Bedtime story

I want to tell you a bed time story. Don't get to excited it is nothing special, it is a story about bed time. Saturday morning I woke up and talked with my girlfriend online for an hour before a scheduled power outage where I currently live. After hanging up with her I figured I would go back to bed and sleep through the power outage. As I lay in bed wanting to go to sleep but not doing so I decided to play a little game. With my eyes closed laying in my bed I started imagining myself in different beds/bedrooms I have slept in. Lying in a bed with your eye closed the room can be whatever room you imagine so I thought I get myself to feel like I was in one of those rooms from my memory. I started with the room I stayed in after my mission in my parents house. The room that has probably been through ever single brother at different periods. I imagined myself there, with blue walls and a green/blue carpet, my desk the window to my left looking out on the back lawn the door to my right leading into the upstairs hallway. I was there. I noted that my feet pointed North in that particular bed. So I decided to see if I could envision a bed from my life for each cardinal direction. The next bed to come to mind was the bed I slept in occasionally through flight school in Alabama. I often times did not care to sleep on a bed but was content with the floor. Eric, my roommate, and I made a guest bedroom there for when his parents or brother would come to visit and I on occasion slept in it. Off-white walls, a tan carpet. Green bed sheets with a green and white striped comforter. TV in the left corner and a nightstand to the right. That bed pointed West. Next was my bed in Utah when I was living with my Aunt and Uncle. I thought of that one because it pointed East. Makeshift basement room, large window on my left looking into the backyard and up at the Wasatch Front. Bookshelf above my head, desk at my feet and plenty of blankets and pillows to keep me warm. Again, I was there. My current bed points south but as I was envisioning other beds in my life and imagining myself there the next thing I realize is that it is 11:00am and I am waking up again. Some where in my envisioning I had fallen asleep without even knowing.

I stayed up late last night working on projects and when it was time to go to bed I again lay there wanting to go to sleep. Realizing the success of the mornings memory exercise i decided to reenact it. That is all I remember. I remember deciding that I was going to envision different bedrooms and that I started to but the next thing I know is that I am waking up Sunday morning wondering if I had actually done so.

Try it out. If you have trouble falling asleep at night see if you can recall to your memory different bedrooms you have lived in and the beds you have slept in throughout your life and try and place yourself in them. I think much of the reason we have trouble falling asleep at night is not because we aren't tired but because our minds are racing thinking of things to do or things done that you wish you had done better. The mind is so carried away in thought that. My exercise gets the mind off those lists and burdens and gets me thinking about beds and sleeping. It is a fun challenge to see how many beds I can recall and the details of the room and it helps me fall asleep.

unwelcome fix

"Getting your pet fixed makes them happier," that is what I heard on the radio anyway. Somehow I doubt that. How on earth did they come to that conclusion? The process can't be enjoyable for your pet and afterward... Afterward they will never be the same. Would it make you happier if you got 'fixed' Mr. Veteranarian person? I don't think so. So why would your pet be happy? That is a ridiculous supposition.

carnival rides

I had a thought at a county fair that I went to a while ago. There is something about roller-coasters and ferris-wheels that are meant to be temporary and mobile that make me question their safety and the logic in choosing to ride on one.

I was riding a ferris-wheel a little while back at a festival I went to where I saw the bolt holding the pod above us on the wheel was held on at the bottom by a cotter pin. The pod was suspended from the top with a pole running down the center and a heavy metal pin passing through the bottom to keep the pod attached. It was through this pin that the cotter pin was clipped. It was safe enough I suppose, but there is just a since of insecurity attached with a cotter pin.

And as a separate note, I don't know how much confidence I am willing to place in those people that operate those rides.

cooling or warming

I have heard that there is irrefutable scientific evidence of global warming. I would like to see this evidence or the scientists who determined it. I am no scientist but I don't think you have to be a scientist to know that snow is cold. Moreover, any fifth grader can tell you that for it to snow 5" in Southern Alabama requires it to be colder than normal. You might see snow fall in Lower Alabama on occasion but never stick or accumulate. Not like it did yesterday. No, that is definitely abnormal.

That is right, it snowed yesterday here in Alabama, and not just a little bit, a good 4 or 5 inches where I am; more elsewhere. To me that is some pretty solid evidence of a COOLING trend. I am thinking there is an agenda, or someone was holding the thermometer upside-down when they took the readings.

Or maybe, it is that law of conservation. The one that says that energy exists and cant be created or destroyed but only transfered. Yeah, maybe that is it, the world, the globe, is warming as Lower Alabama is cooling. That has got to be it. What was I thinking!

the american taco

I was eating at subway this week and decided that Subway is just an American taco. I remember when subway would cut down and into each side of the bread, take the top off, build the sandwich, and put the top back on. Now all they do is cut down one side and fold it over. Why the change? Now you have to eat it on its side to keep the stuff on the insides from spilling out. You end up with that same tilt in your head when you eat a taco. So, what is the difference? Tacos have a meat, and lettuce, and tomatoes, olives, cheese, and, if you want them, jalapenos. So, what is the difference? The shell you put it in, that's it.

A Subway sandwich is an American taco. Terrific!

ice = rock

Does anyone else find it ironic that many people call ice rocks and rocks ice? I have never ordered a drink at a bar but I do know enough about mixed drinks to know the meaning of the phrase "on the rocks." Anyone who has watched more than one James Bond movie knows that. So ice cubes are often called rocks.

"Ice" may not be used so commonly but we have all heard of it. It is common enough that there is a website ice.com that is devoted to its sale. Not all rocks are called ice but there is no denying a diamond is a rock.

So there it is. Ice is a rock and a rock, ice. Interesting.

halloween lights

Halloween Christmas lights? I was talking with my sister-in-law the other day and she was getting ready for a Trunk-o-Treat were instead of door to door, kids go car to car at a Halloween activity. She was asking me how she should decorate her truck because she has never done it before and I told her it did not have to be anything fancy and that she just needed some cobwebs or some...then i said it...Halloween Christmas lights.

That doesn't make much sense now does it? But you know what I am talking about. What are those lights called? They can't be Christmas lights. If I were to call them Halloween lights you would probably get that look on your face that people get when I tell them...we will leave that one alone for now. Anyway, I have no idea what they are called. The simplest descriptive name would be orange Christmas lights but that is mis representative.

I don't know what my sister-in-law ended up doing to decorate but she sure got me thinking about a completely unnecessary thing.

a tense relationship

The opposite of Open is Close and if I open or close a box in the past it is past tense, Opened or Closed. So why when I own a business is it Open or Closed? The tenses are not congruent. When we are open it is true that we are open currently. It may have been closed in the past but too it is close now. Close now is not closed it is close. Right?

proof, resistant, tolerant

Water Proof. Water Resistant. Which is it? There is a difference. I have a watch and it is water resistant. Will water get in it? Yes it will, and it has. Will water get in a water proof watch? Unfortunately, yes it will. So what is the difference?

Here's how I see it. Lets think of two sacks/bags. The first is water proof, the second- water resistant. We fill both bags with water and seal them. So the first is going to keep 100% of the water in the bag. Water tight (or proof) is often associated with air-tight. if no water can escape than neither will air. Water resistant on the other had is not air tight. It may hold water for a long time but it will start to seap or absorb water. Like a child resisting his parents, will he resist, yes, but he will eventually cave to the desires of the parent. My watch is a cheap watch but it tells time. It is water resistant. It did fine in the rain and in the shower but I went swimming in a deeper pool once and I got water build up on the inside, mostly condinsated but water none-the-less. It still worked and I continued to use it up until a few days ago when I lost it on a river trip.

So I went floating down the river the other day with some friends. I took my camera. It is not water proof, or water resistant, and I didnt have a case or bag for it that was. If I were to drop it into water it would probably do unkind things to it- maybe recoverable, maybe not. On this float trip I came up with a new term. I decided that my camera was water tolerant. Many things are water tolerant. Well what does that mean? People thought I was crazy for bringing my camera on the river. They seem to enjoy the pictures now but at the time it was crazy. It did just fine. did it get a little wet, of course; everything on the river gets wet. It got splashed on and was for the most part, opporated with wet hands. The camera suffered no damage and the pictures turned out nicely. Under similar circumstances in the past I did have it fog up between two of the optic lenses but letting it sit and dry out fixed it right up, no problem. That is what I would consider water tolerant.

Humans are water tolerant too. We definately aren't water proof, or we wouldn't drown. We aren't water resistant, every kid knows she sits plays in water and her skin wrinkles and goes "prune." We are tolerant, we can splash around and get wet but don't expose yourself too long.

shopping carts

How often do you go shopping? Once a week? Twice a week? Once every other week? Do you use a buggie (shopping cart)? I wondered today as I pushed one around, how many people have pushed this same cart? How many different hands have touched this same handle? You never see anybody wash shopping carts; at least I never have. Interesting! Other things don't raise such a thought in my mind because I see people wash them, or know that there is a person in charge of washing them. But what about shopping cart handles? Perhaps that is how pandemics spread.

flash of genius

Here is my synopsis- it is a true story yes, but it is not a heroic story. Who is the real villain? who is the hero? Sure he won the case to correct the record and defeat big business, but at what expense? So who is the hero? He is no hero; I would say there is none. And what kind of story is it without a hero? Is a sad story worth telling? What kind of moral should I expect my kid to take from this? It is okay to sacrifice my life, my love, if in the end I come out the winner? It is okay as long as I triumph over the corporate giant? No, when the dust settles there is no winner, just a loser and a loser with a lot of money. Perseverance is important but not at the expense of responsibility. Our hero seeks to restore, or gain integrity, the whole time eroding it from the inside. I may be wrong but I would say that he is his own villain. Obsession is detrimental. You might get what you wanted in the end but you wanted the wrong thing.

I guess in the end the movie says to me, “a lot of money and 'setting the record straight' is worth more than 12 years of your life, your loyalty to your family and the love of your wife.”

...and that is the world we live in.

wall paper

Do you tell your kids not to write on the wall? Sure you can erase it but before you do have you ever ask yourself "Why?" Who decided it was unacceptable? If wall righting was socially acceptable then I would imagine that more walls would have scribbles much higher than just 3 feet up.

"If these walls could talk," is often said with a sigh. But they could talk, if those same people would allow them to be written on. My dad has written numerous times on the hood, and other available spots, on his truck. My oldest brother is seen on occasion with on his pant leg in, seemingly upside-down, artistic patterns and notes. That truck hood talks, it tells of the hypotoneus of a roof truss or the measure of a board to be cut or the price of several bags of concrete. It even might tell of the principles behind a rocket engine. The jeans talk too. They speak of the wearer. He is a doodler. He is a creator. He gets board with the mundane. He has a knack for drawing. He is a problem solver, an innovator.

At the Googleplex, Google's Headquaters, they have whole walls of whiteboards for random doodling; drawing pictures, jotting down ideas. Why not?

Just like you can tell a lot about a person by what he wears (or what is drawn on what he wears) imagine what you could discover about a person as investigated what was doodled/scribbled/written upon the walls as you visited her in her home? Those walls certainly would have a story to tell, and if kids you might even make out their journey through the ages, a timecapsule of art and thought.

swing life away

What do you think about as you lie on your back in an open field staring up in to the deep sky, or sit atop a western cliff and watch the sun fall beyond the Pacific, or as you leisurely sway back and forth on a park swing at one o-clock in the morning? I will tell you what I think about. I'll tell you what I think about, I think about me. I think about what I have done, what I need to do, where I can do more, why I have been so blessed in my young life. I ask questions of myself. Sometimes the posts you find here are a product of those thoughts.

There was more to be said here but this is a fragile thought and was interrupted in its recording by a man who asked my assistance. And I obliged. Perhaps the thought is lost forever, never to return. Perhaps you might unknowingly read about it later in a future post. But I dare not write on in efforts to conceal this fractured thought. With some thoughts it is doable, and has been accomplished in the past...but not this one, this one is fragile. I am not sure why, but I recognize that it is.

Thoughts are seen in perspective, and perspective changes. Even with only a slight change of view the understanding of that observed thought can be spoiled, irrevocably changed. The thought might still live on but your understanding of that thought in that moment is lost. All because someone in need asked my help. It is called sacrifice; and those that don't loose much more than thought.

rabbit ears

Where did they start? Who decided one day that sticking his fingers up behind some friends head while taking a picture was fun? More importantly, who saw it and thought that it would be a good idea to imitate? The oh-so prevalent "bunny ears." And then we have moose ears. (or horns) but that tent for a seperate season.

What if rabbits were hi-tech, digital-age, picture snappin' critters?

(not so) lucky rabbit

This is a lucky season. With Leprechauns and pots of gold; with four-leaf clovers and rabbits feet? What? What is the deal with rabbits feet? When did a rabbits foot become lucky? and why are they bright pink and techni-colored?

I guess it is some sort of hoodoo thing. I am getting contradicting stories; some say it is African-American and some say from Europe. I don't know. To me it has just never seemed very lucky for the rabbit- the graveyard dwelling, shot by a silver-bullet under a full moon rabbit that is. Unfortunately, it is only the left hind foot of the rabbit so all you gullable ones out there who were sold the right foot or worse, the front foot, you are just SOL. And all you people with the fancy colored ones- when have you ever seen a coral red, or brilliant blue, or even fuchsia rabbit? You deserve whatever extravagant circumstance comes your way.

Is that mean? I am sorry. I just got carried away there for a second. To take a part of a creature that is considered lucky does not seem very...it's just not right. I mean, I consider myself a pretty lucky individual and I am not sure how I would feel for someone to come along and start chopping off my body parts and wearing my finger on a keychain or keeping my toe on his nightstand. That is just disturbing. ...it gives me the jeebies!

simply made, made difficult

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. This is an adage used often in the military. What exactly is it saying though? The principle is understandable and entirely logical: If you do something slower than you will do it better and it won't be messy, preventing you from making mistakes that will slow the process or have to be done over. Simple enough but I have always been one for math. It doesn't quite line up so nicely algebraically though. There is a simple rule in algebra: If A=B and B=C than A=C. This is logical right? if both A and C are equal to B than they must be equal to each other so you can ignore B all together. If we apply this to our sentence above Slow=Smooth and Fast=Smooth so we can eliminate "smooth" and say that Slow=Fast. Wait a minute, that doesn't make sense! Slow can't equal Fast they are opposites, bookends, they are as much the same as microwaves and four-leaf clovers. So how can this make sense? The adage is both logical and illogical at the same time. It is simple yet defiant; caught between a world of logic and irrationality. You were probably fine with the first explanation until I ruined it with my algebra that you are probably trying to forget anyway. I guess I just think too much.

the toy vacuum

I was out shopping today for Christmas gifts in Target and I noticed on the shelf a toy vacuum. I have seen this before but as I saw it today I thought it was a little ridiculous. Why buy a toy vacuum? This just seems silly. If you are going to buy your kid a vacuum, buy one that will suck up dirt, not just pop little plastic balls up and down in a clear chamber. If your little kid really wants to vacuum stick something that will do the job in her hand. Lets think proactive here. Why not make the little toy Dirt Devil but make it run and suck and clean. To think that the little one could be doing something productive as she runs around with her new Christmas present, instead having it just make extra noise and irritate the little white and pink balls inside it.

hope

It is my opinion that every single person that breathes has to possess faith.

Everyone dreams. Dreams are a byproduct of thought, an enthusiasm for the future- those that don’t have it stop living. Equating Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection the humans that evolve to possess dreams produce offspring that too possess and nurture dreams. Dreams require hope. As I have mentioned dreams emit an enthusiasm for the future. An enthusiasm sprung from hope; hope for a brighter, happier future. James E Faust of the Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints taught that “hope is the anchor of our souls.” It truly is. It gives us something to hold on to, some constant in a sea of uncertainty. No one, try as he might, can remove from a person his hope. If you have the ability to think you have the ability to think positively, which radiates hope. In my gospel studies I have come to understand that hope and faith are interconnected, I have heard them referred to as the double-helix attribute of the gospel. As faith increases so does hope which in return produces more faith and thus it perpetuates. The reverse also being true, hope is diminished as faith withers and this perpetual circle is held together with the fragile strings of a principle called work. Faith requires action. There is no point in hoping for a brighter tomorrow if you don’t possess any inkling of faith that you will be around to participate in it. That is faith. Faith is possessed by all. However in order for faith to lead to salvation it must be centered in Jesus Christ (TF pg.54). That is a different story and is left to each individual to eventually strive for. Do my dreams get in the way or go against what I should be doing? I have asked this many times. Do my dreams overpower the promptings the Lord is willing to send me? Is it a trial of faith and patience, or a warning to divert from unseen harm? I can only know as sure as I know my heart and at times I feel to say that I don’t know me that well. As I review my surroundings and my friends and family, and their direction I feel to answer no; and thus I press onward. I love my parents and am most grateful for loving parents. The world can use a loving parent (preferably two) for every person out there, but unfortunately that is not the case.
There is never nothing to write about you just have to be willing to put forth a little effort. Before writing this evening several different thoughts popped in and out of mind. I have no idea now what they were and may never know. What maters is what is written, that is what caught my attention and what I have chosen to share.


Joseph Smith says, “If men were duly to consider themselves, and turn their thoughts and reflections to the operations of their own minds, they would readily discover that it is faith, and faith only, which is the moving cause of all action in them; that without it both mind and body would be in a state of inactivity, and all their exertions would cease, both physical and mental.”

warning: do not read this

There is an interesting anomaly that occurs in human nature- generally, humans are inherently stupid, and curious. This is a more complex problem than I have given it credit in the past.

There is a hole in my bathroom floor at the moment. I am working at replacing the drain in the shower and finishing remodeling it. Because of my brothers wedding recently and having guests coming over I felt it a good idea to straighten up the area and clean the floor to get it looking presentable to guests and a friend who would be camping out on our couch for the weekend. As part of my tidying up I advanced the project to a good stopping point, got rid of the mound of dirt that I removed from the floor and then placed a large sheet of butcher paper over the hole to make the room look nice. Now for the human element; I had a choice to make, I could either leave the sheet blank hoping that no one would step on it and fall through, or I could write a cautionary note advising not to step on it. I decided to write the note. “No Step” and “Hazard: Do not step on brown paper.” Simple enough, however with signs and advisories comes curiosity, it seems to be a natural consequence. Signs invite curiosity. “Hey look, a sign- It says stay out, I wonder why? Let’s go find out!” Why do we do that? We are all guilty of it. If you are reading this right now you are guilty of it. ‘Why should I not read it? Is there something I shouldn’t know? What is it?’

So either way you are going to have someone end up in the hole. No advisory and someone might end up falling in on accident; put up an advisory and everyone gets courious as to why to avoid it and end up in the hole. So is it actually better to leave the paper blank? to not place a warning? You might argue that there is less of a chance of someone falling in by accident than from curiousity but experiance shows that not matter what you do you lose. I am not exactly sure how that happens but somehow, even with a clear warning, you are to blame.

tall people and kissing

I am tall. My whole family is on the taller side of the spectrum. Often times in a crowd I can easily pop my head up above the majority by standing on my tippy-toes to locate a brother and make my way to him. Frequently at social gatherings (parties, dances, or mixers,) I can remain within eyesight of any one of my brothers heads as we individually make are way around. This comes in quite useful. How do sort people do it? I can't imagine how long it would take to find a particular someone in a crowd in which everyone is taller than you. One might have to bust out her handy-dandy cell phone and throw down a text message as a kind of 21st century, cellular radar; bounce a radio signal off a couple of towers and a few bounces later it returns in a convenient textual form giving the precise location of the individual, relative to the surroundings . So anyway, being tall has its benefits after all.

You may be wondering by now where kissing plays into all this. Let me expound. My brother has a tall girlfriend. They are quite the couple and very cute (and tall) together. It hasn't been until recently that they have started showing there love for each other publicly. Most people know it as PDA. As they have however I have discovered something, EVERYBODY CAN SEE YOU kissing! It is like standing on a tower with a bull horn shouting "look at us, we love each other and we are going to show you." I don't know why I never noticed it before, as it is so right there in front of you, perhaps it is because my oldest brother is shorter than me and my other brother married a short girl, but this brother and his girlfriend are both taller than me (and I am not short). I gained a new perspective. I really don't care about PDA as long as it is not overly excessive, which I know this brother is not about to do. I just find it noteworthy.