Sam Nanti's Thoughts and Ravings

Bouncing Back

2011-12-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

I owe this blog my latest adventures in the 12 Days of Christmas run, but first, a small message from our sponsors. Well, me.

Long are the days where motivation lacked,
Long do I tire of rejoicing over a B,
When a C on tests I have received.
Long do I tire of sliding along, of not doing all I can.

Tired of the low motivation.

Three weeks I have from now until school begins again.
Three weeks to either flitter away my time,
or to be productive and regain motivation
To set goals and noble habits
To not just laze about.

I have the desire, for I tire of what I have become
But the question is, do I have the will?
To stick it through? To keep at projects
To keep going even when I tire?

The doubt is there,
The temptation to play is strong.
I can only hope I can fulfill the goals of productivity.

Christmas Challenge

2011-12-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

In attempts to regularly blog again, I am posting this years' 12 Days of Christmas Adventures. Last night was Day 1 and I left this note, along with some craft-type decoration birds on the doorstep of some girls in my ward/congregation.

I believe I escaped detection. But, there is an overlooking window and some stairs that creak to get there, so I do have to be careful.

Thoughts on Pottermore

2011-09-26T22:41:00.000-06:00

For some who are not aware, J.K. Rowling partnered with Sony to create an interactive experience for Harry Potter fans. Having been on for 48 hours, hear are my thoughts:

Pros

New material; there are a ton of new images to look at including some of Rowling's personal comments and notes. For example, it is revealed on the site that Professor MacGonagal was once married.
Mouse and Button Listeners; i.e. the individual pages of the site. As you go through you see scenes of some of the chapters. Bits of the scenery moves when you move the mouse over it. You can collect Chocolate frogs, books, other stuff for house points and what not. With the up and down buttons you can interact with a different layer of the same page. It's cool.
Nice layout, with how everything is displayed.
There is some complex formula at work that sorts you into a house, and gets you a wand.
At the moment you can only practice casting spells, basically following a pattern with your mouse and clicking on integral parts of the spell.
Potions. You can brew various potions and they have to be exact or they go wrong. You add in the wrong ingredient, your cauldron could explode and you lose house points. Or it just fizzles if you are too slow. The wand shooting lightning at the potion to let it brew... that's kind of odd.
House Competition; in the Great Hall you can see how many points each house has. Currently Ravenclaw leads Slytherin 54,974 to 54,866.

Cons

Server space. This is the biggest flaw at the moment. There are currently 477,385 people registered for Pottermore and that is only with limited registration. The IT guys at Sony or whoever maintains the back end failed to anticipate the inordinate amount of traffic the site gets. The site often goes down for minutes or hours at a time because there are so many people trying to get on and have fun. Pottermore is going to need to drastically increase the number of their servers so the site doesn't crash all the time.
Commenting. It's limited to 150 characters or so and thus makes it hard to see if someone responds to you. Especially if 1000 others comment at the same time. Additionally, though I don't know for sure, I believe Pottermore employs some sort of selection sort method that checks every word you comment against an existing dictionary. While the upside is that everyone has to use proper English and there will be no l33t speak shenanigans, if you want to use words in another language or even a word like "Nazgul" (which some images of the book 1 chess pieces do resemble), it gets flagged for moderation. With thousands of people all commenting; it is sure to eat up a lot of processes. Great for ensuring no little kid sees swearing I suppose. Which could be their aim.
Limited friend capability. Currently with those you friend, you can only send them an item as a gift and, when the dueling feature is up, engage in duels with friends. There is no direct communication. No way to say hi or whatnot. Again, probably protecting minors, but not so great for those who want to talk to those that send friend requests. Unless you know them outside of Pottermore.
Feedback. It asks how much you like the site. It doesn't ask for comments or about problems. It just has you select how much you like certain features, like how the site looks.
The House Cup and points. With near half a million users and climbing, house points are going to become exceedingly large. There is nowhere saying when the House Cup will be awarded. It might be a quarterly thing, it might not. Right now it is just an arbitrary competition based on who participates the most on the site by either picking up random goodies or making potions.
Potions: This problem is related to the site crashing. The potions made require over an hour of brew time where you let the potion sit. With site crashes and bandwidth issues, it means that a lot of potions go bad and you have to start over. Also, aside from giving potions to friends, you cannot do anything with them.

Conclusion; while the site design and interacting with the site is cool, especially with the inside details of the Harry Potter universe, the servers set it back. Yes, it is still in beta, but the IT side of things should have anticipated the need to have more servers. The limited communication I don't approve of, but Rowling and Sony may be restricting this to protect minors. And from what it seems, the goal is more to roleplay and interact with the site than others, except in magic duels. But... right now it seems like an attempt to take from some online fan rpg elements and make it into a semi interactive site. But it is still under construction. Currently the house point competition could go on forever, the potions are useless except as a way to get points. Reading new stuff is cool. So the main criticism is of the design and IT side of things. And sooner or later ads will be introduced. How else is this going to be paid for?

My piece of advice to J.K. Rowling though? Run from Sony and make a deal with Blizzard. Sony is great for hardware stuff, radios and computers and game consoles and whatnot. Not good at software. They have been hacked multiple times the past year and if security is anything like theirs, it is easy to hack. Blizzard on the other hand has worked with things like Battlenet for over 11 years, plus World of Warcraft. They have 12 million users, and thus know a things or two about server management. Switch to them and let them host your site. Things will go much smoother traffic wise. Plus, they are more creative than Sony in regards to games and challenges. They'd be able to have everything running smoothly and then some.

And So It Continues

2011-08-24T17:46:00.000-06:00

A few years back I gained asthma from laughing too hard. That sounded like the end of the story, right? Just use the inhaler whenever it is needed, no big deal right?

Well last week I went to renew my prescription for my Albuterol. So they did some standard breathing test thing, and apparently I am breathing at 56% lung capacity. I know, crazy. Maybe I have been breathing this way since 2008, maybe it is a result of the dry pneumonia that I got in January. I don't know. But I was given some pill, so we'll see if my breathing capacity increases at all.

But this just goes to prove that I am right about the fact that I will die from laughter.

Puzzles and Doing What You Love

2011-08-23T22:59:00.000-06:00

Last week at the local Orthodontia, the tooth doc had a young man with him, someone training to be an orthodontist as well I presume. As the doc's hands were in my mouth, he was telling the doc-in-training about his job.

The doc said that while some could see Orthodontia as a tedious work, as something boring since the braces are all the same, he sees it as a puzzle. That every mouth is different, a puzzle. And that is what brings him to work each day, the challenge of solving the puzzle. Cause you have to do different things with those braces for every single person.

Just something that got me thinking about how we should love what we do and find joy in our work.

Start of a Murder Mystery?

2011-08-18T23:19:00.000-06:00

Two men on a peak, armed with nothing but camera phones, a backpack and some water. Staring over a valley watching as clouds rolled in with a hint of thunder and lightning in the background.

As the first drops of rain began to fall, the two men hurried down the mountain path, hoping to get to their vehicle before the rains turned from sprinkle to torrent, and that no lightning would strike near them.

The two men managed to get to their vehicle right before the rains began to fall heavily, and drove down the dirt road celebrating their good fortune.

But at a bend of the road, stood a deer. Fortunately the driver's friend saw the deer and they stopped in time to watch the deer sprint back into the forest.

But naught 50 yards down the road stood a woman. A woman soaked by the rains who happened to be staring at the deer as well. A woman of long brown hair and jovial appearance. Cute. And requesting a ride.

The two men acquiesced to her request, and she ran to tell her group that she got a ride. The two men wondered if their short lives were about to come to an end. Would she come back with a weapon; an axe or a gun?

Thankfully naught but the truth left the maiden's lips and soon they were on their way down the mountain, watching as mist rose from the road below.

Just A Little Random

2011-08-16T18:33:00.000-06:00

Once upon a June eve, someone shared with me an image from a blog. A simple message really. Nothing convoluted. Just what was felt. Over a year later, I now feel the same. And in a fit of randomness since I hardly post, I share this image here:

Horcrux Selection

2011-07-31T14:02:00.001-06:00

Earlier this week Kate blogged about what her horcruxes would be, assuming that she were a homicidal wizard bent on immortality.

And I thought I would do the same. But in order to best help you understand my choice of Horcrux selections, you need to understand that if I were a dark wizard bent on immortality, I wouldn't use blood or muggles as a rallying cry. I'd just be evil. And as a muggle and lover of technology, that would need to be part of my wizard self too, a dark wizard knowledgeable about muggle technology.

So, here is my choice selection:

1. A network server. Well, to further elaborate it would be a host of network servers that link to each other with a hard line, wirelessly, or satellite signal. Basically it'd be designed so that the horcrux magic of it isn't just in one location, but depending on the danger can transfer itself to different parts of the network. Plus the added bonus of corrupting google bots and people's computers. Given enough time, it may just infiltrate the whole internet.

2. A telescope\satellite. It doesn't matter which one, just one in Space. How many wizard are capable of going into Outer Space anyways? My point precisely. No wizard could destroy it. Plus, I'd have the added bonus of being able to spy on my enemies from space.

3. A Lord of the Rings book. Nothing more to be said, just a huge fan of it.

4. A top hat. And not just any top hat, but a vintage top hat from the 18th century. Because top hats are just awesome. And it'd be able to give the Sorting Hat a run for its money.

5. So there isn't an appropriate image for this, but as I like programming, I'd place my fifth horcux inside a programming language library. If I choose Java for example, I'd infiltrate Oracle and place my horcrux in the download location for the language libraries in the code itself. Yes, it sounds complicated, but I am a wizard, if Voldemort can learn to fly then surely I can enchant some muggle programming to hold a horcrux. Which changes bits of the programming library to suit its needs and help grant me control over the muggle world.

6. I am also interested in Fencing, so thus a rapier or some other fencing weapon would only be appropriate. Course, the weapon may turn on you if it doesn't like you, but that is a risk to try and use a fencing sword.

7. Last is something different. You know how there are magical portraits of wizards who hold the memories and personality of whom they were painted? I'd do the same. I get my magical portrait taken, but with multiple frames (like how Phineas Nigellus Black can go from his portrait in Hogwarts to the one in the Black family home). I'd kill the artist and imbue my portrait self with the horcrux. Not the actual frame or portrait itself, but the image of me. That can change locations.

So yeah. If you want to kill my evil wizard self off permanently, you have a lot of work in store for you. Not that I would stick to 7, that's more Voldemort's thing. I may choose to have more or may have less. But if I were to pick 7, these would be it.

The Shattering of a Fantasy

2011-07-02T16:25:00.001-06:00

A man walked in the desert. He believed himself to be clear minded, only just a little bit thirsty. He knew not how long he walked, but he soon viewed an oasis pure and clean. He ran to it and was happy; for he would not die of thirst.

There he spent his time for many a moon, growing fat off the fruit of the trees of the oasis, healthy and strong. Until he unfortunately had to leave.

He walked and looked back and thought of returning, knowing full well he couldn't as returning to the oasis would be a stagnation in life, no longer progressing how he knew he should.

And so he continued walking until off in the distance he saw signs of civilizations. Which is when he tripped, fell, and went unconscious. When he awoke he found himself truly awake and saw that instead of healthy and fat off the fruit of the oasis, he was skinny and sickly, weak and with thirst.

The man wondered what had happened, and saw his body, full of needles, cuts and bruises. And then he remembered, the illusion shattered. He saw through what had been his madness, seeing that instead of a fruitful oasis he had instead visited a wild growth of cactus, and in his madness did what he could to drink the juices and eat what he could of the edible part of the plant inside.

He saw that the fantasy was shattered, the memories of the place tainted, and his experiences unreliable. He knew he had strength to reach civilization, but was still saddened by the false promises of the cacti.

And so he walked, hoping to be rid of his memory of the place, of what he thought was a small paradise. And instead only seeing the needles and places where he injured himself trying to survive.

And though pulling the needles out one by one, he could never escape the cacti; he could not but harbor on that memory, the loss of the illusion and the loss of the naivety.

He could only run and hope that soon he would be free of such memories.

In the Wake of Things

2011-05-20T08:23:00.000-06:00

The thunder rolled on. The battle, nay the war over. Engagements settled. Neither side the victor. Both side suffering losses but finally at an end the two generals meet and decide the conflict is pointless. Too many lives lost. And for what?

For what has the conflict served? As far as they can see, nothing. Even when the dust settled, there were jabs taken at each other for pride's sake. But now in the aftermath, neither side thinks the other is important enough to even fight. To each their own, they say.

And so the generals with their remaining forces go their separate ways, scarred by a meaningless war that at one point some thought meant something. But now, all that is seen in the other is someone not worth thinking about, not even to spend the effort thinking about.

And so they march their separate ways.

Hypocrisy

2011-05-19T18:20:00.000-06:00

Hypocrisy takes many forms, the most common or generalized form is living different/lower standards than you expect others, or people get mad when you keep something in the dark when they had been doing the same for longer. But for me, a form of hypocrisy that affects me deals with birthdays.

For me, my birthday is nothing special. I won't go to any length to publish it, tell people and most years when it nears my birthday I change my privacy settings so Facebook won't tell anyone when it is. I'll not begrudge others who want to celebrate it or mention it, I just won't go out of my way to do it.

However, when it comes to other people's birthdays, especially if they are like me and keep it on the down-lo, I will go out of my way to celebrate someone else's.

Such as tonight, where an loose mob like grouping of friends is going to surprise a dear friend tonight who doesn't like to celebrate their birthday in the same regard that I don't. Gluten free cake and all.

More details will emerge as the night progresses.

Dear Trump,

2011-04-28T11:13:00.000-06:00

To my good sir Donald Trump,

From the looks of things, you are aiming to be president. Maybe you're tired of being dirt rich and want the power of being president. Granted, having never watched your tv shows or followed how you do business, I don't know much about you. What I do know is that as a presidential candidate you have failed to make a good impression on me. Maybe you think only die-hard republicans are following what you say and do since it is the conventions that choose the party candidate and thus you are only speaking to them. Besides the fact that I find the primary system ridiculously broken, focusing for a year on one group of the American people is not a good thing to do.

Back to my point, if your idea of leadership is attacking our current president on his nationality and whether he went to college or not, then count me out. I see leadership as finding solutions to problems, not attacking current leaders. Thus far you have said nothing that strikes me more than a panderer to the Tea Party Republican right. Nor do I care if you have more money than Romney. How much money you have is not a measure for leadership either.

Of course, since all you have done in life is satisfy the shareholder, if that is how you see politics and leadership, then there is no chance that I will vote for you. Plus, there is the fact that when it comes to corporation and writing laws to protect the public that you probably can't be neutral. But maybe you can surprise me.

My advice however is to stop this nonsense and let someone with real ideas and leadership run.

No Title

2011-04-19T19:29:00.000-06:00

Waking up, or maybe now asleep?
Not sure which, loathing the truth.
A sudden storm on a sunny day.
Swirling, swirling, swirling.
With a lone mariner finding his way.

Not sure if it is real. Fighting as if it is.
Not sure to turn left or right or to stay the course.
Concentrating on what looks to be the shore,
But ignoring the state of his water craft.

The woodwork, warped; holes in the hull
just a general state of disrepair.
Just trying to discern and survive.

But unsure.
Unsure of the sky which served as his muse,
The night stars, the glorious moon. Even the rising sun.
But now... he cannot bring himself to look up.
To look up and see things as they were.

Not that the sky has changed, or the storm different.
Storms have come and gone; this one no different,
But... lost has the mariner admiration in the guiding star.
To the mariner, all seems jaded, all seems different.

Like waking up from a dream not quite remembered
Or in the middle of a dream like reality. Unsure.
But view of the sky, of the stars, different.
Lacking something, not sure what, perhaps the same all along.

But the Mariner doesn't see that.
Looks up briefly, sighs, and focuses again on the horizon.
Hoping, hoping the sky will regain its wonder and awe.
while fighting against the storm, sea and wind.

The Gear

2011-04-19T19:28:00.000-06:00

There was a little sad gear in the factory. He had once longed to be a bigger gear, to move important pieces of the machine and do his best to make the machine he inhabited function more efficiently.

But time passed, the work and training to become a bigger gear was strenuous, tiring. He was tired. More than tired, he soon began to doubt that he was important enough to dream such dreams, to work, to better himself. Surely there was a better gear out there than him for the position. Who was he to want to be something bigger?

And so one day he just grew up. He stopped doing his work, he stopped learning how to be a better gear. He just didn't see the point and didn't see in himself the capacity to be a grand and high gear.

But giving up didn't make him happy. Giving up on himself, precisely, caused his very soul to weep. But by then he didn't have the will to motivate himself. He lost the will, the motivation, the ambition. He didn't care if he ended working the trivial positions. He just didn't care.

And one day he passed for the factory. He saw his fellow gears grinding away. He saw they having as difficult, if not more difficult, time as he had. But they toiled away regardless. They worked, they slept less, they gave it their all. They didn't give up.

So what was so different between them and him? What did they have that he didn't? After all, he had striven and worked with them day after day. They had moments of despair, they had hard times. They weren't any better caliber of gear than he was. They were just like him, gears striving to be more than they are.

Maybe the only difference was the force of will? But the little gear looked and saw more than he thought he would. He realized that why were his difficulties and struggles any different than theirs? What gave him the right to give up on himself and to stop trying? His friends didn't. So why should he? Why was he so special to let his dreams fade and let circumstances overcome? He wasn't. He wasn't so special ti fail where others tread on.

And so the little gear began to take heart from that day, to not be selfish in his desires, and not let himself fail where others succeeded.

Reality

2011-04-04T17:50:00.000-06:00

What is reality?
A concrete substance? An unchangeable fact?

Or merely a perception of one's mind eye to the world?
How oft has reality changed?

The reality of battle?
The reality of the possible?
The speed of a computer?

Or even the perception that you are right?
Or the opinion on how events in history folded out?

But as with the computer, the speed and graphics thereof
Reality can change in the blink of an eye.

The reality of what you know you thought to be true;
The perception of reality of how events passed.

But is reality really reality if it changes so easily?
Or maybe the definition we hold of reality is not really so.

Winds change, seas rise, friends come and go.
But the one thing that has ever held true for me,
though many a time denied,
the one constant that has been reality for me...

Is how much I am idiot,
and how idiocy is achieved each day
through new glorious and un-thought of means.

Wanderings

2011-04-01T00:38:00.000-06:00

It's been said that that the worth of souls is great...
But if as the wind passes,
As the sun crosses the horizon,
As the days turn to weeks...

But if that goes on,
And you take no care of your own?
Or value yours less than the dust?

Then where is the worth if you don't see?
The worth of something intrinsic...

But if not valued,
If not looked after,
Then where is the worth?

Where is the shine and the pride of something looked after?
When all there is are tears?
When it is considered as rubbish,
Then all you see, regardless the value others hold,
is rubbish.

Then how can the worth of rubbish augment?

Oh Sweet Mana from Heaven

2010-12-06T08:46:00.001-07:00

Just to state something, but this little desert at the restaurant Chili's is Mana to my soul. It is very delicious. Very much so.

And unexpectedly, this web site has the recipe.

I don't care if you gain 10 pounds eating the thing, It is heavenly made dessert. So make it or buy it, it will complete your life.

Royal Weddings

2010-11-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

Society confuses me. All this excitement over Prince Williams' wedding is one of those things that confuses me.

I mean, I get why Britain is all excited about the royal wedding; it is inherent in their culture. They have always had kings, they have always had royalty. Even if their royalty are figure-heads, they are an important part of their culture and history. And so the British citizen will be happy for Prince Williams, and will be super excited.

What I don't get is, why are Americans excited about this wedding? Most Americans don't follow them, most Americans probably don't know Prince Williams tried serving as a soldier in Afghanistan, and had to stop because his cover was blown and his unit would be a juicy target if he didn't leave.

Apart from him serving in the armed forces; why should I care about his wedding? Or Jessica Simpson's, or any other celebrity? I don't know them, they don't know me. And honestly, it is probably a pain to air all the wedding details for everyone to know.

What I am saying, and to be rude, but their plans are none of my business. Cool, they're getting married. Huzzah. But beyond that, why on earth should I care?

Or for pop star celebrities like Jessica Simpson, why does her wedding matter to anyone? Yes, people like her as an actress and will be excited to hear that she is married... But a lot of people seem to be obsessed with it. And I just don't get it.

Why do we need to know what ring they got, how they were proposed to, and whatever else information? It doesn't matter. Truly, it doesn't.

And so I am here ranting, because people seem to be more excited than they should be.

While Procrastinating...

2010-11-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

Just a little something I wrote while procrastinating...

Over the mountains, the sun peaked over.
Little by little at first until all was touched by the light.
Shadows of a previous season shed
Warmth not felt in many a moon spread.

Sure, a downpour here or there.
Some overcast skies from time to time.
But promises of sun, as this new season had promise.
And the people rejoiced at the forecast
Of sun most days, of no darkened skies, no torrential rains.
But of perfect 70 degree weather.

But forecasts change.
A tumbling, whether from volcano, earthquake or meteor, it doesn't matter.
All that does matter is the sun,
Where people hope against hope they can feel its rays
despite the haze and dirt filled skies.

Days pass, and only a glimmer of sun can be felt.
The feel it is only within their grasp, but they appear to hope in vain.
Despite promises to the contrary, the skies refuse to clear,
The sun appearing distant, almost tauntingly...

Who knows how long before shadows consume the land,
Who knows before the haze completely blocks the sun?
And an age of ice and darkness fill the land.

That is what the people see, what logic tells them.
They prepare for the winter, while hope for the sun fades.
They bunker down, and wait for the sun to be lost completely.

Time will pass, this they know
where eventually another season of sun break through.
They know things will be fine in the long run, years down the future.
But they don't see that.

They only see the chill as the flowers stop to bloom.

Pirates

2010-11-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to compare some aspects of life to life on the high seas as a pirate.

Take the pirate captain, while he controls the helm, steers the ship and in general leads or guides the ship; he has to worry about the welfare of the crew. He has to know when they're worried, scared, upset, and happy. If he ignores them, they mutiny. He knows this. And thus he works with the crew, allays and soothes their fears. He does not express to his crew his worries, how he feels, cause his feelings would then ripple and spiral out of control with the crew. Despite how he may feel, he has to appear confident, he has to do what he can to appear without fear, or at least brave enough to conquer those fears. He has to do so in order to have the best unity and functionality of the ship. So they can pillage all sorts of booty. And the crew? They don't necessarily want to know what is going through the mind of the captain or how he feels. Sure, they say they want to know, but their mood, thoughts, and feelings come before his. Such is the way of life aboard a pirate ship.

And, in many instances, such is life.

Election Night Rant

2010-11-02T21:50:00.001-06:00

I am sure everyone has watched the news, I am sure everyone sees what is going on. And honestly, I am sick of the story that is being spun, cause nothing is how it is being portrayed.

The straight fact of the matter is that many journalists, and the Republican party treat this as a referendum against Obama, against his administration and his policies. But franky, I doubt it is him that they are frustrated about. I mean joblessness is high, we are still in Iraq and Afghanistan, the value of the dollar is falling... And instead of saying that people are frustrated with what is happening, or not happening as the case may be, Republicans are controlling the message and saying Obama and the Democrats are to blame. People like Sarah Palin; who haven't done well in office, who lie, who avoid the press and won't allow themselves to be subjected to scrutiny are taking over the media, taking over the mesage. On CNN it is a little better than Fox, but the Republicans are controlling the message by downplaying how bad things were in 2008, and being the party that has been sore about losing power for the past two years. Because honestly, that is true. They have opposed almost every major piece of legislation, any passing of it nearly impossible, or very hard to pass. Yes, there are some bad things in the legislation, like the mandate that requires everyone to purchase insurance; but there are also some good things too such as pre-existing conditions being done away with. Or will be when the full legislation goes into affect. Nor are Democrats innocent either; I'm sure more could have been done to be bi-partisan and there may have been some attempts. But that's not the point. The point that is being made on the news isn't that Congress will be partisan, it's the Republicans essentially gloating that they won, that this is referendum against Obama and that it is essentially their way or the highway. Yes, having a balanced Congress is good, I am not complaining about that; but the attitude I see particularly of the Republican party; where they have been anti-Democrat, anti-Obama since day one and nothing that I see being said about that indicates any sort of change.

And the ironic thing, I am watching CNN, watching John Boehner talk and I find it funny that he is saying that change will come to Washington, that things will be reformed. Cause that is what Obama said when he was running for president. Also the other sneaky thing he said, he said that the President sets the agenda of the government. Meaning that Republicans are not taking responsibility if things don't improve the next two years, and will point fingers to Obama. Politics as normal.

What is frustrating is the USA chants, making the other side, the Democrats, out to be the enemy. What is frustrating is that this is just politics, horrible politics, as usual. I listen to what is said and the Republicans are being cocky, saying they are ready to lead, saying that this election is a message to Obama to change course. It is politics, pure and simple, entertainment. All show.All about power. And it is both parties. Yes, there are candidates out there on both sides who genuinely want what is best for their voters; but in some Democrats, and a great majority of republicans, I don't see that. I see neither side willing to admit that they made a mistake, neither side say that they erred. Apparently we the people, or the news networks, don't allow for our congressmen to be wrong, and voting and blindly following your party and defending it with the utmost loyalty is the most common thing I see in politics and the stupidest.

But to get back to the point, about the message tonight, because honestly, if the Republican party wanted to lead, they would have done so. They would have worked more with the Democrats during the past two years, they would not have been the party of no, or been upset about losing power, or making this about a vote against Obama; they would have worked more with the Democrats, would have realized how America voted and worked with what they had. And it goes for both parties to a certain extent, but honestly; watching the polls, watching what is said depresses me. Cause it doesn't seem like things will change. Yes, things will have to be more partisan because of the change in power, but honestly, all I see tonight is more of what is said by every politician, the same thing. No real change. Just a game of musical chairs with the same idiots running around in circles.

And so here I am, watching the polls, watching news coverage, and just being depressed that even though congress has changed; it really hasn't.

Hit the Road Jack

2010-09-21T21:12:00.000-06:00

Despite me saying that I would blog more, I haven't. I fail, but I fail in a semi-good way. Cause school has started and I have been super busy. But also losing the desire, and gaining more desperation? Just seeing all of school as a bigger chore than it should be, honestly. So I'm just not excited. Partly because I am behind because of my own procrastinations...

So honestly, this is more for me than anyone else. But by having it in writing makes it more substantial. Rather than just thinking it in my head.

So here it is, my goals for the semester;
1. Be more energetic at least about school work. Yes, the calculus is tough and so are the other classes, but I need to be at least energetic about it.

2. Put school work first. No Solitaire, no facebooking or twittering or reading some online comic first. School work comes first.

3. Despite being discouraged, I will take a small breather and jump back into the work.

4. And finally I will catch up on what I am behind in, use the full hours of the weekend too (while trying to be somewhat balanced socially and all). And once caught up I will get ahead so I am not stressed by due dates and deadlines.

So this is me trying to survive a semester of school. Have a nice day.

Defending Gale

2010-09-15T18:43:00.000-06:00

First off, if you haven't read the Hunger Games, do so.

Secondly, I don't agree with Gale or his actions at all. I am merely procrastinating homework and I don't have the books in front of me at the moment. But I have seen people bash on him and I think some understanding of Gale needs to be said and even somewhat defended.

But what do we know of Gale? First off, he is the standard teenager when it comes to girls. He's kissed many girls, maybe a few girlfriends. I am surprised that Katniss didn't know that he has kissed a lot of girls, but then again, they are always hunting together and could have been perceived as a couple by others and no one said anything to Katniss. And we know Gale knows how to hunt to help provide for his family. A few siblings and his mom. I forget how he learned, but it is not important.

But before Hunger Games, before the mine explosion, what did Gale expect out of life? He expected to get out of school and provided he was not selected to participate in the Hunger Games, and work in the mines until too old to do so. He probably resented that a little, but that is speculation. We don't know how he felt about the Capitol, if it was any different than anyone else in District 12, until after the mine accident.

It becomes obvious through evidenced throughout the books that Gale looked at the mine accident and blamed the Capitol for it. And obviously he never got over it. Katniss? She had to get over it. She had no time to develop a grudge against the Capitol, she was busy providing for her family. But unlike Katniss's mom, Gale's mom didn't go catatonic. She worked, she provided for her children with Gale's help. Gale didn't have the burden that Katniss did to provide and shelter her family.

And so as a teenage boy, someone who hasn't gotten over the role the Capitol plays, constantly expressed violent statements about them. Katniss says she should not have been surprised when Gale took hunting and adapted it to the Rebellion.

So we could say that he is a mercenary. Actually we could say that Gale is a freedom fighter. Desperately wanting freedom, desperately wanting to fight off the yoke of bondage placed upon them. And unlike Katniss, he didn't live alone, he wasn't independent of anyone like Katniss was. He isn't a solo act. Having expected to work in the Coal mines, he knew most likely how to work in teams. Cause teamwork is required to survive in a mine. Look to the trapped Chilean miners if you have any doubt of that. So Gale has had to depend on people, to know how to depend on people. Katniss didn't. She had to look to herself for strength to provide for her family.

And the team work shows. It shows in Catching Fire at the Lake when Gale learns that other districts are rebelling. He doesn't just want to go off and them and their families and try and find 13, he wants to help everyone. He wants everyone to have freedom if possible, not just him. It shows in rescuing all those he could from the firebombs on District 12.

So yes, Gale is unhesitating and cruel. Yes, he misses the point to be better than your enemy (such as with the bombs that kill Prim) But what guides that? Pursuit of freedom. Of a better life. Pursuit of happiness. There are many reasons not to like Gale, but there are also reasons to admire him, for his bravery to be on the front lines, to not give up, to rescuing those of District 12. Even to not lying to Katniss and saying he was sorry that the bombs killed Prim (cause he wasn't), and not going back to Katniss pretending to be something he was not. Not to mention his constancy of being there for Katniss, him having to mature by going into the mines.

So while talking down Gale, we should remember that he isn't a silly oaf that bundled things up with Katniss. He has his good spots and qualities and the roughness shouldn't distract from that.

Russian Roulette

2010-09-13T07:37:00.000-06:00

The ball bounces, the table top spins. Bouncing and bouncing, all waiting to see the results of the gamble. All wondering what will be. Will much be lost or much gained? Here a little, there a little? Will the two players come out equally?

The game has gone on for hours. The die is cast, the goal set. 50/50 winnings are the goal. The stopping point. All watching expect to see. See the losses turn to winnings. Only one player knows differently. Knows what to expect. One player doesn't hope for such odds. Player 1 knows how player 2 plays, seen how player 2 isn't eager to give up so much, even for at least an equal if not greater return in the end.

And so Player 1 settles in, watches the ball bounce, and predicting without a word the outcome. Knowing the mutual goal not feasible, he sighs, and prepares to lose more, prepares to give it all. A near 100% gain for player 2. And so player 1 throws the chips in. Throws them in for player 2's benefit. Caring, and not wanting to see player 2 give up so much with so much effort, player 1 prepares to give it all for Player 2's happiness. Preparing, win or lose, to give it all up.

And cannot help but wonder if there will be any winnings for his great gamble.

Not a Mockingjay Spoiler

2010-08-23T17:02:00.000-06:00

The first chapter of Mockingjay is up on Youtube, being read by the author Suzanne Collins.

Have you watched it yet? Good.

Now to make some adjustments from what I said here. It sounds as if I am right; Katniss does not want much to do with the rebellion, or is not working with them willingly. She is not sure of her loyalties.

Peeta. "He is thought to be dead. Most likely he is dead..." I don't think Peeta is dead though. I think it is a perfect opportunity to deal with the theme of the book; the capitol and mockingjays.

For example, The Hunger Games were all about the Hunger Games, obviously. But it was more than just the games. It was the why of the games. It was the loyal districts against the rebellious districts. It was of the manipulation of the Capitol and everything it had done for 74 years since the rebellion had been put down.

Catching Fire; the catching fire of the rebellion. The catching fire of discontent, of literally the plans of the capitol going up in smoke, like Katniss's dress and when the force field of the arena went down.

So what do we know of Mockingjays? That they are the unintended consequence of a capitol project; the jabberjays. The Jabberjays were not intended to have mated. They did. They represent frustration in the capitol's plans. So, what would the perfect Mockingjay be? Peeta. My bet is that the capitol will transform Peeta into a Mutt-like creature. Not a total mutt like what we read about in the Hunger Games, but at least an altered Peeta, stronger, faster, ruthless. But with his own intelligence to try and get Katniss vulnerable so the government can get her, humiliate her, and kill her.

Because it is not enough for the Capitol to kill Katniss, she'd simply be a martyr then. They need her alive, alive and responding to pressure to repudiate the rebellion and cause it to shatter.

So who will Katniss end up with? Before I said Katniss would most likely die. Now, with knowledge of the first chapter; it makes Gale more of a possibility. Because Gale is going to know how hurt Katniss will be and will try and make end roads to court Katniss.

As for the possibility of Peeta, it depends on how much humanity is left in him. I personally find him breaking of the shackles the Capitol places on him, causing them to collapse, and finding Katniss. She will be touched by his sacrificed and may decide to be with him.

But there are several factors that go into that, so we will have to see how things turn out.

What Is Marriage?

2010-08-17T13:47:00.001-06:00

With proposition 8 and other events swirling about, I have been thinking what marriage and why utlization of the word and being married is so important. Today, I think I came to an answer;

Marriage is special, it is something you share with someone you love. Something that lives, maybe not in the way you or I live, but it lives within you and the person you share it with. Marriage is unconditional love; the desire and willpower to stand at your lovers side throughout all arguments, all troubles, all calamities. Harsh words can kill it, maim it, but loving words and daily attentions can make it thrive. It is that special look you see in the eyes of your special someone, like sharing a secret that no one else knows. It is happiness, it is patience, it is kindness, forgiveness. It is love, but much more. A bond that binds your love, and symbolizes the commitment that each partner has made so long as each is faithful. To me, the commitment should be stronger, so that it is harder to get a divorce and harder to go to Vegas and be married in 15 minutes. It should be planning, it should be consideration, it should be sharing time with your best friend.

But it is more than that as well, because marriage also embraces the sexual, it entombs the closeness one can get as they share in a lover's embrace, and are at the utmost levels of intimacy; something not to be shared, or should not be shared, with anyone but that special someone.

And for some religions, marriage gets you closer to God. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, marriage is all of the above, but ideally marriage is also a mutual relationship with God. Being spiritual together, sharing thoughts, praying together, learning together as you plan to be together through time and all eternity; sharing all that is important with the one you love.

Hopefully more most, marriage implies all that. (Including the spiritual, however it can be defined for any individual) Marriage between the individuals should mean all that. Society may not see it that way, government just tags marriage with a bunch of tax benefits, protections, and other associated rights, but for the most part, those are extra.

So what makes the difference between a civil unions and marriage then? If all the same benefits and rights that the government tags to marriage are tagged to civil unions, then legally nothing is different. But what does civil union imply? Because all of what I said that marriage is, is what I view marriage as, how I view it's composition. Is the same imagery that I view marriage as also apply to civil unions? For me... not really.

While civil unions should embrace all that marriage is, all the love and care and attentions that are implied and should be present in both marriage and a civil union; the imagery inspired by a civil union is signing a contract with a government. That is what first comes to mind, because that is what civil unions are. They are not a concept that marriage is, but rather a legal device.

And so for the first time in contemplating this, I see why same gendered couples are not satisfied with being constrained to civil unions; because conceptually and idealistically a civil union and a marriage, while they can legally be equal under law, are not equal in the slightest. Does love exist in both? Yes. Does Happiness exist in both? Yes. But why settle for one concept when the other fully defines and/or epitomizes your love for the other.

Just something to think about.

Dear Rob Pattison

2010-08-16T13:22:00.000-06:00

No matter where you run, or who you play, you can never escape the wrath of Lord Voldemorte:

Mockingjay Hopes

2010-08-10T11:30:00.001-06:00

First off, I would like to say that I will be blogging more regularly again. The summer break was nice, not writing or the like, but I am now getting back to the groove of things, and will be blogging more frequently now.

Anywho, in April I blogged about The Hunger Games and Catching Fire and my analysis thereof.

And so with Mockingjay coming out I am slightly excited. Well more than slightly, cause it is a great book series. And with that, this is what I expect to deal with;

First off, Katniss. As the books have focused on Katniss, and as she is not the leader of the rebellion, the book will not focus much on the actual rebellion. Yes, being the figure head, being the symbol of hope she will be there. But she will most likely be wall paper. Giving inspiring speeches. Fluff. She will be morale support. Of course, that may be after Haymitch and Gale give her a strong talking to, since at the end of Catching Fire, Katniss had just been fighting everyone and being by herself because of the news that the Government had Peeta. And learning that her home is no more. She will have to cope.

Haymitch will most likely have to use Peeta, rescuing him, as a means to manipulate Katniss to help the rebellion along. I don't see Katniss as just working for the good of the rebellion just cause it is a good idea. She's not a freedom fighter. Yes, she fights for her life, and she fought for Peeta's life in Catching Fire, but she also went along with President Snow in trying to be a good girl, in going along with his plan. She is too naive, too self centered to just help out. She told Haymitch she wanted to spread rebellion and at the first sign of machine guns, her idea fell through. She will have to be manipulated.

Gale won't like it either, but when he learned of the rebellions going on, he refused to leave District 12 and decided to stay and fight. He will use the manipulation too. Which means he won't force Katniss to choose at the beginning of the book, cause he knows how important she is for the rebellion. He will want to fight, and he will want the rebellion to succeed. Thus he will have to put his emotions on hold until Peeta is rescued because of the injustices that the district and others have suffered.

As for the President Snow and the government, they will use Peeta too. Promising to release him or something similar if Katniss will give herself up. They will play that hard. Or they may not, since President Snow knows that she doesn't love him. But that is a slim chance. My bets are they using him as well to manipulate Katniss. They know how important she is too. They may also do horrific experiments on him as well.

Also, I want to hear of the capitol. In Catching Fire, we learn that the people are distraught about losing friends that they have made over the years. They love Katniss, and how much she appears to love Peeta. During the interviews before the games ideas were thrown in doubt about President Smith and the government. Whether this extended beyond the live audience or not is another matter, but for the first time in 75 years there is discontent in the Capitol. Not to mention lack of supplies from rebelling districts.

Basically I want to see President Snow and his side go down. Yes, they may be more powerful, depending on what is at District 13, but the rebellion includes Game Master Plutarch. There may be spies in the other districts, spreading gossip, discontentment. Getting the Capitol to revolt. But as said in the beginning, the main focus will be Katniss. She may decide she loves Peeta. Or Gale may think she loves Peeta more than him as she will be focused on rescuing him. I can see him sacrificing himself to save either Katniss or Peeta. I want Peeta resuced. However, this is where I am sure to get yelled at, but I want Katniss to die in the rescue. Or a mortal wound so she can say some last things to Peeta. Cause honestly, she hasn't had a coming to moment yet. In the Hunger Games she fought to keep herself and Peeta alive, knowing she could not do it alone. In Catching Fire, she wanted to keep Peeta alive because she owed him. But Peeta has been unconditional in his love, which is something Katniss doesn't deserve. Which has been repeated a few times in both books.

Yes, while it would be great for Katniss to fall deeply in love with Peeta, being married days after the downfall of the government, from a literary perspective I would rather see Katniss have a 'coming to' moment, a moment of growth. Where she does all she can to save Peeta and to die in his arms telling him she loves him. That is what I want to see, and more of what I expect of the end result. The government will fall, maybe not at the end of the book, but it will be on its last legs. Perhaps making it a public death to inspire the rebels, to dishearten the government, to get the rebellion support. Something tragic, and sad. That is honestly what I expect to happen at the end of Mockingjay.

That or I expect the Government to do something so horrible to Peeta that it makes Katniss go commando and ends up spearheading some attacks at their base of operations.

Not to mention, something to do with a Mockingjay theme. Whether it is mockinjays themselves or the establishment that the government has created to keep themselves in power failing... somehow I expect the government to win.

Sarah Palin Declares She is the Prophet Tiresias!

2010-07-28T23:30:00.001-06:00

Late Tuesday evening Governor Drop-out Sarah Palin declared her ability to see the future like the blind prophet of Greek Mythology; Tiresias. By declaring that she can see November, she declares that she is more than the mortal coil that we peonic humans see her as; she is able to glance upon the 4th dimension and relate what she sees.

Notwithstanding the criticism of of such claims, one only need look around to see that Sarah Palin is indeed the Prophet Tiresias, for while able to see future events, she is blind to that which is around her. One only needs to look at the book that is written by her, and the writings upon her hand to tell that Sarah-Tiresias Palin cannot see reality for what it really is.

Nor should Democrats fear the power of her prophesy. After all, just look at the tragedy of Oedipus and Antigone to know that by listening to such words results in incest, eye gouging and other depravities.

So rest assured Americans, despite Palin's claim to see into the 4th dimension, it won't land her the White House. Just a seat on Jerry Springer.

Preggo Sleep Walkers

2010-05-26T11:45:00.000-06:00

Last night some Italianish woman who lives below us, who doesn't speak good English knocked on our door, with squinty eyes.

She made some joke about waking us up at 5 am. And then asked us to not jump on our heads, or something like that. It was mumbled. We were confused. She left. We laughed. We thing she was sleep walking.

Rocky - Made Famous By Ignorance

2010-05-22T11:29:00.000-06:00

I may have said this before, but the Rocky films are some of my favorite films. The story of being given a chance, never backing down, always improving one's self. Honor.

But something that bugs me is why Apollo Creed chose to fight Rocky Balboa. As in the film, it is the bicentennial of the United States of America, and the fight is on July 4th. A good excuse for patriotism, that Apollo takes advantage of by dressing like Uncle Sam at the match.

But why did Apollo pick Rocky? In making his decision, he said, "Who discovered America? An Italian, right? What better way to celebrate its 200th birthday than to get it on with one of his descendants?".

And that is what bothers me. Cause while Columbus did discover America, he never came to the northern continent. Only Latin America/the Caribbean. Heck, the United States has Columbus day in October, to celebrate or memorialize the discovery of America. So why pick on an Italian? Why not pick someone with a British name?

Obviously, for sake of the story you couldn't have the British/English Stallion beating on Apollo Creed, not with it being independence day. But that is meta plot right there.

I just wonder why Apollo himself didn't realize the greater commercialism by picking someone that would be of greater symbolism for July, to react/pay respect to the Revolution.

That is what I don't get, why Apollo decided to pick an Italian just because one discovered America. The United States wasn't founded until nearly 300 years later.

So that is just an oddity in my mind, that Rocky was given his chance and made famous because Apollo Creed, to me, seems ignorant of history and marketing and picked an Italian over and Englishman.

That's Just Shiz

2010-05-18T10:50:00.000-06:00

Shiz. We all know that word. Perhaps it stemmed from the recently slangification of "shizzle" from the 90's and all. I hear it frequently, all going along with the Urban Dictionary definition of 'cool', or 'happening', or 'very good'.

But, being that I am of a peculiar LDS/Mormon upbringing, see it in a different light. Well, I see it in a different light cause I am weird actually. Anywho, there is this commander of an army by the name of Shiz. Now, he's quite the blood thirsty and relentless fellow. Sort of wants to take over everything and will destroy everything in his path to get it.

So speeding forward to the end of the book of Ether, Shiz gets his head cut off while unconscious by a guy named Coriantumr. But that isn't the end of it. Shiz still wants to live. It says in the Book of Mormon, "And it came to pass that after he [Coriantumr] had smitten off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised up on his hands and fell; and after that he had struggled for breath, he died."

He raised up on his hands. His body refused to give up. Instead of just lying there with his head cut off, his arms worked, tried to raise up. He would not give up.

That is how I interpret things when Shiz is used. That it is an intense type of cool. That you like it more than a lot. That it isn't just a passing fancy, that it is something you think is undeniably awesome, so awesome you will still think it awesome on your last dying breath. Something you will forever desire to work for...

Ok, I am just saying things now, but still. I take Shiz to mean something more than just cool. I mean, the guy's arms and body would still not stop immediately. That is awesome right then and there.

So there you go, my definition of awesome.

Modern Indulgences of our Time

2010-05-16T15:29:00.000-06:00

This is too hilarious not to share:

And an ironic thing? It doesn't ship to Utah. Now excuse me as I hope to not be struck down by sharing this.

Strike Two

2010-05-11T22:03:00.000-06:00

Strikes abound, but is this bowling, or is this baseball?
A strike before and a strike again.
Striking at the little things that matter.

Hoping not baseball, knowing it's not bowling.
Still, strikes have been called,
Perhaps only the batter knows the score

The score of life, seeing two strikes, focusing on that
Focusing on swings missed and not seeing the ball out of the park
Rounding the bases, thoughts not on victory

Thoughts on the strikes, not on the laps
Not on the score that shows the overpowering odds

Just on the strikes. Not concurrent, separated.
But in his mind, he wonders what the third strike will mean.

Not a strikeout, this known to all but him,
But he is blind to all but the missed swings
as his performance throughout the innings slide.

Summer Class Fail

2010-05-10T09:31:00.000-06:00

The BYU computer science department fails when it comes to Summer classes apparently. Truly.

It is one thing when they assign a grad student to teach the class, who doesn't know how to teach. But since this is his first time teaching, he is just cribbing off the notes and assignments of last semester. He hasn't made the assignments, he hasn't gone through them. He is just copying off the class before and not knowing the full extent of the assignments, since he hasn't done or looked at the assignments in depth.

Sigh. That is all. Enjoy your Monday.

Viva Mexico!

2010-05-05T13:14:00.000-06:00

Viva Mexico, today is el Cinco de Mayo! Today is the day you gained your independence!

Wait, what's that? We're all silly Americans? You're independence day is September 16th? Today isn't even a real holiday? It's only a commemoration of a victory against the French in 1862? Yes, we are silly.

I am in a snarky mood. Dunno why, but I am going to take it out on the Holiday. Or the French, neither matter. You know it's true Frenchies, I mean we're just silly Americans celebrating an unimportant Mexican holiday, but let's look at the facts. You lost against Mexico. I think that outweighs our American silliness.

So, because we are all silly about this holiday, or maybe only Utahns take it to silly lengths, I think I shall rename this day.

No longer is it a day to do Mexican-like things, and eat their food (which is supremely delicious), but it is a day of commemoration of all French losses. Today is the day that we shall sally forth and make fun of France for all their losses, not like we wouldn't any other day mind you, just that today, it is official.

So who's with me?

Or am I just alone?

I bet I am alone, aren't I?

SQL Mafia Death Threats

2010-05-02T17:02:00.000-06:00

"Transaction (Process ID 107) was deadlocked on lock resources with another process and has been chosen as the deadlock victim. Rerun the transaction."

It was the message he always dreaded, one he had only heard about in legend. He heard the rumors that the Mafia had infiltrated SQL, and that this sort of this was happening, but he never thought that the mafia would move from dead pigeons to deadlock sql messages on his computer. It was almost too much to handle.

Messages being lost, transactions disappearing. It was only a matter of time before such a thing happened to him as well.

Oh what to do, what to do. Not much to do but wait. Wait for the query window to appear. And then? No one knows. No one has returned o0nce they have entered the query window.

But enter he must, or else be lost as resources became deadlocked...

Fear

2010-05-01T20:14:00.000-06:00

Maybe fear is the incorrect word, but what else would you call something that you knew would come, that you knew you would enjoy, that you know you will enjoy when it comes. But now as the coming is nigh or approaches, you begin to fear that maybe you don't want that thing. You begin to doubt yourself, doubting the wanting or the desire in the first place.

Maybe it is a type of terror? A terror that looms and makes you feel inadequate, a terror that makes you feel not ready or worthy for the responsibility to come. Something to make you want to hide your head in the sand.

But come it will. Though doubt and fear gnaw, perhaps it is the knowing, the knowing that I should, the knowing that there is no reason not to. The knowing of happiness, that will carry one along. Maybe.

Maybe it is only a fear, and nothing more. Something silly, something crazy, spawned in my own mind. Unsure. What more is there?

I guess the only answer is to step up bravely and continue as always planned. And hope that it is only a fear.

That One Arizona Bill

2010-04-30T09:50:00.000-06:00

So that one Arizona Bill passed and has people up in a grand hullabaloo about things like racial profiling being allowed and whatnot when it comes to finding out the legality of illegal immigrants and all. Many claim racism, many claim racial profiling will be used. Until a few days ago, I had not read the bill, which can be found here.

Anyways, as far as immigration goes, I think the system is broken overall, the system to allow people in. Obviously when amnesty has been granted twenty or so years before and it is being talked about again, it means the something is wrong. But this post isn't about the ethics of illegal immigration per se, it is about the bill that has been passed.

As far as the the law, I disagree with racial profiling people to boot them out of the country just because they are illegal. The fact that there are 12 million plus illegal immigrants who take jobs most Americans don't want, how they're trying to make a living and all doesn't mean they should be booted just because they didn't get in the processing line to move here. Again, there are many factors and this post is more about the Arizona Bill and less about illegal immigration. So when I heard about the bill, an Arizonian said that things like out of state license plates, thick accents or their inability to speak English could be means to determine if someone is illegal, which I don't think necessarily serve as a good measuring stick to find out if someone is here illegally. But that is the hearsay talking points of the bill, of how everyone understands it, or how at least the Media portrays the bill as a license to check every Hispanic in Arizona to see if they are illegal immigrants and boot them out. Again, I don't think that just because someone is here illegally, they should be booted out if found out.

But from reading the bill, here is what I, some average Joe college student can determine about the bill:

Section 2, Article B says that,

"Where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person" and will verify with the Federal government the immigrant's status.

This is probably part of the bill that gives most people concern, reasonable suspicion. What is reasonable suspicion, how is it determined? I disagree strongly with this part of the bill because I don't think illegal immigration itself is bad for the country. The system needs to be fixed and simplified so people can enter. Make it less expensive to get a visa, to become a citizen. So honestly, I don't think an officer who suspects that someone is an illegal immigrant should be able to check to their status. Nor do I think that the officer should be able to take into custody anyone who is unlawfully present in the country, which is what the following allows:

Section 2, Article D: "...A law enforcement agency may securely transport an alien who is unlawfully present in the united states and who is in the agency's custody to a federal facility in this state..."

Now this last part I am iffy about:

Section 2, Article E: "A law enforcement officer, without a warrant, may arrest a person if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has committed any public offense that makes the person removable from the united states."

Again, talking to Gio_s, I found out that before the law was written, officers of the law could not deport illegal immigrants who commit crimes. So while I agree that if an illegal immigrant commits a serious crime they should be deported, I think that the wording of "Any public offense" is too vague. There needs to be some qualification on what they can be deported for, because speeding could be construed as a public offense (I am not sure, I am assuming. I am not a law student) and they could be deported for that. So I think a qualifier has to be added in, so it isn't any public offense, but stuff like class 1 misdemeanors or the like. Something serious like breaking and entering.

What I do like about the bill though are these:

Section 2, Article C: "If an alien who is unlawfully present in the united states is convicted of a violation of state or local law, on discharge from imprisonment or assessment of any fine that is imposed, the alien shall be transferred immediately to the custody of the united states immigration and customs enforcement"

Again, my last statement already talks about transferring illegal immigrants imprisoned to be deported, but the part about any fine bothers me. A parking violation fine or something small should not mean someone is deported. There needs to be a qualifier added in for how or when to deport people.

Section 2, Article J: "This section shall be implemented in a manner consistent with federal laws regulating immigration, protecting the civil rights of all persons and respecting the privileges and immunities of united states citizens."

This is good that it is stated, I think it means it will assume everyone is a citizen of the United States. I am not sure about this, honestly and I wonder how the reasonable suspicion declaration would mesh with this. I mean, if an officer pulls you over for speeding, you should give him your identification, but where does reasonable suspicion come into play in other situations? Is it lawful for a police officer to stop someone walking down a street and ask them for identification if they suspect that person is an illegal immigrant? So I am curious how the two would interact without negating or side stepping this provision.

Section 3, Article B, sub section 1 and 2: "In the enforcement of this section, the final determination of an alien's immigration status shall be determined by either: 1. a law enforcement officer who is authorized by the federal government to verify or ascertain an alien's immigration status. 2. a law enforcement officer or agency communicating with the united states immigration and customs enforcement"

This I like because it ensures that a police officer or department has to work with the federal government. They cannot just decide to deport someone they think or believe is an immigrant. They have to confer with the federal government in finding out the legal status and on what to do. Nothing in this bill says that that state can deport someone without the federal government's say so. So this I like and agree with.

And then there is Section 4, Article E which says that police officers can pull over anyone who violates civil traffic laws. On a first glance, one should think that "Duh, any officer should do this", but on second glance I read the part that says, "NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER LAW..." and wonder if a police officer can pull over a diplomat or someone with diplomatic immunity.

So while I like the bits where it firmly states that if an illegal immigrant commits a crime that they can be deported, I think it is too "all or nothing" when it comes to immigrants, in that it gives officers of the peace the power to check the citizenship status of anyone they suspect as being an illegal immigrant, and the ability to confer with and deport any illegal immigrant. As stated above, I think some qualifiers need to be in place in determining who can be deported, because I don't think it feasible in terms of costs of determining illegal status and deporting, nor do I think illegal immigration is entirely bad for the country as it means 12 million more people buying things, paying sales tax, doing jobs most Americans don't want, and other things of that sort.

A Moment, Paused for Eternity

2010-04-25T02:36:00.000-06:00

The rhythmic breathing. Steady. Sure.
Fallen asleep in his arms. Peaceful.
Enjoying a moment of eternity.

He awake, wondered at his luck
his fortune to be with the woman of his dreams.
She, embraced in the comfort and protection of his arms.

Looking down saw the beauty;
The curved smile, the angelic face.
Beauty seen when given more than a look.

Skin so soft, love so deep, eyes that sparkled,
eyes that twinkled with a knowing smile
In on the secret of love

And there she lay.
Peaceful, lovely, innocent.
and he, the luckiest man alive,

this he saw, this he knew;
his fortunes, his luck
all during a moment in eternity.

From Another Perspective

2010-04-20T10:30:00.000-06:00

Covered in mud, living in squalor
destitute, homeless, hungry
Been that way most of his days.

A miserable life it's been.
Now old, infirm, weak
But it has been his own.

He's lived through pain
seen loved ones suffer, even die
All struggling to survive.

Death common, death frequent
it's a miracle he hadn't passed away yet
But not so viewed in everyone's eyes.

Though a miserable life it is
It is his, and he is happy.
Content within his ways.

Though not perfect, he manages
but not enough for some it seems
for some to consider him already dead.

Twas a morning that started like any other,
till picked up and treated as dead, he was.
Making a case for life, but ignored.

But pushing his luck on life
resulted in a blow to the head.
As his eyes went black, he heard the familiar cry;

The sound of striking metal
A shout for all to hear, and heard often
the call of, "Bring out your dead!"

The Hunger Games/Catching Fire

2010-04-16T10:30:00.002-06:00

In the past couple of days I have been in a couple of conversations about the two books The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, in two totally different contexts as well.

So, if you have not read the two books, I offer you fair warning that there may be spoilers. So tread carefully.

Apparently I over-analyzed the books, because I was texting Alexandria while I was reading Catching Fire. Which leads me to the first context to which the books were referred to as; when I was explaining to my roommate John what the Hunger Games were. As I started explaining, another roommate Craig and his fiance chimed in. Did we talk about the romance? No... We essentially compared the book to 1984 and Brave New World, talking about the totalitarian regimes in each book and how they placated the masses. So I probably should be shamed at that count, because I had not focused in on the romance, but at that time I had not finished The Hunger Games yet. So hopefully I am granted clemency on that aspect, of post American/Big Brother government. 1984 had their loving big brother minute, Brave New World used the assembly line as a cloning process and sex to control the masses, and Panem in The Hunger Games used the Roman/Crete model of gladiator battles to sate the masses, and keeping the people down with hunger, and keeping them isolated. I honestly could talk about the many aspects of this, especially in book two because it was easy to that at that time the President Snow (Assuming President Snow isn't a title and that there have been many who have been 'President Snow') and the government underestimated their own people in how they would react to the annual hunger games in Catching Fire. But I digress, that is only one part of why I like the books, and if I expound more, well, I fear I will be shanked.

Anyways, in the background of the story there are rebellions going on, districts revolting and all. But the main character Katniss is only vaguely aware of what is going on in other districts, and concerned with surviving. Due to a desperate act of survival, and a treacherous act in the eyes of the government, she now is pitted in a romance as a show of control by the government. Katniss will have to decide between her best friend, Gale, who she would have married eventually without the interference of the hunger games, and Peeta, a local baker who was pitted in the games as well, loves Katniss and has saved her life and helped her selflessly many times. His story of unrequited love, of supposed betrayal, of giving his heart 100% to a woman who he thought loved him the same, and still sticks around after finding it not to be so. Who is now held captive by the government.

While many would see that the capture of Peeta as something awful and undeserved, I see it as a way for Katniss to earn her place with Peeta if she so decides. As she is the face and inspiration for the rebellion, the capture of Peeta will not only propagate the insurgency and downfall of Panem Government as she seeks to rescue him, but she will have time to determine who she loves more and wishes to spend her life with; Peeta or Gale.

Which is why I view the capture of Peeta as a good thing, or a positive thing story wise. As much as their romance is central to the books, if Peeta had been rescued as well, then Katniss would not be able to see how the loss of Peeta affected her, she would not be able to determine her true feelings for either Peeta or Gale. And also, she would probably run off to escape both the rebellion and the government, causing a morale problem with the insurgency, so her desire to rescue Peeta will be the morale needed to further propel the movement forward.

So those are my thoughts on the books. Please don't shank me.

Happy

2010-04-02T10:28:00.000-06:00

This weekend is full of great stuff, and I am just Ecstatic. Regular posts begin again either on Sunday, or after finals, pending when I am less busy.

That Pesky Glass Ceiling

2010-03-31T16:00:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago the Daily Universe had a front page article about Sarah Palin and while I think she is a loon who should not be given attention, there is something else that I would like to address; the glass ceiling.

All during the 2008 democratic primaries, Senator Hillary Clinton spoke of breaking that glass ceiling, as if being president would mean that equality in the work place and in the culture has been equalized. Susan Merrill, of the aforementioned linked article, said that Sarah Palin has come close to breaking the glass ceiling as well.

Frankly, I think this is bull. I am not so sure there is a glass ceiling. Why? Cause female politicians are elected. They run for office. They are in House of Representatives, The Senate, the Supreme Court and run fairly for president. Is there a disparancy in congress about the number of women elected vs the number of men? Women held 15% of the seats in congress in 2006 I believe. But does that necessarily mean that there is a gender inequality?

I think that since more women and more women are running, that no, it does not mean there is gender inequality. Which is why I think that glass ceiling was probably shattered when Senator Clinton ran for the presidency. She was allowed to run, and no one maligned her for being a woman. She was not treated unfairly by the candidates. Maybe there were some negative stereotypical ads from a small group, but not by the opponents.

So from my point of view, the glass ceiling has been shattered. Shattered and mocked, depending on how you view certain vice presidential picks... But regardless, Senator Clinton ran and was close to winning. She didn't lose the Democratic primary because she was a woman, she lost because more people voted for Obama. Even during the vice presidential debate, Joe Biden could have trounced and ripped Sarah Palin a new one, based on her politics. But he didn't. Doing so would have played in McCain's hands who was using Palin to win the election. In that case, since Biden went easy on her, the glass ceiling was existent, for fear of looking like a sexist.

But regardless, women can run for political office and can have any job they chose. Yes, there are some wage discrepancies, but those are being solved slowly.

So with all that in mind, if a female politician mentions breaking the glass ceiling, I take it to mean that one her arguments for being elected is because she is a woman, and is just using it as a political ploy.

At least, those are my thoughts on it.

The Deets

2010-03-30T22:18:00.000-06:00

As was stated yesterday, the Mormon Bachelor Pad may have been exposed. No one really knows the truth except Jake(or John) and Calvin(or Cameron). Luckily, I did some investigative journalism and found out what is really* happening.

So as it happens, I managed to catch Calvin on facebook chat. I was surprised, even moreso that he was using his time on facebook to speak with some guy rather than one of the many ladies he chats with. Anyways, in talking it appeared that he was stressed out and that something was on his mind. I initially thought it had to do with he and Jake being revealed, but it turns out that it is more than that. After some good time talking, Calvin revealed that they were in fact revealed, but none of the readers knew the full story. Yes, they are both 32 years old and everything they are exposed to be, but the accuser didn't detail what he did. Calvin, or Cameron revealed that the person who accused them was a fangirl of them who did some intense research to find them, but upon finding out that they were 32, became angry and started threatening both Cameron and John. Apparently not satisfied with trying to destroy their blog, the reader took it upon herself to track down Cameron's family and kidnapped one of his children. Not only that, but Cameron's wife stumbled upon Cameron and John reading MBP fanmail, and didn't like what some of the female fans wrote her husband.
So that has put a strain on their relationship. And so given that all this happened in a 36 hour period, it was a lot to handle. So Cameron said that with the blog affecting his family like this, he'll have to shut it down...

And that's when I woke up this morning.

*Really happening, as in, happening in my dreams. As in I dreampt that this happened exactly last night. I need a life. Or a CatScan.

A Confession

2010-03-29T20:32:00.000-06:00

I am not a crook!

Well, apart from that at least a couple people have asked me about me ratting out Mormon Bachelor Pad. I figured I wouldn't respond, cause I had school and other important stuff to do And then a couple of people asked me about it, and more are probably wondering. Also, I am procrastinating already, so might as well be productive about my wasted time, right?

Anyways, to be clear, I am not the person who revealed to the 500 readers of Mormon Bachelor Pad, but if I was, this is how I would have revealed them(Strikeouts are what I would take out, Italics are what I would put in. It is up to you if it is sarcastic or not):

I first came across this blog ~~a few months ago,~~ back in November and I thought it was an ~~pretty novel~~ awesome idea: two guys ~~who claim to be roommates that write about their various dating escapades and adventures living as young, single, recently returned missionaries.~~ who say they have returned recently from their missions and rediscover themselves in the Mormon world of dating, being a single mormon guy and pushing the chastity line, while having no shame about it. In their stories, they ~~talk about topics such as “horizontal make-outs,” “define the relationship (DTR) talks,” scales of attraction, and other slightly more taboo subjects for young single adults of the LDS faith.~~ "expose" what the typical Mormon guy thinks and does, even at the risk of infuriating many typical LDS women by their supposed behavior, while gaining hundreds of readers and hilarious comments.

I ~~thought the blog was funny and entertaining~~ was entertained by the blog, more-so by the comments though, and though I didn't ~~found~~ find myself relating terribly to some of the situations and stories they described, I still read it. ~~They wrote without fear about some of the things that we, as men, often think about women, but should never say in front of them.~~ Anyways, what and how they wrote often led to the inciting of many of their readers, obviously done for the attention and the laughs. ~~This led to hundreds of responses from readers (mostly women) that were as entertaining, if not more so, than the posts themselves.~~ There quickly became a division among the readers—those who defended the writers for being cool, funny, laid-back Mormon guys, and those who hated them for being typical, disrespectful, chauvinistic men. But the best comments were the comment wars that sparked from nothing and grew to be hilarious. Even I found myself pulled in and participating.

~~So, even though I felt a little out of place,~~ I would occasionally ~~visited~~ read the blog to catch up when Google Reader showed an update and to have a few laughs. I maintained this activity as a guilty pleasure, except not, since I did enjoy reading them. Since becoming a reader of their blog I came to know some of the women they flirted with routinely. After some time, I knew I needed to get in on the publicity and have girls fawning desperately over me and nonstop flirting. knew that most (probably 85%) of their readers are women. I became aware that many people questioned whether the blog was real, and even more girls wanted to know who these awesome, funny guys were (presumably to “jump their bones”). The writers addressed the issue by claiming they needed anonymity in order to “protect” the other people involved. I knew I had to join them. And to join them, I had to find them out.

I ~~began to read~~ discovered another blog called “Expose the Mormon Bachelor Pad”, which sought to discover (and presumably expose) the writers’ identities. Anonymous comments were left with varying theories, which I responded to, links to facebook profiles, and even anecdotal encounters; ~~Of course, nearly all of these theories were based on the assumption~~ assuming that ~~the characters’~~ Jake and Calvin's basic information was correct. This, of course led the majority of the sleuths down completely wrong paths, and ~~even~~ probably helped MBP out in some ways. ~~However,~~ There it was discovered that the writers had formed an LLC, a small company of their own based off the blog. The temptation to join them was too sweet to resist. ~~liked to shop on the company dime, and even had a lawyer.~~

It became apparent to me that there was a business objective here. However, I could not tell whether the blog was real, and the writers later decided to make some profit (why not?), or whether the entire site was fabricated to generate income. I’m still not sure if the writers realized in the beginning how popular their blog would become. In revealing their identities, I do not wish to frustrate their business plans. I’m sure that they will continue to write as wittily and to be as creative as they have been in the past. If they continue to write well, people will continue to read. They seem to have a cult following that would believe their every word, and some of those people probably won’t even believe that I’m right about them. Was it obvious there was money to be made? Heck yes. And though I expose them, it does me no pleasure to do so. I just want in on the gravy train. Hopefully by revealing who they are, they will let me join them. I don't care who believes me, I just want to be recognized by them for knowing who they are, for getting a piece of the moolah. I just want those fanatic followers of hot young girls. Is that too much to ask for?!

After I had discovered the characters’ true identities, I left a couple of innocent comments announcing that fact, and only included their real first names. I congratulated them for being such great writers and offered to joing them, to let me in on it, and to "move in" on the blog. We would have been like the Three Musketeers on the blog. Unfortunately those comments were never published, since they began moderating them some time ago. Since they wouldn’t offer me even that tiny bit of credit, or the girls or the cash, I decided to write this and expose them. I think that people deserve to know that what they are reading is fiction. If you want to continue to believe that MBP is real, ~~and that “Jake” or “Calvin” is your future eternal companion,~~ I suggest that you stop reading now. Otherwise, may the truth set you free. Oh, and please buy a shirt from them, because they deserve it, if only for pulling it all off. Cause that is the only way I will get some of the money, if I sell shirts for them.

I will not go into the details about how I discovered the identities of the authors, but I will say that it was merely by luck after trolling around on facebook for hours and hours and hours and not by any sinister (or illegal) means. After noticing several connections and coincidences, I was able to identify them based on their personal (but public) blogs and profiles. Once I show you the evidence, you will see how easy it was to tie them to MBP. Everything I know has been gleaned from those sources, so I might be mistaken on some points. But despite everything being circumstantial, I will stick to my guns. Live or die, I want some of that money. And so what I write is the truth, if only circumstantial Also, I have not been able to tell whether there really are two writers, or if both characters are written by the same person (which would be “Jake”). In either case, it appears that “Calvin” is, at the very least, based on a real person. Please ignore the previous struck out text, it is only so I have plausible deniability about revealing "Jake" and "Calvin" to the world, so I am not sued for libel.

So let me take a minute to point out the most circumstantial evidence of how they may be one and the same. Jake and John like soccer, and they're from the same area thereabouts too. Plus he and Cameron both served in the same mission in the UK. I bet no other missionaries from the UK ever became best friends. And look, Cameron and Calvin are both from Ogden. Pretty suspicious if you ask me.
And I will also post these links that are currently blocked... hmmn, I sure hope that I am not John or Cameron privatizing said blogs to make things seem suspicious to gain attention to my own works. I wouldn't do that. No. Not in the slightest...

That is what I would write, if I really wanted to expose the Mormon Bachelor Pad. Or would have started writing. It actually turned out to be a piece mocking the accuser's site, especially when I saw that the blogs linked to are now available to be viewed. But honestly, I was taken in by these shallow arguments too. Does it matter to me who Jake and Calvin really are? Not really. Maybe they're the same people, or maybe John and Cameron wrote that blog themselves to gain more viewers. Or a combination of factors, which could be the case.

So, Jake and Calvin, perhaps you are John and Cameron, perhaps you aren't. Either way, I feel like an idiot for believing those arguments. Honestly, the only reason I believed them was because your twitter account was deleted, your facebook profile and fanpage didn't allow comments and were deactivated, and you temporarily disallowed comments on you blog. So, all in all, it is probably a ploy to get people to believe that you are them, or they are you. Doesn't matter. I have enough to get done to be bothered by all this.

I feel more of an idiot writing this blog post.
Oh well.
At least it is an update. John and Cameron got what they wanted. More viewers, and attention. Jake and Calvin stirred things up like normal and their identities are still in question. They win too, especially if separate people.

Anyways, continue at life. I am just gullible. That is all.

That One Health Care Bill.

2010-03-19T16:18:00.000-06:00

First off, I don't know much about the health care bill, I don't know what it all entails. I do support such legislation that eliminates pre-existing conditions when it comes to paying for health care. I am not sure where I stand on a public option, at the very least I do not think it can be afforded at the moment.

But there is at least one deal breaker that I think is dumb and qualifies the legislation to not be passed. H.R. 3590 section 5000A: REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COVERAGE.

You heard me, we will be mandated to have health insurance. We will have to tell the IRS and if we do not have health insurance, then we will be penalized at least $750 or so.

We should not have to be forced to have insurance. The government has no right to force us to obtain insurance. If someone who can afford insurance does not get insurance and gets sick and has to foot a large bill, that is their decision and they have to live by the consequences. And if someone cannot afford insurance, well that is what the health care bill should be for. So it is affordable. Not to be charged for it.

That is my opinion on things, and I do not think it should be passed. Do what republicans suggest and build it up again from scratch, or build a new bill out of pieces of this bill, but with this and other questionable sections of the bill, the bill should not be passed.

My Blog's Already Green...

2010-03-17T21:19:00.000-06:00

I've been busy with school, so I apologize for the lack of updates. Anyways, today is St. Patrick's day.

Now I know Wikipedia and history would have you believe the lies that it was the introduction of Catholicism in Ireland, but rather it is a tale a desperado, a tale of heroism, a tale of the little people.

You see, St. Patrick was not a religious man. He was an ordinary man doing ordinary things. Except, he served as ambassador to the little people. No one knew of his position, well, most people didn't. It was a secret position, but a position that he labored in faithfully. Normally he would deal with problems between the little people and humans. They lived apart, but intermingled frequently. To put it accurately, because the Little People had an image to maintain, St Patrick served more as a public relations officer than anything else, to keep humans from intruding upon the territory of the little people.

But with the approaching armies of the Christianized Romans on their way, the Leprechauns decided to use St. Patrick so they would be left alone, knowing that if the Romans caught sight of them, they would be exterminated.

And so the Leprechauns faded from public. Using magic and St. Patrick's talented persuasion abilities, the little people became a sort of myth, so that when the Romans came, they would only think that the little people were made up by the superstitions of the common people.

So, because of St. Patrick, the little people were spared and the Romans, being impressed with the man, used his name as they spread religion in the region...

That is the true story. Or the true story as fabricated by me while procrastinating homework at least.

In 'N Out

2010-03-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

To any and all Californians who love In 'N Out, I mean no offense, but I think you all are crazy.

I decided to go today and grab a burger, see for myself how the food tasted. I never went before because whenever I passed by an In 'N Out and was hungry enough to consider grabbing a burger, there has been a 20+ car line. Honestly, I am not waiting that long for a burger.

As I was saying, I went, I bought the Double Double with fries and a coke and drove home to eat it. Honestly... it was not that spectacular. It tastes just as good as a burger from McDonald's or Wendys or some other burger joint. Same buns, same thin meat patties. Greasier though. Way greasier. The fries also are not that great either. They tasted a bit stale or something. I've had way better at other places.

So honestly, it is just a fast food joint that is kept alive by hype. Californians adore it and have spread the word and got it to be popular. Maybe it is good in California, or maybe Governor Schwarzenegger spiked the the state's water mains and they all lost their sense of taste, who knows. I just know that the hype makes the food their to be something it is not.

But honestly, I will not being going back anytime soon. I don't buy into the hype and don't see why everyone thinks it is so good. I also expect my Californian readers to form a mob to lynch me too.

So yeah. Another thing though; at least McDonald's has the McFlurry. Those taste good. So I guess McDonald's beats In-N-Out.

Now I really expect to be lynched. I must go hide.

Contemplating

2010-03-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

Contemplating Why

Why the difference in treatment
Why it matters

Contemplating and frustrated
At how a simple thing
A divergence of ideas
Causes such a rift.

For worse decisions could be made
Or worse done by those around
Or graver still.

But make a decision not approved
and out the door you go.
Out and about and out one goes.

Nothing wrong done,
No laws broke
Just a divergence of belief
Or supposed belief at the very least.

And the world shook upside down.

Frustrated and all, just a wondering.

Wondering why some people act the way they act.

Missionary Rebuke Wednesday

2010-03-03T15:32:00.001-07:00

The latest in the adventures of my brother, Elder Fields, in the almost Chicago mission.

Hello viewers,

This Thursday was the mission conference with Elder L. Tom Perry! It was held at the Woodridge chapel, so I spent part of the day saying hi to some old friends in that area. When we got there, since the whole North-side mission was also there, I spent some time saying hello and chatting with some new north side mission friends who will soon be a part of my mission. I also got to talk to President D., the north side mission president. President D. told me that he had heard some good things about me and was looking forward to having me in his mission. I was a bit flattered but also somewhat scared and I asked him what he had heard but he refused to tell me. That only made me wonder more and also got me thinking if I could live up to the reputation that I apparently have.

Finally the meeting started and all the missionaries were given the chance to introduce themselves to Elder Perry. I can't believe I got to shake hands with an apostle!!!! After everyone was back in their seats, we listened carefully to what he would say. Elder Perry spoke about putting ourselves out there, that we need to get out there and let people know how great we are, let them see what we have and what they are missing out on. Elder Perry said that 52% of Americans don't know who we are, and 47% don't have a good impression of us. This is something we need to get out there and fix. It was also announced what would be happening when the missions combined; that we are supposed to love the new mission members and respect them, no rivalries, no comparing mission stats or how things were done, ect... also since the missions are combining the transfer schedule will change. The Chicago North mission's transfer cycles are two weeks after we have ours, so to fix that little problem, the transfer that the missions combine will have two extra weeks added to it!
And so this will push back all the transfers after that by those two weeks. That was such great news! I get to serve for two extra weeks on my mission!!! Instead of going home on September 17th, I will go home October 1st! That's not just two years on the mission, but that's two years in the actual field as well. That's absolutely awesome! I think I'll talk to President D. and see if I can get an extension. Let's add an extra transfer onto those last two weeks. Heck, lets make it an extra year! :)
I didn't think after the mission conference that there would be any other news worth reporting for the rest of the week, but as the days passed, there was. Elder Sh. wasn't exactly happy to come into this area but after two weeks he now sees the potential within the area and even though he still wants to leave and doesn't much like the area, he would so much rather now see this area stay open. It's only a matter of time before he ends up not wanting to leave the area as well.

Unfortunately there is a downside after all this good news. Monday we had district meeting. I used to look forward to that weekly bit of spiritual enlightenment, but now I dread district meeting with a passion. Elder M. is a good district leader but for the last month of district meetings all he has done is rebuke me and tell me how I need to improve! I am flat out sick and tired of it!! It was one thing last transfer when the rebuking was split among three of us, but now that it's just Elder Sh. and me, I never hear the end of it. I honestly hate a district of four. Elder M. says things like this district needs help and that we need to improve; his area is doing fine so that just leaves us, so again it must be my fault being the senior companion! He looks directly at me most of the time and talks directly to me most of the time. I feel as if he may as well be saying "Elder Fields, you suck! Straighten up now!" I take 95% of the rebuking and Elder Sh. gets the last little bit. I honestly only deserve half of what I get. I work my butt off and he says I need to improve. I could probably stand to work a bit smarter, and maybe a bit harder. So Elder M. may be half right, but that doesn't give him the right to spend two hours shoving a rebuke down my throat. What's worse is that he does in fact rebuke me because he sees me as more of the senior than Elder Sh. is and that is a flat out lie; Elder Sh. and I are equal co-senior companions! Just because I've been here six weeks longer doesn't make me any better and I shouldn't have to suffer for the mistakes that my last comps have made, that's honestly why I hate leadership in this mission; too much burden and rebuke come from it.

After two hours of a heavy chew out Elder Sh. and I were in no mood to go back to work, but we fought down that urge and got out there and did it. The rest of the day felt like a total wash out after district meeting, we were accomplishing nothing and we both felt bad enough as it was. Finally just before we were about to go home and call it a day and sleep off our bad moods we scored an awesome new investigator from a street contact! After that, I had to wonder whether it was us or getting chewed out by Elder M. that got us that new investigator. It would be worth it to get chewed out every week if it got us new investigators afterward. Of course, if it was us alone that did the work, then Elder M. can take his rebuking and shove them where the sun wont shine because I am flat out sick of it.

To end this letter on a good note, getting that new investigator totally made our day. After a crappy day like that, that one investigator we got at the end or the day is what makes this job worth while.

Love, Elder Fields.

Random Laughter

2010-03-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

This made me laugh:

As did this excerpt about Google's algorithm:

But there were obstacles. Google’s synonym system understood that a dog was similar to a puppy and that boiling water was hot. But it also concluded that a hot dog was the same as a boiling puppy.

Just thought I'd share.

Elections of the Student Kind

2010-02-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

I will probably sound anti-school spirit on this post, but frankly, it is student election time. A time where students can vote for who will plan out next years' dances and social activities. And pretend that it isn't a popularity contest or has zero impact outside of school.

But let's take a look at the candidates. We have Andrew and Deidre, Chris and Sterling, and Kristina and Dan.

Andrew and Diedre:
1. Intramural finals in the Marriott Center
2. Fundraiser for world-hunger
3. Improve internet on campus
4. submit a proposal to improve BYU's rank
5. Reach out to Provo City to build a relationship

Chris And Sterling:
1. Uphold an Open Door Policy
• Expand BYU/SA Human Resources to allow students the opportunity to serve in other organizations on campus besides BYU/SA.
2. Connect School and BYUSA Calendar
3. Reinstate Honor Week
4. Collaborate to Improve Campus Map
5. Enhance Provo Connection...

Kristina and Dan:
1. Free health programs on campus and an online sign-up sheet for these programs
2. Improvement of the clubs.byu.edu website to help students find the right groups for themselves.
3. True blue Tuesdays where everyone is encouraged to wear blue to promote unity and a sense of belonging among all students

Let's look at #5 of the first two; working with city government. This is an empty promise that they cannot do, because school administration won't let them work with city officials. Some students had to create a group that had nothing to do with BYU to work with city officials. So right there is a strike.

For Andrew and Deidre, my question is what is stopping intramural finals from being held in the Marriott? Do they just mean basketball? Why have it be in the Marriott Center and cause the school to lose more money than having intramural finals in the RB sports building?

Submitting a proposal to get BYU's academic rank improved is a good idea. But that is the only thing BYU/SA can do about it. The Administration can doubtfully improve the ranking except by hiring better professors and improving the learning material. So this does not fly for me as a reason to vote for A&D.

Improving campus internet is another issue apparently. Unless maybe students are in some basement, I have not had problems with getting internet on my laptop. It works well inside buildings as well as out. And is not a cost that BYU/SA would cover either. They can only suggest where better can be. Why vote for them for that?

But the fundraiser idea is a good idea and one they can carry out. So 1 out of 5 proposals are things that they can do.

For Christ and Sterling; I automatically don't want to vote for them because I believe Sterling represented Cindy Richards in the election debate last October and he came off wrong.

As for their proposals, #2 and #3 are things they can actually do and are good ideas. #4 they cannot do because they are not in charge of it. Their first proposal sounds unnecessary. More hours in the BYU/SA office is well and dandy, since I doubt they are being paid, but beyond that, it just sounds like a recruiting ploy to me.

And then you have Kristina and Dan. They obviously know their purview of what they can and cannot do. It is like a refreshing bit of honesty. All three things they can do, as it all falls under their purview. They know they do service stuff, they know they are over the activities and clubs. They know what is what.

I thought of bashing their policies, but considering that is what they can do and they are honest about it, if I do vote, I will vote for them. Although their #3 about a sense of belonging by just wearing blue? Weird, but fine, whatever. They are the school cheerleaders trying to get people to have school spirit and have fun at college. It is what they do.

But that is if I do vote, cause honestly? It does not matter or affect me all that much. I like the club suggestion by Kristina and Dan the most, but beyond that, nothing strikes me as life changing by voting for them.

Except their record will look nice with that title.

And that is my rant on school elections. Sorry to burden you all with that.

Weird Dreams

2010-02-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

There was some type of press conference going on. It must have been in Utah, or rather in Povo because I saw many people in my ward there. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, Steve Jobs and some other politician. There was some talk going on about the Ipad or the the Ipod and connecting it to National Security and Foreign policy. Do not ask me how, but that was what was being discussed. Friends were joking around, not really listening, but I was listening and thinking of some question to raise about the Ipad, but I could not think of an intelligent reason for some reason.

The press conference ended, and my friends are gone. I leave to my car and drive to where I grew up in Kearns, and I see Hilary Clinton yet. I decide to ask her something, I asked her about Iran and Israel. I asked Clinton that if Israel attacks Iran's nuclear facilities and Iran declares war on Israel, if we would go to war with Israel. Hilary Clinton said yes. I replied that was dumb.

And then the dream ended.

Missionary Wednesday

2010-02-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

The latest letter from my brother, Elder Fields:

Hey Viewers,
I thought I would let you know that last Thursday was transfers, and I found myself doing something this time that I complained about a year ago. Since my year mark I've found myself getting more attached to the departing missionaries, and now like everyone else on transfer day, I find myself just chatting it up and talking for hours to all the friends I've made out here rather then simply going to the meeting and going home. A year ago I complained that doing this was a distraction and we could easily be spending that time in forwarding the work rather than in useless chatter. Now that I find myself doing it, I have a greater understanding for why my fellow servants of the Lord do it. These are true lifelong friends we're talking to and it may be a long time before we're able to talk or be with them again. Suddenly it all makes sense to me. It's not just useless talk.

At transfers I said goodbyes to Elder Th., Sisters P. and C. and all the rest and made sure to get their info so iI could stay in contact. I can hardly believe that it's already been almost 18 months and two of the sisters I flew out with have just gone home; the last one leaves in 5 more weeks. I almost feel old, but compared to where the rest of the mission is, I'm still somewhat young. Looking at where the mission is right now, more elders are leaving between now and June than have come out since I've been in the mission!
After transfers I got to know my new companion Elder S. He's been out 17 months (same as me), 4th born in his family, yet another white boy from Utah, that makes over half. Sadly it looks like I'll have to give up on my dream of an either being paired with a non white or non American companion. Wll with the exception of Elder B., have been white boys from the west, and he's a white boy from the South. Back to Elder S., he has about 8 baptisms and doesn't have a girlfriend.
i
I was very nervous about this transfer; I didn't know about Elder S., but when he got here he took charge and hit the ground running. I wasn't sure if he would pull his weight, but he's done more than his fair share. The only problem I now have with Shaw is his attitude. He wasn't happy at all to come to South Shore and after only one day he took on the attitude that Elders Ch. and M. had about their areas; Elder S., like them, wants nothing more than to get transferred out! He doesn't even care that it would be three straight one-transfer areas for him. He told me he will work his butt off for the next six weeks and do the work, but it's his goal to see that President R. closes this area down. We looked at where the mission is right now and it is ridiculous. At the end of this transfer 8 elders are leaving and not a single one is coming in to take their place. That means that they will have to close four areas. Our area will most likely take the path of Woodridge 2; it wasn't doing well when I got there but then at the end of that 6 weeks we got a baptism and had the area fired up, but then they closed it anyways. I predict the same thing will happen right here. Just when the area gets fired up, they shut it down. Only time will tell what really happens.

Other than us working as hard as we can to get something done here, nothing else
much happened this week. We're both very exited because tomorrow is the Mission conference with Elder Perry! how often do you get to meet with an apostle? especially as a missionary?!!

That's all folks

Sincerely, Elder Fields.

Wad of Gum

2010-02-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

Something I learned today?

When you get a root canal and don't get it crowned right away, sometimes your tooth looks like a wad of gum.

Just saying.

Violent Protesting

2010-02-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

There is something that I have been thinking about since Joseph Stack flew his plane into the IRS building last week. It is not a question of terror, at least I do not think so. But that is not the point.

Reading Stack's manifesto online, he expresses the frustrations that many of us feel. The same outrages that many feel about how Government is ineffective, how Wall Street was bailed out, frustrations about taxes and just how the government does not serve the people, but rather the rich executives and businesses.

We all joke about it, about the elections, about government on one level or another. And while I do not agree with Stack in deciding to try and end human life, I see his point. When I first heard about Stack and his flight into a building, I thought of Shays' Rebellion, the rebellion in 1787 where a lot of farmers rose up against the government under the Articles of Confederation. In fact, because of the rebellion, it helped show some of the flaws of the Articles of Confederation and led to the Constitution being written.

Although I do not agree with using violence, Shays and his fellow farmers used force to close the court houses so judges could not order the collection of debts. Although I am not sure if the tax situation was resolved promptly, Shays did prove a point. In fact he and his rag tag team of farmers were all pardoned in 1788.

Thomas Jefferson said in regards to the rebellion that "a little rebellion now and then is a good thing. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

And so while looking at that aspect, I think that Joseph Stack has a point. Yes, it is criminal what he did, and I do not think it was correct to fly a plane into a building, it does not surprise me either. Sooner or later people are going to transition from peaceful protests to violence. If the Government does not restore its image, restore the faith that people place in government, sooner or later armed protests will take place.

So what of Joseph Stack? Yes, his action was wrong, but what about what he wrote? as I wrote above, many agree with many of the concepts he stated. Many have the frustrations that Stack had. The difference between Stack and the majority of the American people is that Stack lost hope in the political process, while most of America still believe things will improve.

I guess my point in writing this is that there is a fine line between patriotic and criminal. Cause certainly Stack's intentions were as noble as those who have proceeded us in the cause for freedom. The wrong execution, obviously, but the message is still true. Something has to change.

So I guess the only question is, when will thing change?

(And feel free to comment and tell me I am wrong. I enjoy all opinions)

There Once Was...

2010-02-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

There once was a woman,
A woman red through and through
who thought we should bomb
those who would do us harm.

Not a drone missile or two
but a nuke, or a few.
And in all seriousness said,
their country should be made
into a parking lot.

Nothing could be said
to turn her from the red.
Just inward groaning
and maybe a chuckle or two.

Missionary Promotion Wednesday!

2010-02-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

The latest from my brother, Elder Fields, serving in Chicago.

Dear viewers,
This week was Elder Th.'s last full week in the mission, and he put in an extra burst of strength to avoid getting to trunky. As far as I'm concerned he's done a far better job at that than the previous comps I've had. It was very difficult for him this week because right now our area has nothing going for it and it's a real struggle to find the work to do. Saturday was a nice break for us though. We celebrated Elder Th.'s birthday by going to one of the lake piers in our area to have a little fun. We threw random objects into the frozen water to see if it would break the ice, took awesome pictures, ect... who says it has to be summer time to enjoy the lake, right?
After saterday we continued our struggle to find work. With Tuesday being Elder Th.'s last full proselyting day we probably worked harder that day than all the rest of the transfer. Tuesday night we awaited the nerve racking transfer call. Elders Th. and Tz. are going home. Elder M. is also getting transfered. Their replacements are the Naper 6 missionaries; Elders K. and S. who got double transfered out of their area. Elder M. got Elder K. as a companion and I wasn't exactly thrilled with this news. I knew Elder K. when he was serving in Pullman and I didn't really like his attitude; he made fun of me a lot and was way too touchy. But even in this case I would have still prefered him to be my new comp because I know he's a hard worker and would work me to death the same way Elder P. and Elder B.did. That's pretty much the only thing I like about him, but he's not my comp; just in my district. Instead I got stuck with Elder S; he was in my MTC district.
I've been keeping track of all the people I've met out here, where they are , who they're with, ect... neither Elder S. or I have ever been Sr companion before so I know that this transfer is going to be very difficult for me! I am area senior and he's designated driver so we're about even.
Unlike with Elder K., I don't know Elder S.'s work ethic, I don't know if the burden of the area will be on my shoulders alone or if he will honestly share it with me. What I do know is that Elder S. has only spenty one transfer in each of his last two areas and both of them closed down. That isn't a good sighn for me. I knew when I came here that the area would eventually close, it was just a matter of when and who I would be with when that happened. Right now I feel like I've got the weight of the world on my shoulders. Right now the area isn't looking good and it's already on President R.'s chopping block. I hope he didn't just put Elder S. here to close the area! I may have to work harder than I've ever had to work before in my mission to keep this area open for one more. My goal is to be in this area for three months and not just six weeks. I want to do what Elder O. did when President R. told him that he had just six more weeks before his area would close indefinitely; Elder O. worked so hard that transfer that President R. actually changed his mind and kept that area open. I have to pull that here because now all eyes in the mission are on me to see what I'm truly made of and what I can do. Everyone I've met out here has thought so highly of me even though I've never really given them any reason to. Now this transfer with Elder S. i will ether prove I've got what they say I got or completely screw it up. My hope is for the first but I can't do it alone. Elder S. can coast along for the first week because he's the new guy, but after that, he's got to pull his weight because this is a job that I absolutely can't do alone!
Please pray hard for me! I could use all the advice and encouragement that I can get! I am really worried about this next transfer. I feel like the wight of the world has just fallen on my shoulders, I just hope I dont get crushed under it.

love Elder Fields.

The Fortune Cookie Knows

2010-02-16T22:07:00.001-07:00

This weekend I flew out to California and met the amazing, fabulous, foxy Alexandria. So I can personally say she is a stellar lady. In fact, mainly so as to not disappoint our fellow twitter/blog friends (They would start a riot I think if we did not get together), we have started dating.

So I flew out and visited her. Saturday I took her out to lunch to a very awesome Mongolian/Chinese place, and I got a fortune cookie. This is what it says:

See! Even the fortune cookie could see how well we get along. So after reading that, we figured we had not choice but to go with the flow and date each other. (Well, we knew on Friday. The fortune cookie merely made us realize that it was fate to get together. ;-))

And so I though you all should know she is a superbly awesome gal that I consider myself lucky to be dating. Even if it is to be a long distance relationship for a small amount of time.

And you see that smile? How can I resist a smile like that? Really? ;-)

Risks

2010-02-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to take a risk.
Something crazy. Something wild.
Something that makes feel all sorts of crazy.
But something that just makes you happy.

Something that you know it will be worth it
Something that is crazy, exciting and thrilling.

Sometimes it is worth knowing the risk was worth it.
For seeing a smile meant just for you.
For being there and seeing into the eyes.

Was it worth it,
To see, to feel, to get to know?
Yes, yes it was.

Cause the smile meant for me,
the laughter caused,
the feel of the hand,
of just getting along.

No awkwardness...

What can I say? Sometimes you just have to take a risk.
And sometimes the risk pays out greater than expected...

And sometimes you just hit the jackpot.

The 11th

2010-02-12T08:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, February 11th was the 31st anniversary of the Shah in Iran being deposed and the current Iranian government being formed. Celebrations were planned, and protests by the opposition were planned.

While I wished I could retweet many of the events on Twitter, or help out in some other ways, I was at school. In class, working on assignments, studying/working on a test. But while I was learning, there were people protesting for their freedom. People who's rights to gather peaceably were threatened, being thrown in prison or losing their lives for that freedom. People not afraid to go against the government, to suffer bruises, to protest an election and a dictatorship. All while I was sitting in class, working on a trivial java program.

And so while it is a day late, I thought I would share some of the tweets and other information with you all.

Mosahebe Ba Shahin Najafi - Interview with Shahin Najafi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daBgdcEtmGo

Rights groups say 1000s arrested in #Iran. Relatives speaking to CNN are worried...

Some youtube accounts suspended by the government marking them as spam...

RT @LaylaMca They can't arrest everybody! #22bahman will show them millions are willing to fight them to the very end-azadi!

Plain clothes attacking &beating people on the north Kargar #iranelection #22Bahman

Iranians arrested in advance of the protests.

RT @Sannri RT @jhod RT @J1T2 Anxiety is very clear in the face of Basiji and Special forces #iranelection #22bahman

RT @iraneema Huge crowd in Falakeh Sadeghieh, Greens ask people to attend there to protect Karroubi #Iran #iranelection #22Bahman

Tips for Iranian protesters.

RT @JShahryar: Update15: News is slowly trickling out 2day from Iran.Now reports of chanting "We are countless" from Azadi Sq #IranElection

... I do not have time to post all the twitter updates and other news that has trickled out unfortunately. But please pray for the Iranian people as they suffer at the hands of a dictatorship and whose rights are being stifled.

Super Short Missionary Wednesday

2010-02-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

From the latest of my brother, Elder Fields.

Dear viewers,
I never thought that I would have a week where absolutely nothing happened but this was that week! Nothing out of the ordinary or even mundane happened. As for the work, there really hasn't been any this week. We’ve had very few appointments and even fewer went through. Things haven't been so good here. Even our star investigator C. hasn't been doing well. She had a bap date for this Saturday but we haven't been able to meet with her all week and it’s really hard to just get a hold of her and talk to her. It doesn't look like that baptism is going to happen any time soon. I’m really stuck right now. All I can do is ask everyone who reads this too fast and pray for C. and the rest of this area. I’m sorry there’s nothing more to say but that's it for this week.

Elder Fields.

Dear Religion Profesor,

2010-02-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

You have all probably heard this, and he has too, probably. In fact I should have switched out of the class as soon as I read the syllabus.

But needless to say, my dear religion professor, you are a bit demanding of your classes. I understand there needs to be some academic focus, but since I have roughly written a paper a week in your class, I think I am entirely justified. It is a two credit class, for crying out loud.

Am I slightly procrastinating my paper now? Yes. But that does not matter. I understand researching and knowing what all has been said in commentary is all well and good, but cmon.

I see your point to see what what non-lds commentators have said, but really, a paper a week? And not just three paragraphs or so, but a well researched paper documenting all I can find on a verse of scripture. This, my man, is lunacy. I do not have this type of time. Not when I have have two tests this week and a major lab assignment due.

And my dear religion professor, yours is a general ed, two credit class. I should have to put in a couple of hours a week reading the scriptures you want me to read. Not worrying and writing a single spaced two page paper. We both know I am going to bs it anyway.

So why give it to us? Really? Do you really want to grade that much paper? I honestly have more important classwork to work on. You know, stuff that is pertinent to my major?

I appreciate all you teach professor, but this is slightly ridiculous.

...

And yeah, I am off to get back to my paper. :(

Questions Meme

2010-02-07T22:19:00.000-07:00

So I am taking this meme from 20 Something. My superbowl commercial notes were lost and the funniest was the Denny's Chicken screaming commercials.

So I will do this instead, and not do schoolwork like I should:

65 Questions You've Probably Never Been Asked...

1. First thing you wash in the shower? Arms

2. What color is your favorite hoodie? I only have one, it is gray.

4. Do you plan outfits? Yes. 5 seconds right before I throw them on.

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now? Procrastinative

6. Whats the closest thing to you that's red? This book

7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having? This is asked or divulged frequently. But I'd say a dream of hanging out with a really awesome female canoodling some.

8. Did you meet anybody new today? Yes, yes I did.

9. What are you craving right now? Mostly this upcoming weekend. But also more time to get homework done.

10. Do you floss? Yes, but I do it with the plastic stick kind. I cannot do it with just the floss string alone.

11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? Either the fruit or the doll

12. Are you emotional? Emotion is not logical, and so I seek to emulate Spock's example by not letting emotion interfere with my day to day processes.

13. Have you ever counted to 1,000? No. I make programs to do it for me.

14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? Depends on the angle, so a little of both.

15. Do you like your hair? Only when it is short and I do not look like a hobo.

16. Do you like yourself? My self esteem is rising. But I am planning on uploading my brain wave patterns to a computer to escape this fleshy prison.

17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? I may not like how he operated his presidential terms, but I would eat with him. Yeah.

18. What are you listening to right now? The quiet hum of my computer's processor and also my roommate falling asleep.

19. Are your parents strict? Now? No. Before, it varied.

20. Would you go sky diving? It would be fun to do.

21. Do you like cottage cheese? Yes. I like all cheese.

22. Have you ever met a celebrity? If only General Authorities counted.

23. Do you rent movies often? Poor college student = no.

24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in? Only when sunlight filters through the window and rests on my vampiric skin. But beyond that, nothing.

25. How many countries have you visited? Two. And another dimension. But I doubt that counts

26. Have you made a prank phone call? Yes. I prank call the devil. I use his own telemarketing scheme against him.

27. Ever been on a train? Does Trax, a monorail system count? Or a subway system?

28. Brown or white eggs? Whichever

29. Do you have a cell-phone? Yes.

30. Do you use chap stick? Not currently

31. Do you own a gun? Nope, I do have a fencing sword though.

32. Can you use chop sticks? I use them badly. Duck and cover are often screamed when in use.

33. Who are you going to be with tonight? The girl of my dreams, in my dreams.

34. Are you too forgiving? Perhaps, but it is not such a bad thing.

35. Ever been in love? TBA

36. What is your best friend(s) doing tomorrow? School, working.

37. Ever have cream puffs? Have Cream puffs ever had you?!

38. Last time you cried? Yesterday, laughing so hard I cried.

39. What was the last question you asked? "Where are they?"

40. Favorite time of the year? Whenever it is now

41. Do you have any tattoos? No, I am tat-less

42. Are you sarcastic? I hardly see how this is hardly ever asked. But given that it is hardly asked or never asked, I think you may have your answer.

43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect? Yes, weird movie.

44. Have you ever walked into a wall? Yes. Those walls like to jump in front of me.

45. Favorite color? Red and Blue.

46. Have you ever slapped someone? Only when employed by the Soviet KBB.

47. Is your hair curly? Not in the slightest.

48. What was the last CD you bought? Manna?

49. Do looks matter? Depends on the situation, they certainly can.

50. Could you ever forgive a cheater? Someone who cheated on me? Eventually. Cheat in black jack? Nope.

51. Is your phone bill sky high? Family plans rock.

52. Do you like your life right now? It is quite fine and dandy.

53. Do you sleep with the TV on? Only if my roommates are watching it.

54. Can you handle the truth? I can handle all versions of the truth except Sarah Palin's version of the truth. She makes me want to weep and run in horror.

55. Do you have good vision? Not in the slightest.

56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people? Not off the top of my head.

57. How often do you talk on the phone? Once a day?

59. What are you wearing? Pants and a T-shirt

60.What is your favorite animal? An Eagle?

61. Where was your default picture taken? I do not plan on going into default, so that picture is left empty.

62. Can you hula hoop? Only for five or six twirls. Then it falls, like all my hopes of ever becoming a professional hula hooper.

63. Do you have a job? Yup

64. What was the most recent thing you bought? Pizza!

65. Have you ever crawled through a window. When locking myself out of the apartment, yes.

Sigh

2010-02-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

"Reboot and Select proper boot device.
Or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key"

Sigh. My computer just crashed. No bueno. No good at all.

The universe hates me today, crashed computers and weird Computer state machines.

Oh well.

Time to get a looking at it.

Missionary Wednesday

2010-02-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

In the latest, via electronic carrier pigeon from my brother serving in Chicago:

Hello Viewers,

This week I received some good news. I talked to the Orland Park elders and they said that President R. told them that their area was one of the next areas to close down. While this may not be very good news for them, it is awesome news for me, because if this is true I could be staying in South Shore a lot longer than I originally thought. Which is fine by me.

I also received Elder P.'s wedding invitation. For a while I thought he had completely forgotten about me. Turns out that the invitation just arrived very late; so late that I received it on the day of the wedding. But at least I got it. It felt really good to receive his good news. Elder P. was one of the best companions and best friends I could ever have.

This Thursday was zone conference; the theme this time was centered on the restoration, and putting more emphasis on Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Most of the other elders thought this was dumb, as they were training us to do something that we already do, but I've been trying to have a better attitude towards things like this. So even though this may be true I still found some good points to be made in their training.

Friday we also received a surprising call from President R. telling all the missionaries one announcement that he forgot to mention at Zone Conference. With the mission shrinking, as of July 1st when President Roach leaves, the Chicago North and South missions will be combining into one mission! This news wasn't so shocking, considering what's been going on in the mission recently. At first when I heard the news, I felt a little displaced because my mission is South Chicago and for my last three months it will be the Chicago Illinois mission. But then I remembered that I'm still in the exact same place that I was before. There was an Elder C. who served in four different missions, ending in Chicago and thinking about him got rid of all my displaced feelings and I began to feel very exited.

When i was serving in Cicero the area bordered the north side and worked in that part of the area I was always tempted to cross the mission line and have a little fun, nobody but me and my comp would ever know. But I never did. Now, for my last three months the North side is my new playground. I can go to navy pier, the art museum, catch a bulls game, make some new north side friends and have some other experiences that I could not otherwise have. I really look forward to that part.

The part I don't look forward to is the chaos that is likely to happen when the missions first combine. How exactly are things going to work? I was a little worried that after President R. left, I'd get stuck with someone very new who wouldn't know how to do his job until long after I left. But the north side president in July will have been out for a whole year when he takes over, so he will have some experience. The only question now is what is he actually going to be like. Iv'e gotten to know President R. pretty well and now I have to figure out what the north side president is like. Oh well, if he's horrible I'll only have three months to deal with him. On the other hand, what if he's awesome?

None of this happens till July so ,back to the present. Three members of our district have birthdays this month, so an awesome member in our ward threw a party for them on Saturday. That was fun.

Tuesday we had district meeting and President's Interviews. Mine was mostly the same type of deal with the usual self improvement advice, but this time it was a bit different, more intimate, like he honestly cared. Like it wasn't just a mission president talking to an elder, but Richard talking to Andrew. (Editor's note: Their first names) It had a very different feel to it. I think it's because were both approaching the last leg of our mission and both go home this summer. That may have had something to do with it, but there was honestly something different about him on Tuesday.

That's all folks, stay tuned for next week.

love,

Elder Fields.

Lost Innocence

2010-02-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

There comes a time when every person transitions to adulthood. When their childhood ends and innocence is ripped from them.

Such things are hard to notice, when one loses their last piece of childhood, and is fully an adult. But for others, it is hard to notice when the loss of innocence comes tugging at you. But comes it does.

For those who do not know; my teeth are weird and braces are needed. One of the weird things is that I have had a baby tooth that has not fallen out. Today, I went to the dentist and we yanked out that sucker.

Here are a couple of pictures I took with my phone of the tooth:

The sad thing is that I could not keep it. Now that I am not a kid, I do not get to keep the teeth that get tugged. I was momentarily heartbroken.

So now I am fully an adult. Cause I no longer have any baby teeth left.

Meaning of Names

2010-02-01T22:45:00.000-07:00

Apparently there is this facebook meme going around to look up what your name means in Urbandictionary. I at first was skeptical, but then I took a look and realized that it thinks my name is awesome. At least the first entry does.

First name: A name that represents honor, caressing, and love. Also known to be a very romantic person, or very successful person in life.

And for Sam, well I am going to skip the first entry and post the others:

Sexy Attractive Male, Sam is a very common name. it is usually given to people who are very cool indeed. people by the name Sam are the greatest.

So what are yours?

What is freedom

2010-01-31T23:35:00.001-07:00

I was looking at the drafts of posts that I had not published and I found this is just a snippet of a conversation that I had with Wally the Third from February of 2009. So yes, I fail in publishing it, but now is a good time. Enjoy.

Wally says: Dood
Sam says: How are you?
Wally says: Good you?
Sam says: Doing very well
Wally says: Good, victim man
Sam says: Victim man?
Sam says: Cause I have a girlfriend?
Wally says: yup
Wally says: Sucka
Sam says: Perhaps
Wally says: You are
Sam says: And you're not a victim of being single?
Wally says: Nope, Single and proud.
Sam says: Why is that?
Wally says: Because I can be
Sam says: Ah. Well I am dating and proud.
Wally says: Too bad
Sam says: Why is that?
Sam says: Having a girl to cuddle with and kiss... I'm not sure that's a bad thing
Wally says: Yes it is
Sam Says: How come it is a bad thing?
Wally says: When they start a nagging and expecting you to wait on them.
Wally says: You will see
Sam says: I have already learned my place in the world and serve them naturally, so they don't have to nag.
Wally says: Sucka
Wally says: That is not your place!!!
Sam says: It isn't?
Wally says: Grr
Wally says: Disgrace
Sam says: Nah, I am just embracing what is bound to happen sooner or later anyway
Wally says: Not to me
Sam says: Cause you'll never marry?
Wally says: I will not wait on another person
Wally says: Selfish women
Sam says: I don't call it waiting on them, I call it doting on them with love.
Wally says: Trapped already
Wally says: Have fun with that
Sam says: Hey, I know my place, I won't be trying to rebel or anything. They are queens to us you know, we ought to treat them so.

Wally says: That is what they want you to think
Wally says: They are Evil!!!
Sam says: lol, Well I am lost then.
Sam says: Consider me a casualty in this great war then
Wally says: That is why I called you a victim
Sam says: Ah. I understand. And Katie is laughing at the snippets of conversation that I copy and paste over to her.
Wally says: Who's that?
Sam says: The girl I am dating
Sam says: Who says that she very well could be evil.
Wally says: She is.
Wally says: All women are.
Sam says: Then I long to learn of their evil ways.

Wally says: Sure, Go ahead. Your loss.
Sam says: What do I have to gain by fighting their tyranny?
Wally says: I will standby and watch, slave boy. And laugh
Sam says: What have you gained in your efforts to avoid them?
Wally says: Freedom
Sam says: And what has that freedom gained you?
Wally says: The freedom to not wait on selfish girls. Or to be a part of their stupid mind games
Sam says: But what if you meet a girl who doesn't play mind games or isn't selfish?
Wally says: ...Or to always be the one who is wrong
Wally says: I have yet to see that
Sam says: That is just the natural order of things. You have to accept that
Wally says: Then she's probably shallow. So there.
Sam says: Or guys are naturally wrong
Wally says: Nope.
Wally says: Your manhood is close to its end if you believe that.
Sam says: So what should be the natural order of things then?
Wally says: Man and women should want to serve each other. They should be equal
Sam says: Of course, I am merely doing my part of the serving.
Sam says: So you have yet to find a girl who believes that then?
Wally says: The man should be able to express themselves. Just as women should. And do.
Sam says: So you are waiting for a woman who believes that?
Sam says: How will you meet and know her if you judge everything on a glance she gives you in the beginning?
Wally says: Who says I am waiting for a woman?
Sam says: Looking for a woman then
Wall says I will never find one like that.
Sam says: Are you sure?
Wally says: Yeah
Sam says: How come?
Wally says: They are all either shallow, selfish, unattractive or mean
Wally says: Or more than one of the above
Sam says: Which you gather without really getting to know them
Wally says: Nope. I have ears. And eyes. It isn't hard to see...

Suffice to say, Wally is now married. Which makes this even funnier.

Follow the Leader

2010-01-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

Twss. Only because I am following Alexandria's lead and using this meme. So it is a small fill in the blank. Enjoy

1) If I weren't a Computer Science Major I'd love to be Spanish or Information Tech Major .

2. When I'm super upset I write weird poems about my angsty feelings and post them on my blog .

3. My favorite thing about myself is my contagious laughter .

4. If I found a $100 in the pocket of last winter's coat I'd spend it on either hilarious t-shirts or travel money to california .

5. Even though some people might consider this a flaw, I love how I can get stuck in a book and be completely submerged into what I am reading.

6. I love the way I feel being super productive and flirting with Alexandria. .

7. I love my hair most when it's it has been cut short and I look dashing without having to do anything to it. .

Wait... Did I just do a Friday Fill-in?

Nope! I am still good.

You're Not Listening!

2010-01-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

To the Democrats and Obama supporters that were in the House of Chambers last night when President Obama gave his State of the Union speech,

Were any of you really listening to anything Obama said? Or were you merely clapping at every pause of breath that Obama took? Was it a chance to get up and stretch your legs?

Yes, you may have well been listening to some parts Obama said, and you all do not deserve entirely what I just said, but sometimes I think you just clap because Obama is up and speaking.

Starting at the 39 minute mark or so, Obama said,

At the beginning of the last decade, the year 2000, America had a budget surplus of over $200 billion. (Applause.) By the time I took office, we had a one-year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program. On top of that, the effects of the recession put a $3 trillion hole in our budget. All this was before I walked in the door.

And the crazy thing is Democrats and Obama supporters? You all stood up and applauded President Obama for saying that. Obama said we are in a financial hole, a huge financial hole, and you applaud that statement? What in that statement was applause worthy, honestly? Was it because you somehow viewed that statement as Obama bashing the previous administration?

Honestly, it is these moments where you applaud Obama for saying we are in massive debt that to me, you do not seem to be listening. It is embarrassing.

Which is why many people don't have much confidence in Government, because politicians seem to blindly follow and support their respective political party more than they serve the people who elected them and they represent.

So honestly, I hope honestly that one of my congressmen was not there cheering at the moment, because I now question your intelligence for cheering then.

So that is my little rant. Oh, and you republicans, you don't get off the hook so easily. None of you seemed to applaud at all. You all were seated in stoic silence, or the occasional boo. Except for that one senator who clearly stood up because everyone around him had stood up and pity clapped Obama for a second or two and just stood there. You don't fool me either. You made me laugh actually.

So kudos to both parties, you either clap like blind fools or not at all. Actually, everyone may have been clapping at the end, it was hard to tell with the camera angles. So actually Republicans, you at least have the decency to clap at the end instead of at every pause Obama had.

So I just had to say that, because incessant clapping is annoying, especially when you clap at the wrong things to clap at.

PSA Missionary Wednesday

2010-01-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

This in the latest installment of the concordance from my brother, Elder Fields;

Dear Family and Friends,

This week I found out something new about our ward that's very interesting; while most wards have a missionary meal calender, our ward has a missionary splits calender! I can't believe we've got a calender for that! This is a great help to the work in this ward. In all my other wards, we have had to find and ask members to come with us to appointments and here they just freely sign up to do so. This is a great opportunity for the work. Even when those appointments don't go through, every little bit of help from members is worth it.

Thursday we had an appointment with our star investigator. We thought the hardest part in teach her would be teaching about the Word of Wisdom, but she accepted and dropped everything we told her to drop. She was a very heavy social drinker, but she quit without question when we told her tea, alcohol, and coffee were bad. Her only real problem was cigarettes. She knows that they are bad and has desperately wanted to quit them even before we told her to do so. Those things are so addicting that quitting them is one of the hardest things a person can do. She described it as a demon on her back that just wouldn't go away. But now she has the Lord's help in quitting, and she hopes it will not be a problem for that much longer.

Speaking of which, during my mission I've noticed that nobody who smokes actually likes it. They all admit that it's slowly killing them, and want to stop, but it's so addicting that they can't. However, there is a ray of hope in all this. Since so many people know it's bad and actually manage to quit, or hopefully don't start at all, those companies are forced to raise their prices and it drives even more people away from the stuff. Elder M. was in a gas station this week and heard a woman complain about a pack costing $10.00 after tax. She wanted her money back and left empty handed. Nobody wants to pay that much money to kill themselves.

Saturday we had a return appointment with our star investigator and she has been doing really well with everything and better with the no smoking. We taught her the lesson about baptism and committed her to be baptized in three weeks. She was a bit nervous about being baptized so soon, but was otherwise thrilled to accept our invitation. She even wants to throw a party after her baptism and invite all her friends and family to it.

Other than our one Super Star Investigator, most of our work is with less actives. Like all my other areas, this ward has lots of work to be done and we would so much rather visit with a less active member of the Church who has a chance of coming back on Sundays than an someone we may only see once because they have a complete lack of commitment and has never been to church at all. Also, unless a less active has something serious happening with them, they will always let us in.

That's about it for this week.

With Best Regards,
Elder Fields

Nuthun

2010-01-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

I really wish I had something to say. I don't. Class work is taking up way too much time. Although... I did punch my Calculus test in the face though. So I can tell that tale I suppose.

The Challenger was tired, for the past weeks the champion had been mocking him. The Champion laughed at the challengers face and boldly pronounced that the Challenger was not worth the fight, that it was not a fight. That the Challenger would be taken downed in the first round. But the Champion was wrong.

The Champion was unaware that the Challenger was studying up on the forms, how to get between the curves and calculate the volume between them, to know the force of impact his punches would land. The Champion was unaware that the Challenger was not wallowing in pity, but was encouraged by friends, and a super foxy friend. The Champion regarded her not, thought her just a faceless fan. He knew not the strength of friendship and luck she bestowed upon the Challenger.

The Champion had faced the challenger and knew of previous defeats, using his special sine and cosine 1-2 punch to knock out the Challenger.

But this time, this time was different. This time, the Challenger came prepared.

As the Challenger entered the ring, his super foxy friend blew him a kiss and cheered him on with the enthusiasm of 12 super bowl games combined. The momentum of the cheers caught the Champion temporarily off guard and allowed the Challenger to enter in and start throwing punches, using derivative force to counter the Champion's and raging like a wild animal. The Champion was off surprised and being beaten. The Champion tried to his his integral evade maneuvers or derivative counters.

The Champion grew desperate and launched a series of punches he knew the Challenger had lost to before, flowing with the curves of a sine or cosine integral function, but though the Champion managed to strike the Challenger, his blows were not as powerful as expected. The Challenger managed to divert enough of the energy to still stand. A little bruised, but still standing. Smiling.

The Challenger on the other hand had a black eye, blood on his face and a possibly broken nose. As they went to lunge for each other again, the bell rang. The match was up.

Although the official score was not yet at the ready, it looked like the Challenger was clearly the victor.

And so the Challenger strode to his super foxy friend and together they strode out of the auditorium to await the results of the match.

In other words, I think I did well on the Calc test, but I do not have my test scores yet.

Behold, the Power of....

2010-01-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

Cheese! Oops, wrong commercial. Low self-esteem. The power of low self-esteem.

The following message brought to you by Low Self-Esteem Inc, where if you aren't happy, we make millions!

"Are you ever tired of keeping up with the day to day standards of talking with people? Of being happy, upbeat and keeping a smile on your face? Ever feel like bursting down crying like this guy here?

Well, at Low Self-Esteem inc., We don't care! Why don't we care? Because no one else does either. The difference between us and the rest of the world is that if you come in to us in all your emo glory like Emo-Peter Parker, we will pay you to take your low self-esteem off your hands.

You see, the trick is the special technology that we developed. There is green energy, well now there is emo-energy. Our special technology has enabled us to harness the power of low self-esteem to power cars, computers, air planes. Pretty soon everything will be powered by low self-esteem. Which, in the near future, will allow us to conquer the world!

So why hold on to all those feelings of pain, rejection, and of social stigma and swing on by one of our many locations, you'll be able to vent your frustrations, make some money on the side and further perpetuate your anguish by funding a cruel heartless corporation bent on sucking the humanity out of the world. It is win-win.

So remember our motto folks; that if you aren't happy, we make millions. So pass on by, where if you arrive early enough, you might just be enlisted to be a part of the new global empire that will be spawned."

I'd Like to Thank the Academy

2010-01-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

I'd like to thank the academy for being nominated to win the following two awards; the Kreative and Beautiful blogger awards. Without them, none of this would have been possible. This is such a grand and marvelous day, And I am not so sure of what can be said. I have waited so long to receive these...

Ok, maybe not so much drama, and it was not the Academy who bestowed these awards upon me, but the ever funny Christina. Unless a person can qualify as an academy. Actually, I think she qualifies as a founder for the Academy of Awesomeness. So Headmistress Christina, open your halls of learning and let the awesomeness flow! (That's what she said too)

So, there are some rules or guidelines to receiving these awards, because that is how they roll:

So like all meme/award things, they have some rules or guidelines:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award Check
2. Paste the award on your blog Check
3. Link the person who nominated you for the award Check
4. Tell 7 interesting things about yourself
5. Nominate 7 bloggers or less
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominated

So I'll post 14 interesting things about myself since I suppose I won two awards:

1. I fence. Started in 2005, and I've kept it up on and off. I took classes in 2005 at BYU Idaho and I've been participating in classes down at BYU. I also took a class in Orem, but as it is a professional place, I don't have $65 to spend for two months of training or so. Now I have my open French Grip Foil. Huzzah!

2. Top hats.

They are awesome. I usually wear them at fancy gatherings or parties. Something where I can be dressed formally and socially at the same time. I just feel awesome in them. So usually I like to wear a top hat (cause I have two now) at semi-casual dances or higher formal like. Honestly, I think I just need to wear them more often.

3. Although this did not result from an accident, I cannot turn my right hand palm up. It is something that runs in the family; my dad cannot turn his left hand palm up.

4. Mexico City. I served there from 2005 to 2007. It was awesome. One of my favorite sites was seeing the Iztaccíhuatl every morning as I left my apartment near Chalco. It is a splendid mountain and one that draws me in. There is even a Mayan Legend about the mountain and the nearby volcano, the Iztaccíhuatl, for those who want to read about it.

5. Throughout High school, I was nicknamed Timeking, Fathertime or other such timely appellations. I was called this because I set my watch to the bell every morning and when I started cleaning my stuff up, it signaled to the others in my classes that the bell was to ring soon. And so they ended up asking me how much time was left until the bell rang, and I gave them the time down to the seconds. Now... well it is not really a skill needed in College.

6. As such, I have always worn a watch on my right hand. Even though I am right handed. Yeah, it is weird.

7. I love snow when it falls and I hope to resurrect a certain semi-cultural Snowman.
Basically taking this guy to become this fellow. It would be awesome.

8. Although I am a bit rusty at it, I do like to dance. I have taken a couple of ballroom dance classes and I also like to dance to the Salsa.

9. My laugh. Once I get started, I cannot stop. Depending on the people egging me, I can go for minutes at time, just busting a gut. Doing so gave me asthma a year and a half years ago.

10. I once made a list of the reasons why I thought people would not want to go out with me. I still think it is hilarious.

11. I am a bit of gamer. Both in video games and in board and card games. My computer games are up at my parents place so I do not procrastinate my time with them, but I still have Starcraft with me. My favorite board type game is Settlers of Katan.

12. I can make a whistling sound with my hands. By cupping them together and blowing into them, it oftentimes sounds like a bird call.

13. An interesting pet peeve is perhaps the attitude of the BYU/Happy Valley bubble. Although people can be stuck in their own little world, especially since Provo is a college town and most people are taking classes. My point is that I tire of hearing of the bubble as if things are lame here and that people are judgmental. Does it exist in people? Yes, and there are probably places that are better about it. But just as well, there are many places that are just as bad. So it is just the attitude that I don't get or like. If you do not like how things are, change them. Whether it is how BYU students act or people in general, or whatever. Try and change it. You are free to complain a bit, but the "bubble" isn't a Utah Valley problem only.

14. I like to watch hockey. I have a good friend, Alan who is in a local league and secondary string goalee. I like going to his games and shouting myself hoarse at them. It is quite fun.

And so without further ado, *drumroll* I nominate the follow spectacular people for an award: The ever awesome and ever funny, lovely Alexandria. A fellow BYU blog writer and good friend, Katie. Rachel, who is a truly awesome girl, a one of a kind friend and awesome photographer. She is the one who was gracious enough to take the pictures of me in fencing gear and sported in a top hat. The Green Giant. He is truly a man that towers over men, literally. He is awesome and needs to blog more. Amanda, cause she is awesome, a woman that proclaims the truth and someone I hope to get to know. I also nominate Jake and Calvin, cause they make me laugh. A final nomination goes to Nicki, who is awesome to talk to and is not worried about pursuing her dreams and striving to be happy. I wish her luck in everything.

I think that adds up to 7 people. Have a fun Friday night all!

Fencing

2010-01-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

Snicker-snack
Swish-swash
clish-clash
The blades strike

Lunging,
dodging,
evading
charging

Clad in white,
head clad
arm extended
Knees over ankles.

A breath...
and then forward,
testing the blade
checking for strength

thrusting, clashing, beating
metal grinding on metal
twisting, and piercing
For the point.

Back and forth,
charging and retreating
attacking and parrying
watching and watching

Trading blows for blows
Being struck and striking back
ages aching, arms tired
Out of breath.

A moment.

And then the rush
feigning and beating
Going for the strike.
For the final point

four, six, seven or eight
All areas to aim for;
The chest...
Strike!

A final beat
A twist of the blade
Scoring a hit
with a bit of metal.

So snicker-snack
Swish-swash
clish-clash
The blades strike..

Striking
in alien rhythm
setting pace
all night long

In the Fencing club.

Short Missionary Wednesday

2010-01-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

Dear viewers,

There was one last announcement made at last week's transfer meeting that I forgot to mention; sometime near the end of February, Elder Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will be speaking to our mission. It actually will be a mission conference, so the whole mission will be there, and to make it that much bigger, the entire Chicago North mission will be in attendance as well. Needless to say, when an apostle come to speak it's pretty big. Elder Th. wasn't exactly thrilled at this news because Elder Perry is coming after he returns home, so he's going to miss it.

That's pretty much the biggest news I have this week; not much has happened since transfers. This Sunday at church I got an unexpected surprise when an investigator I didn't know we had actually came, and not only that, she wants to be baptized! We just have to teach her a bit more and help her with a few small issues. I know she's going to get there, but I also remember how slow investigators in the city are in progressing towards baptism so I just hope the area doesn't close down before then.

Anyways, I love the city regardless of how slow progressing our investigators are. Being gone for six weeks has helped me remember how rewarding the work in the city is. In the suburbs you have a whole ward to yourself and all the members focus on you; your work is practically done for you. But being back in the city with more then one set of missionaries per ward give you more of a chance to see what you really can do. (Editor's Note: Elder Fields refers to the missionaries who teach those who do not speak English; they share wards. I think.) In the Beverly ward, most members lived in Evergreen Parks Area. In Cicero, a lot lived in the soldier fields area, and here most of the members live in Cottage Groves area. When you can get the help of any members in the work, even when their not in your area, it's that much better. Also, in the city when you work on your own you've got something to work with; media referrals for example, in the suburbs, without the help of members, you basically have nothing going for you. I hope this area doesn't close down too soon, because I'd like to see what good I can do here.

Sorry for the lack of news, I hope more happens this week.

Sincerely,

Elder Fields

Lazy Monday

2010-01-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

Tis truly a lazy Monday! Equal laziness all around!

It really is an uninspiring day too, all clouds and rain. Melting the snow down here. There needs to be a good snow storm before it all melts!

But as my laziness is upon ending (blasted school work), I thought I would write this short poem.

No Title

A short moment.
A quick message.
All it takes.
To wonder what lies beyond.

From joking and acquaintanceship
To true friendship, maybe more.
Little by little, text by text.

Swirls around and around
To notice the amazingness of one
To desire the terrifying.
To begin to contemplate...

And the path continues
Wondering and hoping
for merging of paths
enjoying the journey.

Waiting to look
Look into the eyes
Look into the soul
Looking for happiness.

Waiting, waiting for the moment of utmost joy.

- Sam, the Nanti-SARRMM

Not Tuesday's Ten

2010-01-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

So I am bored and yanked this meme from Alexandria's blog. I figure no need to wait until Tuesday. Although if people want to e-mail me here then I will make it a semi-regular thing on my blog.

1) Are you usually late, early, or right on time? It depends, I strive to be on time, but I am either often early or a little late so it averages to arriving on time. That is what I prefer though.

2) What is your middle name? Umm, seeing how this is a blogger name, we could say 'Nanti'. Or we could all assume it exists somewhere, waiting to be found.

3) What are the last four digits of your cell phone number? 8996.

4) How big is your bed? It is a regular bed, a bunk bed actually. I think it is a twin.

5) What are you allergic to? I do not believe I am allergic to anything actually.

6) What is the first thing you do in the morning? Being honest here, I jump out of bed, use the restroom and then either eat breakfast or shower.

7) What was your favorite tv show when growing up? Full House, Pokemon, Step By Step, Family Matters, Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch (high school years). Those are what I watched and enjoyed.

8) Will you, or did you, go to your ten year high school reunion? I most likely will. We will see though. There are some people that I would definitely like to see, others, not so much.

9) If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it still make a sound? It depends on if the monkeys have set up a pulley system that is well oiled, designed to catch the tree so it falls without a sound. Or if the tree falls into a bottomless pit. That factors in as well.

10) What, in your opinion, is the greatest invention? Geeky answer is the silicon P an N gate transistors. Because of those, we have computers and every other device that uses microchips.

Missionary Saturday

2010-01-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

In a late update in the missionary travails of my brother, Elder Fields, we find him in a new area with new companions.

Dear Viewers,

Wednesday was a very hard day. It started with a district breakfast at the Gr. family who house the Naperville elders, then normal p-day activities. That was the good part of the day, after that it got hard. Due to our area dissolving we found we no longer had to do the mileage report for our car, so for one day we had infinite miles to spend. We spent those new miles on a farewell tour saying goodbye to all of our favorite members. We then returned home to pack up our things and clean out our apartment. This took us forever; we had a mountain of trash, we had to move out all the furniture, and we had to get the area book up to date and get the apartment ready for its final closing inspection. (Editors note: The Area Book is a notebook that one records what missionary discussions have been taught to whom, simplifying the missionary process. We were up until 1am doing all of this, by the end of all this our beds, which we happily collapsed into, were about the only thing left in the apartment to get rid of. I feel sorry for the AP's, (Editor's note: AP's are two missionaries that the mission president assigns to assist him.) they have to help out with every area that closes and then make sure everyone who has moved has everything they need.

Thursday we managed to drag our tired bodies out of bed and got all our stuff out to the car that the Ap's hadn't already collected from us. It's a good thing they did because if they hadn't it would have been impossible for all of our stuff to fit into that tiny car. I recalled back in Beverly when Elder H. and I moved out, we were lucky because we had the mission van that day. Unfortunately double transfers are a huge pain when you have a tiny car to work with. Also just as my luck always is, when I get transferred the weather was not permitting, in fact it was very unforgiving. When I moved out of Beverly it was raining so hard it was practically a monsoon, moving out of Cicero was dark, cold, and windy, this time it was a huge blizzard. It took us two hours to drive to the transfers meeting after getting all our stuff in the car, and the weather made it very difficult. Due to the storm we arrived for transfers an hour late but luckily so did everyone else, so we actually got there on time.

At transfers, President R. made a few announcements. these included that at least ten more areas would be closing within the next six months, on top of all the others that have already done so. We've got several large groups going home soon and very few coming in to take their place. This transfer 8 missionaries left and only 2 came in. Unfortunately South Shore is on the list of areas possible closing, so I may not be here for very long. But after only one transfer in Woodridge 2, I'm ready for anything they can throw at me. President R. also announced several regime changes in the mission; Elder B., from my mtc district, just replaced Alder Ar. as the new AP, Elder S., my last companion, just went zone leader in Valpo, and Elder Br., my mtc companion, just went district leader for the first time. Other changes happened as well but these are with people I know. Also, at transfers, I said goodbye to two previous companions that were going home. Elder C., my mission brother/father, and Elder R., one of my favorite comps.

As transfer meeting ended, I tried not to think about how much time I had left since one of my trainers was going home and instead I tried to focus on my new area and new comps. Elder Th. has been out for 23 months and will be giving me my fith kill; he's from Arizona, second last in his family, has 8 baptisms and his girlfriend dear-john'd him but has since come to her senses and they are both waiting to see what will happen when he gets home.

Elder M. has been out for 18 months, is from Idaho, second born, has 4 baptisms and no girlfriend. Elder M.'s name sounds like he should be from Hawaii, but alas, I am stuck with two more white American companions. I would really like someone who is ether non-white or foreign. Elder Br. is the most foreign comp I've had, and he's from Tennessee. It looks like that's what I'm stuck with, so I should be happy with what the Lord has given me, since it appears that it wont be any other way.
It's only been a week since being with these two companions, but they seem very nice and I'm sure they will be better then my last trip with Elder J. and Elder S. They are my least favorite companions ever. Elder Th. is trying to avoid getting trunky and Elder M. is way nicer then those other two were. They also treat me with the respect I deserve. As far as my new area goes; it's good to be back in the city. South Shore covers, um well, the south shore area, but sadly I got here in mid-winter which makes the area harder to enjoy. As far as the work goes, it's the typical city area, mostly stop-bys and media referrals.

I got to know this new ward on Sunday we meet at 9am yet again and most of the ward is young married college students. I've also had the pleasure of getting to know my new district; this is my smallest district yet, with only five people in it and I am the second youngest. With Elders Tz. and Th. going home this transfer it makes it even more likely that the areas will combine, because President R. does have a history of doing that to areas when the people in them go home. That's actually a very smart move for him, then he doesn't have to move as many people.
That's it for both my personal news and mission news this week.

love,

Elder Fields

Answers, Answers, Answers.

2010-01-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so people asked questions, I responded a tad. Instead of having to read through the comments, I'm going to post the questions and my answers here.

Ghostlilly: Blah, blah, blah, What happened to the 20 dollar bill? My friend didn't take it, and I didn't spend it!

You know that dimension where missing socks end up when the dryer eats them? It is essentially the same concept, except with your finger bandaged up, it created a temporary space time anomaly that ripped the $20 dollar bill from your wallet. So whoever has all the lost socks from dryers, has your $20. Probably spent it on a chili burger or something.

Samnhal: You're on a desert island and you can bring an endless supply of food with you, but only one food. What one food would you pick to eat everyday?

Any type of food? Tacos al pastor. They're one of my favorite Mexican dishes and could eat them forever.

ColleenRoselle: Can I see a picture of you?

Yes! See the comments for the links to some photos, or search for photos. There are plenty in this blog and I am too lazy to get them at the moment.

Christina Why are you so passionate about the Green Revolution?

This is a somewhat difficult question. I am not sure exactly why, but there is something that turns my heart and makes me want to act when I am aware of oppresion of this kind, of repressed freedoms. Watching the youtube videos in June, reading the blogs, trying to pay attention to all that is going has flipped a kind of switch. People are losing their lives and I just feel an urge to help, to help the people gain their freedom. I also liken it to the American Revolution in some ways, because the colonists were fights for freedom, fighting to not have a king over them, and it is something that has taken time and may be coming to a boiling over point in Iran. And so I feel the urge to help.

What is your favorite Home cooked meal? I would say that one of my favorite home cooked meals is probably a breakfast item called, "German Pancakes." They're delicious.

Are you near-sighted or far-sighted? I am near sighted. Things get blurry after 5 feet or so.

What size shoe do you wear? I wear size 8.5 shoes.

Craig M: Why does a Chicken?
This is a very important question, asking why the chicken. No one knows for sure why, and none of them will really answer. Those that do, well, they lie. They don't ever tell the truth. So the trick is to watch one in the wild without them knowing, which is quite hard to do. But if you are able to do it, you will realize that that the why was just an college bet they had, won and still continue to this day; It is teaching the humans the Chicken Dance. That is the why they will ever need. Cause they think it is pretty darn hilarious.

What is your favorite webcomic? My favorite webcomics are XKCD, Order of the Stick, Dinosaur Comics, Questionable Content and Dr. Mcninja.

What is your favorite videogame of all time? My favorite video game of all time? Honestly, I would have to say the Baldur's Gate series. Starcraft ranks up there too, but nothing takes the cake such as having Minsc in your group shouting for his hamster, or miniature giant space hamster, to go for the eyes. It is a hilarious game.

Katie: You love tacos al pastor too?

Yes, yes I did. A lot of missionaries who went served an LDS mission in Mexico City liked them. They are quite delicious indeed.

Anonymous: Which current writer on the 100 hour board do you like the least?

For those who do not know, the 100 Hour Board is a type of anonymous question board where people ask questions and the anonymous writers respond. It is something that I have enjoyed reading in the past.
To get to Anonymous's question, I haven't really read for the past month or so because I have been busy with school and other stuff, even so, no one's writing has really made me dislike them. If I would have say someone, I would say Marzipan. I only say Marzipan because I know her and I think she lets me being a reader of the Board, or something else foolish, from getting to better friends. That is all.

That is it, those are the answers to the questions. I thought some more people would ask questions, but hey, it means less procrastinating of school work this way. Though feel free to ask questions whenever. You shouldn't need a blog post inviting you to ask me something about myself, to ask me about myself.

21 Questions

2010-01-12T12:35:00.001-07:00

Ok, so this will actually be nothing like 21 questions, considering I'm going to be answering with more than a yes or a no, and there may be more than 21 questions.

But others have done this, and as I figure I should get a little something done on my blog while school rages around, my creativity is being diverted to other areas.

So ask questions. Whatever you want. The sky is the limit, and if we get there, I'm sure we can bypass the atmosphere without a hitch. So just ask what you'd like to learn from me, be it silly, serious, or otherwise.

So, this is what you get. Get to asking those questions.

Edit: Preferably something you'd like to know about me, to know who I am a little. Something like that.

New Template

2010-01-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

So a quick explanation for you all, I support the Green Revolution. I want help out the Iranians who do not have a voice, whose votes where not counted, who are protesting the votes, who are starting to overthrow their dictatorship.

So I changed my blog layout to signal my support. Sorry if it annoys you.

And if anyone knows of any way to help out more, such as setting up remote servers for Iranians or something like that, let me know. I want to help.

A Conspiracy!

2010-01-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

There are some things that I think are a conspiracy, or is proof that the universe hates me. One of the two.

Today, is one of them. Today I had no balance today while walking on ice. At least that is what they would have you think. Clearly the universe is trying to maim me. I fell down four or five times today and now I am a bit of a gimp and I have twisted my ankle or something. So now I hobble everywhere.

Of course the logical thing would be to assume that I have no balance and no good traction on my shoes and it is my fault for walking on the ice, but that is just crazy talk. It is clearly the Universe's fault.

Missionary Friday

2010-01-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

The latest excerpts from my brother's, Elder Field, correspondence as an LDS missionary:

Dear Viewers,

As 2009 wound down to a close we spent New Years Eve day doing stop-by's and trying to find more people to teach. New Years Eve we spent with the G. family helping them get ready for a mini-New Years party. Brother G. is a less active convert who we had hoped to reactivate. We got the privilege of talking to and meeting with his long lost daughter, who he hasn't seen in ten years, who was visiting for the holidays. She has had a hard life and we talked to her for a bit and told her a little about the church. We left he with a pass-along card and we hoped that she returns home that she will call the number so the missionaries in her area can start teaching her.

This week we also did some damage control with Sister G. She loves the missionaries but she hates the church. When Brother G. converted in New Mexico, her first impression of the church was one of bad attitudes, arrogance and false doctrine. We don't know the whole story of what happened down there, but we think that maybe there was some Flds influence involved, or they ran across some ill-tempered members. They have been living in Chicago for a while now, but she really doesn't like anyone from the church except for the missionaries. We've been meeting with them for a while and thanks to us missionaries, her image of the church has improved a little, but she is still a long way from liking the Church.

After some New Years fun with the Family G., we returned home for the night. I recalled last year waking up to gun shots and sirens. This year the noise I heard was real New Year's noise. (Editors Note: Fireworks and cheering?) after realizing it was New Years, I grunted out a "Happy 2010!", then went back to bed. I can hardly believe that its already 2010! I go home this year! Wow, the time really flies. I can't believe it has been 16 months already! (Editors note: LDS/Mormon missionaries serve for two years straight. So 8 more months to go) New Year's day would have been just another day on the calender except everyone we met wished us a Happy Year. We also picked up an old investigator who is living with his member girlfriend. They have three kids and he wants to be baptized, but sadly she is going through a divorce and and I will be long gone from the area by the time that's finished and they can get married. Such is life for a missionary, most people you never see get dunked, er, baptized.

Sunday we switched church times from 9am to 1pm. I find it extremely aggravating that all my wards seem to dance around the 11 am slot. Nobody likes the other two. 9 am is too early and everyone is still sleeping and 1 pm is too late, the day is over when Church is. 11 am really is the perfect time. When the family G. heard that the time was changing they refused to come back until it changed back!

This weekend we also got a call from Elder R. in Cicero and I hoped beyond all hope that it was to inform me that I could return there for a baptism. Unfortunately they just called to inform us that the elders in the Stockyards were getting a baptism. and since they called we decided to settle our curiosity about what was going to happen in the Stockyards. When i left, Elder E. was entering his last transfer and was having visa troubles, so it was settled that he would end up going home one week early. We found out from Elder E.'s greenie (Editor's note: Greenie is a mission term for new missionary) that with the shrinking mission Cicero and Stockyards didn't just combine for a week but permanently until after the mission increases in size again. They were in a trio for a week but Elder R. is going home, so it looks like Elder B. will follow up training Elder J. If I had stayed there, that would have happened to me.

Since I'm on the subject of transfers, we got the call last night about what will be happening to us. I had decided earlier to not worry so much about transfers but after a hard day's work and waiting for that call, it's like waiting to get a diagnosis for cancer. (Editor's note: ROFL!!!!!) On transfer call night you can't help but worry, especially with rumors of your area closing. So Tuesday night we got that life shattering phone call, which, after leaving Cicero really wasn't so bad to get. This time the call came directly from President R. Our district is getting torn apart! Only two members are staying in it and the rest are leaving. Wood-ridge 2 is getting combined with Wood-ridge 1, Elder S. got called to be a zone leader with his MTC companion Elder C. in Valparaiso. After only one transfer out of the city, I will be returning to it. My new area is South-Shore and I'm in another threesome! (Editor's note: He means trio. Honestly he does.) My new companions are Elders T. and M. but the best part is that that district here has already shrunken as far as it can, so I don't have to worry about them combining areas again unless they combine districts. Hopefully it won't get that low on numbers while I'm here, but this and the next four transfers are going to get ridiculous! We have way too many people leaving and too few coming in. Who knows what will happen. I've taken on a new attitude though, and even though its getting crazy, instead of fearing it, I'll just let it happen.

Stay tuned next week for updates on my new companions and area

Sincerely, Elder Fields.

A Most Supreme Battle

2010-01-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

The battle started yesterday. Not even a battle expected. More of training exercises with other forces. Nothing new, nothing unexpected.

First shots were fired, the exercises commenced. Except the other side's volleys were more intense, more deliberate. Confused, the small force continued the exercises, wondering about the fellow brigadiers that they were in training exercises with.

They stepped up their efforts to compete, knowing like always they would lose. They always lost. That's just how things were, some shots fired, some points gained, mostly enough to prove that they could compete against the others. But this time, it was a slaughter. Provoked or unprovoked it will not be known, but the small force bravely withstood, losing their ranks one at a time.

They didn't show sign of weakness, they knew the game itself might change if this weakness was revealed against the intensity of the attacks, or perhaps the intensity would further augment. Or maybe some sympathy. The small force did not know, for their fellow comrades with whom the fought were unpredictable.

And so, the other forces released the dust bunnies, thinking all was the same. They didn't watch the carnage that ensued, they only knew that their fellow comrades were still playing, and injured like they. So secret armies of dust bunnies unleashed, the Entrapper of Souls feigning innocence.

The other side huddled in, unleashing shots, but heavily wounded, scarred, mourning. This wasn't a normal skirmish. It was a slaughter, and all they could do was weather it out lest they be cut down.

Skirmish hours ended, and both sides went to rest, the opposing forces not knowing the heaviness of the wounds and the losses the other side received. They won. They always won. That is how it always was and how it shall always be. Everything was OK.

But the original camp could barely get out with the sun. They thought they could not regroup for the next skirmish, they could not recover soon enough. Morale was gone, energy gone. Lethargic, morose, slothful. Flag raised to show all was well, cheerful greetings sent forth, mocking their slaughter, but not revealing their wounds, for the sake of pride, for respect.

And so the day started drearily, cloudy, cold, barren. And it continued that way until an ally sent greeting and brought news of a new force, of a cheering up and moralizing of troops. And then the sun burst out and life bloomed. Soldiers on the point of dying smiled and gained the life to recover, wounds began to heal, cheerfulness became prevalent in the camp. Shouts of 'huzzah' rang out, life began anew.

And the other sides? Well, this cheering was nothing new. Their comrades were weird. It was to be expected. But even they would have to smile when they saw this riding by:

And all continued with the world.

Lookie Lookie I Got Hookie!

2010-01-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Classes have started, and though this may prove my geekiness, I get to play around with something that looks like this in one of my classes.

Will this semester be awesome? I think so. (And super stressful too.)

Release the Monkeys!

2010-01-01T16:46:00.000-07:00

5...4...3...2...1... Happy New Year!!! "Release the monkeys!"

This really did occur, and it was awesome. Here is what it sounds like, excluding the music after;

So yes, the new year has started and the monkeys have been released and they won't be called back. Basically meaning I'm going to try and be more of my goofy self, less self-conscious, and strive to be more random. To get all sorts of weird glances as I defy the Utah Valley standards of a good BYU student.

It means I'll have the eye of the tiger, that channeling Rocky (Yes, I am a big fan. ;P) I will overcome, I will be happier, and more wild and cray-zay!

Which also on the flip side means being more responsible with my time and all...

And so I say to you all, Release the monkeys!

Funny Protest Signs

2009-12-31T09:26:00.000-07:00

I saw these here: 50 Best Protest signs of 2009. I just thought I would share some that I found funny.

There goes my AYBABTU hopes of salvation...

I agree. That was an awesome show.

Wait, if we spend Congress to the moon, and we declared war on the moon, have we declared war on Congress?

Also, don't we pay taxes for sewage? If we do, we already are taxed for peeing...

Enough said.

Just made me laugh is all.

Year End Review and Geekiness

2009-12-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

So, I'm combining posts. I got the meme from Yellow MM and Tiburon, with a geeky #dirrrtmagic filled video for you all to watch. It only proves my geekiness and shame... I'll post the video first so you don't have to read the mass of text first to get at it.

Now for the meme!

What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? I took online classes at BYU. That was a pain. I also never uploaded a vlog either. Craziness.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I did not make any resolutions last year. So that means I kept them all?! Woo! 100%

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Sethicus and his wife have a very beautiful baby girl, Seraphim was born in November. (name not changed there)

4. Did anyone close to you die? No, one has died close to me, thank goodness. Also no one close to me has died either.

5. What countries did you visit? Sadly, I am a poor college student and did not travel. This must be remedied.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? World domination, good grades, smurfts, a bazillion abs, more faith, more self confidence and self-esteem.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? June, because of Iran's elections. I want to help out. And the day Obama and irony won the Nobel Peace Prize.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? A- in Linear Algebra! Being re-admitted to BYU. Being called legit by several bloggers bloggers on Twitter. Overcame a bit of depression too... But shh! No one knows about that!

9. What was your biggest failure? Still haven't obtained world domination, didn't complete the fast track back option to get back into school for the fall semester.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Only a little cold, and I also have some girl Alexandria up top in my head. I may need to get that looked into...

11. What was the best thing you bought? I bought the universe. I am still trying to find the price tag to see how much I spent on it.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Elder Fields. He has grown a lot since he has entered the mission in Chicago. Also, I'll celebrate any one of your all behaviors. It deserves it!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Mostly mine, for much of the year. I wasn't doing well in the polls, Nasa declared war on the moon without my say so... but things are better.

14. Where did most of your money go? Inside my belly and brain... er food and tuition?

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Getting back into school, the green Iranian uprising, my blade, Alexandria!, and my new top hat!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? I am writing it. Give me time to finish, say, in 30 years?

17. Compared to this time last year, are you... Happier, more learned, wizened from feeling down and out and learning how to get back up again. Eager to get back in the game and will soon be richer when my student loan comes in

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? More active, more of myself, been more goofy, less social conscious. Fly. Managed my time better.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Less planning of global domination. Less feeling awkward, less sitting on my butt and playing games. Less studying like a loon for hours on end.

20. How did you spend Christmas? With my awesome family, killing bunnies.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009? Not yet. Two more days shall see if that changes.

22. What was your favorite TV program? Community, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Colbert Report, Daily Show.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No, they have all been politically eliminated.

24. What was the best book you read? Harry Potter, the Tales of Beedle the Bard.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Pirates of Penzance

26. What did you want and get? Top hat and fencing sword. Old school rules.

27. What did you want and not get? How many times do I have to say global domination? I'd settle for the allegiance of a small 3rd world country... Anyone?

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Sherlock Holmes.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 23 and was homeless for a day. Also I moved into a new student ward the next day and didn't tell anyone.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Getting finished with some independent study courses. Proving to myself that I am not completely socially awkward.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Top hats, white gloves and a cane? How would you describe it?

32. What kept you sane? Have you seen my vlogs? What sanity?

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? This year? None really. None come to mind.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? Iran. I want to do more, I want to help.

35. Who did you miss? Friends. Those I did not have the chance at meeting or was too awkward in first meeting and lost opportunities to hang out.

36. Who was the best new person you met? Bloggers, Some cool guys in my ward such as Adam and Bryce. My roommates.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009: The value of being happy.

38. What are you looking forward to in 2010? Fencing. School. Programming.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "It's the eye of the tiger, the year of the fight..." - The Rocky theme song.

Silence of the Halls

2009-12-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

I am now in possession of something many a college student would enjoy, but at the worst possible time; It's an empty apartment. During the Christmas holiday.

Everyone has either moved out or are still away for vacations. I arrived Sunday evening and was surprised to find myself alone. Of course the deadbolt was in place, which is incredibly hard to unlock, but I managed. But now I am here. I walked around the apartments that are part of the ward I attend, but nothing. All blackness. It was lonely. It felt like a ghost town.

But the good thing? Strutting. That is allowed. I did a little this morning. It was a tad liberating. Maybe I'll throw a party. But that depends on me getting federal loans, otherwise I'm still a poor college student.

So if you look up in the night and see a lone light on in an apartment complex, think of me. Remember those who may go mad from living inside their own skulls, the silence trapping them in, the walls creeping closer... Well, if I was claustrophobic. But still think of me.

For Shame...

2009-12-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

So... I succumbed. Well I told Alexandria that I would post a vlog today, and this is the only free opportunity I have between spending time with my family and going to a Christmas shindig to spend even more time with family.

So, I just turned on my camera with no script and started shooting. I hope some of you appreciate what is in the background. I never knew it was there... And many things I said are things that she says as well. I just felt no need to state them all. I did forget a Schwartz joke though. And note the shirt. The shirt is composed of awesome.

It is still being processed, but I'm embedding it for when it is up.

Umm, enjoy, and remember nothing was planned. It was all random. Not even the accent. If it makes you hang your head in shame...

Missionary Thursday

2009-12-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

The latest letter in Elder Field's letter from his mission in Chicago, my brother.

Dear family and viewers,

Recently I discovered something that has helped me to become a little less lost in my new area. In the winter time, the shadows point north. With this bit of information, even though I still have trouble figuring out where we are going, it's now that much less difficult.
As for actual events of the week; the Christmas spirit has been running high this week. After we viewed some awesome decorated homes, we decided to do a little decorating of our own; but alas, we have but a single strand of lights and no tree. but then we got a brilliant idea! We now have the most artificial of artificial trees ever! We used the playschool basketball hoop that I inherited from Elder S. when he "died". (Editors note: Elder S. completed his two years of missionary service and went home. Hence, he "died".) We strung our strand of lights around it, then used pass-along cards as ornaments, and for the tree topper we used a rubber duck! We both agree that this is the best Christmas tree ever!!! (Editor's Note: Would this tree beat beat Charlie Brown's Christmas tree? I think so.)

Wednesday was our zone activity; it was basically a repeat of a previous activity in other zone; we went ice skating. I only spent about ten minutes on the ice but since it was my first zone activity outside the city I spent most of the time getting to know the other missionaries in the zone.

We got another pleasant surprise on Wednesday with a call from our star investigator (Editors Note: Investigators are people who missionaries are in the process of teaching the gospel) Eric. He wanted to meet with us every day this week until Christmas Eve so to speed up the process of his baptism. At first we were shocked because this absolutely never happens, that you can meet with an investigator every day, but we took advantage of the opportunity and did exactly as he requested.
Friday was the Joliet Christmas zone conference. I'd have to say this year's conference was far better then it was last year. The meeting started with some training from President R. and the zone leaders. I also learned that this year our families have to call us on Christmas instead of us calling them, and the church is being cheap so the family or the missionary has to pay. (Editors Note: I thought it was always like this?) After the trainings, we watched a movie called "The Fourth Wise Man", a very good movie of the 4th wise man who gets delayed in his coming to visit the baby Jesus and helps everyone on his way, taking a 33 year journey to get to Jerusalem. After watching the movie I remembered that last year in Beverly, Sister C. told us that story. Except... according to her there were actually 12 wise men, one for each tribe of Isreal, and the story was just a story. Huh. Ending the flash back and returning back to the present, we had lunch, sang Christmas carols, and was visited by Santa R./President Claus. At the end of the meeting, I resumed my fantasy from the Valpo conference that I told you about last week, but this time I played a role I have become all to familiar with; that of the child ravaging through the gifts on Christmas morning. After zone conference, we had a meeting with Eric, returned home and placed our gifts under our Christmas basketball hoop/tree to await Christmas morning.

Saturday was our ward Christmas party. We got there early to help set up, and later enjoyed dinner. The theme for this year's party was Christmas around the world. We learned about various beliefs and traditions from some different countries. My personal favorite was Australia. In Australia they believe that due to the inverted winter it's too hot for reindeer so Santa uses six white Kangaroos instead. they even have a song about it! I forget most of it but the chorus goes something like this...
Six white boomers, snow white boomers, flying through the sky in the blazing sun
Six white boomers, snow white boomers, used by Santa Claus for his Australian run...

That's become my new favorite Christmas song ever!! Also a Christmas party just wouldn't be a party without Santa Claus, so at the end all the kiddies got to go see him. Last year, for some reason, I didn't talk to "Santa" but this year i decided that I most definitely would. I was very impressed with this particular Santa as he knew exactly what I wanted and I didn't have to say anything; as a missionary he knew I would want more people to teach and told me he had pulled off Christmas miracles like that in the past. I was very exited at the idea of getting referrals from Santa Claus.

Sunday after church we met with Eric to discuss the details for his baptism. The date is set for this upcoming Saturday! Elder Sn. will be in the water and I will be giving a talk. I have got nine months left and hopefully in that time I will have the pleasure of being the one in the water, but for now I am just happy to be part of this baptism.

Sunday night, the Christmas spirit was still running high and we found a baptist church that was performing a Christmas concert and decided to take a peek inside. the musical performance was very good and after that the pastor spoke. As far as doctrine was concerned he was right on target but his historical information was a bit off and he didn't cite his sources so I wondered where he got some of that information. The wise men were on horses and it took exactly two months for them to arrive? December is a shepherd's busy season? Honestly I wonder where the pastor got his historical information.

Tuesday Elder Sn. gave into temptation and opened one of his packages which contained two identical stockings with twelve gifts inside and an explanation that it was a countdown to Christmas and to open one a day until then. But as it was three days until Christmas we had some fun and opened the first nine right away. That was a fun little activity that kept us both away from the rest of the gifts.
That's it for this week. Looking forward to our Christmas call on Friday

Sincerely, Elder Fields

A Toast!

2009-12-24T00:30:00.000-07:00

First off, Giant, you fail. There is much fist shaking in the land.

Why you ask? Well this day two awesome people have met, have fallen under the spell of twue luv. It wasn't long ago, about this time around March when Sir Wally the 3rd met his lovely bride to be, Kristen.

Before this time, I always told him he would wed first. He denied it and claimed I would. But fate favored me and showed him some East Coast luvin; a truly awesome girl. And always amazed that she has fallen for him, another geek such as I. But truly an awesome, down to Earth guy.

And so I dedicate this post to them, to Wally the 3rd, my co-conspirator, my vice president nominee, my second, my campaign manager. One of the best of friends. And to you, Kristen, who shines light in Wally's life and renewed hope for the female gender in his eyes. Who both may hate that I am posting this video. But here it is.

Enjoy Tennessee.

So Much to Do, So Little Time

2009-12-22T19:20:00.001-07:00

Twss.

It's the Christmas vacation, I'm up in the desolate wasteland of Tooele(It really is desolate) for the week and have decided to make a small list of things to get done before school starts.

Get through four chapters of my online English Class

Finish reading Tale of Two Cities

Get an early jump on my programming assignments

I suppose do an actual Vlog

See Sherlock Holmes

Pay for tuition and books. (Lame, I know)

Shake my groove thing at New Years

Per Alex, drive up to California (Assuming BYU doesn't take all my money)

Get a new phone

Pending the snow, rebuild the Naked Indian Snowman

So that is what I can remember. More will be added later.

Preparations

2009-12-19T23:25:00.003-07:00

As I said before, one of my friends was preparing to win back his girlfriend. In the midst of the preparations we grabbed a camera. This will only be up most likely for a limited time... Or if my friends agree, we'll splice them altogether into one file and keep it on Youtube. So watch the first, which is an introduction, and the second which is the prepared speech.

Oh, and if you want to watch myself make a fool of myself, see here, here and here. We were going to do a music video to Michael Jackson's Just Beat It song, but it didn't pan out. So thus I post the ones with mainly me in them to make fun of myself.

Avatar; the True Power of Love

2009-12-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

First off, I am giving a spoiler alert for those of you who have not seen the movie Avatar. I don't know how much I may reveal. So if you want to see the movie first without being spoiled, leave now. If not, continue reading.

If I were to describe Avatar in one sentence, I would say it is an awesome Sci-fi version of Pocahontas where John Smith joins the Native Americans, and with Grandmother Willow, they push the English back to sea.

But awesomeness is not limited to a sentence. It fails to do awesomeness justice. To set the setting, humans have reached another planet that sustains life; Pandora. Like the "new world", this world is used as a mining center, to make a company rich. Probably because the air is toxic to humans, there is never any plans mentioned to colonize the planet, just mine it for all it is worth, serving the stockholder first. However the natives, the Na'vi don't like them mining. They are protective of the plants and worship the planet essentially as a god, being people of the earth, rangers, trackers, at harmony with their environment. So naturally most humans think the Na'vi are tree hugging pagans and thus feel justified in bringing arms to force the Na'vi to move so they can take the resources wanted. Such technology used are mechanical walker suits that remind me of a cross between the firepower in Zion from the Matrix and the mechanical walkers of Starcraft.

Now as for the Na'vi, they're blue humanoids who have biological USB ports at the end of their ponytails. Seriously. The Na'vi, the horse creatures and some sort of large bird creatures, and other creatures too probably, have at the end of their ponytail thing strands of nerves so that when they intertwine, they form a sort of partnership; they become one creature. They can feel the creature's strength, its' heartbeat, and can direct the creature with thoughts. You want to go forward, the creature goes forward.

But not only that, all plant life, particularly the trees, act as nerve cells of the planet. They are literally connected and electricity sort of flows through them, like brain synapses. It is like Sid Mier's Alpha Centauri game, where the planet is literally alive and has a form of intelligence. Or in technology terms, the planet is an archaic network hub that stores memories, feelings, voices. There are "Prayer Trees" that act as the router that the Na'vi can intertwine their ponytail nerves to and can literally hear memories, hear voices, can access somewhat the information stored by Eywa, the name given for the the archaic intelligence that the planet Pandora possesses. Which, as I said above, shows my geekiness in that I am reminded of the game Alpha Centauri by Sid Meir. In that game, the planet is alive, it directs it's animals, everything lives in a balance. There is that similarity that I saw.

And then there is the cgi animation, where everything is believe, awe inspiring and looks like it was shot in an actual jungle. The animation and graphics are awesome and well done. The Na'vi look realistic, not like a Jar-Jar Binks puppet, showing every movement of muscle, every little thing that does not at one instant fail to destroy the illusion.

So the story? Jake Sully is a paralyzed ex-marine who gets an offer; the opportunity to go to Pandora and use an Avatar, a genetically enhanced Na'vi like body custom taylored to the genetic code of a person. Basically uplinking your nervous system and brain patterns to the Avatar, to better study the planet and get to know the Na'vi better. Sully gets this offer because his twin brother, the scientist, died.

So the story is about Jake, how this marine gets to know the Na'vi and has to decide between obeying like a good obedient soldier, or do what's right. Who must sacrifice all he knows for love, or give it up.

Avatar is very well made, well produced and has an excellent story. It is worth seeing a few times, as the imagery, the symbolism, and adventure are all real, vivid and connects with the viewer. You will enjoy this movie, and I for one want to see it again.

Oh, and Alexandria, you may want throw Sam Worthington onto your Monster Hott Guy's list, and maybe onto some other things as well. ;)

Quick, in Brief

2009-12-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

To the blogger world, well mainly to those who do not follow my every movement on Twitter, I am now part of the employed world again.

I was let go a year ago because it is a university student job and I didn't qualify as a student for a little bit, I couldn't work there. (Slacked in school. Not going to happen again.)

And so I am hired back where I worked a year ago. I had a decision between a programming job where I have barely looked at the code to make a final decision and my old job where I gained SQL experience, some php and html job experience and good computer skills. Only high level engineers got paranoid about the power we students held and stripped us of our access to the back end, looking at the inner core of the programs worked with. Restructuring has occurred, and needless to say, I am an over glorified telephone operator, complete with LDS chapel directory assistance.

But the good thing is that things are very laid back, so there is some free time from day to day to relax. That's the good thing. However, it's not as active as I'd like. Upon being hired I felt that the Universe was righted somehow, that things are back in motion, and this is a fun place to work, I'd rather not stay in this department for too long. I have to up my programming skills so I can transfer to a team that actually programs, or one of the centralized teams that deal with hardware and actual resolving of computer issues. So that is always good.

Also, for a heads up for one of the next posts, I may post a video. I was hanging out with some guys in my ward and one of the guys was prepping to talk to an old girlfriend to go out again. We recorded what he was going to say, it was hilarious. We may put it on Youtube, and if we do, I will display it here.

If not, if they don't want it online, then I'll just post the transcript. It is a hilarious, hilarious movie. Gave me a freaking asthma attack too!

Have a merry Christmas,

Sammy!

Politically Correct Missionary Wednesday

2009-12-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

My brother, Elder Fields serves in Chicago as an LDS/Mormon missionary. These are some excerpts to his tales...

Dear viewers,

Two things I forgot to say last week: 1) Traffic in the suburbs is only congested during rush hour, instead of all the time, like it is in the city. 2) For once in my mission, my apartment is on the ground floor so I don't have to climb a billion stairs to get there. With that said, we shall move onto the events of this past week!

My companion and me had the privilege of having dinner with our bishop this week, something that I never had done in my previous two wards, That was a good experience. Also, once a month our ward volunteers at a soup kitchen and Thursday we had the opportunity to help outwith that. It's just another memorable mission moment.

On Saturday and Sunday our ward put on their 17th annual live nativity. The show ran once every half hour, they had live animals and everything. It was absolutely amazing to behold. I learned one important bit of information from this show; where the set was set up, right behind the inn stage was a big tree. So no wonder there was no room in the inn, that tree took up all the room. Ha ha ha! I kid really, but in all seriousness, the show was fantastic. The show was better the second night as there were more people, warmer weather and no rain.

After viewing the show there were more activities inside; they had several really good musical performances in the chapel, including a high school choir Saturday night. It was really weird to have a high school choir in a church, but it was also very cool. The best part was that there was no argument about separation of church and state. I have heard lots of stupid arguments about that kind of stuff out here and am glad nothing was said.

In the first overflow there were over 80 smaller nativity scenes of various types and sizes. Some of my favorites included the yarn people, and the Asian displays; but my absolute favorites were the Eskimo snowmen and the Vegi-tales scene. The last room held a mix and mingle with cookies, cider, and the 'Joy to the World' movie. I think the whole two nights were very successful in regards to missionary work.

When all was said and done, we spoke to the sister who was in charge of putting this whole show together. She thanked us heavily for our help in not only the event itself but also for all the help we offered in setting up and taking down for the event. I kind of admired her for all the trouble she had to go through to put this thing together. She only had a month's notice in getting everything together and hardly had any volunteers to help her out besides the missionaries until the last week or so. She told us it could have been alot easier but there were lots of obstacles in the way. There were two groups of people involved; the first didnt want to help much or recruit help because they were afraid of offending people. The second was the lazy group whome the first feared to offend. I had thought that these two groups only existed in the city but it turns out they are everywhere in the mission! I have a strong dislike for the atitude of that second group. They think that just being baptised and attending church is enough, well I have a news flash for them: It's not!! Get a calling and get to work! If you think your own soul is saved, that's fine but it give no excuse to not help others and bring them closer to Christ. You're not only person in the church, nor are you just a viewer, you should be in the church to help move the work forward. As far as the first group goes, they are just being stupid in their attitude of "let's not offend them, so we don't ask". If they get offended because you ask them to do something, then so be it, but don't be a coward about it. You're not helping the cause by simply letting them be lazy.

This group of people realy truly aggravate me. They are the reason this program almost didn't happen. From the beginning this program was meant to be a huge effort in mission work, and a great Christmas program. These people decided that in their fear of also offending nonmembers, if they had to have the show at all, they decided to make it just a fun little gathering and avoid any offense. Hello!! How dumb can you get? If you're going to put on a huge program like this, it must be for the gaining of and strengthening of a testimony, of witnessing the great miracle of the Savior's birth; not just a fun activity for those who already have a strong testimony of Christ and the gospel.

That's what's tearing this work and world appart, the fear to offend people. You can not only see it here, but in the political corectness and attiude of the world today, if you want something, just get offended and now people give it to you on a silver platter. (Has Elder Fields been paying attention to Lieberman's hissy fit in the senate?!!) But I digress..., back to the subject at hand.

People in this chuch need to stop worrying about being so offensive, you can offend someone by just saying you're a Mormon; I do that all the time. So quit yer bellyaching! And besides, this program wasn't meant to get people into the water, it was meant to get them interested, show them the true meaning of Christmas, what this church really is about. Showing up doesn't mean they have to be dunked in the baptismal font, all it means is that they wanted to have a good time in this Christmas season. We extended the invitation and they came, that's all we asked. It was meant to show that we are human too, and if they have questions about us they can ask and we'd be more than happy to give them the answer. I didn't talk to too many people there, the missionaries were there more for presence then anything else. Nonmembers would go to their member friends for the answers they wanted. We know we had some success because we had several tables full of material, pass along cards, ect.. and by the end of those two nights a lot of that stuff had vanished. So even with the struggle that went on in putting it together, the event was very successful. I hope this event continues for years to come.

Well enough off my rantings about the show, let's move on to something more pleasant. Monday afternoon we recieved a call from Elder G., the vehical coordinator, who asked us for help in doing car checks for the Valparaiso Indiana Zone Conference on Tuesday. The both of us were more than happy to help out, as it was a chance to take a road trip to a zone neither of us have served in, and now I can say that I've been to seven states. After agreeing to go we were less then happy to find out that to get to zone conferance on time we would have to wake up at 4 am to be there on time. So that moring we dragged our tired selves out of bed and made our way to to the mission office. We were in for a very pleasent surprise when we got there; we got the opportunity to play santa clause by loading up all of the missionary gift packages into the mission van. At 5 am it made the job alot more pleasent to imagine Elder G. as Santa and us as his "little helpers" loading up his slay. I continued this image throughout the trip and it made the whole conference and day even better. When all the missionaries arrived and the Christmas zone conferance meeting actualy started, I imagined that when we were unloading the packages from the mission van that the missionaries were the kiddies all fast asleep in bed (Editor's Note: Was the Mission President's talk that boring?) and we unloaded all the gifts from the slay to under the tree, aka the package room. I imagined that the happy joy I felt in delivering all those gifts must be how Santa feels every year when he makes his Christmas run. Then I was snapped back into reality by the true reason we were there, car checks. :( There was nothing magical that could be compared to christmas here. After our task was done we attended a portion of their Christmas zone conference. Then I jumped back into my fantasy land by imagining that lunch was Santa's milk and cookies. After zone conference, unlike Santa, I stuck around like a proud parent who would watch their kids ravage through the gifts on Christmas morning. This also gave me great joy, even though it was just the missionaries tearing through their Christmas packages.

That joy I felt must truely be how Santa, and all parents feel on Christmas morning. Give it five to ten years and I would be more then happy to do the job again for my own kids.
Other than my Christmas illusion, O discovered something else: Valparaiso Zone is a very enjoyable place. It's a small zone with fewer missionaries, but I think if I had my choice, if I couldn't go back to the city and die there, (Editor's note: end the mission there) I would want to die in this zone.

Wishing you all the christmas joy I felt this year,

love, Elder Fields.

Sam Nanti's Thoughts and Ravings

Bouncing Back

Christmas Challenge

Thoughts on Pottermore

And So It Continues

Puzzles and Doing What You Love

Start of a Murder Mystery?

Just A Little Random

Horcrux Selection

The Shattering of a Fantasy

In the Wake of Things

Hypocrisy

Dear Trump,

No Title

The Gear

Reality

Wanderings

Oh Sweet Mana from Heaven

Royal Weddings

While Procrastinating...

Pirates

Election Night Rant

Hit the Road Jack

Defending Gale

Russian Roulette

Not a Mockingjay Spoiler

What Is Marriage?

Dear Rob Pattison

Mockingjay Hopes

Sarah Palin Declares She is the Prophet Tiresias!

Preggo Sleep Walkers

Rocky - Made Famous By Ignorance

That's Just Shiz

Modern Indulgences of our Time

Strike Two

Summer Class Fail

Viva Mexico!

SQL Mafia Death Threats

Fear

That One Arizona Bill

A Moment, Paused for Eternity

From Another Perspective

The Hunger Games/Catching Fire

Happy

That Pesky Glass Ceiling

The Deets

A Confession

That One Health Care Bill.

My Blog's Already Green...

In 'N Out

Contemplating

Missionary Rebuke Wednesday

Random Laughter

Elections of the Student Kind

Weird Dreams

Missionary Wednesday

Wad of Gum

Violent Protesting

There Once Was...

Missionary Promotion Wednesday!

The Fortune Cookie Knows

Risks

The 11th

Super Short Missionary Wednesday

Dear Religion Profesor,

Questions Meme

*Sigh*

Missionary Wednesday

Lost Innocence

Meaning of Names

What is freedom

Follow the Leader

You're Not Listening!

PSA Missionary Wednesday

Nuthun

Behold, the Power of....

I'd Like to Thank the Academy

Fencing

Short Missionary Wednesday

Lazy Monday

Sigh