The recurring thought I had all weekend was, "How do these men (and women) come up with so many stories, so many examples, so many amazing talks?" Some general authorities are an absolute wellspring of insights, wisdom, and motivation. They are master teachers who shed light on topics I've heard and scriptures I've read thousands of times.
I am especially excited for the newer apostles, and some of the as-yet-to-me-unknown members of the seventy, for their "Fresh" takes on topics such as prayer and faith.
I had three moments this weekend where I was absolutely blown away:
1) When listening to Pres Uchtdorf's masterful sermon on hope. This man is an absolute tour de force. I found myself in awe at his charisma, his eloquence, and the sheer power of his determinism and faith.
2) When listening to Elder Wirthlin's talk on adversity. Elder Wirthlin will always have a special place in my heart and solid standing as a "gentle giant." I've always been captivated by Elder Wirthlin's written words, but this conference he really connected to me through his spoken words. And once again Elder Holland spoke the thoughts of my heart when he bore tribute to Elder Wirthlin "Within the ranks of the General Authorities, there is no man more beloved than Joseph Bitner Wirthlin. We praise him for living the sermons that he preaches."
3) Listening to the choir's magnificent "Faith in Every Footstep." I don't know what it was about that hymn...it was so powerful and poignant. As much as it was the words, it was also the music itself that really caught me.
For me the big theme of the conference was, "As a people we know trial and hardship. We have faced it before, we may very well face it again, but with preparation, faith, and hope we can endure and we will endure. This life is about endurance and challenges -- but we are not alone."
Monday, October 6, 2008
Great (Conference) Weekend
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
What's in my Playlist Now
So contrary to what I've posted lately, I actually still do listen to music. I haven't gone and become Amish or anything (mennonite? zen buddhist?). I just haven't been sharing. So here's what's currently in my Rhapsody playlist. Oh how I love the All-You-Can-Eat music model:
Dr. Dog (Fate)
Big fan of this release. It's fun, catchy, poppy, slightly 60's retro. It's got that great AM radio sound like M. Ward, etc, but much more playful than the brooding genius. Favorite track is "Uncovering the Old", which was in the background during dinner the other day and got the whole family spontaneously dancing in our seats.
Assorted (Ping of Pong)
This is a great mix brought to you by BRR (and friends I believe)...great eclectic upbeat fun mix.
TV on the Radio (Dear Science)
Bluesy, hip-hoppy, electronica. Very smooth and danceable grooves. Catchy enough to be labeled 'Pop', smart enough to never be played on the actual radio.
Land of Talk (Some are Lakes)
Still trying this one out. It's an boy-girl indie-pop outfit (no surprise there)..they have a bit of an edge to themselves (the girl sounds a bit like the lead singer of Evanescence) but so far they prove to have a way with melody and instrumentation and wordplay.
Blind Pilot (3 Rounds and a Sound)
Great Portland band -- a 3-piece I believe that creates beautiful hushed melodies set to strumming guitars. Kind of like if Johnny Marr played with Iron and Wine ... well not as hushed as Iron and Wine but...
Brian Eno and David Byrne (Everything that Happens will Happen Today)
Just loaded this up and love every track that's popped up on random so far. These guys were just absolutely made for each other musically. Neither of them have sounded so strong in years. It's just what you'd expect: atmospheric, literate, both fresh and familiar, with a strong world-influenced rhythm section.
5AM Workout
A couple of months ago I was in my office and overheard one of the developers talking about his schedule:
"So I get to the gym at 5AM, have a good workout, am in my office by 6:30 then put in a standard 12-hour day."
Two things that jarred me with that one: 1) that he was AT the gym at 5:00 (I was still getting over the mental challenge of waking up at 5:45 -- the pre-6:00 hour), and 2) that he was totally ok with putting in a 12-hour day. He's a pretty successful developer (he's a Principal, and about the same age as me...) so it was very good for me to hear about his work ethic in such concrete terms. It reminded me of when I heard the schedule of one of my friends growing up who made partner at his law firm by age 30...he was at the office at 6:30 every day (AFTER going to the gym) and worked until 7pm every night.
So I'm joining the folks who work out at 5AM. Not because I want to be partner at a law firm or a principal at microsoft, but because I've been running pretty regularly at 5:45 every morning, and I'm not really seeing much in terms of results. And because it's starting to get cold at 5:45 and when I open the door it's completely black outside and especially on the rural roads around our neighborhood it feels pretty crazy to try to go and run in that stuff.
So I was at the gym this morning at 5:25 (hey I got UP at 5:00) and had the best workout I've had for 6 months. Getting up that early also meant I had to skip the Heroes premier last night (it was 2 hours long and we didn't get around to starting it until 10pm so we both decided it was just too late to start...). I'm glad about that. I've actually been dreading the fall TV season starting up again because of how much of a hold it takes on my evening schedules. I really like it so much better when I don't try to cram 2 hrs of tv in every night.
Here's to consistency...
JT
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
Here's my new favorite song from the Portland duo Blind Pilot. Let me know if the Rhapsody link below works for you...
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard: "1. The Story I Heard - Blind Pilot"
Type your summary here
Type rest of the post here
Monday, September 15, 2008
Hulu Me
So we rediscovered Hulu (tried it a while ago when they didn't have enough content) and we're hooked. Mainly because we've started watching Arrested Development. Only two and a half episodes into it, and we're completely hooked. I mean laugh-out-loud, rewind and replay multiple times hooked. Each character is so multi-dimensionally wacky and grounded, and Jason Bateman as the glue that holds them all together is absolutely perfect.
Actually I'm glad we haven't watched this up until now...it's always fun to discover an absolute gem like this. There's nothing quite like curling up late at night with a laptop in the comfort of your own bed with a hilarious show to send you off into the night. Good stuff.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Why I Love Politics
Ok so there are many deeper, philosophical reasons why I love politics and I respect (most) politicians and I think our country actually is in really good hands despite the gloom and doom from both Left and Right, but here's a lighter reason. I love these guys...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Why I Hate Politics
I consider myself relatively informed. Well...maybe 70-80% informed. I think I'd get a solid B- on any quiz of current events or civics. I like to think about the issues, what they mean from a philosophical, religious, and practical perspective. I like to debate ideas and methodologies.
I just don't like dogmatic followers of one ideology or another. I think for me I've chosen which ideology I will be dogmatic about, and that's religion. Even though I have a very strong deep-seated belief in letting others worship "how where and what they may", when it comes to what I believe, I am pretty committed to it.
Which is where politics gets rough for me. In my world politics is something you should be able to talk about, debate about, even CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT. I don't like that politicians have to pick an ideology when they're 12 and never deviate from it for the rest of their lives.
At the same time it does bug me when politicians (and yes I'm talking about you Romney) seem to change their position more out of political expediency than enlightenment.
I really don't like it that I can't have a conversation with either a hard-left atheist or a hard-right conservative because both of them think I'm a wacko because of my religious beliefs.
I don't like that all the pundits make a living from turning our diverse, tapestric (it would be a good word, don't you think) nation into a binary "Red vs Blue" map.
That's enough for now. There are more things that bug me, things that if they weren't in place would make politics more accessible to the masses but also probably erode the base of people on both sides that raise all the money and get the machines going in the first place so they're probably necessary so I shouldn't complain because that's how it works anyway...whew. OK I'm done.
By the way I'm voting for Obama today.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
So Who'll it Be?
It's been a great three weeks of Hollywood-free TV, first with 2 amazing Michael Phelps-powered Olympic weeks, then with a great week of civic showmanship with the Democratic convention.
I find myself jumping back and forth with who I really relate to...(Glen Beck and Bill Maher equally make me fear for the future of the country...let's just hope the actual politicians never get as partisan as either of them) I am not a litmus-test kind of voter, just try to pick a stronger portfolio. So I always look forward to election season as a time to do some window shopping, take ideas for test drives, and see where I end up on election day. I found myself going back and forth until I actually walked into the voting booth in each of the last two elections. Probably will be the same with this one.
I'm intrigued with Palin as VP -- will be interesting to see how that one plays out. If the Republicans can put on a show half as polished, well-orchestrated, or moving as the dems (Ted Kennedy! Hillary! BILL! Al! Biden! Barack!) then it will be a great week of TV.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Summer Where are You?
As much as I love Seattle weather (no, really, I do love it! - it's so nice to be out all day long in July with the kids and not be totally heat-exhausted at 3pm or sweating all over everything you own. And it's so nice not to die of frostbite between the front door and your frozen solid car door...) man it seems like summer comes and goes so quickly here. It's all the way until June when you really feel comfortable wearing shorts 24/7, and it's now still AUGUST and it seems fall has already arrived.
The long long summer days are cool though. It's daylight from 5am until 10pm. Makes it really easy to go running at 5:30am...but this morning I walked out my door at 6am and the sun was still hiding behind the hills. Makes it a little tougher to roll out of bed when it's dark outside. When is daylight savings coming again? I'll gladly fall back to get that additional hour of light in the morning even if it means it gets dark at 4:30pm
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thank You President Hinckley
(Note: this is a work in progress that will be completed over the next week(s) as I remember) Some things President Hinckley taught me that will always stick with me:
• “Forget yourself and go to work.” I recalled this story often on my mission, and at many other times when I feel discouraged, overmatched, or down about myself. I always find that when I make myself busy, especially in productive or service-oriented things, I feel much better.
• “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” I always think of him as a small boy making money stretch and fixing holes in his socks. Especially when I’m throwing out old socks or DI’ing a bunch of my clothes. I wonder how wise of a steward I’m being and if I’m really “wearing it out.”
• The Family Proclamation
• The increase in temple building. Of the 8 temples I’ve attended in my life, 3 were created during President Hinckley’s time as prophet. When you consider that 4 are Utah temples, and 3 of those 4 were built in the 1800’s, it is even more significant how many more temples we have in the world today. I’ll always remember serving as an ordinance worker in the New York Temple, one that he prophesied would be given to us in his lifetime, and leading the prayer circle, always remembering to give thanks and ask for blessings for “our beloved prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley.”
• He had such love and admiration for his wife Marjorie. He said that in all the years he’d been married he never remembers going to bed with a quarrel unresolved. He also said they had differences but they learned to live with them and learned to make one another better. The sorrow and loneliness he showed after she passed was deep and moving to observe.
• Indefatiguable work ethic
• Deep personal humility and wonderful sense of humor
• Unbounded optimism and belief in people
