I was reminded tonight of a broadcast by my late uncle George, a.k.a. Dr. Cosmo, in which he masterfully mashed up the Jackson 5 with some new age funkiness. I was really taken aback when I first heard it and thought I'd share it with you.
Day of Thanks
I know I might be a day late, but it took a little longer for me to figure out what I'm thankful for this year. Because my family we're all going separate ways, I decided to take this Thanksgiving weekend and try to fit in one last camping trip. I planned on going to Zion National Park, and camped just outside the park last night, but this morning I wasn't excited to go on any hikes there, as I've already done nearly all of them. I realized that the Grand Canyon was only a couple of hours away and in newfound spontaneity decided to make the trip.
I haven't been to the Grand Canyon since I was probably about 12 years old. I remember seeing little children running around the edges of the precipice and being afraid they were going to fall. That same acrophobia presented itself years later while visiting Arches national Park. But in recent years I've overcome that fear in a large part. This evening, I climbed out on the jutting rock looking out over the vast canyon below me. I wasn't being reckless, there was plenty of a safe distance between me and the wedge. But as I sat watching the sunset over the Grand Canyon, I realize I had made a lot of improvements in my life. I am more content with who I am, more willing to go with the flow, and better able to deal with the stresses of day today life.
And so today, I am grateful for the ability to change and to grow. I'm grateful to have the freedom to spend a weekend on an adventure. And lastly, I'm thankful for Mother Nature, and that the human race has not altogether killed her just yet.
Treasure Digging
I've been doing a bit more photo/video work lately, which means my external hard drives are filling up fast. So I've been digging through my files trying to find stuff to toss out, and I came across these treasures.
Apparently my grandfather was one of those dads who always toted a camera with him on family outings. As annoying as it can be, I'm finding it pays off years later, especially when he was inexplicably skilled at getting great images.
Unfortunately, my hard drives are going to have stay full, because there's no way I'm trashing these treasures.
the UX of buffets
In my current job I am exposed to buffet tables multiple times a week. Great for my wallet, not so good for my stomach.
For years I have been annoyed by the convention of setting a buffet table: plates, napkins, silverware, then food, and lastly drinks.
Does nobody else see the inefficiency in this??
When do you ever use your silverware before getting your food?
I have almost never experienced a time when I needed a fork and knife to serve myself eggs, bacon, potatoes (cubed or mashed), salad, vegetables, meat, bread, or anything else. Each dish on the spread already has a serving utensil. Instead, I end up fumbling around trying to hang on to the cutlery that I will not need until I sit down at the table. Even worse is when I am carrying a full plate of food with a bread roll doing its thing, a napkin, a set of silverware, and then I have to add a glass of pink lemonade. A recipe for spills and awkwardness. I have made it a practice to place the napkin and silverware in my shirt or trouser pocket until I have successfully navigated the smorgasbord. But even this isn't the best solution.
Ideally the fork and knife should be waiting at the dining table, but even when that's not possible, they should wait at the END of the buffet table so that I am free to gather my food with both hands.
*sigh*
Just another example of people doing things the way they've always been done, even though it makes no sense.
First World Problems - My Quest against Qwest
I finally switched back to Comcast today. I've been with them on and off for the past few years in Provo, but switched to Qwest when I moved to Salt Lake. The connection with Qwest was fabulous, until I moved to an apartment where they only offered 3 MB down. That's almost acceptable accept that the upload speed was a measly 768k – preposterous.
i did some tests this morning and wasn't surprised that my Verizon 3G connection is FASTER than Qwest DSL.
I just got my cable modem ($20 on KSL) and hooked up to Comcast for the first time. Here's that comparison:
Qwest gets their trash kicked and then eaten for lunch. And mind you, the Comcast connection is via WiFi over my 12Mbps 1st generation Airport Express. Over ethernet I got over 30 Mbps down!
So now the only problem is that I have too much bandwidth for my wireless router to handle. Hmm… maybe I'll configure my Qwest modem to simply act as the wireless router for the Comcast modem. Do you think they'll get along?
What's the deal with protein?
I'm a fairly avid hiker. My dad took me on my first camping trip when I was only a few months old. My first backpacking trip was when I was three. And I even carried my own backpack. While growing up, my dad and brothers and I went backpacking in the Sierra Nevada. Last year I hiked to the top of Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. Just last weekend I hiked Mt. Nebo, the tallest in the Wasatch front, and will be reaching the summit of Kings Peak, the tallest in Utah later this summer. Through all of my hiking and talking with others about it, I tend to hear something that confuses me quite a bit. It has to do with protein. "Be sure to bring lots of protein."
UPDATE:
Thanks for the responses from Claire, Rebekah, Kurt, and Marie. Here's more explanation on why I was confused about using protein during endurance activities – namely that it actually isn't a good energy source.
When being right, isn't.
Neil deGrasse Tyson shares that 57% of senate and 38% of the House cite law as their profession. He then explains why this is not the ideal foundation on which to build our laws and government.
"When you look at law, and what happens in the courtroom, it doesn't go to what's right, it goes to who argues best. The entire profession is founded on who the best arguers are. For example in debating teams, you know the subject but you don't even know which side of the argument you will be put on to argue.
"So the act of arguing, and not agreeing, seems to be fundamental to that profession, and congress is half that profession."
I completely agree. Winning an argument does not mean you are right. This is just one of many reasons why I dislike politics and feel our government comprises inappropriate representation. Tyson asks, "Where are the scientists? Where are the engineers? Where is the rest of life represented?"
Unfortunately, this widely accepted premise that the winner of an argument is right, has often caused me personal grief. I'm horrible at arguing my point, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. Many of my friends are very good at arguing, especially my little brother. What's most frustrating is that hours later I see the flaws and limitations of their arguments and realize that their success was largely due to their strong personality and ability to instill doubt with carefully crafted words. But that doesn't make them right.
Often, I am equally as impassioned and full of conviction, though I don't have the skill of convincing others of my ideas with argument. All too frequently, this is also the case with the people behind movements of great importance, and truth.
How do we differentiate between what is right and true, rather than what is only temporarily convincing?
How can we encourage rational thinking and examination of fact over emotion?
Or do those of us with poor argument skills simply need to learn to play the game?