Here is one of my all time favorite talks from Dale Robertson. He delivered this address when I was in my junior year when I was at BYU-H.
Dale Robertson | Moral Leadership in the 21st Century | September 04, 2003 | BYU Broadcasting
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Dale Robertson | Moral Leadership in the 21st Century | September 04, 2003 | BYU Broadcasting
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A bit of a break
I have been very busy lately. I am sometimes amazed at how busy things are now that I am married. But it is all okay. At least I no longer have my BYU practicum hanging over my head. As a matter of fact, I passed the year-long ordeal with an A-. I was kind of doubtful after the first semester, but kicked things into high gear and came out on top.
My interest/borderline obsession with N.T. Wright is still going rather strong. I have read three of his books and am working on my fourth which happens to be the second part of a commentary on the Epistle to the Romans.
While I appreciate the NRSV and the REB, despite all it problems and arcane language, the King James Version remains the translation I like the most and spend the most time reading. Just the overall literary quality of the book makes it worthwhile and one reason why I support the Church in sticking with what should be considered the cornerstone of western thought and literature.
Tina is presenting her GT (gifted and talented) portfolio this afternoon. She most of the day working on it, revising her paper and moving things around in her binder. When she gets home, we are going to celebrate by going out to dinner with Matt and his friends for his birthday. We might do some more celebrating later ;-)
Well, that's it from me. Lots of random thoughts here but hey, that's how my life is going these days. Random, busy, and good. I have a great life!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Finally! A good night's sleep
I must admit that ever since we got back from the honeymoon, neither of us have been sleeping well. Tuesday afternoon I was so tired after work that it was almost painful. I slept okay Wednesday night but still had that "I didn't get a good night's sleep feeling" which is something I do not like. That, and being hungry.
Well, for the first time since leaving for the wedding, I practice my sleep hygiene techniques and they made all the difference. Nothing could disturb me. Not even when Colby (who spent the night with us last night) came in to use the bathroom to get ready at 3:45 this morning in preparation for his trip to Jordan.
I feel great. I am doing my sleep hygiene from now on come hell or high water. I refuse to enjoy ill sleep.
Chris
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Just married
I am grateful that Sunday is a day of rest. Yesterday was exhausting. Tina and I spent all day, and well into the night, getting our lives and stuff settled from the wedding and honeymoon. The day began early early and we did not go to bed until well after midnight. Needless to say, or as I have said before, we were both very, very tired.
It was good. We got a lot done and were still able to do much of what we wanted to do as well. I suspect that future Saturday's will not be nearly as busy. I also think that right now neither of us have much motivation to move, but we will cross that bridge once we come to it.
Well, it is now a couple of hours later and we are sitting down to eat some wedding cake. We have decided that it is too good to save for later and that we have to eat it now....
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Sitting down
Tina and I just got home. Well, not in the sense that we just walked through the door and this is the first thing I am doing, but you get the picture. We have been home for a relatively short period of time.
This morning I went through my temple clothes and realized I needed a new tie. So, we went to Deseret Book to see what they had in the way of temple ties. While we were there, Tina realized she needed some scripture marking pencils. So, I bought the tie and the pencils and then we went to lunch.
Lunch was less than stellar. It was just okay. We went to a soup and sandwich place. I thought my sandwich was good, but the soup was wanting. I mean you'd expect to find actual cauliflower in your cauliflower cheese soup. Alas there must have been the minimum amount of cauliflower the FDA will allow in order to claim cauliflower as one of the main attractions. Also, the texture of soup was something I had a hard time getting past. I am usually not a picky eater, but I just felt like I could not eat. I thankful Tina shared part of her sandwich with me.
My mom and dad should be here in a couple of hours. It will be good to have them around and spend some time with them before the big day on Saturday. We are going to have dinner and hang out with Tina's family tonight and then do who knows what tomorrow.
I shouldn't say who knows what. I know that Tina's mom, my mom, and other women in the Idaho Falls area will get their hair done. I suspect that my heart will continue beating and the process of oxygen exchange will continue to take place in my body and hopefully in yours.
With that said, Tina and are going to meet with her financial planner to combine our finances under one account which will be nice.
Well, that's it for now. I will be back later.
Leia Mais…
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Busy but having a good time
I was pretty busy yesterday afternoon. After the kids went downstairs, we had our weekly faculty meeting. I resolved myself to go back to my classroom and finish my lesson planning for when I am gone. Sadly, my resolve was not strong enough. Faculty meeting just took it out of me and I could not bring myself to go back there to work. Instead, I decided to go to my house and pack up more of my stuff.
I am surprised at how close I am to being totally packed up and moved out. It has been quite an undertaking. I have accumulated a lot of stuff over the last couple of years and am having a hard time with packing a lot of it up and putting it in storage.
Luke and Bonnie Starr came over last night to visit with Tina and me. We all went to Brick Oven and had a great time. I hope Tina and I will be able to keep doing things with them after we are married. They live in Salt Lake, but that really shouldn't stand in the way.
Last night was my last night in my apartment as a single person. I slept good. Perhaps a little too good considering I did not wake up until 7:15 this morning. I usually wake up around 6:45am, but forgot to switch my cell, which I use as my alarm clock, from vibrate to ring. That simple mistake shot holes in my desire to be to work on time this morning.
Well, I just have to make it through today and then I am home free. I think the kids will watch a movie this afternoon regardless of their behaviors. Stick a fork in me. I am done.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Great News
This is too good to keep to myself. I have some wonderful news, almost as good as the news that I am getting married this Saturday.
Are you sitting down? If you are not, I suggest you find a chair and plant both pockets firmly on it. Here goes. Mom Davis just switched to Mac. This is big. Her life is about to change in meaningful ways.
I joined the The Church Apple about four years ago when I bought a twelve inch iBook G4 laptop. I love that computer. It has had absolutely no problems and has been, by far and wide, the best computer I have ever owned, period.
I must admit that I am kind of concerned about the future of Apple now that Steve Jobs has stepped aside for health reasons. Hopefully we do not see a repeat of what happened after Jobs was fired in the 80's and the company almost tanked.
Well, enough about Mom and her conversion. I am so excited to see it when we go up to Idaho Falls tomorrow evening.
Busy Busy Busy
I got my hairs cut yesterday. It was quite an experience. I got to see firsthand what happens when women go to the salon. This is big. Perhaps what I am about to write will involve the revealing of secrets more secret than those kept by the Freemasons.
The secret I will uncover is how women get their hair colored. It involves much aluminum foil and a paste which looks a lot like poi. After the part of the hair is wrapped in aluminum foil, the stylist then dips a brush in the poi and puts it in the hair of your beloved (or at least that is what they did to my beloved).
After the poi treatment, the woman then has to wait. For what I am not sure, but it during that time, if she brought her fiance along to get a hair cut, the stylist works on him. This takes about twenty minutes.
Finally, the aluminum foil is removed and the stylist washes the woman's hair. This is called washing out.
After the wash out, the stylist then applies her secret arts of the scissors. These are carefully guarded secrets, so much so that I was forced to flee the Salon/Lodge. I left in such a hurry that I forgot to pick up the cheese we would be having for dinner. Once I arrived in the safety of my home, I hid under the covers, convulsed with tears.
My hair looks good. Well, it looks about as good as it can for man who is quickly loosing it. Will I go back? I feel duty bound to learn all the secret rituals and rites of the Salon and expose them to the world, bringing them out of murky darkness and into the light of day.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Magnivision
Over the past year I have become quite a connoisseur of over-the-counter reading glasses. The reason why I don't get a prescription is because the last time I went to the eye-doctor I discovered I have close to 20/20 vision and slight astigmatism in one of my eyes. He explained to me that this might be the reason why I was experiencing slight fatigue while I was doing things like reading and looking at the computer screen.
I was glad that my eye-doctor was honest, at least with me, and said that 1.00 or 1.25 power reading glasses should solve the problem. Since then, I have been on a quest to find the perfect reading glasses.
The first pair I bought were a pair of 1.25s I bought after my eye appointment. They had more than enough magnification, but turned out to be too powerful. Next, I bought some glasses in the same power from Sam's Club. They did not fit very well but were great to have on hand. Eventually I decided to get rid of them and dropped down to 1.00 power glasses.
Two weekends ago I decided to look at what Wal-Mart had to offer. I found a great pair of reading glasses. I tried them and they had everything I look for in a good pair of reading glasses. They were light on my nose, fit well on the bridge, and were wide enough for my face. I liked them so much I liked two pairs and thinking about using my flex spending money to buy at least one more pair.
Someday I might need a perscription. But if you are experiencing minor eye-fatigue while reading or working at the computer, I high recommend Magnivision brand reading glasses. You can find them at any Wal-mart.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Still Sick
I stayed home from work yesterday with a nasty virus. I am feeling better but am still under the weather a bit. Thankfully we have our afternoon meeting and the kids leave at 1:30pm.
Tina told me that during her first year of teaching she got sick a lot too, but has been much better since. I sure hope this is true because I have had some really nasty viruses this year.
The good news is I am feeling much better and am confident I will have made a total recovery in the next couple of days.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Where do I begin
It's Friday. What's more, the kids leave at noon. Even though we will be spending time in a faculty training meeting, I am really good about keeping myself occupied during these meetings. I think I will print out some Margaret Barker and N.T. Wright papers to read during the two hour plus meeting.
This afternoon, I will work on my portfolio with Jesse and later this evening, go to dinner with Tina and her family.
Last night was really good. Tina and I had dinner and then went to Taylor and Katie's house where we hung out with Mom Davis, Carter and Casey (my brothers in-law), Anna and Max (my niece and nephew), and later on that evening Taylor and Katie (Taylor is my Brother in-law but Katie is not my sister in-law, I think).
We hung out upstairs until it was time for Anna and Max to go to bed. After that, we watched Twilight. I liked it the first time I saw it but was surprised how bad the acting was the second time around.
Tonight we are going to Macaroni Grill. I made up my mind what I am going to get because I looked at their online menu for the Riverwoods location. It should be good.
Chris out
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tina's Mom rocks!!!!
Well, after much blood, sweat, tears, and many prayers, the announcements arrived in Orem late last night. We picked them up and then dropped them off with Tina's mom on the way home. Tina and I were planning on working on the announcements this afternoon but as it turned out, her mother was able to get them finished by the time Tina talked to her this afternoon. This is awesome.
Mom Davis doesn't know how much of a burden she has lifted off my shoulders. Now I can devote the needed time to finishing up my portfolio which is nearly done. Just one more lesson plan to write and teach, followed by some other things which should not take too much time. Hopefully I will be able to turn the blasted thing in Monday or Tuesday after work.
Monday, March 23, 2009
What do these light switches go to?
Do you have a lot of light switches in you house, so many that you don't know what they all go to? My future in-laws do. Approaching the bank of light switches on the kitchen wall to turn on the lights is a daunting task, one that I am not about take lightly.
I mean something bad could happen if I threw the wrong switch. For instance, let's say one of those switches is wired to turn on the lights in someone's bedroom and that light happens to turn on while they are sound asleep? Or, what if I throw one of those switches and somewhere the wings of 747 fall off sending it plummeting back towards good old Terra Firma? Both situations are very bad.
So, for the sake air travelers everywhere, I will not be turning the lights on and off at my in-laws house.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Chic Gamine Thumbs Downs
I went and saw the French Canadian singing group Chic Gamine. Don't get me wrong(this means something bad is coming) as far as their singing goes, this group has pipes. When it comes to showmanship, you would rather be someplace else. Being that was the case, we went someplace else during intermission. Cold Stone helped to wash the boredom of Chic Gamine.
Leia Mais…Friday, March 20, 2009
Saving Money
Last night I bought a new pair of shoes. It is nothing to get excited about. Really it was a need born out of expediency.
I have one pair of black dress shoes. They are pair of two toned, black and white, Doc Marten's Oxfords. I love these shoes and have had them for about a decade. However, Tina said she did not want me to wear them at our reception luncheon and I don't blame her. However, I am never getting rid of them, and she's fine with that.
So, I needed a pair of black dress shoes. We went to a couple of stores a few nights ago but were unable to find anything I liked enough to really want to spend a bunch of money on. So I decided to check out Payless. Sure enough, I found a pair of reasonably comfortable black dress shoes, and here's the good part, I spent less than thirty dollars for them.
As we were walking victoriously from Payless, we decided to stop in the shoe stores on the way out of the mall to check out stuff. We stopped by Mr. Mac. As it turned out, they were having a sale. One pair of shoes were on clearance for $195.00 marked down from $450.00. I was shocked and amazed. Who spends $450.00 on a pair of shoes other than the filthy stinking rich? Probably the poor who seek to increase their "status" by wearing flashy and expensive clothes even though they work at Taco Bell, though I seriously doubt they would by the shoes, or anything else for that matter, from Mr. Mac. Even if I were wealthy enough to drop $450.00 on a new pair of kicks, I wouldn't. I think I would buy all my clothes from K-Mart.
Someday I would like to get another pair of black dress shoes. I am interested in Ecco shoes (my brother swears by them) but it all depends on my darned orthotic supports I wear in my shoes. They make buying shoes, how shall we say, problematic.
Well, enough about shoes, I am going back to work.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Reading with Tina
Tina and I reading Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews). We are going to be reading it in what I think to be quite an interesting way. One night, we will read about two or three chapters from the King James Version. The following night, we read the same chapters from the NRSV.
I like this approach, and think it will be good, because we will get the literary experience from reading the KJV and will get the accuracy from the NRSV.
Someday, I am going to read the NRSV all the way through but until then, I am going to enjoy reading Hebrews with Tina.
Back on Blogger
For a couple of years I was a Wordpress kind of guy. I left Blogger for Wordpress because Wordpress had what I considered to be better templates. From time to time, I would come back to the Blogger only to return to Wordpress because of the templates.
Well, templates are no longer an issue. After spending about five minutes on Google, I found thousands of ready made templates for Blogger. This has convinced me to switch back to blogger for good. At least, for now.
I love N.T. Wright
I've become a big fan of Bishop of Durham, Nicholas Thomas Wright. In my opinion, his knowledge of the New Testament combined with his adept literary prowess surpasses C.S. Lewis and I have read a lot of Lewis.
If you would like to know more about Bishop Tom, here's a website link to a bunch of mp3s and sermons he has given. I have really enjoyed it and hope you will too.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
INTASC 10
For the past year the acronym INTASC has been part of my life. I won't explain what it means, but I will say that I am ready to be rid of it. There are ten assignments that I have to complete. I just finished number ten and am almost done. It will be great to be done with this and then move on.
Leia Mais…Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday Monday
I hate Monday. Of all the days of the week, Monday is by far the worst of them all. Wednesday is pretty bad too. But nothing compares to Monday. Thankfully, I have next Monday off. Well, not really. It's a teacher quality day so that means no kids. I will be here, but will be able to get so much stuff done for my class.
Leia Mais…Saturday, March 14, 2009
Neat things happened today
Well, to start off, I slept in this morning which was nice. I love doing that on the weekends. Sadly, I have to get up kind of early tomorrow morning to go the Church, only because we are visiting Tina's parents.
Tina had her Idaho Falls bridal shower. Lots of nice people gave her lots of nice things. So many things, that in fact, we don't know where we are go to put them all. We need a storage unit as soon as possible because in all likelihood we are going to get tons of stuff.
Casey had a piano recital. He is really good. It didn't last too long. In fact it was the perfect time. His teacher is really nice too.
I made enchiladas tonight. They turned out a little bit too spicy. Next time I am going to lay off of the chipolte peppers. even with the seeds removed, they are still pretty spicy.
I also finished reading Adventures of a Church Historian. This book was really good. I amazed that Leonard Arrington did not bear loads of animosity for people who made his job difficult when he was Church historian.
Chris, over and out.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Less than thirty minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am so stoked. Only about twenty-three more minutes before the kiddies leave and I am free. I am going to go straight home and then to BYU to put the final touches on my presentation I have been putting together for tonight. After that, let the weekend begin.
Leia Mais…Movies
Tina and I watched A league of their own the other night. It had been over ten years since I last saw it, so it was kind of like seeing it for the second time again. I say second time, because I remembered the storyline and some of the characters. What things even better was we watched it on VHS which kind of cool because the first I saw this movie was on a VHS player.
My favorite parts of the movie are when Tom Hanks character, Jimmy Dougan, tells one of his players there's no crying in baseball, and, while in the midst of a drunken stuppor, kisses the team chaperon. After realizing what he has done, he tells her,"I thought you were great in the Wizard of Oz."
Overall the story is good. This is not your typical "chick flick". It is a good movie and worth watching. So if it has been ten years or more since the last time you watched it, or haven't ever seen it, I highly recommend A league of their own.
Steve Jobs is Mad
I am not happy about the new iPod Shuffle.
I heard a review about it last night on the Night Side Project and was surprised to find that the reviewer had nothing good to say about it. I went online to see for myself and think that this is one of the dumbest products Apple products ever produced and this is coming from someone who uses a Mac at work, owns and uses one at home, and has both the iPod Nano and last year's iPod shuffle.
Jobs is a visionary. However with his brilliance comes a streak of madness and this is an obvious case case of that. I hope this shuffle tanks so the engineers will go back to the drawing boards to come up with a shuffle worthy of the Apple brand.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Epsitle to the Hebrews
I have been reading the New Testament lately. The more I read the KJV, the more I like it. Right now I am reading Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews) and am loving it. As I have been reading I have applied a method of symbolic interpretation I learned from David Peck, a professor of history at BYU-Idaho.
Before I go any further, I must say that David Peck has made a huge difference in religious life. His method of exegesis has helped keep the scriptures alive for me and I am so thankful that, perhaps by accident, I stumbled across his presentation A Stranger and Pilgrim.
Hebrews is full of temple imagery and symbolism. Margaret Barker, a non-Mormon researcher a theologian, wrote about it in her book Temple Symbolism in Early Christianity. After having read that book, and listening to Peck's presentation, I am starting to get it. Hebrews is all about the temple and the role Christ plays in it for us.
Early Christians saw the temple as an important part of their religion. Barker's book makes this evident. I should really reread it sometime.
So far today
Things are much better today than they were yesterday. Everyone is here and things are, for the most part, going well.
I am a happy man.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
This Friday
It's official. I am not going to work this Friday. I am in desperate need of a mental health day and might kill the kids (I'm a teacher) if I don't leave the state.
Tina and I will leave Provo when my class gets out and then drive up to Idaho. After sleeping in Friday morning, we will get our marriage license and spend the day playing. We might even have lunch with some of my friends up at BYU Idaho.
I like blogger now that my work has unblocked it. I probably should not be blogging at work, but I think it is a great stress reliever and helps me get on with the day once I have expressed myself. I was able to use Wordpress via Google docs until it freaked out on me and would not let me post that way anymore.
Lots of random thoughts here.
Chris out.
Monday, March 9, 2009
All time favorites
Here is a partial list of my all time favorites
Books:
The Book of Mormon
The Bible (This includes KJV, REB, NRSV, and Jewish Publication Society's translation of the Hebrew Bible)
Joseph Smith Rough Stone Rolling
Music:
Led Zepellin I, II, IV, BBC Sessions
Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
Places/Regions:
Portland Oregon
The Pacific Northwest
Northern California
Atlanta
Southern Virginia
Utah
Idaho
Things to do:
Trying out new recipes no matter how hard or involved they might seem.
Going to the library with Tina
Reading LDS Church history and Mormon Studies
Sleeping
People I'm going to Marry:
Tina Davis
I did not want to get up
I don't like daylight savings. I think that Arizona and Hawaii have right idea by not giving into peer pressure and keeping their time the same all the year round. I mean why is daylight savings time so important? It seems completely arbitrary to me and makes one Monday a year about one hundred times worse than every other Monday of the year.
I thought about calling in sick, but then decided against it. I'll take a mental health day sometime soon. Not sure when, but soon.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
You might think it's boring but.......
The other night I checked out a book by Leonard Arrington entitled Adventures of a Church Historian. This book is Arrington's memoir about his work as a college professor, LDS Church Historian, and later as the director of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute at BYU.
I have enjoyed the first seventy five pages and am about to start on why I wanted to read this book in the first place. I wanted to read Arrington's account of what it was like to work as Church Historian and his interactions with Church general authorities.
When I read Church history, I must admit, I have bias towards the more human stuff. I really enjoyed Ed Kimball's books about his Dad (Spencer W. Kimball), Richard Bushman's biography of Joseph Smith, and what I have read of Arrington's bio of Brigham Young. I doubt that I will ever read Mark McConkie's books about Joseph Smith or much of what his brother has written either. They are too parochial for me.
The only thing I am concerned about is that Lavina Fielding Anderson assisted Arrington in writing this book and, according to some, wrote some sections herself in behalf of Arrington. So the problem is to figure out when Leonard is telling the story and when is Lavina telling the story.
This book is out of print. You can buy it on Amazon.com for over one hundred dollars. A better option would be to check it out from the Provo or Orem public libraries for free.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Books I am reading
This week has been full of fun and excitement. On Wednesday night, Tina took me to the Provo City Library where I got a library card. For an admitted Barnes and Noble/Amazon.com book junkie desperately wanting to overcome his addiction, this is an important step on the road to recovery. Last night, we went to the Orem library where I signed up to check out books from them. Exciting stuff.
I have been facing quite the dilemma. Books take up space. I have lots of books and therefore they occupy lots of space. Also, I am getting married and am movie into fiance's small but very nice condo. Books are expensive, especially when you buy them brand new and they are usually more than ten dollars when you buy them in paperback. As I look at starting a family, I am growing more and more concerned about every penny. Not really, but you get the picture.
So,with that in mind, I am going to be a frequent patron of the Provo and Orem libraries respectively.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The REB
Last night I read a good chunk of Paul's Epistle to the Romans from the Revised English Bible (REB). As advertised, this version stands up as a translation for reading. It is probably inaccurate and unreliable in places (what Bible isn't?) but it is one that I enjoy immensely and will continue us to supplement my reading of the KJV.
Leia Mais…
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