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Change In The Plate
I was in church the other day, and a little something occurred to me. It was offering time, and there was this little girl going down the pew with the collection plate. I think, way back when, I probably did that a few times. Anyway, I noticed that as she was coming my way, her…
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Games Are A Wonderful Tool In Language Study
I remember well those days when I was getting into the upper-intermediate areas of Japanese, and even getting ready to take the JLPT. I was looking for a way to take my learning up a notch and boost my enthusiasm at the same time. I found it in something I’ve always loved: video games. As…
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Quality Or Regularity?
I’m trying to write an item a week to this blog. Even on bad weeks, I want to stick to this, on principle. But at the same time, I also want to avoid writing things that aren’t worth reading. I don’t want filler posts. But if nothing else, I can’t compromise on getting the average…
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Insecurity About Piety
I got a confession to make. Sometimes, I feel insecure about my piety. And I bet I’m not the only one. Sometimes, it feels uncomfortable being around somebody who’s more outwardly pious than you. It can make you feel inadequate. It can make you feel like you’re being judged. The opposite is true too. Sometimes,…
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State Of The Blog February 2024
I thought I’d write up some observations about how the blog has been going, and things I could be doing better. The blog still lacks visual punch. I think a good banner would make a substantial difference. Also, I should probably strive to add a picture to every post where it would make sense. Also,…
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Be Dependable For Your Own Sake
It’s good to have people you can depend on. It’s reassuring. I think the vast majority of us prefer the company of people who actually follow through and do what they say they will. The people who won’t leave you high and dry by failing to do something. But you know what? That list of…
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Cloud Services Need A Backup Plan
I like online services as much as the next guy. There are all kinds, offering all sorts of goodies. Language study, streaming content, online classes, etc. It’s hard to imagine life without them. However, I remember learning the hard way that an online service can change its terms at any time, or even simply die,…
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My Favorite News Sources
Last time, I gave some advice on how to find credible news sources. Continuing on from that, I’d like to share my personal favorite news sources, as of 2024. The Christian Science Monitor The Christian Science Monitor is one of my favorite news sources. They go out of their way to cover things in a…
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Four Rules of Thumb For Credible News
Sometimes it can be hard to know where to go for trustworthy news. And I’m not going to lie, there aren’t really any easy answers. But I do have some rules of thumb. Rule 1: Do not watch news. Read it! People read news to be informed. They watch it to be entertained. Don’t believe…
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Why Study A Foreign Language
Learning a foreign language is a lot of work, no doubt. And sometimes, it’s easy to get discouraged about the idea. You might ask, with the continuing rise of automated translation, is there much point? I’m here today to emphatically say “YES”. And for many reasons. One reason is, automated translation is nowhere near the…