JAYMS.COM

BEYOND THE DESK

American Bully and French Bulldog old english bulldog family pets
Field Notes · Embodied Discipline
Beyond the Desk
Theology is not a head-only discipline. So neither is this site.
I
Lifting
Strongman methodology — carries, pulls, overhead
Discipline · consistency · the return
  • Practice Strongman, not the mirror ▶
    Strongman lifting
    Strongman methodology — not bodybuilding, not CrossFit. Carries, pulls, pressing heavy things overhead, and moving weight that has no interest in being moved. The kind of training that has a point beyond the mirror.
    The struggle is consistency against the reality of an aging body that didn’t get the memo about slowing down gracefully. Some weeks the system works. Some weeks life, fatigue, or the body itself votes no.
    But the bar is still there the next session. That’s the discipline — not the lift, but the return.
✦ ✦ ✦
II
Motorcycle Riding
Two wheels since I was a kid — now one good bike
Triumph Bonneville 1200 · the long road
  • The Bike From eleven bikes to one good one ▶
    Triumph Bonneville
    I’ve been on two wheels since I was a kid. At one point I owned eleven of them — different bikes for different moods, different roads, different versions of myself. That phase had its run. Now there’s a Triumph Bonneville twelve hundred. Classic British engineering that doesn’t apologize for what it is — straightforward, reliable, and it sounds like something real when you crack the throttle. At this stage of life, one good bike that you know beats a garage full of maybes.
  • Riding Reckless versus confident ▶
    I’m still not afraid to ton up — but I’ve learned the difference between reckless and confident. The body heals slower now. The consequences are different.
    Getting my wife on the back remains a work in progress. She tolerates it. I haven’t yet convinced her it’s where she wants to be. That’s its own kind of patience — respecting the fear even when you don’t share it.
  • Practice Moving meditation ▶
    Long road time is a kind of moving meditation. The focus the road demands clears space the desk doesn’t. No theology in the throttle hand, no philosophy in the lean — just the road, the next curve, and the present moment refusing to negotiate. The bike doesn’t care how old you are. Neither does the road.
✦ ✦ ✦
III
Mountain Biking
Two wheels is two wheels
E-bike · trails · this summer changes
  • Premise Pedal as much as motor ▶
    Two wheels is two wheels — I like to pedal just as much as I like to motor.
  • E-bike No shame in the assist ▶
    Switched over to e-bikes and it changed everything. In an area with real hills, the assist turns a sufferfest into something you actually want to do again tomorrow. No shame in that — you still pedal, you still work, you just don’t hate yourself at the top.
  • Trail This summer that changes ▶
    Last year I invested in a proper mountain bike and have gotten out on a few trails. Honestly, not enough. This summer that changes — or at least that’s the plan. The trails aren’t going anywhere.
✦ ✦ ✦
IV
Camping & Hiking
Pack on, miles done, weekends out
Appalachian Trail · rucking · the EPRO
  • Trail Hiking stops being recreational ▶
    I’ve been on the Appalachian Trail. Once you’ve carried a pack on serious trail, hiking stops being recreational and starts being something else — a discipline, a reset, a way of reminding the body what it was built for. Backpacking is part of the fitness routine, not separate from it.
  • Rucking Walking with weight, with my son ▶
    My son and I ruck together once a week through town. For the uninitiated — rucking is walking with weight on your back. Simple, brutal, effective. It’s also just good time with my son, which matters more than the miles.
  • Camp A permanent site, a rhythm ▶
    On the camping side, we have a permanent site — a place where me and my wife spend most weekends during the warm months. It’s become a rhythm. Something to look forward to, something that pulls you out of the week.
  • Road The EPRO and getting to know each other again ▶
    Last year we added an EPRO camper for the road trips. The kind of journeys where it’s just the two of us, no agenda, no schedule — the trips where you actually get the chance to know each other all over again. Turns out that’s worth investing in.
✦ ✦ ✦
V
Films, Sci-Fi & Books
Cinema for the sake of cinema
Theology by other means
  • Premise The films built to be watched twice ▶
    Dune by Frank Herbert
    Cinema for the sake of cinema. The films built to be watched twice — layered, ambitious, willing to ask hard questions and not flinch at the answers. The kind you finish and then sit with for a while.
  • Directors The ones who demand attention ▶
    The directors that demand attention: Nolan, Fincher, Tarantino, Villeneuve, Scorsese, Mann, Coppola, Peckinpah. And Guy Ritchie — nobody else makes crime feel that kinetic and that funny at the same time without it falling apart. Cool Hand Luke belongs on any serious list — Paul Newman doing the most with the least, a film about defiance and dignity that holds up every single watch.
  • Villeneuve Both parts of Dune ▶
    Villeneuve deserves a separate mention because of Dune. Both parts. The man took one of the most unfilmable books in science fiction and made it feel like you were actually standing on Arrakis.
  • Originals Star Wars and Star Trek as they were ▶
    And then there’s the originals. The original Star Wars trilogy — before it became a franchise, when it was still mythological and meant something. Star Trek in its original form — philosophical, humanist, genuinely curious about what we are and where we’re going. I go both ways and make no apologies for it.
  • Books Herbert, Dick, Harris ▶
    On the book side — Dune is the standard. Frank Herbert built an entire civilization, theology, ecology, and political philosophy from scratch. Philip K. Dick runs alongside it — nobody asked harder questions about consciousness and reality. Thomas Harris for when you want to spend time inside a mind that is both brilliant and completely terrifying.
    Science fiction at its best is theology by other means — asking the same questions the biblical authors were asking, just from a different angle.
✦ ✦ ✦
VI
Coffee
A proper espresso before the world gets loud
Death before decaf
  • Ritual One of the true few pleasures of the day ▶
    Death Before Decaf
    One of the true few pleasures of the day — a proper espresso in the morning before the world gets loud.
    I like my coffee like I like my women: strong and creamy. Call me a wimp for the cream. I’ve been called worse.
    Lighter roasts, sweeter shots. Grind size is everything. The Breville gets it right when you let it.
✦ ✦ ✦
VII
Dogs
The one truly loyal thing you can have in your life
Juji · Cassca · the house is covered
  • The crew The current four-legged household ▶
    I currently have an American Bully named Juji — short for Jujimufu, named after one of my favorite YouTube fitness personalities. My wife has a French Bulldog. My youngest son shares the love, and his dog Cassca is proof the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Between all of them the house is covered.
  • Loyalty Something most people don’t deserve ▶
    Dogs are the one truly loyal thing you can have in your life. They dedicate their entire existence to being with you — no agenda, no conditions, no bad days where they decide you’re not worth it. That kind of loyalty is rare in this world and most people don’t deserve it as much as they receive it.
    And when you lose them, it breaks something in you that doesn’t fully heal.
  • In memoriam Pandora · Patches · Maggie · Sadie ▶
    In loving memory of Pandora, Patches, Maggie, and Sadie — four loyal companions who gave everything they had to the end. They are missed every single day. More than words do justice to.
✦ ✦ ✦

A Note on Who Made This Possible

None of this — the lifting, the riding, the trails, the camping trips, the coffee in the morning, the dogs sleeping on the couch — none of it happens without my beautiful wife. She has stuck with me through every rough patch, loved me when I’ve been fat, forgiven me when I’ve been mean. She is truly an amazing person.

My two sons have shaped everything. My younger son shares my love of films, sci-fi, and motorcycles — we speak the same language about the things that matter. He also shares the love of dogs, and his dog Cassca is proof that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. My oldest son can fix anything, which has made me genuinely lazy about doing things myself, but more importantly he’s shown me what it looks like to be capable and generous with that capability.

They’ve all helped me through everything. Without them, there is no beyond the desk. There’s just a desk.

✦ ✦ ✦

Beyond the desk · Then back to it