The Pursuit of Happiness

Marlin Jensen wrote a great speech on keys to happiness in this life. Here it is: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2002/12/living-after-the-manner-of-happiness?lang=eng

Chick-Fil-A Values for Employees (Core 4)

This sign is posted at the cash registers of a local Chick-Fil-A. I love the values, ethics, and service-mindedness they espouse:

1. Create eye contact
2. Share a smile
3. Speak with an enthusiastic tone
4. Stay connected to make it personal

Copperton, UT

Today we went for a drive through Copperton, Utah. Founded in 1926, it is a unique, tucked-away, almost time-forgotten township. Here are some pictures of some of the unique architecture of its homes (click on each photo to enlarge).

Book - The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brain

I agree with so much of what Nicholas Carr says in his book about how the Internet is changing the way we think. The Internet has splintered my thinking and my attention span. I think in snippets, and I jump around in my reading. I am less patient than before, because now I can find essentially any information on any topic in a matter of moments on the Internet. That immediacy does not allow time for reflective, deep, or complex thought.

            Before the Internet, I used to read more books and I was physically much more active. Now I often sit on my can and whittle away my time on mindless cyber searches.

            Before remote controls, I used to have to get up and change the channel manually, personally. And back then we only had about five channels. Now I flit from channel to channel, often spending more time hunting for something interesting to watch instead of actually watching something.

            Before the shuffle function on iTunes, I used to listen to albums in order, in their entirety. Now I only listen to songs. Gone are the days of listening to an entire album as a complete piece.

            Before cell phones, I used to enjoy solitary time where I could do an activity without physical or mental interruption. Now I feel leashed to elsewhere at all times. My ability to plan in advance is also diminishing, because I can simply phone whomever to inform them of my oft-changing plans.

Before texting, I used to interact with people face-to-face. Now we bow our heads and face a screen. 

         All of this has made me a more superficial, uncreative, flabby, unreflective person.

"The Second Coming," by William Butler Yeats

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are fullof passionate intensity.

    Surely some revelation is at hand;
    Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
    The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
    When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
    Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
    A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
    A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
    Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
    Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.

    The darkness drops again but now I know
    That twenty centuries of stony sleep
    Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
    And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Hello. Is there anybody out there?

Nobody visits my blog any more, which is nice. I can safely publish my thoughts and feelings for an audience that isn't there. I can blare my horn in the forest, and nobody responds.

Like a journal.

Mormonism good for the body as well as the soul?

Great article:

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/post/mormonism-good-for-the-body-as-well-as-the-soul/2012/06/20/gJQARk3IqV_blog.html

Sermon on the Mount

Five Siblings All Wed The Same Day at the Temple

I like the way these couples come across as wholesome and jubilant. What a wonderful day for the family. Here's their story.

I agree:

Great Article on Marriage and Divorce

This was written by Apostle Dallin H. Oaks:

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/divorce?lang=eng&query=saving+your+marriage+%28name%3a%22Dallin+H.+Oaks%22%29

Interview with Daniel Peterson on PBS

http://www.pbs.org/mormons/interviews/peterson.html

How to say what you mean without being mean

I need to do this:

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=21322350&nid=1010&title=how-to-say-what-you-mean-without-being-mean&s_cid=queue-1

Blog of lady who was at CO theater

I like this:

http://aminiatureclaypot.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/so-you-still-think-god-is-a-merciful-god/

Mormon Conspiracy

Brothers Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith

Today my family and I visited the LDS Church History Museum in downtown Salt Lake City. Of an interesting note were the death masks of Joseph and Hyrum Smith:

 (click on each photo to enlarge)

We also saw a touching painting about his death:

Here is the plaque to the side of the painting:

For more information about Joseph Smith, click here.

And for information about how he was killed, click here.

John Rowe Moyle

Today my family and I visited the Daughters of the Utah Pioneer Museum. Among the fascinating artifacts we saw was the prosthetic foot of John Rowe Moyle:

(click on each photo to enlarge)


What a story of determination, faith, and focus.

Click here to read a speech about his life.

Here is his Find a Grave site.

And here is a wonderful video about his life:

Doldrums

Doldrums must be fought against. Doldrums will eventually suck you down. Combat them with faith, structure, and effort.

.

I grow tired of the same. There must be sincerity and variety.

Oppressed? Really?

Sometimes I feel very oppressed to say what I truly feel. On the other hand, that is probably a good thing. Much of what I feel or think is fleeting, anyway, and if said would only hurt and cause regret.