Wanted: Slow Readers
Announcing Peruse, a read-later app built on Quick Reads
Global Variables
Reflections by Sean Lunsford: analytics engineer, adult third culture kid, semi-stationary digital nomad
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Charting New Territory
Announcing Uncharted, an Eleventy plugin for generating charts from CSVs
Rachel Weeps
I picked up my phone this morning to see an email notification with the subject: “Security Alert: Worldwide Caution”—a message from the US State Department for citizens abroad. This was how I learned about the “launch of U.S. combat operations in Iran.” After reading the email, I opened up the news to see the headline about American and Israeli strikes on Iran and the (at that point unconfirmed)…
Tuesdays and Travels
I started this draft at 5:30 in the morning on Monday, waiting to board a flight in Delhi. I’m picking it back up to (hopefully) publish it as I wait for another flight at Heathrow, after three days at a data conference in London. This was my second time at this particular conference, and the fourth year running I’ve gone to a data conference in London in the fall. This year was the first time I…
New Horizons
I definitely didn’t plan this, but as I’m finally catching a few minutes to write, I find myself once again eleven days from an international move. I remember the final stretch feeling like a crunch last time, but seven years later, this is so much more overwhelming—because this time we’re moving a family of four, and trying to sell off and pack up a much larger place than half of the little…
Unearthing My One Post From 2024
I just came across this draft from September, in which I not only wrote a post about some recreational coding/data analysis, but made a bunch of updates to my website to better handle code and tables. Instead of updating and publishing it with today’s date, I decided to pull a Gruber and backdate it to when it was basically done and just never published. [1] Of course, in my case, it’s not as if…
Bringing SQL to a Python Fight
A couple weeks ago I read two posts by Dr. Drang. He was documenting the creation of a table for a previous blog post using Pandas , a data analysis package for Python . Working with data is my day job now, so it was interesting to follow his process and the updates he made in the follow-up post. Of course I got nerd-sniped , and just had to work out how I’d approach the problem with my own…
Three Sixty-Five
When I wrote back in January I was just embarking on a 365. I planned to take a photo a day for the duration of the year, publishing them to Glass as I went. Somehow, the year is already drawing to a close—and as I write I have one photo left to take. I’m glad I decided to take the plunge, and I’m glad it’s over. This was a drastic shift from only posting photos from time to time, and only sharing…
Diapers & Coffee
I’ve started what I guess could be described as a parenting blog . This idea came up sometime toward the end of last year, when Megan commented on my habit of reasoning very matter-of-factly with our daughter about the kind of ridiculous things that come up in parenting a toddler. She thought it would be entertaining to save some of these situations, exchanges, and one-liners for…posterity? As…
2023 in Focus
It’s been a couple years since I’ve written about a yearly theme, but I wanted to post something about this year’s. I think it is helpful to put a public stake in the ground, and since I don’t have a podcast to talk about these on anymore, here we are.
Thing Builder
Today I’m taking the wraps off a side project I started almost three years ago. It started with me wishing for project templates in my task manager, Things . At the time, I was using Drafts a lot for text automation, and I found a couple different user-created text parsers for Things in the Action Directory . Inspired by these, I wanted something more Markdown-like, and as I thought about it,…
Regeneration
For the last few years on our podcast , my friend Elias and I have chosen and discussed yearly themes , inspired by another podcast . An alternative to New Year’s resolutions, they’re basically an idea—typically phrased as “The Year of ______”—intended to be a guiding principle for decisions throughout the year. I went a bit nerdy with mine this year , landing on The Year of Regeneration —a very…
seanlunsford.com Has Moved (and so Have I)
I’ve just finished the move I wrote about , [1] so it seems appropriate to officially announce the move of my blog as well, though this new site has been live for a while now. I’ve been using WordPress since my first post went up on this blog in 2012, but when I launched my other site in 2014 it was using a blogging platform called Ghost and hosted on a server I rent and manage. Pretty much since…
Eleven Days
Eleven days. I’m sitting here on top of the chapel, back to one of the pylons, looking out over the drillfield. I can barely see this page to write, let alone legibly. How many times have I wandered around this drillfield, this campus, at night like this? Seen Burruss Hall all lit up like that, those lamps lining the asphalt footpaths that crisscross the grass, that semicircle of 32 lights on 32…
Fifteen Years
I wrote the first draft of this on Sunday, September 11. Normally I write, edit, and publish in the space of a few hours at most, but I decided to hold off on posting this that day. I wanted to give myself time to reflect, and to let a few others read it and give me their thoughts. I really wanted to make sure I was communicating clearly, and that the message that is most important is the thing…
Where Is Your Sting?
You may have heard of the explosion that rocked Lahore, Pakistan, yesterday. Having grown up in that part of the world, it hits pretty close to home for me. The sad thing is that it isn’t even an unusual occurrence. The sad thing is how—well, mundane—these blasts have become in the region. How often I feel a buzz and look down at my wrist to see yet another news alert with yet another body count.…
<blog>
I’ve started a new blog. I’m starting to get serious about software and web development as a hobby and potential side business, and I wanted a place to discuss that—both the technical stuff, and the more macro narrative of starting into this new venture, and lessons learned. I thought a lot about whether I should continue to use this blog for that, but I’ve realized that in spite of what I said at…
We’re in This Together
You may or may not have heard of the controversy that’s erupted around Michael and Lisa Gungor, the Christian musicians who’ve caused an uproar by saying that they don’t believe in a six-day creation or a literal Adam and Eve. I’m not about to wade into the creation-evolution debate, and I know Christians are increasingly on both sides of the fence on the topic, but I have a few thoughts about how…
Missing Out: a response to “Look Up” and the argument that my iPhone is evil
So this post is a bit different from what I usually write here, but I’m feeling the need to get on a soapbox about something I’m seeing a lot of these days. It’s probably not what you might think. It’s about attitudes about our use of technology, and people’s fear of it turning us all into zombies at worst, or poor wretched souls with no life who will one day die alone, at best. (Disclaimer: I’m…
Checkmate
Tuesday is my fullest day of the week this semester, followed closely by Thursday. Both days I have back-to-back classes from 8 to 4:45, except for a break between 10:45 and 12:30. On Tuesdays I go straight to work at 5, and don’t get off until after 9. At the beginning of the semester, I decided that break between classes would be a good time to read the Bible and pray. For the most part, that…
Two Months
Remember how I wrote that I was going to blog every week…almost two weeks ago? Oops. Last week was spring break, and I spent most of it writing—working on my staff application for NLCF . And now I’m back, for the final stretch. It’s ridiculous how close I am to the end of school. My graduation is May 16 and 17. So two months from now I will have graduated and will probably be on my way out of…
Of Blogs and Lent
So Lent began today. I knew I’d neglected this blog a lot recently, but I just discovered that I’ve only posted twice since last Lent. What happened to the past year? Anyways, for the past week, I’ve been thinking about what to do this year. This is only the second year that I’m actually observing Lent. It wasn’t until I came to NLCF that I knew much about it or realized that it was commonly…
Prayer
A couple weeks ago we started a series at NLCF on Galatians. For this series, during the last worship set of each service, there’s an opportunity for people to have someone pray for them. The first Sunday of the series, my Engage Group was one of the groups on the so-called HUG (hospitality/ushers/greeters) team, who folds bulletins before the service, greets people as they arrive, and takes up…
What’s in Front of Me
So it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here. In fact, last time I posted was early in the spring semester, which turned out to be my busiest semester since starting at Virginia Tech. Thanks to God and God alone, I not only survived the semester with my sanity intact (well, mostly…) but it was academically my best semester yet. Actually, it was a really good semester across the board, busy…
In Over My Head
So I’ve started writing for NLCF ’s website. Traditionally it’s the staff who write, but they want to get a few others writing regularly, to kind of get a broader perspective on what God’s doing in the congregation (either by writing about what God’s up to in our own lives, or by sharing stories of other people.) So I volunteered. I’m scheduled for three dates this semester, each about three weeks…
Scripture on Faith, Deeds, and Love
A couple of well-known verses have been on my mind since my post, “ Setting things straight ”: What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that…
Unplugged (Sort Of)
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about God, it’s that he likes to throw monkey wrenches in our plans, and substitute his own. To disrupt us if we start to get too comfortable—not because there’s anything wrong with comfort, but because if we’re too comfortable for too long we start to get stagnant. A week ago I shared my intention of delving into technology on this blog a little more. I…
Setting Things Straight
On Wednesday night, right before going to bed, I posted a link to an article titled “ There. I said it. I don’t want my kids to be Evangelicals. ” In my (very) brief commentary I quoted the following from it: I want my kids to think set apart means that they will love so radically and freely that whatever moral choices their making, through all their years of figuring it out, won’t be what people…
Oops.
Right before going to bed I posted a link to an article I had just read after a friend posted it on Facebook. I am quick to find truth in things I read, which sometimes means I gloss over the rest and highlight the truth. The problem is that when I share these things, it can appear that I agree with everything that was said. In the case of this article, it was just brought to my attention that a…
Pivot
When I started this blog I said I wasn’t going to limit it to any specific topic, but that anything I think is worth sharing is fair game. So far, I’ve mostly written about matters of faith. Actually, that’s all I’ve written about, save the first paragraph of one post in which I got into a bit of a technology tangent. You probably didn’t notice, but I added a Technology category that I used on…
Forth, and Fear No Darkness!
When I last posted I was nearing the end of The Two Towers . I’ve finished The Return of the King now, and I’m working on the appendices. And yes, I’m going to write about The Lord of the Rings again. (Don’t be surprised if this ends up becoming a series.) Something I’ve noticed this time through the books and the movies, more than before, is the theme of despair. I saw looks of despair and horror…
The Great Stories
I’m listening to the soundtrack of The Two Towers right now. I was just reading some more of the book. Suddenly, in the past few weeks, I’m crazy about Tolkien again. I blame The Hobbit . Since I saw a trailer for the first installment a year ago, I couldn’t wait. To return to Middle-earth, and explore it further; to be reunited with familiar characters, and introduced to new ones. So when it…
Flashback: Purpose In Every Step
I need to write a short essay for a scholarship application. They gave a few typical prompts, and the option to write about a topic of my choice, or to reuse an essay I wrote for class or for a college application. Being a junior in an engineering major, I haven’t exactly written many essays in the last few years. Several for psychology my freshman year, and one about the environment in geology.…
Going To Hell with Ted Haggard
This is grace . Beautiful, scandalous grace. The grace we should be living out.
Letting Go
Several weeks back I wrote a post titled, “I’ve got this.” I almost called it “Letting go,” but I felt like I needed to save that title. I got this sense that that post was more of a prequel. The part where God says, “I’ve got this.” And while there was some letting go on my part then, I had a feeling a post would follow, at some point, that would really be the point of letting go. Well, here it…
Receiving the Baton
“Reblogging” is something that I haven’t done here yet, that I’ve decided to experiment with—linking on my blog to other great blog posts I read around the web. There’s so much great stuff out there that gets me thinking or impacts me, and rather than reinventing the wheel, it makes sense to just point you to what they’ve already said, better than I can, and add a few comments of my own. Since…
Good Books
I’ve been reading a book this week. As in, one of those things consisting of a bunch of pages held together at one edge, that you actually have to turn as you read. It’s been a strange experience. I had to get used to holding the book in my hand in such a way as to keep it open as I read, a position that used to be very familiar to me, but one that I haven’t had much practice with recently. I do…
“I’ve Got This.”
I’m sitting on the back porch of a cabin at a retreat center twenty minutes outside of Blacksburg. The rain this morning has left a chill in the air, the ground wet, and a light mist hovering just above the treetops. The trees around me range from green to red to leafless, and the only sounds to be heard are the leaves rustling, the water still dripping from tree branches, and the birds. I sip…
What If?
I work two shifts a week at West End, one of the dining centers on campus. The job can be frustrating, mundane, insane. It can be slow and boring one minute and hectic the next. I work register a lot, and the past few weeks, with my knee injury , that’s what I’ve been doing almost every shift. In that position, it’s an understatement to say that you interact with all kinds of people. Sometimes…
Of Ibuprofen and Ice Packs
I write this with my legs stretched out in front of me, computer in my lap, and a cold pack on my knee, having just popped some ibuprofen. A week and a half ago, I was on my bike, my primary way of getting around campus (well…until a week and a half ago.) I was riding on the sidewalk, and getting ready to merge onto the road. A pickup was coming towards me, but still a little ways off. I was…
Through the Valley
There is a bridge on the Virginia Tech campus. Actually there are a lot of bridges on campus. But one of them is a little concrete footbridge, tucked in between several dorms, spanning a driveway that leads to a couple parking lots. Nothing very significant, really. But it found significance for me my freshman year. It has haunted me ever since. (No, before you start freaking out, I never tried…
Homesick
Today finds me thinking about home. Those of you who know me and some of my life story may be wondering, “Which place, exactly, are you referring to as home at the moment?” Exactly. My point exactly. I was looking through some old pictures and stuff from a CD that I got at the end of my ninth grade year. It was a CD that the two guys who had been helping out that year in junior high boys’ boarding…
Some More Food for Thought
Over the last many months I’ve been looking a lot into the subject I just wrote about. I’ve read a lot of what other people had to say. Some of them had some of the same ideas I do, but said them a lot better than I could. I thought it would be helpful to compile a short list of articles and blog posts that I’ve read and found thought-provoking. This is not a 100% endorsement of everything on…
Priorities
[Disclaimer: if you’re looking for something clean and family-friendly, this is not it. I’m dealing with a tough and messy topic that needs to be addressed] This post is a long time in coming. Both in that, yeah, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve written anything here, and in that what I’m about to write has been formulating in my mind for just as long if not longer. Since the last time I blogged,…
Different
A pretty awesome thought hit me tonight. There is now just over a week left of classes here at VT . After which is a week of finals, and then summer. It’s ridiculous how fast time has gone this year, and it sure ain’t slowing down now. Pretty much everyone is in the mindset of so much to do, so little time. These last days are going to fly faster than I can believe. But that’s not the thought;…
The Time Is Now
When I posted on Saturday I said I had a couple ideas in mind for new posts. This was not one of them. But the events since then have thrust this into my mind. On Monday night I stood on the drillfield alongside thousands of other Hokies as 32 names were read aloud, each followed by a few lines about the person behind that name, and as 32 candles were lit and held in front of the 32 stones that…
The Race
In my first post I mentioned a couple things that had come to me that would’ve made good blog posts—the problem being I didn’t have a blog. This is one of them. It has been a Facebook note since its conception in October 2010, and seeing as I haven’t posted here in a while, I decided it was time to promote it to a real blog post. I’ve resisted the urge to make any changes, so here it is in its…
If Necessary, Use Words
Today I’m thinking about the prophets. For the last several days I’ve been working on a study on the Old Testament prophets for my small group. And something that has really stuck out to me is how their lives are so wrapped up in their message. The classic example is Hosea, who God called to marry a prostitute and was doomed to a life of buying back and forgiving an unfaithful wife, to be a living…
Taking a Step
Earlier this week I wrote about two themes in my life right now—surrender and abiding. Since then they’ve been on my mind a good deal and God has been developing those thoughts further. For a couple weeks now, God’s been pushing me to be more intentional about spending time with him. I try to do it before class in mornings, amid getting breakfast and getting ready for class and all. But I’m…
Losing All Control
Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender Without losing all control? Fearless warriors in a picket fence Reckless abandon wrapped in common sense Deep-water faith in the shallow end And we are caught in the middle With eyes wide open to the differences The God we want and the God who is But will we trade our dreams for his Or are we caught in the middle? –Casting Crowns, “Somewhere in the…