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).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
I have always enjoyed the longer distance running and skiing. The Marathon in Summer Olympics and the 50km Mass Start in the Winter. My wife can't understand how I can watch the same race for several hours. But they are fascinating to me. I like the Downhill Slalom, Bobsled and Luge sports. Attending a Winter Olympics remains on my bucket list.
My favorite sporting events in the Winter Olympics are the Luge, Bobsled, Figure Skating and curling. Initially, I thought I would be bored with curling but I'm not. It's fascinating how they determine each glide's angle and potential score.
When my children were younger we built them a luge course, they loved it. We were lucky that winter to have lots of snow to build up the walls and with some help with pallets that we covered with snow, it kept them and the neighborhood kids busy until it warmed up and melted. I was a lot more at ease with the luge course than I was when they decided to try arial jumps off our house roof. Never a dull moment when you live in Maine.
I am reading ESV through the Bible this time. Like you, I've explored a bunch of translations. My church uses NIV but my women's Bible study group (part of the same church) varies based on what Bible study we're doing.
Hope you enjoy the Olympics! I agree that the every four year thing makes them feel more special.
I read the New American Bible, which is a Catholic Bible. (NABRE) They include Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, which generally aren't included in other versions of the Bible. I would be curious to read an orthodox bible or the Ethiopian Bible as I hear they have differences as well.
As for the Olympics, I love the Winter Olympics. I'm just crossing my fingers I have time to watch!
In terms of the original texts the NASB has the best reputation among conservative scholars. It looks at more translations, has a sensible hierarchy of text selection and the best principles for approaching the translation task. It favors original texts when possible. The ESV and NKJV are on a similar level. The Net Bible gives the best overview of the discussions in its commentary. The NIV renders the original text to make it more readable. It is a more functional text which is why many churches use it but it is also less precise. Greek or Russian orthodox are more Septuagint orientated and there is a considerable amount of ethical or emotional rendering to the text.The disadvantage of the NASB is that it loses much of the Hebrew poetical style in its effort to be precise as this does not translate into the English
I'm very fortunate to have met some practicing and humble Christians. Truly humble people seek to serve, not attain power and influence. The actions of many Christians make me run the opposite way... as fast as I can.
In his book, Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee states: "Nothing has done greater damage to our Christian testimony than our trying to be right and demanding right of others. We become preoccupied with what is and what is not right. We ask ourselves,' Have we been justly or unjustly treated?' and we think thus to vindicate our actions. But that is not our standard. The whole question for us is one of crossbearing".
Jeff, this is an excellent book. Perhaps one for your reading list?
"Blog Harbor" PROMPT (DAY 7): Good thing this is my last day. You folks would kill me. I'm terrible at this! I totally forgot to post the last prompt and the day is almost over! UGH! Let's go with ... *drumroll* Here it is: YOU are creating your own series and your show is guaranteed to air at least one season. Congratulations! Tell me about your show, who is in it? What's it about? What's the plot? I can't wait to hear.
As it happens, I have created my own television shows! I've written a couple pilots over the years as part of my screenwriting efforts. Nothing's been made yet, of course, but here are the shows I've developed:
Fearless. A show about a man who was born with CIP (congenital insensitivity to pain), which causes him to not feel any physical pain. That leads to a secondary injury to his amygdala which has a degenerative effect on his ability to feel emotions. Ultimately, it's about a man desperately trying to stay connected to his humanity while he's losing his connections to the world.
Gray Matters. A supernatural procedural about a branch of the U.S. Marshals Service tasked with tracking down and capturing fugitive mythological creatures.
47. After leaving office, a former President of the United States has to adjust to life outside the White House. The man that used to hold the weight of the world in his hands, who used to have calls with foreign leaders and agency directors on a daily basis now has to figure out what to do with his time and energy after achieving the pinnacle of his professional aspirations.
I've intentionally not thought about casting; when I write shows, I try not to get too attached to fantasy casting scenarios because, if it ever gets any traction or someone realistically wants to develop it, I don't want to get too married to a preconceived notion of who it needs to be. For example, I've always imagined the lead (the ex-President) of my "47" pilot being an older white guy because that's the typical image we have when it comes to past Presidents.
So I could easily see Tim Robbins, or Dennis Quaid, or Tom Hanks, or Steve Martin playing the role. But the chances of any of those guys actually being available or willing to play the role are minimal, and you never know what might happen in the development process. Maybe they want a female ex-President and would rather have a Mary Steenburgen or Rene Russo or Kim Basinger. Maybe they want a closer-to-middle-age guy who will highlight the "what do I do now that I've accomplished my goals and I have my whole life ahead of me" angle, so they opt for Jon Hamm or Michael C. Hall or Nathan Fillion.
Maybe I'll turn this prompt around on you, Brrr...rooke... who do you see starring in any of these shows?
"Blog Harbor" PROMPT (DAY 6): I'm late posting. I'm sorry! Forget the theme today - It's FRIDAY! Have you had one of those days where you're just behind? What do you mean that is every day? Let's talk about what you have on your plate today. Share what you're doing - having a great day - or just holding your breath for Saturday to arrive? I look forward to reading and responding to every single one.
I think this prompt would have been more accurate if it had said, "Have you had one of those days where you're not just behind?" Seriously, over the past I'd say month or so, I'm averaging about 60-80 hours per week at work, plus another 10-15 hours per week of commuting, so our life lately has been a lot of "work, commute, work some more, eat, sleep, commute, work, commute, work, eat, sleep, repeat" and not much else.
I'm a day late posting this, so here was my day yesterday (Friday), which is the first day in a long time I've intentionally decided to take time outside of the cycle described above:
I worked from home in the morning, so the best part of the day was not having to get up before dawn, get ready, and then commute two hours into work. Waking up at 8AM instead of 5AM is amazing. I managed to get a few hours of work done and my work email inbox down to about four emails.
Then we had to get packed up for our trip to San Diego. Two hours of packing, making sure the cat has everything she needs while we're gone, etc. After getting all packed up we met up with some friends to talk about adoption stuff (they've already done it, we're about to start)... lunch started later and ran later than we thought so we got on the road around 3PM instead of 1:30PM like we had hoped... which means we promptly ran into traffic and it took us three hours to get to San Diego instead of two. I checked my email once after lunch and discovered that I had over 50 new emails just from the past two hours... and then I checked my email when I got to dinner in San Diego and discovered another 150 new emails on top of the last 50 that I had received in the three hours it took to drive to San Diego.
We stopped for dinner at our favorite taco place in San Diego, then went to the hotel where we proceeded to veg out for the rest of the night. Well, my wife got to veg; I got caught up on the - by that time - 200 emails I had received since lunchtime. C'mon people; it's supposed to be Friday! The hotel has a Smart TV that let us log into our Netflix, so between the long day and the access to Netflix, we were done for the day.
We woke up early today to have coffee with friends we haven't seen in a long time; then we're just going to putt around the city, stuff our faces, and enjoy being away from home for a weekend. It's been far too long since we've done anything other than recuperate at home after several very long weeks.
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Let's talk about what you have on your plate today. Share what you're doing - having a great day - or just holding your breath for Saturday to arrive? I look forward to reading and responding to every single one. 
The hotel has a Smart TV that let us log into our Netflix, so between the long day and the access to Netflix, we were done for the day.