This year, two of the three movies I’ve gone to see in theaters made a strong impression on me: Project Hail Mary and, more recently, The Odyssey, as envisioned by Christopher Nolan. (The disappointing exception was Supergirl.)

What struck me about both movies was the role of hospitality: what obligation, responsibility, and opportunity do we have toward the strangers, visitors, and guests around us?

In Project Hail Mary, two strangers from different worlds find themselves intertwined in a shared fate, needing to rely on one another.

“Need word. To risk self? To help another?” — Rocky

Nolan’s take on The Odyssey seems to explore of what happens when a foundational principle of social bonds is betrayed: the obligation to treat others as we would want to be treated.

“The clearest view of men is from below.” — Odysseus

I found it interesting that both movies seem to treat hospitality as a virtue. Making room for someone unfamiliar says something morally about the kind of people and communities who practice it.

I may be particularly primed to be sensitive to this. As someone who has lived in multiple places throughout my life, few of which I claim as my own, I have often been conscious of my own “strangeness”. Sometimes that feeling is connected to facets of my identity or experiences that aren’t easy to explain without significant relational trust.

Other times, it comes from having tried to become part of spaces that didn’t work out well. I’ve left some of those spaces with a particular kind of void because there wasn’t much room beyond the relationships and bonds that were already established.

We know our friends, families, colleagues, and others with whom we already share a history. But what happens to the stranger who arrives after?

I think hospitality as a virtue is undervalued often today in the culture and time I live in. We seem to have narrowed it into something utilitarian: we welcome someone because they might become part of an organization or social in-group, contributing to its success or adding to the quantitative numbers of an existing community.

But is hospitality worth practicing when we don’t know what will come of it – or if nothing comes of it at all? Is welcoming someone itself a worthwhile end? Are we better as individuals and as a society when we make room others, or worse off when we don’t? That is part of what I found moving about Project Hail Mary and The Odyssey.

In very different ways, both stories place people in circumstances where they have to decide what making room for another person is worth to them. In both, the answer ultimately moves beyond utility. Another person’s life begins to matter because we have encountered them in a profound way.

I mourn the loss of a broader kind of hospitality that makes deeper social bonds possible in the first place. Reflecting on these films, I’m reminded that we have some agency over the kind of world we want to help create. As much as I can, I want to offer genuine hospitality for its own sake.

I hope those who watch (and rewatch) these stories will consider some of the themes beneath them and ask what role we play in reflecting hospitality toward the strangers among us – and who we become in the practice of doing so. We should also pay attention to what erodes this virtue: our tendency to retreat into established relationships and our instinct to evaluate people primarily according to their current or future usefulness.

The world we create for strangers will eventually be the world we inhabit ourselves. All of us, at some point, will be the person who doesn’t know all the rules, the right people, or the full history of a place, and who may not have much to offer. I hope we can become the kind of people who remember what that feels like.

We might do well to consider how our convictions and actions can point toward deeper truths: that every person has dignity, that people are worthy of care and respect even when we don’t know them well, and that sometimes we may be called to risk something of ourselves for the sake of a stranger.

Full disclosure: I’ve not (yet) read the original works these are adapted from: Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary and Homer’s The Odyssey.

#movies #books

One of my wife’s favorite video games is Mario Kart, specifically Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. At least in our circles, she is consistently the best at it. The game originally came out on the Wii U in 2014, but we were introduced to it through the Nintendo Switch version, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which came out a few years later.

Not long ago, we got a Switch 2, Nintendo’s successor to the Switch. One of the nice things about the increased power of the system is that Nintendo has released updates for a number of older Switch games, bringing improved performance, visuals, and sometimes new features. The latest game to receive one, at the start of September 2026, is none other than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

The free Switch 2 update brought with it the ability to play with up to eight (!) players in local split-screen on a single system, along with sharper, higher-resolution visuals and much shorter load times. We’ve started playing the game a little more as a result, and it’s been a blast revisiting an older game that suddenly feels fresh again.

At some point, I think it would be a fascinating exercise to organize a local gaming session where eight players gather around the same screen to race one another with the chaotic energy of Mario Kart. I’m hoping we get the chance to give it a try!

If you have a Switch 2, I highly recommend either picking up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or coming back to it if you already own it. It’s a surprisingly great way to experience the game again.

#videogames

Last week, I was diagnosed with chickenpox. It was a bit baffling, as I wasn’t sure who I would have contracted it from. I’ve never had it before. When we first went to an urgent care center to have my condition looked at, even the medical staff onsite were surprised, given how rare it has become for people to contract the disease.

It had been an uncomfortable experience dealing with the sickness, but I have been grateful to have the time and medicine needed to be able to recover from it. I’m also grateful for the support I’ve received from family, friends, and most importantly my wife who cared well for me and ensured I was taking my medications on time, monitoring my condition, and offering remedies that would help manage the discomfort.

It was a bit disappointing that I fell sick at this time, because it was just a couple of days before I was set to go out of town for a trip, which I obviously had to cancel. That said, to be able to have paid leave to take for the time I was sick, and to afford seeking care and the medication needed, as well as to have folks to support and offer care are all privileges I realize not everyone have, so I really couldn’t have asked for a better time or place to go through this.

While I’m not out of the woods just yet as of writing this, I am feeling a lot better than I was at its worst. I really appreciate all those who checked in during this time.

Last month, I got to see the new Supergirl movie that came out in theaters. I came away a bit disappointed, mostly because I think it pales by comparison to the original 2021 story it adapts, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King, which I love.

The original has so much literary and artistic richness, emotional depth, and a comfort with vulnerability, exploring a life shaped by grief that King is an expert at. Perhaps, a spectacle-centered movie running under two hours was probably never going to accomplish all of that. My feelings on the move reminded me that what I go to comics for is often quite different from what many people go to the theaters for.

Artist: Bilquis Evely

Some of the changes from the original story, particularly the ending, dilute and undercut the original story’s deepest themes. How do we live with grief and pain, and what places do redemption – as well as revenge – have within them? How do we advise others to process their grief? Do we practice what we preach to others, when we find ourselves staring down the same predicament? These questions are powerfully explored in the book. In the movie, they feel lost in the action and spectacle.

I’m still hopeful about the future of DC Comics on the big screen, especially after really enjoying James Gunn’s Superman movie from last year. But I’ll keep contending that, with DC Comics, it is always worth going back to the source material of comics for the best stories (or the best versions of them, at least). The movies and shows based on the DC Universe, many of which I love, may succeed or fail in different ways – but comics remain where many of these characters have been explored with the greatest depth by writers and artists who most understand what makes them endure to fans.

I strongly recommend Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King as a great example!

#comics #movies #books

Today, I was surprised and honored to receive the inaugural ‘Shoelace Award’ at our annual workshop for business professionals in the college where I work. The award is inspired by the book ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ – a favorite of our Head of Finance.

Just like with Sniff and Scurry, the spirit of the award is having shoes within reach, ready to tie up and get going: to adapt, learn, and move forward when change comes.

I probably wouldn't have described myself as particularly exceptional at this. Isn't all of life marked by change? Coming to terms with changes and finding the best way to move forward with what we can control seems like something we all have to learn to do. But hearing that others have seen this quality in me over time is encouraging, especially given how closely we work toward shared goals.

One of the things I want to keep growing in, both professionally and personally, is staying teachable throughout change. Change is inevitable, and I've come to deeply respect the value of meeting it with curiosity rather than resistance.

I'm grateful to work alongside colleagues who invest in one another and recognize those qualities.

Also, I've officially run out of sticker space for my Faith & Fandom stickers on my other water bottles. So this Yeti award gift has already found its first job!

#books