between. This Discount Bin is the catch all of the everyday. Here’s hoping all of us find some joy in the simple and some excitement in the ordinary.
If you can’t tell by how late on a Tuesday this post went up, I was struggling with what to write today. And if you read last week’s post, you know that our life (my and my wife’s) is in transition. We recently moved, I am looking for a new job, and we are overall getting used to life in a new place. Fun times. And I opened up laptop today to write and I could think of anything. What…
My wife and I very recently moved. For reasons financial and otherwise, we packed up and left our faith community, our town, and the place where we met, dated, and were married. It has been a difficult transition with set-backs, confusion, doubt, and anger. And grief. There has been no shortage of grief. I have spent the last couple of months reading the opening chapters of Genesis in my spare time. Several weeks ago, I was reading about Abraham. If…
I used to really look down on crowdfunding. I was real jerk about it in fact. Shouldn’t these folks knuckle down and “get a real job?” Rather than simply sitting on the internet and panhandling for money? I used to consider it lazy. And I owe all the crowd-fundraisers out there an apology. Because I am an increasing proponent of crowdfunding. By the time I was 13, I had bought into the myth of the American Dream that hard physical…
I really enjoy dirt. More specifically I really enjoy gardening with my bare hands. I could buy gloves if I wanted to avoid soiling my hands, but then I wouldn’t get to feel the texture of the loam and the grains of sand. I wouldn’t be able to let the soil slip through my fingers and experience how coarse and rocky the earth may be. I may not really grasp whether or not something could grow. Knowing the soil helps…
[The following are the words and benediction I gave at my grandmother’s funeral in Temple, New Hampshire. April 16, 2016.] “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your…
My grandmother died this spring. She was one of those special people that has always been there for the important moments like birthdays, graduations, Easter, Christmas, July 4th, Memorial Day. This is my first experience with this kind of grief, the grief of losing someone who materially is no longer present in this existence. It brings with it so much uncertainty about the future. It is as if I have to reimagine how to live my life. As if I…
Hey folks! Did the title of this channel catch your fancy? Slightly disappointed to be met with “404 Not Found” message? Well good news everyone! Return to Pulp Fiction Fridays on the second Friday of each month for a new chapter in what will be an ongoing pulp serial. Thanks for reading!
We millennials get really stuck on authenticity. We look for it on our pop stars, in our presidential candidates, and in our peers. For those of us who are inclined towards a religious and/or intentional spiritual life, we want a space where our spiritual guides are authentic. When I decided to start a blog, I wanted it to be authentic. Authentic is a millennial buzz word. I suppose it may be the only buzz word that every millennial regardless of…
[You may have noticed this collaborative element of the blog never came to fruition. I had hopes it would, but alas, some things just aren’t meant for each season. Feel free to listen. If you would like to collaborate, please comment or find me on Twitter.] The Noggin Squall comes in pints? Actually that’s not true. However, portions of what appears on the Squall are the result of quality time spent with friends over pints, coffee mugs, and periodically burrito bowls. Over…