I had a list of expenses in a Google Docs spreadsheet, and those amounts were in mixed currencies: some euros (EUR), and some dollars (USD). I wanted to sum the values to see a total cost in dollars, but of course the currency exchange rates fluctuate, so my numbers will vary day to day.… [read more]

I was eating dinner with the kids. B was in the kitchen.

Katherine randomly volunteered, “When we move to the Netherlands, I’m sure gonna miss Grandma Miller!”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “She can come visit us.”

“How will she do that?” K asked incredulously.… [read more]

http://coachandrea.com/2009/07/10/10000-hours-to-mastery/

Thanks Aunt Candy for the link to this fascinating article. Turns out, studies show it takes at least ten thousand hours to truly master any skill. This got me thinking (with mirth, of course) about the various things to which, at twenty-eight years of age, I can truly claim mastery as defined by Malcom Gladwell.… [read more]

Having quite recently been a best man in a wedding and being currently at another wedding [at the drafting of this post], I feel I owe all of you my insight into how and how not to give a wedding toast.… [read more]

While I was in NYC last week, a salesman told me a story so good I had to share it. He explained how he’d been in New Orleans on a business trip at the same time that Southern Baptists were holding a large convention in the city.… [read more]

It’s been a heck of a week-and-a-half here. Let’s recap:

- Becky had a cyst the size of a small potato (we’ll call this a boil).
- Removing the tuber-sized growth required an incision and two days hospitalization.
- Then K got a cold.… [read more]

Friends:

With swine flu sweeping the globe, we’ve been encouraged to take reasonable precautions to make sure that we are not infected and to minimize the likelihood of spreading the disease if we are. My employer today sent out a document detailing the “Process to Prevent the Spread of Swine Flu.” Among the useful tips from my employer was one particularly sobering piece of advice (I am not making this up):

[This is a continuation of my previous post titled "Preaching to the Choir" and was originally posted to Xanga, a social network that effortlessly generated communities and deftly self-imploded.]

I was being facetious. I actually have a lot more to say about Xanga than my previous post’s pert penultimate paragraph.… [read more]

I am holding my four-month-old son, Joshua, and watching Obama on Leno. My son can stand up straight…so long as I hold his hands. He stands upright, his legs akimbo, and he gives me this huge grin like he’s done something absolutely fantastic.… [read more]

The world of technological change comes at you fast, and this is especially evident in the arena of web journalling or blogging. From AOL to homespun HTML (animated GIFs!) to GeoCities to Xanga to MySpace to Facebook to Twitter…and beyond! I don’t know why this is, but each of those technologies went from novel to awesome to the gold standard to a washed-up, outdated has-been within the span of an elephant’s gestation period.… [read more]