the month in snapshots

 

Eloise and Maggie make great night-time snuggle buddies

Maggie loves taking selfies with her dad

Naomi turned three years old!

snow day fun

just some snapshots of Maggie Moo

Naomi loves taking selfies and random pictures

some more snapshots courtesy of Naomi 

the year in books [III]

The third (and last) of this month's Reading Gauntlet is a series of four 'modern warfare' novels. The first two are considered historical novels, as they both take place during the Vietnam War. The last two are pure fiction: Bond's Red Phoenix looks at what a Second Korean War might look like on the Korean Peninsula, and Coonts' Liberty's Last Stand is an unnecessarily provocative treatment of what it might be like if the State of Texas ceceded from the United States. Coonts has gotten a lot of great reviews on GoodReads, but I'm not sure if I like his writing style. It's not that it's bad; it almost feels too hurried (much like the sort of writing I do; but I'm not a professional). 

the year in books [II]

The second series of books in this year's Reading Gauntlet are science-fiction pics. Peter Watts' Starfish is his first published book, and though the concept was good, the plot didn't go anywhere. His later works are better. Joe Haldeman's The Forever War is a legend in the science-fiction community, and for good reason: he looks at what an alien war across the galaxy looks like when you figure in how a soldier could live hundreds of years dependent on light-speed travel. David Brin's The Postman was a bit of a let-down; the book was decent, but I just couldn't get into his writing style. It be like that sometimes. The Ghost Brigades is the second novel in John Scalzi's Old Man's War Series, and it was just as great as the first. I really like his writing style, and his world-building is top knotch. I'm looking forward to finishing the series.

the year in books [I]

The first installment of this year's Reading Gauntlet is a series of history books. The first (and the best of the bunch) was Martin Gilbert's The Somme, an excellent treatment on that months-long slaughterhouse during the Great War. The next four books are focused on the Second World War: two are histories and two are firsthand accounts. Pacific Air recounts the history of the aerial war in the Pacific Theater, and Landing in Hell is a short treatment of the Battle of Pelileu. Every Man a Hero is the memoir of a medic who fought in Africa, Italy, and who was gravely wounded on Normandy. I Marched with Patton is the memoir of an engineer who served with Patton during his push to the outskirts of Berlin. 

Dino of the Week: Scutellosaurus

Type Species: Scutellosaurus lawleri

Classification: Dinosauria – Ornithischia – Thyreophora

Time Period: Early Jurassic

Location: North America

Diet: Herbivore

Scutellosaurus has been a riddle in the ornithischian family tree for a long while. Like its European contemporary Scelidosaurus, it’s been paraded as the kind of dinosaur that could’ve evolved into one of the later, better-known groups of thyreophorans (the armored ankylosaurs and plated stegosaurs). Most scientists consider it a common ancestor of both groups and believe it to be closely related to Scelidosaurus and the later Early Jurassic Emausaurus. Though some want to place it in the Scelidosauridae family along with Scelidosaurus, currently it’s viewed as an earlier, more basal thyreophoran (Scelidosaurus is larger and seems to be a more ‘evolved’ thyreophoran with more similarities to the later ankylosaurs and stegosaurs). 

Scutellosaurus is known from two partial skeletons from Arizona. The remains included portions of the skull and lots of detached bony plates called scutes (from which this dinosaur gets its name). The scutes came in a variety of shapes: some were triangular wedges, others were low cones, some were lopsided trimpets, and still others were curved like horns. Hundreds of detached scutes have been found, but because they were detached, the exact pattern on the body is unknown. Scientists estimate that a single individual had anywhere between two hundred and four hundred of these scutes embedded in its skin like small, raised shields. 

a flock of Scutellosaurus flee a pack of Dilophosaurus

Scutellosaurus was relatively small, growing between four to six and a half feet long, and weighing twenty-fifty pounds despite its light armor. It stood about twenty inches tall at the hips. It was small, slim, and long, and it had an unusually long tail, perhaps to counterbalance the weight of its armor. It probably ran rapidly on all fours since the front limbs had broad, sturdy paws. It could rear up on its longer hind limbs to eat higher plant-stuffs, but it’s unlikely that it could’ve run very well bipedally, since its armor would’ve made it top-heavy. Its mouth had a narrow, beak-like front, and its jaws contained several broad incisors and a row of fluted, leaf-shaped cheek teeth designed to crush plant material. Its head was protected by low bony plates. Scientists speculate that, like the similar-sized heterodontosaurs of the Early Jurassic, this early thyreophoran was gregarious in nature, traveling in ‘family flocks’. 

a Scutellosaurus taking a break with an Early Jurassic turtle

Dino of the Week: Cryolophosaurus

Type Species: Cryolophosaurus elliotti
Classification: Dinosauria-Saurischia-Theropoda-Tetanurae
Time Period: early Jurassic
Location: Antarctica
Diet: Carnivore

The remains of Cryolophosaurus were found in the barren colds and wastes of the Trans-Antarctic Mountains. Although some paintings of this carnivore depict it tramping through snow and shaking its weird crest this way and that in a blizzard, Antarctica in the early Jurassic wasn't where it is today; it was nearer the equator, and part of a larger continent; the climate would've been warmer and the land replete with temperature forests. Cryolophosaurus has been called the "Elvis Presley" of the dinosaurs because of its twin set of backward-sweeping crest that resembles Presley's infamous hairdo. Cryolophosaurus sported small horns adjacent to the backward-sweeping crests, Measuring at about twenty feet long, Cryolophosaurus was to the early Jurassic what Tyrannosaurus was to the late Cretaceous: the King of the Tyrants. 

Although Cryolophosaurus was the largest predator of its day (the much larger Allosaurus wouldn't come until millions of years later), paleontologists speculate that it may have been a scavenger rather than a hunter; the crests were relatively frail, and the ferocity of the hunt would likely damage the crests. Because the crest bones have been intact, it makes more sense that Cryolophosaurus scavenged for its food. One large skeleton of this dinosaur indicates it may have been a voracious eater: what looks like an herbivorous dinosaur's rib was found wedged inside the bones of the Cryolophosaurus' throat! Some postulate that this dinosaur choked on its dinner; others argue that the rib belongs to Cryolophosaurus and was maneuvered into that weird position after death. As to the purpose of this dinosaur's crest, it probably served as courtship decoration. 

Dino of the Week: Sarcosaurus

a Sarcosaurus in futile pursuit of two Dimorphodon

Type Species: Sarcosaurus woodi

Classification: Dinosauria - Saurischia – Theropoda

Time Period: Early Jurassic

Location: England

Diet: Carnivore

Early Jurassic England was a scattering of low islands stitched across a shallow sea that ran along the northern edge of Laurasia. The wooded islands were home to plenty of wildlife and supported rich ecosystems. The eleven-foot-long Sarcosaurus was the mega-predator of these islands, likely swimming the narrow channels running between them. Sarcosaurus is known from scattered remains – a partial pelvis, a femur, and some vertebrae – but from these scientists extrapolate that it was a lightly-built theropod predator. Its pelvis is remarkably similar to the later – and much larger – Ceratosaurus (hence its reconstruction with a ceratosaur-like head crest), and some scientists believe it’s actually an early species of Ceratosaurus, the direct ‘ancestor’ of the twenty-two-foot-long Ceratosaurus that would dominate the Late Jurassic. 

Dino of the Week: Scelidosaurus

Type Species: Scelidosaurus harrisonii

Classification: Dinosauria – Ornithischia – Thyreophora – Scelidosauridae

Time Period: Early Jurassic

Location: British Isles and North America

Diet: Herbivore

The thirteen-foot-long herbivore Scelidosaurus lived among the scattered wooded islands of the British Isles during the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian stages of the Early Jurassic some 196-183 million years ago. It also 'migrated' into northern Laurasia, or North America as we know it now, as its remains have recently been discovered in Arizona. Scelidosaurus is the most completely known dinosaur from the British Isles and the only classified dinosaur from Ireland. For 150 years Scelidosaurus has been the epicenter of a fierce debate regarding its placement in the ‘dinosaur family tree.’ Some scientists argue that it’s an early ankylosaurs; others that it’s an early stegosaur; still others that it’s an early thyrophoroidean; and still others insist that it’s its own type of dinosaur with its own family, the Scelidosauridae (perhaps along with Scutellosaurus and Emausaurus). The general consensus at the moment – though, you can imagine, it is quite subject to change! – is that it belongs to Scelidosauridae, a thyreophoran sister taxon of the ankylosaurs and stegosaurs.

Scelidosaurus had a small head with a horny, beak-like front to its mouth. It was quadrupedal, with its rear legs longer and stronger than its forelegs, so that its back sloped up towards the hips (these features would be developed and exaggerated later on by the stegosaurs). Though primarily a low browser feasting on ferns and cycads, Scelidosaurus may have been able to rear up on its hind limbs to reach higher foliage such as conifers, but this is debated; even if it could become bipedal for eating, it wouldn’t have been able to move on two legs, and the bipedal stance would be awkward and cumbersome. Thus, though Scelidosaurus was capable of a bipedal stance, it likely only did so when the environment forced its hand. Scelidosaurus fed with a puncture-crush system of tooth-on-tooth action with a precise up-and-down jaw movement without the teeth actually touching each other. The later stegosaurs, with their primitive teeth and simple jaws, fed likewise. Its tail was stiff due to tendons that lay alongside its backbone and which became ossified with bony minerals.

The most notable facet of Scelidosaurus was the ‘light armor’ it sported: its neck, body, and tail were studded with small, pebble-like scales and large bony plates called scutes. The scutes were generally longer at the front of the body and diminishing in size towards the rear, especially at the thighs. Scelidosaurus’ bony armor – called osteoderms – are seen in modern crocodiles, armadillos, and some lizards. Compared to the later ankylosaurs, Scelidosaurus’ armor was ‘amateur hour,’ for it lacked continuous plating, spikes, or pelvic shields. Scelidosaurus’ osteoderms were arranged in horizontal parallel rows down the length of its body. The osteoderms ranged in both size and shape. Most were smaller or larger oval plates with a high keel on the outside, the highest point of the keel positioned more to the rear. Some scutes were small, flat and hollowed-out at the inside. The larger keeled scutes were aligned in regular horizontal rows. There were three rows of these along each side of the torso. The scutes of the lowest lateral row were more conical, rather than the blade-like osteoderms of Scutellosaurus. Between these main series, one or two rows of smaller oval keeled scutes were present. There were in total four rows of large scutes on the tail: one at the top midline, one at the midline of the underside, and one at each tail side. Whether the midline tail scutes continued over the torso and neck to the front is unknown and unlikely for the neck, though Scelidosaurus is often pictured this way. The neck had at each side two rows of large scutes. The osteoderms of the lower neck row were very large, flat, and plate-like. The first osteoderms of the top neck rows formed a pair of unique three-pointed scutes directly behind the head. These points seem to have been connected by tendons to the rear joint processes. Some of the latest Scelidosaurus specimens show different osteoderms, including scutes on which the keel is more like a thorn or spike. These specimens also have little horns on the rear corners of the head. These differences could indicate a variant species of Scelidosaurus or could be instances of sexual dimorphism (i.e. perhaps males and females had different patterns and types of armor). 

Scelidosaurus is one of the dinosaurs for which we have skin impressions. Between the bony scutes, Scelidosaurus had rounded, non-overlapping scales like the modern Gila monster. Between the large scutes, very small, flat ‘granules’ of bone were distributed within the skin. In the later ankylosaurs, these small scutes may have developed into larger scutes, fusing into the multi-osteodermal plate armor seen in species such as Ankylosaurus. 

on discipline

The following is from this week's It's Good to Be a Man newsletter:

*  *  *

People look for the shortcut. The hack. And if you came here looking for that: you won’t find it. The shortcut is a lie. The hack doesn’t get you there. And if you want to take the easy road, it won’t take you to where you want to be: Stronger. Smarter. Faster. Healthier. Better. Free. To reach goals and overcome obstacles and become the best version of you possible will not happen by itself. It will not happen cutting corners, taking shortcuts, or looking for the easy way. There is no easy way. There is only hard work, late nights, early mornings, practice, rehearsal, repetition, study, sweat, blood, toil, frustration, and discipline.

Discipline. There must be discipline. Discipline: the root of all good qualities. The driver of daily execution. The core principle that overcomes laziness and lethargy and excuses. Discipline defeats the infinite excuses that say: not today, not now, I need a rest, I will do it tomorrow.

What’s the hack? How do you become stronger, smarter, faster, healthier? How do you become better? How do you achieve true freedom? There is only one way. The way of discipline. —Jocko Willink, Discipline Equals Freedom: Expanded Edition

Our friend Bill Smith shares the following reflections on the freedom of discipline, prompted by this counsel from Willink…

This counsel may be something of the wisdom of the sons of the east and Egypt (1 Ki 4:30). I don’t know the status of Jocko’s relationship with Christ, but much of what he says here lines up with the picture of the life of discipline that Solomon paints for us in Proverbs.

Discipline is a major thread in Proverbs that begins in the introduction and is then woven into the warp and woof of all of the instruction. Solomon desires his son “to know wisdom and discipline … to receive discipline in wise dealing” (1:2, 3). The fool, he says, despises wisdom and discipline (1:7). Our translations render this Hebrew word “instruction” throughout Proverbs with a few exceptions. That is a fine translation, but in many of our ears, “instruction” connotes more of the conveyance of information. The Hebrew word speaks of a “chastening lesson.” This is instruction, but it is not limited to oral teaching. It comes through the rod applied by authorities, general pain, mental toughness that is determined to do one thing and not another. “Discipline” is an alternative and better rendering, I believe.

Discipline is training that aims to produce a specific character that will cause you to fulfill your purpose and enjoy rewards. Discipline subdues, corrects, and directs passions toward long-term goals, willing to endure pain and short-term deprivation when necessary. Discipline is the way of wisdom. Discipline is wisdom’s path. Discipline is the guardrails that keep you in the way and the signposts that give you direction. Discipline is the drive that keeps you on the path, developing skills and doing the temporarily unpleasant things because of the long-term reward. Discipline encourages you when you are weary. Discipline rebukes you when you try to turn to the right or to the left or simply lie down. Discipline moves you when you are unmotivated; that is, when you’re just not feeling like doing whatever it is you need to do. Discipline is tough-minded, overcoming pain, fear, sloth, apathy, criticism, hurt feelings, disagreements, and wanting to give up. Discipline is wisdom’s eyes that keep you focused on the prize, wisdom’s hand that guides you, wisdom’s foot that kicks you when you need it, and wisdom’s heart that moves by your deepest desires.

Solomon exhorts his son repeatedly to hear and heed the discipline he receives, conforming his life to the wise corrections of his attitudes and actions (Pr 1:8–9; 3:11–12; 4:1; 8:10–11, 33; 19:20; 23:23). He desires this because the way of discipline is the way of life (Pr 6:23–24), the way of knowledge (Pr 12:1), and the way to honor (Pr 13:18). Discipline is the way to be all that God created him to be and receive all that God desires him to receive.

Discipline, therefore, is freedom.

Many misconstrue the nature of freedom, believing it is a life without restraints. This can’t be true. A man is not free to be a woman or vice versa. A horse is not free to live underwater, and a fish is not free to live on land. Freedom is the opportunity to live in the fullness of your God-given limitations. Freedom is the ability to maximize your potential within the boundaries God created, whether those are physical boundaries or boundaries of authority. Discipline frees you from things that keep you from being and receiving all that God wants you to be and receive.

Those who believe freedom is living life without restraints will lose their freedom. Proverbs 12:24 says, “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.” Discipline keeps you from being enslaved by desires and impulses that others can use to control you. Mark Horne observes in his book Solomon Says, “If you don’t govern yourself, you will be governed by others, and your own impulses will be the reins they use to lead you.” (p. 5) If you can’t discipline your desire for possessions, for instance, marketers will soon make you poor. They will use your desires to empty your bank account. If you can’t master your sexual appetites, someone who promises to meet your sexual hunger will master you. If you are unable to control your appetite for food and drink, you will be a poor man (Pr 21:17). A man given to anger is enslaved to other people and circumstances.

Discipline frees you by keeping all of your passions as servants, and directing their energy to serve your greatest good. This is the discipline that can deny oneself immediate pleasure or, at least, the desire to escape from pain, to face persecution and death for the cause of Christ. Discipline frees you to suffer and die with Christ so that you might inherit glory with him (cf. Rom 8:18). A lack of discipline will put you in bondage to fear of present pain and loss, that will keep you in bondage now and lead you to eternal death.

Do not despise discipline. Discipline is freedom.

books read: 2021

this year I read 107 books, which is in fourth-to-last place in terms of most books read since I've started doing a yearly Reading Queue. Just behind 2021 is 2018 (106 books), 2016 (102 books), and 2015 (a measly 57 books). I doubt I'll ever break 2019's record of a whopping 237 books.

~   Religion and History   ~

RELIGION

  The New Testament in its World (N.T. Wright & Michael F. Bird, 2019)

  Masculine Christianity (Zachary M. Garris, 2020)

  Revelation: Four Views (Steve Gregg, 1997)

  When the Man Comes Around (Douglas Wilson, 2019)

  Dark Agenda (David Horowitz, 2021)

  The Spine of Scripture (Bnonn Tennant, 2019)

  It's Good to be a Man (Michael Foster & Tennant, 2021)

  The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates (Michael Trewhella, 2014)

  Notes on Leviticus (Michael Heiser, 2021)

  Notes on the Book of Acts (Heiser, 2021)

  The Institutes of the Christian Religion: Book One (John Calvin)

  Romans (Calvin)

  Infant Baptism (Sean McGowan, 2020)

  Baptism: A Biblical Study (Jack Cottrell, 1990)

  Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up? (David Bercot, 1989)

  The Fitness Mindset (Brian Keane, 2017)

  The Unseen Realm

    The Unseen Realm (Heiser, 2019)

    Demons (Heiser, 2020)

    Slaying Dragons (Daniel Kolenda, 2020)

    Giants, Gods, and Dragons (Derek and Sharon Gilbert, 2021)

    Last Clash of the Titans (Derek Gilbert, 2018)

    Bad Moon Rising (Gilbert, 2019)

    The Omega Conspiracy (I.D.E. Thomas, 2007)

HISTORY

  American History in Black and White (David Barton, 2017)

  The New World (Winston Churchill, 2013)

  Hannibal (Patrick N. Hunt, 2018)

  The Shadow of Vesuvius: A Life of Pliny (Daisy Dunn, 2019)

  Crusaders (Dan Jones, 2019)

  The Discarded Image (C.S. Lewis, 2020)

  A Short History of Europe (Simon Jenkins, 2019)

  A Journey to the New World (Kathryn Lasky, 1996)

  The Napoleonic Wars (Gunther Rothenburg, 1999)

  The Somme (Martin Gilbert, 2007)

  Pacific Air (David Sears, 2011)

  Landing in Hell: Pelileu (Peter Maragritis, 2018)

  I Marched with Patton (Frank Sisson, 2020)

  Every Man a Hero: A Memoir of D-Day (Ray Lambert, 2020)

  Supernova in the East (Dan Carlin, 2020)

~  Fiction and Literature  ~

HISTORICAL FICTION

  Historical Fiction of the Ancient and Medieval World

    The Odyssey (Gareth Hinds, 2010)

    Gates of Fire: The Battle of Thermopylae (Steven Pressfield, 1998)

    Tides of War: The Tale of Alcibiades (Pressfield, 2001)

    The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great (Pressfield, 2004)

    Samurai Rising (Pamela S. Turner and Hinds, 2016)

 Historical Fiction of the Napoleonic Era, continued...

    The Nutmeg of Consolation, 1813 (Patrick O'Brian, 1991)
    The Truelove, 1813 (O'Brian, 1992)
    The Wine-Dark Sea, 1813 (O'Brian, 1993)
    The Commodore, 1813 (O'Brian, 1995)

    The Yellow Admiral, 1814 (O'Brian, 1996)

    The Hundred Days, 1815 (O'Brian, 1999)

    Sharpe's Waterloo: The Waterloo Campaign, 1815 (Bernard Cornwell, 1990)
    Blue at the Mizzen, 1816 (O'Brian, 1999)

    Sharpe's Devil: Richard Sharpe and the Emperor, 1820-1821 (Cornwell, 1992)

  Historical Fiction of the Second World War

    To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor (Jeff Shaara, 2020)

    Pacific Glory (P.T. Deutermann, 2011)

    The Silver Waterfall: The Battle of Midway (Kevin Miller, 2020)

    The Nugget (Deutermann, 2019)

    Sentinels of Fire (Deutermann, 2013)

    The Commodore (Deutermann, 2016)

    Catch-22 (Joseph Heller, 1961)

    Devastation Road (Jason Hewitt, 2015)

    The Good Shepherd (C.S. Forester, 2018)

    Run Silent, Run Deep (Edward Beach, 1956)

  Historical Fiction of the Vietnam War

    The Things They Carried (Tim O'Brien, 2009)

    Matterhorn (Karl Marlantes, 2009)

    The 13th Valley (John Del Vacchio, 1982)

A PANOPLY OF FICTION

  We Are Unprepared (Meg Little Reilly, 2016)

  The Street Lawyer (John Grisham, 1998)

  Onslaught (David Poyer, 2016)

  Red Phoenix (Larry Bond, 1989)

  Liberty's Last Stand (Stephen Coonts, 2016)

  Crescent Dawn (Clive Cussler, 2010)

  Roadwork (Stephen King, 1974)

  Insomnia (King, 1994)

  Wizard and Glass (King, 2016)

  Night Shift (King, 1978)

  Science Fiction

    Persepolis Rising (James S.A. Corey, 2017)

    Tiamat's Wrath (Corey, 2018)

    Starfish (Peter Watts, 2000)

    Old Man's War (John Scalzi, 2005)

    Footfall (Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, 1985)

    Engineering Infinity (The Infinity Project, 2011)

    Pacific Rim: Tales from Year Zero (Sean Chen and Travis Beacham, 2013)

  Fantasy

    Before They Are Hanged (Joe Abercrombie, 2007)

    The Last Argument of Kings (Abercrombie, 2008)

    The Mad Lancers (Brian McClellan, 2020)

    The Age of Myth (Michael J. Sullivan, 2016)

    Blood of Elves (Andrzej Sapkowski, 2009)

    World War Z (Max Brooks, 2006)

    Half a War (Abercrombie, 2015)

    Kings of the Wyld (Nicholas Eames, 2017)

    The Shadow of What Was Lost (James Islington, 2014)

    The Rage of Dragons (Evan Winter, 2019)

    The Grey Bastards (Jonathan French, 1918)

    The Bone Ships (R.J. Barker, 2019)

    Star Wars Legends, continued...

      From A Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back (Del Ray, 2020)

      X-Wing: Starfighters of Adumar (Aaron Allston, 1999)

      The New Rebellion (Kristine Rusch, 1997)

  American Westerns

    All The Pretty Horses (Cormac McCarthy, 1992)

    Death Without Company (Craig Johnson, 2007)

    Kindness Goes Unpunished (Johnson, 2008)

    Spirit of Steamboat (Johnson, 2013)

    Wild Justice (Loren D. Estleman, 2018)

    Boone's Lick (Larry McMurtry, 2001)

    The Revenant (Michael Punke, 2002)

    A Good Day for a Massacre (William & J.A. Johnstone, 2020)

    Springfield 1880 (Johnstone, 2018)

    The Chuckwagon Trail (Johnstone, 2017)