Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Dreams

I had strange dreams. I dreamt that stake conference was run by a baptist version of Pres. Hinckley, and that there was an athletic competition with old friends from junior high afterwards. The stake conference had cool effects like trees that grew out of the stage and then fell apart, but they were only illusions. I dreamt that the stage was so steep that it seemed to be straight over our heads, and people could fall off the stage right on our heads. The competition consisted of sprints, and tennis matches. Melinda was somehow an experienced tennis player who had decided to let her skills get rusty, and was forced to play an old nemesis. I ran into old friends who I had played pranks on before, only to get into a rabbit poo flinging fight.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Sunday, bloody Sunday

I taught a lesson today about Family Responsibilities. It went well. I thought the class was very willing to participate, so it made the teaching easier.

I am enjoying my restful Sunday. I was able to go to priesthood, and I wasn't exhausted as soon as church got out. Nursery was fun sometimes, but very tiring.

I finished Lost and Found. I am not sure if I would recommend it to anyone, but it was an interesting read. It's not the style, plot or premise that puts me off, but rather the content. It deals with various secrets and the shame the holders of the secrets feel. In the end, all secrets come out, and then it's all better. Of course it's a bit more complicated. What bothers me is that half, or more than half the secrets were about homosexuality. It criticizes the christian "ex-gay" movement as a hoax, which I'm willing to believe is true, but I think I would have liked a more balanced/nuanced treatment of the subject. I guess it bothered me that homosexuality got so much treatment in the book, when it is such a small population. It seems like half the characters in the book were gay or lesbian. I think that is true in general. In the media, gay and lesbian issues have a presence entirely out of proportion with the size of the demographic.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Today

I found out from Melinda that titling all my posts "Today" is really annoying, so I guess I'll stop doing that, tomorrow.

I think I kind of want to write a google gadget that would allow me to put a post window on my google homepage. There was one already written, but it worked before google took over blogger, and changed the api's(Knowing Google, it's probably better, because no matter how much you fear their power, you must respect their technical prowess). I'm not sure it's worth my while though...

I think I want to spend some time working on my budget program. I think it needs some analysis tools. The other thing is an import tool for Rick's data. Last time I looked at Rick's data, it didn't have enough info about the account it came from, in fact the data was a bit incomplete for my purposes.

I just finished a book called Fool's Errand. First, I'll say I liked it. It is a kind of small-scale adventure story, focused intensely on the main character, told in first person. The technical aspects of the magic "framework" in the world are both original enough, mystical enough, and not weak enough to be satisfying and intriguing. I won't say it's unique, but it is not hackneyed or cliche. The book's world felt like it had a sense of history and depth, and the author never stooped to just plain explanations or flashbacks, but instead history was always tainted by the the character's experiences and emotional attachments. Characters are well developed enough for connections to matter(no "Dungeons & Dragons" the movie moments).

I have some extra time on my hands today, because I finished the new features early. It's relaxing. It makes it easier to spend time with Melinda at night, because I don't feel stress of things undone(since everything is done).

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Today

I wish there was a google gadget that would allow me to post from my google homepage. I may even look into creating one. But only when I have time.

I helped melinda set up a blog for her class to put the worksheets online.

It would be interesting to read a story of Alma the Elder's life, especially before Abinadi. It's too bad the scriptures don't spend much time on state of mind and narrative, because there is lots of material there.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Today

Today, I realized that I don't have as good a memory of my life as I thought. I was listening to President Eyring and he talked about the experiences in his life where he was protected by God. I realized that while I can remember that the Council of Trent occurred in the year 1945, and that the spanish armada was defeated by the English in the English Channel during a storm, I can't remember all the experiences of my life that are important.

In particular, President Eyring spoke of an experience when as a teacher, he felt inadequate to perform his duties in the priesthood. I thought of myself, and at that age, I did not feel the same sense of responsibility. I did not feel the same sense of weight when I thought of my religion. And so, I did not pray as fervently as I should have. When I was assigned to teach a lesson for the first time(I was a deacon at the time), I did feel very intimidated. I had no sense of what I should do. But because I did not yet have a vision, the testimony, or the self-awareness necessary, I did not pray, but turned to my parents. I will teach my children to pray, not by withholding help when asked, but by beginning that help with prayer. I will not ask, "Have you prayed about it?," but instead will simply ask them to pray with me quickly. I will acknowledge that not every problem will be appropriate for a prayer("Daddy, can you help me tie my shoe?"), but that sometimes both I and they will need help to teach and learn the lessons of life("Daddy, can you teach me to tie my shoe?").

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Yesterday

Yesterday, I mostly relaxed, but I did do a little work on our NASA project.

The day before yesterday, we had a birthday party for a friend named JP. We ate at the Olive Garden, and I loved the Steak Gorgonzola-Alfredo. We met JP's new roommate, and it was great to have a new addition to the old gang. Somehow new blood makes a big difference. Everyone has new stories to tell, and more laughter occurs. Of course it only works when the new blood fits in well, but this one did.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Today

Today I played a sport for the first time since I tore my ACL and meniscus last October. Instead of playing an actual game of ultimate, I just tossed the disc around, but it was still quite a different type of experience with stopping and starting from what I have been doing, which is mostly sit on my butt.

We're planning a hike for Labor day. I think this is our trail. I have figured out how to find trails for any area. Start at the forest service and choose your state then national forest. Each forest area will have a list of trails, and give very helpful information about the trail. But I found that to find if a trail is actually good, it's good to google it, and usually you can find a hiker who's done the trail.

Today

Today, I used mentos to explode a coke bottle. All in the name of education.

I enjoy spending time with people who are creative. I'm a little uncomfortable with them, because I am out of my own depth. All the same, watching something come forth out of nothing is a miraculous process I don't understand. It is the act of creating a new persona from thin descriptions.

Imagine that you had a description of a person. They're so tall, with colored hair, and straight teeth. They have a job, and live in a place. Now imagine that person living. And then to top it off, use your craft to help others see them live. That is beyond my capabilities, but it is a gift that I thoroughly enjoy.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Today

Today, I have been reading other people's diaries. These are people with very different lives from my own. It reminds me that there are other places, other ways to live. It also inspires me to write more. In particular, cheeseburger brown's verbosity(self-proclaimed, but easily proven) makes me want to write more. I don't care if it's to share, or just to write it down.

Sometimes, I don't understand how our society works. I understand in principle that specialization leads to more efficient utilization of resources. It's easy to see in the example of a doctor how specialization leads to better quality of life. But it still seems to me that there's a lurking gotcha, waiting for some future signal to leap out and grab the world. Or just me. For instance, how is it that I get paid for what I do? I exist to support a scaffolding that supports the upper echelons of a billion dollar corporation so that they may direct the tiny ants at the bottom. And those ants aren't even gathering food!

update: I was able to better frame my question and get a (budding) economist's opinion. Since our society(the United States) has such a low percentage of the population employed in the creation of basic goods and necessities(farmers, weavers, tanners, construction workers), what happens to the rest of us if a calamity/sudden tidal change in the economy renders our jobs invalid?

His response was more helpful in macro type of way. The United States has passed through several phases of development, agricultural, industrial, mechanical, technological. Were one to become somehow impeded/obsolete, then we have the infrastructure to fall back on another. Which somewhat answers my question, but I still have this strange feeling in my gut. We are a service-based industry. What if the farmers don't want our services?