Picturepocket's Blog

Tag: culture

  • Fifteen Minutes

    Let me tell you about the time I was a little bit famous. When I graduated with my shiny journalism degree in the late nineties, the world was in the middle of a massive transition from paper to electronic mass communication. For local papers, it meant people no longer paid for news that they could…

  • Silence

    I just watched the 2016 Scorsese film about the persecuted church of Japan in the 17th century. Historically, the number of Christians in Japan fell through direct, intensive violence. Many of the conversions had come through Portuguese Catholic missionaries who not only brought faith, but also emphasized Western practices, traditions and language that threatened the…

  • Ballots over Bullets

    When I was a kid, I asked my Dad what the word “society” meant. He said that it meant “other people”. What I didn’t realize is that he was making an observational commentary. While the dictionary meaning is “community (that includes ourselves)”, he was implying that, in common use, people want someone else to take…

  • YOLO

    I am laying here in bed trying to sort out some decisions that have come up. In life, there’s mostly a lot of mundane choices, but sometimes there are brief windows of opportunity. The phrase “you only live once” flits through my mind. I think that term was trending a decade ago. This time ten…

  • Bridges not Walls

    Our music was better than this new stuff that sounds like whiny crybabies. Our cars were looked nicer than these latest models which lack style and coolness. We had the best clothes and fashion in my time, unlike these sloppy kids. Knowing cursive and stick shift and rotary phones shows how more accomplished and smart…

  • The Four Sides of People

    Humans have at least four sides to them that always need to be taken into account, otherwise we will not be effective in our dealings. People have physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs. Children are a perfect example of this. Kids have pretty obvious physical needs. They need food, shelter and exercise. They also need…

  • Fragile Christianity

    Today, I want to talk about people and their faith. Sometimes I see Christians spending a lot of time protecting their faith, instead of letting their faith protect them. They get offended about others saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” or get mad at Halloween decorations. I am not worried about Starbucks cups or…

  • Boy Mama Drama

    With Ivy in her third year of preschool and me not teaching this semester, I have a little more time to hang out with some of the other moms and kids. We’ve had a couple play dates and some informal meet ups at parks. Ivy has enjoyed hanging out with the boys from her preschool…

  • Bag Boys

    Why does the Boomer Generation push back against environmental improvements? I keep getting these posts and memes about how annoying single-use bag rules and plastic straw bans are. Of course I get that it is kind of frustrating when you’re used to having an endless supply of free plastic bags and straws at the store…

  • IF/then

    I don’t like to talk about losing weight too often because it’s crazy making and there’s a lot of conflicting information, but I am going to make an exemption here because I have something worthwhile to share. A little about my weight history: I was very slim in my youth and even into my late…