punctuation

I have said previously that words are materials with which we build. I wish to take that as my basis for the topic of punctuation. Punctuation seems to me to be the element that brings those sentences, those paragraphs to life. Not just that but can you imagine reading with no punctuation. I have actually done this and it is not very easy. Several of my brothers in writing letters fail to punctuate so in attempting to read meaning may get lost, or worse, misinterpreted. Every individual has his or her unique style of thinking and consequently his or her unique style of both writing and reading. The way we create sentences is derived from the way we think. Because I think up sentences different from the way that even my brother may think up sentences punctuation is the key, the cipher if you will used to comprehend that sentence. True also is the fact that a sentence can take on an entirely different meaning if punctuated differently. Now, I am by no means an English major, in fact English was one of two least favorite subjects throughout high school. However, even though I am not very schooled in the art of punctuation it seems to me a not to difficult task to punctuate my thoughts. I know I mess up but it is better to try and fail than to not have it there at all. Punctuation is the top hat on the Frosty of words. It’s the pixie dust to their happy thoughts. It does something magical to them. It transforms them. It brings them to life.

unfinished thought

You ever have a thought and write half of it down but then get busy and forget to finish it? Or formulate an idea and start talking only to realize that that idea was only half realized and was interrupted by the opening of the mouth? We have all done it. I have a thought that I started to record one day but did not finish. Now I have a good portion of a thought recorded with no idea where I was headed with it. I suppose I could continue with the thought in a direction that seems suiting but then it wouldn’t really be the same. I can’t just leave it. I have noticed several of these occurrences in my journal- lying in bed at 11:00 or 12:00 at night, tired ready to go to bed but want to jot down the proceedings of the day. So I start and soon realize that I had more than I thought I had to say so I put it down telling myself that I will finish it the next night only to get to the next night and find myself in the same predicament. It is a vicious cycle. It was an excellent stopping point, it really was. It is just too bad that it gives no hint or insight to the next sentence. I know there was more to be said but what? Not what would make sense coming next but what had I meant to say next. That’s the killer. It is just enough to clearly be going somewhere but not quite enough to know where that where is. It was something masterful, something crafty, something thought provoking; I know it was.

what if...?

What does it really matter? You read it or hear it all the time; What if…? To me what if, as far as the past is concerned, never happened so why bother with it. What if I was never born? What if my father married someone else? What if the South won the war? Sure it might be fun to think about every now and then but to me it is not a serious question. In my amateur understanding of the universe no action or event is entirely without cause or effect so to capitulate the notion of one act or event not happening is submit too that the events surrounding it must have never happened or must not have gone down the way they did, and according to the law of snowballs this can have a very serious impact. The example of “what if I was never born?” leads me to think of the classic Jimmy Stewart movie It’s a Wonderful Life. I think the movie does a nice job of capturing the complete change of an entire town in one what if. It is like a completely separate dimension. With each event building on the next in time to remove or alter one is to affect all that proceed. To ask if there would be slavery today if the South had won the Civil War, or if you could have had a chance with a girl (or boy) if you had done something a little different are not, in my opinion, accurate questions. There may be stipulations in which it is appropriate but no event, as individuals, stands alone being affected by only one thing, one instance. Furthermore, that fact is that it didn’t happen so why fret it. As said by Disney, “hakuna matata!”

tv commercials

“You can tell the state of a society by their TV commercials.” In church on Sunday someone gave a talk and they made this comment. It is funny that this was mentioned because a week or two ago I was doing something on the computer and the TV was on and there was some sort of show on, anyway the show wasn’t’ important what is important was the commercials. It seemed that all the commercials were on diets or weight loss pills or exercise programs or something of the sort. The thought came to mind, “What does it say about the show if the only commercials associated with it are diet commercials?” I think I could hear the TV set screaming out “you must be fat and lazy to sit and watch this stupid show so here, try out these products.”

fun with words

Building things with words? I can build things with words! I enjoy building things. Though I have never been a big fan of reading or writing I realize something- writing is building. It is building things with words. Not only is it building sentences but it is building stories, characters, plots, ideas. It is great. You should try it; thinking of it as building makes it so much more fun.

canada

Where does Canada come from? We in the US of A are taught about our blessed nation and its divine origin, with its Heavenly inspired constitution, but what about our neighbors. Now it may have been during one of the many years of schooling in which I was not paying attention, for which I regret immensely, but I do not recall learning of the formation and history of our neighbor countries. Is it important? I think it is; and I am not very much in to history. I am starting to get more and more in to it but in the past I could probably care less. I regret that too. I know we (the United States) ran in to a little trouble with Mexico in our establishing our self as a nation. That I remember, but I don’t recall any thing about Canada. Perhaps I am just ignorant and every other 23 year old out there knows and paid attention in school, but I think it is important to know not only of the nation in which you live and breathe and have your freedom, but of those nations that border it. Often those bordering nations have an influence on how the one nation comes to be. What strikes me is that the America’s were a ‘new’ land in the late 1700s and people of all over Europe traveled, risking their lives, in coming here to escape religious oppression. Canada I believe was mainly French populated, right? So did the French just not like the way the “American’s” were doing things in establishing a constitution and decided to go off and make their own new nation? Did Canada battle with France as America battled with Brittan? Why was I not interested in these things in high school where I may have been taught them?

courious

It seems to me a cruelty of life that women, who are the ones most concerned with their figure and their belly, are the ones that get pregnant. But maybe that is none of my business.

the cool new hot

Hot and Cool practically mean the same thing. Why is that? You can say about an item that you like, "hey, that is cool," or "try out this cool new...." Now hot is used in more of an exclaimitive way as in "that's hot!" but I have read the beckon "try our hot new..." before. So you can have your hot new toy and I will get my cool new toy and it can still be the same thing. Maybe it is seasonal? What then would you get in the summer? Summer is hot so it could be 'hot new' however because it is hot you might want to get 'cool new'. But I think that winter always gets 'hot new' I am not sure that anybody is interested in 'cool new' in the winter season. And I have no idea what goes on in the spring and autumn.

grammar

I have no idea why I am posting about grammar I am hardly qualified on the subject; I have been speaking the language for about 22 years now so here it goes. I threw an amazing going away party for 2007 the other day. To many it was a New Year's Eve party but to me it was a Celebration for 2007, the amazing year that it was. Many people that evening and the following day were liberal in their offering me a Happy New Year and for that I thank them. The end of one year and the beginning of a next is a wonderful time to reflect and to start afresh, keeping in mind that that can be done whenever such a thing is needed. Perhaps one goal for some at this time could be that of grammar. Now correct me if I am wrong but, some might wish a Happy New Years upon some one. Please refrain from doing this. Instead these individuals might be obliged to wish a Happy New Year to associates. Countless others may have the opportunity this year to attend a New Year's Eve party at which they may offer a New Year's toast or wish someone a blessed New Year's Day or complement the host on a wonderful New Year's Eve party. These people may be met with funny faces if at the stroke of midnight or the drop of a ball they scream out Happy New Year's! That could be an embarrassing experience so to prevent such an occurrence it may do these people well to touch up on their grammar this year. I know that I will be. One grammar tip that I may offer is that in an interjection or subject change it is proper to say anyway, not anyways; that will get you every time if you are not careful.

Happy New Year everybody.

millions of people

Notice: This Post is kinda boring.
I went to a wedding reception the other day and it seems that every time I attend such an event I ask myself “how many people do you know?” Have you ever wondered how many people you know? A wedding is one of the most important life changing events that anyone will ever experience and is something an individual should wish to share with everyone he or she knows, so it is logical to me that this question would present itself as I attend the reception of a friend. So how many people do I know? If we start with childhood the question might actually be better stated, how many people know me? This could very easily get out of hand because we would start delving in to who my parents or my brothers may know. Assuming by ‘know’ I mean those I may recognize in a crowd and know at least a first or last name I will assert the following of my childhood associations: 150 from church and meeting people my family knows, 30 from elementary school, and 10 from middle school. From here we move to High School were I know many teachers as well as classmates. I am going to venture to say 120 as I think about both upper and lower classmen. Moving forward we come to work ventures and to my mission. For work there is Camp Royaneh and RPM. At camp I worked with about 110 staff of which I probably know half of so we will say 55 and RPM is a little harder to guess. I have worked there for about 3 years and people came and went so if I know half of those that work there now and all of the original employees and the families of several, adding in a few for those that came and went I will venture to say 120 easy but I am sure more. On my mission I met so many people, not all of whom I know. I will break it down as follows. I served in 6 wards each ward having about 120 people each, of which I probably know about 80 of. So that is 240 not counting the missionaries I served with which I will guess was about 100 across the two years. Add it all together and we get about 850 people. I forgot relatives and friends so I am going to add 150 to that. That makes 1000 people I know, minimum. That is a lot of people, or is it? The brain is a powerful tool.

luke 2

I love the story of the shepherds. Of all the events surrounding the wonderful birth of our Savior that of the shepherds strikes my mind the strongest. Perhaps it is the meekness or reverence surrounding that scene? I am not for certain. As I pondered on this humble event recorded in the Gospel of Luke I had a thought concerning its origin. Luke was no first hand witness to the events of the Jesus Christ that we have knowledge of. For certain he did not witness his birth, yet he gives us a wonderful narration of this miraculous event. Unique to his gospel among other things are the:
visits of Gabriel to Zacharias and Mary (Luke 1),
visit of the shepherds (Luke 2: 8-18), and
Jesus at the temple at age 12 (Luke 2: 41-52),
all having to do with the early years of his life. Where did he find the details of these events? I view Luke as somewhat of a journalist searching for facts from eyewitnesses. The details of the shepherds though I imagine took a little more searching a inquiring than that of the others. I see in my minds eye a young Luke speaking with a now aged Mary and Joseph, pen in hand, asking Mary of her son and his birth and up bringing. I see Joseph recounting the travels to Nazareth, of the crowds of people, of the search for shelter, and of the star. I see Mary speaking of joy of her love and care for her beautiful baby boy. I see her relating to Luke the visitation of the shepherds and their visiting with her, telling her of the angels and sweet music they had witnessed. After this visit I see Luke, with passion, spending weeks and months in search of some small shepherd boy who was there on that starry night, now grown, a sage sheep herder teaching his boy the love and care of his craft. To sit down with that shepherd and have him recount that holy night of his youth, what a wonderful experience. I do not know how it all took place but my love and appreciation for Luke grows deeper this Christmas as I read the story of my Saviors birth.

what's in a name

“Family is the most important thing to protect.” I was watching an episode of the old TV show The Pretender recently and this quote popped up. Brigham Young once said that whatever is true is part of our religion. It is wonderful to me how you can find truth everywhere, even on TV. I think that family is one of the most important things to protect. I think that along with that is good name. One thing that a family gives you is a name and that, to me, is something worth protecting, honoring, living up to. I am proud to say that I am a Pinnegar, and hope that I will continue to be all my life. I think it is a name worth having but know that it takes a lot to be Pinnegar. Not everyone can pull it off, in fact not too many people at all can. Maybe that is the trouble in dating and relationships; it is a matter of finding some girl who can manage to pull it off. It is not something that someone just naturally comes by, very few people (percentage wise) are born with it. I got lucky. Back to the name though, I had the thought a while ago about the Pinnegar name. I thought “what does it mean to be a Pinnegar?” The thought was inspired by boss-man saying something on the lines of “that’s a Pinnegar for ya” or “that is such a Pinnegar thing to do.” I won't bore you with that list her but think about your own name and what it means to you. I am glad I am a Pinnegar and hope that I can live up to the name I have been given.

a place to remember

I gave notice today at work that I am only there for a short time longer. I will be moving to Utah at the beginning of the year so will no longer be working for RPM. Giving notice makes everything official in my mind. Before it was something I have wanted to do, now it is something I am doing. I was planning on giving notice yesterday after work but was not really able to so it was one of the first things I did this morning. It made for a rough day. RPM has been a wonderful company to me, I have learned so much from working there and they have at times gone out of there way to assist my desires. The people I have worked with over the years there have been family, in fact my brothers have often teased me that I love RPM as a family more than I loved them. Of course this was never true but RPM has always treated me well and has given me more than just a job over the years I have worked there. It is said that if you love your job than you never have to work a day in your life. RPM has been that job for me. Recently it has been difficult for me to love my job, not to the fault of RPM, maybe a few frustrations here and there but, mainly because I have felt my life to be slowing to a stand still in recent months. I have felt as though my life is stagnating, I am not moving anywhere and want to be, and should be. I tried moving forward but with no success. Thank you RPM but it is time to move on. Thank you Brent. Thank you all the many wonderful coworkers whom I have learned so much from while working with. Thank you Lonna.

There are still many uncertainties about my moving but if I wait for everything to be certain (if it ever would be) I would watch that certainty pass right by me. Now is the time. 2007 has been a great year for me. I have learned so so much, and feel that I have grown just as much. 2008 is a new year, a year of possibilities. I have no idea what many of those possibilities will be but do know that I am excited to face them.

music genres

How does a hip hop/ rock station have a country song in its top 25 list? 107.9 the end is not a station that I regularly listen to, it tends to play more hip hop music than I like. Rock, Pop, Alternative- That seems to be what I favor as far as music preferences go. It is not that i limit myself to just that genre, for I enjoy and listen to so much more, that is just what I tend to listen to when I am listening to music on the radio. Every so often The End does play a song that I find catchy, for instance right now they play a song called "Tear Drops on My Guitar" by a beautiful young woman named Taylor Swift. You may have heard it, it is a catchy song. I like it. As I have listened to it I picked up on the steal guitar in the background and the country style tempo. I also found that Taylor is a country singer, this lead me to go to the iTunes store and look up the genre for this song where I found that it is indeed labeled as a country song. So to pose the question, How does a hip hop/ rock station have a country song in its top 25 list? In fact it is number 17 on the list this week. I suppose the real question might be How much does genre really matter? The question is frequently posed 'what kind of music do you listen to?' to which the response would be some genre or another. I know a lot of people who say they don't like country, many of whom would probably enjoy "Tear Drops on My Guitar." So do they really not like country music? Can you really say, I only like this genre and am not going to listen to any other because I don't like them? How much does genre really matter? I listen to what sounds good to me. If it doesn't sound good to me I don't listen to it. A genre is not going to keep me from or hold me to listening to a specific type of music. I say liberate your mind, free yourself from categorized thinking, listen to other types of music. You might find something you like.

don't bother

So there is this billboard on highway 50 that i pass on a fairly frequent basis. It is for We're Organized Premium Garage Cabinets and shows the picture to the right with contact information and the business name. This Billboard has always seemed to me as a bad, or ineffective, advertisement. To me it is saying that only rich people with loads of money can afford the services of this company. It says "You can't afford us so don't even bother calling to get an estimate." How many people own Dodge Vipers in the Sacramento area anyway? Perhaps that is the image they want to display to keep from having to deal with cheap people but to me it has alway struck me as an ineffective ad. But maybe that is only because I don't have a Viper sitting in my garage; heck, I don't even have a garage.

thanksgiving

What a wonderful day, a day of Thanksgiving. Many may argue that we all need to be thankful everyday so why have Thanksgiving day? I would agree with them. It is important to give thanks always, both to God and to people in your life. However I do still think it important to have a day set aside for it. A special day to give thanks for all the many things to be thankful for. It is important to honor our fathers and our mothers yet we still have a special day each year to honor them. We are to worship the Lord our God always yet God has set apart a special day each week too worship him. I served a mission for my church in Tennessee and Kentucky and while there I met a man who would not celebrate holidays because he said that it was taking away from the fact that we are to do these things all the time, all year and not just once a year. I agreed with him that many people now days do not remember the other 364/365 days of the year to be thankful (for example), but that is no reason for you or I not to take advantage of this special day to be thankful for our blessings. It doesn't take away from any other day to have a specific day to devote to thanksgiving. Worshiping on the Sabbath does not take away from worship to be given on the other six days of the week, nor does it give one the excuse not to worship on those other six days. I attempted to explain this to the man I met but he was difficult to talk to and I didn't have my sabbath day example at that time so it was a challenge but I think that he began to see the point of holidays. Thanksgiving is a wonderful day to remember what we should be thankful for all year long.

bubbles and sidewalk chalk

What kind of toy department carries bubbles all year long but not sidewalk chalk? that is crazy talk. "Sorry, sidewalk chalk is a seasonal item." Since when? As far as I can recall sidewalks are year-round, so why not sidewalk chalk? There is something terribly wrong with that. And to think that bubbles get to be a staple but not sidewalk chalk. Don't get me wrong, thank heavens that bubbles don't get thrown into the 'seasonal' category, that would just be abominable if they were, but think about it- in my mind sidewalk chalk and bubbles go hand in hand they are both experienced by the same age group in about the same season. If your kid likes bubbles buy him some chalk and he will enjoy that for a while and vise-versa. So if you have not yet grasped my frustration no store should offer bubbles for kids when it does not offer sidewalk chalk. They go together like salt and pepper, Thanksgiving and turkey, or like Elmo and his crayon. Keep 'em together and everyone stays happy.

the past is past

If you could go back to one point in your life what would it be, you can’t change anything but you can see whatever you wan to at that point. Thanksgiving 2003 was a rough one for me and my family. Thanksgiving itself was enjoyable but we came home from Oregon to discover that our house had been broken in to while we were away. I started writing this because of a thought of that and the resultant trouble that followed. What would it be like to be able to go back and see who it was? Then the thought has occured to me, how much does it really matter? What good would it do me (anyone) now? The trouble is still the same, the items taken still gone. It would place a face next to the frustrations but is that beneficial? I don’t think it would be. Hakuna matata I suppose. So, if you could go back to one point in your past what would it be?

new media

Blog, the online, new age media. I have come to a great appreciation for journal writing and recording of thoughts over the last year. Journal writing is important and very beneficial, for oneself as well as for those he cares about. But what about blogging: an online journal for the world to see and critique? those who care as well as those who could care less. I have thought about it several times before in the past and have dismissed it. ‘If I have one what would I put in it’ has been my thought, but maybe if I create one I will take the opportunity to find thought to write and jot them down. And here I am; blog-o-devo! Exciting! I got board some early morning at about 2:00am (about two weeks ago) and created a website, and you have found it. I had a thought I felt like sharing about Halloween. The thing about a blog is that no one has to listen, it is written to anyone and if some one happens to stumble across your sit and read what is written then good for them. I obviously never made it to my thought on Halloween, by the time I had made the site the thought was past and didn’t matter anymore, maybe I will write about it in the future.