http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/gospel-learning-and-teaching?lang=eng"
Quotes I liked from this talk:
"Before we can teach the gospel, we must know the gospel."
"When Hyrum Smith desired to be a part of this great latter-day work, the Lord said to him, “Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind and strength.” 10 "
"...it is of utmost importance that we exercise our agency and act, without delay, in accordance with the spiritual promptings we receive. President Thomas S. Monson taught: “We watch. We wait. We listen for that still, small voice. When it speaks, wise men and women obey. Promptings of the Spirit are not to be postponed.” 16"
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Conference Talks
At my dad's suggestion, I'm trying to re-read the conference Ensign from November (October's Conference). I'm not staying very on top of it, though, so to help myself keep at it, I'm going to start posting here the talk that I'm reading. I might add a few quotes or thoughts, or just the link.
Feel free to read along and add your favorite quotes or thoughts in the comments.
Here is the link to the whole conference: http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2010/10?lang=eng
And the talks I already finished:
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/as-we-meet-together-again?lang=eng
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/because-of-your-faith?lang=eng
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/stay-on-the-path?lang=eng
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/obedience-to-the-prophets?lang=eng
And what I'm reading today:
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/gospel-learning-and-teaching?lang=eng
Feel free to read along and add your favorite quotes or thoughts in the comments.
Here is the link to the whole conference: http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2010/10?lang=eng
And the talks I already finished:
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/as-we-meet-together-again?lang=eng
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/because-of-your-faith?lang=eng
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/stay-on-the-path?lang=eng
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/obedience-to-the-prophets?lang=eng
And what I'm reading today:
http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/gospel-learning-and-teaching?lang=eng
Did I just read that?
From foxnews.com today: ""Then I just immediately started balling," she said. "I never cried before in my life."Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/01/05/woman-unaware-pregnancy-delivers-pound-baby/#ixzz1ADE2jSEm
Two things--what was she balling up right after childbirth? (The person who transcribed this and the editor should have realized it was the more common word--bawling.) Also, she never cried before in her whole life? How did she get food when she was a newborn?
Monday, January 03, 2011
I found a New Year's Resolution!
Okay, so I decided to make a resolution.
That is:
This year I want to:
Embrace my strengths
Accept my handicaps
And go from there.
That is:
This year I want to:
Embrace my strengths
Accept my handicaps
And go from there.
Nice article on marriage
Actually, I thought this was common knowledge about marriage--
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/weekinreview/02parkerpope.html?src=me&ref=general
My experience (in what I would class an excellent marriage) bears out the research reported in the article. Tim and I are both happy; we fill each other's need and enrich each other's lives. Making him happy makes me happy, and vice versa.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/weekinreview/02parkerpope.html?src=me&ref=general
My experience (in what I would class an excellent marriage) bears out the research reported in the article. Tim and I are both happy; we fill each other's need and enrich each other's lives. Making him happy makes me happy, and vice versa.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Did I just write that?
Sometimes I find the most amusing sentences in my own manuscripts! After reading a bunch of childrens and YA fiction, I've been going through my novel and seeing how it compares, livening it up, and generally making it so I like it again (so I can hopefully put it away and move on!).
Also, I've been finding bad sentences and fixing them.
Sentences like this:
"The gingerbread smelled really good after eating so many blackberries."
Pray, tell--how does gingerbread eat anything?
I guess I am not immune from writing nonsense now and then.
Also, I've been finding bad sentences and fixing them.
Sentences like this:
"The gingerbread smelled really good after eating so many blackberries."
Pray, tell--how does gingerbread eat anything?
I guess I am not immune from writing nonsense now and then.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
New Year's Resolutions
Goals=an artificial attempt to convince ourselves to do things we are unmotivated to do (perhaps because we really don't want to?).
New Year's Day=a reasonable time to examine your life and decide what needs to change.
The thing about resolutions, though, is we are almost always destined to fail that them because we can see what we want to change, but there is no even cursory examination of WHY we want those things to change and why we haven't changed them yet.
For example, how many people set the goal to lose weight? Maybe almost everyone? But do they ever ask Why am I overweight? Why do I want to lose weight? If I care so much, why haven't I done it? It seems like the answers to those questions would be integral to the success of the endeavor. And, if answered honestly, the questions might also reveal our greater desires. Do we really want increased health and energy by losing weight, or are we after greater social acceptance and power? And if it's social acceptance we want, perhaps a little counseling and a few superficial changes or behavioral changes that are easier to make would help us achieve the real goal better than a doomed diet-and-exercise plan we don't want to follow that doesn't make us feel good.
Without a greater understanding of what we want and are trying to do, the old habits will persist and the resolutions will fail. Very few people have the will power necessary to do something difficult simply because they decided to. And what's the value in that, anyway?
Generally speaking, I avoid making New Year's Resolutions. My idea is that the day a problem becomes apparent is the day you should resolve to fix it and do whatever self-examination is necessary to make the change--that is the moment of greatest motivation, after all. Likewise, we should be re-examining our lives frequently, not just once a year, and resolving to fix things that might not have come up as a "problem". If I understand it correctly, we are supposed to be doing this before Tithing Settlement, Temple recommend interviews, when we get callings at church, and, quite frankly, every week in preparation for partaking the sacrament. YES we need something to remind us to examine-and-resolve, but it should happen a lot more often than when a giant lighted ball drops. Frequent re-examination also helps you stick with your resolutions--and weed out the ones that are unimportant or impractical.
Choosing resolutions this way helps me focus my resolutions on the things that my limited energy really should go to, rather than superficial or artificial things or things that really aren't practical to "goal."
So if I were to make New Year's Resolutions, what would they be?
Not to have a clean house, but to care less if it's messy.
Not to lose the baby weight, but to enjoy the baby.
Not to read my scriptures for more hours or more pages, but to get more out of them when I read.
Not to make more money, but to be more thankful for the money we have.
Not to eat less junk, but to enjoy food more.
Not to talk to the kids more, but to listen to them more.
Not to have less fighting in the house, but have more playing together.
Not to get more exercise, but to do more things I enjoy doing.
Not to get more done, but to listen to myself more and do the things that I will say, when I'm 90, I'm glad I did that (and, honestly, do I think having cleaner toilets are going to be on that list? No.).
And to stop feeling guilty for the stuff I think I maybe ought to have done but didn't do.
There isn't time in life to waste on things that won't matter in the long run. So why make resolutions to do those things?
New Year's Day=a reasonable time to examine your life and decide what needs to change.
The thing about resolutions, though, is we are almost always destined to fail that them because we can see what we want to change, but there is no even cursory examination of WHY we want those things to change and why we haven't changed them yet.
For example, how many people set the goal to lose weight? Maybe almost everyone? But do they ever ask Why am I overweight? Why do I want to lose weight? If I care so much, why haven't I done it? It seems like the answers to those questions would be integral to the success of the endeavor. And, if answered honestly, the questions might also reveal our greater desires. Do we really want increased health and energy by losing weight, or are we after greater social acceptance and power? And if it's social acceptance we want, perhaps a little counseling and a few superficial changes or behavioral changes that are easier to make would help us achieve the real goal better than a doomed diet-and-exercise plan we don't want to follow that doesn't make us feel good.
Without a greater understanding of what we want and are trying to do, the old habits will persist and the resolutions will fail. Very few people have the will power necessary to do something difficult simply because they decided to. And what's the value in that, anyway?
Generally speaking, I avoid making New Year's Resolutions. My idea is that the day a problem becomes apparent is the day you should resolve to fix it and do whatever self-examination is necessary to make the change--that is the moment of greatest motivation, after all. Likewise, we should be re-examining our lives frequently, not just once a year, and resolving to fix things that might not have come up as a "problem". If I understand it correctly, we are supposed to be doing this before Tithing Settlement, Temple recommend interviews, when we get callings at church, and, quite frankly, every week in preparation for partaking the sacrament. YES we need something to remind us to examine-and-resolve, but it should happen a lot more often than when a giant lighted ball drops. Frequent re-examination also helps you stick with your resolutions--and weed out the ones that are unimportant or impractical.
Choosing resolutions this way helps me focus my resolutions on the things that my limited energy really should go to, rather than superficial or artificial things or things that really aren't practical to "goal."
So if I were to make New Year's Resolutions, what would they be?
Not to have a clean house, but to care less if it's messy.
Not to lose the baby weight, but to enjoy the baby.
Not to read my scriptures for more hours or more pages, but to get more out of them when I read.
Not to make more money, but to be more thankful for the money we have.
Not to eat less junk, but to enjoy food more.
Not to talk to the kids more, but to listen to them more.
Not to have less fighting in the house, but have more playing together.
Not to get more exercise, but to do more things I enjoy doing.
Not to get more done, but to listen to myself more and do the things that I will say, when I'm 90, I'm glad I did that (and, honestly, do I think having cleaner toilets are going to be on that list? No.).
And to stop feeling guilty for the stuff I think I maybe ought to have done but didn't do.
There isn't time in life to waste on things that won't matter in the long run. So why make resolutions to do those things?
Daniel
Daniel has surprised me lately. I have always known he was a math guy and also that he had a knack for buildings and processes and the ways things fit together. (When he was 9 months old, he examined the door at my mom's house and discovered that the threshold was held down by screws, which he immediately set to work trying to remove so he could get the threshold off....had he been using a screwdriver instead of a ball-point pen as his primary tool, I have no doubt he would have dismantled the whole thing!)
Now that he's 5, he also has the verbal ability and the confidence to express mathematical concepts. Turns out he has a really good spatial mind.
For example, yesterday he was in the kitchen playing with a toy sled that's about 2 feet long. There were two chairs on opposite sides of the kitchen. He held the sled up, like the beginnings of a bridge between the chairs, and said, "It would take about three of these sleds to make a bridge between the chairs." Just eyeballing it....so casually. And he was right. Anda and he measured, and it took about 3 sled-lengths (3 1/2 to be exact) to reach from chair to chair. He could just SEE that. I am so bad at distances, so I was duly impressed.
But then today I was even more impressed. I was explaining to him the concept of paying postage by weight for an overseas flight to get his picture to his Grandma on the other side of the world in Portugal. He listened and comprehended. Then he held his hands up as if he were holding an imaginary ball. "The easy way," he said, "would be to slice the world here, right in half." He showed me with his hand, cutting his imaginary ball into two pieces, pole-to-pole. "Then just turn this half around, and we'd be touching her and could just give it to her." He showed me with his hands, manipulating the pieces in the air so deftly that I could see what he was seeing. Practical? No. But the fact that his 5-year-old brain could dissect a world and manipulate the pieces so that two points on opposite sides were closer together--that's some impressive geometry. Especially for a guy who is just supposed to be learning that you can combine groups to make larger groups.
He says he wants to grow up to be an architect. I believe him.
Ideas I come back to that help me write better fiction
"Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity" (entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem). Father William of Ockham (d'Okham) . (Entities=words, characters, motivations, dialog....I also call this the "need to know" principal--don't tell the reader any more than they actually NEED to know).
"A novel is like a living body: everything has to connect to everything else. Anything that doesn't is a cancer, draining the vitality of everything around it. " Sean Williams
"Real people are damned inconvenient: they avoid issues, have oblique conversations, feel things others don't understand, and are very rarely think out loud in a coherent and rational way so that the protagonist can get important information." Kelley Eskridge
"The main advice is: Stop looking for advice and just keep putting words on paper. " Orson Scott Card
"Writer’s block is your friend. It is your unconscious mind telling you that something you just wrote, or are about to write, is not working....Your unconscious is your best editor – it tries desperately to keep you from writing crap. So the answer is NEVER to tough it out and force yourself to move on through your outline. The result of that will be garbage that you don’t care about and the reader won’t either." Orson Scott Card
"Fiddling with language or tiny meaningless details, of course, accomplishes nothing except to kill the spontaneity of the first draft. The first draft is the best draft – you only change spots where it isn’t clear or where the story isn’t working; you never just fiddle with language. That just kills your natural style....There is no virtue to eliminating “needless” words in fiction – and if you’re thinking about style, your style will be dead. You think about story and character, what happens and why, and let your natural voice carry the story. You’ll have an inimitable style then – your real voice – and the rules from the ignorant, miseducated English teachers who abused your understanding of the language throughout your miseducation will fall by the wayside, where they should be left behind. You can’t be thinking about language while you write; that’s like trying to ride a bicycle while thinking about balance and pedaling. And you’ve seen the stories that result from that kind of writing – a “style” that calls attention to itself constantly, so you can barely find the story through the English-professor-pleasing nonsense that has been smeared on the lens." Orson Scott Card
"aWoe unto them that decree bunrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed." Isaiah 10:1
Friday, December 31, 2010
You wonder "how do you do it?"
People ask me all the time, "How do you do it?" Homeschooling, raising 6 kids, writing, quilting, music career, etc.
Well, the answer is I have to. I can't help it.
And apparently that's part of being who I am (and what I am).
http://talentdevelop.com/articlelive/articles/1123/1/The-Special-Challenges-of-Highly-Intelligent-and-Talented-Women-Who-Are-Moms/Page1.html
So, like other gifted women who are also mothers, I find myself immersed--in creating homeschooling for my kids, in writing, in my husband's music career, in art (quilting).
Gifted adults often have messy desks and messy houses because, as they all say, "I have better things to do." Tim and I have said that to each other. Often. And have you seen our house? Yikes. Eight gifted people, complete with obsessions, hypersensitivities, and projects, living under one roof. Again--Yikes.
But that's how we do it.
We have to.
Well, the answer is I have to. I can't help it.
And apparently that's part of being who I am (and what I am).
http://talentdevelop.com/articlelive/articles/1123/1/The-Special-Challenges-of-Highly-Intelligent-and-Talented-Women-Who-Are-Moms/Page1.html
So, like other gifted women who are also mothers, I find myself immersed--in creating homeschooling for my kids, in writing, in my husband's music career, in art (quilting).
Gifted adults often have messy desks and messy houses because, as they all say, "I have better things to do." Tim and I have said that to each other. Often. And have you seen our house? Yikes. Eight gifted people, complete with obsessions, hypersensitivities, and projects, living under one roof. Again--Yikes.
But that's how we do it.
We have to.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Did I just read that?
from boulder craigslist free section: " 5" Round folding table - (SW Longmont)"
For mice. Or very small dolls. Fits in a pocket when folded.
For mice. Or very small dolls. Fits in a pocket when folded.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Did I just read that?
The top headline on Fox News.com today: "White House to Push Global Warming Policy as GOP Vows Fight"
Go for it, GOP! Anyone who makes Global Warming their POLICY deserves to be fought against. Even if it is something of a shifting of the expected roles.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Luke II
I watched this movie literally hundreds of times over the two Christmasses I spent at the Visitor's Center at the Arizona Temple on my mission.
And it's not Christmas for me unless I see it. I have a video copy of it, but no VCR this year, so I had to go online to find a copy. There are hundreds with modified audio, but I wanted the real thing. It's so much more intensely beautiful that way.
FINALLY found a copy.
And here you go. Merry Christmas:
And it's not Christmas for me unless I see it. I have a video copy of it, but no VCR this year, so I had to go online to find a copy. There are hundreds with modified audio, but I wanted the real thing. It's so much more intensely beautiful that way.
FINALLY found a copy.
And here you go. Merry Christmas:
Funny kids
Benji just walked up to me and said, "My eyes can be on." Then he slowly and deliberately blinked. "Or off!"
A minute later, Nathanael yelled, "Mom! Help me! I'm too scary!" (He was stuck on a chair....and scared.)
A minute later, Nathanael yelled, "Mom! Help me! I'm too scary!" (He was stuck on a chair....and scared.)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Tim does Christmas--for me
This is what Tim makes for me and for family and friends for Christmas:
Once in Royal David's City
and
Silent Night
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Once in Royal David's City
and
Silent Night
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Tim does Christmas--for various companies
For some reason, Tim has been asked to do Christmas videos more than once.
We have this one, which is Tim's voice and arrangement, but not his face:
And this one, which is Tim's original song and him on screen:
And there are a couple of holiday videos for JibJab.com:
http://sendables.jibjab.com/holidays/sendables/204445/kazoo_jingle_bells
and
http://sendables.jibjab.com/holidays/category/new_year
(I can't embed it until they release it to YouTube, but do click on the links. They're really fun.)
Tim has also just finished another project for McAfee--one that started before we moved to Vegas and is just finishing up after being tabled for a couple of years. I'll post links once it goes live.
We have this one, which is Tim's voice and arrangement, but not his face:
And this one, which is Tim's original song and him on screen:
And there are a couple of holiday videos for JibJab.com:
http://sendables.jibjab.com/holidays/sendables/204445/kazoo_jingle_bells
and
http://sendables.jibjab.com/holidays/category/new_year
(I can't embed it until they release it to YouTube, but do click on the links. They're really fun.)
Tim has also just finished another project for McAfee--one that started before we moved to Vegas and is just finishing up after being tabled for a couple of years. I'll post links once it goes live.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Isaiah....
I love Isaiah. I found this very short 2-verse revelation tucked into a list with a bunch of others the other day, and it stuck with me.
Isaiah 21:11-12. Dumah comes to the prophet to ask when the trials (captivity) will end:
So I really liked his answer. The morning cometh, and also the night. (I realize the footnote explains that Isaiah was saying there is another captivity coming, but the verse is meaningful separate from that.).
I've felt that way before. When we moved to Las Vegas, I had just been asking God, "What of this night?" that we seemed endlessly stuck in, and then we ended up with sufficient work, in Las Vegas. Morning! But it was also the night for us--Vegas was an incredibly difficult place to live, and I was surprised when we were there that the trial I had complained of was over, and yet I wasn't any happier. It was just a different hard. Also night.
Lately, I've been asking God again, "What of this night?! How long?" And I find this verse. The morning cometh, and also the night. Good will come, things will change, but life is not about all mornings. The morning comes, and also the night, and that's what life is about. So perhaps the answer is not to ask for relief, but for patience and the ability to enjoy whatever mornings and nights we have?
Tim had yet another view of the verse when I told him about it. He said that rarely does something exceptional happen. Most of our lives are spent with a literal morning, followed by a literal night, followed by another morning. The sun comes up, and it goes down, and it's very predictable. So what of the night? It's just part of life, and regardless of exceptional events, most days are just days and most nights are just nights, and we just work and pray and love our families, day in and day out, and THAT'S the POINT. That's what we're supposed to do--live the days and the nights and do our duty and enjoy our lives, but not expect or demand the exceptional, not seek for fame or fortune, not wait for life to happen, because even when "big" things happen, the sun will eventually go down, and then come up, and we still will have to eat and sleep and work and love our families. So what of the night? It will be followed by a day. And a night. And another day. So what of it?
Amazing the power and insight packed into the scriptures.
I love Isaiah! Some day, I would love to thank him.
Isaiah 21:11-12. Dumah comes to the prophet to ask when the trials (captivity) will end:
11¶The aburden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of bSeir, Watchman, cwhat of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
Isaiah responds:
12The watchman said, aThe morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.
So I really liked his answer. The morning cometh, and also the night. (I realize the footnote explains that Isaiah was saying there is another captivity coming, but the verse is meaningful separate from that.).
I've felt that way before. When we moved to Las Vegas, I had just been asking God, "What of this night?" that we seemed endlessly stuck in, and then we ended up with sufficient work, in Las Vegas. Morning! But it was also the night for us--Vegas was an incredibly difficult place to live, and I was surprised when we were there that the trial I had complained of was over, and yet I wasn't any happier. It was just a different hard. Also night.
Lately, I've been asking God again, "What of this night?! How long?" And I find this verse. The morning cometh, and also the night. Good will come, things will change, but life is not about all mornings. The morning comes, and also the night, and that's what life is about. So perhaps the answer is not to ask for relief, but for patience and the ability to enjoy whatever mornings and nights we have?
Tim had yet another view of the verse when I told him about it. He said that rarely does something exceptional happen. Most of our lives are spent with a literal morning, followed by a literal night, followed by another morning. The sun comes up, and it goes down, and it's very predictable. So what of the night? It's just part of life, and regardless of exceptional events, most days are just days and most nights are just nights, and we just work and pray and love our families, day in and day out, and THAT'S the POINT. That's what we're supposed to do--live the days and the nights and do our duty and enjoy our lives, but not expect or demand the exceptional, not seek for fame or fortune, not wait for life to happen, because even when "big" things happen, the sun will eventually go down, and then come up, and we still will have to eat and sleep and work and love our families. So what of the night? It will be followed by a day. And a night. And another day. So what of it?
Amazing the power and insight packed into the scriptures.
I love Isaiah! Some day, I would love to thank him.
Did I just read that?
From Foxnews.com home page, one of the four top articles:
"Look Out, WikiLeaks:
CIA Sending in WTF"
While I'm sure a few well-placed f-bombs have been thrown at WikiLeaks, I'm not sure that's the best approach for the CIA to solve the problem!
And then if you go to the article, the headline is even funnier: "Intel Community Responds to WikiLeaks With WTF"
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/22/intel-community-responds-wikileaks-wtf/
I'm pretty sure there were a lot of exclamations of wtf from the Intel Community when Wikileaks released the State Department Cables. The reporter DID know what that all meant, of course....
"Look Out, WikiLeaks:
CIA Sending in WTF"
While I'm sure a few well-placed f-bombs have been thrown at WikiLeaks, I'm not sure that's the best approach for the CIA to solve the problem!
And then if you go to the article, the headline is even funnier: "Intel Community Responds to WikiLeaks With WTF"
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/22/intel-community-responds-wikileaks-wtf/
I'm pretty sure there were a lot of exclamations of wtf from the Intel Community when Wikileaks released the State Department Cables. The reporter DID know what that all meant, of course....
Monday, December 20, 2010
Did I just read that?
From foxnews.com main page menu: "Researchers Study Woman Without Fear"
Good thing, since woman is such a fearsome beast!
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