Weeknote for 1/5/2025

Health

😕

I came down with something Tuesday and spent the week sick. I assumed it was probably COVID, since that’s the only thing I catch anymore, but my tests came up negative, so I’m guessing it was the flu, despite my vaccine a few months ago. Either that or an aggressive cold that hit me with a fever for a day or two. Whatever it is is on its way out, but I still have a bit of a cough.

AI

😌

I decided against rushing through a computer purchase for my undefined AI projects. I was going to try to order something before any potential tariffs landed. But as I began researching, I realized I knew too little about both computer hardware and my future AI projects to make a comfortably informed decision. I also realized I could save money buying the hardware used, even the GPUs. So I no longer felt the need to rush through an expensive, speculative decision, and I’ll come back to it when I’m actually ready for those projects. Kind of a relief really. I’d rather spend my time on my productivity system.

Food

🙂

I’ve been sampling the teas I got for Christmas. Colleen gave me two, Winter Teas and Sweet Tooth Teas. They’re all very good while being pleasantly mild. With some other teas, I’m tired of them by the end of the cup, or they get bitter, or they’re a little too tart or biting to begin with. What I especially like about these samples is that despite their mildness, I can set the cup down and forget about it, and when I pick it up again, the aroma and flavor welcome me back.

Spirituality

🧐

Fleming Rutledge gave the season of Epiphany much more definition for me. Her book Epiphany answered my question of when the church year covers the rest of Jesus’ life. It’s largely in this period, which highlights manifestations of his glory. She follows the 1983 Common Lectionary readings and includes the visitation of the magi (the only part of Epiphany I knew about), Jesus’ baptism, the wedding at Cana, scenes from his ministry, the Sermon on the Mount, the Transfiguration, and the Great Commission.

I collected some initial thoughts and sources for organizing this year’s Bible study on discipleship. I wanted an overview from my own mind and from experts on the topic so I’d have a rough map of the territory I’d be exploring. I gathered some articles from reference books I have and the contents of other books in my collection. Especially helpful will be The Complete Book of Discipleship by Bill Hull, which I’ll probably listen to. I also want to think more broadly and glean some insight from the other major Christian traditions, so I’m currently listening to Four Views on Christian Spirituality, edited by Bruce Demarest, which covers Orthodoxy, Catholicism, mainline Protestantism, and evangelicalism.