- 10 Nov, 2025 *
I’m not dead, although I have been busy. Working, learning, dog-sitting, reading, the works. I’m trying incredibly hard to learn more about web development without burning out, while also doing school, and reading my books, and studying for a CLEP exam, and studying for my CompTIA A+ exam, and working, and buying my first house, and yeah...
I’ve been continuing to read A Game of Thrones, recently during my work commute (30 min each way). I am finally over the halfway point, lol. I also finished Like a Mother by Angela Garbes on the 30th, which is a book about navigating the culture and science of pregnancy. I didn’t know exactly what to expect when I got into it; I am mainly reading to learn more ab…
- 10 Nov, 2025 *
I’m not dead, although I have been busy. Working, learning, dog-sitting, reading, the works. I’m trying incredibly hard to learn more about web development without burning out, while also doing school, and reading my books, and studying for a CLEP exam, and studying for my CompTIA A+ exam, and working, and buying my first house, and yeah...
I’ve been continuing to read A Game of Thrones, recently during my work commute (30 min each way). I am finally over the halfway point, lol. I also finished Like a Mother by Angela Garbes on the 30th, which is a book about navigating the culture and science of pregnancy. I didn’t know exactly what to expect when I got into it; I am mainly reading to learn more about the science behind it as well as learning parenting advice in preparation for having a family in the next 5 years.
What I found was an incredibly written book that is emotional, evidence-based, anecdotal, eye-opening, blunt, raw, disgusting, and beautiful. I never thought one book could throw me around between really looking forward to pregnancy one day and being entirely grossed out by it. It’s explicitly feminist (only occasionally in the annoying way), and shows me what a parent could be, and also what one could go through.
Next, my fiancé is in a book club with our church, and they’re reading For the Life of the World by Alexander Schmemann. He is an excellent writer and has a lot of deep things to say, but oh man I am not ready. It’s about the sacramental life of the church, of life, really, and its contrast with secular life. I decided to switch over to Journey to Reality by Zachary Porcu, which has a lot of the same concepts but at a much higher level, almost too high for where I am as a catechumen.
That doesn’t matter at all, though, because this book completely changed my relationship with and in Orthodoxy. It answered some of my greatest problems and struggles with religion, God’s nature, and Christianity in such a concise and simple way that I feel like a child who has learned to walk. I will probably write more in-depth on that eventually, but wow!! I would recommend this book to anyone who is considering Christianity at all, and especially to new Orthodox people. Zachary does not beat around the bush.
I’ll be heading home from dog-sitting for my sister tomorrow, and probably go to this one bar in San Antonio with my fiancé and his friend. This morning I finally set up Crafty Controller on my homelab, which is an administrator panel for managing and configuring Minecraft servers very easily. It’s been so relieving and I love having it already. More Minecraft to be played later, then.