Winter Gala Ball

I've had a few busy weeks and let blogging fall behind. So, today I think I may write as many as four different entries. Hope y'all don't mind! Here's the thing, this post here will probably be the most interesting one for most of you who read along hoping to hear how my life is going. As you can clearly see in this picture, I was in a tux with a stormtrooper. That's how my life is going! AWESOME. Well, let's start with last weekend. Last Friday night there was a large regional YSA activity for people all across Virginia and the D.C. area. So, my good friend Daniel and I decided to get some tuxes and some dates and go have a grand ol' time at the Downtown Richmond Marriott. We all went out to dinner and had a great night of dancing and fun. I took a good friend of mine who is heading back to BYU Idaho on Tuesday. I've been fortunate to become good friends with her.
Well, Melissa and I had a good time and I got to dance with lots of other close friends as well. It got to the point during the dance that one of my friends was standing at the side while I was dancing with another friend and she started talking to me, saying that I hadn't asked her to dance and she just had to stand on the side, so the girl I was dancing with excused herself and I danced with the other girl. Haha. I was very popular and was asked to dance as often as I asked people to dance.
So, that was the dance, we had a great time and met a storm trooper afterwards. The next day a group of us got together for a group date and a hockey game where we all had seats on the ice. The game was awesome as we watched the Richmond Renegades win in an overtime shoot out. It was lots of fun and crazy times.
In other news, I had my first final this Tuesday for Property Law, I think it went okay. I hope so anyhow! Life's been busy but super good. Oh, yeah... and I have kind of started dating this girl, Crystal. She's not in any of the pictures I have up on here because so far I don't have a picture of just the two of us together, but she's great. She's a 2nd year dental student from Holladay, Utah. I was fortunate that she was willing to give me a dance when we were at the ball, and she was even willing to let me spend some hours with her last Saturday. For those of you who are counting, that is 3 dates I had last weekend... We studied together on Monday, as she had her last final on Tuesday and I had my first final. And then we went out with a bunch of friends to celebrate the end of her finals and watched the movie Australia. I like her. So there's that. Thanks for reading, hope you all keep reading down for the other posts I've just made. Also, I'm super lazy and don't feel like fixing the picture layout. So deal with it.

Home

I'm going home soon, for Christmas. I'm so excited to be there and to see everybody. But thinking about it and telling people that I'm going home has caused me to think a great deal about the concept of home. In one of my favorite movies, Garden State, there is a scene where the protagonist is speaking with his new girlfriend in a swimming pool and he says to her, "You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone." She quickly responds by saying "I still feel at home in my house." He responds by saying, "you'll see when you move out it just sort of happens one day one day and it's just gone. And you can never get it back. It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist. I mean it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I miss the idea of it. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place." I like that scene.
In some sense I think I can inversely identify with that scene. I see people who have that same kind of concept about home, where once they've left the house they grew up in for the world, they just can't find their home. In the movie he finds his home again as he falls in love with his girlfriend and begins to experience life anew. Lucky for me, I can only identify with his thoughts on home in an abstract manner, it has been the opposite for me. I feel like telling people who ask if I'm going home for Christmas that I'm flying home on the 21st, then I'm going to drive home with my sister, then I'll go back home for a few days with my grandparents, until I fly back home. If that last sentence doesn't make sense, don't worry, I hope it will.
The phrase "home is where the heart is" may be trite and cliche in many ways, but it also contains a great deal of truth. In my life, I have been truly blessed to find home wherever I have lived. Pinedale was my home growing up, and every time I return, although it has changed drastically since I left, I feel at home. I feel like I'm returning to a place that will always hold a special place in my heart, a place that truly is my home. But whenever I got to Pleasant Grove, whenever I get to see my grandparents who so generously allowed me to live with them while I went to school, I also feel like I've returned home. In Pleasant Grove I had so much family and I made so many friends that whenever I go there, I can't help but feel love. When I'm in Pleasant Grove I am home.
Finally, I'm here in Richmond. I moved out here in August without knowing a single soul closer than Charlotte, North Carolina. In a few short months I have come to know and love so many people. The bishop here told me on Sunday that I am one of his "peeps" and I have a place to go for every holiday if I need to. As surely as I know that my friends in Utah and Wyoming will go out of their ways to help me, I know that my friends here in Richmond will do the same.
What is the meaning of home? Where is it that we can truly call home? For me, the answer has fortunately been everywhere I go. It may take some time, it was a while before I could call the areas on my mission home, but the more I live the more I realize that home is where I am. Home is where I feel comfortable, and where my dearest, closest friends are. I can't wait to go home for Christmas, and I can't wait to return home for New Year's and see my grandparents, I can't wait to return home and start my study of the law back up. How did I get to be so fortunate as to find a home wherever I go?

The Suppressed Correlative

In one of the first Ethics classes I took, taught by Dr. Gates at BYU, we had a day where we discussed a fallacy called the fallacy of the suppressed correlative. This fallacy is a fallacy of relativistic ethics, where those who claim that what is ethical is based upon every culture's own ethical theory. Basically, the idea of relativism is that each culture defines right or wrong according to its own set of standards. The fallacy of the suppressed correlative comes into play because once you make right and wrong subjective, or only objective according to a community, you deny the very nature of right and wrong. You can have no comprehension of what is right unless you understand what is wrong. This is what Lehi was pointing out to Jacob in 2 Nephi 2, there are some concepts that have no meaning unless the opposite exists. Without evil, good would not make sense. Without sorry, happiness could not exist. The contrast gives life to the good and the bad.
Well, that's the introduction to what I want to say here. I've been thinking about this a lot. In Law School teachers like to say that they use the "Socratic Method" of teaching, a system of dialectic where the teacher asks a series of questions to the students in an attempt to draw out the correct answer. This means that the student must explore each question and discover the answer on his own, and it is an effective teaching method.
However, I take umbrage at calling this the Socratic Method, not because it doesn't closely approximate the style Socrates used in his famed dialogs, but because the intent is wholly different. Now, take this with a grain of salt, as I only have a BA in Philosophy and may be largely erroneous in my understanding, but I believe that Socrates' intense with those he taught was not to teach any knowledge, but to teach ignorance. Socrates recognized the nature of true wisdom, you cannot be truly wise unless you recognize your own ignorance. Socrates primarily taught those who were high of mind, who thought they were experts in a given area, and demonstrated the flaws in their beliefs. He showed that even those with the most knowledge are largely ignorant. To be aware of that ignorance is the first step to becoming truly wise, no matter how much knowledge we obtain we will always have more to learn.
This is what I think about sometimes, the nature of virtue. Wisdom is a virtue that cannot be obtained until we are aware of its inverse, ignorance. Likewise with courage, the only truly courageous man is the man who acts despite his fears - it is only in recognizing the inverse that the man can be come truly courageous. You'll notice that I don't say the opposite, but the inverse. I think this is right, courage and fear are not opposed, but rather just on different ends of a spectrum, inverted, if you will. The Christian virtue of humility is impossible to obtain without a recognition of our own pride. If we would be virtuous we must recognize vice.

8 things

My 8 Favorite TV Shows
1. House
2. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
3. The Colbert Report
4. The Office
5. Boston Legal
6. Countdown with Keith Olbermann
7. The Rachel Maddow Show
8. Mad Men

My 8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Tucano's
2. Mimi's Cafe
3. Jalisco
4. Ruby River Steakhouse
5. Cracker Barrell
6. IHOP
7. Chick Fil A
8. Waffle House (just for Mike Stafford)

8 Things that Happened Yesterday
1. Property Study
2. Final Torts Class/Review
3. Time with Crystal
4. Frost/Nixon interviews arrived
5. Blessed a sick kid
6. Bought gas
7. Washed my car
8. Stayed up late

8 Things I Look Forward To
1. Cy and Brit's baby
2. Home for Christmas
3. Inauguration day
4. End of recession
5. End of Iraq War
6. Finishing school
7. Having time to write
8. Sleep

8 Things I Love About Winter
1. Christmas
2. My birthday
3. The New Year
4. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
5. Hot Chocolate
6. The smells
7. Cooler weather
8. Calm blankets of snow

8 Things On My Wish List
1. To be a husband and father
2. To visit Greece
3. To publish a book
4. To teach
5. To speak the 10 most spoken languages
6. The ability to slow and speed time
7. My own personal library
8. That my friends/families wishes will come true

8 People I Tag
I don't play tag.

The leaves are turning

I'm a little late on this blog post so I'm going to include several stories from last week on it. The leaves are starting to fall here and for the past several weeks it has been really beautiful outside. I love the fall and Virginia is a great place in the fall, especially the University of Richmond campus. I think that the leaves in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Rhode Island are still superior, but it's a really nice place to watch as things change.
So, speaking of that change, I am very happy about our new president-elect. I think that just in terms of how the world perceives us, he has already been a huge success. I had the great opportunity to work for the Obama campaign's voter protection program on election day. So, to be a poll watcher I had to be at Glen Allen Elementary School by 5:00 am, and I didn't leave until they called in the election results at about 8:30 that night. VERY long day. But it was a great opportunity and really inspiring to watch democracy at work. Glen Allen ended up favoring John McCain by about 400 votes, and by 3:00 PM we had nearly 80% voter turnout in that precinct.
Working with the people who gave their days to be poll workers was also pretty amazing. It was really funny because there were some high school students who were volunteering as well, and some of the older women at the polls started talking to me about how cute one of them was. Quickly realizing that I am a little out of high school one of the women said "yeah, but she would be jail bait for him." I barely stopped myself from laughing out loud at hearing a woman in her early 70s say the word jail bait. Even after that they didn't stop the conversation, going on to debate how they would feel as the parent of a 17 year old girl if a guy my age were trying to date her. At first they all agreed that they would not be comfortable with that, until one of them pointed out "well, he is going to be a lawyer." I stopped listening at that point, so I'm not sure what they concluded. As for my own conclusion? I'll stay away from 17 year old high school students, thank you very much.

More on the leaves turning. First, I need a camera. I've thought a bit about buying a camera, but maybe I should save my money. Around here somebody always seems to have a camera and they all have facebook accounts, so usually I just steal their pictures. It would be nice to be able to photograph all of the things I've been able to experience though. On Saturday my friend Mike and I spent the day with his family going to a place called Belle Isle, here in Richmond. It's a beautiful little island on the James River with a lot of history. Mike's sister-in-law Debbie took a lot of pictures of us, so I'll try and post some of those if I ever get them.
Mike called me up Saturday morning to see if I could help our relief society president move apartments, so I headed over there and Mike, Joseph, and I helped April, Natalie, and Jessica make sure Natalie's move from one side of the hall to the other went off without a hitch. Somehow, I think that we did more playing dress up than we did helping move. Luckily my quirkiness is matched by other people around here.

I gave a talk about the Prodigal Son on Sunday and that went really well. A lot of people seemed to really appreciate it. I also got to teach the lesson at Family Home Evening on Monday night, I taught my lesson based on a training I did back on the mission about avoiding weariness. That also seemed to go well, although not as well because we had FHE at a park and some people were cold. We went on to play a game of ultimate spoons and then headed back to a member's home for some hot cocoa and Krispy Kreme.

Basketball injuries and Halloween

Everybody gather round for a super exciting story. Okay, first - look at this picture. Do you see my nose? Do you notice little bits of blood on it? How it's kinda-sorta damaged? Yeah, well... let me explain. So, I had a super hot date this week with an amazing girl - but I was a total jerk. At the end of the night I tried to move in for a kiss - and BAM! she punched me right in the nose with all of her might. I didn't give up easily and went in again - and BAM! Another hit, damaging the side of my nose. I don't know what's up but that girl can bunch in a manner that causes more scraping than normal punches to the face... I'm also not certain why she decided to punch my nose instead of just give me a nice shiner. It must just be her way, I guess. Anyhow, we're going on a second date this Tuesday....

Well, either that or I just made up a story. You guys can decide. In other news, there is a group of us that gathers together to play basketball every Thursday. A few weeks ago I twisted my ankle pretty bad while driving to the basket and landing on my own teammates foot. I actually kinda ended up tackling her, but I got hurt a lot worse than she did so she didn't beat me up or anything. That's only on dates. Despite the pain in my ankle I keep playing, but I have to play with my glasses on because I let my prescription for contacts expire and haven't made a new eye appointment so I can get some more contacts. Maybe I should do that soon, considering that something weird might happen while playing basketball. Something like, say, running into somebody who's arm hits my face in such a manner to cause my glass to flip up and kinda scrape the bridge of my nose. If something like that were to happen I could possibly get a scab similar to the one I got from that hot date last week.... Hmmm - maybe I shouldn't worry about it. That kind of thing seems HIGHLY unlikely. It's much more likely that a girl would punch me in such a manner when I try to kiss her on the first date, cuz that's totally my style, all aggressive and stuff. And after beating me up she would happily accept a second date with me. And I've never made up non-existent female companions for myself before. So you know that nothing like that basketball injury I just described could ever have happened, right?

So - now that we have that cleared up. This weekend was Halloween! I like Halloween.... it's kinda fun. Last year I was the Green Lantern. Because I was the Green Lantern last year I had these sweet spandex tights that I bought so that I could be the Green Lantern, cuz he's a superhero and wears tights. Well, for some random reason, perhaps the proximity to Halloween, this Thursday I decided to pull out the tights and go old school Dwyane Wade on the basketball court. Cuz the tights were totally the coolest thing in the NBA until David Stern got upset and changed the dress code so that he could deny Dwyane Wade that most basic of human rights, the right to wear tights! Fortunate fool that I am, I never made it to the NBA and so David Stern's fascistic rules do not apply to me! Thus, I wore my tights proudly as I played the games of basketball that, if it weren't for that hot date who beat me up, may have resulted in my nose getting scraped. Sadly, I tend to ruin all the nice things I get in life. And my style of basketball tends to be the hussle and dive on the floor style... which may lead to floor burns when not wearing tights and holes in tights when I wear them. That's right, I have a hole in my tights.... The Green Lantern may never rise again - how sad is that?

Luckily, my friend Tara had an idea for a different costume for me this Halloween. I have to admit that I kinda slacked this year and was not prepared at all with about a week before the big day. Well, Tara contacted me on facebook and basically commanded me to be Popeye the Sailor Man (that's right Tara, COMMANDED! mwahahaha [with and m]HA!!!). Well, I kept on procrastinating even after I finally had some idea of what to be and didn't try to put a costume together until Halloween day. Needless to say the result was somewhat less than spectacular as show in the picture to your right. I had to make a makeshift pipe out of a small plastic cup and a drinking straw. I didn't have a proper sailor hat to wear so I borrowed one of my friend Phil's hats. He later gave it to me (that's right, now I have a super sexy hat for my second date with that one girl that may or may not exist). You can't tell in this picture (another picture of me in this costume is rumored to exist, but I have not seen it yet - I may update), but I bought two small tan towels and drew an anchor tattoo on them then used elastic bands to tie them around my forearms, bought me a can of spinach, some navy blue pants that were totally high-water, and a nice black polo shirt to finish the ensemble. Also, I do a terrible Popeye voice. I am ashamed. We had a big ward activity handing out candy to kids and then a dance afterwards - others in this picture include from Left to Right: Melissa Penman, Arianne Barrus, Isaac the Sailor Imitator, Mike Stafford, and Melissa Richardson. Costumes are: olympian, elvis, Isaac, Ron Burgundy?, and pirate - in case you were wondering. After the dance some people went and watched the Orphanage, an excellent Spanish-language horror film.

In other news we had a semi-Stake Conference this weekend. Because President Packer came two weeks ago they didn't do the normal Sunday sessions of conference but we did have the adult session on Saturday night. Our ward was supposed to sing and the bishop's wife was really worried about people showing up so I told her I'd try my best to be there. In one of the all time tragic moments of my life a friend from the ward had an extra ticket to go listen to Tony Blair speak! I was crushed as I had to keep my promise to Sister Levin and miss out on THE Tony. I have some interesting Tony Blair anecdotes to share - but I'll save those for another day. PS - my nose hurts a little bit. Not as bad as when I think I broke it though.

On Dating

Sorry I haven't posted anything on here for a while. A lot of you have probably stopped reading my blog with my infrequent writing as of late. I apologize profusely. I also apologize because those of you who for whatever reason enjoy reading my blog will probably get a bit of overload today. This will be the first post I make today and I'm going to postdate it by an hour or so, that way it will appear at the top of the page and explain why you're getting 3-5 blog posts at the same time. I haven't blogged in a while, I just want to catch everybody up on all of my thoughts. First, to something I know a lot of you care about, and something that I will touch upon lightly as a matter of relative topics in my other posts today, my dating life.

I'm sure many of you would like to know how I'm doing when it comes to dating. At least, if the number of people who asked me to send wedding invitations as they said goodbye to me in Utah is any indication, people want to know about that. Well, let me say that I haven't dated very much since arriving here, you've probably read the post about the Sadie Hawkins dance and seen the pictures of that date. Since then I've been on two dates, both of which were great and with great girls. Last week I was able to take a beautiful young lady to a Sheryl Crow concert after our stake temple trip. My roommate had access to free tickets to the show and offered them to me that Friday and I said I could probably find a use for them. We had lots of fun and it was fortunate that I gave her something to do once we got back from the temple, because she had leant her car keys to a friend and was locked out of her car until that friend returned.

As for non-last-minute dating, I did ask out one woman in my ward a few weeks ago. Those of you who know me probably know that I tend to see what I like and then go after it. This has its advantages and disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is that I tend to ignore other things around me, which is unfortunate. In this case, I've tended to ignore other women in my ward - there are many attractive girls here, but this young lady caught my eye the first time I saw her. Unfortunately for me, she is very busy with school and life in general, so I was only able to get an hour of her time two Saturdays ago. I enjoyed every minute of that hour and asked her if I might be able to borrow another hour of her time in the future. Hopefully I'll be able to get a second date with her soon once she returns home.

Other than that, not much has happened with dating. But I thought I'd update you all the same. Hope you read through the rest of the thoughts I've posted below - that way you can catch up on my last couple of weeks and some amazing experiences I've had, and that way I can share with you some things that have been on my mind (no worries, no politics).

Family

It's not a question I'm asked much anymore, I haven't been asked it much since I really decided what the answer was, as a matter of fact, but it is a question that I think about quite a bit. That question is "what do you want to be when you grow up?" I don't know when I decided what my answer was, but it's been a while. The answer is quite simply, I want to be a father and a husband. I hate that when people get to know one another they often identify others by their career. I hope and pray that my career does not define who I am, I would much rather be known as a good father and a good husband than as a good lawyer in the future. As important as my career will be, I hope it always takes a back seat to family.

A good friend of mine lost her mother to cancer yesterday. I wish I knew the proper words to say to console her in a time of what I can only imagine is immense grief. Sometimes those who matter most to us are not here as long as we would like them to be. There probably are no words of proper comfort at this time for her. I can only imagine that she always hoped that her mother would be able to see her get married, and to be a grandma... and those dreams are gone now.

On Saturday I got a phone call from my older brother, informing me that my Dad was in the hospital. He had eaten something, they still don't know what, that he had a terrible allergic reaction to. Fortunately my step-sister was near and able to get him to the medical clinic back home before his tongue and throat swelled to a point where he was unable to breathe. I must admit that I thought what it would be like if I lost my Dad. The pain that I feel as I imagine that possibility is great, and so as I think of my friend and her loss I cannot imagine how much she must be struggling. Fortunately, she is a strong woman who is probably better able to deal with loss than I.

I am incredibly fortunate to have the knowledge that I do have. I trust that all will be well in the end, even if I do lose those who are closest to me. Those of you who have heard me talk about my dad know how much I love him, how much I would miss his presence in my life. But I know that he won't be absent from my life, even after his own life here has ended. As I think of my friend and her loss, I know that she has that same understanding. Her mother will be there to see her married and to meet her grandchildren - she just won't be able to see her.

My family means everything to me, and as I decided to move out here the thought that I might miss out on some great events in their lives was one of the more difficult things to think about. I might become an uncle while I was out here, and that would mean I would probably miss out on seeing and getting to know my brothers' and sisters' children until they're a little bit older. I began to cry with joy as I found out that I am going to be an uncle again. And they're going to be great parents! I only wish I could be there... if I can't be a father yet, at least I get to be an uncle.

A trip to Chesapeake

This weekend was a wild and crazy one. Me and my friends Daniel, Mike, and Jeremy decided to go to a regional activity that was about two hours away in Chesapeake, in an area not too far from the North Carolina border. Well, the activity started at 7:00 on Saturday, we weren't worried about being a little bit late, so we decided to leave here at 6:00. Well, Mike never makes things easy and decided not to show up at Daniel's house, where we were meeting, until about 7:30. Finally, we were on our way, but as we were loading into my car we could hear air deflating from a tire. Lucky for me, it was Mike's tire.... we decided that we would all jump in my car and go, then fix the tire when we got home.

Well, the dance/pumpkin carving party was actually a lot of fun. One of the most entertaining parts was that Daniel and I decided that Mike was going to have to get 2 phone numbers from the girls out there or else we would not allow him into my car for the ride home. This was because Mike wouldn't do anything but sit on the sidelines at first and because when we were riding out there he kept complaining and saying that the party better be good. Well, he got his phone numbers and as we were leaving the party we asked how it went. Apparently it went well, some girls invited him (and subsequently all of us) to stay and watch a movie with them. Sadly, it was already midnight and we had two hours to drive. Well, we asked if he was going to take advantage of his successes that night and he said that he wasn't. "Those girls are too young" he said. Well, funny thing - Mike is a young man straight off his mission. There shouldn't be a "too young" for him unless they're still in high school so Daniel and I bugged him. Apparently, he had a bad experience dating an 18 year old in the first few months he was home from the mission. Well, we wanted to know who she was and he wouldn't tell us. So we shoved him in my trunk for the ride home.

Well, we actually just shoved him in long enough to take him back to the party and embarass him. Except that he used the emergency latch in the trunk and jumped out of my moving car. Luckily he didn't get hurt! Anyhow, it was a lot of fun and we finally made it back home and remembered that we had a tire to change. The nuts got a little stuck on his tire and we struggled to get all of them loose - and as Daniel worked on one he kind of fell backward and broke Mike's sideview mirror, I guess that's what he gets for not doing it himself... It was really funny (not badly broken). Well, after a nice struggle to take care of all that we headed home for the night.

Sadly, that is not the end of the story. You see, Mike had a talk to give in church on Sunday and apparently he gained a lot of insight from his experiences with me and Daniel. He decided to share a few stories about getting water poured on him and how Daniel and I changed his tire and broke his mirror. He broke Jeremy's heart by neglecting to honor him with stories about our adventures, but I think he apologized for that. Oh, and he also shared with all of us that the donut that replaced his flat tire, it went flat too! So, that was my weekend this week. Here's a picture of me, Daniel, and Mike at last night's family home evening. (Daniel is in the middle, Mike on the right).

Australia, Temple, Prophets

So, I should have let you all know about this last week, but I'm a hoser and don't do that kind of thing. Anyhow, last weekend was a great weekend. The stakes in our area had planned a large stake temple day for the 17th, including a special meeting in the priesthood room of the D.C. temple with the temple presidency, and our ward had procured a private screening of the Joseph Smith movie that is shown at the visitor's center as well as a conference room for a short fireside from our institute director, Brother Janson. The ward hired two buses for the day and bused most of us to the temple for this opportunity. I got to spend a lot of quality time with some of my new friends out here, reliving the old high school bus ride experience, and laughing as we got a little bit lost on our way home. As for the temple, the temple president had to be at a different meeting (I'll get to that in a second) so the counselors and their wives spoke to four stakes full of endowed members in the priesthood room at the top of the Washington, D.C. temple about the importance of temple work. It was a great message and an amazing experience.

As for the temple president, well... he had to be back in Richmond where many leaders from many stakes gathered for special leadership instruction. President Boyd K. Packer of the quorum of the twelve came to lead the training of stake presidents, bishops, and the temple presidency. Along with him came Elder Cook of the twelve as well as Elder Andersen of the presidency of the seventy, and Elder Causse of the first quorum of the seventy, as well as area authorities. While this training was for the leadership and so had little effect on me directly it did mean that the next day at church we were able to listen to President Packer, Elder Causse, and Elder Marriott (an area authority seventy) in our stake. To sit at a prophet's feet and listen to his words is an opportunity that should be cherished and one for which I was grateful. As an added bonus our ward had been asked to form the choir for the special meeting and we were all able to sit on the stand directly behind these great leaders.

Now, I've told you the stories of the great spiritual enrichment I was able to receive last weekend, so it's only appropriate that I end with a story about our Crocodile Dundee party. You see, we have a woman in our ward who is here from Australia to teach school for a few years. As a kind of special get to know Emily and her country party we had a Crocodile Dundee viewing and Australia appreciation party last Friday night. Well, the party was loads of fun to start with but it became especially exciting when a giant kangaroo with root beer in hand (and a root beer in hand for the joey in its pouch as well) came bounding into the room as we watched the movie, followed by an aboriginal warrior who proceeded to beat the kangaroo with his boomerang.

As you can see from the pictures, it was all quite exciting. Well, fortunately for me, John, the man with the costume, decided that he should let other people try it out. And try it out I did. I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable without a kangaroo costume on again!

A Weekend with Bill and Sarah

Growing up in Pinedale, Wyoming is a unique experience in many ways. I knew most of the people in my high school graduating class since kindergarten; there was nothing remotely resembling a city for 100 miles; and some of the most beautiful sites in the world were only minutes away. I love my hometown more than I probably should and I'm incredibly grateful for the experiences I had growing up there. One of the least likely things you would expect to find in a little town somewhere lost from most of the world is contact with the most powerful people in the world. But Pinedale never had a shortage of important people nearby who somehow found out about the beauty of the Wyoming wilderness.
One of the first things I can remember was walking into the living room when my mom had left the TV on in the middle of the day and seeing President Ronald Reagan addressing a press conference. I have no idea what he was talking about, I don't even know what time of year it was... I couldn't have been more than 4 or 5 years old, our family was still living in the Bargerville area between Pinedale and Boulder, Wyoming. I can remember looking at him, though, and thinking that he was a good man. I liked him instinctively. That was my first experience with politics. Later, I remember President George H.W. Bush coming to spend some time just outside of Pinedale. My brother, Cy, would talk about the helicopters and the secret service agents and how cool they were. The President of the United States was just outside of our hometown - Pinedale wasn't the middle of nowhere, the President vacationed there!
I was in the third grade when the next presidential elections were held. At that time Ross Perot was my hero. I remember having what I thought were mature conversations about the issues of the day with my friends at school. We would discuss the race between President Bush, Governor Bill Clinton, and H. Ross Perot as though we understood what was going on. I can still remember claiming that Ross Perot would have never left the race if his family's life hadn't been threatened, and I was certain he would have been president had he stayed in the race. In fifth grade I can remember discussing President Clinton and how terrible I thought his policies were - I had no idea what his policies were, but in Wyoming, they were terrible. Well, everywhere in Wyoming except Jackson Hole.
Jackson Hole, the closest thing to civilization around Pinedale, is 77 miles northwest of Pinedale. It's not exactly close, but in Wyoming terms it definitely was close. And President Clinton loved Jackson Hole. We would here about his vacations there on a regular basis. Strangely, coming from my little town in Wyoming, I was somewhere where the important people of the world would come. And while President George W. Bush had stronger ties to Texas than to Wyoming, he picked Dick Cheney as his running mate. There was even a chance that Dick Cheney might be the speaker at my high school graduation.
I'm not sure why I'm sharing all of this about Pinedale and the Presidents, I think it's to partially explain why I enjoy politics so much, and partially to explain how excited I am to be in Virginia right now. I didn't choose where to go to law school with politics even remotely in my mind, and yet here I am in a state that's being touted as one of the most important battlegrounds on November 4. Our governor, Tim Kaine, was on the shortlist to be Senator Obama's running mate and the congressman in the congressional district where I live, Eric Cantor, was a name that was being whispered as a possible running mate for Senator McCain. I feel like I'm in the middle of something important here.
With Virginia having its current status as a battleground state, important people have been showing up, trying to get our votes. The first thing I take from this is the beauty of our electoral system. It may have many flaws, but the votes of individuals do matter and the most important people in the world have to go through the average people of the world to get there, that's democracy. The other thing I gain from this is an opportunity to listen to some of those people. Presidents may have vacationed near Pinedale, but here in Richmond the important people aren't coming for vacation, but for me and people like me. Madeline Albright spoke at the University of Richmond a few weeks ago, and I was sad to miss the opportunity to hear her. And Barack Obama was campaigning about an hour away in Newport News last weekend, again I missed out on the opportunity.
But this weekend was different, I'm on fall break and the important people were coming to Richmond. Last night a friend and I lined up blocks away from the student commons of Virginia Commonwealth University to listen to President Bill Clinton speak on the behalf of the Obama campaign. I was surprised and impressed that the event began with an opening prayer followed by the national anthem. The introducing speakers included several students and spoke highly of their candidate, barely referring to Senator McCain. President Clinton gave a good speech, highlighting the differences between the candidates, but focusing on Barack Obama, barely referring to Senator McCain other than to say that Obama's plans were better. But that's not what impressed me about the event. Rather, I was impressed by the raw charisma of the man. He spoke with total confidence and one could easily see how he had inspired others to vote for him. Then, when all was said and done, he didn't leave immediately but first went and hugged the student who had introduced him, then he went down into a crowd of supporters and shook their hands. He stayed for quite a while, just shaking peoples hands.
Today I was able to go with some other friends to a Sarah Palin rally at the Richmond International Speedway racetrack. And while I am biased, today's rally didn't have the same feeling as last night's. There were many more people there to see Sarah Palin than had been at the Clinton rally last night. This was partially because the raceway could hold a lot more people, not to disparage her popularity with many people. The traffic going to the event was terrible and we missed the beginning, so I can't comment on how it opened, but we arrived just as Governor Palin took the stage. She first introduced Hank Williams, Jr. as a special guest and as singer of the national anthem. He proceeded to sing one of the worst renditions of the national anthem I've ever heard, but that's neither here nor there. He then sang a song against the liberal media and praising McCain, which was better sung but also irrelevent. The people had come to listen to Governor Palin. Unfortunately, it was hard to see her and the sound system would cut in and out. She spoke highly of John McCain and his policies and was much more restrained in her rhetoric against Barack Obama than in many of the rallies that have been shown on tv in the past few weeks. Perhaps it was because the crowd was too big, perhaps it was because she didn't have the same aura as a former US President must have, I don't know why, but the claps seemed much weaker and the crowd far less inspired.
The most interesting part of the Palin rally, to me, was when she quoted former Pennsylvania governor, Bob Casey, Sr. Governor Casey's son is an Obama supporter and U.S. Senator, and the Casey's are a democratic family. While much has been said about Governor Casey's position as a pro-life Catholic within the democratic party, and the possibility that he was denied a speaking spot at a democratic convention because of this, the Caseys have not been Republican backers. Governor Palin quoted Governor Casey talking about how you can judge a society by how it treats its weakest members. She used this to argue that we need to treat special needs children with special care. It was the strong point of her speech, but it didn't make sense to me. She made no accusation that Barack Obama wouldn't care for special needs children, or at least I didn't hear her say anything about that. She just said that it's important how we treat the weakest in our society. I agree with her wholeheartedly on that point, which is nice because generally speaking I don't agree with her on anything. She's right about loving everybody and taking care of the weak, but politically she said nothing about herself, unless you just assume that Barack Obama and Joe Biden don't care about the weakest among us or love others.
Speaking of that point, I'm just finishing Joe Biden's book "Promises to Keep" and I have to say, I'm impressed with the man. At the vice-presidential debate I think the strongest moment was when Senator Biden shared that he knows what it's like to raise a family as a single father because his first wife and daughter passed away in a terrible accident. I think the strongest moment in the last presidential debate for Senator Obama was when he was talking about healthcare and talked about how nobody else should have to watch their mother suffer through cancer and instead of resting and seeking treatment, have to fight insurance companies so she could pay for treatment. Who are the people running for the highest offices in our country? It's a question that has been asked a lot lately - rather than just saying that you don't know - take the time and get to know them. Everybody but Sarah Palin has written at least one memoir... Whatever side of the political aisle your on - look into the men. Sarah Palin was right today, as was the man she quoted, Governor Casey, but before you assume that she and John McCain are the only ones who do care for the least among us, find out where the other people stand. I cried as I read about Joe Biden's fight to pass the violence against women act - you may not agree with the man, but he cares deeply. Anyhow, now I'm just wandering through thoughts - I'll let you go. Here's my picture for the week, you know, so you don't forget what I look like! This one is glasses free, as per Melly's request.

A Story About Pants

Here's a story about a pair of pants I bought, and where we have gone together. It's a very important story in my life... It all started when some old mission friends, Andrew and Moroni, invited me along for a trip to Park City. Andrew and his girlfriend at the time (now wife) Belem really wanted to go shopping at the outlet stores and Moroni (Maldy) and I tagged along. As we were shopping we stopped at the Calvin Klein outlet store and while we were browsing Maldy challenged me to try on a pair of their jeans. Why? Well, Moroni put it this way "they're so comfortable you'll feel like you're naked!" How could I pass up an invitation like that? So I went in the changing room and tried on a pair of Calvin Klein jeans, and you know what? They were THAT comfortable... I bought them. This will always be a fond memory for me, as it was one of the first times I got to spend a good deal of time with Belem, who is a wonderful person.

Since that time my Calvin Klein jeans have been very special to me, they made me feel like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future, and I started singing Chuck Barry songs whenever I wore them... although not always Johnny B. Goode. Sometimes I'd sing Huey Lewis and the News songs too. Crazy, huh? Me and my jeans had some good times, but sadly at one of the first activities I attended here in Richmond I was helping move a couch and as I lifted my jeans ripped. It was only a small hole, and the comfort of the 100% cotton leads to a less durable pant, so it was understandable, but still very sad. I decided I wasn't ready to say goodbye to my jeans yet, though, so I went to Target and purchased a patch for my jeans. After ironing on the patch my jeans and I had several successful outings together... sadly that would change.

On Friday, September 26, 2008 a group of friends and I loaded up in a truck and headed to Newport News, Virginia to attend a YSA dance they were having out there. When we first arrived they were having problems with the music and the men outnumbered the women by a large margin, so we went in search of food. This is irrelevant to my pants, but it's part of the story, so deal with it. After a successful outing that included calling the "waffle and steak" house right as it closed, we finished our Taco Bell and returned to the church gym where the dancing was going on. After eating much candy, the guys and I decided to hit the dance floor and show off our moves. Well, things were going well - we even had a strange little announcement of our names thing going on... when for some reason I decided to slap the floor wearing my Calvin Klein jeans.... I heard a tear and decided I should probably exit the dance floor.


Upon finding a wall to shelter my backside, which could clearly feel more of a breeze than it had moments before, I inspected the damage - I had a very large rip in my jeans this time. I probably wasn't going to save them. As the other guys in my group were building relationships of trust with young ladies who they had just met, I stood outside with my butt against the truck to not show my lack of modesty. Me and my jeans, we were breaking up - they just weren't going to be with me anymore. That is my story... I hope you enjoyed it. Here's a picture of me for the week - and a picture of my jeans!

Please, Be Informed

Being more liberal in the LDS church is an interesting experience. Since moving here to Richmond I have had several discussions where others looked at me in shock as I tried to explain why I support Barack Obama and why John McCain and Sarah Palin frighten me. Don't worry, this post isn't about that - but the story of one of those occasions segues well into what I want to say. A few weeks ago I was at a party and one of the girls in my ward, saying she didn't know who she supported, asked me why I support Obama. As I explained my point of view to her a crowd of people surrounded me, and for over half an hour I stood in the middle of a circle of maybe ten people, discussing our differing opinions in an open and friendly way. Politics can be incredibly divisive, people have strong feelings and often react in a visceral manner to disagreements to some of their most deeply held beliefs, it makes it a difficult topic to discuss. That is why at the end of this discussion, I implored everybody not to vote for Barack Obama, but to make an informed decision when they vote. That's what this post is about.

Watching the presidential debate from last night, I noticed that there were multiple occasions when John McCain or Barack Obama would make an assertion about the other's policies, only for the other to respond by saying "that's not true" or something of the sort. Please, watch the debates, hear and understand where the candidates stand and watch their demeanor. But also, find out who is right when they openly disagree about the facts. Fortunately, in this information age we have open access to tons of facts. John McCain said several times last night that we can "look up the history" on websites like Citizens Against Government Waste and other websites. I want to make everybody aware of a non-partisan website called factcheck.org. Go there when you have a question about something that a candidate says and doesn't sound right, go there after major events like last nights events or the party conventions, and see how they analyze what the candidates have said. Unfortunately, politicians spin things - this is true on both sides. At times they outright lie or are misinformed, factcheck.org is a great place to see how the facts match up to the assertions made. Click here to find out what the situation really is on the issues that were debated last night.

The key to having a successful democracy is not just that the citizens get out and vote, but that they make an informed vote. It is not enough to vote based on party affiliation, personalities, or even on policy. We need to have a comprehensive understanding of what it is we're voting for. I don't ask that everybody be as intensive as I am, I get nearly obsessive about these issues - and although I have chosen my horse in this race I still seek to understand both sides as fully as possible. I own 4 out of the 5 books that John McCain has authored with Mark Salter, and both of the books that Barack Obama has authored. I own the book that Joe Biden wrote, and if Sarah Palin had written a book I would own that and read it. Sometimes candidates feel that only parts of their history are relevant, or only parts of their backgrounds are important to understanding their character. We each must decide how important each different factor is in the decisions we make but John McCain's association with the Savings and Loan Scandal and the Keating Five should be relevant, just as his time as a POW in Vietnam. Barack Obama's ties to radical political figures is relevant, but so is his work as a community organizer, a job that I feel is more important than some have said.

Finally, please inform yourselves not only about the presidential campaign but also about your local politics and other federal campaigns. If there is a senatorial campaign in your state this year, look into the senators and their positions - listen to what they have to say. Every two years your House Representatives run for reelection, know their positions and make an informed decision on election day. Democracy works best when we vote from a well informed foundation. If you want to be able to research how politicians vote and whether they're telling you the truth in their advertisements, speeches, and debates, please visit votesmart.org and factcheck.org. Fact check, again, is a site that fact checks the statements made by politicians and is great for the presidential campaign, and Project Vote Smart (votesmart.org) is a non-partisan compilation of voting records and ratings by various groups on people campaigning for positions across the US, from state legislative campaigns to presidential campaigns.

Finally, make sure you're registered to vote - registration deadline for some states is as early as October 6. Sites like Rock the Vote and JustVote.org can help you register if you're not sure what to do. Also, if anybody who reads this lives in Utah House District 59 (or knows people who do), please look into the campaign of Paul Thompson at electpaulthompson.com - He is as honest and good a man as I have ever met and as my mission president he helped me grow as much as anybody outside my family ever has. Look at his positions and tell your friends about him, running as a Democrat in Utah is a daunting task, but he is more than qualified for the job.

UPDATE: If you have 90 minutes and didn't see the 1st Debate you can watch it here or here.

Some Pictures

I've received a few messages from people who don't know what a lava-lava or sarong is. So I thought I'd post a few pictures from the dance and what we all were wearing.


Otherwise there hasn't been too much interesting going on lately. I've mostly just been busy with school and that takes up plenty of time.

I forgot to do something...

Oh yeah! I haven't blogged in over a week. That's highly inappropriate, but bonus because of that is that you get to have two blog posts in a row with a hideous picture of me. Don't you feel so blessed? Well, I guess I have a whole week to get you caught up on, right? So let's get going!

Umm... what did I do this week? Oh, I have Internet in the house now, hence me blogging on a Sunday (because I would not be at school on a Sunday and that's the only place I had Internet before!) I am actually incredibly happy about that and finally got caught up on my Daily Show and Colbert Report. I never thought I'd say this but I'm glad they were off for a week when I didn't have Internet here, because I can't miss those shows! In other TV news, the season premiere of House was this week - and I'm excited for the new season.

We had a small ward temple trip this weekend and that was really nice. For lunch we went to a Kabob place in D.C. so I got to see my first little bit of the actual city. I'm definitely going to need to plan some time one of these weekends (probably several of these weekends) to go and check it all out.

School continues to go well and I am enjoying it. Although I am definitely not a big fan of my Mondays (my first class starts just after 8 and my last one ends just before 8).

Okay, onto the most exciting news - the Amazing Incredible Sadie Hawkins Dance Crashing Party of Funness. (Henceforth the AISHDCPF). So for the AISHDCPF my date and her roommate, Mindy, decided that it was lame to make the dance semi-formal and they weren't supposed to wear jeans and all that jazz, so they decided that since Lava Lavas are formal wear in some countries we would go that route. So, a group of about 6 of us were lavalavaed up ready for the good times to start at this dance thing the ward was trying to do. Once I got the bone properly put in my hair and Stephanie was loaded with a bat, and after we had all filled up on Arby's goodness we headed to the church gym. (Henceforth, the dance zone).

We triumphantly arrived at the Dance Zone and the AISHDCPF in full dance attire and commenced to get jiggy with it. Strangely, our arrival seemed to be the biggest moment of the evening that far, and at first I thought that we had stumbled upon some kind of middle school dance. Groups of people huddled together as dance music played, we quickly tried to fix this problem but just became a different huddle of people that was actually dancing - oh well, things started getting better after a while.

Later in the night, after loads of dancing goodness and impressing all with my incredible dancing abilities, we loaded 6 people into my car (it's only meant to seat 5, but since when do I care?) and went to get some ice cream. While eating our ice cream we found out all sorts of meanings for the word Mindy (apparently a Mindy is some sort of Wild Tyrannosaurus Rex Animalistic Woman with a deep voice that can commonly be found on New York City street corners and offers a specific type of service that you have to request by name). Now that you know that, you are ready to be entered into my secret society... contact me later with a code name.

Anyhow, the point of the story is that we all had a lot of fun, didn't get in too much trouble, and got to know each other a little bit better. (note: some day I will follow Julie's advice and let people talk about themselves instead of just talking about myself, unfortunately I am very conceited and love myself to death, as such I think everybody else must feel the same). Oh, random note: Sister Willis (one of the bishopric's wives) came up to me today at church and said "I need to know more about you after seeing your dancing on Friday night" and she even asked me where I learned to dance. Apparently she was unaware that I was clueless and merely did my best not to appear that way. Oh well. Good times! And that is today's blog post. I look forward to comments!

THIS WEEK'S PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Me, Asleep, On my bed! (aren't you excited? I'm just pretending to be asleep, by the way)

The things we don't realize

The other night I got a text message that I was definitely not expecting. My bishop from my last ward sent me a text message that said "I hope you're studying and not partying at this late hour. We all miss you. Keep the faith." Messages from back home have helped me recognize how much I meant to people. As I get a message from my mom or dad, or from my grandparents saying how they don't get to see me anymore, I realize that I mean as much to them as they do to me.

Perhaps it's one of my idiosyncrasies, but I think it is fairly common for all of us to see those who surround us and be grateful for their presence and influence in our lives without recognizing that we, too, are influences on their lives. Bishop Call helped me so much and was a great leader and friend while I was in Pleasant Grove, I miss him dearly. The thought had never really occurred to me that he would miss me. My grandparents opened their home to me and provided for everything I could possibly need and then some, they gave me a home while I was at school and did more for me than I could ever express. I know they love me, but for some reason I never thought that they could miss me like I miss them. In a strange way, moving away from all of my friends and family has been great for me, not only because I am meeting new friends but also because I'm better able to recognize how much the old ones really mean. I'm also beginning to see how much I mean to them, and that's a good feeling. I'm so glad that despite myself people like having me around, and were grateful for me.

I had a meeting with my bishop last night. When I went in to talk to him, he said "I've met you, we talked for quite a while on Saturday" and I just smiled and nodded and we talked about Daniel, the executive secretary for a bit. You see, Daniel wants the bishop to meet all the members of the ward and so he sets up these appointments for "get to know you" meetings with the bishop, but it confuses the bishop because sometimes he has these meetings with members of the ward who he knows quite well. It was good to chat with him for a while and get his perspective on things, he was a practicing attorney for quite a while before he decided to change careers, but he knows what the law school experience is like so that's nice to have. School continues to go well and we finally got the first part to getting Internet set up at our house ready to go and my car is finally fixed! Big accomplishments, now I just have to try and get reimbursed for some of my car rentals - that should be fun, but the biggest headaches are out of the way.

Oh, and since I haven't done it yet this week - here's what I look like now, so you don't forget! Ha ha.

Settling In

So, I'm starting to get much more settled here. People are learning my name, I'm learning their names, it's really quite nice. And I even got to meet the bishop of my ward, so that's always a good thing. I wonder now, what am I going to write about to keep people up to date on what I'm doing? School's going well, law school's not that bad. I've got a lot of stuff to do but it's not overwhelming and I'm making a lot of good friends.

This weekend there was a birthday party for one of the members of my ward and it was nice to be able to gather and have fun with a lot of people and get to know them better. Unfortunately, it was my least favorite kind of party (sorry Evan) the kind where it's not really anything planned, just a bunch of food and a bunch of people. I like to do stuff! Saturday night the ward had a fun activity where people baked cookies and we got to judge them and then we watched the movie Enchanted. I had a couple of people ask me if I was on the activities committee because I was running some of the stuff, I just laughed and told them that I still hadn't met the bishop, how would I have a calling?

Oh, Saturday was also my first experience of a tropical storm, pretty much it was a lot of rain as Hannah came in, and as my roommate Jason said "you just hunker down and watch a lot of movies." It was neat, I'm not used to the warm rains that it brought, or that much rain at all. Guess that's what I get for coming from the high mountain desert.

My adventures with getting the air conditioning fixed in my car are continuing. The inspector called the repair shop today to say that he'd be there, so finally I'll get my second inspection and they can order parts. Sadly, he will be the 5th person to verify the exact same problem on my car, it's ridiculous! Right now I'm driving a sweet Chevy Aveo that can't lock on the driver's side door. Glad I don't have anything valuable in it! I guess I don't have much more to say right now, sorry this post was kind of boring.

Life and Love

The other day I decided that I was tired of studying and would try and better organize my pictures on my computer. For a while I worked pretty consistently at scanning a bunch of old pictures and getting pictures into an electronic format, so I have quite a few on the computer. Well, for some reason I decided to see what pictures I had in the trash section of iPhoto and found out that iPhoto just leaves pictures in its trash until you tell it to delete them for good. This means that in my trash I had a whole assortment of old pictures from when Tiffany and I were dating, and a few from when Emilee and I were together (we never took very many pictures).

As I looked at the pictures, old memories came back to me and I remembered what it was like to be in love. It's funny, for so long seeing pictures like that just kind of made me sick to my stomach, now they bring back fond memories instead of pain. I'm glad for that, I'm glad I can think back to those times as the incredibly happy times they were instead of looking back with regret that things didn't work out differently. I loved those girls so much and now I'm just happy that they've found their companions.

Unfortunately, at the same time as I'm able to remember what it was like to be in love and to have that kind of companionship, it makes me yearn all the more to have something like that again. Thinking of my time with Tiffany invariably leads me to think of my dear friends Jimmy and Hillary. Jimmy was in many ways the reason Tiffany and I ever dated at all, and he and Hillary dated at the same time as we did. I remember having conversations with Jimmy late at night as he would talk to me about how he thought he was falling in love with Hillary and how he really didn't want to do that. Funny, how those who aren't really seeking love find it so much easier! The thing I noticed in all those conversations with Jimmy and in later conversations with other close friends is that many people are so afraid of getting hurt that they never really pursue something they truly desire. They're hesitant about putting themselves out on the line.

When Emilee and I broke up the first time I thanked her for breaking my heart. She laughed nervously and asked what on earth I was talking about. That experience of heartbreak was one of the most valuable experiences of my life and taught me more about myself and my emotions than I could have expected. And while I'm not so certain that I gained the same value from subsequent heartbreaks, I can say this - I'm glad I keep jumping and hope I have the courage to jump again. When I think about the dating life I compare it to a young bird learning to fly for the first time - at some point the bird has to jump from a great height and risk crashing to the ground and getting seriously hurt. To many it may not seem worth the risk, but the thing is if the bird doesn't fall then it flies. And the flight is worth all the other risks inherent in jumping, if I've learned one thing it is that no matter how bad heartbreak hurts, it will never hurt as much as being in love pleases.

So, just some random thoughts on the topic. Since we're on the topic I would remind everybody that I've only been here a few weeks, old pictures spurred this post and nothing else! Now for the requisite, this is what I look like this week picture.

Law School Personal Statement

I thought I'd give you some more of my writing to read. Aren't you so excited? I'm going to blog about this weekend later today or tomorrow for those who want an update. But for now, here is my personal statement for law school. When you apply to law school you are asked to send in a personal statement because they don't interview candidates, you get two pages to write just about anything you want to try and convince them that you're a better candidate than somebody else. This is what I wrote:


I can still remember the day when I decided that I wanted to know everything. It was the same day I decided I was going to change the world. On a cold in November 2002, I walked down an empty street in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. I was working there as a missionary for my church and as I headed to my next appointment, I thought about my future. I thought about the plans I had made. I was going to study computer science. After all, I had already held several jobs as a computer technician and I was good at it. But I realized then, as I walked down that street, that I would not find fulfillment in that field. I needed to improve the world, to directly benefit the lives of others. As a missionary, I primarily did two things: learn and help people. And walking down that empty street, I realized that was all I really wanted to do. I realized that by doing those two things to the best of my ability, I would find fulfillment; I could change the world for the better.
Experience has taught me that knowledge truly is power. Even the most trivial knowledge can influence others and enhance relationships. I’ve made many friends simply by referring to some obscure movie or TV show. While trivial knowledge can be power, I recognized greater power in practical knowledge. As a missionary, I learned to speak both Spanish and Portuguese. Subsequently, I have also learned to speak Russian. I hadn’t realized how much I was missing until I learned a foreign language. Speaking a foreign language does so much more than allow communication, it opens doors to parts of the world you don’t even know are there. As I saw the influence language could have, I decided to pursue the study of linguistics.
While studying linguistics, I learned a great deal and saw the power of practical knowledge but something was lacking. Luckily for me, I also took a course in the history of philosophy and there found an even more powerful form of knowledge. I began to learn how to think. Knowledge is most powerful when we know how to apply it, when we know how to think. For a time I pursued a double major in philosophy and linguistics but I soon realized that philosophy was where my heart lie. While most of my friends and family don’t understand what I study, the lessons I have learned from philosophy have provided me with knowledge that helps me change the world.
Many people think that changing the world is a lofty goal. I disagree, I think we change the world merely by our presence in it. We can’t help but change the world; the real question is how we change it. We often think that it takes some great thing to influence our world, but the small things are what make the difference. No newspapers reported when my teenaged sister gave her baby up for adoption because she could not provide a home for her. But she changed the world for a young couple who couldn’t have children, and for that baby girl. No cameras have been present when teachers and professors have stopped to teach me, nor when they have taken the time to stress the importance of learning. But those men and women have changed my life and my world. They have changed the lives and worlds of many others, and will continue to do so. As I pursue a career, I hope to do those small things that will truly improve the world.
I want to know everything and I want to change the world. The first, I will never accomplish. The second, I have already done and will continue to do without even trying. The trick is to get as close to the first as possible, and to make sure that I do the second in such a way that it makes the world a better place. Helping and learning, that’s all I really want to do in life. Fortunately, they work well together. As long as I take the power that comes with learning and use it properly, I can help other people. I have pursued these two goals since that day in November of 2002, and I will continue to pursue them. Right now, I’m taking the next step in that pursuit.

Rainy Days

Now that I come to think of it, I've never lived for very long outside of a desert. Coming from Wyoming and Utah, all this rain we've been getting in the last few days is a new experience. It keeps on coming. Jason says that the rain lately has been more of a winter type rain, which is just a completely foreign concept to me. If it's winter there's snow, not rain! Oh well, it's been nice to have things cool down a lot lately, especially since I still have no air conditioning in my car.

The past few days have been pretty uneventful, mostly just going to class and learning some of the basic tenants of property and torts law as well as civil procedure. I don't think there's anything more exciting in the world! Matt's family is visiting him this week and Jason's on vacation, so the house has been more lively than normal, I guess.

Here comes the Labor Day weekend! Luckily as a law student there is no such thing as Labor Day weekend and I have class on Monday. Oh well, I'm excited to keep going and don't know what I would do with an extra day off anyhow, probably just more reading. Wow, this is a boring post.

Why I'm so Liberal

Well, I got an e-mail message not too long ago from my friend John and I've taken far too long to correct a mistake he informed me about. When I said I didn't know anybody for 500 miles I was mistaken, somehow I neglected to see how far Charlotte, North Carolina was, which is where John is. Luckily, my mistake wasn't too gigantic, seeing as how John will be moving to Nebraska shortly and is so busy finishing up with his current work and I'm so busy starting law school that I won't be able to visit him and vice versa. So, soon my mistake will be corrected, except that now I know people here too - although not as well as I might like.

Anyhow, I meant to respond to John via e-mail, and I still might. I just don't get to e-mail as often and apparently he read my blog at least once, so who knows - maybe he'll do it again. But, other than acknowledging my mistake, there was one other thing I wanted to tell him.

Warning: if you aren't comfortable reading or discussing politics, or if you are like many of my friends and family and especially conservative, you may want to avoid this next section. You see, John and I used to discuss politics in high school all the time, he would wonder how I could have a lot my view points and still side with Republicans, and I wondered how John could be so capitalistic and still side with the Democrats. Well, John, I've been converted. To an extent.

First off, I'm an independent. Since I've been able to vote I have never registered with either party and I hope I never will. I am adamantly opposed to a two party system and agree wholeheartedly with George Washington's statement in his farewell address. On the topic of political parties he said "It serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration....agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one....against another....it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another." As such, in my younger days I had no problem with Bill O'Reilly claiming to be an independent, as a matter of fact I still have no problem with that claim. The problem is that O'Reilly now claims (perhaps he did before and I was unaware) that he is a moderate - agreeing with certain viewpoints that have been labeled liberal, especially ones that are widely accepted as being true (e.g. global warming) does not make you a moderate. There are conservative independents and liberal independents, there are authoritarian independents and libertarian independents, and there are all sorts of independents in between.

I digress, the point of this post is to explain why I'm a "liberal" when it comes to politics and so I first want to explain that I'm not just a liberal, I'm also quite libertarian in my views. For those of you familiar with the political compass I fit in the southwest quadrant, just a little northeast of men like Ghandi and Nelson Mandela. (For insight into where your political views fit according to the political compass try taking their test at http://politicalcompass.org/test). Basically, my assertion is this - after paying attention to both sides and having experienced how the policies of both sides have affected me and those around me, I am strongly inclined to say that for the most part it is a good thing to support social programs and that having a strong government is not necessarily a bad thing.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid came to speak at BYU last year, and as he addressed the crowd he said "some people may wonder how I can be a Mormon and a Democrat, but for me being a member of this church and the policies of the democratic party go hand in hand" and continued to explain his affinity for his party. While I will never support one party or another, I think it is best to dispassionately pay attention to who candidates are and the positions they espouse. To me it is a wonder that the people who follow a religion whose core teachings are those of acceptance, love, and service feel that John McCain is a superior candidate to Barack Obama. Just in terms of personal character - one is a loving family man whose children clearly adore him. The other cheated multiple times on his first wife before leaving her for one of the women he cheated on her with. One seeks to fight only in wars that are "just" while the other seems ready to continue our engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan but also to expand and possibly fight both Russia and Iran. Just watch the speeches given on the night Barack Obama clinched the nomination for the Democratic party back in June (McCain vs. Obama) - if it were a movie you would know that Obama is the hero and McCain is the villain.

Again I digress. Basically, I want people to know that no candidate is perfect, that every candidate will have positions that you disagree with, but that we should vote based on what the candidates character and positions are as compared to our own. Also, be aware that some of the issues that voters find most important (abortion, gay marriage) will be little affected by who you vote for as president. The most a president can do is appoint a supreme court justice who may overturn gay marriage laws or the decision in Roe v. Wade. Just so you know, it was Chief Justic Warren Burger's court that delivered the decision in Roe v. Wade, a court that was mostly appointed by Republican presidents and with a conservative majority. Four of the justices on that court were appointed by Richard Nixon. As opposed as you may be to the legality of abortion (I myself am not), who you vote for president will not get Roe v. Wade overturned. Who you vote for president will not change the status of gay marriage, a debate that the courts have left for the states to decide so far. Who you vote for president will affect how we deal with foreign nations - and I for one hope that nations will view us favorably again. Barack Obama definitely has the upperhand there. Who you vote for president will affect the direction of our economy in the coming years, John McCain has openly acknowledged (though he denies it now, see in his own words) that he doesn't know as much as he should about economics. Anyhow, I understand that their are legitimate disagreements in policy, I'm on the other side from many of my closest friends. Just know that the best way to discuss them is to look at their positives and negatives, and to look at everything as a whole, not at the D or R next to somebody's name. Lately I'm inclined towards the Ds, but that won't always hold true.

A Shorter Post following a Long Post

I said I would be posting a picture about once a week to make sure you don't all forget what I look like, the picture that appears to my left right now was actually taken on Friday night when I decided that, since I was going to the temple the next day, I would say that I had enough of my facial hair catharsis and shave - so that's about as hairy as I got. Eventually I'll grow a full beard, I think, just not yet. But I figure I ought to post a picture of how I look today, since it's been a week as well.... so at the bottom of this post you'll see that picture! Yay.

SO - I kinda screwed up last night, I just figured that it was okay to plan to go to FHE at 7 because, that's what I always did back in Utah. Well, unfortunately for me when I looked at my schedule for classes I only paid attention to the classes that were listed as Section 3 (my section of the incoming law class) and not at the classes that were labeled as Section 9 (the law class is divided in 3 sections for most classes but they divided into 12 sections for smaller classes when it comes to Law Skills and Legal Research). Apparently I have Law Skills from 6-7:40 every Monday Night. That means no Family Home Evening for me! Oh well, Jason and Matt (my roommates) have their own FHE every Monday so I'll at least get that.
I got an e-mail this morning asking me to stop by the admissions office. You see, in law school it's a much bigger deal when you miss a class and the classes are generally smaller - there are only 162 students in my entering class. So when 162 is divided by 12 that means you only have 13-14 students per classroom, which means my absence was noted. The instructors were concerned when I didn't show up and one of the women at the admissions office asked me about it. Now I've missed an important class and that's no good - I should be fine though, I'll just be behind. Sad day.
In other news, the continuing saga of getting my air conditioning repaired has some new updates. My warranty company won't pay for anything other than aftermarket parts and Mazda dealerships won't unstil anything but official parts, meaning that there's a gap in what my warranty will pay out and what Mazda would charge of about $1700. So I'm taking my car to a different shop to make a new claim and start everything all over again. The woman at the warranty company said that they shouldn't need to reinspect the car to verify that the parts need repair as long as I get it into another shop soon. Funny, they shouldn't need to reinspect at all, and they shouldn't have needed to inspect in the first place! Oh well... unfortunately I am now out a fair amount of money because of the technicalities of this issue because the warranty company basically forced me to rent a car and they won't pay for it unless they approve a claim, and since my claim is a new one if I go to a new shop I'm out the 3 days of car rental - that's a lot less than the $1700 difference though. Oh, and I also had to pay Mazda for the work diagnostic work they did - thank you warranty company, you suck. That is all I have to say for now! I like it here so far and I really am happy, other than the stupid car problems.

Oh, and this picture is of me sitting at my carrel in the law school library - good times!