I’m trying out a new featurette here, not as though I need another category of posts. SWYW has problems with focus, as it is. A few months ago I wrote about my harmless addiction to sunflower seeds. From time to time I think I just need to get some stuff off my chest. So here we go, Confession #1 …

Last week I wrote about some lessons I took from The Hunger Games. It’s interesting how we often ignore what hits close to home, like when listening to a sermon or when reading Scripture or even my own blog post. … Initially, I’d written, “We litter the landscape with yesterday’s gadgets …” but decided not to go in that direction.

The stylist, whatever his name is, depicted for me some of the Capital characters in The Hunger Games. In my previous post, I wrote about how I’d gotten sucked into the young adult fiction trilogy. I read an interview with the author, who was asked if she could envision a post-apocalytpic America, where the capital city harshly rules over district cities, as in the book. To answer the question offered her, I believe this already exists, though differently …

See, I have a couple story ideas. Basic plotlines and characters for two different novels. However, I’ve not dabbled in fiction in quite a long time. Really, not since high school English class. The same could be said of composing. I was prolific in high school. I’d sit in class and write lyrics, which I’d set to music later at home. Now, none of it was any good, but at least I was exercising that creative muscle.

It’s said that Mozart at an early age—not sure when but later than five, when he started composing—had to choose on which instrument he would focus his efforts, violin or piano. Perhaps because he was more of a perfectionist than I am, he decided on one instrument, whereas lately I’ve preferred guitar, even the electric over acoustic.

When you’re used to reading fake news, sometimes you forget what’s real. I discovered The Onion, America’s Finest News Source, awhile back. Because the iPad app looks similar to other news apps, it’s easy to confuse real news with made-up news. The Onion is sort of like “Weekend Update” on SNL, which I haven’t seen in a long time.

Not much of a player in his nine years in the Bigs, Papa Garagiola found a home in the broadcast booth, where his warm, folksy demeanor these days makes you feel like your grandpa is sitting next to you, calling the game. Except unlike my grandfather, Garagiola shares first-hand stories of old timers like Yogi Berra and Stan Musial.

Once a week or so I’m given a reminder—a gift, really—of how much I can be a jerk. I’m sure there are other opportunities for me to realize this, but I’m too self-absorbed to notice them.

We probably could have used more adequate ventilation up there, because it always smelled like Doritos and farts, which one of us constantly tried to combat with his potent vanilla candles. It was a lot like a dorm room, really. Although, we could have used a mini-fridge. And maybe a couch. We had a lot of fun. But it was sometimes a difficult working environment, since we were constantly interrupting each other. … What would you want to update automatically?

Early this year I wrote, as a part of my Making Change series, about Lose It!, the online/iPhone app to help with losing weight. I wanted to update you on my progress and make a different recommendation. … In early spring, I began looking for something else, something that incorporated workouts, because I was tiring of the same gym routines. I found dailyburn.com and its accompanying iPhone app. I definitely recommend Daily Burn over Lose It! now.