August 2023 Top Ten

1.

For book club we read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I was interested to see how Arthur Conan Doyle would tell mysteries in such a short medium (there are 12 stories), and I was pleasantly surprised.

2.

This video of Ryan Trahan visiting the restaurants in the U.S. with the lowest Yelp ratings is hilarious and wholesome.

3.

I re-read the little book Art and the Bible by Francis Schaeffer. This quote stuck with me this time through: “An art work can be a doxology in itself.”

4.

My 4 year old son Milo wanted to watch the Veggietales classic “The Toy that Saved Christmas” about a toy with a buzzsaw attached to his arm (which is brilliant). So, of course, I made him a cardboard buzzsaw for his arm.

5.

Turn this up at your Labor Day party celebration and have yourself a good time. Standouts include “Sweet Child of Mine” and “The Final Countdown.”

6.

I read the epic poem The Divine Comedy, Vol. 1 The Inferno by Dante. It’s meandering and historically specific and allegorically transcendent. I enjoyed it. I think a big part of me enjoying it was reading the Penguin Classics edition with translation and notes by Mark Musa. Highly reccomend.

7.

I also read Worldly Saints: The Puritans As They Really Were by Leland Ryken and learned a lot. Glad I read it.

8.

I’ve been listening to this little EP from Passenger again. I love it.

9.

I’ve been watching a lot of baseball. Mostly the Orioles. They’re a lot of fun. It’s been a fun season. Hoping they can keep it all together for the playoffs.

10.

If medieval classic rock isn’t your thing, maybe 90’s grunge lofi is? Wonderwall absolutely slaps.