Hmmm....  It's hard to write about something so wonderful when I'm not in the mood...  But I've found that when I feel like "blah", and I write about something wonderful, I usually am feeling closer to wonderful when I'm done... So, here goes. First off, I'm at work, so I don't have any pictures, but I'll update it when I get...

I cannot remember the last time it actually full-on snowed on Christmas day.  For the past 5 years or so, there have been seasons where it almost snowed and threatened to snow, but it's always been a disappointment. This year, however, I believe there's hope.  At least that's what the weather people are saying.  Let's cross our fi...

Verses 5 and 6 are cause for simple reinforcement that external events do not necessarily cause internal changes.  Yes, they had a horrific war which caused the death of so many husbands, fathers, sons, etc...  And yes, that caused a lot of people to become baptized.... but, that didn't seem to matter much.  The very next year, it se...

Seems that this chapter is all about "markings" and the prophecies about the curses put upon people (and which people put upon themselves). I can feel the doctrine behind this chapter, and I caught myself frequently asking myself why Mormon included this chapter.  No doubt there's some serious doctrine in here, but this time around...

I find it interesting the way they referred to Nehor in verse 1:  a man "after the order of the man that slew Gideon by the sword, who was executed according to the law".  Why didn't they just say "Nehor"?  Especially seeing that writing in plates was so hard. In verse 10, Mormon notes the intent with which Aml...

Interesting that one of the first-mentioned doctrines that Nehor was said to have taught was the very doctrine that led to the beginning of wickedness for the Nephites time and time again.  Pride.  "Being popular"...  Seems to resound with the core of what the adversary teaches.  Verse 4 pretty much testifies to his pr...

The new lamp for my projector arrived today and much rejoicing was heard among the land. Since our lamp burned out 5-8 months ago, we've been using a TV to entertain our kids, providing them with movies and TV cartoons and all the other goodness with which MythTV blesses our lives. With the return of our lamp, I wanted a way to extend the life ...

Ya know...  I thought that with 4.5 hours of sleep last night, I'd feel a heckuva lot sleepier than I do.  I guess miracles do happen. Since our wonderful Samuel was born, my wife and I have been getting considerably less sleep than we otherwise would.  This is to be expected; it comes with the whole package of parenthood. I ha...

Awhile back, I found that many DVD titles released by Sony weren't able to be viewed with mplayer.  This annoyed me. So, I investigated a bit and found that VLC (another wonderful media player) could not only play them back, but also rip them with ease.  Up until a bit ago, this has been the case since the writing of that article. Whe...

Well, I thought I had more pictures of Sam, but I don't.  I will have to be better about taking more pictures of him.  There was a really cute one of him smiling, but it is on the other carmera.  Next post will have to be a smiling one of him.  Here is one new one of Sam with Luci and some other cute pictures of the kids. ...

I just got done lightly scanning over this article before I shook my head in disgust and decided to write this entry. Let me say this first.  I've been professionally employed in web development now for 6 years, and am by no means a genius on the subject, but I think I may have a clue or two. I have absolutely no idea why Bluefish seems to...

Wow....  Ya know those news stories about that sickness being spread by people in swimming pools this summer?  Well... I've got one thing to say about em': BELIEVE THEM.  THEY'RE TRUE. I'm just getting over a sickness that pretty much was a worst case scenario of what they explain as a parasite called "cryptosporidium", w...

When I sit and think about what I just read, the 14th chapter of 1st Nephi is pretty crazy. Just a few points... The majority of the chapter is all about the "mother of abominations" and the "whore of all the earth". I believe it's written here to clarify the impact this (these) church(es) has (have) had upon the plain and...

Concerning world events, I'll be the first to say that I'm a pretty naive guy.  I keep up on stuff that's important to me, but not too much more.  I realize that this is somewhat of a flaw, so I am trying to involve myself much more with the world. That said, on the morning of Sept 10, 2001 - if you asked me what the "world trade ...

Wednesday April 4, 2011    Hey everyone! I'm so happy to be back. Sorry if I haven't posted anything lately but I've been really busy. As you know from my last post that I was going to participate in an Easter musical/drama(More Than Just A Man) Which was at Living Word Church).  The show was a complete success. Even th...

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post about failure and innovation.  I had just seen the movie "Meet The Robinson's" which is a movie all about creativity, failures, leaving the past behind you, and always looking forward. Well...  Orson Jones gave a pretty incredible link in the 1 comment in that post. The comment containe...

Ya know...  This time around with this chapter was filled with little tid-bits of inspiration.  I don't remember this chapter being so filled with doctrine, but I'll do my best to write down what I thought about as I read the chapter. The first verse which caught my attention was verse 4.  The people of Limhi were, by and large, a ...

Among the discussions I've had of the scriptures, this one is always a fun one. "When God says that the earth is gonna burn, does he mean it literally?  Are the wicked really gonna burn at the second coming?" Honestly, for me, I have enough scriptural evidence to convince me to respond in the affirmative. Thoughts? Also - I'm...

It's been awhile since I continued on in my quest to read and write about each and every chapter in the Book of Mormon, but, I'm still at it!  I'm gonna finish!  Here's Alma 18: The first thing I notice this time around is something I don't think I've ever noticed before. In order to feel badly about doing something, you have to at le...

today was pretty boring and i am really tired and really sick of all the school work that we have to do most of it is pointless....

This is the first time I think I've ever watched / listened to / read a talk given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. My first impressions of him are very, very high.  He has a very poignant, straightforward, yet very soft tone to his voice.  He does not waver in his speech, and seems completely convicted of the things he says. I enjoye...

Ya know...  The first verses of this chapter brought back some well-known stories of Mormon culture.  The most potent one being the experience Joseph Smith had in a Missouri jail surrounded by a mob of people cursing and glorying in their raping, murdering, and wickedness against the Mormon people. Parley P. Pratt said the following in ...

My last place of employment had a large amount of data being imported from multiple companies on a daily basis which was then imported into a database and processed throughout the company. I was the lucky guy who got to write the application which imported all of the data from as many as 10 different locations daily. Having never directly dealt...

Among the discussions I've had of the scriptures, this one is always a fun one. "When God says that the earth is gonna burn, does he mean it literally?  Are the wicked really gonna burn at the second coming?" Honestly, for me, I have enough scriptural evidence to convince me to respond in the affirmative. Thoughts? Also - I'm...

Hmm....  I'm kind of tired right now, but I figured I needed to read some scriptures... This time around, I realize how being under the rule of a tyrant would be absolutely horrible.  In this case, Alma was under the rule of one (or more) of the Amulonites - which were his wicked peers when they were the king's priests.  Talk about...

I almost didn't post anything tonight..... But... I've gotta. One thing which seems to irritate me quite a bit is this phenomenon among people of my faith which drives them to make some pseudo-philosophical yet some how not quite doctrinally correct quote and then follow it by "I'm sure it's in the scriptures. I just read it. I swear. " or, "I'...

 So, it's been awhile since I last wrote about the scriptures, but the fight to the end continues!  I'm in Las Vegas right now for a conference, and what better way to start my day in sin city than to read the holy words of God? 4th Nephi has always been an amazing chapter to me.  I would like to capture in my mind's eye, the way p...

Life just can't get much better.  Well...  Let's not speak too soon, but man, life for the studio this past week has just been really, really awesome. One of our clients recently decided to help us out by designing a logo and refreshing the look and feel of our website.  His name is Jesse Crowley, and, well...  He's just awes...

The first thing I noticed this time reading this was that even though the Nephites under Zeniff were at a time of peace, after the war, Zeniff was diligent in continuing his building of weaponry.  Not sure why that struck me this time, but the very first verse jumped out. Maybe it's because they didn't make any assumptions about their enemy....

The beginning verses of this scripture were the ones of focus today. For the past 2 chapters (or more), the Lord has been chastising the Gentiles, should they fall into the pride cycle and not repent. The beginning 2 verses of this chapter basically says, "even though the Gentiles were bad, don't get on your high-horse, thinking you're any...