With the new year I was ready for a change to my site. I switched to a new, more minimal black and white theme, simplified the main navigation, and added all of the site pages to the footer to make them more discoverable than they were before.
Golgotha: Turning Misogi Into a Christian Spiritual Discipline
I am introducing a new spiritual discipline I’ve created for myself called Golgotha. It is a modified version of Misogi, a once‑a‑year, 50/50‑chance‑of‑success challenge with the tongue‑in‑cheek rule ‘don’t die’”, adapted to incorporate Christian reflection and prayer.
Earlier this week, I came across a podcast episode with a clickbait-y title, obviously intended to capitalize on the self-improvement aspirations that accompany the transition to a new year. It was this episode of the “My First Million” podcast: If you want a rich life, watch this before 2026.
Here’s an example of poor design from the YouVersion browser app. Snackbar notifications should not stack on each other, otherwise you get this and the screen becomes non interactive… Their mobile app does not trigger these snack bar notifications, so the experience is much better than in the browser.
Reading this makes me want to vibe code my own bookshelf.
Reading as an antidote to screen time
The author of Reading Cannot Be Replaced, Here’s Why gave words to the hollow feeling I have after sitting in front of a screen for too long:
Then, it occurred to me that the feeling wasn’t sadness per se, but a crash from being overstimulated.
A crash. Screens evoke the neurological equivalent of a sugar rush. Or at least it feels that way.
This reminded me that for a short period of time, I was so fed up with screens that I started printing articles in 8 point font.
A Jersey Mike’s just opened down the road from our house. I placed my first order at the new location today, and was delighted to discover that the Jersey Mike’s website is awesome! You can tell they put a lot of care into the user experience. Adding an item to the “bag” (cart) is very satisfying. A little image of the item flies over to the bag and disappears inside while the bag bounces up and down. Do they need those animations? No. But it makes for a delightful little ordering experience. Well done Jersey Mike’s.
Interesting write up from a 16 year old that discovered a major cross-site scripting vulnerability impacting companies including X and Discord:
The discussion on Hacker News helps to explain the impact.
Why is it that when I try to get ice out of my fridge, it goes painfully slow? But when I accidentally have it set to ice instead of water and I try to fill a small cup with water, suddenly 37 cubes of ice come out at once and fly across the floor?
This is a great exploration of the sizes of different forms and building blocks of life. With gorgeous illustrations! neal.fun/size-of-l…
me: *making breakfast for my family this morning *
wife: Daddy’s making us breakfast because he’s a saint.
daughter: No, he’s not a saint. He’s just a yucky guy.
me and wife: 😲😲🤣🤣