Here's a great article written by [Future] President Romney. Romney talks about the importance of families in combatting the cesspool of immorality and filth in which children today are swimming. Boy, does he hit the nail on the head! I've been thinking a lot about this recently with the birth of my baby daughter. I wonder what kind of cesspool she'll end up having to grow up in. It's scary to think about.
Governor Romney mentions that the most important thing is what happens within the 4 walls of your own home. This reminded me of a quote by Barbara Bush which says, "What happens in your house is more important than what happens in the White House." I wonder how many liberals actually believe that concept. I know the founding fathers definitely believed that. That single principle is what, I believe, underlies the constitution as a whole.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Political Divination
Found this great article today by Ryan Bell, who blogs at romneyexperience.com. I won't be one to hide the fact that I'm a ginormous Mitt Romney supporter.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Independence Day
Yesterday was Independence Day, and my wife and I went to Heritage Park in Salt Lake City to watch Glenn Beck film his CNN tv show. He was in town to host the Stadium of Fire at BYU's LaVell Edwards Stadium.
As he sat down in the chair to begin rehearsing, the first thing he said was "OK, change everything on the teleprompter that says 'Fourth of July' to read 'Independence Day'. The Fourth of July is a date on the calendar. Independence Day is a holiday."
I thought to myself, Heck yes Glenn! We're on the same page! I just blogged about that yesterday!
Glenn was awesome. What a genuine guy. It was very evident that he has a deep love for our country. At one point he was introducing a segment and was talking about our troops. He began to tear up, and told the producer that he had to stop and start over. He simply couldn't get through it without crying.
As he sat down in the chair to begin rehearsing, the first thing he said was "OK, change everything on the teleprompter that says 'Fourth of July' to read 'Independence Day'. The Fourth of July is a date on the calendar. Independence Day is a holiday."
I thought to myself, Heck yes Glenn! We're on the same page! I just blogged about that yesterday!
Glenn was awesome. What a genuine guy. It was very evident that he has a deep love for our country. At one point he was introducing a segment and was talking about our troops. He began to tear up, and told the producer that he had to stop and start over. He simply couldn't get through it without crying.
Anyway, here's a picture I got with him. It was a great Independance Day.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
"Our Lives, Our Fortunes, Our Sacred Honor"
I think I want to start a movement to officially end the name "4th of July". It's Independence Day, and should be called such. I recently have had a newfound feeling of patriotism. I love my country, and especially those who have sacrificed their all. Thank you to those who settled for nothing less than freedom, liberty, and independence -- not matter the cost.
At church this Sunday we sang America the Beautiful. My eyes brimmed with tears as we sang the 3rd verse:
"O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!"
The political arena today lacks men and women who are willing to sacrifice their all for the good of our country. The signers of the Declaration of Independence made a promise to eachother. The last sentence says, "we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor." Have we lost this? Are people today, especially politicians, willing to sacrific what our forefathers sacrificed to preserve freedom?
May God bless this great country -- the greatest country God has given to man -- with more of that kind of attitude. To read more of the sacrifices that the signers made, read this article.
Happy Independence Day
At church this Sunday we sang America the Beautiful. My eyes brimmed with tears as we sang the 3rd verse:
"O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!"
The political arena today lacks men and women who are willing to sacrifice their all for the good of our country. The signers of the Declaration of Independence made a promise to eachother. The last sentence says, "we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor." Have we lost this? Are people today, especially politicians, willing to sacrific what our forefathers sacrificed to preserve freedom?
May God bless this great country -- the greatest country God has given to man -- with more of that kind of attitude. To read more of the sacrifices that the signers made, read this article.
Happy Independence Day
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Procrastination
I haven't been great about writing. I haven't given anybody this wesbite yet though, so I guess I'm not disappointing anybody. I need to do better about it though. It feels good to just write.
Today was the last day of classes for me before finals next week. Oh, man, am I stressed. Over the years I've hated how big of a procrastinator I am. I try to justify it all the time, but I know that I waste too much time doing unproductive things. I've often wondered how good my grades would be if I really applied myself. I honestly think my potential would be limitless. I think that changing that one attribute about myself would make a huge difference in who I am and what doors are open to me in the future.
A big reason for my procrastination is my lack of planning and follow-through with my planning. At the beginning of every semester, I take out my syllabi (great word) and write down every test and assignment. Then I put my planner in my backpack, and take it out once or twice in the next four months. If I were to sit down each night and plan the following day minute by minute (being flexible of course, for the wife's sake), and then actually follow through with my plan, I could get so much more done.
Anyway, the irony of this post is that I decided to write because I should be studying for a test right now that I have to take in about two hours. So I should end now and get going.
Today was the last day of classes for me before finals next week. Oh, man, am I stressed. Over the years I've hated how big of a procrastinator I am. I try to justify it all the time, but I know that I waste too much time doing unproductive things. I've often wondered how good my grades would be if I really applied myself. I honestly think my potential would be limitless. I think that changing that one attribute about myself would make a huge difference in who I am and what doors are open to me in the future.
A big reason for my procrastination is my lack of planning and follow-through with my planning. At the beginning of every semester, I take out my syllabi (great word) and write down every test and assignment. Then I put my planner in my backpack, and take it out once or twice in the next four months. If I were to sit down each night and plan the following day minute by minute (being flexible of course, for the wife's sake), and then actually follow through with my plan, I could get so much more done.
Anyway, the irony of this post is that I decided to write because I should be studying for a test right now that I have to take in about two hours. So I should end now and get going.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
"Esse Quam Videri"
I figure that if I'm going to name my blog a Latin phrase, I probably should give some sort of explanation as to what it means. I'll attempt to get my point across on this, although I'm pretty sure what I type won't be nearly as good as the way it makes sense in my head. I wish my professors understood that!
Do you ever feel that the person that you appear to be to others isn't who you really are? I know it's true for me, and I'm beginning to realize more and more that many people experience this. As I interact with people, whether at school, at work (I work in the home theatre department of my local Best Buy), or with my friends, I feel too often that I put on a mask so that others won't see my imperfections. A quick example. Tonight I was working, and a guy called in because an employee had given him false information about a tv's capabilities. I was left to grovel and try to make things better, but this guy was absolutely closed to any sort of solution to make up for our mistake. He became somewhat beligerent, using profanity to get his point across. Now, in my head I was conjuring up my own bit of vocabulary that I would have liked to use on him. I so badly wanted to just chew him out and tell him exactly how I was feeling, but instead kept it all inside and was relatively cordial (probably a good choice).
When I'm with friends and family I think I appear to be quite a straight arrow. But my inner self is so far from it. Who I am when I'm by myself is quite different than the apparently ever-smiling person I am in public.
The term "esse quam videri" suggests bringing into allignment who you are and who you appear to be. The literal translation is "to be rather than to seem." Another way of putting it is "what you see is what you get." Now, I don't think this means that I need to wear on my sleeve all my imperfections and feelings of inadaquacy. In fact, I don't think I should change what I appear to be at all, because I quite like the person I portray. Rather, I want to actually become the person I seem to be. I want to progress to the point where nothing I think, say, or do while by myself would be disappointing to those I'm close to. I want to be somebody who is genuinely kind, ambitious, bright, organized, etc.--not just in the way I act--but in who I am.
One also could really like their inner self, but then struggle when standing up for those values when put under negative pressure from friends or difficult situations. I've met so many people who are genuinely good people, yet struggle to represent that in their actions.
I understand that this a lofty goal. In all reality, I know that I'll never, in this life, progress to the point of being exactly who I want to be. However, I think it's the process of actively striving for it that adds character, and it's that character that I really desire.
Man, it really is hard to explain what I'm thinking. This idea has been incubating in my brain for a few weeks, and what seems to have hatched on this blog is quite an ugly duckling.
Think of what "esse quam videri" means to you. Take inventory of your life regarding those things that aren't in allignment with who you want to really become. And in the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."
The movie "Ghost" is on, with Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg. Classic. But those devil shadow things that take people off to Hell are really silly. Kind of disturbing, but moreso just funny.
Do you ever feel that the person that you appear to be to others isn't who you really are? I know it's true for me, and I'm beginning to realize more and more that many people experience this. As I interact with people, whether at school, at work (I work in the home theatre department of my local Best Buy), or with my friends, I feel too often that I put on a mask so that others won't see my imperfections. A quick example. Tonight I was working, and a guy called in because an employee had given him false information about a tv's capabilities. I was left to grovel and try to make things better, but this guy was absolutely closed to any sort of solution to make up for our mistake. He became somewhat beligerent, using profanity to get his point across. Now, in my head I was conjuring up my own bit of vocabulary that I would have liked to use on him. I so badly wanted to just chew him out and tell him exactly how I was feeling, but instead kept it all inside and was relatively cordial (probably a good choice).
When I'm with friends and family I think I appear to be quite a straight arrow. But my inner self is so far from it. Who I am when I'm by myself is quite different than the apparently ever-smiling person I am in public.
The term "esse quam videri" suggests bringing into allignment who you are and who you appear to be. The literal translation is "to be rather than to seem." Another way of putting it is "what you see is what you get." Now, I don't think this means that I need to wear on my sleeve all my imperfections and feelings of inadaquacy. In fact, I don't think I should change what I appear to be at all, because I quite like the person I portray. Rather, I want to actually become the person I seem to be. I want to progress to the point where nothing I think, say, or do while by myself would be disappointing to those I'm close to. I want to be somebody who is genuinely kind, ambitious, bright, organized, etc.--not just in the way I act--but in who I am.
One also could really like their inner self, but then struggle when standing up for those values when put under negative pressure from friends or difficult situations. I've met so many people who are genuinely good people, yet struggle to represent that in their actions.
I understand that this a lofty goal. In all reality, I know that I'll never, in this life, progress to the point of being exactly who I want to be. However, I think it's the process of actively striving for it that adds character, and it's that character that I really desire.
Man, it really is hard to explain what I'm thinking. This idea has been incubating in my brain for a few weeks, and what seems to have hatched on this blog is quite an ugly duckling.
Think of what "esse quam videri" means to you. Take inventory of your life regarding those things that aren't in allignment with who you want to really become. And in the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."
The movie "Ghost" is on, with Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg. Classic. But those devil shadow things that take people off to Hell are really silly. Kind of disturbing, but moreso just funny.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
My Blog
I've been thinking lately that I should give this blogging thing a shot. I don't really like the name "blog" because it sounds like some kind of mythical creature from a fantasy novel. Until recently I thought blogging was something for teenage computer geeks who don't want to share their feelings audibly to anybody. I've recently realized, however, that blogging is a great way to record experiences and knowledge, and to make it available to others who can also benefit from it. Yesterday I went to a lecture by Paul Allen, the CEO of myfamily.com and ancestry.com (not the Microsoft guy, but an amazingly successful entrepreneur). He talked about this, and referred us to his blog (http://www.infobaseventures.com/blog/oldblog/) where he says:
"Writing down great ideas makes them permanent ("the faintest pencil is keener than the sharpest mind") and if you think good ideas come from a Higher Intelligence than your own and you value them enough to write them down and act on them, from my experience, you'll find that it leads to having more of them."
He then quoted Joseph Smith, Jr. as saying:
". . . for neglecting to write these things when God had revealed them, not esteeming them of sufficient worth, the Spirit may withdraw . . . and there is, or was, a vast knowledge, of infinite importance, which is now lost."
So here I am. Hopefully someone finds this blog and learns something from me. I am also excited to read and learn from the responses of those who read this. I think we call that a "symbiotic relationship" (going back to biology in high school). My next post will explain the name of my blog, "Esse Quam Videri." Enjoy!
"Writing down great ideas makes them permanent ("the faintest pencil is keener than the sharpest mind") and if you think good ideas come from a Higher Intelligence than your own and you value them enough to write them down and act on them, from my experience, you'll find that it leads to having more of them."
He then quoted Joseph Smith, Jr. as saying:
". . . for neglecting to write these things when God had revealed them, not esteeming them of sufficient worth, the Spirit may withdraw . . . and there is, or was, a vast knowledge, of infinite importance, which is now lost."
So here I am. Hopefully someone finds this blog and learns something from me. I am also excited to read and learn from the responses of those who read this. I think we call that a "symbiotic relationship" (going back to biology in high school). My next post will explain the name of my blog, "Esse Quam Videri." Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)