Book Review: The Hunger Games

Kenna and I just finished reading The Hunger Games. We read it together and liked it a lot. This is the review that I posted on Goodreads:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Before reading The Hunger Games, I thought it was yet another simple-minded book for early teens. It had been highly recommended to me by more than one friend, but I was skeptical that I'd like it. As a general rule, I don't like works of fiction so I'm very selective when it comes to novels. I decided not to read it.

In the meantime, my wife purchased the book after a friend of hers recommended it. Curious to know if it was a book I would enjoy, I encouraged my 15-year-old son to read it. He declined. Finally, I talked my 11-year-old daughter into reading it. To help get her started, I agreed to read the first chapter to her. Well, it didn't even take that long for me to get pulled in by the story.

My earlier fears were unfounded. The book isn't simple-minded at all, and it's not just for early teens. It has a sophisticated plot and an extensive vocabulary. Yes, the main character is a 16-year-old girl, but the book is an action-packed, blood-and-guts, exciting cliff-hanger. Pretty soon I was not only reading the book to my daughter, but reading it by myself after she was in bed.
The book is at times unnecessarily gory, and it does seem to suffer from plot manipulation. However, the fact that it was able to keep both me and my daughter so interested is no small feat. I've already ordered the sequel (Catching Fire). My daughter and I can't wait to read it.
View all my reviews

Africa Heartwood Project

We have recently become involved in a local charity called Africa Heartwood Project. We learned about it from Todd's djembe teacher, Andy Jones, who is the founder and director. They help the needy in Africa in several ways. These are the projects we have been involved in:

1. They buy drums from local artisans in five West African countries and sell them on their web site Djembe Direct. The drums are hand made and very nice. That is where we got our two drums. If you've seen them then you know how nice they are.
2. They help pay for the installation of hand pump bore holes in rural villages in Ghana. These provide clean water to villages that would otherwise get their drinking water from streams that might be far away, polluted or dry at certain times of the year. We have contributed a small amount of money to a couple of the projects.
3. They fund the Refugee Orphan Home at Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana, Africa. There are over 40 children there that are refugees from Liberia. They are trying to help these children return to Liberia but have been unsuccessful so far. We have donated several items to the orphanage. Almost all of the items have been household items that we no longer use. After we donated a set of items, the orphans sent us a letter:

If you click on the image above, you may be able to read the letter. This is what it says:

Dear Sponsors,

We greet you in the name of our lord Jesus Christ amen. We want to tell you thanks for your kind support and love you people have shown us, we also want to let you know that we recieved ever things your have sent us which are listed below.

1. hats
2. mobile phone
3. mous
4. 10 ear piece
5. 1 digital phito viewer
6. with some drugs
7. mp3 player 3

Yours and only orphan:

They then all signed the letter.

The letter made me smile. It was a bit comical: No, we didn't send them any drugs! But at the same time it seemed so innocent and so sincere. We had given them what was basically junk to us and it was clearly something that they appreciated.

We have supported a variety of different charities, but this is perhaps the one that has been the most tangible. With some charities, the only interaction we have is a form letter. With Africa Heartwood Project we feel much closer. We've been able to talk to Andy about the projects. (He travels to Africa frequently.) We've also seen the videos that they've posted on their web site. And the letter from the orphans was special because it was directly from the people we have helped.

One fun aspect about Africa Heartwood Project is the fundraisers. They are most often drum circles or performances. If you get a chance, I recommend attending one. The next one is tonight, November 29. (Sorry for the late notice.) We are planning on attending. There is information about tonight's fundraiser, as well as other upcoming events, on their website here.

Giving to a charity is almost always rewarding, no matter what the organization or cause. But, we've found helping the Africa Heartwood Project to be a unique experience that has helped us be thankful for what we have and to appreciate the value in selfless giving. We hope to continue to support their cause.

My New Phone

I got a new phone today. What is my phone of choice?? I'm a hi-tech guy. Surely I got the latest, greatest iPhone. No. I work for a company that sells software for Android. Then surely I got the a fully-loaded Droid phone. Nope.

What I actually got is an LG Rumor Touch. The name makes it sound like it's similar to an iPod Touch. The fact that it has a touch screen is about the only similarity. This is not a hi-tech phone. It is better than my previous phone--an LG Rumor--but not by a lot. And, I don't have a data plan of any kind. No web browsing. No email. No picture mail. No FaceTime. No GPS. Just phone calls and texts. The lady at the Sprint kiosk in the mall was palpably disappointed with me.

I've been surprised by the social pressure to get a smart phone. I'm not just talking about the Sprint lady. My coworkers think I'm the crazy old guy in the office that thinks the internet is a passing fad. Almost everyone I know has a smart phone and loves it. They use them all the time. They get all the latest apps. It makes me feel like the old guy that stops at the end of the freeway on-ramp because the traffic is coming too fast for him to merge.

Am I living in the dark ages? Am I starting to show my age? Will my next phone be a Jitterbug? That might be a partial explanation. After all, I run Windows XP on my computer at home...and I actually like it. I also find my computer programming skills becoming more and more dated. My language of choice is C++. Some of my coworkers think I may as well just be programming in Fortran on punch cards. I have to admit that as I get older I am slower to adopt new technologies.

But like I said, this is only a partial explanation. There are a lot of technologies that I adopt quickly. I bought an Android tablet over a year ago before Android was even cool. I've had a Blu-Ray player for years. No, I don't think my aversion to getting a smart phone is just because I'm old. It's because I'm cheap. I just can't bring myself to pay for the data plan. The aforementioned lady at the Sprint kiosk told me it was only $10 more. Right. When she crunched the numbers it came out to more like $50 a month on top of what I'm currently paying. And Sprint's plan is cheap compared to most.

If you know how cheap I am then you know that $50 a month is about $49 more than I would like to pay. I'm way too frugal to pay that much. The phone itself cost me precisely $0 because of my credits I've earned. Maybe when I'm willing to buy breakfast cereal that comes in a box or soda that isn't labeled "Sam's Choice" then we can talk about a $50 data plan. I'm almost never far from a computer, so really all a smart phone would do for me is let me web browse while I'm in my car. That's a pricey luxury. Oh, and it's illegal.

What do you think? Am I the old lady that has a million dollars in the bank but still lives off dog food? Am I an old dinosaur? Please post a comment. I'm sure one of my kids can show me how to read it.

Layton Lights

We have a family tradition to visit the holiday lights in Layton. This year it was extra fun because we were able to do it with Rita's parents and with Rita's sister and her family.

The light display is pretty extensive, considering Layton isn't the biggest city around. There are a lot of lights, and they seem to add more each year. I think we enjoy the Layton display almost as much as we do the one at Temple Square. This may seem a bit odd because of how much they differ in quality. The lights on Temple Square are religious, classy, and beautiful. The Layton lights are gaudy, cheesy, and completely disjointed. They are devoid of anything religious or anything having to do with Christmas.

I'm starting to sound a bit like a Christmas lights elitist. But don't get me wrong. I still think they are a lot of fun. They might not give you a feeling of reverence like the Temple Square lights do, but they are very popular, and rightfully so. You can see them all from your car--which is very nice if you're in a hurry--and you can also walk on the path that winds among the trees and other displays. Also, they are free. We have been to more than one lights display that costs money and isn't as good as the Layton lights.

Perhaps the best part about these lights is that our kids love them. While I might find a tree that has been meticulously covered in thousands of uniformly-colored lights to be beautiful, my children have entirely different tastes. They enjoy what I find to be trashy: flashing, multiple colors, animated animals, etc. One particular aspect they like about the Layton lights is that they are memorable. While I wouldn't ever say "I remember that tree on Temple Square from last year," a big part of the Layton display is remembering the frog catching the dragonfly or the ape breaking open the coconut.

If you go to only one light display this holiday season, go to Temple Square. But if you go to two light displays, I recommend you also go to Layton. It will be a memorable experience.

Here are some pictures of the event:

Our family.

Rita's sister Stephanie's family.

The kids being crazy around Rita's parents.

Procrastination

Do you suffer from procrastination? I sure do. I often hear people express their displeasure with their own procrastination. It seems to be a universal problem. I recently read a great article that explains why it is so common. It also explains that we don't procrastinate because of laziness or because of poor time management. Instead, we do it because we give in to our impulses and we also fail to "think about thinking." The article goes on to explain what that means. (It is part of a web site that is dedicated to exploring self delusion. It's called You Are Not So Smart and I highly recommend it.)

An interesting thing I have noticed is that the people I hear expressing the most guilt about procrastination often are people that I consider very hard workers. In other words, the people that I think procrastinate the least are the very ones that think they do it the most. Why is that?

It could be that a result of recognizing your procrastination is that it makes you do it less. If you think you procrastinate you will be less likely to do it. That is probably only a partial reason. Surely there must be more to it than that.

Another possible reason could be that these people are more ambitious. They try to do a lot, which leads them to do more, but also procrastinate more because of the simple fact that they have more things to procrastinate. People like me that are lacking in ambition don't procrastinate as much because we don't really have any tasks to procrastinate. I'm not procrastinating that yard work...I just don't think it needs to be done.

Another article I read talks about "good procrastination" and "bad procrastination." You only have a limited amount of time, but an unlimited number of things that you wish you could do. You will inevitably have to procrastinate something. The key is to procrastinate the right things. The article does a good job of helping you not feel guilty about procrastination, as long as it's the good kind. It also explains the cause of bad procrastination and gives some strategies to help you avoid it.

I am no expert on avoiding procrastination, but I do have a few strategies that I try. Better organization helps, but it needs to be more than just making a to-do list. If I don't look at it again it's pretty much worthless. I find that I need to check the list at least twice a day and schedule my time accordingly. But that is no cure-all. I still need to muster the will power to actually do the items on the list. Also, the list needs to be realistic. A wish-list of anything I ever wanted to do doesn't help, and may actually make me more likely to procrastinate because the items are overly ambitious.

Another anti-procrastination strategy I use is to employ little tricks to help me start on a task. For example, I break it down into smaller tasks and then do the easiest one. This helps me avoid feeling overwhelmed. Once I'm finished with the little task, I get a feeling of accomplishment and have momentum to keep going.

Which tasks are you most likely to procrastinate? What strategies do you use to avoid putting things off? I'd love to hear your comments.

Black Friday

Black Friday and I are not a good fit. The only thing I hate worse than shopping is Christmas shopping, which is fighting crowds to shop for someone else. The thought of shopping on the busiest shopping day of the year has always seemed like torture, which is why I had never been shopping on the day after Thanksgiving...until today. Well, it was actually late last night. My shopping started at 8:45 in the evening and lasted until 1:30 this morning.

I had heard the stories of the crazy shoppers camping out until the store doors open and then scrambling to get the hot items. It didn't seem like something I ever wanted to witness. The motivation to finally join the ranks of Black Friday loonies came when Todd found an advertisement for a very low-priced XBox bundle at Walmart. He had said he wanted an XBox for Christmas, and we had decided that if we could find a good enough deal then we would get one. The deal he found was about $100 less than what I had been expecting to pay, so it seemed like it would be worth waiting in line and then withstanding a bit of pushing and shoving for a chance to get such a great deal. Plus, it seemed like it would be interesting to observe some of the crazy shoppers. I even toyed with the idea of bringing a video camera to document the experience.

Todd and I went to Walmart at 8:45 last night. I didn't have any idea what to expect, but I assumed a lot of waiting outdoors would be involved. We prepared for the worst. We brought heavy coats, soda, the Nintendo DS, and even a football. When we arrived, I couldn't believe how many cars were there. The parking lot for the Layton Walmart is *huge*, and it was full. People were having to park across the street. We found what looked like the last parking spot in front of Bajio and then walked to the store.

We thought the doors didn't open until 10:00, so I was a bit surprised to find that the store was already open. We were able to walk right in. However, no one was able to buy anything yet--the registers were closed. People were filling their shopping carts and then getting in the huge lines at the check-out. The place was a mad house. The special-priced items were on pallets throughout the store, so people were wandering around trying to find what they were looking for. Movies were in the dairy aisle, TVs were by the pharmacy, and the Wiis were in Produce. Every aisle was congested with pallets, wandering shoppers, or people waiting in line. And there were sooo many people. I couldn't believe it. It was like a bad dream.

Depending on the item you were looking for, you might or might not be able to put it in your cart. You could take a normal item, but the hot items were wrapped in cellophane  Depending on the item, you either had to huddle around the pallet until the appointed time--each item had a different time it was available--or you took a ticket and got in line. Just like the lines at the check-out, these lines weren't moving yet.

After wandering around for a while we found the XBox line. It weaved its way through Apparel. After a bit more searching we found the location where the line was forming--the location where they hand out the tickets. Luckily, they still had a few tickets left. We had arrived early enough to get what we came for! It appeared to me to be the hottest item in the store, so we felt pretty lucky.

We were instructed by the lady handing out tickets that if we got out of line we'd lose our ticket, so I left Todd to wait for his XBox and I went to do more shopping. There were a few other items that were on sale that I thought would be nice to get. I knew I could only get in one other line, so I tried to find some of the things that you didn't have to wait in line for. However, they were going fast. The movies had been picked over to the point that I hadn't even heard of any of the ones that were left; the desktop computer I was interested in had been taken; and all of the Wii games were gone. Oh well. We already got what we came for.

I remembered that my sister Andrea was interested in getting a Wii, so I went and got in line for that. In the meantime, Todd was the victim of a bit of "Black Friday Rage." He had been sitting on the ground while he waited in line. He was playing with the DS with his back to some of the shelves. An old woman came up and said "Excuse me." He looked at her, but then concluded she was talking to the person next to him in line and went back to his game. She was evidently displeased with his non-compliance and gave him a little whack in the head with her purse! Shocked, Todd didn't say anything at all and moved out of her way. Crazy.

They were scheduled to start handing out a lot of the items--including both the XBoxes and the Wiis--at 10:00, so I still had a bit of a wait. When the time arrived, people throughout the store started cheering. At first I thought it was a bit bizarre to get excited about being able to buy an electronic item, but then I realized that they were cheering that they finally got to start moving through the line. I'll bet some of those people had been there a really long time.

I got the Wii, then headed over to meet Todd as he got his XBox. Then we got in line for the check-out. When we got in the line we were by the bread. I don't know if you know the layout of the Layton Walmart, but the bread is about as far away from the registers as you can get. This wouldn't have been so bad, but the line was barely moving at all. We ended up being in that line for over an hour and a half. Ugh. We were in line with our friends the Wilkos. That made the time pass more quickly. We also drank our sodas and Todd played the DS. (No, we didn't throw the football.) But, it was still painful.

When I finally got to check out, I lightheartedly told the lady at the register that I hoped they paid her extra for working that day. Her response was "Nope!" That was it. She kept on working without even looking at me.

After we finished at Walmart we still had more shopping to do. We went to Target to join Rita and her sister Stephanie who were already in line. The line was outdoors, so we put the football to use after all. Compared to Target, Walmart was a ghost town. The line for Target was almost all the way around the building. Think about that for a minute. That's a quarter-mile long line. At midnight. For a chance to...buy some stuff.

When they opened the doors it was a stampede. People were running to get it. They were hopping the barricades they had set up in the parking lot. Inside the store it was just as bad. People were scurrying around the store looking for things. They had blocked off the checkout area to cut down on traffic, but that just confused people because they didn't know how to get to the other side of the store. A worker was yelling so that people knew they had to go around. Things were flying off the shelves.

Rita went directly to Electronics and got in line to get an iPod Touch. They weren't out on the shelves like all the other items, which I think confused people. Rita had asked a worker, so she knew to go straight to the line and got a pretty good place. Meanwhile, Todd and I roamed around looking for other items. We got a $10 HDMI cable, a $30 camera, and some board games. Or, I should say Todd did. I don't know that I was the one that found any of things we were looking for.

We had to wait in line for an hour to get the Touch. Luckily we were able to also pay for all of our items at the Electronics register. The thought of waiting in line again would have been too much. At this point, we were exhausted and went home.

It was an interesting experience full of dichotomies. On the one hand it was totally painful, but on the other hand we got the items we were looking for at a good price. It was fascinating so see all the people and all the mayhem, but not fun at all to be part of it. It's great that our society is wealthy enough to afford high-tech electronic devices, but sad that our materialistic nature will make us do some crazy things. Of the crazy things we do in our society, one of the craziest has to be Black Friday.

What I'm Thankful For: Part 3 - Things about Myself

This is the last in a series of blog posts dedicated to giving thanks. The first post included things I'm thankful for in our society and the world. The second post included things close to me such as family and friends. This final post will include things about myself.

Let me warn you now that a lot of the things in this post could be considered bragging. It's not like I need to publicly thank myself for having good characteristics. However, I think sharing this list can serve two purposes. First, it will give you a heartfelt glimpse at what I value. Second, it will hopefully give you an example of a good "daily affirmation." I am a big proponent of a healthy self image and think that everyone should try to recognize their own good qualities.

Things I'm Thankful For about Myself

• My health. There is a saying: "As long as you have your health you have everything." I don't fully agree with that sentiment, but you have to admit that there are very few things in life that matter as much as your health does. I try not to take my health for granted. I'm thankful that I'm able-bodied, active, and rarely sick.
• My intelligence. I'm thankful that I have a job that allows me to use my intellect. It's a good thing, because I'm not good with my hands and I'm a bit lacking in people skills. It's true that I hated school, but I love learning and using the things I learn.
• My knowledge. I'm thankful for the things I've learned. I have a college degree. I enjoy the benefits of living in the Information Age and the immeasurable knowledge that is just a mouse click away. I'm also thankful for my knowledge of the Gospel.
• My analytical nature. If I had to describe my personality in one word, I think I would choose "analytical." I like to analyze everything. I realize this doesn't make me the life of the party in social situations, and it also causes me to be indecisive. But at the same time it keeps me out of trouble and helps me understand technical things. It's a part of me that I've learned to embrace.
• The wise decisions I've made. I've made many decisions that I'd be embarrassed to share, but I've also made some decisions that I'm proud of. I've never done drugs. I have been financially responsible. I decided to marry Rita and chose to be a father. My career decisions have had good results. I have made my share of small mistakes, but as far as major life decisions are concerned I think I've made the right choice every time.

I recognize I have personality flaws, but I have learned to accept myself. I'm thankful for my unique personality traits, both good and bad. In summary, I'm thankful for who I am.

What I'm Thankful For: Part 2 - Things Close to Me

This is the second in a series of a blog posts dedicated to giving thanks. The first post included things I'm thankful for in our society and the world. This second post will include things close to me such as family and friends. The final post will include things about myself.

Things I am Thankful for that are Close to Me

• My parents. Does anyone really appreciate their parents like they should? Sure, you love them more than anything else in the world. But, it's not until you've grown up and moved out that you start to understand their wisdom and their sacrifice. I think my parents are just about perfect. They are successful in their careers, dedicated to the Church, educated, cultured, world travelers, musical, giving, wise, humble. I could on and on. I share the most hobbies with my father and love to discuss so may ideas with him. However, I've recently come to the conclusion that my personality is a lot like my mother's--quiet, frugal, careful, intellectual.
• My siblings. My siblings have made me who I am almost as much as my parents have. Almost every memory I have of my childhood involves my siblings. After Sheri's death I realized that I don't take advantage of the great blessing it is to have good siblings. I get along well with all of them, but we aren't as close as I feel we should be. Rita speaks to each of her siblings in Canada several times a week. I speak to some of mine fewer times than that a year. This blog is, in part, a conscious effort on my part to be closer to my family by sharing with them at least a glimpse into my life.
• Rita. There is no way I can explain in this post how great Rita has been for me--I'd need a series of posts just to scratch the surface. She is easily the thing I'm most thankful for. She helps me in countless ways and inspires me to be better. I often take her for granted and sometimes treat her like my child-care colleague instead of my eternal companion. I admire her and find it greatly rewarding whenever I'm able to help her. She is the epitome of selflessness. Everyone loves Rita.
• My kids. I know that people always think their own kids are great, but I really do think that by any objective assessment I have great kids. Todd is full of a million hidden talents and is never intimidated or shy. Kenna will take on any project and see it through to completion, and she makes everything funner when she is around. Alec is a great "celebrator" in that he gets happy at even small things, and also can never stay sad or mad for more than about 30 seconds. They get along well with each other and love me unconditionally.
• My extended family. I know a lot of people that have cousins they hate, aunts and uncles they don't get along with, or in-laws they can't be in the same room with. So, I appreciate the great relationship I have with my extended family, especially my in-laws. Rita's parents have been in Salt Lake on a mission for the the last year and a half. It has been a joy having them so close. We also recently spent a few days with Rita's sisters and it was so much fun.
• My ward and neighborhood. Service in the Church has been very rewarding to me precisely because of the great people in our ward. I have been fortunate to work with just about the best people I can imagine. The best friendships that Rita and I have outside of our own families are with our current or former neighbors.
• My job. I couldn't think of a better job if I tried. I get to work on some really cool projects with some very fun people. My job duties utilize my esoteric skills perfectly. I have a very flexible schedule and can work from home whenever I need to. It's a bit flattering when I get the occasional call from a recruiter, but they haven't ever offered a position that's better than the one I have now.

It feels like I'm cutting this post ridiculously short--there are so many other people and things I'm thankful for--but I think I've covered the most important areas: Family and friends. When it's all said and done, your relationship with the people close to you is the most important thing of all.

What I'm Thankful For: Part 1 - Society and the World

It's Thanksgiving time, so I think it's appropriate to make a series of a blog posts dedicated to giving thanks. I've decided to make multiple posts, because a single post just wouldn't be enough. I'm going to organize my list of things I'm thankful for into degrees of proximity: The first post will include things I'm thankful for in our society and the world, the second post will include things close to me such as family and friends, and the final post will include things about myself.

Things I am Thankful for in Society and the World

• Earth. Of the estimated billion-billion stars, there is only one that we know about that has a planet that can support life. To say that Earth is special is a huge understatement. Whoever made this planet really knew what He was doing.
• Life. If you've studied biology, biochemistry, or genetics then you know that the complexity of life is mind-boggling...and I think science is still only just scratching the surface of that complexity. Can you imagine if life didn't exist? The entire universe would be so uninteresting and lacking in purpose.
• Civilization. Relatively speaking, civilization has only existed for a short time, and still doesn't exist in some places. Thomas Hobbes described life before civilization as "nasty, brutish, and short." Human nature is to group into warring tribes. It took eons for a culture to develop where people trusted those outside their extended family.
• Modern Society. When we think about "modern" we normally thing about advances in medicine or technology. But, the term modern society refers to much more important advances, specifically the acceptance of reason and of human rights. These are things we mostly take for granted today, but they are luxuries that very few people in history have enjoyed. If you aren't a slave, own property, can vote, don't belong to a caste and are allowed to go to school then you are one of an elite few.
• Peace. The importance of this can't be stressed enough. To me, war is something you learn about in History or hear about on TV. But, it's real, it's common, and it's horrible. Luckily, it's almost completely foreign to me.
• Freedom. I often focus too much on our lack of freedom. But, I acknowledge that when it comes to amount of freedom, we've got about as much as anyone has ever had. That fact that we know our freedoms are secure is, in part, what enables us to do so much of what we do. People are much less likely to take a new job, buy a house, or start a business if they don't feel secure.
• Wealth. Despite all the recent talk about high unemployment, we still live in the wealthiest society in the history of the world. The fact that we have unemployment is actually a sign of our extreme wealth. Centuries ago there wasn't any unemployment because there wasn't any employment. You spent every day of your life gathering or growing food, and if things went bad you starved to death. We are so accustomed to wealth, that if society's wealth doesn't grow fast enough we call it a recession. The average American adult has an hour a day more free time than just a generation ago...and we have so many more cool things to do with that free time.

Well, these are some pretty generic, impersonal things to be thankful for. But, they are still some pretty good things. I promise my next posts will be much more personal.

Web Sites I Use

I'm on the computer most of my waking hours. Most of the time I'm doing uninteresting things for my job--writing code, responding to emails, reading bug reports. But, in my free time I do things that are a lot more interesting. Well, they are interesting to me, at least. Hopefully they are interesting to you too, because I'm about to tell you about them. These are the web sites I use the most in my spare time:

Yahoo! For years this was the site I used the most. It's better than ever, but I find myself using it less than before. There are just so many other sites that have come along that do the same things. Currently, I use Yahoo! for email, news, and to save bookmarks, notes, and other personal information.

meebo This web site is an instant messenger client that works with all the major systems--Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Facebook, etc. I have family, friends and coworkers on all the systems, so I have accounts on all of them. I like that I can log into all the systems at once, and I really like that it's browser-based. I don't have to install any applications at all.

Calorie Count I track my weight every day on this site. I also tracked everything I ate from April until October. I'm not counting calories at the moment, so I'm not using the full potential of the site. But, I still sign in every morning to log my weight. I'll probably start logging what I eat some time in January or February.

Ikariam This is an MMO (Massively Multi-player Online game) that I play. It's a very slow-paced game, which is the main reason I have chosen to play it. In the game you build things. Each thing you build can take from five minutes to five days and you can only build one thing at a time. So, you only play it for a minute or two at a time and then you have to wait and come back later. It keeps me from wasting hours at a time on the game. I am currently ranked 14th on the server that I play on, which has over 1,000 active players.

Blogger I have only started using this site regularly this month. Before that I neither read nor posted to blogs very often. It's been surprisingly hard to make a post every day, but surprisingly fun to read a lot of blogs. This week I found out that several people have been regular readers of my posts without me knowing about it. I was a bit flattered, but mostly relieved that my posts haven't been read by just four or five people.

Google It goes without saying that I use Google. It's been claimed that Google is the most successful company ever. That may be an overstatement, but you've got to admit that they are extremely successful and deservedly so. You just can't describe how much easier they've made the Internet to use. Currently, my favorite feature on Google is the "hangout" on Google+. My coworkers and I share documents on Google Apps and then use the hangout feature to collaborate over video chat. It's made it so that we're nearly as productive when we work from home as we are when we're in the office. The main difference is we don't waste any time commuting. I also use the site a lot to share calendar information with Rita.

Wikipedia I have saved the best for last. The usefulness of Wikipedia can't be overstated. The kids use it for school. I use it for work. It satisfies my curiosity numerous times each day. Rita and I use it to resolve arguments all the time. It's the largest repository of knowledge in the history of the world and it gets updated almost instantly...and it's FREE! However, the thing that makes Wikipedia so great isn't its usefulness--it's how it came into existence. The entire thing exists because of human generosity. Most of the stereotypical great human accomplishments--from the pyramids to the lunar landing--were all government programs mandated from above. In contrast, Wikipedia has involved more people, more knowledge, and more ingenuity, and it's done it all from the ground up. Everyone involved has freely participated in the project with the altruistic goal of sharing their knowledge with the world. In my opinion, Wikipedia is the culmination of all social and technical achievement of the human race. I'm sure humankind will come up with something better, but for now it is the greatest accomplishment of all time.

I'm curious to know what your most commonly used sites are. (Come, on. I know you're on Pintrist at least an hour a day.) Please post a comment and let me know which sites you find yourself using the most.

BYU Footbal Game

Last night I took Todd and Alec to the BYU vs New Mexico State football game. I almost decided against going, but I'm glad I opted to go because the event ended up being surprisingly fun.

There were several reasons why I didn't think the game would be worth going to. The first reason was that beating New Mexico State wouldn't exactly be a memorable win. While the Aggies are having a better season than usual, for them "usual" is pretty bad. They haven't been to a bowl game in over 50 years. The other reason I was hesitant to go to the game is that it started at 8:15 in the evening. That meant that we wouldn't get home until after 1:00 a.m. Also, the forecast early in the week was calling for snow and rain during the game.

The thing that ultimately made me decide to go to the game is that Alec has never been to a football game. My parents offered us three tickets, so it would work out well for me to take both boys. This was the last home game of the season, so it was the last chance I'd have this year to take Alec.

When you get Alec excited for something, it is fun to watch. He loves to count down the days until a big event. For the football game, he started with six days to go. Each morning he told me how many days were left, and he usually followed it up by mentioning how excited he was.

To make the event a bit more special, I told Todd and Alec I would take them out to eat before the game. I said they could go to any place they wanted. I was hoping they'd choose IHOP. They chose Taco Bell. Oh, well.

The weather ended up being better than I'd feared. It was cold--lower thirties--but there wasn't any risk of precipitation and no wind at all. We ended up not using extra blankets we had taken. Todd wore shorts and never put on the coat that he took. Crazy kid.

At the game, I could tell Alec was impressed by everything. He was impressed by the size of the stadium, the lights, all the fans, the vendors selling concession, etc. He was just eating up. He started mimicking everything I did. He clapped, cheered, or fist pumped whenever I did. At one point I stood up to stretch my legs during a timeout. He stood up too. After a minute he asked "Dad, why are we standing up?" Todd played the role of big brother quite well. He explained the rules to Alec, and made sure to high-five him whenever there was a good play.

The game wasn't much of a competition. The final score was 42-7. The fans started leaving in droves during the third quarter. The boys wanted to stay to the end and I have an illogical goal to never leave early, so we were among the few fans in the seats when the time expired.

I thought for sure the boys would fall asleep in the car on the way home, but they listened to music and played the Nintendo DS the whole way. They both thanked me multiple times for taking them to the game. They are a couple of great kids and I'm glad I took them to the game.

Prison Performance

Rita's parents, Curtiss and Janice, are on an LDS mission and serve in the Church Office Building with a man that is assigned to work with one of the wards at the Utah State Prison. He is in charge of an entertainment night that the ward holds once a month. When the man heard Curtiss recite cowboy poetry, he asked Curtiss to perform for the inmates in the ward. Because the performance was going to be nearly two hours long, Curtiss asked Rita and Janice to sing and also asked Todd and me to play djembe.

The performance was last night, and I feel like it was a real success. We had a couple of snags come up, but we were able to overcome them for the most part. The first issue was that we learned that Todd wouldn't be allowed in the prison because he's too young. You have to be 18 to enter the building. That meant that I would have to perform alone. My djembe abilities are limited to playing a small part in a larger ensemble, so the thought of me playing solo seemed like a bad idea. The other snag was that Rita came down with a cold that left her very hoarse. It didn't seem like she was going to be able to sing. As we drove to the prison, Rita and I were both anxious that our respective performances would be abysmal.

Entering the prison was about how you would imagine it to be: Huge razor-wire fences, motorized gates, speaking to security through an intercom, etc. There were about 40 inmates that were there for the performance, which was held in a room that reminded me a lot of a junior high school gym.

The event was a bit surreal. On the one hand it was just like any other church social in that someone conducted, the bishopric was in attendance, and the event started with a prayer. But on the other hand, all the inmates were wearing white jumpsuits and there was a guard by the door watching the whole thing.

Rita's father went first. If you've ever heard him perform cowboy poetry, you know that everyone really enjoyed it. It seemed to take the inmates just a minute to warm up to what I imagine was for them a totally unfamiliar form of entertainment. But, after a few minutes they were laughing and applauding at the jokes and poems.

After about 20 minutes of poetry, Rita and her mother sang. They performed Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White, which is a song that Janice and her sister used to perform at wedding receptions. They also sang two holiday songs. Rita was worried about her voice, but once she started singing it seemed to me to be just as lovely as ever. It was a bit quiet, but they just moved closer to the microphone and the problem was solved.

Curtiss performed for another spell and then I was up. I was a little nervous and I told them that my  "entertainment" would be more like an instructional demonstration than a performance. Despite my self-consciousness, it was obvious that the inmates were genuinely interested. They asked great questions and a few even volunteered to try out some of the rhythms I taught. Rita was able to fill in a few details about the rhythms and culture and we passed the drums around for the inmates to look at. It actually turned out to be a rewarding experience and re-ignited my desire to learn to play the djembe better.

Curtiss finished off with a few more jokes and poems and then they ended with a prayer. Afterward several of the inmates came up and shook our hands, thanking us for the entertainment. They weren't the most culturally refined crowd, but they were just as kind and sincere as any group you'll ever meet. I came away with the distinct feeling that every person--even an inmate--has a great potential to do good. The whole experience was an opportunity for me to broaden my perspective just a bit. I hope to have other similar opportunities in the future.

2011 School Pictures

All three of our kids had their school pictures taken this year. I might be a bit biased, but I think they are some good-looking kids!

If you would like a copy of these pictures, just let me know. We have several extra copies of the wallet-sized pictures, and a handful of other sizes. Also, I have a soft copy that I can email.

Todd 9th Grade

Kenna 6th Grade

Alec 1st Grade

Goats!

This year Todd and Kenna participated in the 4-H Junior Livestock program. The program provides youth with the opportunity to purchase a young livestock animal, raise it, enter it in various competitions associated with the county fair, then sell it at auction. The program teaches animal care skills, of course, and also teaches simple economics as the youth are required to purchase the animal at the beginning of the program and pay for feed and other expenses associated with its care. When the animal is sold at auction, the youth get to keep the money. If everything goes well, the youth will make a small profit. Local businesses and individuals often act as sponsors in order to assure that the venture is successful.

Todd and Kenna learned about the program from a woman in the ward who is the head of a local 4-H group. There were about six youth in the group, all from our ward. The woman owns several goats, so all the youth raised goats as part of the program. The animals were all Boer goats, which is a breed of meat goat (as opposed to a dairy goat). They kept their goats at the farm of another woman in the ward, who's barn is within walking distance of our house.
 

Raising the goats was surprisingly involved. In addition to feeding, vaccinating, and castrating them, Todd and Kenna also had to check on them each day and even train them. The training was in preparation for the competitions at the end of the season, and consisted of familiarizing the goats with human interactions like being led on a leash. The kids took the goats on numerous walks around the neighborhood.

The competitions at the end of the season were held as part of the Davis County Fair. This was a huge commitment. The competitions were spread across multiple days, with the auction on the final day. The goats had to be housed and cared for at the fairgrounds for the whole time. The kids participated in three competitions: Showmanship, Market, and Obstacle Course.

The Showmanship competition judged each child's ability to show a livestock animal to a judge. They were judged on their knowledge of the animal and how well they handled it. Todd placed 6th and Kenna placed 7th.

The Market competition judged each goat's ability to be sold for meat. The judges looked specifically for large, healthy animals. Todd and Kenna's goats were a bit young for this competition.

The Obstacle Course tested each goat's ability to be led on a leash over several obstacles. This was the competition that Todd and Kenna had prepared for the most and they did well. They both received ribbons in this competition, but I forget where they placed.

They also entered some of the other competitions at the fair. Kenna entered two crafts that she had made. One took first place and went on to compete at the state fair. Both Todd and Kenna made scrapbooks of their goats and entered them in the "Project" category. Todd took first for his age.

The auction at the end of the fair is a bit of an oddity. Each animal is bid on by generous businesses and individuals who like to sponsor 4-H. The winning bidder normally sells the animal back to the fair for the price of the meat, recouping part of what they spent. The youth get to keep the full amount bid on the goat. The problem is that there normally are more animals for sale than there are sponsors. At the same time, the parents of the youth want their children to have a successful experience. So, the parents in the 4-H group bid on each others' animals with the agreement that they will pay each other back. It's a bit strange, and I don't fully understand it, but it results in the kids having a good experience and the parents supporting the kids' participation via a tax-deductible donation to the 4-H.

I think Todd and Kenna really learned a lot from the program. It was definitely a big commitment, but I think they felt like the hard work was worth it. I'm not sure if they'll participate in the program next year, but I hope that they do.

We are grateful that Todd and Kenna were able to participate in the program thanks to the generosity of many neighbors and members of our family. Thank you so much for your support!

Canadian Thanksgiving

 As you probably know, Thanksgiving is celebrated in Canada on a different day than in the U.S. Since it's one of my favorite holidays, I try to celebrate on both occasions. This year I hoped to celebrate the Canadian version with Rita and her parents, but it didn't work out. They all had other commitments.

That left me alone for the evening, but I decided to press forward with my celebration plans anyway. There was a big problem, though: I don't cook, which is kind of a requirement for having a traditional Thanksgiving meal. I tried my best to prepare something that resembled a Thanksgiving feast, but the results were a bit comical.

• Since I don't know how to cook a turkey, I grilled a steak instead. Hey, it's meat.
• I couldn't in a million years make stuffing from scratch, but I lucked out and found a box of Stove-Top in the pantry. You prepare it by adding water and heating it in the microwave. Even I could handle that. This was the part of the meal that best matched a true Thanksgiving.
• I've never made mashed potatoes, so I just heated a potato in the microwave.
• I don't know how to make gravy and didn't have a mix. I couldn't think of a good substitute for gravy so I just diced a tomato and put it on my potato. Not really the same thing as gravy.
• I boiled some corn on the cob. As long as I can just add water I'm a pretty good cook.
• In place of dinner rolls I toasted some French bread.
• A pumpkin pie would have been a traditional dessert, but I couldn't think of a good substitute for that. Instead, I made a substitute for strawberry pie a la mode: Two strawberry toaster waffles with ice cream on top.

It didn't really compare to a good home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner, but it was enough to make me think of Thanksgiving and to also think of all the wonderful reasons I have to give thanks.

About My Diet

Introduction

As you probably know, I devoted a lot of effort this year trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. You probably also know that I was unsuccessful, but I will save those details for another post. In this post I would like to explain the diet and weight loss associated with my training.

Motivation

While running a marathon, any extra fat that you carry around just slows you down. A good rule of thumb is that each extra pound slows you down by a minute over the course of a 26.2 mile race. Sure, you need a certain amount of fat. But, during a run your body doesn't use much of that spare tire. For starters, you already have a lot of energy stored in your muscles and liver in the form of glycogen. Depending on your level of fitness, your body might use glycogen rather than burning fat. And even if you burned 100% fat, you'd use less than a pound of the stuff during a full marathon. So if you've got just 10 pounds of fat on your skinny frame--which is about 5% body fat for a typical adult male--at least 90% of that fat is just slowing you down during a run.

My Goal

With this in mind, I knew I would need to lose significant weight this year if I wanted to get my best possible marathon time. After measuring my percent body fat, I calculated that my lowest safe, healthy weight would be 155. I had already lost 35 pounds over the last two years. I had worked hard at my diet and exercise and thought I was pretty slender at 175 pounds. But to reach my "race weight" I would need to lose another 20 pounds! Was I not already scrawny enough?!?

My Results

After tinkering with my diet for a few months, I finally settled on a diet that worked well for me. It certainly didn't work well enough that I never felt hungry. In fact, I was hungry almost all the time. But, it did work well enough that I was able to reach my weight loss goal. I was able to reach a weight of 155 pounds and maintain it from April to October. Importantly, I was able to still have enough energy to complete my daily training runs. I also feel like it was a very safe, healthy diet. I was very careful to always get enough protein and other important nutrients. I consider it a great accomplishment that I was able to be about 30 pounds lighter than what I consider slender and still do weekly 20-mile training runs without running out of energy.

While developing my diet, I learned a few tricks that helped. Some of them certainly only worked for me, or were only necessary because of how thin I was trying to get, but some of them I think would help almost anyone who is trying to lose weight. Let me first explain my diet and then I will explain the parts of it that I think would be useful to other people.

Details of My Diet

Needless to say, I needed a very precise diet. After all, you can't get ridiculously skinny by just switching to skim milk, and you can't keep up a rigorous marathon training schedule if you try starving yourself. You have to be both disciplined and meticulous. However, I admit that at times I took it to the extreme. I will explain later which aspects of my diet were essential and which were overkill. For now, here is what I did:

• Count every calorie. At first this was a huge pain. I didn't know how many calories were in each food, and I didn't know how much of each food I had eaten. (How big is a serving of Cheerios??) But, after a while it became easier. I bought a food scale so I could measure things. I filled bags with food and wrote on each bag how many calories were in it. I learned things like how many grams were in a banana from my local grocery store. I used caloriecount.com to help me keep track. This was key because when you record the food that you eat it not only counts calories but also counts other nutrients automatically. In the process of making sure I was getting the right number of calories, I was also able to make sure I got enough protein, fiber, calcium, and potassium. By the end of my diet I was so precise that I was practically neurotic. I found myself doing things like calculating how many grams of grapes I should eat to hit my target to the calorie.
• Follow the diet 100%. I didn't give myself any wiggle room. If it were ever an option to waver from the diet just a bit, it was just a matter of time until I gave in to my cravings and wavered a lot. So, even if I was below my goal weight I didn't allow myself to indulge in a bit of junk food. It would just make me crave more. Instead, I increased me calorie allowance a bit and still continued to eat the same low-calorie foods.
• Eat only whole foods. A whole food is one that hasn't been processed at all. So, the only things I ate were fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and fresh meat. No added sugar. No salt. No seasonings. Nothing. If you can't grow it, you can't eat it. For most people, this eliminates everything in the pantry, everything in the freezer, and almost everything in the fridge. Just the vegetable crisper is left. I spent a lot of time in the produce section of the grocery store. I made a lot of my own recipes. I ate a lot of fruits and vegetables that I rarely, if ever, had eaten. I used the grill a lot more than before, and the microwave a lot less. But without even trying, I ate plenty of fiber, plenty of potassium, plenty of vitamins, never too much sodium, and never too much fat. Whole foods are way healthier than processed food.

Again, let me clarify that I don't think this is a diet for everyone. This is an extreme diet. It's not easy to follow. It requires eating flavorless food. It's labor intensive. It's inconsistent with social customs. But, it is what worked best for me.

Suggestions for Others

Here are a few thoughts I've had while dieting that I think will be useful for other people. I haven't really talked to anyone else that's followed these ideas, so I can't guarantee they are useful at all.

• It's hardest to follow a diet 90% of the time. It's easier to follow it 100% of the time. (Following it 0% of the time is the easiest, of course.) This is non-intuitive, but never wavering from your diet is easier than occasionally wavering. The reason is that if you occasionally waver then you will be increasingly likely to waver often. Don't ever think "if I eat this then I'll make up for it later." Don't let "if" enter your brain. Decide what your diet will be and then stick to it. Don't make an exception because your friends invited you to lunch. (I have declined a lot of lunch invitations these past few months.) If you like to go to lunch with your fiends, then define the rules of your diet such that you are allowed to go to lunch with them. But, stick to the diet 100%. There can be no "if".
• Set rules that make you think about what you are eating. If you allow yourself to grab any old food and stick it in your mouth then you set yourself up for failure. You need to have rules that makes you stop and think about every food you buy and everything you eat. Ideally, the rules are nutritionally sound (e.g. set a rule to not eat saturated fat) but they don't have to be; they can be completely arbitrary. For example, you could set a rule to only eat foods whose names start with certain letters. You won't automatically be eating foods that are more healthy. However, you also won't be able to cook, order at a restaurant, or shop for groceries without stopping to think what the first letter of the food is. And while you are thinking about that, you will probably think about whether or not the food is healthy and whether or not you really need to eat it.
• Lower your standards. Face it: You will suffer. If losing weight were easy, everyone would do it. If you are dieting, odds are you have a natural tendency to gain weight. In order to lose weight, you will have to go against your body's natural tendency. In other words, you will be hungry. In fact, you will probably be hungry most of the time. Also, you will need to eat foods you don't like. High calorie food tastes better. Until modern science discovers some new medical technology, you will have to deprive yourself. There is a simple reason why so many people fail to lose weight and keep it off: It's hard.

You can follow these suggestions without taking it to the extreme like I did. For example, counting every calorie was helpful for my particular weight loss goals, but you may find it to be way too much work. I didn't eat any salt, but the rules of your diet could certainly allow it. I don't recommend setting extreme rules like I did, but I do recommend following your own rules to the extreme.

Whatever you do, don't give up. I find that rather than lack of willpower that causes you to not stick to your diet, it's self-destructive behavior. You sabotage yourself because of stress, self-doubt and discouragement, not because you really like donuts. Remember that your friends and family want you to succeed. You want you to succeed. You deserve it.

Let me know what you think. Have you found these concepts to be true? I'd love to read your comments.

My Current Diet

For those that are curious, I have intentionally regained the weight that I lost this year. I'm back at 175 pounds which is what I consider a very healthy weight. My current diet is to eat only whole foods for six days a week. On the other day I eat whatever I feel like. I don't count calories any of the days. It's a healthy, low-calorie diet, and I find it to be easy. I am rarely hungry because I can eat as much as I like. However, most of the time I still have to stop and think about what I eat. I am able to postpone any cravings I might have for junk food because I know I can eat whatever I want later in the week. My plan is to stay on this diet for a few months until it gets closer to marathon season in the Spring. Then I'll be back on my crazy diet again.

Royal Bliss Concert

Royal Bliss is a rock band from Salt Lake City that Todd and I like. They aren't very well known, but they do have a few songs that they play on the radio; they have a national recording contract and have toured throughout most of the country. They had been in concert in Salt Lake numerous times and I had always wanted to go see them. However, the shows were always at bars or nightclubs. The atmosphere wouldn't be the best and Todd wouldn't be allowed to go because you have to be 21.

Our chance to see them in concert came this past June when they put on a show in South Ogden. Not only was it close to our house, but it was an all-ages show. To top it all off, the show was FREE!

Todd and I were excited for the concert and we made preparations for a fun event. We knew that we would probably be able to talk to some of the members of the band, so the first thing we did was go on their website and learn the names of all the members. We also familiarized ourselves with some of their lesser-known songs that aren't played on the radio. The last thing we did was make preparations for our pre-concert tailgate party.

Todd enjoys a hot dog before the concert

The concert was held at Friendship Park in South Ogden, which is just ten miles from our house. We arrived at the park well before the concert and started our tailgate party. I grilled hot dogs on the camp grill while we played Royal Bliss's latest CD from the car stereo.

Brent and Todd wait for the concert to start

Once it got closer to the start of the concert we staked out a spot on the grass in front of the stage. We brought a blanket to sit on, but they ended up giving us chairs. Not only did that make it a bit more comfortable, but it also made it so we could see over the people in front of us without having to stand up.

The concert was fantastic. We knew almost all of the songs and sang along to some of them. The crowd was pretty small, but they were enthusiastic. They all cheered and sang, and some of them danced.

After the concert we got to speak to some of the band members and shake their hands. Todd brought his Royal Bliss CD--along with a marker--for the band members to sign. The intent was to get an autograph from all of them, but we ended up only getting one from the lead singer. The other guys didn't really stop and talk to people. However, we did shake their hands. I hope they were flattered that we knew their names. That I could tell, no one other than us even tried to speak to them.

Autographed Royal Bliss CD

For Todd's birthday, I framed the autographed CD. I included the cover of their album and hung it on his wall. It turned out nice, I think.

All I Want for Christmas...

For most kids, losing a tooth is an important sign of growing up. For Alec, that is definitely the case. When many of his friends started losing teeth he started to get impatient, asking us when he was going to lose his first tooth. Well, he doesn't have to be patient any more because this week he lost not one, but two teeth.

In anticipation of the tooth fairy coming to visit, Alec had the following conversation with Rita:

Alec: Mom, a boy in my class says that his mom is the tooth fairy.
Rita: He thinks his mom is going to come to our house?!?
Alec: Yeah. Crazy, huh?

For whatever reason, it sometimes takes the tooth fairy a day or two to remember travel to our house. But, I'm glad to say that for both teeth she was able to put money under Alec's pillow the very night he placed his tooth there. I guess we she learned her lesson after doing such a bad job when Kenna was losing her teeth.

Recent Events

On Thursday, Rita and the kids went to the Reflections award night. Kenna won honorable mention for her painting she entered. The assigned theme was diversity. She painted a colorful landscape and put a poem on it that she had written. They gave her a gift certificate to Menchies, which is perhaps her favorite place to eat.

Friday, I went to Austin Lawyer's wedding reception. Afterward, I went to Russ's house and watched the BYU vs USU basketball game. I got home in time for our family to have a small 11-11-11-11-11-11 celebration. (That's 11:11:11 p.m. on November 11, 2011.) We sipped sparkling apple cider from plastic champagne glasses.

Today (Saturday) I got up and did my weekly long run. Today's version was 12 miles in the wind and rain. Then I had an Elders Quorum activity featuring burgers, brats, and football.

We then went to a very fun surprise birthday party for Marshall (and Missy, too, as far as I could tell). The party was in Alpine at Marshall's parents' home. There were about 30 people there. We ate birthday cake, but the candles were actually on a large, delicious pumpkin pie.

I didn't know very many people at the party. But everyone was very friendly. I had brief conversations with at least four different people that I didn't know previously. Most of the conversations started with something along the lines of "you must be Missy's brother." I also spoke to Marshall's mother Sidney, mostly about her recent trip to Dubai and Delhi. I joined in a bit with the conversation between Marshall's father David and Todd and Rita. They mostly talked about Todd's drumming interests. After the party, Todd and I watched the BYU vs Idaho football game.

I know this makes me sound old, but I hope tomorrow I can just relax.

Utah Symphony

As you know, Kenna is learning to play the bass in the school orchestra. Because of this, I thought it would be fun to take her to see the Utah Symphony. Each year around Halloween they have what they call their Spooky Symphonies. Members of the symphony dress up in costume and have a performance. Members of the audience are also encouraged to wear costumes. Kenna and I thought this would be a fun event to participate in, although we didn't dress up.

The concert was at Abravanel Hall, which is a fancy building with an even fancier sculpture in the lobby. We arrived early so that we could see all the costumes ahead of time. Some of them were impressive. There was a competition with prizes and everything, so people dedicated a lot of thought and effort on their costumes. Some of the winners included a family dressed as all the characters from the movie Despicable Me and a boy dressed as an All Terrain Scout Transport from the Star Wars movies.

The performance featured selections from well-known symphonies and film scores such as “Star Wars” and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” by John Williams, “The Rite of Spring” by Igor Stravinsky and “Night on Bald Mountain” by Modest Mussorgsky.

We weren't allowed to take pictures of the performance itself, but we did take a picture of one of the bass players getting ready. Notice that the audience members are in full costume and so is the musician.

The performance was a lot of fun. The music was great and the musicians are incredibly talented. They make it look so easy that you forget how many years or even decades it takes to learn to play an instrument.

I know Kenna liked the show, but I'm not sure if she liked it as much as I did. I definitely want to go to some of their other performances. I don't see myself taking up an interest in classical music anytime soon, but it is fun to occasionally listen to something other than Z-Rock.

Influential Books

I don't read a lot of books. However, I like to think of myself as someone that enjoys books and I wish I read a lot of books. Maybe if I blog about books that will be good enough.

Below is a list of the books that have influenced me the most. (I have decided not to include scriptures in the list.) This isn't a list of my favorite books. These are books that have changed me the most. They aren't in any particular order.

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
by John Gray

Before I read this book I knew that men and women were different, but I didn't realize just how different they are, nor could I pinpoint the differences. The author describes our differences so well. At times he describes men and women so well that it starts to get spooky--like he's been spying on you and your spouse or something.

After reading the book, you are able to more easily recognize the cause behind disagreements you may have with your spouse. This alone is a powerful tool, but he goes beyond that and gives advice that you wouldn't have thought of on your own.

Genome
by Matt Ridley

This book blew my mind. I had no idea that our genes control so much of our lives. I don't know that this book has influenced my behavior, but it sure has influenced the way I think about myself and others. It's actually very sobering. We all like to think that we have absolute free will and that we control all of our actions, but our genes have a lot more to do with what type of person we are than we recognize. This isn't to take away from the beauty of our unique personalities. It just means that we didn't choose every aspect of our personalities.

The book may not convince you as much as it convinced me--and, in fact, I'm not convinced of a couple of points it makes--but there is just so much interesting material in the book that you should read it even if you don't agree with its conclusions.

Guns, Germs, and Steel
by Jared Diamond

At 500 pages, this is the second longest book I've ever read, and easily my longest that I didn't have to read for school. Also, it's about geography and world history--Not a good formula for an exciting book. However, almost every page has fascinating information. I think I could have read the book twice as fast if I hadn't stopped so often to think about how cool the latest fact was.

The gist of the book is that civilization developed at different speeds and in different ways in various parts of the world mostly because of geography. Let me give you one example: Think of a domesticated animal that is particularly useful. Now think about where that animal comes from. Odds are you thought of an animal that comes from Eurasia and not from Africa, Australia or the Americas. That is the case if you thought of a cow, horse, sheep, pig, donkey, or even a dog. There aren't many domesticated animals from those other places. (The book explains why that is.) If you wanted to start a primitive civilization and you couldn't use any of the animals I listed above, you'd be at a huge disadvantage.

Maybe you don't think that's a cool concept, but I sure do, and the book explains tons of other concepts that are just as cool. Besides just explaining cool things, it is an influential book because it makes you stop and think about different societies and about how civilization came about. It really is a great book.

Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression
by Mary J. Ruwart

This actually isn't a very good book and I don't really recommend it. Again, this is a list of influential books, not favorite books. This book has been very influential to me because it was the first book I ever read about libertarianism--back before I even knew what libertarianism was--and by the end of the book I was "converted." Before I read the book I leaned politically conservative but didn't really have a political persuasion. After reading the book I decided I was a libertarian and have read more books and articles on the topic than perhaps all other topics combined.

It's not a bad book. It's a quick read and very easy to understand. But, there are several more interesting, more convincing libertarian books than this one. If I were to recommend just one, it would be Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven
by Mitch Albom

Part of me hopes that you have stopped reading this post by now, because I'm really embarrassed by my reaction to this book. Let's just say that I was "influenced" by this book. Let's not say whether there was or wasn't tissue involved.

[I distinctly remember writing a review for this book, but can't find it. If any of you know where I posted it, I'd appreciate you letting me know in a comment or an email.]

I have a more complete list of books that I've read, along with reviews and ratings, on Goodreads. You can view my profile here: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1317038-brent

Do you have a book that influenced you? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.