I was at Chipotle recently, one of my favorite restaurants. I was going to say, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, but I don’t really consider it to be Mexican food. Probably because I usually get the “burrito bowl,” since I don’t like their tortillas.

At my church, a Brethren denomination that has German Baptist roots, we hold an annual council meeting every October. These are mostly business meetings for the election of committee chairs and such, as well as for the approval of the next year’s budget. Each of us pastors is expected to give a brief summary of our particular ministry. I’ll never forget the meeting in 2010.

I’ve taken to carrying what I call a man bag. Like Seinfeld’s “European carry-all,” I carry just about anything I need in it. Sounds like a purse? Well, you’d be mistaken, my friend. This is no purse. It’s simply a downsized version of the computer backpack I used to lug around.

I’ve written a little about fitness and dieting and my different approaches. There is one method of dieting that if I employed it would work every time. It’s to do something creative. There have been times when I’ve been so focused on something creative that I go without eating. I don’t even feel hunger until I pause my work. This happens with artists, scientists, and probably other professions. (We also sometimes go without attending to hygiene.)

I keep little Snickers bars in my office. Not the fun size ones. The minis are not nearly as fun. But they do hit the spot after lunch or for a post-rehearsal snack. I have the regular ones and the newer almond variety, which reminds me a lot of Mars bars. I always liked those as a kid, but they were smaller than the average candy bar. Almonds, I’ve come to learn, are more expensive than peanuts, which likely explains the difference in volume. To a kid, the size of a candy bar is as important as its taste.

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.

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.

After I graduated high school, I worked for a summer at a small restaurant called Chateau Basque, which was like a little piece of Europe in a Wild West town known for its territorial prison that held such outlaws as stage coach and train robbers. Chateau Basque’s owners were just as historically interesting. They were an eccentric, 60-something couple—she from Great Britain and he from the Basque region nestled in southern France and northern Spain.

It’s been some time since I’ve recommended a movie. Either because I’m not very knowledgeable concerning the art of filmmaking or because I just haven’t seen many recently. It might be both. Last weekend, Cindy and I got away from the kids for an evening, and we took in Water for Elephants. I’d read the book last fall. Well, sort of. I’d listened to the audiobook. We arrived a little early, even after stopping at Kroger for some Red Vines. Now, sneaking in snacky contraband could very well be a sin, but we reasoned that the movie theater only carries Twizzlers, a far inferior licorice product. We still dropped $11 on root beer and popcorn and $20 for the tickets.

I’m quite unfamiliar with liturgical churches. I’ve been to a couple Catholic weddings, one of which was in Spanish (not that I understood much of the one in English), and one Lutheran service, but that’s about it. At a Methodist church where I served briefly, I did lead worship for an Ash Wednesday service, though I was too busy playing to see how they do that whole ash thing. Is it supposed to be in the shape of a cross? Could I make a smiley face for the boys? Would that be irreverent? Are they too young anyway?