Stephen Bachelor’s book is a "confession" in the classic, Augustianian sense, describing his life journey becoming a Buddhist monk and, well, an atheist. It’s accessible, honest, heartfelt, and lays out a way to be spiritual without being godly. It’s very human, and very good.

This is a photo of Nels Peter Holmquist, my great great grandfather, taken in Nebraska around the turn of the century. I’ve kept it by every desk I’ve used for near ten years now. It’s a reminder of the value of work, of creating tools, and of craftsmanship. Also, it looks pretty cool.

Take Shelter haunted me before I saw it and haunts me more now that I have. On a purely conceptual level, it’s a stunningly good meditation on the struggle of knowing whether thoughts are rational, a result of a mental illness, or some combination of the two. On an artistic level, the cinematography and overall tone is spot on — they could have just filmed two hours of Michael Shannon looking off in the distance with a furrowed brow and I’d probably still recommend it.

For fifteen years, this keychain has hung on the edge of my pocket (keys inside), outlasting countless phones, wallets, and other gadgets. It keeps keys from jangling at the bottom of my pockets, lets me easily swap various sets, and opens beer. I can’t tell you how long I spent trying to find just this form of steel and spring and now that I have, I will never, ever let it go.

I have had an information addiction since at least the dawn of the internet, and crossword puzzles seem to release the same endorphins for me. They do it in a way that’s more limited than actually going online, so I'm much less likely to binge. Plus, you get the satisfaction that comes from winning a game. On Android, I find Shortyz to be superior to Crosswords — but Stand Alone’s app is still tops on iOS (and heck, PalmOS).