Thoughts on Intentional Living
by btublin
It’s easy to be optimistic about the future if you believe “everything happens for a reason.”
You can explain away whatever occurs in life as a matter of fate, an outsourced event planned by some external force. Life is predestined to play out a certain way, the logic goes, making all events a necessary stepping stone to whatever existence we’re meant to have. [Read more…]
by btublin
You have to give the passion that’s necessary, you know? Like I said, I don’t do it for the money, the money’s gonna come. I do it because of the love that I have for it. You know what I’m saying?
– Dr. Dre
“Straight Outta Compton” is a great movie.
I’m not just saying that because I like hip-hop music (I do), or because it was entertaining and well-written (it was). What I enjoyed the most was how much they focused on the art of rap music. [Read more…]
by btublin
When I was a kid, I kept images of my favorite athletes on the wall next to my bunk bed.
These were the players I loved rooting for, the stars of my favorite teams. The strides of Emmitt Smith, swing of Derek Jeter, and aerial maneuvers of John Starks were the last pictures I saw each night, and the first to greet me every morning. [Read more…]
by btublin
I was scrolling through my Facebook feed a few days ago, and came across the following headline:
“San Francisco tech bro: ‘I don’t want to see homeless riff raff’”
The article was referring to an open letter written to the mayor and police chief of San Francisco, with the author expressing his “concern and outrage over the increasing homeless and drug problem” in the city. He goes on to describe “three separate instances and countless times” where he and his family were “approached for money and harassed” by homeless people over the long weekend. The letter contains more than a few eyebrow raisers, including the following passage near the end,
The wealthy working people have earned their right to live in the city. They went out, got an education, work hard, and earned it. I shouldn’t have to worry about being accosted. I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle, and despair of homeless people to and from my way to work every day.
Yikes. [Read more…]
by btublin
Imagine it’s Friday night.
You’ve had a long week at work, and just want to relax. You’d love to meet up with your friends, but they all want to go out somewhere. Thing is, you really don’t feel like drinking because you want to have a productive weekend. It would be fun to hang with your boys (or ladies), but the idea of drinking tonight is a little nauseating.
What do you do? [Read more…]
by btublin
This post is part of my 5th Grade Journal series. Each week in 2016 I share a journal entry written for one of my 5th grade classes, along with any new thoughts and perspectives I may have developed since.
September 9, 1997
What makes my family unique, is that every other week my dad goes to California, for work. This week my dad and mom, are in Alaska. The other day they caught a 13 inch salmon! My mom is coming home late tonight. That’s why my family is a unique family. [Read more…]
by btublin
This post is part of my 5th Grade Journal series. Each week in 2016 I share a journal entry written for one of my 5th grade classes, along with any new thoughts and perspectives I may have developed since.
September 8, 1997
If I was the president of the United States of America, the new law I would make is, that guns could only sell guns to police men. There is a lot of killing going on, these days, and there shouldn’t be any more. That’s why I would make that a new law. [Read more…]
by btublin
This post is part of my 5th Grade Journal series. Each week in 2016 I share a journal entry written for one of my 5th grade classes, along with any new thoughts and perspectives I may have developed since.
September 5, 1997
I would wish that people would stop poluting. Many animals have died because of polution in the ocean. It is becoming to dirty for people to swim in! Some turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, and choked, and then died. That is why I think all people should stop poluting. [Read more…]
by btublin
This is the first post in my 5th Grade Journal series. Each week in 2016 I share a journal entry written for one of my 5th grade classes, along with any new thoughts and perspectives I may have developed since.
September 2, 1997
I once had a teacher that was good in several ways. First, she had a scence of humor. Every thing that she would teach us, she would make a joke about it. Second, she was a good teacher. She taut me a lot of things I never used to know. [Read more…]
by btublin
Over Thanksgiving I was helping my Mom clean out some old boxes when we came across my 5th grade school journal. I’m not exactly sure which class it was for, but apparently I was asked to write a short journal entry each day throughout the school year.
Flipping through the pages was as hilarious and nostalgic as you would expect (who writes in cursive anymore?), but I was struck by how many of the entries sound eerily similar to something I might say today. Granted, it’s written the way a 10 year old version of Bryan would put things, but a surprising number of topics and statements are consistent with how I view the world at 28 years old. [Read more…]