2020s
Alright, time to bid farewell to the Pritchett clan. I’m watching the series finale of Modern Family.
Trevor, a former barista and current coffee roaster, has a great little ebook on brewing the best coffee that costs, for some, less than your super-fancy coffee from Starbucks. twitter.com/Bookstore…
“Before Covid-19, some of us had so many material and social needs met that we didn’t even know we needed them. More importantly, we didn’t know how much we were using all our stuff and experience to make up for the vacuity in our souls that has needed to be filled with love for longer than we knew, but that we have instead laden with other merchandise, material and otherwise.” —Curt Thompson, What Do You Want?
A thoughtful post from @ayjay on the bad experience of long-form writing on Twitter. Death to the Twitter thread!
Deleted my MeWe account. I hadn’t posted to it since October, and rarely think about it. And the six people I was connected to on there I am already connected to, or could be, on Twitter.
Jackson McKay used footage from Rogue One and Star Wars Episodes IV-IX to create a tribute to his favorite starfighter, the X-Wing.
Conrad Heyer was born in 1749, fought as part of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, and was photographed in 1852 at 103 years of age.
Waved and said hello to @FINALLEVEL (aka Ice T to everyone not on Twitter) as he was getting into a cab at the Adolphus in Dallas in 1998. He did say hello back. 🙂 twitter.com/MavenofHo…
Had a chat with Michael O’Hare in a London hotel lobby, August 1995, while he waited for his limo. He was so gracious. #RIP twitter.com/MavenofHo…
“The idea that any of you would rather spend eight hours making shallot jam for a shallot pasta that is, by any measure, fine, as opposed to spending half an hour making queso fundido and just going ham on it with some chips, proves to me that you are lying to no one but yourselves.”
This entire article made me smile and laugh.
My review of @jackcarrusa’s latest, Savage Son, is now live.
Retrophisch Review: Savage Son
The third book featuring Jack Carr's protagonist James Reece is indeed his best yet. It's a must-read for anyone who is a fan of the thriller genre.
After the events of The Terminal List and True Believer, Reece finds himself Stateside, beginning to carve out a new life for himself. Taken in as a second son by the Hastings family, and being courted by the Special Operations Division of the CIA, Reece has options. He also has an agenda of his own, and his thought process is to align those with continuing in service to his nation. What he doesn't know is that he is in someone else's crosshairs, and things get wild when the hunter becomes the hunted.
Hunting is the main theme of the book, which is an homage to Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game. Carr has stated in numerous interviews that Savage Son is the book he's always wanted to write, but knew it couldn't be the first book he wrote. As with his previous novels, Carr brings his own experience as a 20-year veteran of the Navy SEALs to the text, and adds his love of the outdoors and hunting game. As he is hunted by the Russian mob and elements of Russian intelligence, Reece and his adopted family must find a way to turn the tables.
I've heard Jack speak at two book signings, and I follow him on social media. He is not shy about showering praise and gratitude on authors he feels taught him how to write books such as these: David Morrell, Daniel Silva, John Le Carré, Louis L'Amour, Truman Capote, and Nelson DeMille, to name but a few. With Savage Son, I would say Carr has clearly taken the best of what he has learned from these masters and poured it into his work. You can sense the progress as an author from The Terminal List, through True Believer, to now. This doesn't read like a third book by a relatively new author, but rather like the 10th or 12th by a seasoned pro.
There are certain authors whose books are automatic purchases for me these days: Lee Child, Daniel Silva, Mark Greaney, Nick Petrie, and Robert Kroese. Jack Carr has definitely joined that list. If you love the works of Brad Thor and Brad Taylor, you will love Jack Carr.
5/5 fins, a must-buy
It takes about a year to get one’s driver’s license in Rwanda. You may be tempted to think it’s because of a slow bureaucracy in a third-world nation, but no. It’s because driving school is very, very meticulous. Here’s a reason why. #MemoryMonday
In its past, The Empowered Parent Podcast was ministry-supported, backed by a church. Since being spun off, however, there has been no financial backing. We want to remain ad free on the podcast, so today we are launching on Patreon. Please consider supporting us: www.patreon.com/empowered…
Gee, Chris, why don’t you ever want to go on a cruise?
Gosh, I just don’t know.
I am a day late noting it, but Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) has an excellent historical piece on Cinco de Mayo. Oh, the what-ifs from this period of history alone could churn out a score of Harry Turtledove alternate-history tomes.
Yeah, folks, it’s not really a podcast if it’s on YouTube and not available as a download into a podcast player app via a RSS feed. That’s just your video on YouTube.