Showing posts with label blah blah blah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blah blah blah. Show all posts
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Tender Mercies Realized
Our official Nigeria blog is now up and running. We will be living in either Yola or Jimeta, so the blog address is JOYmeta.blogspot.com. There is also a link on the right. She has promised to take an active updating role in this one. It is possible that that will eventually become the new and official family blog. We'll see. We'll let you know before we abandon this one.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Random comments on accents
My theater training never included Italian accents. My son, however, likes asking me to "talk like Luigi." So I've spent a lot of time lately working on an accent I've never studied. At first my attempts sounded like most pretty pitiful versions of an Italian accent with which you're probably familiar - stick an -a at the enda of randoma words anda see what happens.
While shoveling the snow today, I realized I had learned something about the accent from trying it. The -a doesn't go after random words, but serves to separate two words that would otherwise be joined by consonants. In my example above, the -a between "end of" doesn't help the words flow, but "anda see" does, as would an -a between "what happens." Now because I'm making this up, I don't really know if it's "correct" but it feels sensible. It could also be a matter of rise and flow, or only going after certain consonants because those letters don't end words in Italian, or some other possibility.
One of the ways Hyrum is mildly entertaining is that he thinks all English dialects are "Mary Poppins." He really doesn't care if I sound like Bert or Monty Python or Hermione or Ringo, they're all Mary.
And on the subject, I'll just mention that I have a terrible time doing a German accent. This is funny since I speak German and taught English to Germans, so I've heard a lot of it. The first problem is that the harsh-sounding stereotypical German accent doesn't sound like the attempt of anyone I knew in Germany to speak English. The second problem is that to do it right, I have to think in German and then translate it back into English and it gets mighty complicated to keep up. The best I can do these days is imitate Pres. Uchtdorf, but he speaks with a much clearer English than most Germans would so his voice doesn't scream "Kraut" the way someone on Hogan's Heroes would. Thankfully, Hyrum doesn't want to play act anyone German yet, so I don't have to worry about it.
While shoveling the snow today, I realized I had learned something about the accent from trying it. The -a doesn't go after random words, but serves to separate two words that would otherwise be joined by consonants. In my example above, the -a between "end of" doesn't help the words flow, but "anda see" does, as would an -a between "what happens." Now because I'm making this up, I don't really know if it's "correct" but it feels sensible. It could also be a matter of rise and flow, or only going after certain consonants because those letters don't end words in Italian, or some other possibility.
One of the ways Hyrum is mildly entertaining is that he thinks all English dialects are "Mary Poppins." He really doesn't care if I sound like Bert or Monty Python or Hermione or Ringo, they're all Mary.
And on the subject, I'll just mention that I have a terrible time doing a German accent. This is funny since I speak German and taught English to Germans, so I've heard a lot of it. The first problem is that the harsh-sounding stereotypical German accent doesn't sound like the attempt of anyone I knew in Germany to speak English. The second problem is that to do it right, I have to think in German and then translate it back into English and it gets mighty complicated to keep up. The best I can do these days is imitate Pres. Uchtdorf, but he speaks with a much clearer English than most Germans would so his voice doesn't scream "Kraut" the way someone on Hogan's Heroes would. Thankfully, Hyrum doesn't want to play act anyone German yet, so I don't have to worry about it.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Random Disney comments: mothers
Disney movies gives moms short shrift. In most movies, moms aren't even present. There are a lot more missing moms than dads, and so percentage wise many fewer mothers have strong relationships with their main character children or strong acting roles. Dads, by contrast, are wonderful people - lots of strong relationships, there's even a grand total of Three movies where the dad is the hero. Even if they are absent, dads are revered and mentioned while a missing mother doesn't get a mention.
You may not believe me. You may even be able to cite one of the few good moms given that they just gave us one. But let's take a look at a list of the Walt Disney Animation Studios major motion pictures (so we're not counting Pixar yet). And let's not even bother with the musical montage pieces, like Fantasia, and there are a few movies I haven't seen so I'm not suited to comment on them. So that throws out 21 of the 49 films right off the bat as not having a mother, but nobody's surprised. Here is how I score the mothers (or mother figure) and fathers (or father figure) [Peter Pan is a special case where the parents have a weak role, but the whole play/novel is in praise of mothers and motherhood.]
None of the evil or antagonistic parents are actually parents of the hero: step-mothers, an uncle, a pair of villains abusing the girl in their care, and Tarzan's gorilla-dad. But check out the missing. Moms are twice as likely to be missing as dads. There are only two movies that have a mom but not a dad.
Just looking at the recent (since Little Mermaid) spate of movies, mothers are missing in more than half of them; Tarzan has a strong mother role, Lilo & Stitch has a strong mother role (I think - I haven't seen it, but I've seen plenty of promo shots with the mom), and the Princess and the Frog has a strong mother role. But even then, mother is still alive and all the girl cares about is her relationship with her dead father. Its his dream of a restaurant that matters, not mom's dream of grandchildren; it's visions of daddy that drive her, inspire her, and tempt her in at least 3 separate musical numbers while Oprah [Oprah!] gets one.
Meanwhile, the only recent movie missing a daddy is the Rescuers Down Under [I'm not sure about Lilo & Stitch, again]. Every father figure has a strong role, with one villain [Frollo] and one antagonist [Tarzan's gorilla-dad]. Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Simba, Mulan, Chicken Little, and Tia are all driven by their relationship with dear old daddums. Dad may not always understand, but reconciliation comes in every case and the love of child for parent and parent for child is more than evident.
Pixar has the same issue. Andy has both parents but they're largely invisible. No parents in Monsters. A strong dad (no moms) in Cars, Nemo, AND Ratatouille; two strong parents in Incredibles (one of whom is the hero); and Up where there is one weak mother relationship, an absent and sorely missed father relationship dominating one lead character's motivations, and another strong father-figure who is a hero.
Mind, it's great to be a Disney Dad. Can we give the moms a little more love?
You may not believe me. You may even be able to cite one of the few good moms given that they just gave us one. But let's take a look at a list of the Walt Disney Animation Studios major motion pictures (so we're not counting Pixar yet). And let's not even bother with the musical montage pieces, like Fantasia, and there are a few movies I haven't seen so I'm not suited to comment on them. So that throws out 21 of the 49 films right off the bat as not having a mother, but nobody's surprised. Here is how I score the mothers (or mother figure) and fathers (or father figure) [Peter Pan is a special case where the parents have a weak role, but the whole play/novel is in praise of mothers and motherhood.]
| Mothers | Fathers | ||||
| Evil | 3 | 2 | |||
| Antagonist | 0 | 2 | |||
| Missing | 12 | 6 | |||
| Weak | 3 | 3 | |||
| Strong | 7 | 11 |
None of the evil or antagonistic parents are actually parents of the hero: step-mothers, an uncle, a pair of villains abusing the girl in their care, and Tarzan's gorilla-dad. But check out the missing. Moms are twice as likely to be missing as dads. There are only two movies that have a mom but not a dad.
Just looking at the recent (since Little Mermaid) spate of movies, mothers are missing in more than half of them; Tarzan has a strong mother role, Lilo & Stitch has a strong mother role (I think - I haven't seen it, but I've seen plenty of promo shots with the mom), and the Princess and the Frog has a strong mother role. But even then, mother is still alive and all the girl cares about is her relationship with her dead father. Its his dream of a restaurant that matters, not mom's dream of grandchildren; it's visions of daddy that drive her, inspire her, and tempt her in at least 3 separate musical numbers while Oprah [Oprah!] gets one.
Meanwhile, the only recent movie missing a daddy is the Rescuers Down Under [I'm not sure about Lilo & Stitch, again]. Every father figure has a strong role, with one villain [Frollo] and one antagonist [Tarzan's gorilla-dad]. Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Simba, Mulan, Chicken Little, and Tia are all driven by their relationship with dear old daddums. Dad may not always understand, but reconciliation comes in every case and the love of child for parent and parent for child is more than evident.
Pixar has the same issue. Andy has both parents but they're largely invisible. No parents in Monsters. A strong dad (no moms) in Cars, Nemo, AND Ratatouille; two strong parents in Incredibles (one of whom is the hero); and Up where there is one weak mother relationship, an absent and sorely missed father relationship dominating one lead character's motivations, and another strong father-figure who is a hero.
Mind, it's great to be a Disney Dad. Can we give the moms a little more love?
Random Disney comments: most annoying character
I just can't wait to blog about Hyrum's trip to Disneyland this week, but I have to since I want to do it with pictures. For now it'll have to suffice to say he loved it - fulfilled every dream. In the meantime, I guess I'll just do a few Disney riffs I've been thinking about as we got ready for his big trip.
There are some Disney characters that I find annoying. As a group, they tend to be quite self-centered and not learn important lessons that would make them better people. Ariel comes to mind, but there is a reasonable hope that marriage (as a teenager?? no worse than Snow White's when she's supposed to be 10) will do her some good.
My least favorite character is Tinkerbell. It's not just that she's vain, self-centered, immodest, and jealous, and enjoys mocking others. Though let's start with that. Consider what it says for someone that applause brings them back to life: diva, much? Her merchandise defines her as "sassy." Oh, that's what I want my children to be! Not only that, but her figurines, dolls, snowglobes, and other knick-knacks regularly forget to put a little more green paint on when she sits cross-legged or is flying by. Good thing there are no paparazzi in Neverland!
More importantly look at what her jealousy leads her to do. She is willing to sell Wendy and the boys into slavery! Kidnapping, shanghaiing, slavery she agrees to and an accomplice in multiple attempted murders that she didn't suspect even though she is willing making a deal with a bumbling devil. Legally, she is responsible for those as well.
And what is her reward for this treasonous, duplicitous betrayal? She becomes the second symbol of the Disney corporation! Who opens every Disney movie? Not Mickey, but Tink. Not only that, she gets her own cartoon series as lead, the only secondary character other than Jimminy Cricket to get one, if I recall.
Down with Tink!
There are some Disney characters that I find annoying. As a group, they tend to be quite self-centered and not learn important lessons that would make them better people. Ariel comes to mind, but there is a reasonable hope that marriage (as a teenager?? no worse than Snow White's when she's supposed to be 10) will do her some good.
My least favorite character is Tinkerbell. It's not just that she's vain, self-centered, immodest, and jealous, and enjoys mocking others. Though let's start with that. Consider what it says for someone that applause brings them back to life: diva, much? Her merchandise defines her as "sassy." Oh, that's what I want my children to be! Not only that, but her figurines, dolls, snowglobes, and other knick-knacks regularly forget to put a little more green paint on when she sits cross-legged or is flying by. Good thing there are no paparazzi in Neverland!
More importantly look at what her jealousy leads her to do. She is willing to sell Wendy and the boys into slavery! Kidnapping, shanghaiing, slavery she agrees to and an accomplice in multiple attempted murders that she didn't suspect even though she is willing making a deal with a bumbling devil. Legally, she is responsible for those as well.
And what is her reward for this treasonous, duplicitous betrayal? She becomes the second symbol of the Disney corporation! Who opens every Disney movie? Not Mickey, but Tink. Not only that, she gets her own cartoon series as lead, the only secondary character other than Jimminy Cricket to get one, if I recall.
Down with Tink!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Usual Disclaimers
In the last few posts, I've mentioned several products by name. The Powers That Be require me to mention that I am not paid by any of them in cash or in kind.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
A new day dawning?
I'm thinking more and more about breaking this bugger into two blogs: one for work to discuss economics, development, politics, and some religion to a broader world and one just for the more familial concerns. While I can believe that some of you who are here for the pictures of the baby are also interested in the economics and politics, I think there are some pretty separate audiences here ... and that it might be a good idea to keep some of the audience separate. I'll let you know when the new blog is up.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Year of the ...
I find it helpful midyear to pull out my New Year's Resolutions and remember what it is I'm supposed to be working on. You may recall our amazing coverage of last year's Year of the Potato, hosting by FAO. The fourth largest source of calories in the world and a major source of vitamins and carbohydrates, the potato was recently credited in new research with increasing world population by 12% and half of the urbanization that took place from 1000-1900.
So what are we celebrating this year?
Year of animals!
In the Chinese calendar, it's the Year of the Ox, aka buffalo. Check out the link for ideas on what this means and what to do about it. The UN has declared it the Year of the Gorilla, with Jane Goodall as the obvious choice for advocate, to preserve the species. It's also Year of the Shark according to environmentalists who aren't satisfied with saving one species a year. Which one should we celebrate? Maybe we should decide by cage fight... Year of the Gorilla vs. Shark Grudge Match!
Year of science!
To celebrate 40 years since a giant leap was made for mankind and 400 years since Galileo first used a telescope to study the galaxy, it is the International Year of Astronomy. We've already celebrated by repairing Hubble and launching the world's largest telescope to find earth-like planets around other stars.
Year of trench workers!
Two professions, actually. His Holiness is celebrating the Year for Priests while the military rejoices in their non-commissioned officers (Year of the NCO).
Semi-honorable mentions
In California it's the Year of the Olive, while the Jewish Zodiac celebrates the Year of the Pickle. The pickle demonstrates its seasoned maturity over the days when it was just a cucumber. [The Jewish Zodiac ("Remember the Sabbath Brunch and Keep it Holy") tells me that I was born in the year of the Lox, meaning I am thin, rich, and very high maintenance. "Consider retiring to Boca. Compatible with bagel and schmear, although you top them." Happily, Joy and Hyrum are both bagels.]
And the FAO winner:
The Food and Agriculture Organization, to whose data and conferences my dissertation owes its life, has actually decided to abandon the food side this year in favor of ...
A Wild and Wooly 2009: Natural Fibres Year
[Picture of Douglas Fairbanks in Wild and Wooly (1917)]
By this announcement and attendent celebrations, the FAO hopes to assist impoverished natural fibre farmers. The list of the privileged includes:
cotton [Harvested today by machines called cotton pickers and cotton strippers],
flax (Worst comes to it, eat your shirt and get 100% of your B1 and Magnesium)
sisal [from a plant in Africa and China],
hemp ('It's not just for smoking anymore'),
abaca [related to the banana],
jute [in India and Bangladesh],
silk ('I'm wearing discarded worm housing!'),
wool ('Clothing for the sheeple'),
alpaca [llama hair],
camel ('Without us, some lawyers would be naked, and we wouldn't want that'),
angora [Do you mean the Angora rabbit, the Angora goat, or the Angora cat?],
coir [coconut hair! Dude, where can I get a coir hat?]
and cashmere [Persian wool actually from Kashmir originally]
"England’s rise as a world power was built on wool and textiles, while silk for centuries held a central role in international trade. ... Celebrations of IYNF will include conferences, exhibits, and fashion shows in many countries, including an International Mohair Summit in South Africa and a Creative Fibre Festival in South Caterbury, New Zealand."
So remember, if you see a non-comissioned priest in a mohair suit sitting on a pickle-eating ox while he tries to find constellations of a gorilla and shark dueling in the heavens, offer him an olive. This year's for him.
So what are we celebrating this year?
Year of animals!In the Chinese calendar, it's the Year of the Ox, aka buffalo. Check out the link for ideas on what this means and what to do about it. The UN has declared it the Year of the Gorilla, with Jane Goodall as the obvious choice for advocate, to preserve the species. It's also Year of the Shark according to environmentalists who aren't satisfied with saving one species a year. Which one should we celebrate? Maybe we should decide by cage fight... Year of the Gorilla vs. Shark Grudge Match!
Year of science!
To celebrate 40 years since a giant leap was made for mankind and 400 years since Galileo first used a telescope to study the galaxy, it is the International Year of Astronomy. We've already celebrated by repairing Hubble and launching the world's largest telescope to find earth-like planets around other stars.
Year of trench workers!
Two professions, actually. His Holiness is celebrating the Year for Priests while the military rejoices in their non-commissioned officers (Year of the NCO).
Semi-honorable mentions
In California it's the Year of the Olive, while the Jewish Zodiac celebrates the Year of the Pickle. The pickle demonstrates its seasoned maturity over the days when it was just a cucumber. [The Jewish Zodiac ("Remember the Sabbath Brunch and Keep it Holy") tells me that I was born in the year of the Lox, meaning I am thin, rich, and very high maintenance. "Consider retiring to Boca. Compatible with bagel and schmear, although you top them." Happily, Joy and Hyrum are both bagels.]
And the FAO winner:The Food and Agriculture Organization, to whose data and conferences my dissertation owes its life, has actually decided to abandon the food side this year in favor of ...
A Wild and Wooly 2009: Natural Fibres Year
[Picture of Douglas Fairbanks in Wild and Wooly (1917)]
By this announcement and attendent celebrations, the FAO hopes to assist impoverished natural fibre farmers. The list of the privileged includes:
cotton [Harvested today by machines called cotton pickers and cotton strippers],
flax (Worst comes to it, eat your shirt and get 100% of your B1 and Magnesium)
sisal [from a plant in Africa and China],
hemp ('It's not just for smoking anymore'),
abaca [related to the banana],
jute [in India and Bangladesh],
silk ('I'm wearing discarded worm housing!'),
wool ('Clothing for the sheeple'),
alpaca [llama hair],camel ('Without us, some lawyers would be naked, and we wouldn't want that'),
angora [Do you mean the Angora rabbit, the Angora goat, or the Angora cat?],
coir [coconut hair! Dude, where can I get a coir hat?]
and cashmere [Persian wool actually from Kashmir originally]
"England’s rise as a world power was built on wool and textiles, while silk for centuries held a central role in international trade. ... Celebrations of IYNF will include conferences, exhibits, and fashion shows in many countries, including an International Mohair Summit in South Africa and a Creative Fibre Festival in South Caterbury, New Zealand."
So remember, if you see a non-comissioned priest in a mohair suit sitting on a pickle-eating ox while he tries to find constellations of a gorilla and shark dueling in the heavens, offer him an olive. This year's for him.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Finding Yourself on Facebook
Pre-script: I'd really like to only include the first paragraph of this post, and then stick the rest "under the fold" as it's termed. How do you do that on blogspot? The idea is that there is a small link that says 'to read the rest,' and then this long, rambling nothing of a post doesn't push all the interesting Hyrum material off the page. Any ideas? Thanks. - DW
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I enjoy playing around with personality quizzes. They all have a tendency to say more than could be justified by their questions, but unless I think the result is absolute bunk or thoroughly unsubstantiated, I usually enjoy getting some nearly-always positive feedback about myself or hearing something completely off the wall.
The unsubstantiated:
"You are a perfect Mormon. There are only 4-5 of these in the whole world, so you must have been lying."
There were, what, FOUR questions to your survey? The only two I recall were how often I read my scriptures and what temperature I like my caffeine (aka how tolerant I am of other people's caffeine). That it?? I have yet to see an LDS survey that was worth baby drool. Maybe the market needs me....
The bunk:
I am the muppet Janice. She's in the band, Electrical Mayhem "oh yeah, with the yellow hair and bad makeup if I recall correctly," Joy identifies. For suuuuure. Laid back, everyone thinks I'm totally cool, nothing phases me, love being in groups.... Uhhhh, try again.
Off the wall:
Closely related to the bunk, I'm filling a giant pool with diet lemonade to reduce global warming when a raptor knocks me in and I drown. I may not survive raptors or lemonade, but I've got a 50/50 shot of surviving zombie attack. For a guy who only saw one zombie flick from the 70s (starring Charlton Heston as humanity's savior), not bad.
A little more informative:
"You are good-natured and shy, interested in anything and everything that is exquisite, fine, detailed and highly cultivated. You put a lot of store in forms and formality, but that doesn't stop you from having a very poignant longing for ecstatic self-dissolution, which you sometimes achieve in groups, and sometimes through aesthetic appreciation on your own. You are much more comfortable behaving in public exactly like your peers, but when you are alone you pursue activities that are sometimes almost freakishly idiosyncratic. You make friends easily because of your gentility, but you will only be truly intimate with a very small group of them."
Well, let's say I'm more comfortable in public when others behave like me. I have yet to figure out how to act 'normal' without at least a feather boa, a pair of tweezers, two raw eggs, and a pinch of Crisco. It's nice of them to think I make friends easily. I'll give in on formality and private freakish idiosyncrasies, though.
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I enjoy playing around with personality quizzes. They all have a tendency to say more than could be justified by their questions, but unless I think the result is absolute bunk or thoroughly unsubstantiated, I usually enjoy getting some nearly-always positive feedback about myself or hearing something completely off the wall.
The unsubstantiated:
"You are a perfect Mormon. There are only 4-5 of these in the whole world, so you must have been lying."
There were, what, FOUR questions to your survey? The only two I recall were how often I read my scriptures and what temperature I like my caffeine (aka how tolerant I am of other people's caffeine). That it?? I have yet to see an LDS survey that was worth baby drool. Maybe the market needs me....The bunk:
I am the muppet Janice. She's in the band, Electrical Mayhem "oh yeah, with the yellow hair and bad makeup if I recall correctly," Joy identifies. For suuuuure. Laid back, everyone thinks I'm totally cool, nothing phases me, love being in groups.... Uhhhh, try again.
Off the wall:
Closely related to the bunk, I'm filling a giant pool with diet lemonade to reduce global warming when a raptor knocks me in and I drown. I may not survive raptors or lemonade, but I've got a 50/50 shot of surviving zombie attack. For a guy who only saw one zombie flick from the 70s (starring Charlton Heston as humanity's savior), not bad.
A little more informative:
Derrill completed the quiz "THE INNER NATIONALITY QUIZ: WHAT ARE YOU REALLY?" with the result You are Japanese. .
"You are good-natured and shy, interested in anything and everything that is exquisite, fine, detailed and highly cultivated. You put a lot of store in forms and formality, but that doesn't stop you from having a very poignant longing for ecstatic self-dissolution, which you sometimes achieve in groups, and sometimes through aesthetic appreciation on your own. You are much more comfortable behaving in public exactly like your peers, but when you are alone you pursue activities that are sometimes almost freakishly idiosyncratic. You make friends easily because of your gentility, but you will only be truly intimate with a very small group of them."Well, let's say I'm more comfortable in public when others behave like me. I have yet to figure out how to act 'normal' without at least a feather boa, a pair of tweezers, two raw eggs, and a pinch of Crisco. It's nice of them to think I make friends easily. I'll give in on formality and private freakish idiosyncrasies, though.
Derrill completed the quiz "Which element are you?" with the result Air.
"Hey there, Air. How are you doing? In your default form you are by far the gentlest of the elements, the most altruistic of the elements, the easiest to be around. People who are close to you relish that closeness as if you were the oxygen they breathe. Though when you are such an honest and true individual sometimes it is easy for others to move through life as if you are invisible to them, pushing you around and hurting you in ways they would never imagine doing to say, water or fire. Little do they know that air can be pushed too far and all it takes is a few powerful gusts from this angry element to get a point across, though not without a rush of guilt and second thoughts to follow. Your place in the world: The genuine soul and emotional helper to those in need (A breathe of fresh air)."
The description is a bit ... overblown? But at least there are a few friends with whom I know I have fulfilled that role. Most accurate part: the guilt and second thoughts when I express my opinion a tad stronger than I meant to.
The description is a bit ... overblown? But at least there are a few friends with whom I know I have fulfilled that role. Most accurate part: the guilt and second thoughts when I express my opinion a tad stronger than I meant to.Derrill took the Which punctuation mark are you? quiz and the result is comma
"You are a comma. You like to spread yourself a little thin, trying to be all things to all people. A bit of a control freak, you try to do the work of 10 people. Relax! Let someone else shoulder some of the burden for once!"
Now this was undergrad Derrill for sure. It's nice to know he's still alive and well. The best part about this survey is that it's not trying to tell me everything about me. It focuses on one aspect and let's it go.
Not in Facebook land, I've learned that...
if I were a superhero, I'd be Spiderman (inner torment and nerdy)
if I were in Star Wars, I'd be Darth Vader (does not play well with others)
if I had a superpower, I'd have super speed (Joy agrees - highly efficiency oriented)
if I lived in the middle ages, I'd be a traveling troubador (entertainer, love of music and humor)
and in Imaginiff, some friends tell me that the body part that most resembles me is my mouth. ... ?? They explained it was because I led the music at church and sing so much. Ah.
And, by interesting coincidence, a website that examines your blog and tells you your Braxton-Hicks personality type says I'm the exact opposite that my usual B-H test tells me. There are two possibilities: either I'm presenting a false Derrill to you all, or else the blog is a way for me to express other parts of me. Given that my B-H test results give me a 60/40 split on every characteristic, I flatter myself that it's the latter.
What are some of your favorite silly personality quizzes?
Now this was undergrad Derrill for sure. It's nice to know he's still alive and well. The best part about this survey is that it's not trying to tell me everything about me. It focuses on one aspect and let's it go.
Not in Facebook land, I've learned that...
if I were a superhero, I'd be Spiderman (inner torment and nerdy)
if I were in Star Wars, I'd be Darth Vader (does not play well with others)
if I had a superpower, I'd have super speed (Joy agrees - highly efficiency oriented)
if I lived in the middle ages, I'd be a traveling troubador (entertainer, love of music and humor)
and in Imaginiff, some friends tell me that the body part that most resembles me is my mouth. ... ?? They explained it was because I led the music at church and sing so much. Ah.
And, by interesting coincidence, a website that examines your blog and tells you your Braxton-Hicks personality type says I'm the exact opposite that my usual B-H test tells me. There are two possibilities: either I'm presenting a false Derrill to you all, or else the blog is a way for me to express other parts of me. Given that my B-H test results give me a 60/40 split on every characteristic, I flatter myself that it's the latter.What are some of your favorite silly personality quizzes?
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Random Thoughts: If I were.....
... an Insurance Agent, I don't think I would want any of my friends or ward members for clients.
Why, you ask? Well, imagine my friend has something bad happen and comes to me to have the company pay out. Suppose HQ tells me that it's my friend's fault and I can't give out anything. The conflict comes in that I'm supposed to be HQ's representative to my friend rather than my friend's representative to HQ. The friend could get pretty mad, and I've known people who left the church over less of a dispute than that.
I'd much rather refer people to another agent in the firm I can vouch for. That way when such an unhappy state occurs, I can be my friend's rep to the other agent, go to bat, and even if the answer is negative there's a much better chance the friend won't blame me.
Thankfully, economists rarely run into problems like that. Teachers on the other hand, a bit more so.... "Yeah, sorry, dude, but your son's an airhead. He thinks that Karl Marx starred in a bunch of black and white movies and Adam Smith was Joseph's older brother who died of constipation. I had to flunk him." ... I think I'd better work on my delivery. ;)
Any other thoughts about providing professional services to ward members and friends? How much of a discount do you give your home teacher?
Why, you ask? Well, imagine my friend has something bad happen and comes to me to have the company pay out. Suppose HQ tells me that it's my friend's fault and I can't give out anything. The conflict comes in that I'm supposed to be HQ's representative to my friend rather than my friend's representative to HQ. The friend could get pretty mad, and I've known people who left the church over less of a dispute than that.
I'd much rather refer people to another agent in the firm I can vouch for. That way when such an unhappy state occurs, I can be my friend's rep to the other agent, go to bat, and even if the answer is negative there's a much better chance the friend won't blame me.
Thankfully, economists rarely run into problems like that. Teachers on the other hand, a bit more so.... "Yeah, sorry, dude, but your son's an airhead. He thinks that Karl Marx starred in a bunch of black and white movies and Adam Smith was Joseph's older brother who died of constipation. I had to flunk him." ... I think I'd better work on my delivery. ;)
Any other thoughts about providing professional services to ward members and friends? How much of a discount do you give your home teacher?
Sunday, February 15, 2009
What is "the church"?
Let's have a poll, shall we?
The last few weeks have gotten me pondering how many different things we* mean when we say "the church." So when you think "the church," what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Which did you mean the last time you said "the church"?
1) The kingdom of God on earth, the church that will "come forth out of the wilderness of darkness and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners" (D&C 109:73). The Atonement, the plan of salvation, the church as it has always existed in eternity and through each dispensation from Adam to Jesus and now Monson.
2.1) The prophet, apostles, scriptures, doctrines, and revelations. The church that teaches and instructs, provides direction and truth from Heaven.
2.2) The prophet and apostles themselves. The brethren. They are imperfect, but we are assured that the Lord will not allow them to go astray.
3.1) The organizational bureaucracy that includes not only that beautiful pyramid structure MBA's get glossy-eyed about, but auxiliaries, departments, councils, quorums, and, above all, committees. The meetings, the structure, the rules, the programs, the handbooks and restrictions. The order of things. "We believe in meetings...."
3.2) Organized religion - a socioeconomic political organization that starts wars, oppresses minorities, and opposes scientific progress. (I meet enough people in Ithaca who believe this it seems necessary to include it.)
4.1) The members, imperfect though striving, around the world. "The church is not a museum for perfect people." They come from diverse backgrounds, heritages, languages, and cultures, but share a common belief in our Savior Jesus Christ and His gospel restored to earth in these latter days. The global church.
4.2) "Utah Mormons," who sadly are never mentioned by Californians, Ithacans, or 2/3 of BYU students without contempt and derision. (The 1/3 from Utah refer to "Idaho Mormons" instead in the same vein. I don't know who the saints in Pocatello mock.) In class last week, they were portrayed as: white, Republican, lots of kids, bad drivers, and jello-eating. "Mormon culture." Joy specifies "green jello and carrots with mayonnaise on the top."
4.3) The members who are not as spiritually enlightened as I am. This is the church that doesn't understand free agency as well as I do, or the role of grace and works, or my favorite hobby doctrine.
There's also one other definition, but I've never seen or heard anyone confuse this definition with the others:
0) A building, usually of brick, with a few particularly recognizable architectural styles, divided into predictable sets of rooms, where members gather for worship and social activities. ie - "The church is down the street." Visitors, it should be noted, are always welcome at the church for Sunday meetings.
These are the definitions that I could come up with. Which do you mean most often when you say "the church"? Which most recently? What other definitions have you heard? Feel free to combine them or give them percentages or any other free-form response you want. Post a comment.
What "the church" believes and teaches depends a great deal on which of these you mean. I'm thinking it might facilitate understanding if we were a bit clearer about which we mean. Personally, my first thought is some mixture of 1 and 2.
* - By we, I guess I am implicitly assuming fellow latter-day saints (ie - Mormons, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). People from other faiths might well have varients on these themes or other themes altogether.
The last few weeks have gotten me pondering how many different things we* mean when we say "the church." So when you think "the church," what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Which did you mean the last time you said "the church"?
1) The kingdom of God on earth, the church that will "come forth out of the wilderness of darkness and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners" (D&C 109:73). The Atonement, the plan of salvation, the church as it has always existed in eternity and through each dispensation from Adam to Jesus and now Monson.
2.1) The prophet, apostles, scriptures, doctrines, and revelations. The church that teaches and instructs, provides direction and truth from Heaven.2.2) The prophet and apostles themselves. The brethren. They are imperfect, but we are assured that the Lord will not allow them to go astray.
3.1) The organizational bureaucracy that includes not only that beautiful pyramid structure MBA's get glossy-eyed about, but auxiliaries, departments, councils, quorums, and, above all, committees. The meetings, the structure, the rules, the programs, the handbooks and restrictions. The order of things. "We believe in meetings...."
3.2) Organized religion - a socioeconomic political organization that starts wars, oppresses minorities, and opposes scientific progress. (I meet enough people in Ithaca who believe this it seems necessary to include it.)
4.1) The members, imperfect though striving, around the world. "The church is not a museum for perfect people." They come from diverse backgrounds, heritages, languages, and cultures, but share a common belief in our Savior Jesus Christ and His gospel restored to earth in these latter days. The global church.
4.2) "Utah Mormons," who sadly are never mentioned by Californians, Ithacans, or 2/3 of BYU students without contempt and derision. (The 1/3 from Utah refer to "Idaho Mormons" instead in the same vein. I don't know who the saints in Pocatello mock.) In class last week, they were portrayed as: white, Republican, lots of kids, bad drivers, and jello-eating. "Mormon culture." Joy specifies "green jello and carrots with mayonnaise on the top."4.3) The members who are not as spiritually enlightened as I am. This is the church that doesn't understand free agency as well as I do, or the role of grace and works, or my favorite hobby doctrine.
There's also one other definition, but I've never seen or heard anyone confuse this definition with the others:
0) A building, usually of brick, with a few particularly recognizable architectural styles, divided into predictable sets of rooms, where members gather for worship and social activities. ie - "The church is down the street." Visitors, it should be noted, are always welcome at the church for Sunday meetings.These are the definitions that I could come up with. Which do you mean most often when you say "the church"? Which most recently? What other definitions have you heard? Feel free to combine them or give them percentages or any other free-form response you want. Post a comment.
What "the church" believes and teaches depends a great deal on which of these you mean. I'm thinking it might facilitate understanding if we were a bit clearer about which we mean. Personally, my first thought is some mixture of 1 and 2.
* - By we, I guess I am implicitly assuming fellow latter-day saints (ie - Mormons, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). People from other faiths might well have varients on these themes or other themes altogether.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Quotables
I've read some highly interesting passages this week that intrigued me for different reasons: an evaluation of Pres. Nixon by someone who listened to the entire White House tapes, an apostle's impression of the recent inauguration, a tongue-in-cheek assessment of Freddie and Fannie, and a call to something better.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson -- Confirm Thy Soul in Self-Control
(This one from the Friday Forum reading this week. To find out more, come join us.)
My first job out of law school was as law clerk [during the Watergate saga.] ... When President Nixon finally did produce the subpoenaed recordings of White House meetings and telephone calls, ... the judge and I listened to hour after hour of meetings between Nixon ... and others. In the course of listening in on these discussions, I became convinced that Richard Nixon had not had prior knowledge of Gordon Liddy's scheming nor John Mitchell's acquiescence in those schemes. Not long after the arrests ..., Nixon was informed of the relationship between the burglars and his reelection committee... . It was at this point, I think, feeling the expediency of helping a friend and of avoiding embarassment to his reelection campaign, if not to himself, that the president of the United States committed a criminal act... . And so, in succumbing to the pressures of the moment, he stepped off the rock of principle.
Elder M. Russel Ballard -- At the Obama Inauguration
http://www.mormontimes.com/around_church/general_authority/?id=5918
I left with a feeling that the people of America are going to unite behind this new president and his administration and that we need to pray for him. We need to exercise our prayers and help him accomplish the great objectives that he has set.
John Carney -- Fannie and Freddie: Mission Accomplished
http://clusterstock.alleyinsider.com/2009/1/fannie-and-freddie-mission-accomplished
Affordable housing has allegedly been at the heart of the mission of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since the government set up the mortgage entities. In the decades since, Fannie and Freddie have been attempting to help Americans become homeowners by meddling in the credit markets to create cheaper home loans. And, as it turns out, that meddling may now be closer than ever to accomplishing it's goal. ... There are now so many unsold homes on the market that home prices will likely go below historically normal levels. In short, we're getting close to a historically unprecedented level of home affordability. Fannie and Freddie played an important role in achieving this. ... Mission Accomplished.
Socrates (with some substitutions by Adam Kissel)
My friend, you are an American. Your nation is the greatest and most famous for wisdom and for strength. Aren't you ashamed to worry about money, getting as much as you can, and about prestige and status, instead of intelligence and truth and the soul, getting it to be the best it can be? You don't worry about that; you don't even think about it.
(from Plato's Apology at about 29).
Elder D. Todd Christofferson -- Confirm Thy Soul in Self-Control
(This one from the Friday Forum reading this week. To find out more, come join us.)
My first job out of law school was as law clerk [during the Watergate saga.] ... When President Nixon finally did produce the subpoenaed recordings of White House meetings and telephone calls, ... the judge and I listened to hour after hour of meetings between Nixon ... and others. In the course of listening in on these discussions, I became convinced that Richard Nixon had not had prior knowledge of Gordon Liddy's scheming nor John Mitchell's acquiescence in those schemes. Not long after the arrests ..., Nixon was informed of the relationship between the burglars and his reelection committee... . It was at this point, I think, feeling the expediency of helping a friend and of avoiding embarassment to his reelection campaign, if not to himself, that the president of the United States committed a criminal act... . And so, in succumbing to the pressures of the moment, he stepped off the rock of principle.
Elder M. Russel Ballard -- At the Obama Inauguration
http://www.mormontimes.com/around_church/general_authority/?id=5918
I left with a feeling that the people of America are going to unite behind this new president and his administration and that we need to pray for him. We need to exercise our prayers and help him accomplish the great objectives that he has set.
John Carney -- Fannie and Freddie: Mission Accomplished
http://clusterstock.alleyinsider.com/2009/1/fannie-and-freddie-mission-accomplished
Affordable housing has allegedly been at the heart of the mission of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since the government set up the mortgage entities. In the decades since, Fannie and Freddie have been attempting to help Americans become homeowners by meddling in the credit markets to create cheaper home loans. And, as it turns out, that meddling may now be closer than ever to accomplishing it's goal. ... There are now so many unsold homes on the market that home prices will likely go below historically normal levels. In short, we're getting close to a historically unprecedented level of home affordability. Fannie and Freddie played an important role in achieving this. ... Mission Accomplished.
Socrates (with some substitutions by Adam Kissel)
My friend, you are an American. Your nation is the greatest and most famous for wisdom and for strength. Aren't you ashamed to worry about money, getting as much as you can, and about prestige and status, instead of intelligence and truth and the soul, getting it to be the best it can be? You don't worry about that; you don't even think about it.
(from Plato's Apology at about 29).
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
A Flaneur in O'Hare
Seen in the Chicago airport Children's Airport Museum:
Haikus are simple
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator
Bet you $5 you read my shirt
A father and son looking very bored together, lounging on the painted benches at identical uncomfortable angles (I tried) while father stares at his eyelids and son stares at his handheld brain numbing device.
An evil twin. Two "identical" children in identical clothes with identical haircuts, but one obeyed his parents and was nice to the other kids and the other crushed his drink, wouldn't pick up his backpack, and pushed another kid. Some might say he was acting up in order to be different from his brother, but maybe the other one was....
Some families line up their luggage in a neat, orderly line. Some are kind of spread out over the bench with sweaters, hat, and computer bag on the bench, backpack and carryon near it, stroller to the side, and ... is that a diaper I smell? Yes, it is. One father thought it was a generic pile of luggage and left his own backpack with someone else's stuff. The mother came back later to get it and shake her head at her husband.
And now, back to our nomadic existence wandering the terminals.
*(from Wiki)
The term flâneur comes from the French masculine noun flâneur – which has the basic meanings of "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer", "loafer" – which itself comes from the French verb flâner, which means "to stroll". The term is concerned with a derived meaning – that of "a person who walks the city in order to experience it", a meaning largely developed and elaborated upon by Charles Baudelaire.
Haikus are simple
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator
Bet you $5 you read my shirt
A father and son looking very bored together, lounging on the painted benches at identical uncomfortable angles (I tried) while father stares at his eyelids and son stares at his handheld brain numbing device.
An evil twin. Two "identical" children in identical clothes with identical haircuts, but one obeyed his parents and was nice to the other kids and the other crushed his drink, wouldn't pick up his backpack, and pushed another kid. Some might say he was acting up in order to be different from his brother, but maybe the other one was....
Some families line up their luggage in a neat, orderly line. Some are kind of spread out over the bench with sweaters, hat, and computer bag on the bench, backpack and carryon near it, stroller to the side, and ... is that a diaper I smell? Yes, it is. One father thought it was a generic pile of luggage and left his own backpack with someone else's stuff. The mother came back later to get it and shake her head at her husband.
And now, back to our nomadic existence wandering the terminals.
*(from Wiki)
The term flâneur comes from the French masculine noun flâneur – which has the basic meanings of "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer", "loafer" – which itself comes from the French verb flâner, which means "to stroll". The term is concerned with a derived meaning – that of "a person who walks the city in order to experience it", a meaning largely developed and elaborated upon by Charles Baudelaire.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas Present Poll
So among the other presents I got for Joy was my entry in the Least Romantic Gift category. You see, our toilet seat broke this week. So I got her a new one and wrapped it up as a Christmas present. In fairness, it's a cute toilet seat - has a palm tree. She laughed pretty heartily when she saw it.
The poll question is: what is the Least Romantic gift you have ever given or received your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend?
The poll question is: what is the Least Romantic gift you have ever given or received your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend?
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tasteful Research
First, a link: What did Santa really look like? That's a nice research program, or programme as they like to spell it around here.
But that isn't what I came here to tell you about. When I got to work yesterday, I met one of the professors here in the Nutrition Dept on the elevator and I recognized her at once. You see, her picture on the staff bulletin board is r
ight next to this blank spot where my picture will go in January (how cool is that??). So we got talking about our work and she generously shared some of what she knew about the projects Per and I have taken up. Even though we were already to her office by that time, I knew Per had bemoaned the lack of chatter in the hallways here, so decided he would approve the extra few minutes it took to follow up by asking what she researches.
Oh, whatever comes to hand, Prof. Utermohlen replied modestly. Since moving to the Nutrition Dept, she changed her research focus to how taste and smell sensitivity affect personality, eating habits, and in fact whole cultures. Her profile tells me she is also a pediatrician.
She gave me two beautiful examples of the effects of a discriminating palate. She asked me to guess which country's people had the least discerning taste buds. "The British," I hazarded. When she said I was right, I quipped that that certainly explains their cuisine. (Have you ever heard British and cuisine in the same sentence before? Neither have I.)
She explained that it does much more than that. Because of this, the English were ideally suited for exploring and colonizing other countries. They could take a lot more "gastronomic torture" in stride, living on hard tack and salt pork for months on a time and adapting to whatever the local fare was without difficulty. Ergo, they were more likely than other European powers to live among the colonized people, and, as Acemoglu demonstrates masterfully, more likely to "export" their good government institutions rather than imposing the more extractionary institutions regularly used when mineral exports were the primary objective. Fascinating.
She then had me guess who had the most discriminating sense of taste. My first thought was the stereotypical French, but I plunked for the Japanese instead. I was only close that time. The Japanese eat "fresh fresh fresh fresh fresh food" and so they can tell when something isn't "fresh fresh fresh fresh fresh."
But no, the people with the most highly developed taste buds in the world live in the equatorial regions of S. America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Why is that? Well, she explains, food spoils quickly in tropical climates. You have to be able to tell early on in a meal if it's already gone bad, or you're likely to die or be sick. So the people there develop a highly refined sense of taste.
Is that some cool research or what? Oh, the trials of having too many interests to be able to pursue all of them....
(PS - The hard part of writing this post was avoiding referring to the "best tasting people" in the world. Cannabal Quarterly still hasn't developed a consensus on that issue yet....)
But that isn't what I came here to tell you about. When I got to work yesterday, I met one of the professors here in the Nutrition Dept on the elevator and I recognized her at once. You see, her picture on the staff bulletin board is r
ight next to this blank spot where my picture will go in January (how cool is that??). So we got talking about our work and she generously shared some of what she knew about the projects Per and I have taken up. Even though we were already to her office by that time, I knew Per had bemoaned the lack of chatter in the hallways here, so decided he would approve the extra few minutes it took to follow up by asking what she researches.Oh, whatever comes to hand, Prof. Utermohlen replied modestly. Since moving to the Nutrition Dept, she changed her research focus to how taste and smell sensitivity affect personality, eating habits, and in fact whole cultures. Her profile tells me she is also a pediatrician.
She gave me two beautiful examples of the effects of a discriminating palate. She asked me to guess which country's people had the least discerning taste buds. "The British," I hazarded. When she said I was right, I quipped that that certainly explains their cuisine. (Have you ever heard British and cuisine in the same sentence before? Neither have I.)
She explained that it does much more than that. Because of this, the English were ideally suited for exploring and colonizing other countries. They could take a lot more "gastronomic torture" in stride, living on hard tack and salt pork for months on a time and adapting to whatever the local fare was without difficulty. Ergo, they were more likely than other European powers to live among the colonized people, and, as Acemoglu demonstrates masterfully, more likely to "export" their good government institutions rather than imposing the more extractionary institutions regularly used when mineral exports were the primary objective. Fascinating.
She then had me guess who had the most discriminating sense of taste. My first thought was the stereotypical French, but I plunked for the Japanese instead. I was only close that time. The Japanese eat "fresh fresh fresh fresh fresh food" and so they can tell when something isn't "fresh fresh fresh fresh fresh."
But no, the people with the most highly developed taste buds in the world live in the equatorial regions of S. America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Why is that? Well, she explains, food spoils quickly in tropical climates. You have to be able to tell early on in a meal if it's already gone bad, or you're likely to die or be sick. So the people there develop a highly refined sense of taste.
Is that some cool research or what? Oh, the trials of having too many interests to be able to pursue all of them....(PS - The hard part of writing this post was avoiding referring to the "best tasting people" in the world. Cannabal Quarterly still hasn't developed a consensus on that issue yet....)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Preparing for Christmas (and misc.)
We are so stoked! A couple months ago we had the main room of our new home cleared out. We didn't enjoy it very long though. There were all these boxes in the rest of the house and it was difficult to navigate. So we put all of them in the center of the main room so we'd be tripping over them and get to them eventually.
Last night, we got the last of them unpacked and cleared off our floor. We have a floor again! Hyrum can crawl all around to his heart's content. Joy keeps saying how glad she is every time she walks in the door.
We've got the tinsel and some decorative balls put up around the house. This week we'll get out the tree and hopefully find the lights. I'm REALLY looking forward to having some lights out that people can see. I also have my German Rauchermensch up - he's one of the three wise men, and you put a little incense cone in his belly so he smokes.
We're also preparing for Christmas baking. Steve and Emmy already did the family fatigmand fry. (A thousand thanks! Blessings on you, on your house, and on your camel! May your toilet always flush clockwise and ... yes, dear, I'll behave.) Mom and I will make German stollen and Danish kringla when we're there in January. This week will be pie baking (pumpkin and choclate pecan) and some gingerbread cookies for Joy.
Early next week we'll go caroling with some friends. (If you would like to be among those friends, let me know. I always say, the more the merrier.)
------------------------------
Steve introduced me recently to Brandon Sorenson, a new fantasy author. I've been devouring his first book, Elantris, recently and really enjoying it. I recommend it for fantasy readers. He has developed a very detailed, interesting new world with a fairly complex storyline. There were a couple plot twists that were highly predictable (I have a very firm guess as to how some it will end) but he's thrown in some fairly major surprises I hadn't expected. The characters are drawn well and are very interesting.
Depending on what comes this Christmas, I may dive into some Star Trek (Captain's Table series) next.
------------------------------
Joy has enjoyed her birthday present, Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility. "It has really great graphics. I like growing a garden in 3D! And I love the little animals, especially so far the turtle and the monkey. If you become good enough friends with them, they'll become your pet."
I've been enjoying her game a lot too. Unlike the Gameboy version, the day goes by too quickly to be able to do everything I'd like, so I have to prioritize each day. They also have a pretty strict stamina system that only lets you grow so many crops at the beginning, forcing you to spend the rest of your day socializing.
------------------------------
Tomorrow I turn my dissertation over to Per for signatures, and then to the graduate school for approval and VICTORY!
Last night, we got the last of them unpacked and cleared off our floor. We have a floor again! Hyrum can crawl all around to his heart's content. Joy keeps saying how glad she is every time she walks in the door.
We've got the tinsel and some decorative balls put up around the house. This week we'll get out the tree and hopefully find the lights. I'm REALLY looking forward to having some lights out that people can see. I also have my German Rauchermensch up - he's one of the three wise men, and you put a little incense cone in his belly so he smokes.We're also preparing for Christmas baking. Steve and Emmy already did the family fatigmand fry. (A thousand thanks! Blessings on you, on your house, and on your camel! May your toilet always flush clockwise and ... yes, dear, I'll behave.) Mom and I will make German stollen and Danish kringla when we're there in January. This week will be pie baking (pumpkin and choclate pecan) and some gingerbread cookies for Joy.
Early next week we'll go caroling with some friends. (If you would like to be among those friends, let me know. I always say, the more the merrier.)
------------------------------
Steve introduced me recently to Brandon Sorenson, a new fantasy author. I've been devouring his first book, Elantris, recently and really enjoying it. I recommend it for fantasy readers. He has developed a very detailed, interesting new world with a fairly complex storyline. There were a couple plot twists that were highly predictable (I have a very firm guess as to how some it will end) but he's thrown in some fairly major surprises I hadn't expected. The characters are drawn well and are very interesting.
Depending on what comes this Christmas, I may dive into some Star Trek (Captain's Table series) next.
------------------------------
Joy has enjoyed her birthday present, Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility. "It has really great graphics. I like growing a garden in 3D! And I love the little animals, especially so far the turtle and the monkey. If you become good enough friends with them, they'll become your pet."I've been enjoying her game a lot too. Unlike the Gameboy version, the day goes by too quickly to be able to do everything I'd like, so I have to prioritize each day. They also have a pretty strict stamina system that only lets you grow so many crops at the beginning, forcing you to spend the rest of your day socializing.
------------------------------
Tomorrow I turn my dissertation over to Per for signatures, and then to the graduate school for approval and VICTORY!
Friday, November 7, 2008
We have our computer back!
Every time we've contacted Dell about a problem with our laptop, it's gotten slower. We finally sent it to them to have them take a look at it. It's been very weird being without internet access at home for a week. Surprise, surprise, we lived. Given that we were all sick, I also didn't go in to the office like I would have normally, so it was almost a total abstinence!
It got back in today, looking all clean and newish. The keyboard types like new, the usb ports that didn't work work again, the crack in the casing is gone, and we have a suggestion on how to speed things up a bit. What am I looking forward to most?
Let the serious blogging re-commence!
It got back in today, looking all clean and newish. The keyboard types like new, the usb ports that didn't work work again, the crack in the casing is gone, and we have a suggestion on how to speed things up a bit. What am I looking forward to most?
Let the serious blogging re-commence!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Miscellany: WiiFit and Books
We have had our WiiFit for 50 days now and actually used it about 40 of those days (-7 Sundays and a few sick days). The WiiFit is a glorified scale ... but it's actually not that reliable. My weight will fluctuate by over 4 pounds from one day to the next! Up 6, down 5, down 2, up 3.... This makes it difficult to rely on it to tell us how much we weigh. What we put a little more faith in is the overall trend. For both of us, it's slightly down, but not by an incredible amount.
We enjoy the aerobic workouts most, Joy on step aerobics and I like it's boxer and the step aerobics. We have a regular challenge to see who scores best on the steps. "I'm ahead again! I got like 629 or something like that!" Hmmm, the bar is raised again. They also have some comfortable yoga stretches, some strength training exercises, and I enjoy the balance games.
The WiiFit also tries to calculate your BMI (body mass index) which is your weight in kg divided by your squared height in meters. The idea is that a person at 22 is ideally healthy. The problem is that the weight that would give us a 22 is NOT our ideal weight! For me, it thinks I should weigh 150 pounds. Now when I weighed a mere 196 right after my mission, I had a handful of people telling me I was unhealthily thin. My nutritionist says my actual ideal weight is 215. That's because I have a lot of muscle and other lean mass. Joy has a similar miscalculation, though hers isn't as large a miscalc as mine.
So we have a way to fool the Fit. I calculated the height of a person who would have as their ideal weight our ideal weight. We created two new characters (mine is named Alter Iigo) who we then claimed are that tall. So the Wii thinks I'm 6'11 and tells me I am merely overweight rather than grossly obese. The Wii stays alive longer that way.
The important question, though, is whether or not the WiiFit has helped us exercise more. The answer is yes. Before I started walking to campus every day, about half of my exercise was done on the Fit, and most of that wouldn't have happened without the ease of having it in my house. "I'm kind of a funny exerciser. I feel guilty/selfish if I spend too much time exercising. But the Wii helps me feel like I have permission to exercise, and I LOVE to be healthy. So I'm enjoying it. I especially appreciated when Derrill figured out we could do the free form step aerobics faster than it counts and it would still count our paces. Then you can go as fast as you want."
"I really like jackknives. It's my favorite ab exercise, and I learned it on the Wii. One thing I really like, since I have a baby, is that it will let you log in 5 minute increments. And you can add exercise you do outside of the Wii.
It is anticipated that it will be of the greatest help once the snow is here "and even on days when it's too hot in the summer."
-----------------------------
Joy and I finished reading Fablehaven books 2 and 3 together, interrupting The Wishsong of Shannara to read them both. We loved them! Joy's greatest complaint about them is that Book 4 isn't out yet. I don't much care for the teenage love interest (Gavin) that was introduced in Book 3 for the lead female (Kendra). I'm secretly hoping that he's really an enemy so she doesn't have to be with him.
-----------------------------
Projects completed:
We moved our bed to the other side of the room. Granted, this is about 6 inches, but in the process we took everything out of the room, cleaned it thoroughly, and then re-constructed the bed on the other side of the room to reduce the chance of mold formation on the outer walls. We also moved the couch away from the outside wall for the same reason, which meant moving two bookcases as well. "It wasn't a major clean up of the garage, but it took us some time."
We had a plumber here to fix the emergency water shut off valve that didn't shut off anything.
I still need to install some more insulation under the trailer where we thought there had been a leak, and there's a VERY LONG list of projects that have been on my honey-do list for months.
"And then we're going to be sending away our computer." The laptop has been waxing old. Dell has kindly offered to examine it to see what other damage they can do, so we may not have the internet in our home for the next week or two. "Given when our service contract ends and how many times we plan on being out of town with it, it makes sense to have a thorough check of it done."
-----------------------------
Dates:
We went to Watkins Glen to tour the falls and leaves. Hyrum loved it, bouncing up and down the whole way in his frontpack. (It would be a backpack, but it's on my front.) Our date to the third game of the World Series last night was canceled due to rain delay.
Joy bought us a second Wii Remote (Wiimote) "and Derrill soundly whooped me in all of the Wii Sports. Good for him." I hear tell if I keep it up, she'll challenge me to boxing, cause she knows I won't him a woman. "I'm pretty good at that, aren't I?" You are quite engaging to watch.
This is Joy hidden behind a waterfall at Watkins Glen. The light was fading pretty bad and the flash doesn't seem to have done much. Oh well. Go to W.G. and behold the back side of water!
We enjoy the aerobic workouts most, Joy on step aerobics and I like it's boxer and the step aerobics. We have a regular challenge to see who scores best on the steps. "I'm ahead again! I got like 629 or something like that!" Hmmm, the bar is raised again. They also have some comfortable yoga stretches, some strength training exercises, and I enjoy the balance games.
The WiiFit also tries to calculate your BMI (body mass index) which is your weight in kg divided by your squared height in meters. The idea is that a person at 22 is ideally healthy. The problem is that the weight that would give us a 22 is NOT our ideal weight! For me, it thinks I should weigh 150 pounds. Now when I weighed a mere 196 right after my mission, I had a handful of people telling me I was unhealthily thin. My nutritionist says my actual ideal weight is 215. That's because I have a lot of muscle and other lean mass. Joy has a similar miscalculation, though hers isn't as large a miscalc as mine.
So we have a way to fool the Fit. I calculated the height of a person who would have as their ideal weight our ideal weight. We created two new characters (mine is named Alter Iigo) who we then claimed are that tall. So the Wii thinks I'm 6'11 and tells me I am merely overweight rather than grossly obese. The Wii stays alive longer that way.
The important question, though, is whether or not the WiiFit has helped us exercise more. The answer is yes. Before I started walking to campus every day, about half of my exercise was done on the Fit, and most of that wouldn't have happened without the ease of having it in my house. "I'm kind of a funny exerciser. I feel guilty/selfish if I spend too much time exercising. But the Wii helps me feel like I have permission to exercise, and I LOVE to be healthy. So I'm enjoying it. I especially appreciated when Derrill figured out we could do the free form step aerobics faster than it counts and it would still count our paces. Then you can go as fast as you want."
"I really like jackknives. It's my favorite ab exercise, and I learned it on the Wii. One thing I really like, since I have a baby, is that it will let you log in 5 minute increments. And you can add exercise you do outside of the Wii.
It is anticipated that it will be of the greatest help once the snow is here "and even on days when it's too hot in the summer."
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Joy and I finished reading Fablehaven books 2 and 3 together, interrupting The Wishsong of Shannara to read them both. We loved them! Joy's greatest complaint about them is that Book 4 isn't out yet. I don't much care for the teenage love interest (Gavin) that was introduced in Book 3 for the lead female (Kendra). I'm secretly hoping that he's really an enemy so she doesn't have to be with him.
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Projects completed:
We moved our bed to the other side of the room. Granted, this is about 6 inches, but in the process we took everything out of the room, cleaned it thoroughly, and then re-constructed the bed on the other side of the room to reduce the chance of mold formation on the outer walls. We also moved the couch away from the outside wall for the same reason, which meant moving two bookcases as well. "It wasn't a major clean up of the garage, but it took us some time."
We had a plumber here to fix the emergency water shut off valve that didn't shut off anything.
I still need to install some more insulation under the trailer where we thought there had been a leak, and there's a VERY LONG list of projects that have been on my honey-do list for months.
"And then we're going to be sending away our computer." The laptop has been waxing old. Dell has kindly offered to examine it to see what other damage they can do, so we may not have the internet in our home for the next week or two. "Given when our service contract ends and how many times we plan on being out of town with it, it makes sense to have a thorough check of it done."
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Dates:
We went to Watkins Glen to tour the falls and leaves. Hyrum loved it, bouncing up and down the whole way in his frontpack. (It would be a backpack, but it's on my front.) Our date to the third game of the World Series last night was canceled due to rain delay.Joy bought us a second Wii Remote (Wiimote) "and Derrill soundly whooped me in all of the Wii Sports. Good for him." I hear tell if I keep it up, she'll challenge me to boxing, cause she knows I won't him a woman. "I'm pretty good at that, aren't I?" You are quite engaging to watch.
This is Joy hidden behind a waterfall at Watkins Glen. The light was fading pretty bad and the flash doesn't seem to have done much. Oh well. Go to W.G. and behold the back side of water!
Monday, June 2, 2008
a very unimportant post
We've had so much going on, and so many thing to share, but the only thing I have time enough to do justice to right now is the least important. It's not even worth capitalizing the title. I take occasional playbreaks while working to sort things out in my mind, and the game of the last few months has been Mahjong: The Endless Journey. The endless journey has been trying to finally get an "A" during one of their "adventure" modes. You play six rounds of increasing difficulty and the total of your score from those six rounds is then summed up to figure out your final "grade."
I even used econometric analysis to determine the optimal strategy! I was getting just a little bit obsessive compulsive ... given that it's something I only do once or twice a day anyway. Last week, just before we moved, I finished my last game and saw this screen. I was so happy. 55377 points for my first A.
Clear signs of overachieverhood, yes. Clear signs of going through withdrawal from being considered an overachiever back in my undergrad days, yes. But when you struggle with whether you can do something so grand as write a dissertation and raise a family, continually getting at best mediocre scores on a stupid video game is also demoralizing (which is why I haven't played Civilization IV in a few months).I got my A. Somehow, everything else will sort itself out too.
I am so weird.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Warm up book reviews
I have only one beef about most book reviewers: they either LOVE everything, or else nothing is ever good enough for them. When I see someone’s list of book reviews, and every one of them gets high praise, I just don’t know what to do with it. What does a bad book look like? How can I tell if your idea of a good book is the same as mine?
This has been more important to me than usual since I didn’t end up finishing two of the books I most recently read, and both of them from previously trusted and enjoyed authors. In both cases (Margaret Weis’ The Soulforge and Dafyd ab Hugh’s Balance of Power) there was just too much sensuality for my comfort level. When Weis and Hickman had written other
So I was very disgruntled this month after stopping two books in a row before halftime. I don’t give myself much time for pleasure reading these days (I’d spend whole summers reading as a teen). Putting down a book and walking away is a very difficult thing for me to do generally, but I made up my mind as a teen that I wasn’t going to read books by authors who felt compelled to put a little lust into every book. You can have perfectly wonderful romances without treating women as objects. (On that note, Joy and I just finished Emma and are working on The Scarlet Pimpernel. Good stuff!)
Thankfully, the book I most recently finished, Federation, did not have that problem. It was a fairly well written book covering three main characters: Zefram Cochrane (inventor of the warp engine which allows faster than light travel, for those of you with only moderate knowledge of the Trek universe), James T. Kirk with his
Federation was an incredibly well-researched book, referring to many of the events in the Trek universe and weaving them together in a tight storyline. The authors, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, had an accurate and generally inspired vision of who each of the characters are in their respective series (another Trek book I read had Worf doing and saying things no Klingon would. And yes, I’ve been on a small Trek kick recently.) The primary drawback it had was that it had the misfortune to be written in between Generations and First Contact, the first two Next Generation movies. In First Contact we meet a very different Cochrane than the intellectual, philosophical, utopian dreamer who just wants to be left alone, and it was difficult trying to reconcile the two.
Just to try out one more, before these three I read another fairly good book, Dead Man's Ransom, #9 in the Cadfael mystery series by Ellis Peters. Peters always writes an engaging story, and Cadfael himself – a former crusader turned monk who solves the murders that happen around his abbey during an English civil war without modern forensics, fingerprints, or any of the advantages enjoyed by any criminologist from Holmes to Grisham – is generally intriguing. The problem is … Peters has a rut. It’s the same guy who’s guilty every time! I won’t tell you who it is in case you decide to read them, but before the character even made his entrance, I knew whodunit. That’s disappointing. Now, the story around that rut is always different and engaging, so I’ll keep on enjoying them. But one does almost long for a mysterious Mister X whose existence is only revealed in the last 5 pages, or that maybe someone who looks guilty would actually be guilty for once. Ah well.
The real purpose of this exercise was a warm up. I’m in the middle of reading a book I’ve been asked to review, and the fact is … I’m hooked on it. I’m so thoroughly addicted I could hardly concentrate on my work today because the characters kept popping into my head! So I wanted to get some complaints out there on some other books so I can demonstrate 1) that I am a discriminating reviewer and willing to call books on their errors, 2) get it out of my system, and 3) just practice writing that style a bit so I can do a better job of it when I do the real thing.
Sorry for the lack of Hyrum pictures. I’ll try to do better next time.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
OB Wise. What can I say more?
D: So as we come up to the 39th week starting here tomorrow, it is time to confess something: we're having two babies. Joy has one of them ... and I seem to have the other. We base this on circumstantial evidence and have not given me an ultrasound, but we have good reason. (If anyone is in doubt at this point, we ARE speaking tongue-in-cheek here, and no one should take us toooo seriously. Read at your own risk.)
J: "I just have this silly tendency, when I'm talking to anyone, and of course we're all a little narcissistic, thinking that the people we know are like us, so when someone tells me something about their life that sounds like a symptom of pregnancy, since I'm pregnant, I say, 'You must be pregnant then.'"
We've found out about a lot of our friends' pregnancies that way. (j/k)
You see, as we go reading through these baby books, they tell us how Joy should be feeling ... and we realize that I feel moreso.
"We've also read that the husbands have sympathy symptoms, but we never figure they would have MORE symptoms."
I'm just incredibly sympathetic.
"We read about it, he gets it ... or has had it. That's even funnier! Poor Derrill"
Classic symptoms of pregnancy:
Morning sickness: Joy didn't have any of this, and neither did I. So I'm behaving like my pregnant wife.
Lower back pain: My back has been hurting me, no matter what position I sit in or how often I stretch, for weeks now. Joy gets the occasional twinge.
"Maybe if you laid on your left side..... *LOL*"
That does seem to be the cure for anything that goes wrong, isn't it?
Joint pain: Again, my joints have been out of sorts for weeks, and Joy's are fine aside from her sciatic nerve.
Just to be REALLY silly about this, we can honestly say I haven't had a menstral cycle in ever so very long. "*LOL* oh dear! His baby's REALLY old."
And that brings us to the swelling in the tummy. Now, Joy's has been growing while mine is shrinking slightly, and this is a good thing. In fact, Joy just passed the point where hers is bigger than mine. I'm enjoying this.
Emotional swings: Joy does beat me here, but whenever I have them, we just blame it on my pregnancy and this is all Normal. ("Our OB doctor told us to tell each other every day that This Is Normal.")
Eating: The doctors tell pregnant women that they should eat smaller meals, about half-sized, every 3 hours or so. Well, guess what my doctors put me on about 6 months ago? That's right, half-sized meals every 3 hours or so. And both Joy's OB and my nutritionist try to reduce our carb intake. "yup yup"
And then I had this dream. Joy was giving birth in a medical research facility, and we were surprised to learn they were twins. One boy came out, but the doc announced there was another baby in there. Just then a giant sea monster (red like a lobster) came up and attacked the facility. We had to escape, so we shoved one of the babies in me and ran out since the other one was still in Joy.
"Not more than a couple days later, I dreamed that I had twins too"
The last week, I've been having stomach cramps, and tonight I started getting a fluttering in my stomach too. It's nothing compared to Hyrum's kicks, "who jiggles my tummy around," but it's quite entertaining.
So we have fun. Now, there's no way they're getting me on that gurney, but I might try to slip some of the pain killers.....
Bill Cosby: "Natural child birth means no drugs will be administered into the female's body during the delivery. The father can have all he wants."
J: "I just have this silly tendency, when I'm talking to anyone, and of course we're all a little narcissistic, thinking that the people we know are like us, so when someone tells me something about their life that sounds like a symptom of pregnancy, since I'm pregnant, I say, 'You must be pregnant then.'"
We've found out about a lot of our friends' pregnancies that way. (j/k)
You see, as we go reading through these baby books, they tell us how Joy should be feeling ... and we realize that I feel moreso.
"We've also read that the husbands have sympathy symptoms, but we never figure they would have MORE symptoms."
I'm just incredibly sympathetic.
"We read about it, he gets it ... or has had it. That's even funnier! Poor Derrill"
Classic symptoms of pregnancy:
Morning sickness: Joy didn't have any of this, and neither did I. So I'm behaving like my pregnant wife.
Lower back pain: My back has been hurting me, no matter what position I sit in or how often I stretch, for weeks now. Joy gets the occasional twinge.
"Maybe if you laid on your left side..... *LOL*"
That does seem to be the cure for anything that goes wrong, isn't it?
Joint pain: Again, my joints have been out of sorts for weeks, and Joy's are fine aside from her sciatic nerve.
Just to be REALLY silly about this, we can honestly say I haven't had a menstral cycle in ever so very long. "*LOL* oh dear! His baby's REALLY old."
And that brings us to the swelling in the tummy. Now, Joy's has been growing while mine is shrinking slightly, and this is a good thing. In fact, Joy just passed the point where hers is bigger than mine. I'm enjoying this.
Emotional swings: Joy does beat me here, but whenever I have them, we just blame it on my pregnancy and this is all Normal. ("Our OB doctor told us to tell each other every day that This Is Normal.")
Eating: The doctors tell pregnant women that they should eat smaller meals, about half-sized, every 3 hours or so. Well, guess what my doctors put me on about 6 months ago? That's right, half-sized meals every 3 hours or so. And both Joy's OB and my nutritionist try to reduce our carb intake. "yup yup"
And then I had this dream. Joy was giving birth in a medical research facility, and we were surprised to learn they were twins. One boy came out, but the doc announced there was another baby in there. Just then a giant sea monster (red like a lobster) came up and attacked the facility. We had to escape, so we shoved one of the babies in me and ran out since the other one was still in Joy.
"Not more than a couple days later, I dreamed that I had twins too"
The last week, I've been having stomach cramps, and tonight I started getting a fluttering in my stomach too. It's nothing compared to Hyrum's kicks, "who jiggles my tummy around," but it's quite entertaining.
So we have fun. Now, there's no way they're getting me on that gurney, but I might try to slip some of the pain killers.....
Bill Cosby: "Natural child birth means no drugs will be administered into the female's body during the delivery. The father can have all he wants."
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