Saturday, June 19, 2010
11:50PM - Book Review: Shattered
Once again, I'm happy to be reviewing another book I received as part of the the blogger review program at Tyndale House Publishers. This time, it's Shattered: Struck Down, But Not Destroyed by Frank Pastore. Unlike other Tyndale titles I've reviewed in the past, this is not a Bible or a Bible commentary. It's more of a memoir. When I got the notification that this book was available, I was unfamiliar with the author and didn't know what the book was about, so I checked the write-up they had about it to see if I was interested.
Once I realized what it was, I knew I wanted this book -- it combines two of my favorite subjects: faith and baseball.
Wait! Don't tune me out if you don't care for baseball, because this is not a baseball book. It's not a book where the author reminisces about his glory days on the field and wonders what might have been. Yes, the thread of baseball runs throughout the book, but it definitely and easily takes second fiddle to the thread of faith.
To get a feel for the book, you need to know a little about the author. Frank Pastore used to be a baseball pitcher for the Reds, back in the late 70s and early 80s. By all accounts, he was a great pitcher. His career, however, was essentially ended in 1984 when he "caught" a hit ball with his pitching elbow, shattering it. He stayed in the game for a few more years, with his last MLB appearance being in 1986. Prior to his injury, Pastore was not a Christian. When he was injured, he was angry at God (a God he didn't believe in). After his injury, he came to a faith in Christ that continues to sustain him today. That's the short version. Pastore covers the longer version in the book.
It's a great read. Pastore doesn't try to sugar-coat his past, but he doesn't revel in it either, as I've noticed to be a trend in "personal witness" stories. He tells enough to lay sufficient groundwork to show how significant the change in his life was after his conversion to Christianity. He describes his conversion frankly -- a process more than an instant "change" -- and describes how he was able to reconcile faith and science/logic. Most impressively to me, he describes several challenges and apparent failures he faced early in his Christian walk -- including being betrayed by other Christians -- and how much that hurt.
This book is highly entertaining. It's not theologically deep, but there is enough real-world, practical theology in there to make you think a bit. If you're a Christian, it will probably remind you of parts of your conversion process. If you're not a Christian, it might give you some things to think about and encourage you to consider converting. It's not a baseball book, but if you're a baseball fan, there are enough baseball stories in there to make you think that it is. If you're not a baseball fan, there aren't so many stories to turn you off. Pastore really strikes a great balance with faith, baseball, and "real life" in this book. I finished it quickly, and wished there were more to read when I was done. I can't think of a higher compliment to give a book. I'm going to be lending it out to several of my friends who I know will enjoy it.
Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this product.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
12:58AM - Book Promo: Jesus Manifesto
Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola have written a new book -- Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ. I haven't read it yet, but I'm expecting to receive a free advance review copy from the publisher in the next couple of days. I'll write a review once I get a chance to read it, but wanted to mention it now because it's going to be on a one-day sale at amazon tomorrow (use the link above) for anyone interested. And you can see sample chapters on Google books and check out the official website.
I've only glanced at the sample chapters and heard a little bit on a few blogs so far, so I'm not really sure how much I'm going to enjoy the book. About a year and a half ago, I read and reviewed Viola's book Pagan Christianity, which I enjoyed but disagreed with. I wonder what I'll think after reading this one.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
9:46PM - Review: Cornerstone Biblical Commentary (1-2 Chronicles)
Thanks again to the blogger review program at Tyndale House Publishers, I've added another Bible Commentary to my library: 1-2 Chronicles (Cornerstone Biblical Commentary). This is part of a projected 18 volume series (not all volumes are available yet) covering the entire Bible, using the New Living Translation (NLT) as its basis. It's the 3rd such commentary that I've reviewed, the other two being the pastoral letters and Psalms and Proverbs. I've loved every commentary I've seen in this series, and Chronicles is no exception.
This is exactly the commentary I wish I had when I was teaching 1-2 Chronicles eight years ago. One of my favorite features in the Cornerstone series is the fact that the Bible text is presented right alongside the commentary. This makes it very easy to study when I don't have the desk space to spread out several books at once. Tyndale is keeping in line with the other volumes in the series by continuing to include the text and commentary together.
Before jumping in the text and commentary, Mark J. Boda provides a thorough introduction to the book as a whole, its place in Scripture, and its importance within the canon. To get a taste of Boda's writing style, read the introduction yourself. I found it to be appropriately scholarly while not being stand-offish. It's highly readable without sacrificing depth.
Like other volumes in the series, the main portion of the commentary is divided into three sections: Biblical text, textual notes, and commentary. The text is the NLT, which I become more happy with the more I read. The notes are more in-depth than notes typically found in study Bibles, and often deal directly with the original text, using both the Tyndale-Strong (an updated version of the Strong's system) and the Goodrick-Kohlenberger system. So if you you want to link your studies back to the original text, this commentary helps make it easy to do so. The commentary is well-written, informative, and sufficiently deep enough to both encourage thought in personal study and provide good background to use when preparing lessons and/or sermons.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who teaches the Bible.
Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this product.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
1:51PM - Open Letter To Winston-Salem Dash Baseball
Dear Winston-Salem Dash:
I've been to two home games at the new Winston-Salem Dash baseball stadium and I'm rather unimpressed. I love baseball, especially Minor League baseball, and I wanted to be impressed. I'm just not feeling it, especially when I compare the experience with the experience that the Greensboro Grasshoppers provides. It's a fair comparison -- the stadiums are similar, the level of play is similar, and I would expect the experience to be similar. There are some things you do well, and I'll talk about that later. First, let me describe areas where you can improve.
Parking and Traffic
OK, I know a lot of this is outside of your control, but getting around the ballpark near game time is insane. For the first game I attended, I spent a lot of time navigating one-way streets that didn't go the direction I wanted them to go. The streets were gridlocked. The lots were full. The traffic pattern around the stadium is confusing, inefficient, and difficult. Yesterday, I managed to avoid the traffic difficulties by arriving at the stadium 1 hour before the gates opened, 2 hours before the game started. A fan shouldn't have to arrive that early in order to avoid a hassle.
The Team Store
Seriously? The team store is squished in a tiny area next to the broadcast booth that would be better served as a closet. There's a single door to get in and out of the store, and there's not even enough room inside to keep the cash register. So, the single cash register is outside, which means the line queues up and quickly gets long enough to block the entrance/exit from the store. At least you had a fairly decent selection of merchandise yesterday. The lack of Dash merchandise available on Opening Day was simply embarrassing.
Concessions
The main concession stand is a perfect example of inefficiency. Last night, I think I stood in line for an entire inning, with only about six people in front of me at the peak. The man working behind the counter obviously did not want to be there, and was making no effort to help the customers beyond what was minimally required. I got a cheeseburger, a sausage dog, and a bottle of water. That's a pretty unwieldy order to carry and I had to specifically ask for a tray, which was given to me with a huge sigh and an eye roll. Not a good way to treat your customers.
Time-Warner Cable Promotion
This one's pretty specific, but it was particularly frustrating for me. Last night, I won the Time-Warner Cable promotion where the first ten fans to text a specific word to a phone number win a prize. I was one of the winners (as you can see from the screenshot from my phone). I wasn't in a rush to retrieve my prize since the message said I had until the end of the game and I didn't want to miss any of the action since the Dash were doing so well at the beginning of the game. A few innings later, I headed over to customer service to pick up my prize and was told by the nice lady in the booth that all the prizes were gone.
Obviously, there was some sort of mix-up with either the promotion sending too many "congratulations" text messages, or with the prize distribution handing out prizes to fans who didn't win. One of the fun things about Minor League baseball is the promotions, and I was really excited to have won a prize. Especially since I received a notification that I won, I wasn't going back to my seat without a prize. The lady at the booth was insistent that I was not a winner because I didn't get to the booth in time. I was pretty sure that the contest was just on the speed of text messaging, not also dependent on getting to the booth. It was obvious that the lady at the booth was not going to be able to give me a prize, so I asked to speak to someone in the promotions department about it. She called a nice man over, who quickly assessed the situation, saw the text message that said I was a winner, realized that all the prizes for that promotion were gone (I don't even know what the prize was supposed to be), and offered to give me a hat as a prize. I was cool with that, and he went off to get me a hat. He came back a few minutes later and gave me two hats and told me to give one to a friend. It was a really smart move, and helped erase the frustration I was feeling.
Whatever is going on with this promotion needs to be fixed. If you have 10 prizes to give away, make sure that you only send 10 congratulations text messages and make sure that you only give the prizes away to people who show the text message. This would have avoided the situation that happened last night when I arrived with a message saying I won, but all the prizes were gone. The other thing to do is empower the people working at the customer service booth to deal with issues like this without having to involve someone from the promotions department. I saw a box of hats behind the counter. If she had simply given me a hat when I showed my winning text message, I would have been none the wiser that they ran out of prizes. Sadly, it was obvious that the lady working at the customer service booth was not authorized to do something like that. Give your front-line, customer-facing employees the authority and resources to solve problems like this before they happen. Trying to retrieve my prize ended up in an ordeal that had me miss an entire inning and left me very frustrated.
Between-Inning Promotions In General
Here's the biggest disappointment. Your between-inning promotions are just generally lame. It's really sad. Except for the chopsticks game. That was pretty cool. But, in general, the energy just isn't there. The transitions between the baseball game and the between-inning entertainment is stilted. What's most confusing is that I'm used to these games to be tied to local businesses for promotional purposes. If there were any tie-ins with your games, they weren't memorable at all. The tire race should be sponsored by a local garage or tire shop. The chopstick game by a local chinese restaurant. The egg cracking game by ... um, OK, I don't know who should sponsor that one.
The biggest thing you can do to improve the entertainment is to get a unique personality to be in charge of presenting the between-inning festivities. The young lady who seemed to be in charge of that last night was great and had a good level of energy, but she didn't stand out from the other promotions people. Give her a different-colored shirt (or a team jersey), have some interaction between her and the ballpark announcer. Yeah, I know it sounds like I'm describing Spaz from the Greensboro Grasshoppers. They have a really good formula going there -- Spaz helps keep the fans engaged and really keeps the excitement up.
In fact, why don't you send your entire promotion department to a few Greensboro Grasshoppers games next time the Dash are away and the Hoppers are home? I really think you can learn a lot from how they do things in Greensboro.
What You Do Well
The ballpark itself is beautiful. I absolutely love that the seats next to the field are right at field level. Sitting down that close really draws you into the game. It's exciting. I see you've got an undeveloped area near the main gate and I assume you'll be building it up at some point. That's pretty cool. I love the concourse that lets you walk around the entire field. That's also pretty cool. I also like the TVs you have by the concession area. I was really happy to be able to keep an eye on the game while I was standing in line for my food.
I also love that you don't root though my backpack before letting me inside. I bring a camera, a scorebook, and sometimes a glove to the ballpark, meaning I've got a small backpack packed to go to the game. It's nice to just come inside without feeling like I'm going through a security checkpoint.
Final Thoughts
For most fans, a Minor League baseball game is about the overall experience. I know you're still working out the kinks in the new ballpark, but I think you have a lot of growing yet to do.
I'm glad to have made it to a couple of games so far. I bought a 7 game mini-plan, so I'll be back a few times this year. But I'm definitely not planning on buying a package next year. I'll probably make it out to a game or two in 2011, but until y'all improve the overall experience, Winston-Salem Dash baseball really isn't anything to get excited about.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
5:40PM - Hoppers Facebook Contest
The Hoppers are sponsoring a Facebook contest where the winner will have the opportunity to throw out a first pitch. I would totally love to do that, so I'm asking for your help!
If you use Facebook, go to the Hoppers page and "like" this photo of the Chad Cregar autograph I got on the April 12 game. It's the same picture included in this post. If you're not currently a fan on Facebook of the Hoppers, you will probably have to become a fan before you can like my photo. There are already some good pictures out there, and I expect there will be even more before the contest is over, so I can use all the help I can get. Thanks!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
10:08AM - ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
drmellow's Election Guide
Back in 2006, I wrote a voting guide that is still applicable today. Since today's Primary Election Day (at least in North Carolina), I figured I'd share my voting wisdom again. The way I see it, voting is an important part of the US political system, and it's a part that many people don't participate in, especially when it comes to primary elections.
For those of you who finding reading such an lengthy voting guide tedious, it can be summed up with the following two slogans:
- VOTE RANDOMLY!
- STAY HOME: VOTING IS TOO COMPLICATED!
For more details, here's the guide again:
Don't forget that in the US, today is Election Day. Make your voice be heard. Go vote. If you're an informed citizen and have already carefully chosen how you will vote, then I applaud you.
But what to do if you've made it all the way to Election Day and you haven't bothered to inform yourself about the issues and the candidates, or if you simply aren't sure how you should vote on a given issue or candidate? Then you're the person for whom I'm writing up this handy election guide.
First, don't worry if you're uninformed -- most Americans are completely uninformed, but that doesn't stop
a lotsome of them from voting! Why should you be any different? Such a small percentage of people come out to vote, anyway, so it keeps politicians on their toes when uninformed voters show up and vote in unpredictable ways. The important thing is to show up and vote.If you can spare just a little bit of time to research the candidates, your vote will be much more effective. Now, when I say "research," I'm not talking about finding all the information about where a candidate stands on various issues. I'm not even talking about finding out what the party affiliation is for any candidate. All I'm talking about is determining which candidates are incumbents -- that is, which candidates are currently holding office. Once you determine that, be sure not to vote for any incumbents. I don't care how good you might think your current representative is, the fact is that all government stinks, at every level, and the easiest way to change that is get everyone who's currently in office out.
What if you don't want to do the research to determine who's the incumbent? That's OK, too -- you still have two different methods you can choose to systematically make an uninformed decision. The first method involves voting "party line" or "straight ticket" and is very popular. The idea is to decide which of the two major political parties you hate the most and to vote for candidates that belong to the other party. Personally, I don't see much difference between the Republicrats and the Democans, so I'm not really sure how to advise you on choosing which party to vote against. I'm told that one of the parties likes to raise taxes to make sure that everyone is poor and the other party likes to poison the environment. *shrug* I guess you could just flip a coin to determine which party to vote against if you wanted to. The second method you can use to systematically make an uninformed vote is to always vote against both major parties. There are lots of third-party candidates out there, and they're all equally as crazy, so you pretty much can't go wrong with them. The disadvantage of this technique is that not all races include third-party candidates, so you might have to resort to a different method of casting your vote.
Often, you have the opportunity for a complete wild-card vote -- the write-in option. This option allows you to cast your vote for someone who did not care enough about running for office to actually file any election-related material. Write-in candidates rarely win, but choosing to cast a write-in vote allows you to have a little fun -- you can write in your own name, or the name of one of your friends, for example. As a bonus, the election counters really get a kick out of keeping up with all of the various people who get written in, so if you decide to cast a write-in vote, you might just make some government worker's day a little brighter.
The other decision you might have to make is how to vote on bond issues. This one is easy -- always vote "NO" on any bond issue. The reason to always vote "NO" is because bond issues always result in raising your taxes. No one wants higher taxes, so no one should vote for a bond. Actually, there is an exception to this rule. The taxes that are affected by bond issues are property taxes, so if you don't own real estate (if you rent an apartment, e.g.), your taxes wouldn't be raised by bond issues passing, so it's OK to vote "YES" on a bond issue if you want -- since you're not paying property taxes, you don't care if they get raised. It's not like it affects your rent or anything.
OK,
Or, you can stay home like most people are going to do today anyway.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
11:03PM - Review: The Red Letters Project - Book Of Matthew
Tyndale has an interesting product coming out in June called The Red Letters Project. It's a set of 3 CDs, 40 tracks, that put the words of Christ to music. Rock music. When I first heard about it, I was skeptical. I feared the music would be cheesy. I wondered how they were going to manage to put the NLT translation to music without it sounding terrible. I was curious. Especially since I've been working more with the youth at church, which appears to be one of the target demographics for this product, I requested a review copy so I could see what it was about.
Here's how Tyndale describes the project:
The Red Letters Project is an electrifying performance of rock music based on the words of Jesus from the Book of Matthew in the New Living Translation. This dynamic, one-of-a-kind listening experience features 40 tracks-both sung and narrated. The Red Letters Project is an excellent gift for teens, young adults, lovers of God's Word, and music fans. A unique alternative to spoken-word audio Bibles, The Red Letters Project was produced by entertainment-industry legend Russ Regan, a committed Christian who envisions this as his legacy project.
When the CDs arrived, I really didn't know what to expect. The packaging was slick, but didn't give a good idea of what was inside. The liner notes consist of minimal credits for each song at the end of a booklet that contains the entire text to the book of Matthew. One cool part about the booklet is that it shows you were each song draws its text from. But, other than that, there were really no clues as to what I'd hear when I put the CDs in.
I'm happy to say that I think they pulled it off. The music doesn't sound cheesy. Some of the songs remind me of U2, some remind me of southern rock, some remind me of R&B. This music sounds closer to what I think of when I think of secular music than what I think of when I think of "contemporary Christian" music. It's nice that there are several different styles represented, so there should be something for everyone. The words work well with the music, which is especially impressive since they stuck with the NLT rendition, without reworking it fit a predefined meter or rhyming scheme.
I've listened to the entire collection a couple of times now. The first time I listened to it piecemeal, a few songs at a time. The second time, I was able to listen to the entire collection straight through. It works well both ways. Listening to the whole collection straight through gives you a good overview of Jesus' ministry as recorded in Matthew. But since the songs aren't otherwise linked, it's nice to be able to listen to a song by itself.
If you enjoy rock music, you'll enjoy the music. If you're cool with the NLT, you'll enjoy the lyrics. If you like your Scripture spoken instead of sung, you're not going to enjoy this.
You know what? The easiest way to decide if you'll enjoy this or not is to listen to some samples. The project has a website that appears to still be under construction in some areas (there are no tour dates yet, no videos, etc.), but does have audio available for three of the tracks: Fish For People, You Fed Me, and I Was Hungry. They also have links to their YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter pages.
Would teens like it? I think so. I'm going to lend the CDs to a couple of the youth at church and get their opinion on it. Look for a follow-up post when I get their feedback.
I'm definitely a fan. I'll probably listen to it a few times a month, in the background while I'm working. I can also see this being used as part of a youth Bible Study or in a worship setting.
Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this product.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
9:54AM - How "Work" Works
Everyone says that Scott Adams always nails some aspect of their job perfectly. 'Cause he does.
Last week, his script described exactly my situation at work (I'm Dilbert, in the 3rd panel):
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
9:46AM - Pollen Haiku
The air is gritty.
Everything is yellow, green.
Antihistamine!
Coming back from beautiful Costa Rica to pollen-laden North Carolina is quite a shock to my system.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
1:10PM - Tyndale Breakthrough To Clarity Contest
Tyndale is running a contest that can win you Bibles and a trip to Hawaii. I entered last week.
Check it out:
The New Living Translation Break Through to Clarity Bible Contest and Giveaway
Visit www.facebook.com/NewLivingTranslation and click on the tab that says “Sweepstakes”
Fill out a simple form, take a quick Bible clarity survey, invite your friends to join and you’ll be entered to win one of our exciting prizes.
With each fan number milestone a new prize will be given away.
Grand Prize
Apple iPad 64G and a Life Application Study Bible
Awarded when the NLT Fan Page hits the fifth milestone
Retail Value: $829.00
2nd Prize - Already awarded
32G iPod Touch and a Life Application Study Bible
Awarded when the NLT Fan Page hits the fourth milestone
Retail Value: $300.00
3rd Prize – Will be awarded when fan count hits: 3500
Kindle DX and a Life Application Study Bible
Awarded when the NLT Fan Page hits the third milestone
Retail Value: $489.00
4th Prize Will be awarded when fan count hits: TBD
Apple iPad 16G and a Life Application Study Bible
Awarded when the New Living Translation Fan Page hits the second milestone
Retail Value: $499.00
5th Prize Will be awarded when fan count hits: TBD
Apple iPad 32G and a Life Application Study Bible
Awarded when the NLT Fan Page hits the first milestone
Retail Value: $599.00
Prize Eligibility – Recently updated to include more countries
Sweepstakes participants and winner(s) can be U.S. residents of the 50 United States, or residents of any country that is NOT embargoed by the United States, but cannot be residents of Belgium, Norway, Sweden, or India. In addition, participants and winner(s) must be at least 18 years old, as determined by the Company.
Sweepstakes Starts
March 17, 2010 @ 10:24 am (PDT)
Sweepstakes Ends
April 30, 2010 @ 10:24 am (PDT)
Wait, there’s more!
Visit biblecontest.newlivingtranslation.com/index.php for a chance to win a trip for two to Hawaii!
Here are the details:
Choose one of six passages of Scripture from the New Living Translation and consider:
How do these verses encourage you to know God better?
What is God teaching you in this passage?
How does this passage apply to your life?
Submit your answer and you’ll be entered to win.
Just for signing up: Everybody Wins! Win a Free .mp3 download from the NLT’s new Red Letters Project. It’s the dynamic, new presentation of the sung and narrated words of the Gospel of Matthew. You win the download just for entering! Or choose to download the NLT Philippians Bible Study, complete with the Book of Philippians in the NLT.
Every day, one person will win the best-selling Life Application Study Bible!
The grand prize: One person will win a fantastic trip for two to the crystal clear waters of the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu’s North Shore in beautiful Hawaii.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
11:57PM - Church Fathers Day 26: St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 51-60
I'm using a plan that has me reading through 10 of the Church Fathers during Lent this year. Today was St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 51-60.
It's starting to get hard for me to keep up with the adventures of Anthony. He seems to be acting in an advisory role of sorts now, dispensing wisdom and healing to those who come to him.
I'm sure I'll get a better understanding of this whole writing the next time I read it.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
10:13PM - Church Fathers Day 25: St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 41-50
I'm using a plan that has me reading through 10 of the Church Fathers during Lent this year. Today was St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 41-50.
OK, in Chapter 41, Anthony describes a conversation he had with Satan. The more I read, the less believable this becomes. More and more, Anthony sounds like a mythical superhero than a real person. And now, in Chapter 45, he quits talking and goes back to his cell. I really was enjoying the first part, where there was more of a plot, but I'm beginning to realize that I was enjoying it because it sounded like an epic story.
Then, in Chapter 47, he seems to decide to neglect personal hygiene:
And his discipline was much severer, for he was ever fasting, and he had a garment of hair on the inside, while the outside was skin, which he kept until his end. And he neither bathed his body with water to free himself from filth, nor did he ever wash his feet nor even endure so much as to put them into water, unless compelled by necessity.At least we're back in a narrative portion. I'd like to see how the story progresses.
12:46AM - Church Fathers Day 24: St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 31-40
I'm using a plan that has me reading through 10 of the Church Fathers during Lent this year. Today was St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 31-40.
More discussion on demons, kinda like yesterday.
Monday, March 15, 2010
11:38PM - Church Fathers Day 23: St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 21-30
I'm using a plan that has me reading through 10 of the Church Fathers during Lent this year. Yesterday was St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 21-30.
I miss the narrative that the previous several days' readings had. Anthony is now teaching those who are around him. Today's reading is Anthony's description of demons and the ways of demons. It was pretty interesting.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
9:57PM - Church Fathers Day 22: St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 11-20
I'm using a plan that has me reading through 10 of the Church Fathers during Lent this year. Yesterday was St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 11-20. I fell behind again and am working to catch up. This catches me up since there are no readings on Sunday.
The story continues and Anthony goes out to live alone in an abandoned fort in the desert, where he lives for 20 years! When he emerged from the fort, he was amazing -- he was in good health, even though he had subsisted on only bread and water for those 20 years, he healed many people, both physically and spiritually. He was able to pass through crocodile-infested waters without harm.
I'm definitely enjoying this set of readings, since it reads like a story.
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