I quite literally spent more than two hours early this week cataloging my library. I've recorded 170 of the ones I own, with probably another 100 to go in another room. I'm pretty near the estimate of 300 that I had guessed I owned. And if you're curious, you can check out my shelf of owned books on GoodReads . Relevant Magazine addresses why it's so hard to make friends after college . Proof that the average American is obsessed with money. Or, the top 10 best and worst places to live measured by chances of upward mobility . Probably the best essay I've read about leadership in quite some time. If you only read one link out of today's list, read this one, "Solitude and Leadership," delivered to West Point freshmen (or, plebes, as they call them). A very short quote from it: "...[W]hat I saw around me were great kids who had been trained to be world-class hoop jumpers. Any goal you set them, they could achieve. Any test you gave them, ...

There. Happy now, Abby? :D

This... has been a busy week. Good, but busy. You already know about the guitar. What you don't know, also, is that my siblings were over to visit last weekend and I lost about half my sleep every night because I decided instead to spend time hanging out with them and with my cousins. I managed to make it through this week, though, despite the sleep deprivation! But, in honor of this blog's 50th Compendium, I present the first collection of 2014, which is neither more nor less eclectic than all the Compendia before... and every bit as nerdy. The electricity-generating bicycle desk that would power the world - You know, I could get into using this. Really, I could. I stand up at my desk half the time already. And fidget. LOL My Thesis - Masters' and doctoral theses distilled into one or two basic, often snarky sentences. Like Truth is, Nurse Practitioners are a band aid solution to Canada’s broken health care system. Have American parents got it all backwards? - A...

I've thought for months, maybe years, that I should probably consider getting an electrified acoustic guitar. I've played guitar for some time, yet always an acoustic, and when I play for church it's always been on that same acoustic, with a little passive pickup fitted into the soundhole. That's changing. I finally went out and bought an acoustic-electric from one of the local pawn shops (the reputable one). The shopkeepers told me they'd just put out a lovely Washburn acoustic-electric that day ( here's specifics about the model ), and when I played around with it, I realized it would be a good bet for what I was looking for. Good acoustic sound that still sounded acoustic when plugged in (at least, more than some acoustic-electrics). Sometimes I wonder how to tell the difference between simple serendipity and genuine Providence. Is there one? This was one of those times I wondered if God hadn't inspired me to look for an acoustic-electric at just ...

My mom used to write a page-long Christmas letter to old friends of hers, a lot of them people I never met. She'd design it in the word processing program on computer and add photos like they were clipart. Once I got into writing, I wrote my own segment of the letter, then eventually wrote the entire letter a couple of years. But I've never snail-mailed my own Christmas letter, apparently. In a digital age, there's little reason to, as most of my friends like to keep in touch via text message or Facebook. In lieu of a snail-mail letter (I'll send cards instead, late as usual), here's a digital summary of my life this past year! Sarah's Christmas Update  God has been incredibly good to me this year. I promise this isn't a humblebrag . Here are the things I get asked about the most. The most exciting: I bought a house in June! An adorable two-bedroom place with a garage and beautiful hardwood floors. Email me if you'd like to see pictures! I...

I do drink coffee... On occasion. By which I mean, once a week, if that. I'm not addicted. I plan to keep it that way after following a friend of mine's account of his coffee cleanse. The "cleanse," or cold-turkey coffee quittance, began Friday. Nearly all his tweets since then chronicle the trials and tribulations of an addict's sudden abstinence. And they're amusing. Yea tho I walk thru the aisle of the freshly ground coffee, I will fear no evil #coffeecleanseday1 Who ever thought cheap church coffee could be so tempting? # coffeecleanseday2 Apparently there is a direct connection between drinking coffee and remembering to use deodorant. # coffeecleanseday2 Nerves are short. I got mad at a spatula. A FLIPPIN' SPATULA. # coffeecleanseday3 Can't read my own hand writing. Dialed five variations of the same numbers. Never did reach a real phone. I'm losing it. # coffeecleanseday3 Before you ask, I have no idea if the tweet...

It's snowing out, and it looks gorgeous, as the first snow often does. I've decided I really like the look of my adorable little house in the snow. It's like Little House on the Prairie, but 1920's city edition. Wait, somebody still thinks Jesus was white ?? The maker's schedule vs. the manager's schedule... Most powerful people are on the manager's schedule. It's the schedule of command. But there's another way of using time that's common among people who make things, like programmers and writers. They generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. You can't write or program well in units of an hour. That's barely enough time to get started. A psychologist explains online dating. (Hey, I read The Atlantic. So what?) And in the psychologist's words: "It can expand the pool of potential partners, making available a whole slew of people who otherwise would have been unavailable. That’s a huge, huge benefit. B...