Book of Mormon

I was reading along on Goodreads and came across this excellently written post on the Book of Mormon by a person called "Matt":

Ah, an excellent question and one I might add which I am mandated to respond to (1 Peter 3:15). I have found that both volumes have drawn me closer to Christ and therefore find them of equal value in that regard. Obviously the Bible is superior in its detailing of the life of the Master (i.e. it recounts Jesus' mortal ministry more fully than the Book of Mormon) however the Book of Mormon is superior in its invitation to emulate that life and even in the reasons one should do so. It persuades one to "come unto Christ, and be perfected in him" (Moroni 10:32), for "ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do; Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day." (3 Nephi 27:21-22). Indeed, this emulation of one so worthy is encouraged both in word and in deed "And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!" (2 Nephi 31:5) The title page makes clear the purpose of the volume "to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations." The first of its authors writes that "the fulness of mine intent is that I may apersuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved." (1 Nephi 6:4) Indeed, "we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26)

The book is truly "Another Testament of Jesus Christ." Not only does it encourage us in our emulation of Jesus but provides us with examples of those who struggled in their efforts to follow Jesus that we might know "that whosoever shall put their atrust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day." (Alma 36:3) It speaks of those who fail to endure as well as those who endure faithfully. It encourages us and also warns us.

I would encourage you to do as the book itself invites:

"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:3-5)

Now I think it important to emphasize the three things Moroni states are requisite with God "manifest[ing:] the truth of it unto you":

1. "a sincere heart"

Don't read it and ask God of its truthfulness because I invited you to or because you want to be able to tell those of us who have found value it in that you did not. And if you have already decided due to your exposure to anti-Mormon progaganda that it is not true do not ask either for God cannot answer a question which you have already decided. Rather, in sincerity "with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God" ask "if these things are not true."

2. "with real intent"

Your intent must be genuine, i.e. you must be prepared to act upon that which you receive from God. Remember that "faith" (Gr. pistis) is not merely belief, but constancy in that belief. We must not merely believe but DO for "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the dwill of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

Are you truly prepared, with God confirming to you the truth of this volume, to embrace it? If you are not, if intellectual objections to the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ or social constraints such as ridicule or castigation would prevent you from making good on your response perhaps it would be better to resolve such before you seek God's answer.

3. "having faith in Christ"

To me this is the most essential. Obviously the atheist would care little for the answer to the question even if s/he felt the need to ask it. The issue of God's existence has already been decided by the atheist as well as anything related thereto. But having faith in Christ is not merely an intellectual accent to the existence of Christ, but a commitment to Him: "For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" (Mosiah 5:13) Faith may not be a "perfect knowledge" but it is knowledge (Alma 32), usually knowledge we have gained through methods other than the purely empirical. I may be able to prove that Jesus lived but who can prove that He was who He said He was? Can we prove He rose from the dead? Can we prove His miracles? No, we have faith. "Now faith is the substance of things choped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) This does not mean that faith is not substantive nor that faith is not evidence, it merely states that its substance and value as evidence is individual.

So, in essence I believe in the equal value of the Book of Mormon and the Bible due to the fact that both have brought me to exclaim, as those who heard the speech of King Benjamin regarding Jesus Christ "Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." (Mosiah 5:2)

Indeed, I believe it because I took Jesus' challenge "If any man will ado his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:17) I read it, I strived to live as it directed and it changed me. As Joseph Smith once stated (although in a slightly different context yet related nevertheless to an asnwer from God) "I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation." (Joseph Smith-History 1:25)

At a Break

Today is the lull before the storm.

Yesterday was a very cathartic day.  I went to Chemistry, as always (every day at 8am!), came home, and saw an email that told me I had won the Freshman Learning in the Light of Faith essay contest.  Guidelines can be found at the essay contest website.  Yes, there is a grand prize of $500.  Winning was totally unexpected!  41 essays were entered.  Here is the essay, written the day before the deadline:

Quandary

It is soot black. Rural Idaho has no streetlights; one would be hard pressed to say the two-rut weed patch meandering around the country is any sort of a road, let alone a street.  No moon shines.

If the outside is soot, inside the garage is soot burned a thousand times over, coated with pitch, ensconced in the blackness of a glistening stallion, and laying at the bottom of a five hundred foot pit.  Black as night.  Blacker than night.

Stumbling through the garage, my toe is stubbed by an unknown solid.  By feeling around with hands I can deduce the texture and shape of a wooden box.  Why is it there?  What purpose does it serve?  I can’t tell in this overwhelming darkness.  Everything seems jumbled up, patternless. 

Secular scientists the world over comfortably establish the metaphorical ground on which they stand and then reach out into the darkness carefully until touching something.  By feeling around the object they may deduce various physical properties about the object or even its identity.  However, there is no illumination.  It is meekness as a disciple-scholar that allows one to bring the lights up and see not only the box but also how it fits into the garage’s overall pattern.

First year biology, Brigham Young University.  Evolution unit.  Nobody is late for today’s class: Discussion on Science, Evolution, and Creationism.  Apparently there are not many people disinterested in this subject; most, like me, are listening intently.  As we read the BYU evolution packet I remember Elder Neal A. Maxwell’s assertion that “Restoration theology is expansive, not constraining” (Maxwell 6).  I must remember to keep an open mind about evolution and the processes whereby organisms adapt.

Scientists have documented natural selection really happening.  During a drought on Isle Daphne Major of the Galápagos, medium ground finches’ beaks increased in depth considerably, heightening their ability to survive eating harder seeds (Freeman 506-08).  Over time, this natural selection leads to evolution.  The process is occurring.  The problem I was left to grapple with is how this process fits into the larger plan presented by the Bible and Book of Mormon, which I know are true with far more certainty than evolution.  How is this reconciliation possible?

The answer is through meekness.  Both Maxwell and Cecil O. Samuelson Jr. cite meekness not as just one of many characteristics of a disciple-scholar, but as the chief characteristic of a disciple-scholar (Maxwell 12-15; Samuelson 44).  Nephi, the Book of Mormon prophet, is a quintessential example of meekness.

While journeying in the wilderness, all of Lehi’s sons lose the use of their bows.  When Lamen, Lemuel, and even the stalwart Lehi murmur, Nephi humbly makes another bow and asks his father, “Whither shall I go to obtain food?” (1 Nephi 16:23).  This meekness is one of the characteristics of Nephi that qualifies him for his glorious vision in chapter 11.  Nephi’s vision sheds light upon the mysteries of Lehi’s dream.  The big picture is shown and the individual events are explained.

At the end of the lecture the only pragmatic statement on evolution was that Adam and Eve are the primal parents of our race.  At first I wished something more tangible could be given out, but perhaps this quandary is best put to rest by the words of a wise roommate on the subject: “It’s not hard.  That’s what faith is all about.  You know the important stuff; you don’t need to know everything yet.”

Still dark.  Almost as quiet.  Unable to get anywhere without running into another quite-solid object, I call out quietly.  To my surprise, the deep baritone tone of my father’s voice rings out strong and true.  “I’ll get the light, son.”

Gradually, light fills the room from the dimmer switch.  A path materializes out of the darkness and confusion melts away.  Noticing my interest at the suddenly clear box, my father reminds me, “That’s our Christmas box I made.”  The box fits neatly into a clear grid pattern.  As I thread my way through the narrow, before-unseen path, my father puts his arm around me and together we walk inside.  I don’t yet need to see what else I could have bumped into.

Secular science explores boxes in the dark.  I would rather explore boxes in the light with the Maker close by, exploring the ones that He tells me about, listening to how the box fits into the larger pattern, and meekly trusting Him explicitly.

Works Cited

Freeman, Scott. Biological Science. 2^nd ed. New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005.

Maxwell, Neal. “The Disciple-Scholar.” Learning in the Light of Faith. Ed. Henry B. Eyring. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1999. 1-18.

Samuelson, Cecil O. Jr. “The Importance of Meekness in the Disciple-Scholar.” Learning in the Light of Faith. Ed. Henry B. Eyring. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1999. 35-48.

On top of that great news, I took our Chemistry test and was very pleased with my score on the multiple choice section.  What I love about Chemistry is the sense of wonder emanating from our professor.  He truly sparks that natural curiosity about the world in his students.  I was wondering the other day about the hard water deposits on our glasses after we do the dishwasher.  Having just studied about solubility and acid-base reactions I was curious as to how detergent manages to tie up ions in the water.  I learned that the harder the water, the more detergent needs to be used.  Knowing what I know now I can equate that to Ksp and the five solubility rules.  I would be interested to learn more.

After the test I played some Super Smash Bros., which I haven't done for a while.  It was quite fun.  After that I took some soup up to a girl in our ward who is sick, then went to eat dinner at the all-you-can-eat cannon center (or cancer center, as my biology professor calls it).  Stuffed, our Freshman Academy community walked to the Marriott center, where one of our roommates performed in a celebration of Christmas with folk dances around the world.  Very fun.  After that I was privileged to go to the creamery with some friends, then come back and play catch phrase.  Overall, a very, very good day.

Today there is hardly anything going on.  Tests and assignments are mostly over.  It is the slow inhalation of air before the "final" push.  Finals are the week after next and everything is wrapping up in classes.

Furhermore, I got my Elks Lodge Scholarship form turned in a couple days ago and they just notified me that the Byrd scholarship checks are on their way.  These are both beneficial to my financial situation at college and I was excited to hear about them!

Until next time,

Sean

The Here and Now

OK, so it's time for a real update.

Preference was great, both nights.  The first night we took Panda Express food up into the canyon and ate it around a campfire, and then roasted starbursts.  After that we went to the dance, which was either ice skating or an actual dance. We skated until about 15 minutes left, and then danced.  It was quite fun - I love ice skating and haven't been for a long time!  I need to learn to stop though...

On Saturday we made homemade pizzas and then went to a fun dance at the Wilkinson Student Center.  After that it was ice cream!  It was very fun as well.  We danced and had a grand old time.

Rori and I holding our hanger to roast starbursts on on Friday night (7 Nov 2008)

Amanda and I after our date on Saturday (8 Nov 2008)

So preference was quite fun.

I just bought Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage, at the bookstore.  So far it's a really, really great book.  I'm only done with the first two chapters though, but I'm plugging away on it.

That reminds me: for mission prep this last little bit we had to talk to 10 complete strangers about the gospel.  It was difficult.  Talking to strangers is uncomfortable sometimes, but it's good practice.

School is going well; chemistry is difficult but getting easier, biology is surprisingly easier than I thought it would be, missionary prep is great, English is my lowest grade but one of my favorite classes, and next semester should be fun.  Signing up for classes is stressing and confusing.  I want to take general ed classes, but I want some fun classes as well.  I want to take more advanced classes in my major but I'm not sure if they will transfer with me if I decide to switch schools.  A fine balance must be struck between fun and hard, general and specific; a academic quadruple point, if you will (closely related to chemistry's triple point).

The weather is very nice.  Today is the perfect temperature - bordering on jackets.  Sunny and bright, the clouds hover high overhead, wispy threads of cotton.

If I think of anything else, I'll throw it up here.

Latest Update

Right now I am a bit frustrated.

Today, the 11th, is my priority registration date for BYU.  I stayed up until midnight to register for classes, but every other BYU sophomore did as well, it seems.  The website is running extremely slow.  Five minutes after every click I get a response.  Not only that, but it's hard enough deciding on classes as it is.

I'll post in a bit about preference and classes and such, but right now I'm concentrating on registration and sleep.

Quick note, though - today I was excited to get my very first perfect score on a test in college!  Biology midterm exam!

Lagoon and Preference

Today was a fun-filled day.  After waking up early to take a picture in Provo canyon for our English publication that another girl and I are in charge of, two-thirds of our dorm and some of our FHE sisters went to Lagoon today.  We rode Wicked and the Spider several times, and we also rode the Colossus, the Jetstar II (we squeezed three into one bench seat), the Rocket, Cliffhanger, the trans-park lift, and the Samurai.  It was my first time on the Samurai - every single other time I've been there it's been closed for maintenance.  I loved it.  It was so exhilarating, and wasn't even very nauseating like it looks.  We then went to a hypnotist's show at Lagoon and laughed hysterically at the antics of the unfortunate.  Trevor, our neighbor, went up to be hypnotized but it didn't take hold on him.  We went through a haunted walk-through with strobe lights, glasses that made the walls look 3D, scary costumes jumping out at us, and a very real, very good joker in the style of the recent movie.  The first hypnosis show was at 5; at 7 we went to it again.  This time Dallin and Richard went up on stage.  The hypnosis didn't take on Richard.  Dallin was hilarious.  Dallin sang a gibberish rap, tried to sell us shoes that he was wearing backwards, thought there was a cell-phone in the shoes, got very cold and very warm, smelt a range of odiferous pseudo-fumes, was amazed by the hypnotist turning invisible, and more.  Our rib cages will be quite sore tomorrow from laughter.  Overall it was a very fun night, with fun people and fun activities.

Then I got home and there were arrows from the door to the fridge and in the fridge was a plate of crackers and cheese with a note on it saying, "To figure out who I am answer the following:  This type of cheese contains all 4 letters in my name, one of which is repeated (3 different letters...).  It is an Italian whey cheese commonly used in LASAGNA.  Good luck."
Anyway, so that's fairly exciting!

Another English Post Response

Years ago. Across the great, endless, narrow ocean we call a road, undulating across knolls to wind around rocky foothills. It was there that I found peace among the wild elements.

At the base of the enormous dual pine tree trunks sat two large boulders, white and sparkly with abundant mica, a castle and fortress to warriors littered about from the most recent squirt-gun fight. As accelerating skate boarders flew past on the sidewalk directly under the trees a small boy watched them from high above. Gradually the wind grew from a small summer breeze to a swift moving current strong enough to rustle hair. As the storm became more intense dark clouds cast a shadow over the ground years below. The warriors became 4th grade students again upon retreating from the onslaught into their closed houses. The skateboarders cooly picked up their transportation and dashed inside. Only the boy was left, swaying as much as 20 feet in the ferocious wind, the giant tree almost buckling under the pressure. Luckily the storm held no lightning. The boy's hair whipped around in wild exhilaration as observation became survival. The strong truck was a lifeline, the steadying rock before the waterfall. We leave the boy there, yelling a challenge to the sky as the elements pegged him with dihydrogen monoxide.

What now?

Well, all's quite on the Western front!  Bio's relatively easy, chem's relatively hard, mission prep is relatively nice, life science seminar's relatively boring, and life's relatively great!

More later, for sure.  Just wanted everyone to know I'm still thinking about this blog!

Jon Schmidt Concert

Tonight our FHE (family home evening) group was planning to go to a Jon Schmidt concert.  Everybody felt they had too much homework except for Jerry and me, so it was only the two of us that attended.  Which is too bad.

IT WAS AWESOME!


We got there about 45 minutes early, bought our tickets, and then stood in line to get in.  We were near the front of the line.  As soon as we got in line about 300 more people got in line behind us, so we came at the perfect time.  We got into the theater and sat down almost on the front row right in the middle.  They pulled the piano out and we realized that we would be 20 feet away from him at a perfect angle to see his hands play the piano.  The music was incredible and impeccably presented.  He is not just a piano player: he is an entertainer.  We laughed when he did a backflip, when he told his corny jokes, and when he played the piano laying down on the bench under it and when he played with his toes and head.  He played a song that I'd never heard before that was awesome that he said was new and was coming out soon.  He played all of the favorites and then a few more.

It's really too bad that nobody else could go.  It was totally worth the measly $10 a ticket to see.

Afterwards I got to see Janessa because she was up here in Provo for a Leadership Academy field trip thing.  That was fun too.

Homemade Jokes

What did one pickle convince the other pickle to watch on TV?
    Dill or no Dill    -or-
    Pickleodeon
Australian chess players must have so many false check mates.
San Diego? Isn’t that a waffle on a beach?
An old man with a cane gets asked what his hobbies are. He responds that he doesn't have "hobbies." He has "hobbles."
How old does a cornstalk have to be to get his driver’s license in Utah?
    “16 ears”!
What’s the longest bone in your body? Your femur. That one's easy - everybody gets it.  Here's the hard one: what’s the second longest bone in your body?
    And of course, the answer is your other femur!  Nobody's ever gotten that one before.

Jerry

For our Writing class we have to write a post every week on a topic, ask a question of our own, and then answer somebody else's question.  This week the topic was on our favorite books.  Remember, this is for our English class...

One of the people posted this post:

At a very early age, I discovered the world of books. I quickly exhausted my elementary school's small library and quickly moved on to the county library system. You ever read Matilda by Roald Dahl? Well, that was me. I read more than I talked, and that habit has followed me through my life. I've had to give up some of my reading for the sake of having a life, but I am still a very avid reader.

As a result, I can't actually tell you what my "favorite" book is. I have favorites in different genres and for different purposes, and I almost always "appreciate" books, especially the classics. So here is a few of my "favorites."

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (I have to say, he is probably my favorite author, with the exception of The Pearl, which I like to disregard as a small blemish on his superb writing style.)
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (one of the greatest mystery/detective stories of all time - Sam Spade is the best!)
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (a truly compelling novel)
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (one of my comfort books - I read it when I'm upset)
Lord of the Flies by William Golding (I read it when I want to be mad at the world ;) It has the most amazing metaphors!)
Macbeth by Shakespeare (as well as The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, and Romeo and Juliet)
Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (beautiful imagery and characterizations, omgosh)

And I just realized that's a lot, and I haven't even gotten to my contemporary favorites yet... I'll refrain for now for your sake, as my reader. :)

Question: Are there any traits in a person's character that really, really drive you crazy?

Jerry, upon reading it, decided to (almost) write a response to her question:

Yeah!  When they suck up to the teacher!

Jerry and I have a great time

For English we have to write a post on a topic and then ask a question and then respond to somebody else's question. This is the question that I asked:

Here's a question! Do you have any theories you came up with on your own? Maybe a theory that nobody else believes?

This is Jerry's response (a combined effort between him and I):

I came up with a theory just reading this question, and you can't say that it's not true. "The universe revolves around Jerry Robertson." -Jerry Robertson-

Since the universe revolves around myself, and the fact that I defy the laws of the universe, you should all submit to my bidding.

Minesweeper in English!!!!!!!

What's an "idear"?

As in, "I had a great idear the other day!"  With the accent and everything...

Well, here is my idea(r) about what an "idear" is:

It's a camouflage suit made by Apple (for hunters, of course).

And here is Jerry's:

An Apple girlfriend.

Synonyms

You know...sometimes bored and hungry are synonyms.

Disciple-Scholar Writing Response

A disciple-scholar is not the same as a scholar-disciple.  Notice the order.  Thus our main focus must be on discipleship, and not on scholarship, which brings up the question: what does a disciple-scholar do that is different from a regular scholar?

 Disciple-y stuff.

 Which is what, exactly?

 A disciple is a follower.  A disciple of Christ is a follower of Christ.  How do we follow Christ and be scholarly at the same time?  Easily. The trick is recognizing that Christ is the Creator.  He is the Ultimate Scholar, the Ultimate Biologist, the Ultimate Chemist, the Ultimate Musician.  He created the earth, the seas, and all that in them is.  Can we not follow his perfect example and seek to obtain as much knowledge about the world we live in?  Then, taking knowledge one step farther, can we use the information to further God's work?  Can we consecrate the knowledge we gained through His help to His will?

 Submittance to a higher power than our own brings blessings of humility, meekness, and further opportunities to gain the knowledge that is paramount to our eternal progression.  Meekness is, after all, the best quality of a disciple-scholar.  Meekness is a quality of character.  One of the AIMS of a BYU education is to develop character.  The one thing that every BYU student should leave with is a character of meekness, ready to continue a lifelong pursuit of learning and service.

A Let Down!

The black, forbidding, thunderous night seemed to permeate every cubic inch of cold air in the room.  Wood and brick walls meant nothing to the feeling that ever encroached from the dark, tumultuous exterior of the building.  The dim light in the room flickered as the television, unwatched, showed the same scene from the horror show The Ghost and Mr. Chicken over and over again.

"Yes, you can!" the exasperated Sean said again.  "I've done it!"

"Look Sean, you have to prove it.  It has never happened to any of us before."

"If I'm right, ten dollars?"

"Only if I get ten if I'm right."

"Deal."

The ferocity of the storm grew as his futile effort augmented.  Past trying now, he took to the internet to see what others had to say.  The search returned many results, all with the same heading.  He clicked on the first result.  Just then the intensity of the storm rose to a feverous pitch.  The lightning crackled just outside, and with the BOOM! that followed immediately after, the power went out.  The computer screen flickered off, but not before the fateful words had entrenched themselves forever in his mind:

You cannot click on a bomb on the first click in Minesweeper (in Windows XP)!

Past Writing Experience Writing Response

Negative writing experiences can be found littered throughout my past.  I wouldn't call the frequency high, but conversely I cannot say that the frequency has been extremely low.  I find that instead of a specific teacher or paper my worst writing experiences have been those where my general condition does not meet the qualifications below.  I remember a particular experience writing a college entrance essay.  My time was short; it was due in a day or two.  I was at a critical period in high school and my workload was higher than our dorm's trash pile.  Pressure was increasing with that slow squeeze that constricts macrocosmic views until one can get lost in the details.  In my finished product it was evident that I was not prepared.

On the other hand, occasionally a gem will emerge from the raw carbon.  As I have done most writing in some sort of formalized class it is no surprise that good experiences have come out of AP English Literature.  Frame of mind is very important for me, but my frame of mind is predicated almost exclusively on the environment.  As my roommate can attest, I cannot work in a crowded, half-lit room on a small desk.  Things need to be clean and have space around them.  I recall one time in English class we wrote a forty minute essay in class based on a prompt our teacher put up on the whiteboard.  I was in a good mood that day, well-fed and smiling (smiling often goes with being well-fed).  The surrounding desks were clean, the pure white page smiled up at me like a window through the desk upon which it sat to a whole new world.  When I wrote my hand did not tire as fast.  As I turned it in satisfactorily at the completion of the excercise, I realized that I had just had a positive writing experience.

What makes the difference?  What is it about an individual situation that makes writing so easy or so difficult?  I can think of several factors.  Although these are ordered here, I believe the order is unique to each individual.

1. Environment, including surroundings, time constraints, noise level, amount of personal space, stress or pressure from other activities, and light levels.  The environment should especially be conducive to the Spirit.

2. Preparation.  This could be anything from eating the requisite amount of Cheerios for stimulating neurological impulses to hours and hours of research on the topic.

3. Frame of mind.  The writing frame of mind comes, to me at least, only at certain times.  Perhaps a frame of mind can come as a result of preparation.  Free writing and zero drafts may help to accomplish this goal.  Frame of mind can also be a direct result of the environment.

4. Mastery of Vocabulary/Grammar.  These fundamentals of the English language are the instrument with which ideas can be expressed.  A single idea can be expressed so differently between two writers, and it is their own unique expression of vocabulary and phrasing within the grammatical context of English that facilitates each writer's unique take.

I Am Writing Response

I am the hours and days.  I am the time spent reading.

I am the intense apprehension, disappointment, and elation.  I am the soccer game.

I am the aching muscles and wild thrill as the gusty wind hurdles about.  I am the summit of the mountain.

I am the white and black.  I am a Latter-day Saint.

I am the black and white.  I am the sharps and flats on a piano.

I am the sum and conglomeration.  I am the experiences.

I am the vanilla extract.

I am the peach Pace bar.

I am the small, soft breeze.

I am the rustling of deciduous leaves on trees in the small, soft breeze.

I am the deep, dark, navy blue of a favorite shirt.

I am the sum and conglomeration.  I am the senses.

I am the C.S. Lewis, wait, no, the Apple.  Ah, what I really meant is the long iTunes playlist.  Actually, now that I think about it, I would have to say the cleats and shin guards.  Shin guards?  Who wants to be that soaked with sweat?  Rather I am the abandon of a first grader finished with homework, laying amidst the sweet-smelling grass on a trampoline, the cool breeze offset by the slow warmth stealing up from the black tarp.

I am sometimes indecisive.

English House Exercise

I have decided to start posting up some of the little blurbs we write in our writing course.  Here's one we did today to get the creative juices flowing.  It didn't really work, but this is it in its rough, unaltered form.

I am making a house where the slap of feet echoes off the high ceiling onto the deceptively soft tile.  I am making a house where the spicy burn-your-nose scent of pine gives way to the fresh, cool, moist air, sounding of crickets chirruping.  I am building a house where the magic refrigerator drones like a bee.  Industry...in whiffs of chocolate and red sugar.

College

Well, perhaps it's time for a review of the many intriguing, exciting, and sometimes boring events that happen at New Student Orientation (NSO).

I moved up to BYU on Wednesday, after spending the night at my uncle's house in Provo.  My family accompanied me to check in and helped me move my copious boxes up to the room.  After they left, my roommate and I were the only ones at our apartment, as our other four roommates would not completely show up until Friday the 29th, when our last roommate finally moved in.  Our roommates seem pretty cool and I hope we have a great time living under the same roof.

NSO has been fun so far.  We were put into Y groups and go everywhere as a group.  We get lots of free food and do many fun and boring activities (each activity is not fun and boring, but most activities are fun and few are boring).  We have listened to lots of information about campus, been led by a very fun and very cool Y group leader (who is also our peer mentor for Freshman Academy), eaten lots of food, and listed to lots of live entertainment.  We have seen a very humorous presentation on the Honor Code and Jericho Road came and preformed live for us.

There are lots of people here.  Lots of people.  I like the feel of the campus.  The Honor Code and the people here are very strong in the spirit and the gospel.  We begin everything with a prayer, and embrace the whole "disciple-scholar" thing.  It is very cool.

And very expensive.  I spent $540 on books.  For my first semester.  Crazy, eh?  Although today I did get my scholarship rebate direct deposit - I logged into my bank account and thought I logged into somebody else's.  The number surprised me!  I like scholarships...  Now I can pay for the new MacBook Pro I bought last week.  It has shipped but now I'm waiting for it to arrive and will be very excited when it does!

There are lots of people here who are willing to help.  We have an awesome peer mentor, an awesome RA (resident's assistant), an awesome college advisement center, and more people.

Today I watched the BYU Women's Soccer game, and tomorrow I will watch the football game.  I found myself doing something I've never done before - cheering on the Cougars.  It paid off - we won the soccer game 4 - 1.  It was a good game.  I guess that while I'm at BYU, at least, I must become a cougar fan.  Ah well - I must find the courage to plunge into the world of the blue.

Skydiving! *Video coming soon

(Beware - the problem with describing skydiving and friends is you quickly run out of different appropriate words like, "awesome", "exhilarating", "intense", etc...so there may be some repetition)

Well, I finally did it.  My dream that, as my mom pointed out, I would never have done before moving to Hurricane.  IT WAS AWESOME!  EXHILARATION! INTENSE! Lots of people have told me they would never do it because it is scary.  There is some truth to that, but I believe that it is NOT as scary as a lot of people believe.  Whoa!  As I'm writing this I keep reliving my favorite part of the whole deal, and that is the actual part where you jump out of the plane.

Skydiving creates a feeling that is really hard to explain.  Falling from 14,000 feet above sea level at 120 miles per hour is exhilarating.  The first mile and a half go by in about 45 seconds of pure, unadulterated joy.  The ripcord pull signal came WAY too quick for me, but I am sort of glad that it did come - another twenty seconds or so and I would have made a small crater.  Whoa!  I just keep feeling that feeling!

I got to the skydive place and there were two other people there ready to go - since we booked first, I was the first to go.  We received about an hour of training.  Most of that hour was signing legal documents and watching a legal video.  After that the instructions seemed really simple!  Jumping tandem is the way to go.  The awesome skydiver guy took care of everything and I just had FUN!

After the training the pilot warmed up the engine and we took off.  The awesome skydiver guy was videoing pretty much the whole time, too.  If you go, I would recommend paying the extra money for a video.  As much as I hate watching myself, I have to admit that it is fun, and good to watch with friends and future posterity.

The best part of the jump, for me, was falling out of the plane.  Being on your back, falling, looking up at the increasingly small plane, is a thrill like no other.  After three seconds I arched, like he told me to, and we stabalized.  Then we went into the free-fall part, which is so fun!  Too soon he motioned for me to pull the ripcord, and then the parachute opened.  When it opened the wind immediately died, and we could talk as easily as anybody can on the ground in calm weather.  It was so awesome.  I took off my goggles, popped my ears, and then proceeded to thouroughly enjoy the ride down, where awesome friends were waiting!  What a perfect way to spend your time!  I want to do it again, for sure.  (On my own funds, mom)

The place is really easy to get to, it's run by the same guy strapped to your back on the way down, and it's highly recommended.  The guy was amazingly awesome, fun to be around, and responsible.  He gives you personal attention and makes sure you understand before you jump.  He's had over 4000 jumps and is very experienced.  I would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend skydiving and particularly this establishment as a form of exhilarating entertainment.  You have to be 18 though.  More information can be found at http://www.skydivezion.com.

I would especially like to thank my parents, who surprised me with this trip for my 18th birthday.  They are so awesome!  I love them so much and will miss them greatly when going off to college.  Thanks mom and dad!

 

Excited before going.

 

My funny shirt I thought was appropriate...

 

The awesome friends who came to see - thanks guys!  You are incredible!

 

In the air - thank Janessa for the good pictures.

 

After landing

 

The awesome skydiver guy and I after the jump - he was cool.

Final Days

Echoing a post by Whitney, I have mixed feelings about leaving home for a year at school.  I went to my last Stake Dance tonight, and a wave of sadness swept over me as I thought about the transition from high school days to college.  At first it was a bit weird being one of the oldest there, but then I realized that these people were my friends, and I stopped caring.  It was sad to think about the fun I've had at Stake Dances, from my first one three years ago to this one today - I can't even imagine how many times I've danced to "Boot Scootin' Boogie" in the interim.  Although a lot of my friends my age weren't there, there were still a bunch.  Plus, I do have younger friends, believe it or not.
I think I'm waxing eloquent on the subject because it hit me tonight exactly what I'm doing.  Moving away from home, never seeing most of the people going to Hurricane High, not even really associating with Hurricane High anymore.  As Whitney said in her post and I learned three years ago when we moved here, your family is the one of the only things you can count on to be there for you and support you and one of the best things that one can do is to be supportive of everybody that they associate with.  I really tried to do that and I hope that I have.
I am excited for the future - I'm not saying that I'm not - but right now I am just so grateful for all of my family, the church, and my friends.  My family and the church have stuck with me my whole life.  My friends accepted me and still continue to be friends even after they get acquainted with some of my...quirks.  For that I am eternally grateful.  It has changed me for the better by example.
Moving was hard.  I had to stick close to those two pivotal anchors in my life, now joined by a third.  They say triangles are the strongest shape.  This is kind of a more personal, emotioinal post them I'm used to writing, but I will miss everybody very much (unless by some good stroke of fortune I see you again, which should happen).  I can't think of a single person I don't like right now - I love you all!  Of course, people have their own quirks, but since I have some I can understand other's.

Goodnight!

Exciting Events

Well, there are really three parts to this post:

1. I got an iPhone for graduation. It's kind of a reward for the hours and hours of homework, the 4.0, the 35, the Valedictorian, the scholarships, and the honors. My mom and dad don't have to pay anything for my college. Anyway, hesitant as I am to post up a phone number to a public website in case of spammers or any drive-by cell-phone number collectors or weird people, I will tell you that there are beginning to be lots of people that know the number, so you'll have to get it from them. I was trying to think of a way to tell you so that only those that know me would find out the number, but it's late.
2. I finally, finally succumbed to the mountains of pressure coming from blog posts telling about how to earn money on it, the countless friends who have one, the countable but still numerous friends who asked me or, rather, told me to get one, and even the pressure of my sister, mom, and grandmother. I am now on Facebook. It is interesting, and there's no way I have time to write and respond to every single one of my 94 and counting friends on there, and I'm still trying to figure things out with it.
3. I am going skydiving. It was a present for my birthday. Every time I think about doing it my stomach knots up, but I'm super excited. You can all come, I'll let people know when.
   

If You Blog It......

they will come.

The Perfect Cookie

No-nut semi-sweet chocolate chip warm yellow-ish brown on the outside slightly brown on the inside except where gooey semi-sweet chocolate chips pervade the cookie three-inch diameter crystalized sugar lightly buttery rich taste and texture smelling of a fresh oven bright and cheery making after a huge rainstorm the night before eaten with friends cookie.

AP Grades

OK - Atlanta! (The Full Story)

OK, so I figured that since this graphic design thing is taking longer than I thought it would (especially because I need to get the pictures of our trip from the other participents, and that takes a while), and because if I wait too long the news will turn stale, and because others on the net are spreading the news, and because the newspapers will be running the results soon, it's best if I just get it over with in text first, and release the graphical version later.  (  <--- That's a huge sentence, by the way) But where to begin, when there is so much to tell? First of all, Atlanta is hot and very humid.  We rode the plane from Las Vegas to Houston, and then to Atlanta.  We stepped off the plane and were hit by a massive roiling wall of moist, heated air. The first thing I noticed is how my normally slippery shoes caught and squeeked on any sort of hard floor, and throughout the trip I did.  Trip, that is.  We stayed at the Hyatt Regency, next to the Marriott Marquis, and ate often at the Corner Bakery Cafe across the street.  The hotels were grand, with a huge contemporary atrium and a pillar right in the middle that housed the elevators.  There were causeways that traveled from the elevator to the outside edge of the square where the rooms were.  Pretty cool.

We rode the public transportation system everywhere.  MARTA, as it's called, stands for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, and it included both a subway train and a bus system.  We had cool RF ID cards, temporarily issued to us for a 4 day unlimited pass.  Using MARTA, we traveled to some of Atlanta's various attractions:

• The World of Coke, which detailed Coke's history, bottle making process, and exemplary taste.  Coke was invented and has its headquarters in Atlanta, which is why it was funny to see a company putting up a blow-up Pepsi bottle in a park near the World of Coke.  We got a picture with the Coke polar bear, and tasted nearly 70 different coke products from around the world, including good ol' favorites Sprite and Fanta, but also some exotic ones, like Beverly from Italy (don't try it), Sprite Ice, exotic Fanta flavors, and much more.  Of course, they give you a complementary bottle of Coke at the end, bottled on-site.
• The Georgia Aquarium, which was cool, but I've seen many aquariums before - just fishy!  They had a cool octopus, though.
• The CNN Center, with a behind-the-scenes tour.  We got to listen to the director order shots while they were producing the Clinton-Obama "come-together-and-let's-rule-the-world-by-changing-it-one-change-at-a-time-until-even-the-ducks-know-how-far-we've-come" speech.  The director was making fun of some of the people on the screen, unaware that we were listening.  "Look at that bozo in the middle!  Can you believe his hairdo?"  We then got to see the actual news room, which was pretty cool.  All in all it was a really fun place to visit.
• Martin Luther King Jr.'s grave and memorial museum place, which was awesome to visit.  We got to see his Nobel Peace Prize, his Presidential Medal of Freedom, and more.
• The Zoo Atlanta, where we saw huge elephants, a huge gorilla, naked mole rats, and pandas (and more).
• The Atlanta History Center, where we got to tour a huge mansion called the Swan House!

Alas, we never got to see stone mountain, an attraction we were told was well worth seeing.  And now, a funny story.  While waiting for a bus to the zoo, a wrinkled lady came up to us and beseeched us imploringly with a tale of woe.  She had a terminal illness, and was alone and friendless on the streets of Atlanta.  She was carrying a McDonald's cup full of water and capped by a plastic lid so taped up with Scoth-tap that she probably didn't even need any original lid left to hold the shape.  We wondered later where she got the tape - it seems that much tape would be much more difficult to come by than a new lid from any McDonalds.  Whenver she was agitated she would sqeeze the cup and water would leak out all over her person.  She seemed quite intelligent, though - she was on time to the bus stop, and was a good debater.  Mrs. Crane proved that with a half-hour argument with the lady on proper ways to seek aid.  Mrs. Crane articulated the true fact that we were approached on every single street corner by those wanting money.  She also suggested that there were proper avenues to pursue aid, and begging was not one of them.  The lady retorted with anecdotes of how one cannot know what anybody else is going through until they've walked five miles in their shoes.
Eventually both women got very frustrated, and the lady shouted, "Maam!  I don't want anything from you!  I just want to wish God bless you and leave!"
"OK, well God bless you!"  Mrs. Crane said, and then obviously pointed away from us, and turned away from the lady.  The lady stood there, almost in disbelief, and then stormed away.  That's not the end though;  the next day we were eating at the cafe across the street from our hotel when WE SAW THE LADY!  She was dressed nicely in tennis shoes and nice business attire, laughing with a friend and eating a delicious meal.  We all growled.  The lady looked over at us and recognized us, her eyes growing huge for a split second before she quickly turned away, gathered up her meal, and hurried out of there.

Almost done, keep going!

Now for the reason we went to Atlanta in the first place!  We gave our presentation on http://www.hhsfbla.org in the preliminaries, which we have done every year.  Later that night, tension mounted as we waited around the bulletin board that would soon hold the paper letting us know if we made it to the final round.  We did.  We were ecstatic.  We had made it to the final round last year, but not the first year.  This meant we had to give our presentation again to another set of judges.  We then heard nothing further until the closing award ceremonies.  The top 15 websites in the nation make it into the finals.  The top 10 make it up on stage.  The announcer announceds the top ten in random order at the ceremonies to call them up on stage.  When they called our names an electric shock ran through us.  I had been trying for three years now to make it up on that stage!

We took 10th place in the nation!

The first year was Bryan Poulsen and I.  The next was Chris LeBaron, Sarah Christiansen, and I.  This recent and last attempt was James Price, Trevor Adams, and I.  Each year a different team.  Each year was better than the last, culminating with the awesome feeling of being up on stage in front of 7,500 people accepting a national award that took so, so many hours and such hard work.  It is quite the feeling!

We seemed to have connected with the preliminary judges so much better than with the final judges.  I think that there is most definitely a weeding-out process occuring to reach the top fifteen and top ten, but I think that at this level of competition, in such a subjective process, the top websites are roughly on the same level, depending upon the whims of the judges to let them fall into place.  I think that if we had the preliminary judges for the finals, we would definitely have placed better, but I am so happy with a 10th place!  I mean, every state had their own competition to see who would compete at nationals.  The best from each state competed at nationals.

Pictures coming later, as our external hard drive just died.

FBLA Nationals 2008 - Atlanta, Georgia

OK, it's finally time for the moment you've all (no doubt) been waiting for: a report on nationals!!
You know...actually, I just had a better idea.
I'm going to do it "graphic design" style, since that's all I do all day anyway.
But it might take a day or two.
So please be patient!  It should be pretty cool, though!

Interesting Web Design Website

The Web Designer Wall looks to be a pretty cool and useful resource.

Allegory of the...Freeway?

I was laying in bed the other night and thought this up and decided to turn on the light and write it in my journal. So here I thought I'd post it up, if I can decipher the handwriting that I wrote at midnight, and my handwriting is bad enough anyways! This will be copied word for word, because it's late right now, but in the future maybe I'll tweak it a little and improve it and maybe add some other ideas I've had since then, because this can be expanded. Additionally, both the real story and the symbolical meaning is sometimes incorporated into this mesh of words, so ideally the story will come first and then the explanation later, but that's a project for a different time. Here it is:

Life is like a highway. Sometimes we get off the exit and detour from our true destination, which is the celestial kingdom. Sometimes interchanges come up, and people take the roads to the other kingdoms. When we get off the narrow, straight freeway, sometimes the access to the on-ramp is blocked from the off-ramp. Sometimes we need to drive a little ways and then pop a U-turn (repent means to turn around) and bypass the roadblock through the help of our in-car navigation system kind of like OnStar - sometimes the volume is low - sometimes we can't remember where the volume control is - sometimes our arms don't seem long enough and we really have to work to reach it. However, a voice does come out of the navigation system, telling the will of Him who watches the position of our and every car on the satellite tracking system, overseeing legions of helpers recording every turn we make. He waits at our destination. Often we need the help of "officers" along the way, those who wear a badge of leadership and priesthood, those who venture out into the muddlesome places and attempt to direct those who are weaving ll over the road back to the main highway. Sometimes other officers (or perhaps the same one) regulate entrance to the highway by approving returners. They stand by a car wash, for being clean is of utmost importance on the highway. Additionally, it is sometimes a junior officer in training who actually raises the bar to let a freshly washed car onto the freeway. Sometimes it is hard for a car to find its way back because of the detours, but I testify there is an unblocked on-ramp for every car, if it chooses to seek it long and hard enough. Billboards along the road attempt to entice cars with their siren's song to take the next exit, but those that learn to listen and enjoy the soft music coming from the navigation radio never have need for the billboards and ignore them. Every week we pull into a rest area and refuel. Sometimes it seems the road will never end. Those in the know know that the real trick to getting to the destination is driving until your car wears out and collapses, for as we all know, roads never really end - everything is interconnected. After your car collapses, JC Grace Towing will come, evaluate your car, and decide whether it is worthy for the destination. If so, it will be taken the rest of the way by the towing company. The executive of the towing company is the only person with the key to the compound to which we all aspire. The number of dings on the front from giving those in front a nudge in troubled times might be evaluated, as well as any unwashed spots. Some try to crash early, while others take an exit and drive, trying to get away, but their car will eventually wear out too, and then they'll be in a pickle, because they will be so far away from the range of the towing company they will have to stay and roast and burn in the desert. Those who are closer but not on the freeway will have to pay a fee to be towed. Highway travelers get the service for free.

Graphic Design

I just got a job as a graphic designer at Sierra West Publications, in La Verkin. They gave me a G5 Mac, with a huge screen. It's pretty nice! I've been busy at work these last couple of days (since Tuesday), with the ol' 8am-5pm with a 1 hour lunch break at 12 noon. Long hours, but it's fun, and the workers are friendly.

Graphic design is difficult in the sense that what you create becomes (or offshoots from) a part of you. It is your creation, and sometimes it is difficult to offer up that intrinsically linked piece of work to others' judgement. It is sometimes stressful. However, I have somewhat free reign over the details of the design, which is nice. We'll see how my designs get accepted by people in general over the next few weeks - maybe if they accept their banners I will begin to feel more confident.

News Article both Saddens and Brightens

Published on June 1st, a recent New York Times article discusses President George W. Bush's recent commencement address at Furman University. My personal discussion on the article and event appears below.

I am saddened by the faculty at Furman.

Well, not all of the faculty.

First of all, let me explain what I believe. People have the right to disagree with the President. People have the right to their own opinions. People have the privilege of signing a petition sheet:

More than 200 Furman professors and students signed a statement criticizing Bush administration policies and the Iraq war.

See, that's OK. That is fine. What gets me is when people don't show respect for the office of President of the United States, the highest office attainable in this country. Nobody but those who have sweat and labored, and yes, even lied to get there (not something I'm endorsing - completely the opposite) know how difficult, how challenging, and how pressured the President is. One may or may not agree with the President, but one should still respect the work and the will of the people in force behind him (I'll say that until there actually is a her President, then I'll worry about political correctness). The President is the Cheif Citizen. He is the Chief Executive, the CEO of the United States. He is the Chief Legislator, setting the course for public policy. He is the Chief Diplomat. He is the leader of the country, and regardless of one's views, should be held in a higher esteem and treated better than he is.

Furthermore, look at the message that President Bush is giving the students. That is just the sort of direction the country needs in these troubling times, regardless of his actions in Iraq. Let's get the country headed in the right direction.

This does kind of show though - as a coworker of my mother said:
The Republicans want to control nothing but one's morals; the Democrats want to control everything but one's morals.

When it comes to morals, I wish the country would choose to have good morals to begin with. Then the whole conundrum of whether to force morals on anybody wouldn't have to be dealt with.

For you AP English graduates

Of course, if you've read the several stories, this would make sense to you as well, even if you haven't taken the ol' AP English.

What happened after? (a small excerpt of the upcoming #1 New York Times Bestseller)
By Sean Fisher

The moor was quite possibly the bleakest, drollest, most gray spit of boring land he had ever set eyes on. To top it off, he was cold. The grayish-blue was lightened only by a brighter white road winding through it. The road was white due to the peculiar nature of the rocks on the heath, which had years ago been collected and cobblestoned into a lithe track. The air was dead. No riffle of wind staggered through the surroundings. Even the weeds looked as if they were dying, which is hard for a weed to do. Through the blue, chilly haze of the expansive moor he could see a small cart trundling along perhaps a mile away. Along its side was boldly emblazoned an unrecognizable advertisement in peeling paint.

He turned. There was no joy to be had in meeting one of the inhabitants of this lonely forsaken wasteland. They had no wish to see the return of a native, as it were.

As the old man shambled along the road, his footsteps awkward but his blue eyes lucid and sure, he paid close attention to the flowers lining the roadway. The yellow cut a cold contrast to the stark white of the cobblestones. As a traveler from distant lands he had seen many flowers, but never before had he seen this flower in such proliferation. It positively lined the path, sparked decades before by the thoughtlessness of a passing repairman. The yellow was powerful. It was not necessarily happy. The conditions of its birth were much too heart-rending for that, but the emotion imbued into that simple yellow color immediately caught his eye. He knelt down and touched the fuzzy cluster of small petals. Chrysanthemums.

Do you ever? Thoughts on thoughts

Do you ever finish a sentence with yourself? I seem to always start a sentence in my head, but I never recall ever getting to the final period. I think it's because I already know exactly what I'm going to say. It makes things awfully hard when writing, because when thinking of what to say, I only draft the first half of sentences in higher order brain levels. The rest kind of gets made up on the way from brain to fingers, and usually I don't have much of a say unless I concentrate on the ending of the sentence, which sometimes takes too much energy.

You know, I think that our brains thrive on pure thought. Pure thought is so pure that it cannot be expressed, but only...thought. I think that we each have our own "format" of thought, which might be one reason why we are all unique. However, our brains have a "translator," wherein that pure thought is transcoded into various forms.
One of these forms might be language, or, more specifically, the muscle impulses sent to our lungs, vocal chords, and tongue that will produce language. The translator also receives impulses from our ears and eyes and translates that language back into pure thought. Language is the intermediary pool that human beings contribute to and pull from. I bet it is the sub-perfect level of translation (for we have all seen evidence of misunderstanding one another or not producing lucid sentences) that also gives rise to some creativity. If our translators are different and interperet things differently, a new thought might be introduced into our brains and incorporated into our thought processes even if we don't realize it.
Another form that thought can be transcoded into could be the language that we think in our head. Imagine a chord plugged in directly from the headphone out port on a computer to the line in port on that same computer. It's a loopback. That is kind of like what our thoughts can be. It's a little like saying something outloud so we can here how it sounds. Out the mouth, and straight back to our brain through our ears. Kind of like that, but all within our brain. It may help our thoughts run through the logic machine that makes up a great portion of our brain, because our brain probably evaulates all of the thoughts it gets from the translator in a different way than it evaulates thoughts spawning in our own, local, brains. Running our thoughts through the loopback may help with viewing them in different ways.
It is too bad that all of our pure thought has to be interfaced through translation mechanisms. However, it shows again the wonder and grandeur of the human race and how amazing our minds really are, to enable this sort of communication.
But how awesome would it be to be able to interface with each other so purely we exchange pure thoughts and are able to attain perfect understanding? However, I think all of our hardware is different enough to be incompatible with each other, so we must go through intermediary devices.

Graduation Pictures

The moment you've all been waiting for!

OK, maybe not.

Here's a slideshow of the images - for full-sized pictures and captions, visit my web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/mathgraph/Graduation2008

If you've got any pictures, I have started a group on flickr called hhs2008. Anybody can join, so join and upload your pictures! I'll upload mine and we can start it off. Please!

Recap on Graduation

This is just a text-only recap. Pictures will be dealt with in an upcoming post.

My family left at noon for St. George. We met my mother's parents at the Temple Visitor's Center. My father's parents were already here and traveled with us. We went through the statue display that is completely amazing! Wow. If you haven't been, I highly encourage a trip to the Temple Visitor's center to see the statues.

After that, we traveled over to ye olde Olive Garden and had some most excellent comestibles (I just learned that word). In fact, I'm going to go have a left over breadstick immediately.

OK, I'm back.

So then it was time for graduation. We arrived at the Burns arena at roughly 3:30ish. It was a dreary day, but the weather's disparity with the elation floating in each of the seniors couldn't be greater.

I helped get the percussion ready for the two songs we were playing (A Pirates of the Caribbean medley and the William Tell overture). Then, I went and picked up my gold ropes for good grades and the National Honors Society cape thing. It was then just about time to line up. Jordan, Richard, and I were not allowed to walk in with our class, nor accompany anybody. We were honored, I guess, to walk in at the very beginning with Principal Hoyt, the School Board President, and other dignitaries.

The program proceeded as follows:
A Camber Choir piece called "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need"
The Pledge, led by McKay Butler, Student Body President
A Devotional/Prayer, led by Claire Chamberlain, the Seminary Vice President
The Introduction of the Salutatorian by Tia Beatty, Senior Class Secretary
Richard Wixom's remarks
The Pirates medley by the orchestra
Senior Class Officer Tyson Winder's introduction of Jordan and I
Jordan's and my combined speeches
The slideshow
A Salyce Scarth special presentation
The presentation, acceptation, and presentation of diplomas of and to graduates
The Turn Your Tassels/2008 Cheer and Hat Throw done by all of us Senior Class Officers

Overall it was a good length ceremony. Richard and Jordan both did fabulous jobs. Richard talked about how to be a star to others. Jordan recapped on some experiences and gave some great advice. Afterwords the slew of picture-wanting parents and friends we might not see again drew us into a constantly smiling photograph mode.

My speech went fairly well, I guess. At first I got up and said:

Good afternoon Principal Hoyt, administrators, faculty, families, and guests. To the class of 2008: Congratulations!
Jordan and I have been joking for a long time now that somebody would get up, introduce me, and then I would get up and for my speech introduce Jordan, and then he would take over. So – ladies and gentlemen: Jordan Hall.

I then sat down. You could hear an audible gasp come from the audience. When I sat down, Kirsten Helms leaned over to me and whispered, "are you for real?" in an amazed whisper. It was actually quite entertaining. Jordan got up and said his speech and then went to sit down, paused, returned to the microphone and told the audience he wasn't going to let me get away with that. He gave a few of my more humorous statements and then turned the time over to me. I got up and gave the rest of my speech. We had planned the whole thing from the beginning. After all, I decided, "It's me and Jordan, one of my best buds. Let's have some fun up here!" Besides, it's graduation! It was quite fun to be a part of and shock everybody like that.

Here is my whole Valedictorian speech from where I left off above:

It’s an absolute honor to be up here with Jordan and Richard, two of the greatest guys I know. They are a lot better than me. I can’t think of anyone better deserving of their numerous awards, including this one. I thank them for their example and friendship. I also thank the faculty and staff. Moreover – – – – you know you’ve been in English class for too many years when that slips out without even thinking about it – I thank my parents and my religion. Together they have at the same time both anchored and lifted me.
To begin I would like to share some memories that we have had together. Let’s begin with the faculty. They are the greatest, aren’t they? Learning mathematics from teachers like Mr. Esplin and Mrs. Kidd-Thomas allows us to plot the number of people that got Mr. Moore’s chemistry jokes on a nice graph and laugh at how it goes zero – zero – one – two – two – and then, all of sudden - twenty. Especially memorable is the librarians’ eagerness to open the doors of the library early on everyday but checkout day, when they look through the little windows at the massive crowd around the door and smile and wave, but make no move for the door. We have a great faculty and staff. I know that I particularly enjoyed the janitor’s clever announcement on free cleaning lessons during the summer to those interested in littering in the school.
Remember the good times and what our class has accomplished. Remember when Jared Behunin broke the school discus record and went on to take first in state. Remember when the girls attacked the high school with sidewalk chalk at Spirit week and the boys had an almost instant rebuttal. Remember when we buried Tyson in the sand at Senior Sunrise and Jake got stuck on the H at H day. Remember the procrastinators, those that would get up at four AM the day a five-page paper was due and have it done in time for school. I guess most of us are procrastinators – almost all of us have waited until the very last day of high school to graduate. I would tell you to stop procrastinating from experience, but…I won’t even mention when I wrote this speech. I’m doing well, though – I mentioned procrastination in the middle of the speech, not at the end.
At commencement our thoughts naturally turn to the future. Incidentally, it is these memories of the past, anecdotal and humorous though they may be, which link us to the future. The future is built upon the past. It is these past experiences that provide the framework for our current and future actions. Each experience tempers character like metal in a forge. Or like the construction of a golf ball. I learned this from my neighbor. Golf balls used to be smooth until it was discovered that the chinks or marks made in the ball made from hitting it would allow the ball to fly farther. So it is with us. Each experience molds our character and when applied appropriately helps us to fly farther and achieve greater heights. Let our experiences, and those of people gone before us, refresh our mind and help guide decisions for the future.
Stay loose. Don’t get so caught up in the system that you think you can’t do something you really want to do. Go for it anyway. We’ve seen in high school that the times we remember the most are those when something…unorthodox occurs. Unorthodoxy happens when we do not succumb to the unifying pressure placed upon us by fear. I am not advocating breaking rules or anything like that. Rather, take courage in pursuing your own dreams. Each of us has our own utopia. Define it and work for it. Seriously. Why shouldn’t that be our ultimate goal? Miraculous things can and will happen when you bend your will to accomplish something.
And remember that with the privilege of contentment, accomplishment and success comes an equally important obligation to perpetuate privilege for others. Success without service is like drawing interest on somebody else’s bank account. As part of that charge, may we always remember our alma mater, Hurricane High School, and give back to the school and community that sustained us.
We have an amazing class. I moved here a few years ago from Bountiful and so I could really see people’s character stand in sharp relief because I didn’t know anybody. You are great. I have seen deep compassion and kindness, acceptance, tolerance, a little mischievousness – especially when it comes to spirit week – and unity. These last few weeks have really shown how as a senior class we are all – well, most of us – friends. Despite our differences, we are one. We respect each other, know each other well, and have a bond. Look around. Smile at each other. 12 long years. We did it. Together. Once again, congratulations class of 2008!

Well...done!

Last night was grad-nite. We got done at about 5:30 A.M. I went home, went to sleep, and when I woke up, it was 3:30 P.M.! Wow! It totally felt like it was 10 in the morning. I have NEVER slept that long into the day before! It kind of wasted my whole day. But hey - I'm not sleepy!

Posting During Graduation!

Here I am, posting while we're all at graduation! Figure that one out, eh?

I'm so nervous right now, because I'm sitting up here having to speak in a few minutes and I don't like speaking. Well, here goes.

Hopefully Grad Nite will be fun tonight!

Yes! Graduated!

Biased Randomness?

You know, I've been thinking.

It is so typical to choose randomly at fun, casual sporting events. For example, everybody lines up and are numbered off, or names are randomly drawn from a list or something. This is supposed to be the most unbiased way to make teams, right? Wrong. Here's an important fact about "randomly" drawing teams:

The drawing is always biased toward the winning team, especially in a tournament structure.

The teams are already biased! The best team is going to win, regardless of the method of choosing! The teams will always be biased in a tournament structure, because one team will end up as the winner. They're already better than everybody else, they just haven't proved it yet. A tournament always has unfair teams. Nobody starts on a footing commensurate with anybody else. The only thing a tournament is for is to tell everybody where they are in relation to everybody else. Then the question becomes: what is the motivation for joining a tournament? If one team is already better than everybody else, why does everybody think they have a chance?

I tell you, we all see things wrong when it comes to selecting teams.

Whew!

Graduation!

Not just graduation, but the End of Year Video Yearbook, the Senior DVD, and the Senior Slideshow are all finished now! Each took a great deal of work! Now they're done! Free at last!

Epitaph on a Dentist

Stranger, approach this spot with gravity;
John Brown is filling his last cavity.

-Anonymous

Still Alive, Just Very Busy

The title says it all! I haven't posted any real meat up here, and today I just got back from State Solo & Ensemble, and it's pretty late, and so I'm going to bed. I'm just letting everybody know I haven't forgotten and will hopefully post when things aren't so hectic.

Here's a question to keep you busy 'til next time:
Which would you rather be extremely large? Your ears or your nose?

Machines are toast at State Jazz

I guess the manufacturer is so certain of the machine's inefficacy or inability...

Recap On Theories Previously Mentioned

A while ago I posted a theory on our minds. Just today during fourth hour (after helping the librarians with their daily crossword puzzle), I found a book in the library called Brainscapes, by Richard Restak. It is eight years old. However, I was thumbing through the book and found that as well as being a very interesting book it quoted a certain philosopher and his theory. Here's a direct quote:

"The philosopher Immanuel Kant, although he never spoke about the brain, expressed a similar belief when he suggested that we do not experience things as they are in themselves but only as filtered through the medium of the mind-we would now say the brain. This clearly implies a direct relationship between our brain's organization and operation and what we can learn about the world and about ourselves as part of that world." (pg. 134-135)

The book also matched my theory on recursive thought. It talked about frames of mind and how the brain can think about itself. All in all, I was excited, because it was talking about many of the things I had previously considered! I think I might check it out someday. If only I had time to read for fun.

Perhaps the Busiest Week

Warning: Long Post Ahead

This last week has been...insane. I've been to four class periods the whole week - two on Monday and two on Friday. I've slept in my own bed once in the last seven days. Here's the story.

We'll start with Monday. At lunch-time FBLA left for our State Competition. We had a long six hour bus-ride up there, and then stayed up there until late at night Wednesday. We had lots of fun (I guess) in Ogden, where there is nothing to do. Especially by our convention center. However, here are the awards I remember:

• Josh M. - 3rd in Accounting I
• Sarah C. and Kassara S. - 3rd in *Desktop Publishing
• James P. - 6th in Cyber Security, 8th in Computer Problem Solving, 9th in Networking Concepts
  
• Kirsten W. - Was elected as a State Officer - Secretary
• Sean F. - 1st Place in Business Communication, 5th Place in Cyber Security, 6th Place in Business Calculations
• Sean F. and James P. - 1st Place in E-business
  

Remember that these awards are State-wide, and are not broken down into school sizes like sports are (5A, 3A, etc). We compete against the entire gamut of students.

*Desktop Publishing requires the submittal of a production test; our team had to create a logo, calendar, flyer, and other Desktop Publishing creations to be prejudged, then take an objective test at the State Leadership Conference (SLC)

Which means that James and I are going to Nationals, and there is a good chance that both Josh M. and the team of Sarah and Kassarah could be coming as well. Kirsten is also attending as a new state officer.

On Thursday the day was devoted to Sterling Scholar Region. Long and boring intervals were interspaced with brief moments of heart-attackish type adreneline rushes. We practiced the awards ceremony, broke for interviews, had lunch (hamburgers), had dinner, then had the awards ceremony. We had one Sterling Scholar Region Winner (Jordan H. in Mathematics) and about five runners up (I got runner up in General Scholarship). The winner of the General Scholarship competition had a 33 ACT score and had been out of the country for several weeks helping poor children in Cambodia or somewhere.

Friday was the day I went to school for half of the day again. The other half was spent decorating for Prom. At about 3:15 I left the Prom decoration event and went to the high school to travel on a bus back up north for the State Jazz Festival. Strangely enough I got the same bus driver I had for the FBLA trip, so I spent more than 25 hours in that exact bus. Big time waster. We played That's Cool by Shelly Berg, In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, by I'm not sure, and Mongo's Mood, by I'm not sure (a different I'm not sure). We received a II, another II, and a II+. Pretty good considering this is the first time we've even qualified for State Jazz in approximately ten years.

We got back from our trip on Saturday at around 5:00 p.m., just in time to go home, get ready for Prom, then attend the Priesthood Session, then go pick up our dates (Jerry R. took Sarah C., and I took Whitney S.). We ate at Olive Garden, then attended the dance. Jerry and I were both at State Jazz, which means that we were not around on Saturday to do any sort of "day date" thing, so we are planning a cool date for next Saturday, which I'm looking forward to.

Prom was generally awesome. All three of the others in my group, including my date (Whitney, Jerry, and Sarah) were fun to be around. The only complaint I have is that the picture line was too long; we only were actually on the dance floor for about an hour and fifteen minutes. So I was pretty annoyed, and when I'm annoyed I'm edgy, and so I probably wasn't the most fun to be around in the line ;). We had a bunch of fun though. Swinging is always a fun dance style, even if your flower falls off. (That reminds me...a quick note...I learned how to make corsages from Jerry's sister, and we both made one for our dates; it's so cheap and easy I don't know why we don't do them all the time ourselves) I was elected as Prom King, a great honor that is nice to have and boosts self-esteem, but it was an award I would rather not have received (at least in front of everybody at the dance). I am not built for publicity and stuff, and then people come up to me in the hallway all the time and say stuff like, "Congratulations on being Prom King!" and some try to be sneaky and come up and say hi and then under their breath breathe, "Prom King," like I'm supposed to say, "Oh, thanks" rather sneakily and give them a big fake wink. I never know what to say when people say stuff like that. I thank them, but I'd much rather everybody forgot about the whole deal. This kind of stuff makes me uncomfortable. Natalie H. was the queen, Cody P. was the prince, and Tanya H. was the princess.

The best part of the logistical side of the dance was the music; because we picked all of the music beforehand ourselves, and because we spent the little extra money to hire a good DJ, the music was awesome.

We sold out of Prom tickets beforehand and then sold some more at the door. We sold about 175 tickets, which means about 350 people at the dance. After the dance we stayed to help clean up, because I'm on the Prom committee, and then we went to Tia B.'s house to eat crepes. We did get a picture of the Prom committee, but not of the royalty.

Sunday we left again, this time to watch general conference at my grandparents house in St. George (we don't have T.V.). Hectic. More posts coming soon.

What is the present tense....

...of wrought?