Tuesday will be different

I had a great post prepared today about how everyone has the light of Christ and that is a particle of faith that we can choose to exercise or ignore, depending on our choices. How God can touch anyone's heart, you don't have to be smart, logical, speak same language, etc. There are no requirements, God can touch anyone and allow them to feel something extraordinary. Not everyone moves at the same spiritual pace and that it is alright. It took Brigham Young 3 years to be baptized. There was so much more. I wanted to share everything that I felt today, but I know it is not possible. Also, as I was preparing what I wanted to write I came to a realization. Spiritual experiences are not something to be published widely at least not in the sense that I am building my blog for. Eventually I am working so that this blog is a story blog and that everyday I post a part of a story. That is a work in progress and I'm not ready for that kind of commitment. So, I have a week to decide what I want this day to be. It can be poetry, movie or book quotes, tales from work or something. I'll have that figured out preferably before next Tuesday.

So I will end this post with a bad joke and a preview of the story I will be starting on Saturday.

"Does _______ (enter least favorite politician here) wear boxers or briefs?" "Depends"


INTO THE DEPTHS (sneak peak)

"Shep?" There was no answer, Jim was starting to get worried. Shep was in charge of everything and Jim hadn't seen him for over an hour. Jim had no idea how far below the surface they had gone. The water pressure had to be high. If anything went wrong they would probably die before they could have the chance to drown. "Shep?" Jim called desperately. Why wouldn't he answer? Could...

"Here. I'm here stupid. Stop your hollerin' and yellin'. It's not like you're dying." There was a pause, then a crash of metal followed by a barely audible curse. "You're not dyin', are ya?" Shep asked quizzically.

Antarctica

Well this cool fact is courtesy of my astronomy class, I just found this so interesting.

If you lived in Antarctica you would have the opportunity to experience some unique happenings.

One thing is that no matter where you are or where the wind comes from, it will always be blowing from the north.

There is the 200 degree club.  These are people who will hang out in a sauna for a bit, then they will step outside into the cold.  This causes their body to go through a 200˚ difference. To do this they do have to have one very important piece of clothing, and it's not the kind that you're thinking of.  They need a cloth to cover their face so that they do not "frost" their lungs.  I have no idea how these people do not kill themselves doing this but apparently it's a great adrenaline rush.

You would have to eat at least 7,000 calories a day to NOT lose weight.  Need a weight loss program, move to Antarctica for 6 months.

If you go to the geographic south pole on New Years Eve and walk in a circle you can experience the New Year in all time zones.

Those were some interesting facts I learned and now to end today with a badly told joke:

It's a good thing Microsoft doesn't make a car - it would go 100 miles an hour and then all of a sudden shut down for no reason and need to be rebooted.  It's a good thing Apple doesn't either - their car would only drive on 5% of the road.

"Be careful how you choose your words for they may be your last."  Until tomorrow, have a wonderful day/evening/whatever. 

Pillow Fight

Looks like I'm going to have to change things up a bit.  I am switching today with Wednesday so I can post this update with an interesting thing I ran into today.  Then on Wednesday I will post the conclusion to the latest story I've been working on.

So today I was in San Fransisco with my sister, her boyfriend and our friend Steve.  I was going to take the ferry home but missed the boat.  I wouldn't have missed the boat if we hadn't tried to have dinner at Johnny Rockets first.  That was a fiasco seeing as we were trying for a sit down but it was so crowded that by the time we got our food we had to take it to go.  Even then, I missed the boat.  So I had to walk 2 miles to get to the ferry terminal where the bus would be stopping.  The good thing is, the ticket I bought worked for both the ferry and the bus.  As I was walking from pier 41 Steve caught up with me.  He decided to walk with me and then would walk back to the hotel after I was on the bus.  While we were walking we passed a group of teenagers carrying generic white pillows.  We figured that there was probably a sleep over going on.  Then we passed more people carrying pillows.  They were people of different ages, all carrying white pillows.  Was there a protest for Valentines Day?  Was it a "massive" sleep over?  Was it coincidence?  Was it a joke and we were out of the loop?  After I got on the bus, as we were pulling out, the drive announced, "On you're left you will see a pillow fight."  Sure enough there were people hitting each other with pillows.  Then after the bus turned around I saw the plaza.  It was filled with a hoard of people all hitting each other with pillows.  There was fluff and feathers everywhere, so thick in some areas that it looked like snow.  I had to tell people.  I sent out a number of texts and then called my mom.  I asked her to google "Pillow" and "San Fransisco".  She did and came up with an event page.  Apparently there was an advertised event that anyone could come and join the pillow fight that would start at 6pm.  The only rule was that you could only hit people with a pillow if they were carrying a pillow themselves.  I then received a text from a friend of mine who told me that San Fransisco did this every Valentines Day and that it was a HUGE event.  I could definitely see it was quite the event.  It was random, funny, crazy and unique.  So unique in fact that I had to change up my days to post this blog today.

It's just too easy pt 3

...Aaron's life just got a lot more complicated. At least, until he found a way to shake her off.

Aaron laid there, his head pillowed by nothing but concrete.  The girl had left as soon as he had opened his mouth to start answering her question.  It was almost as if she had known his answer.  Was it possible that she was like him?  No, he would have known if that was true.  She was simply smart and intuitive.  It was pointless to run or hide.  If she was going to find him anyways, then any effort would all be wasted. 

Aaron was not one to fight a losing battle.  He had lived his life by flying under the radar.  Life had no purpose other than simply existing.  That was good enough for him.  Being noticed always led to hatred, mobs and sometimes jail.  never again.  Avoiding people seemed the safest answer.

Not even thirty minutes, after she had left, passed before he heard her soft footsteps returning.  There was a smell of unhealthy grease in the air as a red and white paper bag was dropped by his head.  Aaron's stomach growled.

"Figured you were hungry.  Lookls like I was right."  She stated mater of factly.

Without moving or even opening his eyes, Aaron muttered.  "I never asked for anything.  I can feed myself, if I so choose."

The girl plopped down on the other side of the alley.  She pulled her legs close to her chest with her arms wrapped around.  Her chin rested on the knees of her blue jeans.  "I know, but you don't."  A forlorn sound echoed in her voice, lost and sad.  ~to be concluded~

Reading

Some people have asked, what are some good books for light reading.  Well I have my biased being that I am in to fantasy, but I like a variety. 

So here are some recommendations...

• Fantasy:
• anything by Terry Brooks, especially "The Sword of Shannara" or "The Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold" series.
• His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik - this series has some great historical background and it is an amazing piece of literature.
• The Lightning Thief and other books by Rick Riordan - these are a good read for kids as well, probably ages 8 and up would be my guess.
• Improving Self:
• Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
• Positive Discipline - good for people with kids or planning on having kids or working with kids.
• Sometimes the Magic Works by Terry Brooks
• How to Win Friends and Influence People
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - still reading this but already I'm hooked
• Sci-Fi
• Anything by Ray Bradbury some of my favorites "The Martian Chronicles" and "Fahrenheit 451". Also, "1984" by George Orwell.
• Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" series.  This is an amazing piece of literature, the authors writing is captivating and believable and simply sucks you in to the story.
• Random Others
• Runaway Jury by John Grisham
• The Green Mile by Stephen King

I'm sure there are many others but these are the ones that really stick out in my mind.  It's great to have some recommendations to choose from, hope some of these captivate those of you who were needing a good read.

Setting Goals

So last week I talked about perspective.  I left a challenge to make a list of what you believe makes you successful.  It can be physical, spiritual, emotional, thoughtful, etc...  I have been working on this and continue to reevaluate and revamp my list on what I believe it means to be successful.
The dictionary defines success as being:  "the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors."  Meaning you make an attempt at something and gain a favorable result, or, the result you were hoping for.

Now that success has been defined, my next step is to make goals.  What can I be doing now to achieve success?  Am I on the right path or are there things in my life I need to change?

Goal setting is important for many reasons.  If a person is having trouble feeling useful or bored, goal setting can help alleviate that.  The best way I have found to set goals is to follow this pattern.

• First set the BIG goals.  That is pretty much the list of what is believed to be success.  So for example, having a lot of money or starting a family or anything else that may be on that list.
• Next set yearly goals.  Realisitcally where would you see yourself in a year.
• Then set monthly goals.  What can be achieved in a months time.
• Last set weekly and daily goals.  I put these together because it is important to check on your goals at least once a week to see how you are doing.  That gives you the opportunity to fine tune the goals to fit your life.

The important thing is to not get frustrated.  If I end up looking at my weekly goals and find I haven't achieved much then I look at it and see if I need to change some things around to be more realistic and doable.  If I mess up one day or one week, it's ok.  I can start again the next week and move on from there.

Goal setting can be hard to do but it is so rewarding in the end.  I may sound like a hypocrite to those who know me, but I just pick myself up and "keep moving forward" as best as I can.  You never know, one of these days I may get it right.

Organized? At least a little better.

I have now updated my blog to have a permanent text box at the top. This states what is going on for each day of the week. That way if someone is not interested in "cool facts", they simply have to avoid reading mondays blog. Or, if people are only interested in reading short stories and poetry, they make sure to only read on the weekends. This is simple, organized and now people have a way to contact me. It's nice, at least I hope it is.
In the past week I learned:

• bunjie cords are a necessity to have in the trunk of your car
• A wheelchair with foot rests does not fit in the same size place as one with out.
• Astronomy is a fun science, as long as you have a good teacher.
• Friends can be found in expected and unexpected places.
• Keeping busy and productive help keep a person happier.
• Movies are better with company.
• A puzzle takes longer to put together when a person has a life.
• Books on CD make any drive more fun and entertaining.
• Talking a big talk is not the same as walking the walk.
• In what seems like the darkest moment, sometimes the light does come.