Kevin D. Hendricks's Blog, page 6

U2: Songs of Surrender

Today U2 released a four-album collection of remakes of their classic songs. It’s called Songs of Surrender, following the recent releases Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.

So yeah, they reimagined classic songs (worried yet?). Most of them are calmer or quieter, stripped back to acoustic guitar or piano. In some cases Bono has tweaked the lyrics (he’s often said songs are unfinished and these versions are more of what he intended).

My early takes on these things often change, ...

Supporting Kindness & Local Art

A local elementary school is doing an incredible project and I hope you’ll support it with me.

What are they doing: Instead of selling candy bars, popcorn, or whatever you don’t need, they’re doing a kindness fundraiser. The kids at Moreland Arts and Health Sciences Magnet School in West St. Paul do acts of kindness and ask for your support. They’re doing all kinds of stuff, including writing notes, decorating grocery bags, making toys for a local animal shelter, a cereal box drive for a loc...

How Budget Rental Accused Me of Fraud Over Their Mistake

This is a story of corporate greed. Or maybe just uncaring incompetence. I’m not sure if anyone in this story cares enough to actually be motivated by greed.

We rented a car from Budget in Seattle last June during our vacation. Then in October we received a letter about glass damage on the rental car and we apparently owed $558.99.

That sucks, I thought. I didn’t remember getting any chips in the windshield, but anything’s possible. I figured we’d have to pony up, but on a whim I emailed B...

Black Lives Matter on MLK Day

Today, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I finished reading When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele. I often try to read something by King or a related topic on MLK Day, not in a performative way (though blogging about it doesn’t help), but to help center my thoughts.

This year, when things seem calm and quiet (forgotten), when the fury of 2020 George Floyd protests is an aberration, it seemed fitting to read a modern voice.

Too ...

2022 Reading Stats

OK, I’ve shared my total reading numbers for 2022—87 total—and my favorite fiction and nonfiction books. Now let’s talk stats.

My Diversity Stats55% POC books57% women/nonbinary authors

About in line with last year, though flipped. Here’s how that compares to previous years:

And to my total books read:

I track these numbers because you pay attention to what you track, and if you don’t pay attention you get stuck in a rut. People question if systemic racism is real, bu...

Top 5 Nonfiction of 2022

I read 87 books in 2022, and here’s my favorite nonfiction reads. I don’t read very much nonfiction (16 out of 87, so 18%), so it usually has to be something I’m really interested in. And this year I struggled through several 2-star books (and even a 1-star book).

Outlove: A Queer Christian Survival Story by Julie Rodgers – A fascinating and difficult memoir about being gay in the church. From conversion therapy to excommunication, it’s not exactly joyful reading. But necessary. Raising Ollie:...

Top 10 Fiction of 2022

I read 87 books in 2022, and here are my favorite fiction reads:

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin – Such a fun story telling the history of a video game company, but it’s really about friendship. The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson – A generational novel about the Dakota in Minnesota. Haunting. The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi – Just a dumb, fun, sci-fi book. I even wrote about how fun it is to have the right book at the right time. Light Years From Home by Mike Che...

2022 Reading List

I read 87 books in 2022. It’s up from last year, so that’s a win.

You can also check out my previous reading lists: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, and 2001.

If you want to read more, check out my booklet 137 Books in One Year: How to Fall in Love With Reading Again.

Reading Themes for 2022

While my reading was up, it was still a tough year for reading. The invasion of Ukraine in February...

I Started Mountain Biking and Didn’t Die

In 2022 I did a thing. I started mountain biking. And I didn’t die. (Whenever I go out, my wife tells me not to die.)

Instead I biked 239 miles, 37 separate times at 19 different places across 8 states. (And that’s just mountain biking, not counting my road biking.)

It was not without incident.

I managed to bruise my tailbone on my second ride out and couldn’t ride for three weeks. I had to sit on a donut. So I bought knee pads.My brand new bike fell off my bike rack. Let’s not talk ab...

West St. Paul Reader Member Drive

I’m in the midst of a member drive for my local, neighborhood news site, West St. Paul Reader. We do hyper-local news—like City Council, new restaurants in town, and local election coverage. We’re supported by members—neighbors, really (it’s a small suburb)—hence a year-end push to grow our support.

So far it’s a big success. We hit our initial goal last week—25 new or upgraded members—and then hit one of our ongoing goals—200 total members. Now we’re pushing for 225 members and then our big ...