Joey to the world

Is it possible to have NO state religion (ideology)?

2012-02-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

Elder Neal A Maxwell about irreligion. He put into words (very eloquently I might add) the thoughts I have been having as of late. It seems impossible to NOT have ANY state religion. Wouldn't you agree? I use the word 'religion' very loosely here. Maybe a better word is ideology. Having Atheism as the states ideology is still an ideology (religion.)

In related news people are angry at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for speaking out on what they feel is a moral, not political, issue. This is very interesting to me. I might be biased, but I feel like I see a lot more hatred aimed at the Church from the so called gay community than I do vice versa. I would say that I don't see any hate from the Church toward the gay community, but I admit that there are probably members of the Church that (wrongfully) hate "homosexuals", but they do not represet the Church. Just because you disagree with someone, doesn't mean you hate them, am I correct?

Plant the seed - Testimony

2012-02-05T09:09:00.001-07:00

I have to write this down on here because it has had such a HUGE impact on my life. This is something my sister-in-law Tricia Burbank said and I LOVE it. It is so profound to me. It probably sounded better (and more profound) in the context of the discussion we were having, but alas.

"Everyone has to gain their own testimony about each individual gospel principle." And I would add "...and this comes slowly, line upon line."

The frustrating thing is when people try to force their own testimony of something onto someone who hasn't gained that testimony. You CAN'T give someone a testimony of something. I do believe people can borrow testimonies from others, but they have to accept it, it can't be given to them, if that makes sense. But eventually they need their own.

For example Tricia said she has gained a really strong testimony of the importance of watching/listening/looking at good entertainment. A few years ago she decided to only watch movies that have a rating of 4 and lower (I think) in all categories on kids-in-mind.com (because the MPAA rating system is a joke). Since deciding on this guideline she has seen why this is becoming increasingly important. Emily and I adopted the same family standard about 2 years ago. Before we started doing this I used to think "Eh, it isn't that big of a deal." But now that we have tried it out, I can say I have a testimony of it. This is where I could go off about why I think it is important but that isn't the purpose of this post, but I'll just say if you look at media today versus 5 years, 15 years, 35 years ago, it is ridiculous and becoming more so everyday! Think of something "wicked" and I'll bet you can see it portrayed as good somewhere in entertainment. And calling something that is bad, good enough times can have a dramatic effect.

On the flip side I know people who have a very strong testimony of the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy which to them means not watching sporting events, like, the Superbowl! I have a very weak testimony of this. I know I should probably change this, but I haven't yet. I guess I justify it because I actually don't care about the Superbowl, but I do love any excuse to get together with family, and spending time with family is also an important gospel truth, right?

So the key things I see is that people have to follow the Alma 32 approach and plant the seed and exercise faith, and then make a decision to try it out. You don't gain a testimony by just thinking about things. You have to try it out, exercise faith, and then you can ponder on whether or not you have a testimony of it, or in other words if it is True principle. This is the best way I have found to find out if something is "True" or not. But often people seem to try it the other way. For example I could have thought, "Is it really that important that I watch 'good' movies?" and I would conclude "nah, probably not". But when I try it out and then think about it, I get a different answer, a more correct one I believe.

The other key thing is to realize that people are at different stages in their lives and have stronger and weaker testimony of things than you do. It is okay...this is part of mortal life. It is fine to "teach people correct principles" but when you start forcing them to exercise faith, well, then you have a crossed the line!

I guess this is one of those things I have heard all of my life, but until Tricia said the above quote, it didn't really ring true. I think this will be increasingly important now that I am parent.

Is understanding "why" important to faith or not?

2012-02-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

Just a follow up on my last post. First I enjoyed this quote I got today and it is slightly related to the rest of this post:

"While understanding the “what” and the “how” of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the “why.” When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and, instead, becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet."

--President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Forget Me Not", November 2011 Ensign

Also, Salt Lake Tribune wrote an article a few days ago called "Mormons tackling tough questions in their history." It is very much related to the FAIR article I posted last time.

At my family Christmas party I had a discussion with one of my sisters about various gospel topics similar to the one above. It was sparked by this article. She talked about how she doesn't care about all the "why" questions (in relation to gospel discussions.) She said she is more concerned about whether or not something is "True." (I use capital "T" on purpose...this means it is a God given universal truth...that is another topic, but I don't have time right now to fully explain.) She went on to say "if it is True, then why does the "why" matter?" Man, this was a revelation of sorts to me. However, I continued to think about it, and for me the "why" is a small part of my coming to know something is True. I feel everything True has a logical explanation. I also accept that I may not be able to understand everything with my finite mind. ("...my ^aways^bhigher than your ways, and my ^cthoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:9).” But I feel that there is no harm in trying to understand. God gave us the ability to think and reason, why not use it?

I have been told that the "my finite mind may not understand" argument is a very convenient cop-out for Theists. It is true that it is convenient (although not really), but that does not mean that it isn't true. Try giving a 5 year old a school test about logarithms and when she fails and says "I don't understand this", don't go to her and say "That is a cop-out! That is just convenient for you to be able to say you don't understand."

However, I also discovered that I felt like my way was better than my sister's, and this is not true. They are just different approaches. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way my sister goes about her spiritual journey. While I don't have time to point out all the reasons, I actually admire my sister's faith. Some people would say "oh well, she is using blind faith and that is not smart", but I feel that by definition faith is partly blind. I am trying to think of a quick example. Here is one, but there is probably holes in the logic, but this is off the cuff to try and explain somewhat what I mean. If people are nice to each other the world will be a better place. I don't know EXACTLY why it makes the world a better place. I just kind of have an overarching feeling that it makes the world better. I don't know all the processes and minute details, but I do know it makes the world a nicer place. This overarching feeling is good enough for me. However, someone else might need to study it down to the nity grity to see why. Alright, pretty poor example, but it will have to suffice.

As long as someone comes to know something is True (and then acts accordingly) I believe they will be happy. It doesn't matter how they come to know it.

These are my random recent thoughts. I open to comments, as I am still on a journey to make this all make sense.

Anywho, I have some thoughts I'll post next time about "faith" as it is a topic I have been studying a lot lately. It is good to be blogging again.

Need more Church History

2012-01-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

My dad sent me a presentation by Davis Bitton that was presented at the 5 Aug 2004 FAIR Conference, in Sandy, Utah. It is titled "I don't have a testimony of the history of the Church." I will include the entire talk below, but first my comments.

I thought this paragraph interesting and agreeable.

Some of us might deplore the fading of church history from the curriculum. In the meantime, of course, you can still read on your own, individually or in study groups. To my knowledge, no one is forbidding such study.

I remember in my history of Mormonism class at USU this was a sentiment that my instructor shared. Of course he was happy that he could be teaching a university class that included Church History, but I could see the desire that he had that it be a subject for a class somewhere inside of the church...probably preferably a sunday meeting, but at the very least a institute class. And actually I did have a class in institute in which we talked about Church History in such a fashion, but it was the type of class that only had 5 or 6 people in it.

BUT, I see this article is nearly 8 years old, and I feel the church is moving in a direction of promoting more church history with projects like the Joseph Smith papers and whatnot. So I am happy to see that. Why has it taken the church so long to promote more church history? Well, besides the things mentioned in the article below I also have come to realize that this is a Church made up of humans. Humans shy away from things that are embarrassing or don't make sense. I don't believe the Church was hiding anything or trying to be sneaky or dishonest. They were just acting like rational human beings by focusing on what they do understand.

I enjoyed how the author talked about how Church history can be shocking because it doesn't meet our expectations. I have been exposed to quite a bit of "shocking church history" in my life. Most were obviously mis-statements or out of context, but sometimes not. But they have never been faith-destroying....but more along the line of interesting or different. I believe if members of the church discussed the history of the church before an "anti" person discussed it with them, it would help many members to not 'fall away'. In fact it would be funny how it would frustrate the "antis". I hope 5 years from now the Church will have produced so many volumes of histories that the "antis" will have to find another purpose in life.

I wish the article was a little more concise but it drags a little around the middle, so if you get bored in the middle and must skip ahead, jump to the heading "How Important Is History?" and read the rest from there.

2012-01-24T08:30:00.002-07:00

This is the letter I got from Orrin Hatch today in regards to my disagreement with PIPA. Am I happy with the response? Eh. Do I think it sounds like a poorly written letter in which Hatch is just trying to please his voters, but doesn't actually agree with his voters? Yes. I actually believe Hatch is very intelligent. He is creative in his solutions to problems. And it is always nice to have someone in the senate with such seniority as he, but my support for him goes downhill from here.

2011-09-12T20:34:00.000-06:00

Emilie inspired me to write my reflection of 10 years ago yesterday. I am a day late on everything.

I was a senior in High School. I think my dad was dropping me off for school and I remember being aware some plane had hit a tall building in New York. My dad was making a big deal of it (because he had seen that building before and so to him it was real, but to me as a 17 year old kid it was…not as real). I remember thinking, "stuff like this happens dad, it is no big deal." Then when I got to school I had a class with Mr. Orme and he had the TV on and we watched it for a while. I realized then it was a bit more serious. We sort of had class, but Mr Orme kept the TV on in the background the whole time.

I think my next class was Yearbook, or something, because I remember talking to Mr Riley and he was freaking out. He said he was leaving and headed down to his wife's classroom (she taught at the same school). We worked on yearbook stuff by ourselves, but I remember needing to ask Mr Riley something so I went down to Mrs. Riley's room and I think they were listening to a radio. I sat and listen for a moment. Then on my way back I heard a classroom yelling about something and I popped my head in. I think this is when the towers collapsed and I remember getting chills (and I just got them again as I typed that).

My next class was in Mr. Watson's room (a class about computers, but I was the TA). I remember he had a TV out and was watching everything the whole the whole class. I was sitting there with a few other students talking about it. I remember Mr Watson was kind of freaking out…saying stuff like "this might be the end of the world guys…maybe not today necessarily…but this would start a war or something and then the world might end". This scared me a little.

The whole day at school was strange. The halls were quiet. People were well behaved. Their wasn't any joking going on. I think everyone kind of knew this was a big deal.

When I got home my parents were both home just flipping through channels and so I just sat down and watched it the rest of the day.

My online shopper warning to the world: lens.com

2010-11-19T12:01:00.003-07:00

I needed some new contacts and so I did a Google search for my brand (night & day) and a few sites popped up. I hate buying contacts. Every year I have switched which website I buy from based on who is the cheapest. 1-800-CONTACTS was my first company to use, but has become one of the most expensive. Last year I bought from www.CoastalContacts.com. One of my searches brought up www.lens.com. They claimed I could get Night & Day contacts at 39.99 per box. That is $6 cheaper per box than I had found elsewhere, and I am buying four boxes. So I went ahead and started working on the order, because I wanted to see if some crazy fee or shipping would be added. So this is how far I got:

And I was happy to see they were including a free case. Shipping for 7.95 is okay with me...but then I realized....something isn't right. Do the math: 79.98 + 79.98 + FREE = ???? It should be 159.96, not 170.36. Ummmmm....this is wrong. I have sent them an email and I am waiting to hear back. Sounds like a scam to me.

On the flipside I found another website called www.contactlensking.com that had my contacts for 40.95 per box. I was about to go ahead and follow my tradition of switching stores to get contacts from, but then decided to check www.coastalcontacts.com one more time...mostly because I already had an account with them and I didn't want to have to enter all my contact information again...and I am glad I did. I found out coastal contacts had a price match. So I called them up, told them about contactlensking.com, they put me on hold to check on contactlensking, got back and told me they would give me my contacts at a rate 10% better than contactlensking! Wahoo. So I am very happy to be a Coastal Contacts customer. I got Night & Day contacts at 41.50 per box including shipping!

Summary of lesson learned:
www.coastalcontacts.com = good reputable company that price matches and is easy to work with.
www.lens.com = scammers

UPDATE:

Below is the email I received-

Dear Joe,
Thank you for contacting Lens.com.The variation in the costing you’re seeing is due mostly to the fluctuations in the economy coupled with our efforts to provide you with contact lenses at the lowest possible cost. We pass through the costs to you as close to break-even as we can. Due to a recent increase in our handling costs we have been forced to implement a temporary handling surcharge. We are working hard to find ways to eliminate this cost, and in the meantime, we are absorbing as much of the increased cost as possible. Currently, a handling fee of 6.5% of the product value will automatically be included in your order total and itemized on your invoice. Despite this increase, our efforts provide you with consistently lower prices than the competition.
Sincerely,
Tonya
Lens.com
Customer Service Department

So I replied with this:

And at what point was I going to be made aware of the added handling cost? It doesn't matter to me that you have one, or that it is temporary, I only want to be made aware of it. If I would have been aware you were adding the handling fee I may have ordered from your company. However, because I was not made aware I figure your company was scamming people...which it still sounds to me that you are. I would recommend a swift change to your checkout procedure that spells out the added handling fee in a line on the checkout and/or just add the 6.5% into the end price of your contacts, so that it raises the "price per box" amount. This would be the best. Thank you. I have already ordered from another website, and written a blog post about your questionable math. I would however look forward to seeing some changes on your website. I am trying not to be upset, but I really feel you guys are cheating people and I hope you understand. Thank you.

And they replied with this:

Thank you for contacting Lens.com.

I apologize for the inconveience (sic) this has caused. The handling fee is included in the subtotal. We are working on the website to have a specific line for the handling fee.
Sincerely,
Helen

Europe in a Historical Perspective - Arc de Triomphe

2010-10-30T12:15:00.000-06:00

In all the cities I went there were large cathedrals, historical museums, and historical monuments. The history that took place in Europe is widely respected and celebrated. It seems that all important events are marked by a artifact to pay tribute to that piece of history. In Paris this is all especially true, but was also true in Munich, Zurich, and Vienna. In Paris there were several bridges, arcs, museums, statues, obelisks, or plaques that described the event that took place there. The Arc de Triomphe was one of my favorite historical pieces. It stands as a reminder of those that died in the French Revolution.

Europe and the Evolution of Democracy

2010-10-30T12:09:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned before I had the chance to visit the Les Invalides and inside it is the tomb of many of the leaders of the French Revolution including Napoleon Bonaparte. I have heard about this important historical time, but it was different to actually be in France where these men, and woman, were entombed. I do not actually know that much about the French Revolution, but having been in Paris it is now more interesting to me. By the next time I go to Paris I plan to read up on the French Revolution. I was already interested to find that Napoleon had died on Saint Helena and was much later brought back to Paris to be entombed.

Europeans and their parks

2010-10-29T15:15:00.001-06:00

There seemed to a lot more parks in Europe than there are in the US. In the middle of Interlaken there was a small park surrounded by big buildings. It looked out of place, but was a testimony to the importance of parks. In Vienna one park was lined completely with benches. There must have been 150 benches in this busy park…I wish I had taken a picture. The park was located right in downtown and therefore must be very busy.

A lot of the parks have fun things to do in them too. For example one park had a large chess board while another had fun balancing things (see photos).

The public spaces were also kept very clean. Everyday street sweepers would make sure any messes were cleaned up. While this happens in the US, it doesn't seem to happen as often. I had heard that Paris is somewhat of a dirty city, but I felt like Paris was fairly clean given the large amount of people in the city. Yes there was some graffiti in some of the Metro's, but I would often also see clean-up crews removing the graffiti.

Everyday life in Europe - Time spent with Dominique

2010-10-29T15:03:00.000-06:00

While I was able to visit a few non-tourist areas, most of them did not seem too different from American life. The time spent in Leysin with Dominique gave me the greatest insight into what everyday life in Europe was like. Conversations with him about Switzerland is where I first started to feel that Europe really was a different place with a rich culture. To me it seems like Americans have little or no unique culture, this is very likely because I grew up there, but to me it seemed that Europeans work to maintain a sense of culture. We do not have a special way to eat things or historically great things to eat. Even Curling has a long tradition there and Dominique did his best to explain that history to us.

I hope to return to Leysin and get a better sense of everyday life there. I loved it and want to go back and spend some more time with Dominique. In fact my favorite town was Aigle, at the bottom of the mountain because it had a small-town feel similar to Logan. I hope to to go back and drink deeply from the rich culture.

Evolution of Human Rights in Europe: Dachau

2010-10-29T14:54:00.000-06:00

"Work brings freedom" gate

I visited Dachau for several hours and still felt like I was rushing through the concentration camp. The camp was one of the first used and therefore had a lot of history, all of which was very sobering. In my mind the people were treated worse than the African slaves. People were put in the camps to "reform" them into good working citizens. They were denied freedom without due process of law. The memorial and museum at the camp were very factual. Everything seemed to be presented without emotion. I am not sure why it was presented this way. Perhaps that is the way all historical museums are in Europe.

The visit was what I expected: It made you sick, mad, sad, and yet hopeful.

"Never Again"

The well-used crematorium

Battles and Conflicts in Europe: Napoleon's tomb

2010-10-29T14:46:00.000-06:00

I went to visit Napoleon's tomb at Les Invalides. Also at Les Invalides were many military history items, including a TON of cannons and tanks. It is amazing how rich France's history is of war. They have truly been the center of a great deal of strife.

On this trip I also watched "The Count of Monte Cristo." I was going to go to Chateu D'if, but was told it was not that exciting. Watching this movie made being in France a great deal more fun and exciting though, including the parts about Napoleon. I learned that Napoleon was not originally entombed there, but was brought there later in the mid 1800s.

European views of politics and the like

2010-10-29T14:38:00.000-06:00

Everyone I spoke with on the trains in Europe loved President Obama…and by everyone I mean people of all ages…high school…college students…older people. They thought he was doing good things for America, and in some cases seemed to imply that he was helping bring America up to European standards. One of the specific "good" things they said he was doing was providing health care to all US citizens. It seem that they (everyone I spoke with except the high school student) seemed to know more about the health care debate in America than I did. When I asked about unemployment insurance they were less familiar with the current situation of it in America, but they were for it. It seemed common sense to them. Almost as if they were saying "duh!" to me. Same thing about Social Security benefits and mandating limits on carbon emissions. The only topic they didn't have much opinion on was whether or not the government ought to provide day care. Only one of the people I talked to had children, so that could have been the reason why, and that one person was for providing day care.

I asked several Swiss people whether they felt Switzerland ought to join the E.U. and they all eventually said "no", but some thought about it for a long time. One older woman felt that Switzerland may join the EU, but only after a lot of pressure is applied. The biggest reason she gave for joining the EU was to make it possible for the country to join the Eurozone.

Most people did not want to tackle the topic of Turkish accession, but when I forced them to say yes or no I had four people say yes and one say no…all of these people were Swiss nationals.

Three observations about daily life in Europe: Transportation, Language, Religion

2010-10-29T14:13:00.000-06:00

1. In Switzerland, Germany, and Austria the public transportation is great. One woman I spoke with in Geneva said she had a car, but rarely uses it because of the traffic. She said it is better just to use the public transportation for everything including shopping and going to work. She felt public transportation was a little expensive, but worth it because it is less of a hassle. In Leysin I noticed even the high school aged kids used the trains to get home from school which I thought would be fun if I was in there shoes, but to them it is probably normal. I really enjoyed using the trains, trams, subways, and buses. They took us everywhere we wanted to go and we didn't have to deal with parking and things. In the US I feel limited by the public transportation, but not in Europe. On our discovery weekend we used sleeper trains to get to our next destination. They were convenient, but small and cramped.

2. Language was definitely a barrier on this trip. A lot of the advertisements and things included English words, but it seemed like a lot of the important things were not…for example directions or names of things. I would become lost or confused and didn't want to ask for help because either I didn't know the language or didn't know which language to use. It was challenging, but at the same time it made it fun and adventurous.

3. The role of of religion in European everyday life seemed very minimal to me. It seems very similar to that of the US, in which God and religion is not talked about much in public life. The only time I saw religiousness is when I toured cathedrals and there would be people praying. I did have the opportunity to attend the first bit of a Catholic mass to get a feel of the devotion of the members…which the members there were devoted. The mass took place on a Friday afternoon, so people on a lunch break came to worship.

The behaviors of consumer in Europe

2010-10-29T08:32:00.000-06:00

I have yet to see a "big box" store in Europe. Even the presenter at Medtronics talked about how there is no "one stop shop" stores. In every shopping district there is just a lot of little stores. Some of the clothing stores, in Vienna for example, had only eight items that were available in one or two colors and sizes. I would never go into a store like that, but obviously people must go in there and buy things or it would go out of business. I got used to going to the "Co-op" stores and in one city I found a "Co-op City" which was like a small mall. It had two levels of clothing departments, a restaurant on the top floor and the typical groceries on the lowest level. It was the closest I got to a one stop shop experience, however, things such as electronics were still missing.

The consumers in Europe are VERY environmentally conscience at least compared to Americans. Everywhere I went I saw signs of the importance of environmental responsibility. Zurich, Vienna, and Munich all had recycling bins in most public areas. I saw solar panels, wind turbines, a nuclear power plant, and a lot of signs about fair trade. In Geneva the boardwalk near the lake had a exhibit about environment responsibility (see photos). From my observation Europeans are more environmentally responsible than Americas.

The Wonderful Food of Europe

2010-10-29T08:18:00.001-06:00

I had my first opportunity to eat a McDonalds outside of the US. It is a really different experience. I ate a hamburger with fries and a Sprite in Vienna. It was a three level restaurant. It seemed more like a nice cafe than a fast-food joint. Most interestingly the place was filled with about 85% females, most of whom were between sixteen and thirty years old. Most of the menu was the same as the US, but was much more expensive. The ketchup was not included with the meal and cost an additional .50 euros. I wish more McDonalds in America had the ambience that this one did, but definitely not the costs.

In each country I like to try the local soda, for example in Mexico they have a drink called "Manzana Lift" that is sold by Coca-Cola. In Vienna they had a drink called "Almdudler" that was distributed by Coca-Cola. I have a very hard time describing it because I haven't had anything like it, but it somewhat close to ginger ale and an apple flavored drink. I had the drink along with my Vienna sausage (bratwurst with cheese) and enjoyed both of them very much.

Dancing at Microsoft

2010-10-29T08:09:00.001-06:00

One of our presenter talked about how "it is not Microsoft's business model to take a technology and develop a niche market" but that they leave that up to their partners. I would never have guessed this to be their model but it makes sense knowing that 65% of their revenue comes from the partner ecosystem. One of the new Microsoft tools is something called "Hohm" that helps homeowners save money. I have looked at using this tool for my energy efficiency consulting to help people save money on their utility bills. I wanted to ask how this tool is being used by the Microsoft partners.

The highlight of the Microsoft visit was the "apartment" that had the great new products of Microsoft like the Kinect for XBOX 360. I had never felt like the Wii was cool enough to make me want to buy one, but this Kinect thing seems very neat.

I kept track of how many times a Microsoft employee mentioned Google, Apple, or Oracle and whether it was in a good or bad context. Amazingly they mentioned Apple (or its products) twice, once in a good way and once in a negative way. Google they mentioned three times in a negative way and once in a positive way. Oracle they only mentioned once in a good way. This is a subtle hint, I believe, that Google is a big competitor to Microsoft and I can see why. Just about every product or technology that was mentioned by a Microsoft employee, I could think of a product that Google has developed that would compete directly with it. In general I am usually a bigger fan of Google products as opposed to Microsoft, but I see the competition as a good thing as it pushes each company to be innovative.

Disneyland Paris. It really was magical.

2010-10-29T07:36:00.000-06:00

Yeah for Disneyland!

This was my first time to a Disney theme park and I loved it…even as an adult. I liked the Walt Disney Studio more than the regular park because it seemed a little more geared towards teenagers and older people. The Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster were my favorites.

In our class we made recommendations about what Disneyland Paris should do to be more successful, and they seemed to have done a few of the things I recommended. The parks seemed to cater more towards the European/French culture than the American culture so as to attract the local crowds. The workers weren't overly-friendly or "up in your face" like I hear they are in the American Disney parks which probably helps the local feel more comfortable. The workers always spoke French to you until you looked at them funny then they would speak English.

Some criticism of the park that I had were the inefficient workers at the restaurants and also there were lots of no smoking signs that were ignored. Overall it was a good experience and I look forward to going back there someday with my wife.

My favorite.

Workshop with Dean Anderson

2010-10-28T20:37:00.000-06:00

The Dean was very open and spoke frankly about his personal life in his workshop about strategic leadership. It is nice to see him that way. When people make themselves vulnerable like that it makes them more real and approachable. I now feel like I could stop the Dean in the hallway and talk to him. I liked the Dean's workshop because it got me thinking broadly. He talked about worrying more about being a great person that people want to keep in touch with more than trying to keep in touch with a lot people. This makes a lot of sense. I try to keep in touch with people, but it is time consuming, so the Dean just saved me a lot of time!

Exciting things happening at NATO

2010-10-28T20:35:00.000-06:00

It was a different experience to have an 'organization visit' over lunch at a restaurant, but I enjoyed having it that way to give variety to our visits. In fact in some ways it was probably better. Instead of spending time walking around and just seeing different meeting rooms, we got to sit and talk with them in a informal setting. The first two speakers were very professional and business-like and I had just written that observation down when Patrick, the third presenter got up. He was a character, but informative. He spoke about how the organization was very horizontal which makes getting a job there difficult.

This visit was different also because there are exciting things happening in NATO and so we got to hear a lot of current events instead of just history things. I am curious to explore the quote by the last presenter, Adrian, about "Is security needed for economic prosperity or is economic prosperity needed for security?"

Caterpillar and 6 Sigma

2010-10-28T20:06:00.000-06:00

Caterpillar was very interesting to me because they use "6 Sigma" principles. If I understood our tour guide correctly I believe they have been using it for 2 years now. I saw this implemented through things such as their "High Five for Safety" posters that included pictures of how to do things safely. The company stocks parts at this site and they cannot use RFID technology because too much of their products are iron ore which interrupts the RFID signal. The company dealt with the economic crisis by completely getting rid of the night shift. This must have resulted in a lot of jobs lost, but I am only guessing.

InBev. A strange brew.

2010-10-28T20:02:00.000-06:00

The InBev tour was neat, but not necessarily too interesting to me. I did enjoy the tidbit that there is a school for brewers...who knew? I also was happy to hear that there is no waste that comes from the facility; everything is re-used somehow. Most of the other information presented were things I already knew, but it was fun to actually see the big machinery that carried out the process. It was also way fun to wear the shiny orange jackets. They really took safety seriously.

Huntsman Chemical - Our namesake

2010-10-28T12:53:00.000-06:00

Sure they messed up on the name of our University (see photo to the left), but hey, they did give a fine presentation followed by a enjoyable tour and lunch.

The introduction presentation about what shaped Europe was especially enlightening. When the presenter framed Europe the way he did it really made it look like the European Union must have taken a miracle to come about. All of the presenters seemed to talk a lot about energy conservation and being environmentally friendly, which might be part of a larger initiative being pushed within the company. It was mentioned that the EU mostly regulated the company, because the EU deals with environment protection. The tour of the facilities was pleasant in that it provided an opportunity to see all of the types of products that come from or are possible because of Huntsman Chemical.

OECD

2010-10-28T12:16:00.000-06:00

I was interested that the presenter said the OECD is a kind of stealth organization, although not on purpose. Many people do not know who they are or what they do, but they use the information that the OECD produces.

A lot of background was presented, which I already knew. However, I never did feel like I got a clear answer about what the benefits of being a member are, even though the question was asked twice. It may have been that the presenter did not enough time to cover the subject or maybe he didn't understand it himself. The second presenter, France Chain, did a great job painting a picture of the complexity of the anti-bribery issue that the OECD is pushing. Up until this point I thought the playing field was leveled the same we did when we were kids playing games, by just making up an arbitrary rule to make the game more fair, but this would not work in this situation. Another topic I hoped they would discuss was about its push to advocate transparency. I did not have time to ask the question and therefore will have to do my own research when I have time. Following the presentations it was fun to visit the Chateau that the OECD holds meetings in.

Cailler (Nestle) - The magical chocolate factory

2010-10-28T12:11:00.000-06:00

The Cailler chocolate factory was a magical place. The tour given was light-hearted and entertaining. It showed the history of the cocoa bean and how it became popular. The best for me was a room with all the cocoa beans. There was one bag from Ghana! It made me so excited. For all I know those could have been the cocoa beans I harvested while I was in Ghana. Of course it was also wonderful to have all you can eat samples....which all the scholars got sick from eating too much. Then everyone went out to the store and bought tons of chocolate to take home to share with friends and family...including me. I spent about about CHF 40 (or $41). All the Scholars together spent about CHF 558 ($580)! Unbelievable.

WTO...valid concerns of being undemocratic

2010-10-28T12:05:00.000-06:00

The presenter, Josep Bask, was great because he was informal and very open about the WTO. He was an amazing presenter to me. He would answered all of my questions just as I was about to ask them.

His openness about the organization made me understand more why some feel the organization is lacking in democracy. I see now why it is a valid concern. In order to be efficient there are times the government must act quickly without the citizens of the country having a say in the matter. He mentioned something called "fast track" several times that I plan to research. I am also concerned because it seems that the countries do throw in unrelated self-interest type things, similar to the pork barreling in US politics.

My badge to enter the WTO

ICRC. Are they inefficient financially?

2010-10-28T11:54:00.000-06:00

As a type of NGO this visit was the most interesting to me. The visit to ICRC helped convince me even more that I want to work with NGO's in the near future. I am, however, critical of the Red Cross. I have heard stories of the inefficiency and wasted money, and the presenter did not help reassure me otherwise because she mention that she was paid very well. I believe charity organizations should be the most financially efficient organizations. While some might argue that the Red Cross is not a charity organization, I would flat out disagree.

With all that said I still very much enjoyed the chance to learn more about the organization. It was interesting that the ICRC takes the stance that people have the "right to fight." The organization has a neutral stance and the presenter said that they keep that neutrality by transparency, which I think is very important. The transparency of the organization may be why there are widespread stories about the financial wastes that occur. I strongly believe in transparency and look for to the visit with the OECD as I hear they make a strong push to advocate transparency. The thing about transparency is that it can be implemented in different ways...more to come about that thought after the OECD visit.

Medtronic and their use of LEAN manufacturing

2010-10-28T11:39:00.000-06:00

The Medtronic visit was nice because the presenter seemed like someone that could have been in our shoes 2-3 years ago. He was easy to relate to and it was helpful to hear him talk about working abroad. I wish I would have had time to ask him more about what it is like to have a family already when he moved overseas.

As for the company, Medtronic has more difficulty marketing in Europe because each country is different, but the EU approves products faster than the US. The manufacturing that takes place at the site uses LEAN manufacturing and a few years ago I thought I might go in that direction as a career, so it was great to see how it was implemented in making the medical devices. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures...this was an interesting point in fact. Every visit we went to had different rules about whether or not we could take pictures. It seemed like manufacturing places were the strictest on photo taking.

Credit Agricole (Marie Pascal)

2010-10-28T11:33:00.006-06:00

To talk about "Managing a Financial Services Organization" we had Marie Pascal from Credit Agricole come to our hotel in Leysin.

The creation of the brand name Amundi, which is the specific division she works for, was an interesting story. Mundi means world and they like the letters 'a' and 'm' because they stand for Asset Management. So they combined these elements to make the brand name Amundi.

Pascal also spoke about the idea of having predetermined "red-zones" for risk for their investments. This was new to me. Now that I think about it this seems like an obvious thing to do, but it had not occurred to me. The question that I did not get to ask was about how asset management can take place in a communist country because she talked about working with investments in China. This seems like it would be very difficult.

Marie Pascal also spoke about socially responsible investments. The fact that they actually had a category specifically for these investments says something about the company. Pascal was a very intelligent woman, however, I wish we had more time for asking questions during her presentation.

IMD visit was informative, but not for me

2010-10-28T11:25:00.000-06:00

IMD looked impressive, but left me with no desire to obtain an MBA from them. Some of the scholars were impressed, others weren't. For me an MBA program there does not fit in with my plan, at least not at this point. I am trying to leave myself open to all kinds of possibilities while on this trip, and I constantly ask myself 'what if I did this...' to just try and feel things out. I am still not entirely convinced that doing an MBA in an intensive one year is the best method to receive one. It seems like the Stevens Henager approach, which to me is efficient but less effective. There are some things that you cannot shortcut and I think learning is one of them.

EDIT: My thoughts revisited a few days later-
After writing the above paragraph I spoke with Shannon about the topic and she pointed out to me what the difference is between Stevens Henager and IMD, and that is the faculty and methods. This makes sense to me. The quality of learning is heavily effected by the abilities of the teachers. I am glad I had this conversation with Shannon to adjust my point of view.

Soft Skills Workship with Lynne Pettit

2010-10-28T11:18:00.000-06:00

"In the knowledge age YOU are the most important thing. Your knowledge can make you indispensable." The way Lynn made this statement really made me feel empowered. He followed it up by mentioning that "I am in control."

This conversation was also frustrating because instead of getting to discuss the principles, a lot of time was spent proving/disproving they were true. I would have rather spent more time discussing the principles themselves.

Jesse Fowers talked about something that I thought was important. He talked about our circle of influence. We each have difference circles of influence. I personally want to develop good attributes and then seek to increase my circle of influence, because that is what I see great leaders do.

Lastly, Lynn mentioned that we cannot succeed alone and shared a story about running a marathon. Sport stories (one of my favorite movies is Rudy) are always meaningful to me and I feel I can apply them easily.

A lesson learned in Ghana: You can't shortcut everything!

2010-08-16T10:00:00.001-06:00

I have heard many times that "we (as Americans) have become indulged in shortcuts for everything" and it wasn't until I returned from Ghana that I have been able to see this. We literally are the KING of shortcutting everything possible, and frankly I don't think it is working out like we hoped it would.
The following are some things we try to shortcut:

-Education: The University of Phoenix and Steven-Henager Colleger Degrees - "Get an education that used to take 5 years in 9 months time!" This may be true that you can get a degree, but there is absolutely no way you have learned things as well. You can not shortcut learning like that. I used to be a believer that these quick degrees are a great idea, but no, they are not.

-Food: Microwavable or fast food! This is all we eat. There is no way this is nutritious. So then we...

-Vitamins: "Take a multi-vitamin supplement instead of getting it naturally in your food." There is no way this is the same.

-Religion: Go to church once a week, read scriptures for 15 minutes a day, instead of incorporating religion in to all of you life. (This is one that Ghanaians are great at...incorporating God in all aspects of life.)

-Exercise: Go to the gym for 30 minutes a day, instead of walking/jogging everywhere.

I really used to think that all these time-saving shortcuts were wonderful...and to a small degree they may be, but I think we are going to the extreme. The Ghanaians walk everywhere, get vitamins from their food, eat raw fruits and veggies, but unfortunately they are following Americans in trying to compress and shortcut education...and actually they are starting to walk less, eat less raw fruits and veggies, etc.

In any small way I can I am going to take fewer shortcuts in the areas that count.

Vetted on CNN

2010-04-13T11:04:00.003-06:00

I was excited to get my iReport on CNN vetted. I am not exactly sure what all that means, but I hope a lot of people see it. Check it out: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-429936

USU students working to create scholarship for Haitians, seeking interested sponsors

2010-03-09T20:28:00.002-07:00

Three USU students are working to create a scholarship program that would start bringing Haitian college students to Logan this fall. Chris Gow, Joey Stocking and Scott Clawson have worked with several campus organizations to provide hope for Haiti in the form of education through a effort called the Haitian Scholarship Program.

The recent earthquake has opened the floodgates to humanitarian aid, yet many are skeptical if the aid will get to the right people. Furthermore, just sending aid to the country only acts as a band-aid to the more overarching problem: Why is Haiti so poor to begin with, and what needs to be done as a long-term solution?

The Haitian Scholarship Program is designed to create a long-term solution to the problems found in Haiti by creating future leaders. The aim is to seek out some of the brightest and most ambitious Haitian individuals and have them educated at USU, so they can return to Haiti as empowered leaders armed with the necessary tools to reverse the culture of poverty in their respective communities.

The goal is to have four Haitian students enrolled and ready to start school in the Fall 2010 semester, but Gow, Stocking and Clawson would like to grow the number of Haitian students attending Utah State University every year by two students, eventually having at least eight Haitian students at the school each semester. The estimated total cost for one student to complete an undergraduate degree is $109,200. To bring four students in the fall the USU students are seeking $450,000.

This is an opportunity to invest in human capital by educating Haitians. This is not a short-term "give a man a fish" solution but rather an honoring of the old adage, which says, "Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." Join the effort to bring sustainability and trust to a population so close to our borders.

If you are interested in helping the Haitian Scholarship Program please contact Chris Gow at chris.gow@hotmail.com or Adeli Nol, Office of International Students and Scholars advisor, at adeli.nol@usu.edu.

The LDS Church's involvement in Same-Sex Marriage

2010-01-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

President Gordon B. Hinckley

“I have time to discuss one other question: ‘Why does the Church become involved in issues that come before the legislature and the electorate?’

“I hasten to add that we deal only with those legislative matters which are of a strictly moral nature or which directly affect the welfare of the Church. We have opposed gambling and liquor and will continue to do so. We regard it as not only our right but our duty to oppose those forces which we feel undermine the moral fiber of society. Much of our effort, a very great deal of it, is in association with others whose interests are similar. We have worked with Jewish groups, Catholics, Muslims, Protestants, and those of no particular religious affiliation, in coalitions formed to advocate positions on vital moral issues. Such is currently the case in California, where Latter-day Saints are working as part of a coalition to safeguard traditional marriage from forces in our society which are attempting to redefine that sacred institution. God-sanctioned marriage between a man and a woman has been the basis of civilization for thousands of years. There is no justification to redefine what marriage is. Such is not our right, and those who try will find themselves answerable to God.

“Some portray legalization of so-called same-sex marriage as a civil right. This is not a matter of civil rights; it is a matter of morality. Others question our constitutional right as a church to raise our voice on an issue that is of critical importance to the future of the family. We believe that defending this sacred institution by working to preserve traditional marriage lies clearly within our religious and constitutional prerogatives. Indeed, we are compelled by our doctrine to speak out.

“Nevertheless, and I emphasize this, I wish to say that our opposition to attempts to legalize same-sex marriage should never be interpreted as justification for hatred, intolerance, or abuse of those who profess homosexual tendencies, either individually or as a group. As I said from this pulpit one year ago, our hearts reach out to those who refer to themselves as gays and lesbians. We love and honor them as sons and daughters of God. They are welcome in the Church. It is expected, however, that they follow the same God-given rules of conduct that apply to everyone else, whether single or married” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1999, 70; or Ensign, Nov. 1999, 53–54 ).

Pollo

2009-09-30T10:13:00.000-06:00

I miss my chickens.

Scholarship and Racquetball

2009-09-08T22:30:00.004-06:00

It has been a good beginning to this week. I applied for a scholarship a couple of weeks ago (like I have many times before) but this time I was actually awarded one. Yeah, for the first time, a scholarship for little ol' Joey. It's a Hansen scholarship through the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.

Also today, I barely remembered in time that it was racquetball club tryouts. Unfortunately when I got over there my wrist was killing me. I could barely hit the ball. But my lovely wife showed up with some ibprofun and I guess the adrenaline kicked in and I was able to play and made the team. Which I feel pretty fortunate about. There were at least 20 guys trying out and only 5 made it.

So good stuff...now if only I could find my T-mobile MyTouch phone that I had stolen last week. :)

Writing In Books

2009-08-14T07:29:00.002-06:00

I love writing in books. There is probably not a book I own that I haven't written in. I am still reading "On The Road" and I've discovering that the previous owner of the book had a love for writing in books too...at least in this one. I love reading her notes and trying to figure out why she was reading the book and why she underlined certain things. Was she reading it for class and had to write a report on it? Was she book reviewer and wanted to keep track of good passages? Or was she just like me and enjoyed putting down her thoughts?

Are there really other people like me out there?

I think the reason I like writing in books is because I want to read books again, but I want to see my thoughts about the book that I had the first time, so that I can compare my thoughts while I read it the 2nd time.

So I usually buy softcover books, because I feel a little guilty writing in hardcover books, but at the same time I kind of have a guilty pleasure writing in them. The worst though is when somebody gives me a really nice book with a nice cover and what not (or a collectors edition.) Do not ever do this to me. Books are for reading and enjoying and learning from, not to look good sitting on a shelf. That is why I write in books and I think you should too. Toodles

On The Road

2009-08-12T21:41:00.003-06:00

I am excited. Ever since my Great American Road Trip I've been wanting to read Jack Kerouac's "On The Road". Just before I left on that trip I was listening to a recording of a live show that Switchfoot did and they quote Jack Kerouac and I put that on our website as my favorite quote.

I had never heard of Jack and of his famous book about traveling around America just like we did...(well kinda'...we did ours real fast.) But anywho, someone commented on our blog that we should read it. So I am.

The version of the book I got from the Merrill-Cazier Library has an intro by Ann Charters, who was an English professor that studied the "beat generation" which is what Jack wrote about. In the intro Ann talks about Jack reading the first review written in the New York Times about "On The Road" and I found it fascinating. (This blog post is frustrating me because it is not coming out the way I want it to.)
Jack talks about the funny reaction that the media had to his book being published. The things that he was interviewed for were strange to him. The media made him into something that he was not. As the intro states "he was supposedly the spokesman for a new generation." I found all this funny because that is exactly what the media did to our Great American Road Trip. They often turned it into something it was not, or wasn't meant to be. As Adam Gatherum from our trip stated "our story is taking on a life of its own in the media's hands," which is true. I wonder how often that happens. Seriously, our trip was just 3 guys in a Scion drive through the 48 states to set a record. But then the media came along and all of a sudden it was:
"3 men drive across the country to show off the MPG efficiency of the Scion XB"
"3 brave men drive the countryside to live out fathers dream"
"A trio of men sponsored by a gay website (menlove.com) drive the lower 48 states"
"Three faggots waste precious fuel and set a bad example for others"

And I could go on and on, but I am out of creative headline ideas. But you get the idea. And all this is not even mentioning the completely wrong data they kept publishing. For example our official time for the drive was written incorrectly four times with four different numbers...we should just take the lowest misquoted time and run with it ;)

Anywho, I am excited to read this book so I am going to end this post and read it.

Politics is creeping into my blood...

2009-03-26T09:12:00.004-06:00

So, I've been bitten by the politics bug...and I don't know how I feel about it. Part of me feels like I am cynical of everything and every idea now, but part me likes actually being involved and having opinions on these things...but I also know I could get carried away.

It somewhat started 3 weeks ago helping a fellow ward member get elect to student government at USU, then just this week their was a vote at USU to increase the athletic fee another $65 a semester. When I first heard about the fee and the arguments for it, it seemed like a no brainer, but I thought I'd look into a little more and I did and I came to disagree (along with a lot of other people) with the fee increase...specifically the amount of the increase.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I think somebody (perhaps the athletics department) became worried it wouldn't pass because a lot of unfair measures took place. They had basketball players pressuring you in the HPER to vote and vote right then (who is going to vote "no" with them looking over your shoulder). The statement on the online ballot was even biased. It basically listed reasons why to vote yes.

And lastly I'm disappointed the student fee committee didn't just handle the situation. They could negotiate a lot better...actually with a vote there is no negotiating.

Anyway, I didn't even mean to post all this stuff about the student fee increase, I was just coming here to post an article about facebook. (And I better stop, or my comments will end up being arguments of why the fee increase is good and such.) Aurora Dizon wrote this article and I think he/she (not really sure) writes for PC World, as it is on their site. The article is about the "Hypocrisy of Facebook." If people really feel this way, then I laugh. They would basically be saying "we need a constitutional right that we are entitled to have a facebook page, and that all websites be operated on the basis of political correctness." (P.S. A lot of things that fall under "political correctness" I disagree with.) People, we are not entitled to have a facebook page. If facebook wants to keep pornography off its members pages then they can. I think facebooks success has been because it is such a cleaner site than myspace. This is the reason I switched.
Anyway, I will say that I do agree it would be smart for facebook to notify people when their TOS change.

Facebook is a funny place. I laugh when people use facebooks groups to petition facebook to change "back to the old facebook." Does anyone else find this hilarious?

assorted scribbles: Birds and the bees

2009-03-18T08:39:00.000-06:00

Ha ha ha ha! LOL! I again refer to an earlier post I made about

Comedy movies VS. Blogs

Engagement at Dixie Rock

2009-03-15T23:35:00.004-06:00

Well, I got engaged! And therefore I started a new blog with my bride-to-be. Check it (and our engagement story) out here or at http://emjoe.blogspot.com/

Egg production

2009-02-17T08:58:00.003-07:00

Man, if I keep this up, I'm going to have to change the name of this blog to "The Chicken Blog" because that is all I write about now a days. Sorry. But anywho, for those interested I have spreadsheet tracking my egg production. I'll also be adding the expense that I put into feeding my chickens (that's really the only expense) to show if it is making economical sense to have chickens vs. buying eggs. The end.

or you can go to:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pYAosa-1jrQHxfELvg_OONQ

Book of Mormon Marathon

2009-02-02T10:23:00.002-07:00

The Book of Mormon in 24 hours. Our stake put on an event where we read the Book of Mormon together in 24 hours over a 3 day period. Anyone was welcome to come. So for 6 hours Thursday and Friday, and then 12 hours on Saturday I read. We had a sign-up sheet for a 10 minute reading time. So we had someone reading at the front of the Cultural Hall, while the rest of us read along. I brought my bean bags to be more comfortable. The Stake provided snacks and then on Saturday they provided three meals.

Anyway, this is a VERY interesting way to read the BoM. You will see things that you would not otherwise. In fact, so much of the story line made so much more sense because of reading it all together. Just a remarkable event. I think I plan to do it every other year for the rest of my life....and I am dead serious. There are some things I had just learned the past couple weeks about the BoM and so then as I read I watched for those things. And I'm sure I would learn other things and then the next time I read I would learn different things....obviously. Anyway, there is a great spirit that attends the reading of that book. I know it's true. (And I am not just saying this because it is the cliche' thing to say, or out of habit, or anything...I am saying it on purpose and because I believe it. Sorry, it is just that too many times people say things out of habit or because they think they 'should.' (See January 13th, 2009 post)).

The chickens are in the pot...

2009-02-02T10:14:00.004-07:00

No I am not cooking my chickens...that is code word for they are in their nesting box and making EGGS! That's right. I have gotten 5 eggs in the last week and half. Sweet! I didn't think I'd be getting any eggs for a month or two, but for some reason they've decided they like me and want to give me eggs.

It is so fun to have chickens. I'm pretty sure I'm sold on the idea and will have them the rest of my life. They love me too. It's great.

Chicken pride

2009-01-19T22:19:00.007-07:00

No, I am not taking pride in the fact that I AM a chicken....I am taking pride in the NEW chickens I own! Yup! I like eggs...that is an understatement. I buy the 5 dozen box when I go to the store. So last year I started thinking about getting a couple chickens to lay me some eggs...but there were so many things I didn't know (is it legal to have chickens in your yard in city limits? How messy are they? Are they hard to take care of? Is it cost effective? ETC.)

But I finally got all my questions answer and at 5:23 today I became the new proud owner of three wonderful hens.

I haven't named them yet....but maybe I shouldn't....I may eventually eat them some day. Nah, I'll name them. So it'll be a little while before they will actually lay any eggs, but I am excited. It's the first animal/pet that has ever been MINE. So yeah, I am way excited. I think I'm throwing a party in their name soon. We'll eat eggs and do the chicken-dance.

Impossible Questions and Intentions

2009-01-13T23:28:00.003-07:00

I often come here to make a new post, but then I think "I don't really know what I'd write about." So then I close the window and move on. I don't know how other people can be so good with their blogging. Well, and also this blog isn't a blog for me to update people with my going ons and shinanigans. It was originally a somewhat secret blog to write about things that I couldn't write elsewhere. If you want an update on my life, see my facebook page. As you have probably noticed, I don't usually put pictures on here...because it is a lot easier to do on facebook.
So, yeah, that is my explanation. And I guess another reason I haven't written on here for a while IS because people I know have found it and therefore it is more scary to write things. But I don't mind people reading it, it is just intimidating now, because I feel like I need to write noteworthy/important things so people don't waste their time reading it.

Now that I am typing though, I have thought about some things I'd like to put on here:

THE IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION
I think these are funny, but also sometimes annoying. An impossible question is a question that can only be answered one way...to avoid awkwardness. Some really lame examples would be:
- A girl asks a boy "Do I look good in this dress?" What is he going to say....No you don't.
Crap, well I can think of others, but it would take a while to explain the background and situations to them to have them make sense, otherwise it would appear that they are not impossible questions. But you watch for these questions...sometimes you ask them...sometimes someone asks you....but think before you/they answer.. Think: Is there only one way to answer this question?
But it is sometimes annoying, because you want to ask someone a question, but you know they can answer one way...so then I have to explain this impossible question thing to them before I can ask the question. I guess part of the reason the questions are answerable in only one way is because we as humans try to be polite and this often means being dis-honest to avoid hurting feelings, but sometimes I just want an honest answer. So I think everyone needs to understand this.

INTENTIONS
This is one of my two wishes for today: I wish I knew peoples intentions when they answer questions...mostly this stems around church. It just seems 87% of the time someone in Sunday School answers a question it is out of habit and they are not really answering because they REALLY believe it, but are just saying it because they have heard other people answer the question that way for the past 20 years. And I can't tell who is saying it out of habit and who is saying it to...bear testimony---for lack of a better phrase. So yeah, INTENTIONS are EVERYTHING in EVERY CASE.

And I'll end by saying my 2nd wish. I wish getting married was an easy thing to do...like it used to be...or at least I imagine in my mind that it used to be, like, 50-60 years ago. Now-a-days you got school or work to plan around, and families to plan around, and random other schedules, and "times of year" to get married in and such. So yeah, enough said. But before rumors fly, I am just saying this in GENERAL. As I have witnessed other people planning weddings and such...although........

President Benson for President

2008-11-18T10:15:00.003-07:00

Thats right! We're bring him back and electing him President of the United States of America. Okay...not really. I am in a "study of Mormon culture" class and we are covering a book which talks about the 10 individuals who were Mormon and Presidential candidates (or hoped to be.) I am covering Ezra Taft Benson. He was a very politically active person before being the President of the church. Interesting stuff really.

Well, sadly I must run.

2008-11-13T22:07:00.002-07:00

I wish...
...that money wasn't such a necessity.
...that I had 3 hours every friday to just sit in a library and dig around and read whatever I wanted to expand my horizons.
...I wish I had more motivation to accomplish things.
...I wish I had the energy to renew some friendships with some old friends, and to try and be a positive influence on them. But it takes so much energy. It's so sad...because I really think I could do a lot of good, but its just so hard.

2008-11-10T13:40:00.002-07:00

Yeah, for "porch swing" talks. Last night, I enjoyed an hour long "porch swing" talk with Emily. It was great.

Which brings me to another topic. "Ya. Yea. Yay. Yeah. Yah." I wish I (and everyone else) knew how to use these 5 words correctly. It can be very confusing.

I wish...
-I had a better knowledge of the scriptures. I just can't remember things. I've read the books tons of time...but still can't.
-I could take a glimpse of one day, 6 months into the future. Just to see who was there in that day, and what I was doing and such. It would be very telling.

Great answer!

2008-11-01T14:28:00.002-06:00

So, I asked someone the two wishes question and got a great response. One of the best responses I've had in years...and I ask a lot of people. She said "I wish I could meet someone that would change my life." Brilliant. And actually she said it a little differently, but I can't remember the exact wording, but it was good. It's true. I guess we all want to meet someone who will change our lives (for the better), but never put it in words. It gives you a desire to meet new people though.

That reminds me, for some reason I've also had this feeling that there is someone I am supposed to listen to. Like there is someone I could 'change there life'. Whoa! I didn't even think until right then that they could be related events. But maybe not. Anyway, for like a week straight in my scripture study, in another book I was reading, and at the temple, I had this thought. The thought was "Listen to people. It is important to be a good listener at this time in your life. There is someone who needs you." So, I've been keeping my ears open, but at the same time it also taught me that I could definitely be a better friend to a lot of people and be a better listener.

Anyway, so my two wishes today are: 1) Meet someone that will change my life for the better. 2) Listen to someone and change their life.

If you had two wishes everyday of your life...AND Porch Swing Talks

2008-10-12T15:42:00.005-06:00

My most favorite thing to do is to think if I was/were (<-not sure which) given two wishes everyday, what would my two wishes be for today. The idea is that you've always gotten two wishes so its not like some big deal. I also really enjoy posing this question to other people. It often stimulates interesting conversations. Anyways, I've been keeping track of my wishes in a book, but I can't find it anymore, so I decided I could put them on here...especially since I don't know of anyone that knows I have this blog. My two wishes for today are: 1) I wish every week I could pick a person that I could just sit on a porch swing, or sit in front of a fire, or a sunset, or a statue, or on top of a building, or on a mountain, and TALK with them. Just talk. Just be free and open and fun and frank. Just reminisce or talk about the future or about current life or whatever. In the past I have had some of these opportunities and they make up some of my favorite memories, and some have been life changing conversations. Seriously. They are like therapy. I can release thoughts and feelings. If only I could do that every week. That'd be awesome. And they have to be at a time very relaxed. It can't be rushed by anything. So, like a Sunday afternoon or something. So, I'm going to name them "porch swing talks." Some of my favorite porch swing talks in the past have been with Emilie, my dad, Marissa, Arie, Melissa, Jared, Bryan, my mom, & Nick. 2)I wish I wasn't such a chicken. It's funny because I was just talking to someone else the other day about them being a chicken. But there are so many times where I should say something that I don't. I see people that are having a bad day, and I know asking them about it could be helpful to them, but I don't do it. Or moments I really wanted to tell someone that they are special to me, but I don't do it. Or times that I should say 'thank you' and REALLY REALLY mean it, but I don't. Or people that I find fascinating and pleasant that I would like to get to know, but don't ever talk to them.

So, the great thing about these two wishes everyday, is that sometimes it causes me to put down on paper (or its electronic equivalent) things that I wish, and then I look at them and say "I'm going to do this, dang it!" and I do it. But...sometimes I don't say that. But thats okay. Some are more realistic than others. But I try to live my wishes!

Comedy movies VS. Blogs

2008-10-09T22:57:00.002-06:00

I had some free time tonight and so I started reading blogs of friends...and I love it. Seriously, in a match between comedy movies and blogs, I would pick blogs to win. Personalities are so visible in blogs and I love that for some reason. If I read a response paper for an English class from all these same bloggers, I would not be able to tell them apart. But in a blog, they are free to write how they want and it so much more creative and healthy.

So, this all lead me to want to blog. And so, here I am...blogging. So, hmm...some important discoveries I've made in the last little while of life:

-Watermelons float!
-At least according to a couple of blogs...I plan to test it myself. And just for the record, my hypothesis was that they would.

-I hate writing response papers!
-They are the worst kind of writing that I have discovered. They leave very little room for the random thoughts that I have about the article...and they have to contain big words.

-I don't know what writing in the passive voice means! 'nuff said.

-I enjoy writing in this bullet style format. I take all my notes in this manner. I even journalize in this fashion. It is good.

-Bad communication makes me sad.

-Life is good!
-I like t-shirts with quality sayings. Like the "life is good" shirts. Why can't there be more of those in existence.

-I have serious writing issues in which I leave out words in my sentences. I have a problem getting words from my mind to paper/computer screen. I also say did, when I really mean didn't. and it's bad.

THE END.

48 states. 5 days. 3 men. 1 car.

2008-04-24T12:32:00.001-06:00

These guys are planning to drive thru all the lower 48 states in 120 hours. Crazy! Only stopping to fuel up and expel bodily waste. Sounds like something I would do. Crazy Utahns.

read more | digg story

Laura's Loopy Life: Visit from Hoey and Nick

2008-03-26T14:03:00.000-06:00

Laura's Loopy Life: Visit from Hoey and Nick

testing input

2007-04-24T07:33:00.003-06:00

create a form

more Herff Jones fun. Me the gangsta

2007-04-23T22:23:00.000-06:00

Don't I look bad to the bone.

Herff Jones Fun

2007-04-08T22:49:00.001-06:00

At work every Thursday we have a theme for the day. It has made things a lot more interesting then they would have been otherwise. These are the photos that tell those stories.

Snowboarding trip

2007-04-08T22:21:00.001-06:00

2-12-07

My nieces is cute!

2007-04-08T21:33:00.000-06:00

sing my Kya. Sing.

1st and only first

2006-12-31T14:37:00.000-07:00

blah blog blah

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