What I liked in 2014

This year I only read one book.  That's right.  One.  My all-time low of my adult life.  This is, of course, not counting the one hundred books I read to my kids this year.  Most of those are only 20 pages long.  (Plus, the road trip listening to the audio of Prince Caspian with Elisha.  I'm not counting that either.)

When I look back at the time spent reading daily to the kids and also helping them learn how to read, I don't feel as bad.  I guess that's more important.  (But, man! ONE BOOK!)  This kind of ruins my tradition of sharing some of my favorite books on the blog.  Instead, I decided to do something more like last year and share the "top 10 general stuff in life that I liked".  Here we go!

Scripture Typer

(App)

Many of you know that I used to be a Bible Quizzer back in my teens and helped other kids with the program in my late 20's.  I really wanted to get back into memorizing the Bible as an exercise that goes beyond a cool thing for kids.  I find it easier to get through the day if I can easily recall the things God said to me in the Bible.  It always works better for me than opening a book or app on my phone.  When you memorize the Bible (or anything really) it becomes part of you.

My mind is not nearly as elastic as it once was, so I turned to the App Store for help and found, for the cost of a few dollars, the Scripture Typer app that allows you to fill in the blanks, do flash cards and rack up collections to allow slow, methodical memorization.

One year of playing their little app and guess what?  I memorized the entire Epistle of James.  It's over 100 verses and it's my favorite Bible book, so I'm thrilled.

Ballard, Seattle, Washington

(Neighborhood)

I promise Anne-Marie that I would take her on a mini-vacation somewhere local after she recovered from that massive surgery last January.  She was ready by March and we chose Ballard.

This neighborhood just north of downtown Seattle is one of the most beautiful and lively places we've ever stayed.  We could've just forgotten about downtown and stayed around downtown Ballard and taken in the food, people, history and overall charm of this little neighborhood.  If you're wanting to try out a Seattle-area vacation, consider the areas just north of the ship canal (Fremont, Green Lake, Wallingford, U District and Ballard).  It's an amazing place in what is a very incredible city.

Getta Gyro 

(Food Kiosk)

Switching gears to Vantucky life:
We're not much for restaurants around here, but this place is on point.  Some old Greek dude that makes Gyros and only Gyros in a brick hut in the parking lot of a Chevron.  It's the perfect fusion of Vancouver sprawl culture and the Portland foodie culture.  Trust me.

"Architecture" by Jonathan Thulin

(Song)

Probably my favorite song in 2014 was "Architecture" by Jonathan Thulin.   The song surmises that God must have designed all the wonder we see in our world like an architect plans a project.  And if He designed the world like that, He must have a similar design for each our lives.  Beautiful song, Jonathan.  Good job.

Norblad Hotel and Hostel

(Lodging)

We've stayed in Astoria, Oregon, about 15 times since we've been married.  (We've gone for all 13 anniversaries, plus twice in the summer I think.)  One place we had never stayed was the Norblad.  After all this time, now I'm wondering why we hadn't.  It's recently been restored and the simple guest rooms look great.  Yeah, it's a little loud and the bathroom is across the hall, but it also costs half of what a lot of other places do and is located right downtown (i.e., a block from the Blue Scorcher Bakery).  The affordability was traded in for length of stay and we ended up having a really nice long weekend last September.

The Lego Movie

(Film)

Everything is awesome!  My kids love Legos and they loved The Lego Movie.  It's not that often that I'm going to admit that I like a kid's DVD, but this one drew me in.  I would suggest parental guidance on this one, though.  There are a few occasions of mild but crude talk.

Brookings, Oregon

(City)

I've already talked about a neighborhood and a hotel, but this one was a more of a surprise. I want to thow a big thumbs up to the city of Brookings, Oregon. I expected next to nothing when my work sent me on a huge road trip to the area. One night in the Best Western and a dinner at Superfly had me sold. Immediately in the area of Brookings there are miles of beautiful and empty beaches, the Oregon-California border and scores of ancient redwood trees. I hope I get a chance to go back.

NBA General Manager 

(App)

Maybe I shouldn't recommend this app.  Scripture Typer is about discipline, learning and self-improvement, but this?  This is totally about wasting time.

Now, I love basketball.  This fact probably deserves its own blog post.  I have ever since I was about nine years old when my mom got me my own hoop for the driveway (thanks, Mom).  This app allows you to have your own professional basketball team.  You get ten players to start with and can play games to earn "money" so you can sign your favorite NBA players.  You can see my team in the picture above.

When I Was Younger by Colony House

(Music Album)

Colony House's independent album from last summer was probably sold in very few record stores, but that's why there's Spotify. I was completely hooked on my first listen. Now I'm rolling with the punches and I've stopped playing second guessing games.  Thanks, guys.  You've inspired me.

"You Beat Cancer By How You Live" by Stuart Scott

(Speech)

In July of 2014, sports broadcaster Stuart Scott was given a lifetime achievement award for his 20 years track record of excellence in the industry.  Scott had struggled with cancer since 2007 and had recently been dealing with a very difficult recurrence and barely had the strength to be there to accept the award.  During the speech, he told the audience: "When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.”

I'm sure these words will live beyond the man.  Actually, I know they will.  Stuart Scott died on January 4, 2015.  Watch the entire speech in the video above.

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Until next year, everybody!

What I liked in 2013 - An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963

You'd think I'd have had enough of the Kennedy story.  The whole story feels like an overused tragedy.  I've heard enough Kennedy stories to satisfy my curiosity and taint my view of the American presidency.  However, Professor of History Robert Dallek produced a book so engaging, I had to get all the way through it.  OK, so this book came out 10 years ago, but I read it in 2013.  Appropriately 50-year mark of Kennedy's death.

(To be honest, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 sat on my shelf for just about as long as Kennedy was in the White House before I surrendered to it.  Still far from being my record [looking at you, The Great Bridge!])

After being exposed to so many John F. Kennedy books, interviews, documentaries, docudramas, articles and essays, Dallek may have just nailed me down on my opinion of John F. Kennedy the President and John F. Kennedy the man.  The President was a very good leader.  The man was a very bad person.

I hesitate to give the "very bad" label to anybody knowing the weaknesses of my own heart and character, but the life of John F. Kennedy reveals so many interesting things about the line between image and integrity, policy leadership and principled life that I believe the frank opinion is necessary.  

For every Kennedy story I love there are a dozen that make me nauseated.  Dallek covers them brilliantly in his narrative that weaves policy triumphs with personal blunders.  Where he most shines is in his outlining of Kennedy's medical problems.  (And he ought to since Kennedy's medical records previously-sealed medical documents were released exclusively for the writing of this book.)  The level to which the author describes the entire Kennedy family concealing the truth about their favored son's multiple health conditions is appalling.  It was enough to bamboozle the public for decades and--if I may--it was wrong.

The remarkable thing about Dallek's Kennedy is that he didn't attempt nearly as much to conceal his appalling promiscuous behavior as he did the truss that held his lower back in place.  This apparent personal apartheid was something Kennedy carried everywhere.  The author allows us room to theorize that longing for parental approval, redeeming his older brother's death and feeling that his own death was always near were the motivators for his contradictory behavior.

Ignoring the problems with the war he started with Vietnam were ignored in favor of an incredible tactical victory over the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  His visionary speech is credited with sending a man to the moon, but his clumsy narcissism sent his (otherwise) innocent mistress back to her native Germany for good when suspicions arose.

And on and on the stories could go.  I want to thank the author for reminding me that doing great things isn't the same as being a great person.  President Kennedy makes me feel proud and ashamed in the same breath.  I hope that's never said of me.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you are unfamiliar with the life story of John F. Kennedy.

What I liked in 2013 - Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend

I don't get through a lot of books these days.  Back in 2005, I hit my peak with 23 books in a calendar year, which is an enormous number for me.

The last couple of years my books-per-year numbers were more like 3 or 4.  It's hard to read in a house that has no quiet time or alone time.  The only time I'm ever alone is on my commute or lunch break (which gives me the opportunity to get through some audio books).  The only time it's ever quiet at my house is after the kids go to bed, which usually gives me rare one-on-one time with Anne-Marie or doing things around the house that I have to do.

Aaaannyywayyyzuh...that's the long explanation of why the books have been on the shelf for the last few years.

In 2013, I did manage to get a few books in.  One of my favorites was Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend by James S. Hirsch.

What's weird is I don't like baseball, but I love baseball history.  I don't like sports books at all, but I love biographies of exceptional people.  This book helped cover the spread between things I love and things I don't.

After huge hype going into last year about Brooklyn Dodgers legend and civil rights hero Jackie Robinson, it was nice to find balance in a simple, shy man whose life was filled with difficulty.  Willie Mays was raised with a broken and rather confusing home life but found his place in athletics.

Hirsch describes in depth Mays' relationships with his awkwardly-unwed parents and his aunts (who did much of the child raising in the Mays house), along with stories of Mays' athletic exploits as a young man in baseball, football and basketball.

Tales of the Negro Leagues, All-Star Games, The World Series and "The Catch" are all in there, but to me--the guy that doesn't really like sports books--the most interesting parts of the book were about the seemingly-random things that make Mays, Mays.

It's the stickball games in the back alleys of Harlem.  The relationships with management.  The mid-career Korean War service.  The transition from being a New York Giant to being a San Francisco Giant (and the awfulness of playing baseball in Candlestick Park).  The fact that he wasn't Jackie Robinson.  At all.

Hirsch sold me on what I should've already known: Willie Mays was a 5-tool baseball phenomenon that should be among the top three players of all time on any list worthy of respect.  Yet behind all the legend there is a life that's even more compelling.  I think that's what makes great men great.

What I'm reading

To give readers just a little more insight into my life, apart from the adoption, I've added a "What I'm Reading" widget to the sidebar. The three on the list right now are not the only books I own. (I have another LibraryThing account for that.) These are just the ones I'm currently reading.

Goodbye, Mike Deaver

As you may have read in this post, the late Ronald Reagan is one of my personal heroes. No, I did not say political hero, I said personal hero. One of the reasons is because of a favorite book of mine: A Different Drummer, by Michael K. Deaver.

Mike Deaver was the Deputy Chief of Staff during Reagan's White House years, but had worked with the Gipper for more than twenty years prior to that. Deaver was a tireless campaigner and assisted Reagan with his appearance and image development during his time of increasing popularity. More important and more central to his actual day-to-day tasks (which the media has hardly covered), was being entrusted with the care of Nancy Reagan.

Not that Mike Deaver--who certainly has his biases--is my only reason for admiring Reagan. He's just one more witness in a long line of people who tell the stories of a genuinely warm, but introverted President who had so many qualities worth emulating. Ironically, Anne-Marie and I just finished listening to the audio version of A Different Drummer last Tuesday evening. This particular version was read by Deaver himself.

It was sad when Anne-Marie came to find me in the backyard on Saturday morning to tell me the news. "Mike Deaver died." For the names of those who led our country in my childhood years, it seems a weekly report. This was a little more difficult to take, knowing his story of aspiration, triumph, failure, and restoration. I would recommend learning more about it to anyone.

The Reagan Diaries

Last Tuesday was the day of the release of the diaries of one of my personal heroes, the late President Ronald Reagan. The diaries were abridged into one volume for the public by Professor Douglas Brinkley. The scholar's set--probably an unabridged box set of three volumes or more--will be released in late 2008.

For now I plan on moving ahead with Truman, but I wonder if this was poor planning due to the obvious appeal of this release. The temptation is to put the 33rd chief executive on hold in deference to the 40th. I probably should stick to the plan. But I do hope to get to this one before the end of the year.

Truman Report I

Here is the first report on what I learned from David McCullough's Truman. Hold on to your hats, everybody.

Harry S. Truman was born on May 8, 1884 to John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young Truman. He was born into a family that had moved to, what was then considered, the "far west." His family was relatively unknown except that his great uncle was Jim Crow Chiles (yes, that Jim Crow). The family did their best to avoid the subject even many years after Jim Crow was killed in a gunfight on the streets of Independence.

Harry grew up in and around the Independence, Missouri area, and was always considered the model child among his friends at school. He began taking piano lessons at a very young age and preferred indoor activities, especially reading, to the rough-and-tumble games of his little brother and the other kids. "To tell the truth," he once said, "I was kind of a sissy." (Yeah...can I be a sissy, too?)

He met Bess (Elizabeth) Wallace when he was six at Sunday School. He claimed to have been in love with her from then on. The feelings were not mutual, mostly due to Bess's higher social standing.

For financial reasons, Harry's family moved all around the western area of Missouri until finally ending up at the family farm. Harry graduated from high school in the meantime and began to pursue Bess, with a little help from Bess's neighbors, Ethel and Nellie Noland, who were Harry's cousins.

Within a few years, Truman got into the banking industry and was doing well. He even worked up the nerve to propose to Bess in a letter in 1911. She waited three weeks to flatly refuse him.

A few years later, however, after Harry had left a very successful career in banking to take charge of the family farm, Bess came around and they began to talk about marriage. In April of 1917, the United States joined World War I, and Harry decided to enlist. Bess demanded that they marry before he was deployed. This time it was Harry's turn to refuse, citing his fear that she would be made into a young widow if they married prior to his departure.

Pic: Truman at age 25

Truman Book Reports

At the beginning of this month I began one of the largest undertakings of my adult life: reading a 1,000 page book. The book is the Pulitzer Prize winning biography Truman by David McCullough. This 1,120-page monster of a project tells the story of Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, from the time that his family emigrated from the east to the Missouri Territory to his post-presidency.

In order to make the exprience of the book more interesting--and to keep you from having to read it--I've decided to summarize what I've read up to this point. Enjoy some of the sporadic posts about President Truman's life as a very abbreviated webiography.