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The Week in Review: 14 Posts, Plenty of Opinions, and a Few Things Worth Talking About

Another week has come and gone, which means it is time to take a look back at what happened here at BeingKevin.

And apparently, I had a lot to say.

Over the past seven days, we wandered through books, movies, politics, technology, parenting, memories, kindness, and even the questionable things people leave lying around on the street. There was some serious stuff, some personal reflection, some entertainment, and, naturally, a few opportunities for me to complain about things that probably did not need complaining about.

That is pretty much BeingKevin in a nutshell.

Before we get into this week’s posts, though, there is something else worth checking out.

Top Posts by Category from Other Bloggers

Blog of the Week — 2026-09-06

Covering 2026-08-30 to 2026-09-06

This week’s spotlight goes to words and music and stories for their post “The Art of Nonconformity: E. E. Cummings”, which picked up 151 likes and 57 comments. If you’re into humor, it’s worth a read.

Sixty-four years ago today, the world lost one of its most rebellious and brilliant literary voices. Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962) – famously known as e. e. cummings – did not just write poetry; he broke it apart and rebuilt it. While celebrated f…

👉 Read it here

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Also worth your time this week

• Daily Prompt: Not arguing with me by Adarsh’s feels (85 likes)
• Life: the art of mending a heart by My Little Hawk (40 likes)
• Travel: Kirstenbosch Gardens—A Technicolor Canvas at the Foot of Table Mountain by Journeys with Johnbo (40 likes)
• Books: Book Review: Sally Cronin’s “Tales from the Irish Garden” by Baydreamer Writes ~ Lauren Scott, Author & Poet (74 likes)
• Writing: A Galaxy Far Far by Kana’s Chronicles (74 likes)
• Humor: And All the Basic White Girls Say Amen by Heart of Loia `’.,°~ (97 likes)
• Culture: Writer’s Workshop — New Year’s Eve Traditions: Then and Now by Facts, Fictions & Fantasies (16 likes)
• Food: Banana Bread by Our Little Red House (85 likes)

The Weekly Blog Posts From BeingKevin

Sunday — A Book That Is Difficult to Forget

We finished the week with a look at Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker.

This is not exactly a light weekend read. The book follows one extraordinary American family in which six of twelve children developed schizophrenia. But what makes Kolker’s book so compelling is that it is about much more than mental illness. It is about family, science, guilt, survival, and what happens when a family is forced to live with something nobody completely understands.

I found it heartbreaking, fascinating, and ultimately very human. If you enjoy books that leave you thinking about them long after you have finished reading, this one deserves a look.

Read the full review: Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family

Sunday — The Movie and Book Trope That Drives Me Crazy

Some things in movies and books are simply annoying.

You know the scene. You’ve seen it a hundred times. The characters make a decision that any reasonably intelligent human being would immediately recognize as a terrible idea, and somehow the entire plot depends on them doing exactly that.

This week I took aim at one of those tropes that makes me want to yell at the television—or throw the book across the room.

If you’ve ever watched a movie and thought, “Oh, come on. Nobody would actually do that,” this one might be for you.

Read the full post: The Most Annoying Movie and Book Trope

Saturday — Why I Built Another Blog

Yes, I built another blog.

Because apparently having one wasn’t enough.

This post explains why I decided to create another site, what I am trying to accomplish with it, and why I thought starting over with a different approach made sense.

It is partly about blogging, partly about technology, and partly about the simple fact that sometimes you learn more by building something yourself than by reading another thousand articles telling you how to build it. Here is the blog link https://kwholley63.github.io/being-kevin/

Read the full post: Why I Built Another Blog

Saturday — If You Could Relive One Year of Your Life

This was one of those questions that sounds simple until you actually try to answer it.

If you could go back and relive one year of your life, which year would you choose?

Would you go back to a happier time? A more exciting time? A time when someone important was still around? Or would you choose a year simply because you would like another shot at some of the decisions you made?

I took a trip down memory lane and considered what year I would choose—and, more importantly, why.

Read the full post: If You Could Relive One Year

Friday — What to Watch, What to Read, and What Kevin Thinks

Friday brought another edition of my weekend entertainment picks.

I took a look at what people were watching on Netflix in both the United States and Brazil, what was sitting near the top of the New York Times bestseller lists, and then added a book recommendation of my own.

Because sometimes you want to know what everyone else is watching—and sometimes you want to know whether Kevin thinks it is actually worth watching.

Grab a coffee and take a look before settling into the weekend.

Read the full post: Weekend Picks — Netflix, NYT Best Sellers & a Book Review

Friday — What Is the Bravest Thing You’ve Ever Done?

Bravery is an interesting thing.

We tend to think of bravery as something dramatic: running into danger, standing up to someone, or doing something everyone else is afraid to do.

But sometimes the bravest things we do happen quietly, when nobody is watching and nobody is going to give us a medal for doing it.

This Daily Writing Prompt gave me a chance to think about one of those moments from my own life.

Read the full post: The Bravest Thing I Ever Did

Thursday — A Movie About a World on the Brink

This week I sat down to watch Netflix’s The World Will Tremble and, naturally, came away with some thoughts.

The film tackles a serious subject and gives plenty to consider, but as always, I wasn’t interested in simply telling you whether I liked it. I wanted to look at what worked, what didn’t, and whether it is actually worth spending your time watching.

Because there are only so many hours in a day, and some movies should probably give a few of those hours back.

Read the full review: The World Will Tremble

Thursday — I Raised My Kids Differently

Parenting is one of those subjects where everybody seems to have an opinion.

You can read books, listen to experts, take advice from your parents, ignore advice from your parents, and still discover that raising actual human beings is considerably harder than anybody warned you.

I looked back at how I raised my kids, the choices I made, and the ways my approach differed from how I was raised.

There are things I got right, things I probably got wrong, and a few things I still wouldn’t change.

Read the full post: How I Raised My Kids Differently

Wednesday — The SAVE Act and the Question of Voting

Politics made an appearance this week with a look at the SAVE Act and the ongoing debate surrounding election integrity and voting access.

It is one of those issues where the argument can quickly become less about the actual legislation and more about which side you already agree with.

I tried to step back from the shouting and look at the arguments themselves, because understanding an issue is generally more useful than simply yelling about it.

Although, admittedly, yelling about politics can be fun too.

Read the full post: The SAVE Act, Election Integrity, and Voting Access

Wednesday — The Apps I Actually Use

We all have those apps on our phones that we use constantly—and then there are the fifty-seven apps we downloaded once, opened twice, and have completely forgotten about.

I took a look at some of my favorite phone apps and the ones that have actually earned a permanent place on my phone.

If you are always looking for something useful, interesting, or just worth keeping around, you may find a few ideas here.

Read the full post: My Favorite Phone Apps

Tuesday — How Is BeingKevin Actually Doing?

Every once in a while, it is worth looking at the numbers.

I took a look behind the curtain at BeingKevin—traffic, subscribers, growth, and where the blog is heading.

Blogging is a strange business. You can spend hours writing something you think is brilliant and discover that twelve people read it. Then you can throw together something you thought was relatively ordinary and suddenly everyone wants to read it.

This post is about what the numbers are telling me and what I am learning along the way.

Read the full post: The State of BeingKevin — Traffic, Subscribers & Growth

Tuesday — You’d Be Surprised What People Throw Away

Have you ever found something on the street and thought, “Why would somebody throw this away?”

I have.

This post looks at some of the best things I’ve ever found lying around where they probably shouldn’t have been—and the strange, unexpected stories that can come with finding something someone else no longer wanted.

Sometimes one person’s trash really is another person’s treasure.

Read the full post: The Best Things I’ve Found on the Street

Monday — I Thought Crypto Was Supposed to Replace the Banks

Remember when cryptocurrency was going to change everything?

Banks were supposedly going away. Traditional finance was supposedly on its last legs. A new financial revolution was coming.

Well…here we are.

I took another look at the promise of cryptocurrency and the reality that followed. Maybe the financial revolution is still coming. Maybe it took a wrong turn somewhere.

Or maybe the banks are laughing quietly in the background.

Read the full post: I Thought Crypto Was Supposed to Replace the Banks

Monday — Sometimes Kindness Is Smaller Than We Think

We were also reminded this week that kindness doesn’t always arrive in some grand, movie-worthy gesture.

Sometimes it is a cup of coffee.

Sometimes it is somebody giving you their time.

Sometimes it is someone simply remembering something you like and doing something thoughtful without being asked.

I considered the kindest things people have done for me and came to the conclusion that choosing just one isn’t really possible.

Maybe that’s the point.

Read the full post: The Kindest Thing Someone Has Ever Done for Me

Closing

And there you have it—another week of BeingKevin in the books.

Fourteen posts covering everything from schizophrenia and movies to parenting, politics, cryptocurrency, phone apps, blogging, memories, kindness, and the strange things people leave on sidewalks.

That is what I like about this blog. There isn’t really one subject.

There is just me, sitting here in Brazil, drinking coffee, thinking about things, reading books, watching movies, remembering the past, occasionally getting annoyed at something, and then deciding that somebody else should hear about it.

If you missed a post this week, now is your chance to catch up. Pick one that sounds interesting, click through, and see what you think. And if you enjoyed something, leave a comment, hit the like button, or share it with someone who might enjoy it too.

Next week, I’ll be back with more books, movies, opinions, memories, observations, and probably at least one thing that annoys the hell out of me.

Because apparently that’s what I do.

Thanks for reading BeingKevin.

I’ll see you next week.