Goodnight, Goodbye
I’m hopeful about the future. I’ve been trying to learn from my mistakes and grow as a person. To be more dependable. To be more forgiving. To love more.
Paul (’10) lives in Grand Rapids with his wife, Emma (’10), and cat, HandsomeMarcoCat. He loves board games, Babylon 5, and honey-curry chicken. Everything else is negotiable.
A Christian Teenager’s Guide to Resisting Temptation
To the Church’s credit, I did not have premarital sex as a teenager. But there was also a lot of damage done.
Manly Tears
I didn’t out and out start crying, but I teared up as I lifted her to my shoulder. And I held her so close. And I had never been happier as a dad.
Songs for My Daughter
Songs that remind me of her, that bring me peace, that I hope will inspire her.
Portrait of a Recovering Alcoholic
482 days.
Waiting
The professor is droning on and on, and I am waiting with adrenaline, caffeine, and the brutal lyrics of Peter Dolving coursing through my veins.
The Expectant Father
To be an expectant father is to realize your own inadequacies.
Ending | Beginning
My daughter will be here at the end of February. I am a mix of emotions.
I Want to Believe: Conspiracy Theories and Trump
If you look at any conspiracy website, this is essentially the narrative you will find.
Artprize 9: A Retrospective
Before even stepping foot downtown I basically knew what art I would find where and what would be in the Top 20.
Ruminations on Love and Marriage
As a young teenager, I always assumed that once you got married, you and your partner just sort of…stayed the same.
Losing Something That Was Never Really Ours
When my wife told me she was pregnant, it was the most surreal experience of my life.
Fad Diets, Pseudoscience, and Snakeoil
Faced with the incontrovertible decay of my body, I did what any aging millennial does—turn to the pseudoscience of the age and go on a cleanse.
On Strong, Badass Women
2. Gwen Stefani (No Doubt)
It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
One of our neighbors is a nosy elderly lady named Linda. I love Linda.
Fragments, Detritus, and Half-Scribbled Thoughts
I have so many half-baked ideas rattling around in my brain, interesting websites bookmarked for inspiration, words and sentences hastily scrawled on Post-It Notes.
The Theater of Protest
Their shouts of “white power!” were countered by our shouts of “Nazi pigs have got to go!” At the end of the day, nothing really happene
The Biggest Sucker in Budapest
Don’t look back, keep walking, project confidence, don’t run, keep calm, almost there, almost there, almost there – RUN! Lose yourself in the crowd!
A Definitive Ranking of Chopped Judges
It is truly the judges who shine brightly on this program. So, here is the definitive ranking of the judges from best to worst (as well as a few remarks on their fashion sense).
Lying to Children (Is Easy and Fun)
Kids are insanely gullible. They will believe literally anything you tell them.
Election Day
Russians, emails, and lies (oh my!)
It’s All a Leap of Faith
I believe some things because it is easier than wrestling with the hard questions.
(My agnosticism is a cop out.)
Tales from the Third Shift
Third shift at a hotel is a unique experience. I get to see the raw, unvarnished self of people. The truth behind their public façade.
Faded Memories
I technically shouldn’t have graduated—you were only allowed a total of twenty excused absences in a year, and I had something like thirty-five my senior year.
Songs for the Soul
Spending weeks dealing with a really messed up world and a debilitating weakness have made me really depressed. So, I did the only thing I could to raise my spirits—I made a mixtape.
Acts of Faith, Acts of Choice
Captain America: The Winter Soldier actually raises two themes that the viewer can wrestle with and reflect on: Faith and Choice.
The Chemistry of a Car Crash
In the movies, there is usually a lone car horn blaring, the hiss of steam from a broken radiator, dramatic music swelling. None of that today. Just NPR on my car radio, and when I got out, an almost reverential silence.
Portrait of an Alcoholic
But I brushed it off—I was having fun, and it wasn’t like I was going to live this way forever. I could stop whenever I wanted. Until I couldn’t.
Bests, Mosts, Worsts: A 2015 Retrospective
While Reeves is rightly lambasted for his wooden acting, sometimes he surprises you, as he did in the horror thriller Knock Knock. His rant about free pizza is a genius, Oscar-worthy performance.
Holding On/Letting Go
One popular New Year’s resolution is to get rid of all your useless stuff, to de-clutter your life. I’m not making that resolution.
