Brands

On the way home from a Target run this evening, the thought ran through my mind: "What brands define my purchases?" There's a short list of restaurants, stores and labels that vie for my disposable income. I like to think that it's a matter of personal preference and value rather than marketing, but I have to question from time to time why I prefer New Balance to Nike and Colgate to Crest. What are your brands? Why?

Mixing business with pleasure

This sounds like a dumb phrase to me. Isn't the problem usually mixing pleasure with business?

Slack, but that's how it goes

Soerry for the long delay, but that's how blogging is sometimes...

Christian = Theologian?

It's an old question but relevant to this blog. Should all Christians at some level be theologians?

Memory

Why do people remember the things that they do? Why do some people remember more than others? If you could choose to retain more information, would you? Would you want to remember everything?

Maturity

I witnessed a keg stand while passing through a tailgate at the football game this weekend. Over my shoulder I heard someone say, "That guy has kids!" Apparently, maturity, responsibility and age are all very different things.

Entitlement

There's plenty to be said about this topic and the trouble it causes, but I've been confronted by overwhelming doses of it from a particular group of users at work. I would categorize it as a "How dare you tell me to..." approach to policy. People have rights, and beyond that priveleges, but some feel that their right to demand extends beyond this into areas of other's responsibilities.

The least of these

Who are the poor? More specifically, who are the poor that Jesus has commanded me to reach out to and help? Scripture seems to take my resposibility to them very seriously and expects me to do the same, but where do I start?

Growing Up

There are times when I wonder how much it matters that there are certain parts of me that have yet to be stretched and grown by the duties of marriage and parenting. Then other times I stop wondering because I recognize that I'm being grown and stretched by independence in ways that married people can't be. Both are good; both are tough.

What is middlemann essays about?

Often times, when I think, I want to write. Usually they're little thoughts - sometimes a part of a larger whole, but sometimes not. Most of them are thoughts I'd put down without any sort of audience. In fact middlemann essays wasn't public for the first few months; I just found Blogger to be an easy medium for this. These posts are different from my other blog because they're really just stubs. Some of them I may come back to, others I may not, but my hope is to capture snapshots of thoughts and see if anyone has ideas or reactions to add.

New content

The best way to keep people coming back to a web site is to provide fresh, interesting content. Are people the same way? Are we drawn to spending time with people who provide us with fresh, interesting content and bored by those who don't?

Sick Time

Knowing what they know, I wonder if Epidemiologists take more sick time than other people.

Coping

It seems like everyone utilizes coping mechanisms of some sort. They may range from benign to life threatening, but whether it's smoking, eating, napping or drinking, what is it that "takes the edge off" or restores some sense of balance? Is it a feeling of control? An escape?

Mistakes

It fascinates me to hear certain people talk about the mistakes they've made in life when in fact they've worked out pretty well. I don't mean the guy that gets strung out on drugs and goes through a painful recovery from addiction in order to hold down a job at a restaurant. I'm talking about the guy who works 80 hours a week and doesn't spend enough time with his kids. Then when he retires at age 50 and has $25M under his belt, he realizes his mistake and decides that from now on he'll have a better relationship with his family. Since he's retired it's pretty easy to find the time, and money is no object when it comes to family vacations. So the family all bonds and forgives Dad of his shortcomings, and he's the grandkids' favorite guy to have around. So what's the take home lesson of a mistake like that?

JT - Master of the Obvious

While reading CNN.com, I read a quote by Justin Timberlake about his past relationship with Britney Spears:

"If two famous people are dating each other, what I've found and I could be wrong, but just in my personal experience, if you're not going to get married, then you're breaking up," he said. "It's one or the other."

Interestingly though, this seems to hold true for non-famous people as well. Stunning.

Audio Bible

I bought and audio Bible last week and it's opened up some new options for how scripture interacts with my daily life. Besides its convenience though, I wonder if there is a different power in the spoken Word of God as opposed to personal silent reading.

Gift vs Discipline

When I see someone excelling in a particular area, it's hard to know sometimes what is a gift and what is a discipline. ie: do they come by it natually or was it earned. People have different gifts that make things easier for them. I recognize that some gifts are not well excercised and therefore don't develop. On the other hand, hard work doesn't make up for everything. Maybe the real question is when I see people doing the things that I wish I were good at, when do I aspire to match them and when should I recognize that I never could.

Motivation

Being a software developer and working with others, I'm recognizing that all you have to do sometimes to get something moving is to tap the developer's curiosity of whether it can be done. If it feels innovative, the developer will spend his own time trying to figure it out and proudly deliver the result.

Emergents

Perhaps the biggest thing that bothers me about the emergent movement are the guys that just want to make me think. They define themselves as undefined and want to shock me and jar me from my comfortable worldview. They are indiscriminate, wielding arguments with no intention of committing to them.

Home owner

I called myself a homeowner and was corrected by someone who told me that very few Americans are homeowners since the bank really owns the home. Fine. I guess I'm an equity-builder then. Still beats renting in my opinion.

Travel

I like traveling. Well, I guess I like being other places. I'm not such a big fan of traveling, especially when airline security is involved.

Choices

Perfectionism makes decision making pretty tough. Think about it; it's a lot of pressure when you're trying to make a perfect decision. Never mind the fact that you will not have all of the information that you'd like upfront and you can't be guaranteed of the consequences. Whether it's the lettuce wraps vs. the Chinese chicken salad or Atlanta vs. L.A., choices get harder when we feel responsible for the perfect one. What if neither choice is perfect. What if both are just good?

I don't know

I used to hate word problems in 4th grade. My mind would sort of freeze up at them. At the end you would have to answer questions, and there would often be an option that said "Not enough information". Most of my word problems in life fall into this category.

Inertia

Inertia seems to be a good paradigm for an understanding of how we work. When we're moving we keep moving and when we're not, it takes a push to get us there. This seems significant for a few reasons. I've wondered before why I seem to be so much more productive when I've got lots of other things happening. The reality is that as I get busier, I literally move into a different gear that allows me to get more done. When I'm less busy, small things seem to be more effort, and I'm generally less motivated to do much.

Busy is cool

Ask anyone how they're doing and besides fine, you'll get one other answer, "busy". This happens most of the time at work where busy-ness is a measure of importance in the workplace. Most of us probably are busy - there's a lot to do, but the expectation and perceived value of busy-ness is what I find interesting. I don't know anyone who likes to be overwhelmed, but I know a lot of people who like to talk about it. I don't know anyone at work who would tell me that their workload is very reasonable. Instead, everyone is busy.