Isaac Wheeler

A small (~5cm) plastic model of the drinking fountains found throughout Torino, Italy, which feature a bull's head

No souvenir trinket has ever resonated with me as powerfully as did this little present from my wife.

I thought it was a learned trait, but apparently the back seats of the bus are so innately cool that even my 4-year-old who has never been to school always wants to sit there.

(Having just shattered the glass vials containing the sugar and knowing there were probably bits of glass helped to deter me. But the temptation to just pop it in my mouth instead of the trash was real.)

A 2cm half-circle of freeze-dried sugar, in my gloved hand

It always seemed to me a little obvious, or maybe even silly, how my lab safety courses carefully specified that you should never ingest any sample.

Today, handling samples of freeze-died sucrose--table sugar--I understood why those warnings had been so clear and unequivocal.

I carried the (subsequent?) horse facts for around a decade before handing it to my child when we desperately needed something to distract him

Hiya!

The other talks gave me the ideas and motivation I needed to try again at being the kind of father, husband, colleague, student, mentor, and disciple that I want to be. Jesus Christ really does make the difference! (3/3)

Yesterday, Mack Wilberg's arrangement of "It Is Well With My Soul" (youtu.be/Eg5O2y1UXw4?...), even if it's not new to me, really drove home the message I needed--that Christ really has already atoned for the myriad ways I am falling short. (2/3)

#genconf, the semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is always a spiritual watershed moment.
(1/3)

Detail from art glass, showing a sparrow pecking at seeds in a New-Testament-inspired scene. Full piece by Holdman Studios installed at the visitor's center of the Rome Italy temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

"Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely
And long for heav’n and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me."

Civilla D. Martin, "His Eye is On the Sparrow"

God's plan involves repentance, which means it involves real, meaningful godly sorrow and desire for change. So that should be my plan as well: feel the sorrow and allow it to change my heart, so that I can bask in the light of God's love whether circumstances are good or bad.

My lesson for the day:

If I am striving to align my will with God's, then I need to make my plan as much like His as possible. Constant perfection and goodness would defeat the purposes of God's plan; likewise my plan should not treat hard days and bad days and unproductive days as an anomaly.

Purdue again recognized as a top producer of Fulbright students and scholars The U.S. Department of State has recognized Purdue as a “Top Producing Institution” with 14 students and seven faculty members offered prestigious Fulbright grants each in 2024-25.

Hey look, it's me! www.purdue.edu/newsroom/pur...

I'd never heard of any of this before, but it sounds like the kind of space I would want to inhabit.

Funny how saying that something has an "earthy flavor" means something so different from saying it "tastes like dirt".

one year when he was a teenager, my dad asked his mum what she wanted for Christmas, and much to his confusion she said "Oh, a purple gargoyle would be nice."

So he spent hours making a gargoyle from paper-mache, painted it purple, and on Christmas Day she opened it and looked at him in confusion.

Open Source Victories | Notion My intro to open source

I've had the experience a few times recently of small bugs in open source software I use getting fixed by someone else, and I have to say it's wonderful to feel like part of a community and see collaborative effort make a difference.

ickaser.notion.site/Open-Source-...

LED lightbulbs have much more interesting failure modes than the old incandescent kind. Today one "burned out" in our apartment but (due to some sort of capacitance, maybe?) maintained a dim glow for several minutes after being physically removed from the light fixture

The Great Decentralization | NOEMA What happens when sprawling online communities fracture into politically homogenous, self-governing communities?

“For the past two decades, most online discourse has occurred on a handful of social media platforms. Their dominion seemed unshakeable.”

But that’s changed, @noupside.bsky.social writes. What does the rise of new platforms like Truth Social & Bluesky portend? ⬇️

It's always good to be reminded that because it seemed like a good and worthwhile to-do item at the time, doesn't mean it's worth doing now. Marie Kondo was right about that

It took me a year and a half to log 75 hours and clear LoZ: Tears of the Kingdom, but I did it finally! Awesome game.

A homemade tiramisù viewed from the side, showing alternating layers of cream and soaked cookies

Homemade lasagne viewed from the side, showing layers of pasta and sauces

Many of the best Italian recipes involve a good stack of food

Ever wondered why presenting more facts can sometimes *worsen* disagreements, even among rational people? 🤔

It turns out, Bayesian reasoning has some surprising answers - no cognitive biases needed! Let's explore this fascinating paradox quickly ☺️

Everything I see about @typst.app makes me excited but I haven't found the courage to just go try it yet.

Congratulations!

Happy new year!

I was very impressed with the quality and quantity of fireworks visible at midnight from our 10th-story balcony in Torino last night--Italians enjoy their New Years celebrations.

Breaking my smartphone was the most scary thing I had anticipated could happen while in a foreign country.

Praise be to God for a Bluetooth mouse I can use to operate it until the replacement arrives!

Temples Bind Us to God and Each Other Temples Bind Us to God and Each Other

And an explanation of what I am talking about may be helpful: www.churchofjesuschrist.org/welcome/temp...

It may have cost us hundreds of dollars to get to Bern, Switzerland and back, but doing ordinance work for the dead in the Bern Temple today was a sweet, spiritually renewing experience and worth every penny.

Thanksgiving may have passed, but a few things I'm grateful for:

Loving wife
Adorable children
Relationship with God
Local church members (in Lafayette, IN as well as Torino, Italy)
Delicious food
Engaging problems to work on
Decent public transit
Funny, clean stuff to watch