Brown Phil Geek

Over the weekend, I took my boys to watch the new Grinch movie. This adaption follows in the vein of the 2000 live action one by filling out some of the character's backstories and giving some insight into the Grinch's psychology. ( Spoiler Alert for a story from 1957, in case you've been living next door to the Grinch ).The titular character is shown to be so mean and surly because, at his core, he is lonely. This got me to thinking about how we as humans experience loneliness. Loneliness is most often defined as sadness due to the lack of friends or company. Certainly, this is the definition that the writers had in mind in the screenplay for this recent Grinch adaptation. The movie (and sadness) are resolved when the Grinch joins the residents of Whoville for Christmas dinner. However, I wonder had the story continued, if the Grinch's loneliness was truly resolved. What if, after the ham was consumed, the punch was drunk and the merriment finished, the Grinch...

For my second post, I thought I would share why opening this blog is a big deal for me. People close to me have often recommended I open a blog and share my thoughts on my areas of interests. I would dismiss their suggestions with excuses about being too busy or not thinking it was worth my time. However, there was a deeper reason underlying my excuses. As far back as I can remember, I have been a procrastinator; I would start out a task with the intention of getting it done early. However, I would inevitably postpone doing the task until the last possible moment. Sometimes, I would procrastinate to such an extent that deadlines would pass and I would suffer the consequences. I attributed my procrastination to a mere lack of diligence but I just couldn't get my act together. While it may be true that I am lacking in diligence, I have come to realize that my struggle with procrastination is undergirded by a fear of rejection and an accompanying anxiety. Beneath each...