Classified Dating

Last weekend, my cousin told me about a website (planetredhead.com) with the mission to unite redheads for dating so that they can eventually have redhead children. Apparently, redheads are becoming extinct.

This got me thinking. What if I did want to put my profile up on a dating site. What would I say?

How about:

Single white male WLTM a DTE YSF for FS and hopefully a LTR. ISO VGL girl with SOH and a healthy 401(k). Not a SD, but always up for a cold DDP. PA and ALA (literally, these days).

A battle well fought

I spent many hours in the hospital this weekend feeling helpless. My oldest cousin Jeff passed away after a battle with cancer, leaving behind a beautiful wife and two bright eyed children.

During those hours of grief in the oncology ICU, I didn't know what to say or do. I was just...there. Watching. Praying. Hoping.

I was moved by the love that was shown during those hours. I don't know of anything that can be purer than a mother's and a wife's love, nor can there be anything so exquisite as their grief. I saw the courage of a father and the tender kindness of a sister. I witnessed the bonds of affection that tie family together, knotted with the peace and promise of a reunion scheduled for all eternity.

Jeff's struggle on earth is over. His course is finished, his battle through. With all the strength and tenacity that Jeff showed, it is now our turn to fight through this trial. The empty days and long hours will stretch until they seem unbearable to those who for so long traveled with Jeff along life's paths.

"Oh stong soul, by what shore
Tarriest thou now? For that force,
Surely, has not been left vain!
Somewhere, surely, afar,
In the sounding labour-house vast
Of being, is practiced that strength,
Zealous, beneficent, firm!

Yea, in some far-shining sphere,
Stil thou performest the word
Of the God in whom thou dost live,
Prompt, unwearied as here!"

The battle now turns to those who knew and loved Jeff, to live in rememberance without remorse, to step into the future in submission without sulleness.

Jeff, we miss you.

A speed read creed

I have a mild case of book ADD. Throw in a few newspapers and magazines, and I have a problem no ritalin can cure.

Here's what I've been reading lately:

John Adams by David McCullough- Wow. One of my favorite books I've ever read. I'm sure I will post about it in the future.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin-I've read it before, but I'm getting more out of this reading.

The Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book-I read a couple of pages of quotes everyday, marking my favorites.

LSAT study guides (logic games and logical reasoning)--fun fun...

The Book of Mormon--it's true.

Forbes magazine
Conde Nast Portfolio
American Speeches
Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor
An Idiots Guide to Cold Calling
The World's Greatest Letters

New plan of action: I need to read slower to get more out of the books I take on. Also--I probably need to throw in some fiction. Any suggestions? (I'm not interested in Grisham, Dan Brown, Stephanie Meyer, and the like...)

iPod iPod iPod iDunno

OK. I'm usually not materialistic. But I've had my eye on a new iPod. I think it would cheer up my commutes. I'm sick of KTAR's "Detour Dan," the same five country songs (seriously KNIX...play some older stuff or at least mix in some Garth Brooks or Alan Jackson), and I am done listening to local pundits predict what's going to happen during the next debate (no really. I'm done. Because, well, so are the debates...).

I've justified buying an iPod in my mind. But...they're so expensive. And I'd have to choose. Do I get a touch? A nano? An iPod classic? It's all so confusing.

How can I expect to know what I want in life if I can't even decide what I want in a portable electronic device?

Adhesive Shout Out

Do you know what's underrated?

Gorilla glue.

Just gettin' the word out.

A New Blog

I'm disgusted with politics. I'd rather eat cooked spinach than take another serving of Presidential Canidate Rhetoric.

So I'm seperating my political thoughts from my personal blog.

The new blog is http://davespoliticalnotebook.blogspot.com.

Enjoy.

"Dogs and Cats, Living Together, Mass Hysteria"

The flow of credit has stopped, the Dow is crashing, the dollar is weak, stagflation looks inevitable, the government still cannot pass a bill without adding greasy layers of pork, and to top it all off, I ruined my chicken broccoli three cheese alfredo sauce last night.

These are tough times. Hard to predict what will happen next. Just ask any analyst--economic or political.

However, we can be certain about some things.

An economic depression would be grim, but it would not change the reality of immortality. The inevitability of the Second Coming is not affected by the unpredictability of the stock market. Political despots make this world very ugly, but they cannot touch the better world to come. Thus the things of which we can be most certain are also those things which matter most.
--Elder Neal. A Maxwell