zombies of narnia

i'm standing just off to the right...

i walked into the fargo ward church just as prince caspian was rounding the corner.  we acknowledged each other and he continued his patrol.  i walked into the cultural hall where different members of the royal family were seated in thrones around the room.  kind peter was off in one corner, pacing and preparing for the impending battle.  i went to a throne in the back left corner of the room, where sat a girl who had the gift of foresight.  she was essentially autistic and so no one really paid attention to her, despite her ability to foresee the future.

and so, when she began to say that zombies were coming, no one but me paid any attention.  i was just thinking that i should've brought my zombie sword in from the car, and ran to get it.

but i was too late.  already, legions of yellow, swollen spongy skinned undead were at the doors outside the cultural hall.  i pushed through them and ran to the doors leading to the parking lot.  more zombies were outside, although they looked much more like people with good black and white halloween makeup.

thankfully, i made it to my car and grabbed my zombie killing sword and spent the rest of the night battling the evil creatures alongside king peter.

needless to say, this was one of those dreams i didn't want to wake up from.  : )

death of a poet

i just have to say, this is one of my favorite shots i've ever done.....

special thanks to brandon on this one.

spending so much time at the computer is significantly brightened by getting my hands on a camera occasionally.... : )

60%

editor's note: going to bed at a good hour is only really productive if one actually falls asleep around that time.  after lying on my bed for over an hour, i'm here, blogging instead.

i used to be big.  i used to rule the world.  seas would rise when i gave the word.  producers would call me, insisting that i was their favorite and that they didn't want anyone else.  i would finish the shots when the director went home.  every tuesday evening my house would fill with friends, gathering to watch whatever cinematic oddity i had decided to show for the night, and many people came just for the social aspect.  afterwards we'd play rock band until midnight and, if we didn't feel like calling it a night, we'd run off to ihop just because none of us wanted to say goodnight.  it was my place, my world.  i was the host.  inside the red door, i knew who i was.  my place was the place.  it was where we met before, where we reconvened afterwards, where we went when there was nowhere else to go.  everyone knew your name there.  it wasn't a perfect era, but the rough times were scattered in between awesome times and moments of sheer dangness.

then sound came.  people no longer wanted silent physical comedy, but verbal gags and flashy song and dance numbers.  now, in the morning i sleep alone, getting up every day just in time to be seven minutes late to class.  some days i come home in the evening enough to eat, then i'm back at school until midnight or later.  i'm a side act, a supporting character.  i ask questions instead of provide answers.

it takes time.  transitions always do.  and i'm inertial.  i move slowly, establish security and identity gradually, but with permanence and depth.

ok.  patience.  mr. demille, i'm ready for my close-up....

nattvardsgästerna

one time i tried to sing about spring and a storm
but you know how it goes

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah
all along

but all the rain comes down the same, falling to from where it came
on the ground then back around up into the sky

i wish you could have heard the music when the clouds growled overhead
i finally felt enthusiastic....
i finally felt alive

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah
so you said

(would it please you to listen to thunder instead?)


man the rain came down that day and it drained my soul away
and i wondered why i even bothered to try


we have so much left to sing
there’s a storm for every spring
all you see and you and me became from a star

create until nothing is left to create and the universe bursts with an overworked sigh then pretend to pretend to re-crown the creation and sing the same thing ‘til the clouds start to cry and then
over and over and over again and then

over and over and

never again....

get me some scriptures!

many springs ago i took a "religions of the world" class at byu.  i think i ended up dropping it, because i can't remember how it ended....  anyway, on a wall in the classroom was a picture of a man perishing in the desert.  on the picture, someone had drawn a word balloon and had him saying, "scriptures.... please! i need some scriptures...."  i really liked that perspective of seeing the scriptures as that important in our lives.

like everyone, there are some aspects of the gospel i'm good at and some that i'm working to improve on.  scripture study is one that i got into during my mission and never really got out of.  i hit it hard when i graduated from college and suddenly had a lot of free time as i was trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.  and, as life would get busy and i would long hours on movie sets, i would often listen to the general conference cds in my car, as that was really the only time i had.

grad school has been like that, too, only more relentless.  and as i've become busier, many days my scripture study time has been reduced to a talk or two that i've listened to in the 7-minute drive to and from school late at night.  some days, it's only been a few verses as i've remembered before going to bed.  this certainly isn't ideal. but it hasn't bothered me too much; i'm doing what i can and know that that's my best.

but thursday was an particularly frustrating and discouraging day for not particular reason.  but i found myself home at a decent hour and took time to have a proper scripture study.  i sat down and read from the book of mormon and then revisited one of my favorite talks from last weekend.

dang it felt good!

sometimes we don't have time to eat a full meal.  we just grab a quick snack as we're running out the door.  there's nothing wrong with that; it's simply how things go sometimes.  but whether it's our fault or not, we're still not getting very much nutrition.  whether we're super busy or not, if we're not sitting down to a good and balanced meal, we're not getting what we need.

as i was working on a personal project on my computer that evening before going to bed at a respectable hour, i realized i felt calm and at peace.  it was incredible and really awesome and suddenly the mound of schoolwork looming in front of me seemed like something i could conquer and proclaim in my name.

scriptures are awesome.
seriously dang awesome.

twelve keys

despite the numerology inherent in the title, this is not about the priesthood.  at least, not directly.
we had a fireside tonight, given by the patriarch of the waco stake and his wife.  on the chalkboard in front was written "twelve keys to lives of hope and peace."  i was expecting them to list nice and simple answers, the kind of things we usually see in lists like that.  ....and i guess they did, although the answers were actually really profound and helpful.  so i'ma post them here for you to read.
i also noticed that they really did team teach; he and his wife were balanced in taking turns teaching.  it was really cool.  (future wife, we're so doing that....)

::twelve keys to lives of hope and peace::

1. live a simple life (don't follow the world's trend of being overly busy)
2. spend less than you earn (put away some for a hard time, because hard times will come)
3. think constructively
4. develop a yielding disposition
5. be grateful (especially towards Heavenly Father)
6. give generously (be wise and within your means)
7. rule your moods
8. work with the right motive (the highest purpose of our life should be to grow spiritually)
9. be interested in other (peace and happiness will be natural byproducts)
10. have a hobby (this can help deal with stress)
11. live one day at a time (don't wait until things get easier to be happy)
12. keep close to the Lord (strengthen your testimony)

pretty cool stuff.

plus, we got strawberry shortcake afterwards.

txt #s

it's the usual suspects again....

jaime::999

jess::425

dana::400

joel::368

kristin::277

the semester effectively ends in three weeks.  hopefully i'll have time to post most frequently after that.

lotso learning

one of the things i remember  commenting on after first seeing toy story 3 was how cool lotso the bear's fur looked: it just looked perfect, like a tattered and worn and dirtied old toy.

today i had the chance to meet and talk with the guy who did that.  it was pretty cool to see his process in tackling that challenge.  and just to get some more insights into working in the industry.

i seem to remember having more to say about this when i was thinking about this post half an hour ago.

i'm pretty stoked that the conference talks are online now, too.

something for everyone (and plenty for me!)

this weekend has been phenomenal.  yes, it would have been great to be at temple square for conference but, watching it online, i was still able to listen to some incredible talks that have left me refreshed and recommitted in faith and hope.

the talks that especially stood out to me (i had initially hoped to have a short list of just three or four, but i can't really list any of these as anything less than "words given for me"):

• elder nelson's talk on effective prayer
• elder oaks's talk on the power of righteous desires
• elder snow's talk on hope
• elder johnson's talk on enduring afflictions
• elder scott's talk on the joy of love between a husband and wife
• elder christofferson's talk on the trials and challenges God gives us to help us become who he wants us to be.

and i found elder holland's talk to be rather unique in a way i can't quite describe, but i loved it just the same.

i'm already anticipating reading them and listening to them again.

bring on the next six months.  : D

jacob 3:1-2

wish i was there

as you may have noticed, jaime and i text a lot.

yet we really didn't spend a lot of time together, even when i lived in provo.  the one time of the year that we were pretty much guaranteed to see each other was general conference.

this one's my favorite

this will be, i think, the third time in ten years that i haven't gone to salt lake during conference weekend.

i always enjoyed the peripheral traditions surrounding our excursions up there as well: of stopping at mcdonald's with my sister for a mcmuffin and hashbrown before waiting in line early saturday morning, of marching through the streets afterwards, sun or snow, to baba's afghanistani restaurant, and, in subsequent years, to the house of kabob (where they seemed to have only one cook and our group of 10+ overwhelmed them).

or of sustaining the general officers of the church while driving back home down I-15 and watching the other cars to see who else raises their hands.

and the day that we just sat out on temple square and listened to a session on the lawn.
it was an absolute thrill when, 9 1/2 years ago, me and my friend got into the conference center after waiting in a very long line.
yet i made sure to never lose that reverential excitement and i don't think i did.
i will always love standing when the prophet walks into the room; it's one of my favorite experiences with being there (and i will never understand why there were--without fail-- "false alarms" at every session for the past two conferences).

over the years, it kind of became a given that, for one of the sessions, jaime and i would go up together and bask in the awesome gospel sunshine of it all.  it was her comment last september about it being the first time we wouldn't be going together that was the impetus for my trip to slc last october (not that i didn't want to be there, but sometimes a little nudge from a friend helps....)

so, check that off the list of things that i took full advantage of while i had the opportunity.  i'll dearly miss being there at the center of one of the most wonderful times of the year, but i'm even more grateful for the times that we have had.

and i'll be back again some day....

editor's note: our recent postings have consisted largely of pictures.  this is due to our head writer being three inches over his head in schoolwork.  as soon as the semester ends or he flunks out, the usual neurotic writings that brought you here in the first place will be back.
in the meantime, those of you have that must battle small childrens and other variety of offspring in order to read this, consider this short picture posts a break for you.

"once i fell in love"

this is my friend emily.  i used to hometeach her.  she loves cats and disney channel movies.  we've gone to the planetarium, had an easter egg hunt, have enjoyed thai food, smash burgers and almost every place we could find to eat along state street in orem.  she has good taste in movies, goes to the opera and symphony with her family, and loves to read.  she knows the world of harry potter inside and out, was a part of the hpbc, and is in love with ron weasley (as well as fred and george....)
and she pretty much defines the word "adorable" as far as i'm concerned.

she can also draw.
i knew she could do cute doodles; she once drew me a "hometeacher cat" (complete with bowtie) that i still have on my desk.  but a few weeks ago she posted this story on her blog.  i absolutely love it: the illustrations, the colors, the story, the cuteness, all of it.  so, with her permission, here it is on sheep go to heaven.

=^..^=