Product Review - Defining Pomade - Dove Men +Care

Defining Pomade
Dove Men +Care
Dove
ASIN B018HGSU4Q

I was offered a container of this product for an honest review. I must admit I was very surprised. This product is about a quarter of the price of my normal product and it does an excellent job. This product held a number of surprises for me. First being clear, the lack of bright artificial color is a big plus in my books. It is also very thick almost a paste or clay texture. It also has a balances scent strong when you first open the container but diffuses very quickly. I was a little surprised that caffeine is an ingredient and am not sure of its purpose in the product.

Pros:
Good Hold
Shiny Finish
Staying Power
Non-Greasy
Price

Cons:
Scent when first opened
Yellow 5 Artificial Color

Overall a good product that performs as expected and for a much better price than many in the marketplace.

Stop Worrying and Start Living - Gary Zimak - 365 Daily Reflections

Stop Worrying and Start Living:
365 Daily Reflections
Gary Zimak
Wellspring Publishing
formerly
Beacon Publishing for
Dynamic Catholic
ISBN 9781942611653
eISBN 9781942611677
ASIN B01N9D5M82


The title of this book makes it sound like a 1001 other self-help books. When I was younger I read a number of them by Sharma, Millman, Coelho, Quinn and more. I wish I this book had been around then, not only could I have benefited from it but I can think of dozens of friends who would have greatly benefited from this book. Gary writes from personal experience, he does not undercut the reality of anxiety, panic attacks, self-doubt, insomnia and other issues of the mind and body. But what he does in this book in the 365 reflections is show us some tools that can help. But they will only help with a little faith and some practice and perseverance.

Gary teaches from his own years of experience, and his reflections to be honest can be beneficial for any Christian looking to grow closer to God, to trust more, to rely more, to maybe even hope a little more. For from his teachings you will learn that it does not matter if you are facing financial hardships, insecurity, health or whatever else keeps you up at night or distressed during the day, that God has a plan for your life for your happiness, for your peace. Even if His answers are not what you are asking for.

Two sample reflections are:

JANUARY 19
"Do not be afraid, my son, because we have become poor. You have great wealth if you fear God and refrain from every sin and do what is pleasing in his sight." (Tobit 4:21)

When I speak at parishes and conferences, I meet many people who are worried about money. In fact, financial anxiety is one of the biggest sources of stress in the world today.
Tobit's words to his son show great wisdom and indicate that he understands the true meaning of wealth. Having an abundance of money will make us happy only for a while. Furthermore, being rich can even hurt our chances of getting to heaven. No matter how little money you have, the only way you are truly poor is if you don't have a relationship with God. Even though it may not feel like it when you're struggling to pay your bills, if you have Jesus in your life, you are very wealthy!

God, I confess-all too often I get distracted by the things of the world.

Thank you for your presence in my life; with you by my side, I am truly wealthy.

JULY 23
Then he said to me, "Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words." (Daniel 10:12)

When you've prayed for something and God hasn't seemed to be answering, have you ever reached a point where you've simply stopped asking? While this is a common response, it is not a good one. This verse reminds us that even if he doesn't respond immediately, God always hears our prayers and will answer when the time is right.
Although it can be frustrating, you can grow closer to God during periods of "unanswered" prayer. It gives you the opportunity to walk by faith and express your trust in his providence. Take comfort in the knowledge that God always hears your prayers. Most important, don't ever stop praying for what you need. When you are not getting a response, it's usually because he is up to something big!

Sometimes it feels like you are ignoring me, God.

Help me to be patient and trust in your timing.

I have had friends take their lives, I have had other friends try, I have known friends live in darkness after a divorce, and others that just struggle to see good in each day. This is a book I would share with them. This is a book I know I will read again. This book has the power to change lives. Maybe not all but many. Especially if the reader is open to the Holy Spirit working in and through them, even in the smallest way.

This is a book I will share with many people. But also one I will pick up again from time to time. I will likely read it through following the year of readings next time. But I am just as likely to randomly open it and just read a meditation to experience the encouragement and reminder from Gary's words and experiences.

This was an incredibly book that I was truly blessed to have read and I believe you will be also!

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2017 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books by Gary Zimak:
Faith, Hope, and Clarity: How to Know God's Will
Find a Real Friend in Jesus: Ten Amazingly Easy Steps
From Fear to Faith: A Worrier's Guide to Discovering Peace
Listen to Your Blessed Mother: Mary's Words in Scripture
Stop Worrying and Start Living
A Worrier's Guide to the Bible: 50 Verses to Ease Anxieties

I Thirst - Gina Marinello-Sweeney - The Veritas Chronicles Book 1

I Thirst
The Veritas Chronicles Book 1
Gina Marinello-Sweeney
Rivershore Books
ISBN 9780615802121
ASIN B00JHXJ7R8




I have mixed feelings about this book. I actually find it really hard to sit down and write a review. I also took a long time to settle on a stars rating. It was back and forth between 2 and 4 stars, finally settling on 3. The story within a story is always a risky plot twist. And when the story within is being written by the main characters I would say even more so. And with part told in prose and part in verse it just feels like too much was attempted for a first book. The plot gets so complicate the books begins with a character list for the two stories.

I Thirst - Main Story
Adriana
Rebecca
Peter
Chelsey
Cedric

Intermission (written by Rebecca and Peter)
Monet
Antonio
Elise
Morena
Fred

The main story is about Rebecca and Peter, Peter is a student from Canada and Rebecca working towards finishing her university degree. With a mysterious note with just 'Intermission' on it, the two are drawn together and through their word craft work at creating a story together.

I really liked the Peter and Rebecca interactions, and their faith, also finding out Peter's secret and his burden that he carries was very moving. But the side story that they were writing, written as a play was just too abstract for me.

I think this is a good story, that could have been a great story. But it just did not do it for me. But it was good enough I am going to give book 2 a try.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2017 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books by Gina Marinello-Sweeney:
The Veritas Chronicles
I Thirst
The Rose and the Sword

Homily Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time - Deacon Ed MacIntosh

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

(Note: This homily really hit home, it aligns so closely with books I have been reading and processing over the last year. It is posted here with permission.)

The Catholic writer, Matthew Kelly, tells us that the best way to serve and to please God is to become what he calls, “the best version of ourselves.” Kelly’s idea is that by being that best version of ourselves we will come closer to living our lives in the manner that God, in whose image we were created, has intended.

So, in other words, if I strive to be the best husband, father, deacon and friend that I can be; only then, am I truly being the Ed who was made in the image and likeness of God. Anything I do contrary to that  separates me from God and detracts from my likeness to Him.

Last weekend I took part in an event in the London Diocese called, The Men of Faith Conference.  It was a great experience, and so moving to be part of a group of about 300 men who had gathered to discuss, and hopefully deepen their faith.

One of the speakers was Fr. Ben Ludtke from Detroit. Fr. Ben’s message touched on how hard it can be to stand up for the faith but how important it is to do just that.  The line he used a few times throughout his presentation that I think was so spot on was, “it takes guts to be a Catholic.”

I agree with Fr. Ben, it takes guts to make the ‘right’ choice instead of the popular choice; to make the moral choice instead of the choice that feels easiest in the moment; when the world today, just like in the time of Jesus, gives a totally different message.

The world tells us…

• you could be happy if you look out for number 1, and put your own needs first.
• you could be happy if you get ahead by taking advantage of other people as long as you don’t get caught.
• you could be happy if you talk trash or offer alternative facts to make someone else feel or appear to be inferior.

But that is not what Jesus is telling us in today’s Gospel.  Jesus says, “Blessed are you…” or in another translation, “Happy are you…” These are encouraging words to hear from our Lord for those of us who try to live out his message in our day to day lives.

There are some of the Beatitudes that we already have the ability to achieve on our own; showing mercy, being a peacemaker, being humble. But there are also times when we will need to turn to God for help to achieve what is being asked of us...and it's not a bad thing to recognize that we cannot do it all by ourselves.

I want to share this little story with you…
One Sunday as they drove home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, there’s something about the Deacon’s message this morning that I don’t understand." The mother said, "Oh? What is it?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. He said God is so big that He could hold the world in His hand. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that's true."

"But Mommy, he also said that God comes to live inside of us when we believe in Jesus and when we receive Holy Communion. Is that true, too?" Again, the mother assured the little girl that what the Deacon had said was true.

With a puzzled look on her face the little girl then asked, "If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, won’t He show through?"

The little girl, in her own way, had unwittingly summarized what it means to live a life in keeping, with not only Gospel values, but more specifically, the story we hear in today’s Gospel. The closer we get to Jesus by following His message, by learning more about Him, by receiving Him in the Eucharist…the more He will show through us.

Jesus, in this very well known text that we call the Beatitudes, delivers a guide for us to follow that shows us, not only what we need to do but what He will do for us when we align ourselves closer to Him.

In fact, it is in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that the Beatitudes are explained as the “vocation of the faithful”, they show us the “actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life” and in fact, the Beatitudes really are like an instruction book for how to live - how to “be the best version of ourselves”.

They  “describe for us the paths that lead to the Kingdom of heaven. Sustained by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we tread them, step by step, by everyday acts.  By the working of the Word of Christ, we slowly bear fruit in the Church to the glory of God.”

And the promises made to us in the Beatitudes, which are already secured through the Paschal Mystery, surely are cause for rejoicing.

It may be a difficult path to follow but we have faith that if we are “pure in heart” we receive the promised reward and we “shall see God”.

There are times when I take our children shopping. They want to spend the money they have been saving for a particular item.  They have done their part, they have worked hard doing chores or extra things around the house but inevitably they will turn to me and ask, “Dad, if I don’t have all that I need will you help me?”

So it is with God. Of course, we need to do our part, but those times in our lives where we fall short, God makes up the difference, carrying us the rest of the way.

As Pope Francis said at World Youth Day in 2014:
"In proclaiming the Beatitudes, Jesus asks us to follow him and to travel with him along the path of love, the path that alone leads to eternal life. It is not an easy journey, yet the Lord promises us his grace and he never abandons us.  We face so many challenges in life: poverty, distress, humiliation, the struggle for justice, persecutions, the difficulty of daily conversion, the effort to remain faithful to our call to holiness, and many others. But if we open the door to Jesus and allow him to be part of our lives, if we share our joys and sorrows with him, then we will experience the peace and joy that only God, who is infinite love, can give."

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
"Deacon Ed"
Rev. Mr. Ed MacIntosh
St. Agnes Parish, Waterloo, ON

With permission.

Related Posts:
The Colors of the Church Year
The Privilege of Altar Serving
Serving God, Altar Serving and Learning to Listen
Saturday 18th Week or Ordinary Time
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2017
Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2017

...

Note: Link to all posts about St. Agnes Parish.

Practical LPIC-1 Linux Certification Study Guide - David Clinton

Practical LPIC-1 Linux Certification Study Guide 1st ed. Edition
David Clinton
Apress Press
ISBN 9781484223574
ASIN B01N8YV1N3

I reviewed an different edition of this book, and then found out about this new edition. Other than formatting changes the changes are minimal. So here is my review. I need to be up front with you. I have always been a little leery of Linux Certification. I have been a Windows Sys Admin for years now, I spent a few short years supporting Apples OSX, and though Linux certification was on my wish list, it is something I have started a number of times but never seen through to completion. Because I only ever managed a few systems or applications that ran on Linux I always figured out what I needed to know, but never took the time to go further. 

But after doing David Clinton's 'Linux Server Skills for Windows Administrators' on PluralSight I had a hunger to know more and go deeper. And I am very thankful I have. I have not written my exams yet but they are on my training plan for this year. This book is the most compact, and easily digestible of the CompTIA Linux+, or LPI-1 book I have ever tried to use. Within a few hours I was up and running with a vm within a vm and working through the exercises. And at the end of each chapter is a test to check your knowledge. If I did not score at least 75% I redid the chapter.

No based on my learning styles I learn best from reading and second best from hands on doing. With this book I was able to maximize my learning. With the hours I spend going through this book I feel like I have a better grasp of Linux than working doing it a bit here and a bit there on the job of the last dozen years. David states in the introduction: "Now, about this book. I chose to have the chapters closely follow the LPIC exam topics. Not only will this make it much easier for you to study for each of the two exams required for LPIC-1 certification, but I believe that the exam objectives are actually nicely aligned with the tools you'll need in the real world. Whether or not you end up taking the exam, if you manage to learn this material, you'll have done yourself a real favor." And I completely agree with his assertion. He also says: "If you want to really "get" this stuff, you'll have to roll up your sleeves, open up a terminal, and do it. As soon as you finish a chapter or a section, try out what you've learned on a real living, breathing Linux system. Even better, take on your own projects. Be ambitious. Be adventurous. Take (managed) risks." And I found that to be true, every time I tried to study Linux before using this book I always worked with a GUI, but by following David's guidance I worked with a command line only version a little every day for weeks until I was immersed in it.

I have heard that David is currently working on textbooks for the advance Linux exams and I know I will use those once I have written these exams. His writing style is easy to digest, it is clear, concise and to the point. It was by far one of the best certification books I have ever used, and I currently hold 37 certifications and have written nearly 50 exams over the last 10 years. I can highly recommend this book, if you are new to Linux or already have a lot of experience and just want to achieve the designation this book will be a great resource for your exam prep.

An excellent resource that I can highly recommend.

Note: This book was previously published as: 

Teach Yourself Linux Administration and Prepare for the LPIC-1 Certification Exams: Complete. Quick.
David Clinton
Bootstrap-IT
ISBN 9781329803701
ASIN B01AVG4URG

It was by far one of the best certification books I have ever used, and I currently hold 37 certifications and have written nearly 50 exams over the last 10 years.

Books by David Clinton:
Teach Yourself Linux Administration and Prepare for the LPIC-1 Certification Exams: Complete. Quick.
Learn Amazon Web Services in a Month of Lunches
Practical LPIC-1 Linux Certification Study Guide 1st ed. Edition

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Study Guide: Clf-C01 Exam

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide: Associate Saa-C01 Exam

Ubuntu Linux Bible

Linux Security Fundamentals

Solving for Technology: How To Quickly Learn Valuable New Skills In A Madly Changing Technology World

Manage AWS Resources Using Ansible

Keeping Up: Backgrounders to All the Big Technology Trends You Can't Afford to Ignore

...

Pluralsight Courses by David Clinton:
Linux Server Skills for Windows Administrators
LPI: Linux Essentials (010-150)
Linux Encryption Security (LPIC-3 303)
Linux Network Security (LPIC-3 303)
Linux Server Virtualization (LPIC-3 304 Part 1/2)
Linux High Availability Cluster Management (LPIC-3 304 Part 2/2)
Network Vulnerability Scanning with OpenVAS
Using Docker on AWS
Protocol Deep Dive: SSH and Telnet

...

Related Articles:
Review of Pluralsight Service

Choosing Happiness: Working Within - Francisco Ugarte

Choosing Happiness: Working Within
Francisco Ugarte
Scepter Press
ISBN 9781594172625
ASIN B01MUBRS5D


When reading books in translation, at times there is a feeling of things being slightly off. There was no sense of that when I read this book. In fact I have already recommended it to a few friends and from their feedback and my own reading I can state that this is a wonderful book. This English edition of this book is a great tool for Christians looking to grow in part of our fundamental call as followers of Christ. to live happiness, to live joy and to do so by working internally.

In the introduction to this book it states:

"In the literature about happiness, which is surprisingly scarce for a subject of such importance, we tend to find two approaches: the classic and the contemporary. The classic approach, which explains the nature of happiness philosophically, may seem rather abstract to the modern reader, who seeks practical solutions relating to everyday life. The contemporary approach, however, is often reduced to "formulas" for making us happy, formulas that don't solve the basic problem because they lack content.

The purpose of this book is to delve more deeply into the substance of happiness, to reveal the way to be happy in daily life, and to connect this daily joy with the infinite happiness of the next life. As the title Choosing Happiness: Working Within suggests, it's a matter of looking inside ourselves and at our truest, deepest needs, choosing to be happy in this life and the next by identifying and seeking those sources of happiness which meet and match authentic human needs."

Then the book goes on to examine what is true happiness, what are some barriers to happiness and gives many examples of happiness. And even what many falsely assume is happiness. The sections in this book are:

INTRODUCTION
1. I WANT TO BE HAPPY!
The Natural Inclination toward Happiness
Pleasure, Joy, and Happiness
A Difficult Conquest
Is Happiness for This Life or the Next?
2. WHERE IS HAPPINESS FOUND?
The Possession of Material Goods
An Interior Task
Dependence on Choice
The Present and the Ordinary
3. RESENTMENT AND ENVY
The Poison of Resentment
The Remedy of Forgiveness
The Problem of Envy
Solutions to Envy
4. OPTIMISM LEADS TO HAPPINESS
What Studies Reveal
Naïve, Misguided, or Enthusiastic "Optimism"
The Threat of Pessimism
The Nature of Optimism
Keys to Optimism
5. CAN SUFFERING BRING HAPPINESS?
Suffering and Evil
The Process of Suffering
The Meaning of Suffering
The Human Value of Suffering
The Spiritual Value of Suffering
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX: FEATURES OF A MATURE PERSONALITY
WORKS CITED

Francisco states: "The path to happiness seems to be progressive in the sense that we can never say, while traveling it, that we have reached the goal. We can always be happier. And being happy is equivalent to having "a successful life," as various contemporary authors have rightly noted;6 the subjective consequence of happiness is a sensation of permanent peace, which can be distinguished from simple pleasure and also from joy." But that does not mean we should stop striving for it. The author makes big distinctions between, joy, pleasure and happiness. The way the distinction between these three is described is: "The three distinctions described here correspond to a state of being that we often colloquially refer to as happiness. We say that someone is happy when we are actually referring to the immediate result of a specific pleasant stimulus, such as alcohol; we say someone is happy when a life event produces a perception of more stable happiness, such as attaining a goal. The latter is more properly identified with joy; we can say that we are joyful for having achieved what we have intentionally worked toward. It is one's permanent situation, one that no longer depends on particular circumstances, that constitutes happiness." And from that conclusion then goes on to highlight how we can work towards true happiness.

"If happiness occurs in the interior of a human and if that is where we must work to obtain it, it follows that our happiness depends on ourselves. Some who are not happy blame their unhappiness on another person-a husband, a mother-in-law, an associate at work-or on external circumstances, such as the economic situation, sickness, old age, the problems of the country, and so on. This makes it appear that to obtain happiness, we first must solve all of those difficulties, which may lead us to conclude that happiness is utopia and it is better to give up on it."

Francisco provides a list of what we should choose to truly choose happiness.:

1. Choose attitudes that favor happiness.
2. Watch our reactions.
3. Avoid egocentric orientation.
4. Orient our lives toward gratifications rather than sensible pleasures.
5. We, ourselves, have to make the decision.

There are a number of other great lists in this book: The Process of Suffering, The Human Value of Suffering, The Spiritual Value of Suffering, the appendix Features of a Mature Personality and more. I have copied out a few of these lists to reread each day to help solidify the teachings of this book.

This book was so go that I have added a few others, that are available in English, by Francisco Ugarte to my to be read list. This book was an excellent read and I can endorse heartily it to you. I cannot strongly enough recommend this book to you. Please read it and share it with others, for your own growth in true happiness and theirs.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2017 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books available in English by Francisco Ugarte 
Some under the name Francisco Ugarte Corcuera:
Choosing Happiness: Working Within
From Resentment to Forgiveness: A Gateway to Happiness
Deep Friendship: Moving beyond the Superficial

Teach Yourself Linux Administration and Prepare for the LPIC-1 Certification Exams: Complete. Quick. - David Clinton

Teach Yourself Linux Administration and Prepare for the LPIC-1 Certification Exams: Complete. Quick.
David Clinton
Bootstrap-IT
ISBN 9781329803701
ASIN B01AVG4URG

I need to be up front with you. I have always been a little leery of Linux Certification. I have been a Windows Sys Admin for years now, I spent a few short years supporting Apples OSX, and though Linux certification was on my wish list, it is something I have started a number of times but never seen through to completion. Because I only ever managed a few systems or applications that ran on Linux I always figured out what I needed to know, but never took the time to go further. 

But after doing David Clinton's 'Linux Server Skills for Windows Administrators' on PluralSight I had a hunger to know more and go deeper. And I am very thankful I have. I have not written my exams yet but they are on my training plan for this year. This book is the most compact, and easily digestible of the CompTIA Linux+, or LPI-1 book I have ever tried to use. Within a few hours I was up and running with a vm within a vm and working through the exercises. And at the end of each chapter is a test to check your knowledge. If I did not score at least 75% I redid the chapter.

No based on my learning styles I learn best from reading and second best from hands on doing. With this book I was able to maximize my learning. With the hours I spend going through this book I feel like I have a better grasp of Linux than working doing it a bit here and a bit there on the job of the last dozen years. David states in the introduction: "Now, about this book. I chose to have the chapters closely follow the LPIC exam topics. Not only will this make it much easier for you to study for each of the two exams required for LPIC-1 certification, but I believe that the exam objectives are actually nicely aligned with the tools you'll need in the real world. Whether or not you end up taking the exam, if you manage to learn this material, you'll have done yourself a real favor." And I completely agree with his assertion. He also says: "If you want to really "get" this stuff, you'll have to roll up your sleeves, open up a terminal, and do it. As soon as you finish a chapter or a section, try out what you've learned on a real living, breathing Linux system. Even better, take on your own projects. Be ambitious. Be adventurous. Take (managed) risks." And I found that to be true, every time I tried to study Linux before using this book I always worked with a GUI, but by following David's guidance I worked with a command line only version a little every day for weeks until I was immersed in it.

I have heard that David is currently working on textbooks for the advance Linux exams and I know I will use those once I have written these exams. His writing style is easy to digest, it is clear, concise and to the point. It was by far one of the best certification books I have ever used, and I currently hold 37 certifications and have written nearly 50 exams over the last 10 years. I can highly recommend this book, if you are new to Linux or already have a lot of experience and just want to achieve the designation this book will be a great resource for your exam prep.


An excellent resource that I can highly recommend.

Note: Since writing this review I have found out that the book has been republished as: 

Practical LPIC-1 Linux Certification Study Guide 1st ed. Edition
David Clinton
Apress Press
ISBN 9781484223574

ASIN B01N8YV1N3

It was by far one of the best certification books I have ever used, and I currently hold 37 certifications and have written nearly 50 exams over the last 10 years.

Books by David Clinton:
Teach Yourself Linux Administration and Prepare for the LPIC-1 Certification Exams: Complete. Quick.
Learn Amazon Web Services in a Month of Lunches
Practical LPIC-1 Linux Certification Study Guide 1st ed. Edition

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Study Guide: Clf-C01 Exam

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide: Associate Saa-C01 Exam

Ubuntu Linux Bible

Linux Security Fundamentals

Solving for Technology: How To Quickly Learn Valuable New Skills In A Madly Changing Technology World

Manage AWS Resources Using Ansible

Keeping Up: Backgrounders to All the Big Technology Trends You Can't Afford to Ignore

...

Pluralsight Courses by David Clinton:
Linux Server Skills for Windows Administrators
LPI: Linux Essentials (010-150)
Linux Encryption Security (LPIC-3 303)
Linux Network Security (LPIC-3 303)
Linux Server Virtualization (LPIC-3 304 Part 1/2)
Linux High Availability Cluster Management (LPIC-3 304 Part 2/2)
Network Vulnerability Scanning with OpenVAS
Using Docker on AWS
Protocol Deep Dive: SSH and Telnet

...

Related Articles:
Review of Pluralsight Service