Dan’s 2022 Favorites

5 Favorite slices of life from this year

It’s been such a joy to have friends share in this year-end tradition by writing their own lists! Make sure to check them all out at FridaySwell, a Medium Publication I created with hopes of more collaborative writing in the future.  For continuity sake, I’m posting my list again here on weekendswell, but head on over to FridaySwell to read mine alongside others.

World Cup

1.What category is the World Cup in?! It delivered beyond expectations this year, and all the shows listed below pale in comparison. A worldwide, month-long, 64-game event watched live by over half the world (3.5 billion), its massive scale is less important than the way it brought my small worlds together. Reconnecting with friends from college on a group chat, building bonds in the soccer channel at work, and even within my own family: Knowing Argentina was up 2–0 in a quarterfinal, I casually stopped by the store on the way home until all of my kids TEXTED ALL CAPS

2021 Year-End Lists

Albums and Shows That Engaged Me This Year

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It’s been such a joy to have friends share in this year-end tradition by writing their own lists! Make sure to check them all out at FridaySwell, a Medium Publication I created with hopes of more collaborative writing in the future.  For continuity sake, I’m posting my list again here on weekendswell, but head on over to FridaySwell to read mine alongside others.

Time to Read Some Favorites

This is my favorite thing: reading your favorites lists.

I asked if anyone wanted to write their Year-End Lists alongside me, and so many of you have! We’re currently publishing those, 1-2 per day from now til the New Year, over at a https://medium.com/fridayswell .

You’ll learn about Rosemary’s favorite restaurants, Cathi’s favorite books, 11-year old Isaiah’s favorite shows (make sure to mind his warning about inappropriate content in one of them).

This is just a short note inviting all Weekendswell readers to check out a new site called FridaySwell each day for a new “Top 5” list.

You’ll find some new music from Hannah, and Gryffin, some soulful reads from Cari, and Nancy’s top book of the year (one I also read and loved). I especially like the eclectic lists – one of this and one of that from Geordie, Patty, and Zach (hint: one of them mentions Pickleball, sport of the future).

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We’re already underway so if you check there now you’ll see three or four, but go back often so you don’t miss any of them. (I’ll send a final reminder around New Years’ Day.)

Oh, and if you were thinking of writing something it’s not too late! Just see here for further hints.

Hope your holidays are bright,

Dan

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P.S. every link on this page points to the same spot, but in case you missed it: https://medium.com/fridayswell

What I Gained By Not Being a Musical Visionary

As told by my embarrassing cassette closet

Today I hooked up a 1980’s Sony Walkman cassette tape player to my speakers. The Walkman warbles along at variable speeds when my thumb clicks the sticky “play” button. And while I certainly wouldn’t argue for the quality of cassette listening, it’s reconnecting me to something nearly thirty-five years old: my tape collection. 

These tapes have travelled with me through the years, pushed into tiny, dusty, cassette-sized cubbies in a closet that hasn’t been opened for a long time. Someday I’ll create Spotify playlists out of them, and finally demagnetize these plastic wheeled spools. 

The Music of Fireflies

Your song

Catches me in the front row

Voices bounce around like fireflies

Lighting up a note, now here, now there

And right in front of God and everyone

Your fireflies squeeze fire from my eyes

2018 Favorites

I’ve gathered my favorites from 2018 and I’m locking them in, “final answer”. I tend to categorize and collect in life, and that may be reflected below.  But it’s also because I have such a bad memory, this list is basically a note to myself to remember later.  If you’ve liked some of these too, let me know!

Books | Movies | Podcasts | TV Series | Music

The People are the Promises

Today we visited a church to hear a family we love play music.  Man, the music was so good.  Filling the small, high ceiling sanctuary were the organs of gospel music and the cadence of Americana.  The fat and tender guitar riffs drifted into my soul.   God was pressing on me, as he had many times before in worship.  It nearly always took the form of tears, and this time was no exception.

Though the music was modern, some of the hymns were not: we sang “Standing on the Promises”, familiar from my childhood days at small Bible Chapels on the east coast.  Back in those days, I’d memorized God’s promises from scripture through clubs like Awana: “I will never leave you nor forsake you”.  The promises were God’s, given to a different people at a different time, but we were taught to take them on as our own.

But today I heard the promises in a new way.