The Weekly Review: Vol VI Issue 7
Hello reviewers!
How are things in your part of the world? I’m enjoying the lack of snow in our yard and the raking and clean up that mark this time of year. The days are already long enough up here that I’m going to bed while the sun is still up.
And things are just starting to bloom, including the cottonwood trees (not shown in this image), which produces one of my absolute favourite smells. It’s the little things that make life so great.
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Items of note
Sam Hernandez doesn’t write all that often for his site. But when he does, he does it so very well. This time he’s sharing about his dog, his next dog, and becoming a dog lover.
I used to say goodnight to Bear every night. I’d hold his face in my hand and say in my best Texan accent, “Quite a wondrous creature you are, Bear, made by the hand of God himself, I swear. Go to sleep pretty boy.”
Sam does a great job of sharing his experiences, but he has a knack for dropping dollops of wisdom along the way. Like this one:
I’m fond of saying that you love what you love. I mean that you feel love for what you love on purpose, and you become a better person because you love on purpose rather than by some serendipitous accident.
Amen. Thanks for writing, Sam!
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Quote of the week
For infovores, text, in contrast to photos or videos or music, is the medium of choice from a velocity standpoint. There is deep satisfaction in quickly decoding the textual information, the scan rate is self-governed on the part of the reader, unlike other mediums which unfold at their own pace (this is especially the case with video, which infovores hate for its low scannability)
Eugene Wei, Invisible asymptotes
He’s talking about me!
A fascinating observation here. I’ve always preferred reading about how to do something over watching a video. As a customer success professional, I’m very mindful that different people learn and process information in different way.
But I’ve just never seen it articulated so well.
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Currently
Reading
I’ve slowly been making my way through Nicely Said , a book by Nicole Fenton focused on writing copy. It’s an easy read and one that might make a better reference guide than an enjoyable read.
Although I’m taking time to read it cover to cover, I see this as one I will reach for when wanting tips on a specific piece of work. Writing an email campaign, or UI copy, or a technical help doc all require a slightly different voice and approach. This book is laid out in such a way that you could easily scan outs that would be applicable to your current focus.
Watching
Confession time: I love Call the Midwife. My wife is an RN and a doula and has worked as a midwife’s assistant (and we had a midwife with all four of our children), so this was a show that was inevitably going to be playing in our home. But I loved it right away as well.
Like a lot of BBC offerings, everything is done so well. The characters, the subtlety of the English emotions, the period costume — all spot on. I much prefer this type of drama to the modern Marvel fascination.
CTM is not always easy to watch as the characterization of the period seems accurate. Life was not overly comfortable for most people and the show doesn’t shy away from that. But in the end, progress is made and things get better.
And, along the way, you fall in love with the characters.
Listening
I missed a bunch of new releases this spring, so I’ve been catching up a little. Band of Skulls and Shovels & Rope both have new albums — so far, not too bad.
But it’s an EP from Nils Frahm and some really long tracks on Moby’s Long Ambients Two (only six songs, but they clock in at 3 hours and 38 minutes) that have gotten me through the work days of late.
Drinking
I went through a stint where I wasn’t crazy about the Belgian beers. That has ended, thankfully. I’ve recently enjoyed Jongleur from Strange Fellows. It’s a crisp Wit beer (witbier) that goes down smooth and has just the right amount of spice. Perfect for sitting on the deck after a long day of working in the outdoors.
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Long conversations
Our church recently held a seminar with a guest speaker who specializes in a few topics dear to my heart. Specifically, parenting in our digital age, sexual orientation, and gender identity. It was an intense weekend that covered a lot of ground. And it was time well spent.
These kinds of topics can be hard to address — and can be hot button topics for a lot of people. But we need to talk about them, constantly, for our kids are growing up in a world far, far different than the one we grew up in.
I wanted to share a few of the key ideas that I took away from the session on parenting and technology.
- God is still in control
- God is for us
- God has called us
We don’t have to fear these things. While culture is changing greatly — good in some ways, bad in others — he is still a sovereign God. And he has called us to such a time as this.
It’s crucial to remember these points on any issue where we feel passionate as it’s far too easy to focus on our own efforts. Or worse, to feel like things are “going to hell in a hand basket”. And when it comes to facing how our culture is changing in regards to technology and sexual orientation and identity, the seminar speaker (Sid Coop) put it well:
There were no good ol’ days. They’re a myth!
It’s easy to look back and think, “Things were so much better when I was a kid.” But culture is not wrestling control away from God. Everything happens under his sovereign eye.
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding
Our session covered a lot of material and some good discussions. Our take-home was the following list:
- Think about technology in a Christian way
- Evaluate our (adults) personal use of technology
- Create and re-create boundaries for your family
- Delay smart phone / social media use (don’t get them phones before grade 9/10)
- Where appropriate, engage your kids in their digital world (text them)
- Teach discernment
- Invest in shared experiences and activities
- Make character development a priority
- Remember, relationships win
- Pray, like crazy
Some of my thoughts on this list:
- On 2: D’uh. Remove the speck in your own eye first, right? Of course, you don’t have to be perfect with your own usage before you set limits.
- On 3: You’re not going to get this right the first time. Or the second or third time. So it’s a good habit to talk about our screens and our habits using them over and over. And, as your kids grow and circumstances change, so too should your boundaries.
- On 4: There’s likely no perfect time as kids are all different. But grade 9/10 (14–15 years old) feels good to me. Our daughter was slightly younger and our son even more so. Looking back now, we’ll be waiting a little longer for the next (and precedent can be thrown out the window — again, the kids are all different).
- On 5: I can’t recommend this enough. We preach the value of face-to-face interaction as the best form of communication, but it’s important to interact with our kids with the tools they love as well. Example: my wife follows our daughter on Instagram and checks on her content regularly. We refrain from commenting though — we save that for IRL.
- On 7: This is so well said. Sid made the point that we can’t just take things away — like it or not, our kids social lives will run though these devices. If you choose to withhold, you have to replace it with something. Shared experiences are key.
It was reassuring to see from an expert that we’re already on a good track in our home. And back to the title of this section, it’s all about conversations. Lots of them and many of them long. I often have to battle my desire to just head to bed and instead engage in listening.
But they're worth it!