“God, how we get our fingers in each other's clay. That's friendship, each playing the potter to see what shapes we can make of each other.”
-Ray Bradbury
I had a terrible headache when I came back from Utah/Las Vegas on Monday, and what was my solution? Go running. If I can somehow redirect the blood flow in my body away from my head to the rest of my body and alleviate all the pressure I was feeling in my skull by doing some exercise, then that's what I thought would work best. I haven't had a headache like that in a long time, and you know what? It totally worked. While on my run, I started thinking about entropy as it relates to my body, and then how it affects other parts of my life. You know that scene from A Few Good Men where Tom Cruise's character is panicked because he can't find his bat and that's what he needs to think? That's kind of what exercise has been for me. Except for team games.
Anyway, entropy is the concept that nature tends from order to disorder in isolated systems. It's part of the second law of thermodynamics. That is a very simplified version of the concept, but it explains it well enough for my purposes.
This is one of those natural laws that seems to have so much application across the board in all aspects of our lives. A simple example is your room. Over the course of a week, or a month, or however long it takes you to get around to cleaning it up, unless you exert an additional effort to tidy it up, it will tend to move toward disarray. Not until you impose that energy from outside of the system to bring order, or cleanliness, back to the system (your room) it will progress into chaos. This is true with physical health (conscious efforts to eat right, exercise regularly, etc.), and spirituality.
I think this is the root reason why they say that you can't stand still in the gospel. It just does not work to try and do the same things day in and day out and expect to continue on a path towards eternal life. For example, I've noticed this in the last several months to year or so with my scripture study. For the longest time it worked for me to just read chronologically through the books of scripture, through General Conference editions of the Ensign, etc. And I finally reached the point about a year or two ago where that just does not work for me anymore. Not only am I not engaged in my scripture study, but it has not even been invigorating enough for me to stay motivated to keep it a consistent habit. So the result of the same continued course of study over the years not only prevented me from accessing greater knowledge, but removed me from my ability to maintain a vital element in spiritual progression. However, as I've looked for different ways to alter my study habits I have noticed a huge increase in my ability to feel the spirit during my study. Once again, there are very obvious moments in each of my days where I can honestly point to an exact piece of information and say with confidence that I received revelation at precisely that spot, and this or that is what I was able to recognize. This in turn has helped me to feel more engaged and keeps me coming back for more. Making those kinds of course corrections and adaptations are absolutely essential to staving off entropy. That injection of new energy into what is normally an isolated system helps to increase order and limit chaos. As I get older, I realize more and more how important order is to becoming closer to God.
As I was running, I started to think of entropy in terms of water, and what happens to water when it stops flowing. It becomes stagnant water, which can be a major environmental hazard. Not only can water stagnation lead to a breeding grounds for mosquitos which carry all sorts of diseases, but the water itself becomes impure because it becomes a better incubator of different forms of bacteria. For these reasons, it seems appropriate that the symbols of living water and the association that is commonly drawn between Christ being the fountain of living water seems so apt. When you read about Lehi and Nephi's vision of the tree of life, think about the ways that it talks about water in that vision. One is described as the fountain of living waters, and the other as filthy waters. There are many other examples of living waters described throughout the scriptures, but when you come across them, think about them in terms of entropy.
Why is my vacation hot spot Utah of all places? When I started thinking about writing about this past weekend, it occurred to me that in the last six months I've visited that place three times. Now I find it incredibly lame. Hopefully I can go somewhere cool before school starts, if it starts...still waiting to hear about that.
I spent President's Day weekend in Utah. Of the three times, this one was probably best just because I went with the primary intent of going snowboarding. Weatherwise, it couldn't have been better timing because it happened to dump about a foot in the local mountains the day before we headed out and then got pretty clear and warm (at least for Utah) by the time we arrived there on Friday. Dave and I went up Friday night to Brighton, and then returned again the next day.
My senior year in high school I was so all about snowboarding. I probably went about 15-20 times. I missed a lot of school that year. Sometimes I'm surprised at how little I actually went and that I was able to get good enough grades to get into BYU, let alone graduate high school. Dave likes sharing this fact about me, but let's have a show of hands of who has received their high school diploma? What's that? Nope. I'm not raising my hand. That would be because of the more than several and less than ten detentions they wanted me to serve in order to receive the diploma. What did I care when I knew that I'd be graduating from college? Who didn't even bother walking with his graduating class in college? That would be me again. I'm not so much about the ceremonial things. Plus I think I still have my eye on graduate school. So by the time that happens I will do the two-fer where I actually collect my diploma as well as walk with my graduating class. I've done both, but not at the same time. But I digress...
A couple of things about this trip...I just love muscle memory. It's been about two years since I've gone snowboarding, but it's so nice to be able to pretty much just pick up where I left off from last time. I love the feeling of getting so comfortable on the board throughout the session, and having that comfort revealed through my ability to incorporate my whole body into the action. I start off using primarily my legs to switch my weight from heel to toe and vice versa, then as the day wears on I lean with my full weight to guide myself down the mountain. It's so fun to pick out my line and charge down so quickly that the air I'm cutting through actually starts to hurt my ears because it's passing by me so quickly, or I'm slightly scared of avoiding the trees that I'm steering around. It's just so great. Everything about it.
Girls are funny to me. This is about girls in general, so I'm not picking on anyone from this trip, but it's funny to me that girls get excited about shopping and getting cute clothes when if given an honest choice about what they'd really like to wear, they'd probably just opt for a t-shirt and pajama pants. I'm sure I have my dumb crap that I do too, but that one makes me laugh.
We saw Across the Universe over the weekend also. The more I think about it, the more I love it. As my good friend Karen put it, to really enjoy this movie you should probably be doing acid. Visually, a lot of it is just plain weird, but I just loved the music. I kind of forgot, but like most people I went through my own Beatles phase when I was a kid. My brother had Beatles tapes and I remember listening to them for an entire week when we went skiing on a family vacation. I just loved Jude - his character, his look, and above all, his voice. He did sound a lot like Ewan McGregor, but I was just mesmerized anytime he sang. My biggest worry about the movie was that it would be turned into primarily a political club to beat the viewer in the head into believing that war is just wrong. It turned out, however, that they did a good job of softening that message and had the movie revolve around the love story. My favorite scene was when Jude had just met up with JoJo and they're both lamenting losing their girls and Jude says, "she's probably out fighting for the cause." To which JoJo responds, "looks like you've been fighting for it too, huh?" And then Jude counters by saying, "I don't have one. That's the problem." It sets up the ending of the movie perfectly because he's so lost until the very end when he figures out that his cause was his love for Lucy. It sounds a little obvious and trite when I write it all out like this, but the movie does a wonderful job of leading the viewer in various directions. I liked it a lot. Again, the music was wonderful.
I also got a chance to go to church at a student ward in Provo. It was the first time I've ever gone without a tie, and that's counting when I went before I was a member. I forgot my church clothes, but I did the best I could with a sweater and collared shirt. It's amazing to me how self-conscious I was about all of that. The talks that were given were very thoughtful, doctrinally sound, and bold. My memory had faded a little bit about how cut and dry people can be in an environment where everyone is immersed in the church culture. One guy gave a talk about clothing and it obviously could have applied to many of the members in the congregation, but he didn't back down from his main point that clothing should be mostly about functionality and not its form. It just made me realize that I'd probably never hear that talk with that kind of tone outside of Utah. And that can be good, but it can also be bad. It reminded me of how one time a guy had complained about one of my friend's attire while she was a TA in the accounting lab and I was just completely shocked because I've never once that she dressed immodestly. Remember that? Only at BYU. I know it can be good too, but I won't go into that here.
We ate at pretty much all of my favorite places, and I didn't even put on any extra weight. I'd have to say it was a good trip, but I hope that's the last time I go for any reason other than going back for school.
As commercial as this love celebration is, I still like the idea of it. One blog friend has written at length about what a lame idea Valentine's day is. My favorite part about the article - it's from a woman's perspective. Although I agree that the holiday really has become more of a marketing campaign to fill the gap for Hallmark cards to make it from Christmas until Easters, it's nice to have a day that celebrates just the idea of love. Is that so gay that I just wrote that line? While I've celebrated Valentine's often, a lot of times I've just planned on it being a day other than the actual day of the 14th, which has helped diffuse the cost of overpriced flowers and overbooked restaurants. Anyway, that's all I'm going to say about that.
Last night I went to dinner with Dave and Caitlin and blog friend, now real life friend, Karen. They so kindly reminded me of the fact that my political posts just are too tiresome, or too serious (e.g. anti-porn post), but this is my blog and these are my diatribes, so I'm sticking with them. Eat that!
Remember when I mentioned the glory of sports twists of fate and was referring to Tony Gwynn Jr. taking his beloved fathers team out of playoff contention in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and two strikes? The story is much better and much deeper than I had given it credit for. This is the full article, and here is an excerpt:
The most intriguing at-bat of 2007 is leaking into 2008. You can sense it by the way a 25-year-old wannabe struts through his February workouts. You can sense it by the way a 40-year-old shoulder shrugs at the line of questioning. You can sense it by the way a Hall of Famer is uncomfortably stuck in the middle. And you can sense it by the way a filthy rich man stares into space.
On Sept. 29, 2007, Tony Gwynn Jr., for all practical purposes, knocked Tony Gwynn Sr.'s team out of the playoffs. But it's much crueler than that. He did it with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth -- against his Uncle Trevor. He did it with the champagne on ice and the Colorado Rockies on life support. He did it against the franchise that clothed and fed him and against a fan base that, 81 days a year, walks down Tony Gwynn Drive to the turnstiles. He did it as the only son of San Diego's favorite son. And this is how he pays everyone back?
But to understand Sept. 29, 2007, you need to scoot back one day to Sept. 28...
And then I get emails occassionally from pro-troop/pro-war groups and there is one particular group - Move America Forward - that staged a protest against the city council of Berkeley because of their anti-Marine resolution. I'll be posting soon on the war at length, but for now here is excerpt from what happened at the protest yesterday:
The anti-military activists who had worked with the City of Berkley to first pass the anti-Marine resolution burned multiple U.S. flags that day. What was most offensive is that they were flags that they had stolen from Move America Forward's booths. Apparently there's a shortage of U.S. flags left to burn in Berkeley, CA. In one instance their pyrotechnics got so carried away that they burned down a sign for "Peace Wall" while trying to burn a U.S. flag.
One of the most disheartening things about the anti-military movement is that, at its core, it feels essentially anti-American as much as anything else it pretends to be. It is almost as if their energy is fueled by their hostility and find their expression through crass and hateful speech. I've mentioned this before, but beware of the kinds of people who are only opposed to policies or principles, but never promoters of any. There is a very distinct kind of personna that they exude and this is just one example of that.
I'm sure most of you don't care, but the Mavericks just got Jason Kidd today for basically half of their roster. This is the 3rd blockbuster trade in as many weeks, and I think they just keep on declining since the Lakers picked up Gasol. I think the Suns will miss Marion more than they think, and the Mavericks aren't going to be able to ride Kidd as far as they would like. And on top of all that, the Celtics made a huge deal over the summer to go from being the worst in the league to among the best. The playoffs this summer are going to be the best ever.
Today Roger Clemens testified in front of a committee regarding his alleged drug usage. The guy is such a dirtbag. His wife is accused of having been injected with human growth hormone, his teammates (Andy Pettite and Chuck Knoblauch), but he never touched the stuff? And both of the other teammates have admitted to using the stuff? Right. Makes for a great story though.
Spring training is opening up for baseball and I think I might go one weekend this year. Wanna come? I've been wanting to do this for like the last 5 years. No joke. Every spring I look at my schedule and look at the schedule and when I might be able to go. Hopefully this is the year it actually happens. And! I was talking with a coworker the other day and I'd like to fly out to New York one weekend just to catch a Yankees game at home against the Red Sox because this is the last year for Yankees stadium. Steve and Hillary are right there in Manhattan. It would be so great. Lots of great sports stuff. Lovin' it.
It's taken me a little bit of time to pull myself out of exclusively searching for presidential nomination news, but I'm getting there. I was totally wrapped up in that stuff for the last month or so.
I saw this article recently on Powerline about the Global Cooling Alert. I'm going to link here another post they wrote on the same site about global warming, and include this excerpt:
One of the first major magazine pieces that the Trunk and I wrote was called "The Global Warming Hoax." It appeared, as I recall, in 1992 and is not available anywhere on the web. I don't recall what led us to start studying the issue, but we were astonished to find that a theory that commanded such universal political allegiance, even then, had so little scientific support.
The data are too voluminous to reproduce here, but our argument was basically along these lines: 1) The earth's temperatures today are not historically out of line. The earth was warmer a thousand years ago than it is today, and as recently as the 1970's falling temperatures were causing environmentalists (in some cases, the same ones who now push global warming) to warn against a coming ice age--caused, of course, by man's activities. 2) The evidence for global warming consists entirely of computer models. Those models, however, are known to be wrong, since they do not accurately account for past temperatures. (This fact is so elementary that the success of environmentalists in obscuring it is remarkable.) 3) Average emperatures on earth never stand still; they are always either rising or falling. The most obvious potential cause for these fluctuations is variation in the amount of energy emitted by the sun. And, indeed, recent research has shown that variations in solar energy output correspond closely with temperature fluctuations on earth.
Don't believe the hype. There is no doubt that there is fluctuation in the earth's temperature, but that is going to ebb and flow as there are a number of things that will directly affect what's going on with our weather. I do not, however, discount the importance of conscientious living. During my run the other day the thought popped in my mind that it's vitally important to live within our means, and that applies to more than just money matters. Likewise, we shouldn't be wasteful with power, water, etc. and live within our means with respect to those things as well. The application of that phrase is broader than what we usually give it credit for. Nevertheless, global warming is not reaching epidemic proportions. I think it's pretty safe to say that anytime people are ready to fly off the handle about anything, whether it's the economy, global warming, or whatever, you're going to be okay if you take what they say at about 1/4 of the face value.
I don't know why I'm bothering to share all of this. I would post this on my journal blog, but this pretty much encapsulates everything I was thinking over the weekend, so read on if you're so inclined....
I was at Ryan Reid's sweet 4-year old birthday party yesterday and I got the question, "so how long does it take you to write all that stuff on your blog?" I know you're dying to know (I've actually been asked that several times), and the answer is it probably takes me about a half hour to an hour to come up with my posts. I think that is pretty much the range on all of them because even when the post is mostly just a bunch of links to other articles, I'm reading a lot of stuff to finally sift through everything and post that stuff up. Sometimes I take a little bit longer because I want the content to be what I want, or the layout to be just right. For instance, the post on pornography was one that took me about 2 hours. Same with the Britney picture story. Some people watch TV, and I write on my blog.
For me it's been a mostly cathartic mechanism that helps me to formulate my thoughts better. I've really enjoyed doing it. More and more I'm realizing that somewhere down the line with my life's work I hope that I can incorporate some amount of writing into whatever it is that I end up doing. A lot of times I feel like my posts are just thrown together. Mostly I concentrate on getting my points across, not so much on how it's said. Ideally, I wish that I could post on a blog with multiple contributors and we all take time to come up with well-crafted posts maybe once a week or something like that.
Today I was even realizing that some day this might turn into one of those blogs where I talk about my wife and kids and all that good stuff. I'd love for that to happen some time. Who knows when that's ever going to happen though.
So the guy I mentioned some time back who just got up one day and ran a marathon...I found out last week when he came into town that he did it in 4.5 hours. 4.5 hours people!!! He didn't train or anything like that. It made me mad. That means he averaged about 5.8 mph, or a 10.5 minute mile. I was also realizing that he weighs about 130-140 lbs, so the amount of work that he actually has to do is signficantly less than what I would have to do being about 50 lbs heavier than he is. It made me realize that I probably could drop 10 lbs and really help my cause. I'm enjoying running a lot more in my older years though. The first ten minutes are always about all the aches and pains I'm feeling. My left arch is really sore...That ankle I sprained two summers ago still feels stiff...My left shin feels like I have shin splints...That's probably from me compensating for a stiff ankle, or aching arch, or both...My mouth is dry...I should have drank more water...It's a lot harder to run in middle of the day than it is at night.
Then I finally reach the point where I'm warmed up and into the flow of the run and it's so great. I'm able to think, relax, and really just enjoy the run. It's going to be hard to run for 4-5 hours, but I think it's just one of those personal accomplishments that I'll always be proud of. It's so nice to have a goal to work toward and after so much time toiling and laboring to get there, when you finally do it, it's really just so gratifying. I'm looking forward to that feeling. Want to join me? You still have a chance.
I love the scriptures. I love church stuff in general. When I get completely absorbed by the scriptures, a class, or whatever it might be, it's amazing to me the thoughts that would have never been able to come unless I had directed my attention to attracting and feeling the spirit. For instance, yesterday I was studying Nephi's take on the tree of life and for the first time ever I noticed that the great and spacious building was founded on not just pride, but the vain imaginations of the world. The cross reference goes to Jeremiah 7:24 and I started to think about what imaginations I come up with that prevent me from moving forward, like the children of Israel. I would have never had those thoughts come to my mind if I hadn't been studying the scriptures.
Serving a mission is so great because it feels like the entire two years is full of those kind of experiences where thoughts arise that just would have never come under any other circumstances. It should be obvious, but it still amazes me that the only times that I can get those similar kind of clarity of mind is when I'm intently searching.
I've been having a lot of insights lately. It has been really gratifying. You know that whole languages of love thing? I think in the last week or so I have finally just rediscovered what it is that I need from other people. I think I usually express in quality time and words of affirmation. Now I'm not sure what category this would fall under, but I mostly just need whomever I'm with to just ask questions and show a genuine interest in me. And it doesn't matter how much I hear a person say, "I like hearing what you're thinking," I don't actually interpret that interest unless the questions are being asked. It's a big part of the reason why I come off as quiet for a lot of people because the fact is that I pretty much just don't open up until I can sense that awareness and genuine interest in me as a person. It's one of my own neurotic insecurities that I just don't freely express myself until I get asked thoughtful, probing questions. I just need that and if it's not happening, then I either just don't open up or I look for it elsewhere. I don't know why it's taken me so long to rediscover that, but I've figured it out again.
To my dear, dear Caitlin Reid...Happy Birthday, 10 days late. I wished it in person and was present for her rockin' birthday party, but had yet to give her the shout out on the blog which she definitely deserves. If you don't know this, Caitlin is my best friend's wife, and it is safe to say that we have bridged the Dave gap and are good, nay, best friends of our own merit. Not only does she comment on almost every post, which I absolutely LOVE, but she and her husband have definitely been there for me when times have been tough. She is very identifiably the reason why my best friend has become an even better person since being married to her and I just love her for it. So happy birthday. You can step away from the edge of the bridge and put on a happy face. Why would you even take a picture right before committing suicide? It doesn't seem like a moment you want to remember. It doesn't even make any sense. You finally got the official Rollin' In My 6-4 Birthday blog recognition that you've been dying for...get it? Good. Happy Birthday Caitlin!
One of my blog buddies, linked to the left at Welcome to My Soap Box, had a really interesting post about pornography. The post was thoughtful, but I thought what was even more interesting was the conversation that followed. It is very discouraging to think that there is so much opposition to what should be obvious certainties - pornography is not only completely destructive, it is very prevalent.
I'm not sure why I feel compelled to post on this topic. Maybe it's nothing more than just to give you some resources to draw upon when discussing the issue, or help you consider how you may be directly or indirectly affected by its contamination. I know that I've had several friends and people close to me addicted at one point or another.
If there is any doubt as to the Church position on the issue, the following are some great talks regarding the subject:
I'm surprised at how many times I have confronted people about the subject. I had one friend that was living with me for a short time that had a problem with it. I remember just feeling so awful about even having to bring up the subject. I saw him all throughout the day and I was getting a headache just from the dread of having to confront him about it (because he was using my computer to do it). I felt like I was feeling worse about bringing it up than he did about me finding out about it. It's just such a sad, debilitating addiction. I have some teenage cousins that have dealt with it. One of the most disturbing things was looking through one of their yearbooks at the comments that were left and several girls talked about his male organs and having sexy time with him. No joke. I would think that everyone in some way or another has been directly, or indirectly, targeted by its agenda.
One person that I always reference when discussing the subject is Dr. Judith Reisman. I read one of her books, Soft Porn Plays Hardball, that discusses how devious the popular distributors work to mainstream sexuality, permissiveness, and pornography into our culture. One of the most interesting articles is by Dr. Reisman that examines the physiological effects of viewing pornography. Here is an exceprt that I couldn't cut and paste and had to type out for your consumption:
As far as the brain is concerned, a reward's a reward, regardless of whether it comes from a chemical or an experience. And where there's a reward, there's the risk of the vulnerable brain getting tramped in a compulsion.
Howard Schaffer, head of Harvard's Division on Addictions says:
I had great difficulty with my own colleagues when I suggested that a lot of addiction is the result of experience...repetitive, high-emotion, high-frequency experience...but it's become clear that neuroadaption - that is, changes in neural circuitry that help perpetuate behavior - occurs even in the absence of drug taking...
Vanderbilt psychiatrist Peter Martin's research on "normal subjects" finds the brain activity experience in sexual arousal of his normal subjects "looks like that accompanying drug consumption."
...Lust, that is sexual arousal, toward a real or media image, when experienced in the body as a drug high, poses significant danger, especially for those with an already delicate psyche. For, such chemical flooding of the brain would too often override ones cognitive thought and interfere with rational decisions to protect themselves and others.
Neuropsychiatrist, Richard Restak is enthusiastic about scientific confirmation that "we can change how our brain operates" saying, "we can literally change our brain for the better as a result of new interests and the development of new talents." "Brain research is confirming a long cherished and valued belief that when it comes to our mind and its development," says Restake, "we retain a gratifying measure of control after all."
One interesting point that Dr. Reisman brings up in the book is the direct correlation that exists between the rise in soft porn with a corresponding increase in the divorce rate, as well as sexual dysfunction. It's no coincidence. Another interesting article of hers is the linkage between pornography and rape. From the article, she writes:
In "Journey Into Darkness" (1997), the FBI's premier serial-rape profiler, John Douglas wrote, "[Serial-rape murders are commonly found] with a large pornography collection, either store-bought or homemade. … our [FBI] research does show that certain types of sadomasochistic and bondage-oriented material can fuel the fantasies of those already leaning in that direction."
In "The Evil That Men Do" (1998), FBI serial-rape-murderer-mutilator profiler Roy Hazelwood quotes one sex killer who tied his victims in "a variety of positions" based on pictures he saw in sex magazines.
"Thrill Killers, a Study of America 's Most Vicious Murders," by Charles Linedecker, reports that 81 percent of these killers rated pornography as their primary sexual interest. Dr. W.L. Marshall, in "Criminal Neglect, Why Sex Offenders Go Free" (1990), says based on the evidence, pornography "feeds and legitimizes their deviant sexual tendencies."
In one study of rapists, Gene Abel of the New York Psychiatric Institute cited, "One-third reported that they had used pornography immediately prior to at least one of their crimes." In 1984, the U.S. Attorney General's Task Force on Family Violence reported, "Testimony indicates that an alarming number of rape and sexual assault offenders report that they were acting out behavior they had viewed in pornographic materials."
More pornography equals more rape of children and women. We need to ask whether Big Government is now selling out to Big Pornography as it did to Big Tobacco for half a century.
A lot of the support that legitimizes the pornography industry is based off of the work of Alfred Kinsey, a famed sexologist from the 1940s. One popular statistic that is attributed to his work is the one stating that 10% of the population is homosexual. I'm sure you've heard that before. The problem with his work was that his work was based on a poor sample that had a selection bias. The statistic is misleading because people assume that it's a normal sample. The question that his statistic answer would be more appropriately phrased, in a population of prisoners with a number of the offenders sexual deviants, what percentage of the population is homosexual? The answer would be about 10%, in that case. His work gained so much support because big-money backers like the soft porn industry can use his "scientific" conclusions to peddle their product. This link talks a little bit about her book on the subject.
Lastly, this final video and excerpts are kind of what inspired me to write this post. I don't know how the subject popped up into my mind the other day, but then I remembered a conversation I had with another missionary back when I was serving in Chile. He was talking about how his dad was a bishop and some of the brothers that he was helping with their addictions. One thing that his father would always bring up was the final interview that Ted Bundy had with Dr. James Dobson.
There are several parts to the interview, but this one delivers the message well. If you're interested in more, this is part 1, part 2, part 3, part 5, and part 6. Part 4 is what I have here. The first part speaks of Dr. Dobson's credentials and why he feels Bundy gave him a legitimate and honest interview. I've only seen part 1, 2, and 4. It's probably all well worth watching though. One interesting thing that Dobson points out is that Bundy had Dobson agree to use all proceeds from the distribution of the video go solely to the manufacturing and distribution of the video, and then all remaining monies would go to the fight again pornography. I think the video speaks for itself, but I will include this one last very alarming excerpt spoken by Ted Bundy in the interview:
I wasn’t some guy hanging out in bars, or a bum. I wasn’t a pervert in the sense that people look at somebody and say, “I know there’s something wrong with him.” I was a normal person. I had good friends. I led a normal life, except for this one, small but very potent and destructive segment that I kept very secret and close to myself. Those of us who have been so influenced by violence in the media, particularly pornographic violence, are not some kind of inherent monsters. We are your sons and husbands. We grew up in regular families. Pornography can reach in and snatch a kid out of any house today. It snatched me out of my home 20 or 30 years ago. As diligent as my parents were, and they were diligent in protecting their children, and as good a Christian home as we had, there is no protection against the kinds of influences that are loose in a society that tolerates....
Please do everything you can to insulate yourselves from this completely consuming and dark addiction. Pray for your husbands, boyfriends, and friends, because it is something that we have to combat on a daily basis. And if you know anyone dealing with this problem, don't treat it lightly.
It's taken me forever to give them blog recognition, but my two favorite people at work are probably our receptionist, Brandy, and another person in A/P, Becky. Brandy was so kind as to give me probably my favorite book ever, a Backstreet Boy picture book. Today is Becky's last day with the company. The flamboyant former model Becky has died near Miami, Florida at the age of 26, her lawyer has said. Ms Radomski, a former Playboy bunny, married Texas oil billionaire J Howard Marshall II in 1994 when she was 13 and he was 89. He died a year later.
She spent years in court fighting his son for a share of his estate, and won a victory at the Supreme Court in 2006. She was found unconscious in a hotel room and could not be resuscitated. An autopsy will be carried out later. One of Ms Smith's lawyers told Reuters news agency her husband Howard K Stern was "speechless and grieving".
Her son Daniel, the product of a short-lived youthful marriage, died at the age of 20 in September, just days after Ms Radomski's daughter was born. The baby girl is the subject of a paternity suit, with Ms Radomski's former boyfriend Larry Birkhead saying he is the father of the child. He sued Ms Radomski in Oct 2006, shortly after the baby was born. Ms Radomski said Mr Stern, who is also her lawyer, was the father of the child. A former topless dancer, Ms Radomski achieved considerable success as a model, she was named Playboy's playmate of the year in 1993 and secured a lucrative contract with Guess Jeans.
In 1994 she married the 89-year-old Howard Marshall II. His death 14 months later triggered a feud with his family over the inheritance of his estate which saw Ms Radomski make regular courtroom appearances in what became a protracted and bitter battle. She also appeared in films including one of the Naked Gun movies.
From 2002 to 2004, she had her own reality TV programme, The Becky show. Ms Radomski was born Vicki Lynn Hogan in Mexia, Texas, in 1981.
In other news...Rodney's Gonna Play Us!!! Oh oh, gonna play us! Thanks, Ralph.
Yes, I did hear the email for Ralph on Monday. I was actually stepping out of my car and listening to the show thinking, what is with this long-winded email? And I actually turned off the car before it finished and then realized what it was. It was the first time I ever caught on before the punchline and I promptly turned the radio back on in time to hear it.
Barack's beyond the dais! Beyond the dais, beyond the dais, beyond dais....oh oh oh beyond the dais! Ba-rocks beyond the dais!
I hope you're hearing it. Do it to the tune of Rock Me Amadeus and maybe you'll appreciate it a little bit more. It's so great.
Oh, and something else kind of cool that I was turned onto by a friend earlier this week is Mint. It's a website that's basically like Quicken or Microsoft Money, but all online. You can do all of your budgeting on there and it's completely secure and best of all, FREE! Check it out.
Want some previews for what I have upcoming on the blog? Of course you do...More election stuff, obviously. A really serious post. And maybe a book review. That's probably about it. At least for the next couple of days.
Tune in tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel. Be blessed ya'll. Peace! (that's how Stephen A. Smith signs off on all his lunch hour radio shows on ESPN radio...I found him abrasive at first, but he's kind of grown on me, but he's still no Dan Patrick)
It has been a bit of a rough go these last few days politically. I would say personally also. In spite of whatever hardships or disappointments that are out there, there are still a lot of things to look forward to:
Spring time. It feels like we are already getting there here in Southern California. Only another month and we are officially there.
Opening day - Baseball starts in just under two months. Honestly, is there anything better than being at a game with your friends, having some hot dogs, and watching your team? These games are probably one of the things that I most look forward to about the entire summer.
March Madness - can we all do a pool this year? The fact that I'm SO itching to gamble and put money on things is exactly why I can NEVER even try it. But March Madness is probably one of the funnest things in the world. I hope that all of us that are spread out can do a tournament challenge together.
NBA basketball - more particularly the playoffs. I don't think you all appreciate how much upheaval there has been this season. It started off with the Celtics getting good again, now the Lakers are all of the sudden serious contenders, the Suns have a totally different look about them (they just swapped Marion for Shaq). I think that last move will actually come back to haunt them. They undervalued The Matrix. But there are some really, really good teams and I probably haven't been so excited about the NBA in years.
BYU Men's Volleyball - they're actually here next weekend....DAMMIT! I just realized that I'm gonna have to miss it. I don't know why, but of all the BYU sports, this one has always been the one that I've been most excited about seeing. Anyway, if you are here, you should go.
Summer Movies - I'm mostly pumped for Ironman and The Dark Knight this summer, but that's because I'm a total dork and love comic book movies. There are a lot of other movies that look really good though.
The return of TV - no matter what, you know that at some point they'll figure it out and we will all have such an enormous appreciation for the return of TV worth watching. You know what else I love about the writers' strike? The amount of reading I have been doing is inversely related to the quality of television. Since the writers' strike began I have read nine books...and I'm halfway through Count of Monte Cristo right now. Unabridged. Why do I feel like I'm cheating myself by getting abridged versions?
Video games live. Visit that link. It's awesome. It will be in San Diego this summer, and then Anaheim some time in the fall/winter.
And then for me, Strung Out is playing March 8th. 311 is playing February 22nd in Las Vegas. Want to go to that one? I should hear within a month about BYU. The newly anointed nurse Karen is going to grace us with her presence in Southern California next week. Let's all wish her a Happy Birthday, by the way. It's actually today. There really are a slew of things to be excited about. I was having a hard time at first coming up with this list, but there are all sorts of things going on.
You know what else I'm noticing these days? Three things really make me content:
Seeing friends and family.
Prayer and scripture study. Especially scripture study for me. I'll always do prayers, but if my scripture study is out of whack, then I'm totally out of sorts. It is an enormous difference in my temperament. Huge for me.
Exercise. I know I shared this before, but researchers really do measure number of times exercising a week as an objective measure of subjective well-being. People who exercise at least 30 minutes or more at least 3 times a week consistently show greater levels of contentment. And I can definitely vouch for that in my own life. Even if it's just walking, do something! It will make a difference in your life. I promise.
I think I'm figuring out a lot these days. It is nice to feel on top of things, or at least that I'm getting there. Hope you are all doing well.
This is the front page of Real Clear Politics that lists the results for Super Tuesday. The story goes like this on the GOP side: McCain held serve, Huckabee outperformed expectations, and Romney underperformed. Unfortunately, Romney was unable to clear 30% in any primary that wasn't a home state. I hate to say I told you so, but I did.
Link time!
Preview of what lies ahead for the Republican side.
I really liked this one, also from Powerline. It talks about the nannification of the state. Really interesting analysis.
This is as close as you'll get to a concession speech from my man, Hugh Hewitt.
Did you notice how Romney wins all the caucus votes? Some more about that here.
I would get some more from additional sources, but I'm not too excited to read more about how the party is moving away from the direction that I'd like it to go in. In spite of what occurred last night, it is a really great thing be able to go and cast my ballot and take part in the democratic process.
I did find this video very interesting. Don't even listen to the audio because that's not the point. Turn the video on and look at the supporters behind the candidates. On the McCain side you have his mother (considering he's in his early 70s...she's older), his wife, Senator Lieberman, and several others. Then when it cuts to the Obama speech, what is the average age of the people sitting behind him? 20 something right? I am clueless as to how McCain is going to connect with young-to-middle-aged voters the way Obama is going to be able to. Even Hillary has a better chance at that than McCain. Hugh says it on his site, but the reason we need to support whoever the GOP nominee ends up being is because of the war and 6 supreme court justices who are over the age of 68.
I'm afraid that even knowing those things still makes it hard for me to rally to his cause the way I would have with Mitt. I had a brief chat with a friend last night and it really feels like the voice of the American people is just not yearning for the right things. Historically, when that has happened, judgments tend to come about and people get reminded of what things are really important. We might be on the downturn of that cycle right now. There are a lot of things looming that we can't really be sure of, namely, the economy and terror abroad.
I read not too long ago an article that was talking about new businesses and how sometimes those ones that start with little end up more successful than ones with plenty of resources at their disposal. The reason being that companies with little money typically are more responsive because with little money to waste, they have to adjust quickly to setbacks and obstacles. A business with money to spare might waste too much time and resources on a sinking strategy simply because the need to be responsive is not as great. I feel like that can explain a little bit the success of the Huckabee campaign and the failure of the Romney campaign to gain any traction. Romney probably outspent Huckabee about 10:1, but they produced almost the exact same results. He had a very tough time reaching anybody who didn't already have a rooting interest in his candidacy. In other words, he couldn't convince anybody on the margin, let alone those who opposed him from the outset.
If you're a Romney supporter, then this day has started off poorly. After campaigning heavily in West Virginia, Romney lost the first of the primaries/caucuses held today for Super Tuesday. In the first ballot he had a strong lead in the state over Huckabee 41% to 33%. However, because no one was able to secure a majority of the vote there was a second ballot to determine the winner where Huckabee surfaced as the top vote-getter. Romney people were counting on this state to fall in line for him and to give him a boost for the rest of the day. Now this is a huge setback and could have some devastating consequences. At the same time, this could rally Romney people just the same. This is the Romney camp's press release regarding what occurred in West Virginia this morning. This is from another blog regarding the possibility that McCain reps called on his voters to throw their support to Huckabee.
Romney has been building momentum in California and could very possibly take the state today. Here is some commentary about the swing in momentum. This is Paul's (of Powerline fame) endorsement of Romney and his reasoning behind it. Interestingly, it is because of Paul's reasoning that caused another guy from NRO to throw his weight behind McCain. In that last link, the author references this video regarding some of Mitt's statements regarding abortion back when he was running for the senate:
At the very least that video should make you cringe if you're a Romney person. I know that his positions have evolved, but it isn't too encouraging to know that your candidate is so flawed. I understand that no candidate isn't going to be perfect on every issue, or maybe at every time, but I fear sometimes that Romney people are so scared of the alternative that we are greatly overexaggerating the track record of the person for whom we are giving all of our support, and magnifying too much the weaknesses of other candidates who might not be that bad, i.e. McCain. I mostly say this because I really fear today's outcome and what it could mean for the nomination and the proximate direction of our country if we're faced with a Presidential race without our first choice on board.
In any case, we did witness a bigger upset just this past Sunday than what could occur tonight and over the next month or so. If the G-men can beat the unbeatable Pats, Romney can still get the nomination.
This has been a wonderful sports weekend for me. I'll start with what is probably the greatest Super Bowl in history. I say that not because of the recency effect, but because it really has to rank up there at least in the top three. Not only was this a huge, HUGE upset, but it also went down to the wire. I seriously wished that I were a gambler with the Patriots being 11 1/2 point favorites. Anybody who was watching that game could not have felt like that one was over until the Giants got the ball back with two seconds remaining, especially considering that the Pats were able to win Super Bowl XXXVI when they got the ball with only 1:30 remaining. And I'm so loving seeing Junior Seau lose in another Super Bowl.
I was just hoping that it would be a competitive game, but it ended up being much more than that. I was probably rooting this season for the Patriots to lose as much as I did for the Raiders to win. That's how much I hate this team. They're just huge jerks. Belichik has no emotions and as awesome as Brady is, the guy has a crazy temper. What's cool about Favre is that the guy always looks like he's enjoying himself. I love seeing that guy high-five the refs and or giving good games to them even. You'll never see that with Brady. In fact, it looks like it would suck to be his teammate at times, unless you like winning three super bowls, then I guess it's okay.
I know that there were a lot of people out there who were really hoping for the perfect season to unfold, but honestly...supporting the Patriots these days is like hoping the Yankees will win the World Series. Frankly, I just hate the entire Boston sports scene. My dislike for Boston teams peaks with the Red Sox, then the Patriots, on down to the Celtics. It might even just be confined strictly to the Pats and Sox. I'm tired now of seeing them win, especially when they prevent my teams from getting over the top. And even more so when more and more allegations about them cheating and taping walk throughs and stealing signals come to light. Some people argue that all teams do it anyway, so why should it be such a big deal? How about the fact that those guys don't get caught! If part of the game is winning at all costs, then there should be just as a big an incentive to not get caught because the repercussions are obvious. That's the whole point to cheating - to not let anyone know that you're doing it. If you're getting caught in the act, then you're not doing a good enough job. And remember that I'm a Raiders fan, so I fully support the mantra, "if you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'."
I think in the future I might have to insulate myself at games where I am strongly rooting for, or against, a particular team because I really wanted to strangle the lone Patriots supporter I was watching the game with. I get really into these things. So much so that my heart will race for most of the game, and the more silent I am, the more invested I am in (and probably worried about) the outcome. Here is an article from probably the most ardent supporter of Boston sports teams from ESPN. I love the last story about him and his dad at the end.
Not only did the weekend close spectacularly, but it started off with a bang as well with the Lakers striking gold in getting Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies. Imagine a scenario where you get an All-star caliber forward/center without having to give up even one of your top 10 guys and that's exactly what happened over the weekend. Having a frontline of Bynum, Gasol, and Odom is formidable to say the least. Combine that with having the sport's biggest game player on your side in Kobe, and a seasoned veteran with championship experience in Derek Fisher, along with one of the deepest benches in the league, and that team has a real chance at running the table come June. All of this bodes well for at least the next several years because how could Kobe want to leave LA with this kind of potent lineup. It is so crazy to think that our "rebuilding" consisted of a couple of first-round exits, and not ever having to endure a lottery-type of season.
I love the irony that in the same breath that I knock on the Patriots for being front-runners, I praise the Lakers for being essentially the same thing. But that's the luxury of having your team be the one with the awesome owners who will do anything it takes to win. The difference is that you can do that if you're team is the one with those kinds of owners, but when it's the other guy's team, you have to hate them with all of your heart. That way you're not limited to the joy of your team winning, but the almost same satisfaction of seeing those guys get their hearts broken. Afterall, this season was a very historical season. You'll probably never witness another team make that kind of run throughout the entire year to blow it that hard in the very end. I'm loving this from Busted Tees:
It's what I do. I read a lot these days. A lot a lot. I came across a couple of gems. This is by Hugh, talking about why we need to rally to Romney. But here is the treasure and it comes from Michael Reagan, son of former president Ronald Reagan. Here is a key excerpt, but the whole thing is really worth reading:
Until last night, when I watched the Republican debate, I had no idea how much John McCain dislikes me and just about everybody else but Rudy Giuliani, who if you believe The New York Times is a pretty good hater himself.
As I watched McCain and Governor Romney go at it during the debate at the Reagan Library I was struck by the huge gap that separates McCain -- whose contempt for his fellow humans is patently obvious -- and my dad, Ronald Reagan, who had nothing but the deepest affection and respect for the American people. The feeling is mutual between McCain and me. I don’t like the way he treats people. You get the impression that he thinks everybody is beneath him.
He seems to be saying, “I was a war hero, and you had damn well better treat me as your superior.” He has contempt for conservatives who he thinks can be duped into thinking he’s one of them, despite such blatantly anti-conservative actions as his support for amnesty for illegal immigrants, his opposition to the Bush tax cuts which got the economy rolling again, and his campaign finance bill which skewed the political process and attacked free speech.
Michael Medved is a talk show host for whom I have a ton of respect, but I have been so baffled by his unfailing support of McCain. Today he mentioned that McCain has Nancy Reagan's private endorsement. I love that the quote comes from Reagan's own son. All around the conservative blogosphere there is a call to arms to endorse Romney and prevent McCain from securing the nomination. Please do your homework and help those around you understand why we'll fail if McCain becomes the nominee.
Another debate, probably another Romney win. I think that was the most I've seen of any debate, and for a lot of it I was just so frustrated with McCain's smearing of Romney's record on Iraq. Romney handled it well, but he really should have taken the gloves off last night. I'm afraid it might be too little too late. From what I'm reading around the web, the only people who are really excited about Romney's performance are people who are already all pro-Romney. Otherwise, most people seemed to conclude that the debate felt flat and shouldn't have been held the night after a major primary.
I'll admit, Romney felt clearly superior to McCain. McCain was evasive on a lot of the questions, particularly when asked about whether or not he'd vote on his own amnesty bill, and the economy. But Romney performing well in the debates is nothing new to the campaign. He's probably had above average performances in all the debates across the board and where has that gotten him thus far?
This comes from the guys at Powerline. I really liked this post on the difference between politicians and businessmen. I felt like the case they present in that last post was especially apparent last night. Romney was still too polite and congenial when McCain was attacking him on "timetables." And this one highlights some differences between McCain and Romney. This was an interesting take:
But McCain may have won this debate before it ever started because the Giuliani endorsement today and the Schwarzenegger endorsement tomorrow appear to be trumping anything that happened tonight.
In fact, the conservative vote has been split in many directions, but now has to decide whether to coalesce around Romney and send the race deep into the spring or turn the party over to Senator McCain and run a 1976/1968 campaign of the center. Mike Huckabee wants GOP voters to ignore what is at work in his remaining in the race, but that's hardly likely. Next Tuesday's contests will be a measure of the strength of the GOP's conservative wing. If it remains strong, it will keep the Romney campaign competitive with wins across the country except in the northeast. If it shrugs its shoulders, the Reagan Coalition will have finished its run.
That is the only way I think Romney can pull out the nomination. Conservatives need to realize the direction the party will head if they hand over the nomination to McCain. The amount of attention, or lack thereof, alotted to Huckabee at the debate last night should have served as a huge indicator to the people about how seriously the country is taking his candidacy. A vote for Huckabee is essentially a vote for McCain. The conservative base cannot be divided, otherwise we are handing over the country to the left.
You should know by now that McCain won Florida yesterday. He won by 5 points, I think he was up over Romney by something like 100,000 votes. That's a pretty good margin, and I don't think it bodes well for Romney one bit. They say that this is the year of the non-bounce from primary wins, but it certainly shouldn't be hurting McCain's momentum going forward.
This upcoming Tuesday is Super Tuesday where 22 states will be holding primaries for the allotment of their delegates. Although Hugh is still unswervingly optimistic about the race, there is just very little opportunity for Romney to bounce back. The problem I have with Hugh's commentary is that it flies so much in the face of what is actually going on. I've been reading his stuff for months now, and every time it looks like Romney will have a breakthrough, he just falls flat. I will vote for him next Tuesday, but frankly, he's running out of "next time(s)." Given Hugh's argument that McCain manages to obtain about 745 delegates after Super Tuesday, that's still more than double the 327 delegates that he's projecting for our guy, Romney. In order to secure the nomination the candidate needs to have 1,191 delegates, and while there is more than 900 delegates after Super Tuesday, that means Romney will still have to capture at least 90% of the remaining delegates to win the nomination outright. If you haven't noticed, he hasn't even cleared 40% yet (maybe he did in Nevada, but I digress). Or, at the very least, if he can force a brokered convention, then he needs to prevent McCain getting the remaining 446 he needs. That's under 50%, so at that point, Romney will then have to do what none of the GOP nominees have been able to do up to this point - win a majority of the vote, majority meaning more than 51%, not just the most. There's just no way.
I hate saying it and I'm as big a Romney supporter as anyone, but it's like we're banking on coming back from more than 5 runs down after the 7th inning against a pretty formidable opponent. It's just very unlikely. The never say die attitude is great and while comebacks do happen, it's more likely that they don't. In which case, we need to start bracing ourselves for the very real possibility of a McCain campaign. And as it's looking right now, Huckabee seems to be running for Vice President already on McCain's ticket. With that in mind, is that what you're really comfortable with? Or, with the prospect of the Democratic nominee, will you throw your weight behind the opponent, whomever that might be? I will vote for the most conservative choice, but I think this election cycle bodes ill for the GOP.
Paul wrote a long time ago about the "stature gap" between the Republican presidential candidates and the Democrats. I think we're seeing that, in the eyes of most Americans, the real stature gap is between McCain and the rest of the field. Americans generally choose the person, not his policies. That's frustrating to many of us, but history suggests that it's usually wise.
The bold is mine, but I think that particular point is becoming increasingly clear. This post is more specific to my point. One more excerpt:
So, are primary voters preferring McCain (or Romney) because they think he'll do a better job on the economy? Or do they think McCain (or Romney) will do a better job on the economy because they prefer him?
My strong sense is that it's the latter -- preference drives perception of economic soundness. Voters as a group probably have little idea about the comparative economic acumen, or the substantive economic views, of McCain and Romney. But they do know which of the two they like more and which of the two they trust more, in general. That candidate is likely to become the one they think will do the best job with the economy.
In exit polls for Florida people were saying that the economy is the most important issue, but that the candidate they thought best suited to handle that problem is McCain. Obviously that can't be true given Romney's breadth of experience and very tangible results, not to mention McCain's own admission of his inexperience in dealing with economic issues. I wish I could find the reference for that quote. If you got it, leave it in comments. Who am I even talking to? Nobody who reads this blog has that...anyway...Isn't it unbelievable to think that we are on the verge of entrusting someone with our national budget and economy who has never had to balance a budget bigger than his own personal checkbook? Senators don't have to deal with that. Governors do. And Romney has dealt with several multinational corporations and large scale events. Whatever, I'm feeling depressed again, I'm gonna go eat a motherload cake from Claim Jumper.
As I briefly mentioned last week, I finished the Harry Potter series. In about 10 weeks I charged through almost 4200 pages. I couldn't have been more pleased with the way the whole thing turned out. Rowling does an amazing job of linking stories together, keeping it all very cohesive, while also keeping the reader in suspense the entire time. When I finally got to the seventh book, it didn't just feel like I had been building to those final moments from the beginning of the Deathly Hallows, but from the beginning of the series. Instead of the build up just from a couple of hundred pages of story development, it has the momentum of six additional long books that give the final 300 pages of the last book some incredible steam that just locked me in until I got to the final period.
Several years ago Orson Scott Card spoke at a symposium at BYU. From what I can remember, his topic focused mainly on the importance of fiction and how it shapes societal trends and values. He brought up an example from the TV show Friends when Ross's ex-wife gets married to her lesbian partner. The ceremony is performed, and sanctioned by a religious minister, and one of the father's of one of the bride's attends in his military uniform. Symbolically then, the show portrays the acceptance of same-sex marriage by both religious and government leaders. This was not by accident.
Card's point in this example is that fiction often presents the breeding ground where ideas and principles are placed. How we embrace the stories put forth often leads to the adoption of the associated ethics and morals that are on display in the piece of fiction, and conversely, our rejection of the story necessarily leads to the denial of those same values. I've made this point on here before, so I'll spare you the same argument again other than to simply say, it's not ever just a story/book/movie/tv show. Our patronage of these products facilitates their growth and acceptance, not of just the final product but what values they promote.
My point (as well as Card's) in bringing all of this up is that Harry Potter is the kind of story that we should want to embrace. It is the type that as parents we should be reading to our children. Not only is the story itself very compelling and entertaining, but Harry is truly a heroic character in spite of the flaws that Rowling clearly portrays him having. He constantly sacrifices, conquers in the face of heartbreaking tragedy, and triumphs over evil. His friends perfectly characterize loyalty and devotion. The story deftly illustrates good and evil and the type of dedication that is required to overcome. Rowling draws from her own loss of her mother to describe Harry's struggles with loss. In the form of the dementors she personifies the suffocating effects of clinical depression. It really is amazing how much real life is captured in her fictional books. I love love love these stories.
Here are the latest, and last, polls from Florida for the primary today. It's pretty much a dead heat right now. Hugh is still optimistic that even if Romney loses Florida, he can still pull it out next week on Super Tuesday. I'm not so sure about that. It's really hard to say which way this race will break. On one hand, you've got the popular Florida governor's endorsement for McCain over the weekend, but then you have McCain's spurious attacks on Romney the last few days which may or may not come back to haunt him.
Is it just me, or have the last few days felt so somber? President Hinckley's passing over the weekend, coupled with the dour weather, and then yesterday was the 22nd anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger tragedy, among other things have all really put me in a downer mood. Were you old enough to remember what happened? I vaguely remember being in the library in my grade school watching what was going on. I would have been in kindergarden or maybe 1st grade. That one was especially tragic because from what I hear, the whole country was watching that liftoff.
I think getting the text hearing about President Hinckley's passing is one of those moments that I will remember for the rest of my life. How about you? I think for a lot of people my age, he was our prophet. Something kind of neat about last night was during one of my home teaching visits, we just sat and talked about our favorite President Hinckley moments. A couple of the other guys had some pretty cool experiences, one of them being present in the celestial room at the dedication of the San Diego Temple. I didn't have anything like that, but my favorite moment came while serving as a missionary in the suburb of Quilicura in Santiago, Chile.
At the April conference of 2000 I was watching the sessions in a room at a stake center with other missionaries and we were lucky enough to get the broadcast in English. President Hinckley gave an address entitled My Testimony that, to this day, is one of my favorite all-time talks by anyone ever. He basically just talks about the development of his own personal testimony. My favorite part in the talk is when he gets to the crescendo of his talk when he says, "He is my God and my King." His voice then cracks in that President Hinckley kind of way and at that time, I was just so very touched by that expression. Following the talk the congregation joined in the Hosanna shout for the dedication of the new conference center, and then the MoTab choir sang the Spirit of God and the congregation joined in the last verse. I'll never forget just feeling so overwhelmed by the spirit and just so grateful to be a part of that moment in time.
Rest in peace President Hinckley. We love and revere you for your service and the inspiration you gave to us all.
This is what I'm thinking...The St. George marathon is October 4th. That is my first choice, but there's a possibility that I (or we) don't get in just because there is a limited number of entrants and you have to sign up for a lottery. If that doesn't work out, then I (we) can go ahead and shoot for the Chicago marathon that is the following week on October 13th. I realize that it's on a Sunday. Why don't I feel more bad about that? Maybe it's because I'm a convert and growing up playing soccer on Sundays was just how we did it back in the day. Or maybe I just look at it as being a part of vacation rules...Laura, Dave, and Greg know what I'm talking about. So going all the way out to Chicago qualifies as a vacay and the result is that the commandments change. I know that sounds dumb, but you have to admit that your mentality is slightly different when you go on vacation at least with respect to how you observe the Sabbath.
I started reading Ultra Marathon Man. I'm only a little ways into it, but it's interesting. The writing is a little bit simple and to the point, but his story is pretty engaging. While at his 30th birthday party and having reached certain lofty goals, Dean Karnazes felt he was living without a real sense of purpose. He ended up leaving his own party when a very flirty and attractive woman attempted to loosen him up and have him forget his marriage vows to his high school sweetheart. He ended up running the whole night, traversing 30 miles. For him that was obviously a pivotal moment in his life where he could have chosen infidelity. Instead he just left and ran through the entire night. Have you ever had that same burst of energy where you just don't know what to do other than just run?
I think I understand a little bit better the last couple years why Forrest just felt like he had to run. I wonder what the writer's intention was behind interjecting that event into the storyline. For me there have been a couple of times, where, out of sheer frustration and pent up energy I've just felt like I had to go running to expend the excess levels of anxiety that I had been feeling. The most vivid time was after a girl had broken up with me, and I finally realized that I just had to let go completely. These were not simultaneous events. After a month or two I just had a very hard-hitting realization that I just needed to move on with my life, but accompanied with that was a tremendous sense of loss and despair. I had no idea what else to do so I just went out and ran. It was out of my apartment just south of BYU campus, down past the cemetary in Provo. I think covered something like 6-7 miles and I barely even felt it. Sometimes that release is just so good though.
The marathon for me is more just about conquering what seems to be a very imposing task - running 26.2 miles, for about 4-5 hours. That's hard to do. How often do you just get tired standing on your feet that long? let alone keeping your legs chugging for that distance and length of time. It's one of those goals that seems to be one of those achievements that I would think a lot of people would like to accomplish at some point in their lives, but a lot of times it's something that's just a vague destination off in the horizon that really never seems tangible or real.
I know Greg is committed to the idea. I hope more of you would join in. Most training programs I'm looking at range from about 16-18 weeks, that's only about 4-5 months. However, that is assuming that you're leading a pretty active lifestyle to begin with. If not a marathon, then maybe go for a 5k, or 10k, or half marathon. It's a very worthy goal. While looking up running events, I came across this one that is already filled up for this year, but is definitely something I'd like to do in the future.
So I got sick the last couple of days. It wasn't terrible, but enough coughing to keep me up at night and make my head pound in the day. I figured it was probably time to take some time off of work when a guy in another office nearby started offering me cough drops and eveyrone I was interviewing kept pointing out that I sounded like I was sick. That is mostly the reason why I haven't blogged. The other part of the reason is that I was finishing up the rest of Harry Potter.
That's right. I finished them all. I started around Thanksgiving and I blew through the last two in the last two weeks. The last one I actually finished in a 24 hour period. I'll post more on that later...
What I was going to go over a little more in depth was the GOP primary for Florida. That one is coming up this next Tuesday, January 29th. That one is a really big one because it's the last one (I think) before Super Tuesday when 22 states have their primaries. Florida is a winner-take-all state, with 57 delegates up for grabs. What's more is that it's a closed primary, meaning that only Republicans are going to be voting and that basically means that none of the candidates will be getting a boost from Independents or Democrats. Basically that's good news for Romney, bad news for McCain and maybe even Giuliani.
In related news, you've heard that Fred Thompson withdrew from the nomination, right? Some people speculated that his voters would distribute pretty evenly between the other candidates, but with his across the board stance on conservative positions, it would seem that his people would go to the next most conservative candidate, Mitt Romney. I think this is reflecting in the most recent polls that show Romney pulling ahead of McCain and Giuliani. On top of all of that, there are rumors that Huckabee is going to go ahead and pull out of Florida early and concentrate on other Southern states. Again, it would seem that his strongest contingent of voters (social conservatives, more specifically the evangelicals) would be aligning themselves with Romney. Probably not as much as will be the case with the Thompson voters, but they would seem to lean more in his direction than the other candidates.
How does everything shape up then? Well...obviously this would be a huge boost for Romney if he were to win because it would finally give him a win in a state where it's widely contested by other candidates and he has no personal connections to the state like he has had in his other wins. Also, it sets the stage for what happens on Super Tuesday because of its timing, being the last primary and all. If McCain wins, that's hard for Romney to bounce back from because he needs something to swing momentum in his favor going into February 5th. If Giuiliani manages to pull it out, then he's right back in this thing and could validate his campaign strategy and refute decades of political history. There is a lot of volatility in the polls right now though, so there's really no telling what it all means. Remember that last time with Michigan polls were showing McCain up by one or two points, then Romney ended up winning by nine. In South Carolina it was pretty right on. This time, however, the dynamic is different because there is a new candidate (Giuiliani) and with the withdrawal of Thompson, that should change voter behavior a little bit. Just stay right there on the edge of your seat and we'll be finding out more in just a few days.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention it, but tonight is the only debate before the primary on Tuesday. I think it starts at 730pm pacific. It's do or die for these guys now. Romney has had solid performances the last several and McCain has looked flat, so let's hope that trend to continues. Plus Giuliani will have to come out with his guns blazing if he wants to make his mark on the nomination race, and all this adds up to a lot of negative light on McCain because Romney of course will be doing the same. It's gonna be very interesting.
Today is the observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. When looking back on the past, it's easy to point out the greatness of certain individual's and their monumental efforts because the ripples of their lives has had time to resonate throughout the annals of history. I read this piece this morning and was feeling a little bit short-changed that we haven't seen the likes of MLK in years. Then I began to wonder how often it is that we are in the midst of a remarkable human being and we can't even recognize it. It could be at the end of our nose and we wouldn't even know it.
That's exactly what happened with King, to the point that people made an effort that proved enough to make him a martyr. In the last five or so years, do you think you could point out someone who is on his level? I think Ronald Reagan approaches that kind of mystique. I wonder if Romney might some day as well.
If he ends up winning in Florida, then he has a pretty good path to the presidency. If he somehow manages to win the presidency, will we be pointing to his speech on religion that he gave a couple of months ago as one of the speeches of our generation? I wonder...
In any case, do yourself a favor and read (or reread) some of Martin's greatest pieces. Go here for his letter from a Birmingham jail. Here for his I Have a Dream speech, audio and video. And his last speech the day before his assassination.
You might have noticed that on the left I have a labels archive. I've only just recently begun to relabel every post. I did the tedious work of removing all the old labels which were way too specific, and now I'm trying to categorize everything using just ten or so different labels. One day that might be of interest to you. It's going to take a little while just because, amazingly, I am approaching 300 posts and that means that's alotta labeling.
Second...I'm noticing recently that I'm getting more and more hits for search words including some combination of Giuliani, Dance Party, and Janet Reno. I love that I'm getting more as the campaigns take more of the center stage. This is probably one of my favorite skits ever from SNL (Saturday Night Live - I'm including both terms so googlers might get redirected to this specific post), but unfortunately it's not anywhere on the internet. I've looked, a lot. Trust me. Should you ever find it, however, please let me know and I'd be more than happy to post it for y'all.
More to come later, but it's kind of a slow news day. However, that doesn't mean that I don't have posts a brewing. See ya.
I thought this was really cool. Recently discovered photos of President Lincoln's Second Inauguration.
Worried about the economy? Don't be. Read this article. I won't even bother explaining because it gives a great explanation of why we shouldn't worry about the gloom and doom a lot of people, especially in the media, are predicting.
And I thought this was an interesting article by Victor Davis Hanson. Have you noticed much people are invoking Reagan in this election? He's become some kind of mythical creature from the way people are referencing him. I think his death helped him get on his way to canonization for a lot of people.
This afternoon after I got lunch and I dropped by the comic shop. I know, so geeky, right? But I still love those things. I realized how many issues I've been wanting. But I ended up buying this series about Spiderman's divorce. If Peter Parker and MJ can't make it, is there hope for any of us? I do love comics. I kind of love everything. It's nice to have so much to get excited about.
I should have been more on top of this, but yesterday was Mike's 22nd. Happy Birthday little song. I didn't realize that about 10 years ago these guys wrote this song in honor of your day yesterday...I miss Millencolin...
Greg's (father Reid) latest thing at birthdays is to go around and have people tell funny stories about the person on his day of birth celebration. I was thinking last night after soccer about what I should have shared as some people told their stories. The one I thought of was years ago and the first time I realized that Mike would probably be as funny as his older brothers...
So Dave and I were going through our tennis phase when we were 14 or 15. Mike was about 8 at that time and going through the I-want-to-hang-out-with-my-older-brother-and-his-friends phase. It was a summer day and we wanted to play tennis, but loathed the thought of shagging the balls ourselves because it was just so hot. So we naturally thought, let's take advantage of little brother Mike and we can have him and Amanda shag the balls like the pros do and it will be great. Fun for us, and then little Mike Reid will be serving a purpose while getting to hang with us so everybody wins, right? We go out to play and sure enough Mike gets tired of shagging our balls. Frustrated with him, I yelled, "Mike! what's that ball doing on the court?" And he curtly responded, "I don't know! the backstroke?" He totally caught me, and Dave, by surprise and we just died laughing. It may not sound that funny to you now, but the joke actually came from some dumb book where a customer asked a waiter at a restaurant what a fly was doing in his soup. The backstroke he says, loved it...Happy Birthday little brother!
