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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

30 Mostly Useless Things I've Learned in 30 Years

I still spend most of my time doing stuff like this.

My parents had me when they were in their thirties, so as a child I thought that 30 was the epitome of adulthood. I thought I would have everything figured out. And for a brief moment, I thought that I could easily rattle off a list of the important life lessons I've learned in my almost 30 years on this planet. But it turns out that, the day before my 30th birthday, I feel exactly the same as I did when I was six. I've done a lot and learned a lot, to be sure, but the truth is that I don't have a lot of sagacious insight to pass on to anyone else, and the things I've learned in 30 years are pretty mundane. They're still worth cataloging, though. So here they are -- the most important lessons I've learned each year over the past 30 years:

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Catholics Come Home: Why I Left the Catholic Church and Won't Be Going Back

My relationship with religion has been a source of pain and frustration for as long as I can remember. I went to a Catholic university and attended 12 years of Catholic school. For most of my life, I was in church every Sunday. I took my confirmation seriously, and aspired to die a martyr. I was obnoxiously, unceasingly devout.