The Potty Train

I don't think I will be officially adding this book to my list of "books read" for the year, but I have read The Potty Train by David Hochman (Author), Ruth Kennison (Author), Derek Anderson (Illustrator), more than enough with our 2 year old. I'm not quite sure why it took 2 authors to write this story, because this blog post has already exceeded the amount of words found in the entire book.

Anyway, we were at the bookstore this weekend and my wife wanted to get a "potty training" book that our son would read. We found it. We're hoping this might inspire him to take an interest in going to the potty. There were several books we liked, but there was just something catchy about saying "Chugga Chugga POOOO POOOOOOO!" everytime we go to the bathroom. Yep...I bet you'll be saying it today when you have to go.

Surprised by Hope

On Saturday, my wife needed to do some research so we dropped off the boy at his grandparents for a few hours and went down to the Nashville Public Library. It was the perfect place to enjoy and finish up N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.

There is nothing I could say in this post to describe the gist of Wright's thinking. Every paragraph carries a big punch of theology. However, I did come away from the book with a refreshing set of thoughts on the subject of eschatology. I have not really done an in-depth study on death and what might happen to a person when he or she dies, and I'll admit I still haven't after reading Wright's book. Still, I feel like his book was a solid foundation to build on for more study on the topic. The way he presents his argument is phenomenal. It would take me years to even be at a point to dispute any of his research and thinking on life after death.

N.T. Wright certainly ranks among the brightest theological minds today. As a friend of mine says, "C.S. Lewis is a brilliant writer and good theologian while N.T. Wright is a brilliant theologian and a good writer."

Dave Ramsey: Butt Scratchin' & Bass Fishin'

My post on June 12, was highlighting Dave Ramsey as a part of a four person panel on Larry King, discussing the state of our economy. If you happened to watch that particular show, and stuck with it through the panel discussions, you would have then seen Ben Stein in a discussion with a Harvard instructor (I forget who exactly) continuing the discussion of our current economy.

Now, I enjoyed Ben Stein's take in his documentary Expelled, but I am not a fan on his view of taxing the rich. If I recall correctly, he essentially argued that "the rich" should be taxed more in order to give to those who are less fortunate. I agree that the rich have an obligation to give, but only from the basis of my own views of Christianity. I don't think they should be obligated by government influence. I would be interested in hearing more about Stein's thoughts on this subject considering he is Jewish, because when it comes to giving to the poor or stimulating the economy, I wonder if the difference of opinion lies as a result of our religious background. Any Jewish readers care to comment? I sincerely would like to know. It may just be a personal opinion of Stein which is interesting considering he is wealthy too. If he think we should give more simply from a numbers game based on a flat percentage, then I can agree with him, but if the rich get a bigger percentage, I don't think it is right. For example, If everyone pays taxes at 10% then it makes sense that the rich give more money. That's how the numbers work, but I didn't get the impression that was what Stein was arguing.

Anyway, I say all of this because Dave Ramsey went on a rant during his radio show the other day addressing this issue of taxing the rich. I for one agree with Dave's take - don't! I am not wealthy compared to other Americans, namely Dave or Ben, but I don't think it is the government's job to determine who gives more or less depending on how much they make. Having said all of that, here is the transcript of a story Dave wrote that addresses this issue. He read it on the show. I liked it. What are your thoughts?

"Butt Scratching and Bass Fishing"

You can also read a good thread about people's reactions at MyTotalMoneyMakeover.com*


* Full disclosure: I work for Dave.

A New Game of Wii Chase

When I walk in the door at the end of the day my 2 year old will walk up to me, shrug his shoulders, squint his eyes, smile from ear to ear, and say one of two words in a sweet little beggar's voice. What are the two words?

1. Chase: My son really likes to play chase. We have no rules. We just run around the house. It's not even tag. No one counts. Sometimes we hide sometimes we don't. We just run and he thinks it is a blast.
   
   
2. Wii: We recently bought Wii Fit and he is fascinated with watching us play it. He doesn't care to play but he likes to choose which game we play. Actually, let me clarify. He likes watching me play. He can't stand it when my wife plays. I have no idea why. Maybe he thinks I need the exercise more.
   

Well, this morning I woke up at 5:30 to exercise and decided to do so with the Wii Fit. As I was working out, my son woke up when I had about 10 minutes remaining in my workout. So, I brought him downstairs and combined two of his favorite things, Wii and Chase.

I started up the "Free Run" and ran for 10 minutes. Instead of running in place, I decided to just start running through the house. It was nearly more than my son could handle. The Wii was on and daddy was playing chase at the same time. I'm pretty sure he got more of a work out than me.

That's my Wii little story. What's yours?

Love is the Killer App

Recently, I've watched several videos of Tim Sanders, the Chief Solutions Officer of Yahoo! They are pretty inspiring. So, I finally got around to reading one of his books, Love is the Killer App.

The book is a quick and easy read packed with a lot of good stuff. The basis of the book is to help you succeed in business by becoming a "lovecat". He then narrows his focus on how to become a lovecat through gaining knowledge, building a network, and showing compassion.

I particularly enjoyed the chapter on "Knowledge". Basically, it was 50 pages of why & how you should be reading a long with what you should be reading. If you aren't reading a lot right now, Tim Sanders does a great job of convincing you that you should. If you want to get anywhere, you have to be a reader. In fact, Sanders says "Don't let a guy like me, get a step up on you." He is referring to the knowledge he gains from reading. He atrributes a lot of his success to books and implies that if everyone else was reading like he was, he might not be the same success. It made me think.