Sunday Talks

My desk has way too much on it right now. It’s covered with sticky notes that ought to be transcribed elsewhere so I won’t lose the information on them, receipts to be logged and shredded, recipes to be filed, old…

“I don’t sing because I’m happy. I’m happy because I sing.” — William James “The only thing better than singing is more singing.” — Ella Fitzgerald Singing is really good for us in a lot of ways — physically, emotionally,…

Three different people, after recent visits to our Sunday gatherings, told me how much they appreciated our spirit of welcome and inclusion. I’m always glad to hear things like this. But it tends to surprise me a little because I…

For about four years, my family lived in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where we visited them annually. Usually, we’d get a hotel so we could have our own space and enjoy fancy resort amenities. But one time we stayed with them…

Dang, auditions can do a number on you. I didn’t get the part I was hoping for. I’m disappointed, but it’s fine. They offered me a fun, featured role, and I know that I’ll have a great time bringing my…

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve found myself frequently using the phrase, “a real doozy.” No idea where it came from, how I picked it up. I don’t recall ever saying it before, but now it’s all over the…

I just finished reading a splendid book — Everything Sad is Untrue, by Daniel Nayeri. It’s an autobiographical novel written in the voice of an eleven-year boy, beautifully weaving together Persian myths, heroic legends, personal family history, and his own…

I watched a gorgeous documentary this week, Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time. Andy Goldsworthy is an English sculptor who creates location-specific art out of the natural elements he finds on site — stone, twigs, ice, water, flowers.…

Almost every day, I encounter a new article warning about how Artificial Intelligence is going to change everything, or how it already has. Maybe it offers wondrous new advantages, maybe it’s the end of life as we know it. Maybe…

I kinda sorta had an idea of what I was going to write about this week, but then last night we went to see Christopher Nolan’s movie, Oppenheimer. So now my mind is a churning sea of paradox and ambivalence,…