The Secret to a Great Life

I tend not to post things of an overtly religious nature here as I realise many of the people who follow this blog is not religious and may even be anti-religious and I don’t believe in shoving the Bible down people’s throats. But you’re a fool if you argue the Bible is irrelevant and has nothing to say to our modern society. This post by Matt Marino is a prime example and I think a suitable read for thanksgiving. And, like Matt, I point my finger at me first when I read this…the only time when you’re allowed to do that, I think.

the gospel side

There is a secret. It will change your life. And once you know it, you will never forget it.

I first realized I was “that guy” in our neighborhood at my daughter’s pirate-themed fifth birthday party. I suspect many youth ministry people grow up to become “that guy.” This really shouldn’t come as a surprise. The years we spend active with teenagers develop a set of skills, that when exercised with small children, in particular, small children with overprotective parents, make us quite popular with those children and considerably less so with their parents.

We had recently moved from a street where we had the only children on the block to a neighborhood with at least 30 kids in our children’s age group. Much to our chagrin, every one of those kids and their keepers converged on our home for my daughter’s party-the parade from both directions was quite a…

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Greatest Hits: Careless Whispers – Wham!

So here I am, racing towards the NaNoWriMo finish line in leaps and bounds, when I realise y’all are probably waiting for your weekly Song Title Challenge. Thing is, I’m in mega-focussed writing mode right now, so much so that I’ve even been forgetting to check my WordPress Reader for all your excellent blog posts. Needless to, save for the initial spark of inspiration when I received the latest titles in the mail, I haven’t given them a thought since.

So, once again, I give you one from the archives. This one was also part of my inspiration for the current WIP and a similar scene will be included in the novel. It’s one of my favourites. If you haven’t seen it yet, I hope you like it as well.

Song Title Challenge #7: Careless Whispers – Wham!

KokkieH Reviews Side Jobs – Stories From The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

I’ve been wanting to read Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files for a while now but have been unable to get hold of Storm Front, the first book in the series. I’m not willing to start a series anywhere else as at the first book, but I decided to compromise when I spotted Side Jobs, a collection of short stories from the Dresden universe.

Side Jobs by Jim Butcher — Cover illustration by Chris McGrath
Publisher: http://www.orbitbooks.net

For those of you who have never heard of Harry Dresden (philistines!), he is a wizard. He is also a private investigator. And he lives in modern-day Chicago. So, we have a wizard/PI in Chicago (who is also a bit of a chauvinist), chasing down vampires, ghouls, faeries, and the like. He also catches regular bad guys, so he supplements his magic spells with a revolver. He has a talking skull called Bob. He has a giant dog called Mouse. He has a half-brother who’s a…no, that might be a spoiler. Continue reading “KokkieH Reviews Side Jobs – Stories From The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher” →

On The Doctor (a.k.a. me)

As I told you last week, I’m the Doctor. Now it turns out that I’m the tenth Doctor, specifically. How do I know? I took this quiz and it told me.

I’m quite pleased with the result, as I really like David Tennant’s rendition of the Doctor (and he’s the wife’s favourite Doctor), and I really don’t know any of the Doctors 1 through 7, so I’m glad it’s not one of them (I saw too little of Eight to really get to know him – a common complaint among many fans).

Then I read this analysis of Ten. First I was like, uhm, okay, but then I realised it’s actually rather spot-on in certain regards.

Why don’t you also go do the quiz? Then come back and let me know in the comments which Doctor you are.

P.S. Damn! I just realise I had bought the wrong sonic. I wonder what Eleven’s profile says…

P.P.S. Enjoy tomorrow’s Anniversary Special. It’s going to be legen…wait for it…dary!

P.P.P.S. Just to be fair, here’s Nine’s profile as well. He was my first Doctor, after all.

On the power of small things

Wow! Two posts in one day. I know, right? But I saw this and it was simply too good not to share immediately (and not just because it features one of the most spectacular pieces of music ever composed).

So, it’s an advertisement for a bank (they call it an homage to their city…sure) and the bit with the girl was probably set up, but that does not make this video any less powerful.

Because the truth is, the smallest of gestures can often put great things in motion. A smile. A kind word. A miniscule act of self-sacrifice. A moment of putting another first. An instant of compassion.

There’s this thing called the law of unintended consequences, usually applied to economics or politics, but it has bearing in our everyday lives as well. That small act that you deem insignificant, that you maybe not even perform intentionally, can potentially have consequences that are infinitely bigger than the original act.

You might never see those results, but trust that your actions do have consequences, even the little ones.

So start paying attention to those little things you can do every day to make a difference in someone’s life, no matter how small. You might just be surprised at the result.