One of my favorite pastimes is playing tabletop role-playing games like D&D. For those of you who don't know what that is, think cooperative storytelling, a bit of a cross between a board game and improv acting--everyone creates a character, one person describes the setting, and, using rules for interacting with the world, we tell a story. It's ( Read more... )

Every day on the news you see stories about people dying young--hit by drunk drivers or flying tree limbs, drowned in a hurricane, murdered. Even in the modern age, people still die of infectious diseases, and some are just unlucky enough to be born with genetic problems that shorten their lifespans. My own father died of a stroke when he was in ( Read more... )

Okay, I've been doing Q&As for a while now, so hey, turnabout's fair play, right? This time, I'm asking, and you're answering.

So here's the deal. I'm gonna talk about something that happened me today, which utterly confuses me. At the end there'll be questions, and this time it's your turn to answer.

Pay attention, now. This will be on the test. *
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I just received the news that Robert H., the man who is my stepfather by all but legal marriage, has died of a stroke. He was a gentle man who loved to restore antique furniture and he helped raise my little sister. He made my mother very happy.

Please pray for my family.

I've got some issues going on with special interests and responsibilities and organization and was hoping somebody might have some advice.
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When I was little, I had no idea about how to keep myself clean, neat, and generally presentable; I also had no idea why this was even wanted in the first place. Until my late teens, I spent very little time on personal grooming, for a variety of reasons, both sensory and socially-related.

What I'm going to try to do here is list the basics, along ( Read more... )

Nine o'clock at night. The day has cooled off; it's dark outside. I'm going shopping. Backpack on; tennis shoes on; pepper spray accessible. Check the checklist: Shoes, check. Coat, too warm. Sunglasses, too dark to need them. Purse, clipped to my backpack. Phone, check. Keys. Open the door; step out; lock the door; close the door ( Read more... )

When I went to church last Sunday, my Sunday school class suddenly grew from its summer attendance of three people to its school-year total of… well, a lot, but more than fifty-two.
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My main form of exercise these days is walking. I'm very fond of being outdoors, with the sun on my skin (but not in my eyes). In fact, I think that walking may be one of the best possible ways to get exercise to begin with. A few reasons:
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Last week was finals week for me. Any of you who are now (or have ever been) college students will know what sort of terror that strikes into the scholar's heart.
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