tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90186242024-03-06T22:42:25.614-07:00fishboy rides againriding into the west in a bucket of waterfishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-92060625542697768322012-10-21T15:19:00.000-07:002012-10-21T15:19:25.570-07:00Family Perspectives<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">During my run yesterday I listened to Neil A. Maxwell's talk "Family Perspectives" from 1974. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I thought Elder Maxwell's talk was interesting because he mentions a troubled economy, women's rights, the definition of the family, energy problems, and several other ideas that are the issues of today. For example, he said, "Isn't it interesting that at a time when patriotism is called into question, that some fail to realize that one cannot really have a sense of country without a sense of kinship..." which was part of his larger plea to not forget that we are all God's Children. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I appreciate the positive attitude of the leaders of the Church. Later Elder Maxwell said, "When he sees the imperfections all around him, the disciple of Jesus sees such imperfections as an invitation to help." There is always room to move forward.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Here is the link to the full text and the audio file: <a href="http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=906&view=1">Family Perspectives</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times; font-size: 14px;">This talk came from one of the various podcasts that include General Conference talks, BYU devotions, CES firesides, etc. Just search in iTunes for "LDS", etc.</span><br />
fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-57551929446362419762012-06-02T10:30:00.001-07:002012-06-02T10:30:08.967-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-14543932698302389312011-10-12T08:45:00.004-07:002011-10-12T09:02:53.256-07:00Good day on the trail: Better for some than othersWith the start of the semester, I didn't run much in September. I'm trying to get back on track in October. Yesterday, I was feeling pretty good about our run. Laura, the girls, and I did 4 miles together. Laura's pace was really good. If it weren't for the few stops that the girls make me do (to pick dandelions, to get a stick, to turn around to get items dropped from the stroller, etc.) Laura and I would have been on the same pace. Laura doubled back to do a portion of the run to let us catch up.<div><br /></div><div>I love running with the stroller, but Chloe has the habit of taking off her shoes and socks once she's strapped in. We were finishing our 4 miles and I had only come up with two socks and one shoe. I missed where Chloe had dropped one of her shoes and I didn't find it on the way back home. Rather than accept the loss, Laura went up the trail again while I played at the park with the girls.</div><div><br /></div><div>The good news is that Laura found the shoe, rolled off on the side of the trail in a little bit of brush. (They are probably our favorite pair for Chloe.) Even better news is that Laura clocked in another 2 miles (1 up and 1 back) to find the shoe. Just as I was feeling good about doing 4 miles for the day, Laura did 6 - and she pretty well bolted back once she found the shoe. Laura took 20 minutes to walk out to find the shoe, and only 10 minutes to get back to the park. Speedy. Good job Laur.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think she's gonna be ready for her race at the end of the month.</div>fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-34372548616218929802011-07-03T09:12:00.003-07:002011-07-03T09:25:58.575-07:00SOMEONE needs to be committed! (pun intended)<div>Since the first of May, I've been averaging about 17 miles a week. A couple of miles or more each week is just walking, but I've been running a respectable amount. I've been trying not to push myself too much, just get out and exercise 5 days a week. The distance for my runs have been determined by how far I can get away from home and still feel like I can get back without exhausting myself. Now has come the time to commit to a schedule. </div><div><br /></div><div>After a run one morning, Laur and I stopped by the park to let the girls loose. While we let the girls have some play time, my wife was talking with a couple of our neighbors who were there with their own kids. The neighbors asked my wife if she was training for a particular race (nope, just running), and then suggested that she should run <a href="www.halloweenhalf.com">the Halloween Half-Marathon </a>down the Provo River trails with them. This is a race that encourages costumes and benefits from being a down-hill run. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, if you're wondering where the possible mistake was, Laura mentioned the invitation to her sisters. Tammy replied to Laura's email with a phone-call and said that she is now going make the trip down from Alberta to do the half-marathon. Laura got herself committed to the race JUST AFTER she finally decided to herself that she wasn't going to do it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Laura has run half marathons before, but she's had two kids since she last ran on that kind of a schedule. I've never run more than 9 miles in one bout (and that was helping to support one of her previous training sessions for a half-marathon). For now, I'm planning on helping with Laur's training. I've adapted a couple versions of an online training plan, and I'll be following along with her distances. I don't think I'll be running the race (someone's got to tend the girls and I enjoy cheering for Laura in her races), but I'll probably break my 9 mile barrier this time around.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the possible problem: Do we need to stop talking to the neighbors?, my wife's sisters?, or just learn to say "no"?</div><div><br /></div><div>Honestly, I'm looking forward to training with Laura for the race. It's always exciting to see what she can do once she gets started. She's always had my race day congratulations. </div><div><br /></div><div>17 weeks to go!!!</div>fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-72538373720970152772010-06-24T04:54:00.001-07:002010-06-24T04:54:31.905-07:00TodayToday, I defend my thesis.fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-2667419971898776082010-06-15T16:06:00.000-07:002010-06-16T14:09:36.552-07:00The Wind-upMy Thesis Defense is scheduled for Thursday, June 24, 2010. It's essentially the last day before my committee scatters into the wind. One for the rest of the summer, and one for good.<br /><br />I've got good data. I'm just aiming for some sense of coherence.fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-82594762600575271682010-05-19T16:36:00.000-07:002010-05-19T19:16:41.530-07:00Thesis timelineHere is the short version: TOO LONG.<br /><br />Now for a little bit longer version: TOO LONG, but it may end.<br /><br />And for further details:<br /><br />My graduate studies have had a few breaks here and there. I didn't go to any classes for an entire year. (I did attended one class, but I didn't get credit.) I got married in the middle of one semester. I went through a strange change in my program of study and traded out one committee member for another the next semester. I still really like this former committee member (Hi, Cliff), but I moved from a thesis in Science Education to one outside of Education. Next up, there's no financial assistance during the summer. There's a year for you.<br /><br />While I've been in school I'm sure I could have done more along the way, but some of the time has seemed to slip on by. After babies being born (we've got two you know) and Laura's surgeries following having babies (she's had two you know), I lost a little bit of time to just taking care of the family. Laura wasn't supposed to be lifting our girls for a good while after each surgery. Some class loads have been heavy some semesters, and it's hard to work your TA hours part-time and study full-time and see your wife at least some-time.<br /><br />And then there is the total work load. ¿Who knew that there would be so much work to sorting all of these bugs? So many people have put some time into these bugs:<br />- a dozen and then some undergraduate students<br />- at least four graduate students<br />- 30+ secondary science teachers.<br /><br />Some people have put in less than 10 hours. Others put in a few hours a week for a semester. A few have committed to a solid 10+ hours per week for more than a semester. I have no idea how much time I have spent with these bugs, but I'm sure I've pulled every sample out of every bag at least once, if not twice and many of them 3 or more times. SO MUCH TIME.<br /><br />here are the numbers:<br />- 11 Orders of insects<br />- 13 Orders of arthropods<br />- 44 families of flies<br />- 66 overall taxa<br />- 71 samples sorted completely, and another dozen partially but we won't use their data.<br />(one bag got lost somewhere that we did want to sort, but what can you do.)<br />- Over 81% of the individuals identified was a fly of some sort. In non-scientific terms, you could say that we had "a lot" of flies. (one, two, many, lots).<br />- 62,497 individuals have been identified, and sized. (a few estimates were done with a couple of groups, but seriously... i checked the accuracy of our estimation procedure and 62,497 is the number I'm sticking to.)<br /><br />I personally had gone through all of the samples at least once by Friday, March 5th. By then, every insect had a name label connected to it. There were bugs that still needed to be sized after that, but all of them were named. ¿Didn't I tell you that our experimental design guaranteed that every bug was going to get handled at least twice? YEESH.<br /><br />Since March 5th I've consolidated multiple spreadsheets, corrected spelling errors from all of the different people who have entered this data on to a computer, and tried to make one coherent body out of this information we've collected. Spreadsheets, pivot tables, databases, statistical and community analysis software. With scientific names, there is a high propensity for misspelling. Misspelling really makes your data come out wrong when you're trying to explain how many groups of things you have caught.<br /><br />I also spent time going back and identifying insects that were named wrong the first time through. There are a few names that I knew gave other identifiers problems. There were a few names that I knew that gave me problems. I got smarter, so I went back to as many of the problem children as I could find.<br /><br />I have made quite a sum of graphs and charts this last month and a half. Today, I slapped some of the results together into PowerPoint. I had my Defense of Research. The Defense of Research is with your committee members. I basically got to say, "Here is my data so far," "This is how I plan to analyze it," and the committee tells me what I REALLY should be doing instead.<br /><br />We collected in two habitats, during two summers, with two types of traps. From what I've analyzed so far the habitats are significantly different, the years are probably significantly different, but trap type doesn't seem to matter.<br /><br />My committee likes my data. During the defense they wondered if I could do both a methodology paper (trap types) and a diversity paper from my data. Then, right at the end I remembered that I had done a bunch of Jaccard's similarity indices with my data. ¿Why did I do that? Nerd is the answer. The abundance analysis (#s of <span style="font-weight: bold;">individuals per category</span>) in my presentation says that habitats are different, but the richness analysis (# of <span style="font-weight: bold;">types</span> of bugs) using Jaccard's says that habitats are <span style="font-weight: bold;">very much</span> the same. My little "oh, yeah" at the end of the defense gave my committee even more reason to consider two publications. And if we don't get two publications, we lump the whole study into one submission and try again.<br /><br />Here is some other good news. I was going to do a species listing of Bombyliids (Bee Flies) from the Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument, but my current data will give me enough to graduate. I didn't present any data on the Bombyliids today, and my committee was fine with that. Riley would like me to finish my work, but my Master's will not depend on finishing the Bombyliid study. I can sort Bombys after I submit my thesis at the first of July. It would be good for me to work for another publication or two and I know too much about Bombys to just let them slip away. Above all, it's nice to know that I don't have to also have all of that sorting done by the end of June, in addition to writing up all of this work.<br /><br />All week long I was working out how I was going to discuss the Bombyliid issue. I got exactly what I was hoping for: A place to work on those bugs if my time works out for that, but I can still graduate without knocking down that next mountain before July.<br /><br />Here's to defending my thesis at then end of June. Whew!fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-25083996759653202152010-04-20T22:02:00.003-07:002010-04-20T22:46:28.870-07:00Running againSaturday (April 17th) may well have been the perfect day for a run. Everything was great.<br /><br />This past winter Laura and I bought an almost new double-jogger stroller which we have used for a few walks, and I have run with Maggie a few times. The cold weather which started out this month was gone. Our girls woke up happy and they let us get them ready. I needed to do my run for the day and Laura wanted to get out of the house too. Everything was ready for us to get out on the road. I pushed the stroller and we were on our way.<br /><br />We ran one of my regular routes. It's a loop that goes down to center street from our house, over to Seven Peaks and on up around Kiwanis Park before cutting through campus to come back home. The whole route is just over 3.4 miles.<br /><br />We got out of the house at 10:00am and the weather was great. The day wasn't too hot, there was enough sun and good fresh air. For a long stretch of the run we were looking at the high contrast of a snow covered Timpanogos against a deep blue as we ran along streets lined with blossoming trees. Being out with the whole family was great, but the surroundings really added to the day.<br /><br />The route starts out with about a half-mile of flat, followed by nearly two miles of varying incline, before the final mile heading downhill towards home. Laur had to work for it, but she pushed herself and did really well. She's been exercising at home for the winter, but the cold weather and tending her girls has limited her options for cardio. I've been ready to get us all out there for a while. This was Laura's second run for the spring and she felt pretty good at the end of it. She was a little sore on Sunday, but we don't think that she pushed it too hard.<br /><br />Best of all, it was fun to get out with the whole family. Chloe wasn't as happy as she could have been by the end, but Maggie is a nut for the stroller. She loved every minute of it. After a long winter of running alone, it was fun to have us all there.fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-81058679937353468402010-03-15T19:53:00.008-07:002010-03-15T21:34:04.085-07:00Observations on Diego: i've seen too much<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_XK5uUQMEJTgP0AKOKIBYTVdVDRqbef6GXQMG3llDY-WyThL49ZHEyjFQzSzQGDcZD89oZcSh8O38JxvzjpWKSdxfqw7sWENCECyJKfBORC_DwINk771NLTBVM5G4CmjqcS3/s1600-h/diego+logo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 178px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_XK5uUQMEJTgP0AKOKIBYTVdVDRqbef6GXQMG3llDY-WyThL49ZHEyjFQzSzQGDcZD89oZcSh8O38JxvzjpWKSdxfqw7sWENCECyJKfBORC_DwINk771NLTBVM5G4CmjqcS3/s400/diego+logo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449083456267032674" border="0" /></a><br />Over Christmas break we found out that Maggie is a fan of Diego from <span style="font-style: italic;">Go Diego Go</span>. Grandpa Evanson had DVRed a bunch of episodes. After seeing a couple of episodes, Maggie asked for Diego almost every day.<br /><br />i may be projecting my own feelings onto Maggie, but i think that she at least likes Diego more than Dora. i feel a little better about that. Diego has animal stories and she can be quite cute as she says and signs all of the animal names. Her dancing and singing to the music is pretty good too.<br /><br />Laura and i had avoided those kinds of shows for a long time; not having cable and much less TV in general made it easier to avoid the 30 minute commercials for kids. But now, Maggie's hooked.<br /><br />To keep Maggie content from time to time, we have checked out a few DVDs from the library. I have seen too much Diego. ¿how do i know? i know because i have questions, queries and complaints about the strange place Diego comes from.<br />- gravity is SLOW: rocks, branches, ropes, and animals take FOREVER to fall.<br />- BRANCHES are DANGEROUS and <span style="font-weight: bold;">apparently quite loosely connected to trees</span>: i have seen parrots, marmosets, chinchillas, sloths, kinkajous (and possibly other animals too) barely escape these perilous limbs, and i haven't seen that many episodes.<br />- Diego is not very bright and needs more parental supervision: Adults are hardly ever around and for some reason and Diego is not the sharpest kid. Apparently he's to slow to realize that it's easier to get down a <span style="font-weight: bold;">SNOW</span>y slope with a <span style="font-weight: bold;">SNOW</span>board than it is with a telephone. (idiot!)<br /><br />And i keep waiting for the <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">real</span></span> animal lessons to kick in. i am a biologist after all.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Diego:</span> Baby kikajous are afraid of harpy eagles! <br /> Why?! Because harpy eagles <span style="font-weight: bold;">EAT</span> baby kinkajous!<br /><br />or ¿how about this correction?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Diego: </span>Help get the baby mountain gorillas out of the net before the poachers come back to cut off their hands to sell as ashtrays!<br /><br />well, maybe those lessons won't happen anytime soon.<br /><br />in the week or so before our requests for Diego from the library came up, Laura tried to find some episodes on YouTube. She didn't find any real episodes, but rather an abundance of odd Diego and Dora iterations.<br /><br />i've seen a few video mash-ups, and have never been very impressed. i don't really like the music much, but i must say that this one isn't bad. they really synched up the audio and the video. watch for a bit. Laur and i got a chuckle out of it.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FhUlmq_66o0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FhUlmq_66o0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">0z iEiO</span>fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-27878305818643530452010-03-15T19:51:00.002-07:002010-03-15T19:53:28.890-07:00oh..and officially... i beat the 80-year-old by almost 6 seconds... not that that makes me feel A WHOLE LOT betterfishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-46427233965878660272010-03-15T18:40:00.002-07:002010-03-15T18:56:10.969-07:00Official timesHere are the official times. I'm going to put them into that earlier post, but here they are for now:<br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 192pt; margin-left: 4.65pt; border-collapse: collapse;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="256"> <tbody><tr style="height: 12.75pt;"> <td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Finish time<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Rank by Age<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: solid solid solid none; border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">minutes per mile<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 12.75pt;"> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Mom<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" num="3.1326041666666665E-2" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">45:06.6<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">1st of 1<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" str="'14:32.9" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">14:32.9<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 12.75pt;"> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Dad<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"><span style=""> </span>38:59.14<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">3rd of 6<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" str="'12:34.8" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">12:34.8<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 12.75pt;"> <td style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Dave<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" num="1.984398148148148E-2" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">28:34.5<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">9th of 22<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> <td style="border-style: none solid solid none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 48pt; height: 12.75pt;" str="'9:13.2" valign="bottom" width="64" nowrap="nowrap"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">9:13.2<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table>fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-46858504456757608552010-03-14T09:34:00.003-07:002010-03-14T09:58:37.455-07:00Things i forgot to include about race dayi knew that i wasn't going to get my personal record for a 5k, but i did want to do well. of course race day felt a little jinxed.<br /><br />i stayed up late a couple of nights last week to work on my thesis, and i think that helped me to catch the cold that my girls have. i started getting sick Thursday night, and on Friday the sore throat and stuffy nose were settling in.<br /><br />The best part was Friday night. it was our family's worst night's sleep in two months or more. the girls weren't settling down and were restless <span style="font-weight: bold;">all night</span>. Laura and i didn't really get to sleep for the night until about 1:45am. i was back up trying to feed Maggie and get her back to sleep around 2:30. i think i was up again with Maggie between then and 6:00am (the night was one big blur), but for sure we were all up and out of bed with both girls at 6:00am. Laura saw every hour on the clock between the two girls, and by 6:00am she decided that she and the girls were up for the day.<br /><br />Laura was good to me and let me go back to bed and i got some sleep between 6:30am and 8:00am. i was still asleep when my parents showed up to get to head to the starting line together.<br /><br />the day wasn't completely jinxed. at least the rain and coldest temperatures waited until after the race was over. even with the less that ideal conditions, my race still felt pretty good.fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-74329470278823285732010-03-13T22:39:00.003-07:002010-03-13T23:25:59.471-07:00Rex Lee Run 2010in 2009, i skipped the Rex Lee 5k for the first time since 2002. this year i was back on the track. i wouldn't say i'm a big fan of running or racing, but the Rex Lee Run is for a good cause (cancer research), it's close to home(right here on BYU's campus), and i can use it as an excuse to be more motivated with my weekly exercise.<br /><br />today was my 8th time running the Rex Lee Run, my 9th 5k race and my 10th race ever. (somehow in 2003 i managed to do a sprint distance triathlon -- i just didn't know any better. i competed in the clydesdale category - i.e. fat guy category)<br /><br />i started the race as usual - way too nervous and wondering how i was going to push myself through to the end. the crowd was typical - old, young, strollers, and at least one obviously pregnant lady. i saw the typical mix of former roommates, classmates past and present, neighbors new and old, and former students of mine. the course was slightly different, but followed the general path around the outside of campus. the race started a little late, and i walked around the outdoor track with my parents a couple of time before heading to the starting line out on the street just to keep warm. the rain didn't come until they were handing out the prizes to the winners.<br /><br />i ran about as fast as i could, but didn't set any personal records. i wasn't sure if i could have pushed myself more while running, but after crossing the finish line, i felt spent. by my watch, i ran the race in 28'42". i'm content enough with that time. we'll see what the official time is next week. my best time was in 2005: 24'47". my slowest time is just over 30min, if we don't count the year that i ran with my nieces who were in the 12-and-under category (40min).<br /><br />Items of note for today's race:<br />- my parents joined me for the race. Mom even ran in honour of one of her co-workers who's fighting breast cancer.<br />- Dad finished around 39 minutes (official time to come)<br />- Mom finished around 45 minutes (official time to come)<br />- Dad won THIRD PLACE in his age group: 65+<br />- Mom won FIRST PLACE in her age group: 65+. Now she has run the race 3 times and has a gold, a silver, and a bronze medal.<br />- Mom was the ONLY woman in her age bracket to run the race. The gold still counts! don't forget that she got out and did the race.<br />- The first place winner in my dad's age class was 80 years old.<br />- that same 80-year-old beat me, even though i did average a 9min mile. (¿how did i get beat by an 80-year-old?)<br /><br />now i just have to cross the next hurdle. usually at this point in the year, school/work get busy and i take a slight break from my exercise regimen. by slight, i generally mean anywhere from one month to six, seven, eight, etc. months of sporadic exercise. most years it takes a long time to recover mentally from the 5k because i don't have an immediate goal and i'm not sure what to do next. i find excuses to not train as regularly. i'm hoping that i can keep going with my training, and keep my fitness levels up. maybe the idea of the 80-year-old beating me will keep me motivated to not have a break.<br /><br />it was good to run the race again. it was good to run with my parents. i was a little sad the the weather was too cold for Laura and the girls to come and at least be a part of the crowd. overall, it was worth the time and effort, and i enjoyed at least some of the running and ALL of the finishing.fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-35648531473412956322010-02-15T13:37:00.002-07:002010-02-15T13:54:34.302-07:00Time to runAs of last Saturday (Feb. 13th), it was exactly four weeks to the <a href="http://rexleerun.byu.edu">Rex Lee Run.</a> There is still time to train, if you're interested. The Rex Lee Run is around BYU's campus and still only costs $15, and you'll get the race t-shirt. The money goes towards cancer research. <br /><br />Lots of families run this race, and I've had everyone from my parents, siblings and nieces run the race. I've seen plenty of baby strollers, retirees, a blind person, and a pregnant lady cross the finish line. They are going to have the timing chips that register your start and finishing times, so you don't have to be right on the starting line when the gun fires to get an accurate measure of your race. Even with the chips, you still may want to stay ahead of the strollers.<br /><br />Last year was the first year that I haven't run the Rex Lee Run in the past 6 or 7 years. Between time and money (mostly the time) I didn't think I was ready to run. 2005 was my best time, and I had only gotten larger and slower in 2006-2008. I did run with my nieces (who were in the under 12 category) a couple of times. But last year I was so busy with school and home that training for a run seemed too complicated.<br /><br />This year, I'm not sure how well I'm training. I am running, but nothing very complicated. 3 or 4 days a week, and nothing too strenuous. I want to run this year, even though I won't have much of a chance to break my best time: 24min 43sec.<br /><br />If you're looking for ideas in how to train, check out these sources:<br /><a href="http://www.halhigdon.com/5K%20Training/5-Knovice.htm">Hal Higdon's Novice 5k</a><br /><a href="http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml">Couch to 5k</a><br />Both of these can be adapted to your fitness level; start in the middle of the 8 weeks or whatever.fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-65395407296651332642010-02-06T23:07:00.005-07:002010-02-07T01:09:30.463-07:00Today's RunMy long runs on Saturdays over the last month have consisted of "how far can I get in an hour?". I've been getting in 5 miles or so on each run. I do some walking here and there and in the cool down.<br /><br />To get myself to run the hour, I usually give myself a destination to try and get to. Sometimes I have to run a few extra blocks close to the house to finish, but this strategy is working well enough so far.<br /><br />Today, I was a little more ambitious. I wanted to see how long it would take me to get to the Y-mountain trailhead. It took me 30 minutes to do the 2 miles to the trailhead. There was a lot of uphill and I knew the return trip would be shorter, so I decided to get in at least the first couple of switchbacks.<br /><br />Two switchbacks turned in to three, three into four, and soon enough I was looking at how far I could get by then end of the hour. At the end of the hour, I thought I was close enough to the bottom of the Y to finish that much of the trail. I didn't realize how far I had gotten until I was on the last two short switchbacks to the top of the Y. I had missed the split for the leg to the lower end of the Y completely. The Y is covered in snow. You can still see the Y from the valley, but being so close and at such an obscure angle the snow masks it completely.<br /><br />The lower two switchbacks were only partially covered in snow. The rest of the trail entirely covered, except for a spot or two. The way going up was a slippery one; digging in my toes to get up the trail. The way down was controlled sliding - yes, i fell -- once. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6fvNOvWY_6dLfdsYaWRGgjPJj0Y13ly9c3w9V3ISYX8AgilUizQpf8_DvMYiv0XWXvuSI8NjMkI7zY5xn5WGi2g1OXGSXU72evKPmQxf75hbv2XF4tYZXVcjJaQIkr3GM49i/s1600-h/y-trail.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 333px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6fvNOvWY_6dLfdsYaWRGgjPJj0Y13ly9c3w9V3ISYX8AgilUizQpf8_DvMYiv0XWXvuSI8NjMkI7zY5xn5WGi2g1OXGSXU72evKPmQxf75hbv2XF4tYZXVcjJaQIkr3GM49i/s400/y-trail.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435410286235819778" /></a>Here are the final stats:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Total distance:</span> <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">6.14 miles for the round trip.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Total elevation change: </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">1699 ft (518m)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Total time: </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">just under 1hr 54 min</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To the trail head:</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> 1.95 miles 30 minutes</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To the top of the Y:</span> <span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">1.12 miles 43 minutes</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">From the top down to the trailhead: </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">17 minutes</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">From the trailhead to home: </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">24 minutes<br /></span><br /><br />My reward: I ate awesome food at a friend's wedding reception. It was the least that I could do.fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-62840187137692353422010-01-09T08:58:00.007-07:002010-01-09T09:54:50.598-07:00Colbert Nation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmlkLK-tQ5CGCHZ34LtPDxyMlnXLeRBdzSqhbaocJlYYkExuJg1YVK6NWpbuLuGgMAEC179m60fuIwaOznVf_5ynKIhGRk_JqwwuDfLzf1G1ToDF8stUOyP-RGbbsjFilX0KM_/s1600-h/Colbert+at+desk.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmlkLK-tQ5CGCHZ34LtPDxyMlnXLeRBdzSqhbaocJlYYkExuJg1YVK6NWpbuLuGgMAEC179m60fuIwaOznVf_5ynKIhGRk_JqwwuDfLzf1G1ToDF8stUOyP-RGbbsjFilX0KM_/s400/Colbert+at+desk.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424783687529553330" /></a>With our last night in Canada Maggie had a rough time going to bed. It was after 10:30pm and Maggie was tired. Laur grabbed Maggie to take her to bed and I turned on the TV to see when <span style="font-style: italic;">The Daily Show</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">The Colbert Report</span> would be on. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Colbert Report</span> was just starting. Maggie flipped her lid. Bad timing on my part.<br /><br />Laura lay down with Maggie and tried to get her to sleep. After at least 10 minutes of wrestling with Maggie and all of her cries for "Show!", Laur gave Maggie to me. She and Chloe were going to work on going to bed instead.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcKMOOyhhA5qkOkCqlhHD43gHRStAquZOCn6h50zycxCqW3XQXkN2IjWWqtT3d2iVmRWExxOqLQgO_NjVK3i1tGaCyVdVOUUeB76FgroG2zM0Ar6ntIWrcGWKdYd7V00pFYfO/s1600-h/colbertreport_logo+super.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcKMOOyhhA5qkOkCqlhHD43gHRStAquZOCn6h50zycxCqW3XQXkN2IjWWqtT3d2iVmRWExxOqLQgO_NjVK3i1tGaCyVdVOUUeB76FgroG2zM0Ar6ntIWrcGWKdYd7V00pFYfO/s400/colbertreport_logo+super.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424783970688863970" /></a>Maggie sat quietly tucked under my arm on the couch and I turned the TV back on to watch the last 5 minutes of <span style="font-style: italic;">Colbert </span>and the first 15 of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Daily Show.</span> I don't know why she likes those shows, but she does. I watch them online some evenings at home. Maggie apparently enjoys watching people sit behind desks and talk about the rather informative fake news.<br /><br />The last I looked at my watch it was 11:22pm, and Maggie and I were laying down on the bed together. Both of us were out basically until 7:30am, and after a bottle Maggie stayed in bed until after 9:00am.<br /><br />It's silly that 20 minutes of fake news was enough to calm her down for the night. At the commercial break I turned off the TV and all she said was "all done". She's a nut.fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-54519115156064563722010-01-05T12:26:00.003-07:002010-01-05T19:51:46.987-07:00Bad Dad<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqmu_N_haMQTLebpQb-I6aquxftf_STNiIa14_4EKjpcWJZUSgOUWW0KFbTHuYM4Z2basJnufdWKghW1c6kUeJ8zCZheW39ZjaialYWcPHNxYt_2yRrPATVLGgSUpcVQ3DDGb/s1600-h/chloda+3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqmu_N_haMQTLebpQb-I6aquxftf_STNiIa14_4EKjpcWJZUSgOUWW0KFbTHuYM4Z2basJnufdWKghW1c6kUeJ8zCZheW39ZjaialYWcPHNxYt_2yRrPATVLGgSUpcVQ3DDGb/s400/chloda+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423452873679479666" border="0" /></a><br />My wife does not think it's funny when i say that our newborn looks like Yoda when she purses her lips.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">Oh well... Chloda<br /><br />oG B0E<br /></span>fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-60552378539421879542010-01-05T11:43:00.000-07:002010-01-05T11:43:00.543-07:00Books on Palm<div align="left">I originally sent this out as a email to a bunch of friends in August of 2002, but was reminded of this while reading another book on my palm with plenty of errors.<br /><br /><div align="left"> </div><div align="center">---===---</div><br />so,<br /><br />there is this program that converts a text file into a PDB file that i can read on my palm pilot. somewhere between the book getting scanned the first time into a computer text file and the final PDB, certain errors occur. for instance, occasionally the computer fuses something like "hut" and turns it into "but". or perhaps the word "in" is fused and appears as an "m". or maybe something will be split. "door" may end up as a "cloor". with that in mind, here is a sample sentence from Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Shadow".<br /><br /><br />"He looked down at his hands, nodded, then laid his head on his anus and sobbed."<br /><br /><br />aNUs has the same number of vertical lines as aRMs (in the lower case of course), but this by far has been the most disturbing off all of the errors i have encountered.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br />050404</span><br /></div>fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-77445640161935568942010-01-05T06:36:00.006-07:002010-01-05T07:40:10.620-07:00End of the Holidays<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMudqoMqPXu8zDs-R5DKbcBiai6xQLofrou5G3GjGbI-nKGorVk3sexWNCsHFbFgYXkGgkAWXC2-nPCjf5L8PCwUxthA-7C2nW00EQrRFtTsQzscim4_dP2t7FnoIHPeS3CeJu/s1600-h/red-canadian-maple-leaf-ornament-zo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 350px; height: 350px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMudqoMqPXu8zDs-R5DKbcBiai6xQLofrou5G3GjGbI-nKGorVk3sexWNCsHFbFgYXkGgkAWXC2-nPCjf5L8PCwUxthA-7C2nW00EQrRFtTsQzscim4_dP2t7FnoIHPeS3CeJu/s400/red-canadian-maple-leaf-ornament-zo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423249946178702354" border="0" /></a>Well, we're coming to the end of a good extended holiday. We've been in Canada for over two weeks. This was only our second trip to Canada for 2009, so we were excited to get our girls up here to show off to the family. It's been a good time.<br /><br />Chloe is still a mama's girl, but she has learned that she can be content in the arms of lots of other people besides mama's.<br /><br />Chloe has also been quite curious. She has enjoyed watching her cousins and they have captured her attention for extended periods of time. Chloe has rewarded their attention with plenty of smiles.<br /><br />Chloe has become much more vocal on this trip. Not a lot of jabbering, but she has found a strong volume for her shouting and hollering. Her noise-making doesn't seem to be directed at anyone, she just has to make a ruckus now and then.<br /><br />I will feel sad for Maggie when we go home. She is going to lose a lot being back home. Maggie has had so many cousins to play with. She has been put on center stage so often here. Besides all of the regular play time with cousins closer to her age, Maggie has had plenty of time to show off all of her signs. There have been a few times where nearly everyone in the room, adult and child, have watched Maggie show off her knowledge. It is especially fun to have Maggie show off with the alphabet or her signs for feelings. "SCARED!" She is such a smarty-pants, and loves to interact, smile and laugh. She is has been so good to play and explore, even if some of that exploration has given Laura and I a lot to pick up after.<br /><br />Besides exploring and having people to play with, Maggie may have other hardships when we get home. Maggie and I have been slumber party buddies for these past 16+ days. We've even laid down together for a couple of naps. She's a little rough at times. I've had both headbutts and kicks to the face, and she wiggles ALL OVER the mattress in the night. Even with all of her rolling around, it has been fun to peek over in the middle of the night and see Maggie's sleeping face. I don't know how she'll adjust to the the confines of her crib, not to mention having to fall asleep on her own at home. I hope that the familiarity of Maggie's crib and room will make up for not having me and her mom put her to bed in such a one-on-one manner.<br /><br />This family time is so good for the girls and for us. I am sure that both our babies have learned a lot, and had experiences that will benefit their little souls. I will be sad to leave for all of us. Not only will we have to make up for whatever our girls will miss not being here, I am also going to have a wife to tend through her mourning. We're not sure when our next visit to Canada will be, and Laura is always sad to leave. We at least know that Grandma and Grandpa will be visiting soon.fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-22574567928230708342010-01-03T13:39:00.011-07:002010-01-05T19:55:09.604-07:00Economic stimulus package<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJVYCd1_ee94Bh-0NpLBBRdgdVx4X-tlcQ6RrVTopxSGeEwfECdwCYMxADBoCi9CrVfjaOomQRf8s6oNRlrjtq1XbfaDNyFh9wkJuriNu5vyYBP-RP5ircNdiinWrzlJ90lKxO/s1600-h/avocado.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJVYCd1_ee94Bh-0NpLBBRdgdVx4X-tlcQ6RrVTopxSGeEwfECdwCYMxADBoCi9CrVfjaOomQRf8s6oNRlrjtq1XbfaDNyFh9wkJuriNu5vyYBP-RP5ircNdiinWrzlJ90lKxO/s400/avocado.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423262854196200338" border="0" /></a><br />To the Avocado Growers of the World:<br /><br />I know that the economy is rough right now. The California farmers are feeling a particular squeeze on their finances. I am writing to let you know that my family is committed to buying at least one more avocado than we'll eat every time we buy avocados.<br /><br />We like avocados. We eat avocados. We will continue to buy avocados, but somehow we mysteriously seem to count out one more than we can get to before that last fruit spoils.<br /><br />We're just doing our part to support the economy.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br />The Betts Family<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">()goZiB</span>fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-46533035401139118292009-12-31T05:43:00.006-07:002010-01-05T19:54:30.966-07:00Black Lung<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgskSBnWR1s69nBf9JvNRnlwvKuse7PpRngJhw6ETMW8dchokevZxsTqcy_YM1BW2xENFgcsXHkIDYrIFJLKTOvlyN57QmIwD9vYkLnArSeKAD-vgwKfuOv1h9Yz5svgYi6gI6L/s1600-h/black-lung-300x296.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 296px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgskSBnWR1s69nBf9JvNRnlwvKuse7PpRngJhw6ETMW8dchokevZxsTqcy_YM1BW2xENFgcsXHkIDYrIFJLKTOvlyN57QmIwD9vYkLnArSeKAD-vgwKfuOv1h9Yz5svgYi6gI6L/s400/black-lung-300x296.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421380548394641538" border="0" /></a><br />I've got to get my family out of Utah County.<br /><br />The last week of school this semester, I could taste the air while walking to school. The car exhaust just seemed to hang in the air. I was so sure that the air quality would be rated poor, by the way my mouth and throat felt by the time I made it up the hill.<br /><br />Oddly, the one site I checked gave Provo a green rating. But <span style="font-style: italic;">The Daily Herald</span> reported <a href="http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/article_44306ea1-e31c-5c3c-a563-7c917c706d17.html?mode=story">a different story</a> yesterday:<br /><h1>Utah Valley air ranked worst in U.S. </h1>I hate to think what this air is doing to my kids' lungs.<br /><br />Utah Valley's only growing, and the bowl that is Utah County is only going to hold all that car exhaust each winter. It's time to go.fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-40272571298278692062009-12-30T21:26:00.005-07:002009-12-30T22:01:33.868-07:00Grumpy Rooster<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNETRgj1efnInnz6Ck8QuGEGGMjUK1T2j_oYCg6sPFjzC2psIpCHRxgStJMQVr7FF9SPczUFoWAS2Lnk3zNg8Xz7txc9y2y_qj4OANOUQnSL3ZPGqzqmIbqF-8-PBKwWGnqeUi/s1600-h/Joan+Miro+Le+Coq.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNETRgj1efnInnz6Ck8QuGEGGMjUK1T2j_oYCg6sPFjzC2psIpCHRxgStJMQVr7FF9SPczUFoWAS2Lnk3zNg8Xz7txc9y2y_qj4OANOUQnSL3ZPGqzqmIbqF-8-PBKwWGnqeUi/s400/Joan+Miro+Le+Coq.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421260086540448754" border="0" /></a>Yesterday, my over 2 year-old niece and my under 2 year-old daughter found some of Grandma and Grandpa's books that they brought back from their mission in Africa. They were good picture books and children's stories. The book they snuck into the other room had a big color drawing of a rooster on the cover: <span style="font-style: italic;">Le coq qui ne voulait plus chanter</span>. (If my French is any good: "The rooster who no longer wanted to crow".) This is a children's story by an Ivory Coast author, Fatou Keita.<br /><br />My niece was excited when she saw that I was willing to read her the book and we could look at all of the pictures. Turning to the third page as I continued reading my niece stops me.<br /><br />"I'm gonna get another book."<br /><br />I know I didn't pronounce every word correctly, but I didn't think my French pronunciation was unbearable. Maybe I'll just finish the book on my own.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">* And what better to illustrate a post about an African story in French, than a painting by Spanish artist. At least the title is </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >Le Coq</span><span style="font-size:78%;"> (Joan Miro, 1940).</span>fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-22468120654606158682009-12-15T17:10:00.002-07:002009-12-22T17:49:42.044-07:00Insects: It's whats for dinner<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXokuJXbTfJKMdQMizUpokLwLUTncUNjlOjuRcRUMAzBXDoxzvkcgs7vBXyu190PgDIr3CHnRhiN-hwPs_JLyQVkBGez2yVRCMz0h_l0pRic2FzsKJj0ODsJd2vI9BQ1ql5TR/s1600-h/Mealworms.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXokuJXbTfJKMdQMizUpokLwLUTncUNjlOjuRcRUMAzBXDoxzvkcgs7vBXyu190PgDIr3CHnRhiN-hwPs_JLyQVkBGez2yVRCMz0h_l0pRic2FzsKJj0ODsJd2vI9BQ1ql5TR/s400/Mealworms.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418224512942707218" border="0" /></a>Dr. Riley Nelson, one of my academic advisers, hosted an informal potluck dinner for the the Entomology Class, the Entomology Club and assorted members of his lab. Attendees were invited to bring bug-themed foods. Most items were in the form of bugs: sandwiches pinned and labeled like bugs in a museum, foods decorated with legs, or even just labels on the food to remind you that some bugs have those shapes. Laura and I brought chips and salsa because... well... chips and salsa.<br /><br />There was also one food item with plastic bugs embedded inside, but one brave girl actually fried some meal worms she'd bought at the pet store. Here in the States, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">mealworms</span> are pet food. Elsewhere <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">mealworms</span> are sometimes people food. The little dish was passed around to everyone. With a little peer pressure more than half of the folks had a crisp treat. They tasted like a burnt chip.<br /><br />After eating a couple myself, I had one more that I handed Maggie. She held it in her hand for a while. I saw her taste it a couple of times still holding it in her little fist, but by the time we got her out of the car at home she was finishing chewing up her little treat. That's when I let Laura know that Maggie was getting a little extra protein in her diet.<br /><br />If you go <a href="http://flushrush.com/bugs-you-can-eat/">here</a>, you can see a few pictures and descriptions of bugs eaten around the world from <span style="font-style: italic;">Man Eating Bugs: the Art and Science of Eating Insects </span>by <span class="addmd">Peter <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Menzel</span> and Faith <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">D'Aluisio</span>, a good book. A google search for the book has many of the pages and photos online. (The photo for this post came from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Menzel</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">D'Aluisio's</span> book.)<br /></span>fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-88486126859747343242009-12-06T00:58:00.000-07:002009-12-12T06:19:49.426-07:00I like it<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsndD_4Z1TU0f4tjubjykhyphenhyphen7GXgEdsvIuCVROP6Yr8DYPt7o0dPtb3bWMQ_0mAEPkyNvtM_gcdLeXgzJW2WuGpvJS0FNOq6ZtTcEs9Ea386MNofDMmz8jQleeh2A3fSs9Qvm8/s1600-h/bug.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsndD_4Z1TU0f4tjubjykhyphenhyphen7GXgEdsvIuCVROP6Yr8DYPt7o0dPtb3bWMQ_0mAEPkyNvtM_gcdLeXgzJW2WuGpvJS0FNOq6ZtTcEs9Ea386MNofDMmz8jQleeh2A3fSs9Qvm8/s400/bug.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414336697055939938" border="0" /></a><br />I do like cool paper. It's part of why I took a bookbinding class at the University.<br /><br />I also like bugs.<br /><br />I think I'm a little partial to green too.<br /><br />This little guy* is pretty cool.<br /><br />You can check out the story <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2009/12/the_most_exciting_art_medium_p.html?ft=1&f=97635953">here</a> at NPR's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Picture Show </span>blog.<br /><br />!ORAGAMI!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">* Leaf Katydid, </span>by Brian Chan</span>fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9018624.post-14642431810598113632009-12-05T07:32:00.008-07:002009-12-20T13:45:30.659-07:00Christmas Music: Not So Cheery<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjtJVevtGIpo0e6r6ZFFbk3D8mVRL2nbjGiD7dQN3_gVMMhYWX7sTSrscqN6d0UFFIHidkspdHMFy3usW9zApVc07wOfvPGkOekobemowkqWQYwewopSRO-8GRc7YGyvG4U54/s1600-h/bob+for+chrstmas.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjtJVevtGIpo0e6r6ZFFbk3D8mVRL2nbjGiD7dQN3_gVMMhYWX7sTSrscqN6d0UFFIHidkspdHMFy3usW9zApVc07wOfvPGkOekobemowkqWQYwewopSRO-8GRc7YGyvG4U54/s400/bob+for+chrstmas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411760193263453090" border="0" /></a>In our house, we've been listening to Sufjan Stevens' <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://asthmatickitty.com/songs-for-christmas">Songs for Christmas</a>.</span> It's a collection of 5 EPs that Sufjan originally recorded to send out to his friends.<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>I generally prefer not to listen to Christmas music, but I bought this CD set for Laura one Christmas after we spent a week constantly going back to NPR to stream Stevens' <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121565045">"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>. (That song has tragically been removed, from the LDS hymn book, but the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uslytyVrWFw">Mormon Tabernacle Choir</a> and others still perform it.)<br /><br />There are definitely some songs/hymns that I really like, but the way that Christmas music has been treated does little to inspire me.<br /><br />I am wary of any band or entertainer that puts out a Christmas album. I use that word "entertainer" loosely... it was the best I could think of at the moment so as not to use "musician" or "artist" which are more debatable terms under these circumstances. Christmas albums seem like a cheap shot at sales that somehow someone still concedes to produce as another offering to the undiscriminating masses. I consider the Sufjan Stevens EPs as a definite exception because he recorded 5 EPs over 6 years <span style="font-style: italic;">for friends </span>and <span style="font-weight: bold;">then</span> decided to make it commercially available. <span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><br />To me, most Christmas albums are a tribute to those who don't want to bother with making a real choice about what to listen to. "Harmless" is the only requirement. Just think about how many Christmas albums that fall into these categories: adult contemporary, country, and new age - a selection that runs from bland and blah to downright putrid. Just type in "Christmas" while searching for music on Amazon and you'll get a good picture of this bleak landscape. The inspiration that was required for Handel's <span style="font-style: italic;">Messiah </span>or "Silent Night" is wrung out and replaced by the simple sales point of "hey, listen to me... I know all the words", not to mention the smothering by "original" compositions. bleh.<br /><br />I think that the hardest part for me about Christmas music is how it is rolled into the mass marketing of the Holiday season. I am frightened of those, and I'm mainly talking about commercial enterprises, who play Christmas music as soon as the turkey's off the Thanksgiving table. Few things are more grating than the barrage of pop-culture mediocrity. There were some definite music fiends that I had to listen to as a missionary because of my inability to convince some of my missionary companions that any album with "Christmas" in the title was not automatically "inspirational" music -- Boyz II Men are definitely going to hell for what they've done.<br /><br />Sufjan is half of the reason I am writing this post. The other half is because I heard a review of Bob Dylan's new Christmas album on NPR. After listening to the few samples of the songs that were included in that story, the first thing I'd like to say is: ¿Can someone please find Bob a losenge? His throat must be killing him..<br /><br />Secondly, I do like Dylan's music. If you're not a fan of Bob or even dislike his music, one thing that can help you better appreciate his writing talent is to hear <a href="http://www.baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/dylancov/main">someone else </a>sing his songs: Tim O'Brien's version of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV5J9I31a2E">"Forever Young",</a> nearly anyone's version of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_from_the_North_Country">"Girl from the North Country"</a>, but I do like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcIDjl2w1E0">Sam Bush's rendition</a>, and there are definite reasons why so many people have covered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Think_Twice,_It%27s_All_Right">"Don'tThink Twice It's Alright"</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Along_the_Watchtower#Selective_list_of_notable_recordings">"All Along the Watchtower"</a>.<br /><br />With that preface, I have no idea why. <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">¿WHY?</span></span><br /><br />¿WHY did Bob Dylan record a Christmas album?<br /><br />Maybe you can <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Heart-Bob-Dylan/dp/B002MW50KO">listen to</a> a track or two and tell me.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span></span><br /><br />NPR's All Songs Considered has their yearly selection of <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121565045">Christmas Covers</a> up and running<span style="font-style: italic;">, </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Annoying Music Show</span> also has <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121620158">this year's post</a>. Both programs have Bob Dylan, if that means anything.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span> </span>* I stole the photo from <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/08/10/"><span style="font-style: italic;">New York Magazine</span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span></span></span>fishiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07796039253846220437noreply@blogger.com0