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 My primary Writing.com blog. |
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Welcome to my regular Writing.com blog! Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics). Blogocentric (adj). A portmanteau of "blog" and "logocentric" devised by a word nerd with way too much time on his hands. Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, mostly scavenged from the following: "Blogging Circle of Friends Prompt Forum" "Blog City Prompt Forum" "Blog Harbor" "JAFBG" "Take up Your Cross Blog Forum" |
 Prompt ▶︎ I find myself inspired by a lot of people across a lot of different domains. At the moment, the two people that come to mind — in very different areas — are Lewis Hamilton and Brennan Lee Mulligan. Lewis Hamilton is a Formula 1 driver for Ferrari this year. Last year was his first year with the Italian constructor and, to say that he had an awful year would be an understatement. He's been driving for twenty seasons and is the most decorated driver in Formula 1 history, but last year was his first year without a podium (i.e., finishing first, second, or third in a race) and, in a lot of cases, he was qualifying and starting races in a way lower position than he's accustomed to. It's also the longest stretch a Ferrari driver has gone without securing a podium since joining the team. Toward the end of last year, his media appearances were almost painful to watch; you could just tell he was so dejected and pessimistic about the decision to change teams. This past weekend was the first Grand Prix of the 2026 season and Lewis finished fourth. Just shy of the podium, but his race pace looked good and he seemed genuinely happy with his performance. During media appearances after the race, he seemed more upbeat than he has been in a while, and admitted that he spent a lot of time over the winter break getting into a better head space. I definitely find myself inspired by the fact that he's performed at the top of his field for almost two decades, and still has the mental resilience to continue to push himself to not just perform, but to come back from discouraging circumstances. With all he's accomplished, it'd be easy to say, "You know what? I'm done. I'm going to go enjoy life as a retired forty-something multimillionaire." And instead he's still out there on track, pushing to be the best. Brennan Lee Mulligan is an improv actor and professional Game Master in the liveplay TTRPG space. He regularly runs games for Dimension 20, and is running Campaign 4 for Critical Role after a number of turns guest starring as both a Game Master and player. There are a lot of people who will say that Critical Role's regular Game Master (Matthew Mercer) is the best GM in the business, but for my money, it's Brennan. Matt is absolutely fantastic as a worldbuilder and a character actor, but Brennan's improv background allows him to surprise players with both story and comedic moments that are truly delightful surprises. Matthew Mercer is the kind of GM that I aspire to be in my own games. So supremely confident with his storytelling and his performances; he's able to create a vibrant and ever-changing world for his players and he's the kind of GM I could imagine myself becoming with years (or decades, more likely!) of practice and additional learning. Brennan, on the other hand, is the kind of GM that I know I'll never be, because what he does is just so beyond my own abilities. But that's also what makes him so entertaining to watch, because liveplay TTRPGs are a different beast than home games played with friends around your own table, and Brennan gets how to entertain an audience. |
| The first Formula 1 Grand Prix of the year is officially here and gone, and it was definitely an interesting one. New formula series are always a bit of a mystery as we see the cars out on the track that comply with different rule sets, and the 2026 formula is a big one. Lots of new requirements for both the chassis and power units, so these cars are essentially redesigned from the ground up this year, rather than being modified or adapted from the year before. I've been following Ferrari pretty closely this year because my favorite driver (Lewis Hamilton) went over to their team in 2025, so it's been fun following all the new developments of winter testing and this weekend's free practices and qualifying. It was a bit of a rollercoaster weekend as a Ferrari fan; they were right there are the top of the timetable during the practice sessions, then Mercedes was so far out ahead in qualifying that a lot of commentators were sure that Ferrari was cooked when they qualified fourth and seventh. But then during the race today, despite a strategy miscalculation on Ferrari's part, they looked competitive with the Mercedes and ended up finishing not too far behind them. At the end of the day, despite some misgivings about some of the new formula series (a lot of the drivers are talking about how the cars are not enjoyable to drive, and it's so weird to watch Formula 1 cars slow down on the track to recharge their battery rather than go all out!), I am excited for the season ahead. It's the second season that I'll have watched live as it happens — as opposed to catching up via Drive to Survive — and the first season where I've really closely followed the news, testing, development updates, etc. so I'm eager to follow along as the season goes on. |
| Methodology ▶︎ Movies  Crime 101 Expendables 4 Goat Predator Badlands Trap House — DNFCrime 101. Based on a Don Winslow novella, this was a pretty well-made crime drama with a good cast. The ending was a little weird (it felt like the movie was working hard to give everyone a happy ending even though it wasn't set up to work out that way without a lot of contrivance), but it was otherwise interesting. I'm kind of curious to read the novella and see if it has the same issue with the ending. But other than that and feeling a little long, this was an entertaining movie about a professional thief and the cop trying to catch him. Expendables 4. I wish I could say that the stylized title of this movie — Expend4bles — was the dumbest thing about this movie. If you're thinking to yourself, "Wasn't the first Expendables that gimmicky, cheesy action movie that stunt cast a ton of big-name action movie stars as the main draw?" You would be correct. And if you're thinking to yourself, "Other than Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham, are any of those big names still involved?" The answer is NO. They swapped out Schwarzenegger and Willis and Rourke for Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Tony Jaa, and Megan Fox. While keeping Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture. It was clearly another installment of a franchise that I don't think anyone expected to be a franchise, and now they're just getting whoever they can to star in them. Goat. This was an animated film inspired by Steph Curry's life. It was basically Zootopia centered around basketball. It was just okay. The animation was interesting (I really like Sony Pictures Animation's style, which is also visible in the Spider-Verse movies and KPop Demon Hunters) and the worldbuilding was cool, but it was ultimately just a really expensive, animated version of a "rags to riches" story about an athlete. I can tell it meant a lot to Steph Curry and he was really proud of this film, but it wasn't original or unique enough to merit multiple viewings. Predator Badlands. This was a really interesting installment to the Predator franchise, focusing on a young Yautja (the species that we know as Predators) who crash lands on a hostile planet and has to kill an apex predator in order to prove himself to his clan. Earlier in the franchise, I would have said that the mystery surrounding this alien predator was important to preserve, but now that we're at nine movies into the franchise, it makes sense to focus on worldbuilding the species that randomly showed up in the jungle to hunt Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura nearly forty years ago. This was a pretty well-made movie, considering how it could have easily fallen into B-movie sequel territory. Trap House. Dave Bautista has made some real questionable film choices lately, and this is definitely one of them. In 2025, Bautista was cast in four films and only one of them was any good at all (the remake of The Naked Gun, where he played himself). The only nice thing I have to say about this movie is that at least it wasn't as bad as Afterburn. Television The Legend of Vox Machina (Season 2) Leverage: Redemption (Season 1) — DNF Lincoln Lawyer (Season 4) Memory of a Killer — DNF Steal We Own This CityThe Legend of Vox Machina (Season 2). Another great installment of the animated series inspired by the hugely popular TTRPG actual play series, Critical Role. I appreciate the fact that this show endeavors to be a quality grown-up animation show and not just a cash grab. It's decent for people who are fans of the campaign, but accessible even for people who aren't. Leverage: Redemption. This is a reboot of the popular cable television series from 2008-2012. I remember really loving the original show, but when I put on this 2021 reboot it was just so over-acted, corny, and cringey. I honestly don't remember the original series being this goofy, but apparently it was. Safe to say the comedic and dramatic sensibilities of 2008 cable television have not aged well. Lincoln Lawyer (Season 4). This season was much better than the last one. Last season ended with protagonist attorney Mickey Haller being pulled over by the cops and them finding a dead body in his trunk, and this season was the trial for that murder. Even though the season was almost entirely focused on the trial itself, it was tense, well-written, and well-acted. Michael Connelly continues to be a great source for procedural intellectual property that gets turned into compelling television. Memory of a Killer. Patrick Dempsey plays a hitman who seems to be suffering from early on-set Alzheimer's (or another condition that causes cognitive decline). It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't something that I have a lot of interest in continuing with. I think this might be one of those shows that would have been better if you dropped the whole series and let people binge it, because waiting every week for a new episode like traditional television just makes me forget it exists while I have other stuff I'm eagerly waiting on. Steal. This was a fantastic show about a financial firm that is taken hostage and forced to make a massive trade that basically transfers billions of dollars to the criminals, and then a slow burn show where we realize that several of the people at the firm were less innocent (and more involved in the plot) than we originally thought. There were enough twists and turns (and few enough episodes) to keep this moving along as a brisk pace and with plenty of twists and turns. And there's a genuinely surprising moral crisis at the end of the show. It's definitely worth watching if you like crime mysteries. We Own This City. Based on real events that took place in Baltimore's law enforcement community in the wake of Freddie Gray's murder, where a special unit of police officers was engaging in a massive amount of illegal activity, including keeping money seized in police action, planting evidence, conducting illegal seaches, overtime fraud, and more. Jon Bernthal plays the central character of Wayne Jenkins, and it's a performance worth watching. Based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton and produced by David Simon (showrunner of The Wire), this is a quality six-episode miniseries that's almost unbelievable in the amount of corruption it unveils. TOP PICK: Steal |
 DAY 28 "undressed" by sombr The last post for this year's "The Soundtrack of Your Life" ! Overall, I'm pretty happy with my song selections this year. I found a lot of new artists that I liked, rediscovered some old songs I had forgotten about, and spent a fair amount of time listening to music that made me feel good or passed the time while I was working and didn't want to be distracted. Each year, I have the same experience with SOYL. I start out super excited, there's a slog in the middle, and then by the very end I'm pumped up again about music and ready for the next challenge. Which is "Musicology Anthology" and historically not an activity I've done well with. I'm really hoping to change that this year. |
DAY 27 "He's A 10" by JESSIA This is probably one of the more ridiculous songs that I've featured over the years my "The Soundtrack of Your Life" playlists. I don't even think it's a particularly good song quality wise... I just really love how catchy the beat is, and how silly a song is that works to count down from ten to one in the lyrics: He's a 10 but he still lives at home with his mom He's had 9 interviews but he can't get the job He's got 8 little texts from 7's you don't know And he's 6 foot 5, but it doesn't show Oh his "4 You" page is all TnA And his 3 best friends keep forgetting your name This 2 face boy really thinks he's a man You should've just left him as a 1 night stand It's just a fun song that plays around with the idea of dating someone really hot who's basically a loser, and I thought the way she incorporated the numbers was really creative. Was it the best song I discovered all year? Not even close. But it was one I listened to the most because its absurdity makes me happy when I'm in the mood to not take things too seriously. |
DAY 26 "Outrun You" by Band Reeves At the other end of the worship song discoveries, this country-themed song is another one I've been listening to a lot this year. It kind of blended my revisit of the country genre with the fact that I've been listening to a lot of worship music this year, and it created a perfect crossover that I've been listening to whenever I get tired of the hyper-produced, big worship collective-type songs that are so prevalent in the Christian music space these days. I really like the simplicity of this song and its message. |
DAY 25 "Chain Reaction" by River Valley Worship Since so much of my Spotify listening time this year was dedicated to worship songs, worship songs started finding their way into my recommended songs on all the "discover new artists" playlists that Spotify recommends. Honestly, I didn't hate it, because it led me to discovering some great songs like this one. I wouldn't consider it a worship song that could be played outside of a concert venue (see the video for an example of church services that host these kinds of gatherings), but it is a song that I could listen to as I was working or driving around running errands. It's a high-energy, exciting song that I listened to a lot this year. |
DAY 24 "Neon Moon" by Charly Reynolds Brooks & Dunn are an old-school country music duo at this point, and "Neon Moon" is one of their most famous singles. The lyrics and the imagery are great, and I was surprised to see that the song had been covered by someone else. I don't know anything about Charly Reynolds other than the fact that she covered this song and did a really good job of it. This sounds like the kind of thing that'd be right at home in any of the bars along the "Honky Tonk Highway" in downtown Nashville, but this one just happened to blow up thanks to it being included on an episode of The Resident. Whatever the reason, I'm glad I stumbled across this cover last year; it reminded me how much I enjoy Brooks & Dunn's song. Maybe someone can do a cover of "Brand New Man" or "My Maria" next! |
DAY 23 "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter I listened to a lot of Sabrina Carpenter this past year, and honestly the only difficult thing about including her on my playlist this year was deciding what song to include. I still listened to her previous album (2024's Short 'n Sweet) a lot this year, and in a lot of ways I think it's a better album than 2025's Man's Best Friend, but the latter just came out this past year and did have some really good songs on it, so I figured I'd take something from that one. I almost went with "House Tour," "Tears," or even "A Nonsense Christmas" from her 2024 holiday special, because I really like her more risque songs (I almost featured "Bed Chem" last year instead of "Taste"), but this was the song I picked because it really grew on me as the year went on. I started out not caring for it very much when it debuted as the first single off her latest album, but I've really come around to it after multiple subsequent listens. |
DAY 22 "Forever Your Girl" by Paula Abdul It's been so long since Paula Abdul has been an actual performing musical artist, I forget what a great dancer she is, and how catchy some of her songs are. And this is going to age me very specifically, but her albums Forever Your Girl and Spellbound were two of the earliest albums that I owned on cassette tape, thanks to ordering a bunch from Columbia House, the old order-by-mail music service that let you subscribe and get six or ten or twelve or whatever albums for one cent. Most recently, this song was featured in the Netflix original romantic comedy People We Meet on Vacation, which was an unusual experience for me, realizing a song I'd already rediscovered was featured in a movie (rather than rediscovering the song specifically because it was in the movie I watched. That whole movie was just okay, but the dance scene where they were pretending to reenact the first dance at their wedding was one of the more charming moments of the film. |
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