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May 2021

Rising Above the Problem

The last week has been troublesome. So much so that I have several posts I’ve left on the cutting room floor, because I was too deep in the problem to make a coherent post. I could have posted those, but they would have caused more damage than they would have helped me. So, having had a few days to think, Here I am. Over the past week, I’ve had several rounds of bad news. The most impactful to me is that I learned that a medical condition I have that… Read More »Rising Above the Problem

Financial Literacy 101: What Everyone Needs to Know

Recently, I’ve been learning a great deal about how finances work. It’s a difficult topic, and that’s mostly because there are a lot of people out there with a vested interest in misleading you or even outright lying to you. Let’s be real – I could be one. But I’m just a regular Joe (not my real name!) who has decided to become more familiar with the world of finances, and I thought I’d share with y’all what I learn. Now let’s be clear: this is not financial advice. I’m… Read More »Financial Literacy 101: What Everyone Needs to Know

I Don’t Care what you Think your Identity is

My train of thought gets kind of complicated – when it’s not derailing. Following on from my last post about boundaries, this leads to another set of thoughts about consent. There is a train of thought that has gained popularity lately that if two or more people consent to something, it’s none of anyone’s business. Generally, I actually agree with this. But it has its own set of difficulties. So let’s take that idea and stretch it a little bit. Starting with the basics of consent, you have two people… Read More »I Don’t Care what you Think your Identity is

Boundaries are Critical

There are many lessons that I could impart that I’ve learned in life over the last mumble-mumble years. Most of these lessons are not obvious, and they’re all very hard learned. But I think one of the most important lessons I’ve learned relates to boundaries. How important they are, and how few people actually understand how important they are. What is a boundary? Well, we could go by the definition in any dictionary, but it’s not really helpful for my purposes. I think I’d define a boundary as “A line,… Read More »Boundaries are Critical

You Have no Right

A couple of posts ago, I posted about how I will no longer discuss theology with atheists. The cliff’s notes reason why is that I consider it to be a waste of time, as their mind is made up and all they ever try to do is beat you over the head with their impotent version of logic, and treat you like you’re an idiot while they do so. Somehow they think that this will win people over to them, which leads me to believe they’re not playing with a… Read More »You Have no Right

Why I am Now a Disney Shareholder

Recently, I have decided to get into buying stocks. Honestly, I don’t buy stocks to make money. I think timing the market is dumb, I think chasing the market is dumber, and I’m not particularly interested in buying and selling stocks on anything but a long term basis. So why did I buy a share of Disney and two shares of Coca-Cola recently? Here’s the truth about stocks: most people don’t really know what they’re for. Many people treat stocks speculatively, and there’s certainly an argument to be made for… Read More »Why I am Now a Disney Shareholder

Why I Don’t Converse With Atheists (about Theology)

Many years ago, when I was a young tsundoku, I used to be an atheist. At one point in my life I had a spiritual experience that turned me from an atheist into a former atheist, but even though I no longer shared their worldview, I would not shy away with discussing theology with atheists. I found it an interesting pasttime, they’d teach me stuff, I wouldn’t teach them stuff, and most of the time we’d either leave at a mutually respectful stalemate or a less respectful stalemate. What I… Read More »Why I Don’t Converse With Atheists (about Theology)

The Crisis is Over. Now What?

This last year has been terrible in many ways. Quite honestly, I never expected to live through anything like that. And I never expected to survive it. The truly terrible thing about the Cov-SARS-2 virus (hereafter known as COVID or the coronavirus) is not that it is deadly or causes severe sickness in some situations. That’s regrettable, but it’s manageable. We know how to deal with that. The problem is that, by its very nature, it strikes right at the social meat of the world. Almost overnight, people became afraid… Read More »The Crisis is Over. Now What?

The Story of how I was once Nearly Homeless

I may have mentioned this, but I did not have a good childhood. My father barely worked – partly through no fault of his own, but mostly through fault of his own. My mother had basically minimum wage jobs. We had federal assistance, and help from our church, so we never truly starved, but some days and weeks it was a close thing. We never truly had what we needed, and having something like, say, a bicycle or other toy was a luxury. Basically, I grew up in poverty. Now,… Read More »The Story of how I was once Nearly Homeless

Like a Daughter

Ten years ago (give or take), I decided to sponsor a child through Children International.  The first child they assigned me was an 11 year old girl from the Phillipines. For the past ten years (give or take) I have watched this girl, and several others, grow from being a, well, young girl, into being a beautiful young woman.  We have exchanged a few letters.  I gave her a little life advice.  She told me some of her hopes and dreams. I received a letter today that told me she… Read More »Like a Daughter