Each of us is marked by the memories of words spoken to us.

Alastair Begg on the power of words: 

Each of us is marked by memories of words spoken to us. Perhaps we reflect on the joy of a child's first words or still feel the bitterness of a friend's hurtful words. From our earliest days, we learn how to use words both to bring harm and to bring gladness. King Solomon was right: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21).

Lake Street Dive!

I discovered Lake Street Dive through their interview with David Remnick in the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm a huge fan. My favorites: Hypotheticals, and Shame, Shame, Shame.  They have such great song titles! Their songs make me so happy that I listen to them early in the morning on my way to work, or after-lunch commuting, or late night drives back home. 

I’ve been playing out a lot of hypotheticals in my mind
I’ve been writing your name down next to mine
Been imagining all the things you and I could do oo oo


I’ve seen all the possibilities in my dreams
You’re alone when you should really be next to me
Baby, let’s not wait and see

I played the song to my mother, who said, "Nami man. Pero daw kabudlay kantahon."

My Kindle Oasis

I don't want to describe my feelings toward the Oasis as "love-hate" but that's the most concise, accurate, and precise way to capture my sentiments. It's a near-perfect device, if not for the lousy battery that I have to recharge every one or two days—that, with the wifi and bluetooth turned off, and the lights at level 13. Compare that with my trusted Kindle Paperwhite, whose battery lasts me weeks. I loaned the Paperwhite to my mother, who now uses it to read John Calvin's The Institutes. 

I'm reading The Best Short Stories 2023: The O. Henry Prize Winners edited by Lauren Groff. I discovered this collection because I'd just read The Haunting of Hajji Hotak by Jamil Jan Kochi in The New Yorker. Terrific storytelling. Now a fan, I looked him up and discovered that his story appears the 2023 O. Henry anthology. My favorites in that collection so far include Dream Man by Cristina Rivera Garza, The Locksmith by Grey Wolf LaJoie, Happy Is a Doing Work by Arinze Ifeakandu, Elision by David Ryan, and Xífù by K-Ming Chang. 

Now, where is my charger?