Blue Whale Musings

A New Day, A New Look

2011-02-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

Obviously, I've changed the look of the blog. We'll see how long it lasts.

In an effort of full disclosure, you should know that my original thoughts to write down today were not about changes. But as soon as I opened the page, I thought "eh, what the heck".

Changes. They happen. Often. Daily, in fact. Like writing in free verse as opposed to my usual pedantic self who prefers well thought full sentences. Some changes don't last long.

But here's one I'd like to see -- real singers singing the national anthem at sporting events. My tirade does not begin with Christina's massacre of yesterday -- she is just the most recent catalyst. And I will give her that singing on such a large stage can be intimidating and you can get lost if you aren't thinking. But I cannot excuse her inadvertent changing of keys or bending every vowel into a multi syllable phrase or screaming the words in such a harsh manner that dogs began to howl. I have had it with "celebrities" turning the national anthem into a show-off piece. I am tired of hearing it mangled by amateurs and professionals alike. I plead for people to respect the piece.

And when I say "respect the piece" I'm not questioning the performer's loyalty to the country, but their sanity, for they must, like too many others, have been thinking, "sure, anyone can sing the Star Spangled Banner -- it's easy -- I've been singing it my whole life." Here's a news flash -- the national anthem of the United States of America is a difficult piece of music for anyone to sing, let alone sing well. The range is wide, the words are a bit clumsy in our uneducated mouths, and, since it is sung by everyone at the ballpark and the arena, we think we know it when we don't.

If you are asked to sing at an event, you must practice. If you were asked to sing a Verdi aria or a Sondheim showstopper at a ballpark, you'd probably spend a great deal of time practicing and perfecting your performance. But the national anthem seems to get shorted.

Please do not take offense. I have heard many performances that were well rehearsed and well performed. During the 2010 baseball post-season at AT&T Park, Huey Lewis and The News performed and were absolutely wonderful (in four part harmony, no less). So were the surviving members of The Grateful Dead, Tony Bennett and a twelve-year-old trumpet player (sorry, I don't have his name, but he was great -- he performed at one of the games not at AT&T, either Philadelphia or Texas).

But too often, and for me, once is too often, the national anthem is strangled by vocal soloists, choirs, bands and instrumentalists. This past year, I heard a guy on a synthesizer play something that nearly sounded like the anthem.

If the point is to honor America, as the stadium announcer would have us believe, then sing the anthem honorably. It is good enough as written to be a show piece. If performed well, it will display your abilities and talents. You don't have to sound as good as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but sing it well, as written. There are no recording executives in the audience, so stop singing like you are trying to impress one.

And for pity's sake, if you are in charge of finding the talent to sing at the biggest sporting event in America, GET A REALLY GOOD SINGER! I am told that Christina has a good voice and can sing well -- I've never heard her do so. I've seen her on late-night talk shows and the like, and each time she has some excuse about not being in the best voice or whatever. I will admit that I have not listened to her records, so my judgement may not be fair, but I don't care for what I have heard over the years.

With all the pomp and bravado of the Super Bowl, why is low point the singing of the national anthem? The performance of "God Bless America" just beforehand was great. Maybe that singer and choir could have done the anthem, too? But, no, they had to have some huge celebrity do it.

Second news flash -- Celebrity does not equal Quality.

But enough ragging on Christina. She feels pretty lousy about flubbing the words. And, unfortunately, her performance will probably not further her career.

So here's the lesson -- if you are not 110% sure that you can perform the national anthem well, graciously decline the invitation. Karma will reward you. Otherwise, Karma will give you your just rewards.

Nerds Unite -- Today Is The Answer!

2010-10-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

Today is October 10, 2010. Many believe that three 10s in a row is lucky (see various gambling games). There were several weddings today. Births and birthdays were celebrated.

But for those who understand binary code, today is the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything.

101010 in binary is 42 in base 10.

For those who do not understand, please refer to Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Update on Unemployed In-laws

2010-09-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are either not related to me or who are related to me but have been living under a rock, my two brothers-in-law have both found employment. The paralegal is now employed and making himself indispensable at a small law firm in Texas and the delivery driver is now with his former employer's competition.

Good things come to those who wait? Maybe. But more accurately, the prayers of the faithful are answered.

Congratulations to both!

The Wounds Are Still Open

2010-09-12T19:23:00.001-07:00

While I was driving to work, I heard Maria of NPR's "Latino USA" comment that the wounds of September 11 are still open. She went on to interview several Muslims who are trying to champion the cause of peace and to take back their religion that has "been hijacked by extremists".

I think there are two reasons why these wounds are still open. The first is controversial -- we keep talking about it. I am not saying that the lives lost are no longer of value or that we should forget this national tragedy, but we need to stop using the events of that day as some kind of crutch -- everything wrong is NOT a direct result of the twin towers being attacked.

That's crazy talk. Would we be mired in a war in the desert if the attacks hadn't happened? Actually, we might. The genesis might have been different, but the result may have been the same. Would the economy have crumbled if the World Trade Center had not collapsed? It probably would have. The nation was living on borrowed money and borrowed time. The stock market was insanely inflated, the housing market was worse, and the Prophet of God specifically warned the people to get out of debt some five years earlier. Would Congress and the Presidency be so incredibly factioned if America had not been attacked on its own soil? Be reasonable -- Congress has been growing more factioned every year -- this is just the natural, although regrettable, progression of politics. The pendulum will swing back. And it will swing back not because of any outside influence or attack or achievement. It will swing back because that is what pendulums do.

So shut up already about September 11 and the attacks that occurred. And, yes, I am wearing a fire proof suit in preparation for the flaming that such a statement will produce. But hear me out -- the events of that day were absolutely awful and terrible (and, yes, I meant to use both words for their dissimilar meanings). But we have to move on. We cannot let the insanity rule our lives, or, more apt to my point, become the catalyst or whipping boy for all of our decisions. We are big boys and girls. Maybe even a little more mature since those events occurred. But stop blaming them for all of your problems. Even those who lost family members on that day (or in the subsequent days of battle) must move on with their lives. Otherwise, their grief and pain will consume them and they will waste the precious gift that life really is. They will waste the sacrifices of our soldiers and fire fighters and police and so many others. It is time to stop being consumed by the horrors. Honor the dead, say a prayer of thanksgiving, lay a plaque and set up a scholarship fund for the fire fighter's children? Absolutely. But stop using September 11 as the scapegoat for every other bad day that follows.

The second reason is even more controversial -- we cannot heal the wounds until we forgive those we feel are guilty (and that may include ourselves). As a nation we have turned to hatred as opposed to forgiveness. The sentiment on September 12 was "let's nuke that desert nation into glass". Now we have those who wish to burn the Qu'ran and those who wish to build a Mosque at Ground Zero (or at least nearby) and those who scream "you are insensitive" and others who scream "you are to blame" and many others who scream just to be heard.

The wounds will never close while we continue to poke at them. Every article calling Muslims "evil" and every story about suicide bombers rams another pitchfork into those wounds and twists. Not all Christians want to burn the texts sacred to Islam. Not all Muslims want to kill you in an attempt to acquire 71 vestal virgins (or crystal clear raisins, depending on your translation skills). And even those who do hate and do wish another person or group dead are still worthy of our forgiveness.

I call on the nation and the people of the whole world (many of whom unfortunately do not read this blog) to put aside your hatred and forgive each other. Genuinely forgive those misguided men who drove airplanes into the buildings of NY or the field in PA. Forgive those leaders who sent their militaries to battle each other. Give up the hatred you feel for even those who live in caves and reportedly wish you dead. Be smart and do not trust them with your life, but forgive them and trust that God and the Universe will reward all according to their intentions and their actions.

It has been nine years. For many, that is only yesterday. For some, they have never known a world in which those events had not been part of our history. It is like those of us born after 1941 -- the attack on Pearl Harbor has always been a reality. We have never known a time when that had not happened. So it is with those who are just coming to understand the world around them -- September 11, 2001 has always been a reality.

And maybe it will take until our generation is long gone that we as a people will give up the hatred. Maybe the only cure to these festering wounds is death.

I hope that doesn't have to be the case. I pray that we can be at peace again. I would like to hope for a better future than the one staring at us through the smoke. I would like to leave this world knowing that my son and his cousins and friends will be able to enjoy life and not be harrowed up by the sins of their fathers.

But I know that will not happen as long as we don't let the wounds heal. Put the bandage over it and leave it alone. Eventually, there will be only a scar left -- a quiet reminder of what we should not forget, but for which we have no lingering reason to brag or curse.

Unemployment and Education

2010-05-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

I found out today that another sibling's household income has been significantly reduced -- her husband lost his job. Given his experience in his field of choice (delivery services), he should be able to bounce back. But it brought back to my mind an old argument I've had with friends and college roommates.

Is an education necessary for employment and happiness? I will table the happiness discussion for another posting as I have more to say than can be said quickly today (I once started to write a book on happiness -- I didn't get very far, but the concept for such a book is still in the back of my head).

It is true that not all jobs require advanced degrees -- some don't require any education at all. And all of those jobs can be careers -- even be turned into relatively lucrative careers, given the right circumstances, choices, etc. And it is also true that an advanced degree does not guarantee one a job, especially lately.

But even with the current economics raging in our ears, I still believe that the more education one receives, the better are his chances of success in this life and its associated rat race.

So are all degrees and specialties created equal? Sadly, the answer is no. The tax accountant has a better chance of employment than the actor. This is not to say that any one profession or any one degree is better than another. But the sad truth is that in the halls of commerce, finance, and economics, an education dealing with the harder sciences will most likely yield more opportunities for monetary stability than an education in the arts or soft sciences.

While this world is run on a market system (free or otherwise), an education dealing with some aspect of that system puts a person in line to make money. It is the ultimate in "if you can't beat them, join them." When we switch to a different system, new rules will need to be applied (although an education will fare well in most systems known).

My brother-in-law should be fine, though, given that his skill set is in an area dealing with the transportation of goods -- which is essential to the marketplace. Another brother-in-law had to change his skill set. He was an artist. Now he is trained as a paralegal. And while at the moment he is still unemployed (again, the economy not picking up the pieces yet), his prospects are better today than they were when he was a starving artist.

Is it better to be a starving paralegal than a starving artist? Both men are still hungry! And yet, how many operas can you name where the paralegal starved to death? Dying artists abound. Dying lawyers -- not so many, unless they were murdered (it's an occupational hazard).

And lastly, does anything I say hold any weight at all, given that my chosen profession is mandated by the government? Well, yes, because I CHOSE to be an accountant. I could have spent my university years in the pursuit of an arts degree or a political science degree -- I had great aspirations in both areas. But I am a pragmatist. There were more trumpet players looking for jobs than there were jobs available. The halls of Washington were strewn with poli-sci grads looking to clerk for this congressman or another, only to be out of a job the following November. I decided to leave such uncertainty to my younger and more idealistic associates. I decided to follow a more conservative path to wealth.

Does that make me a coward? A sellout? One who sacrificed his dreams at the alter of commerce? I don't know. Maybe it does. But, believe it or not, I am happy with the decisions I've made, and not just because I have a good job.

Invariably when this conversation is raised, there will be those who point to examples of wealthy businessmen who did not graduate at all, let alone get an advanced degree. I will humbly acknowledge that such examples exist and will glibly point out that most of those individuals are either geniuses or very lucky or both. Often they are both. If the time ever comes that I am blessed with great amounts of wealth, it will be because I was in the right place at the right time and able to take advantage of the right opportunity. And for every Microsoft or Google uneducated genius there are thousands, if not millions, of geniuses who will never be known as their companies just didn't make it.

Here's the point of this rambling -- if you are at the beginning of the decision making process (i.e. just about to graduate from high school or just entered college), think seriously about where your dreams will lead. It may not now be the most important thing to you to make gobs of money -- but do not make a decision about your future lightly. And do not get me wrong -- I love the arts and have had some training in them. The world would be an empty place without them. And there are those who do succeed financially as artists. Maybe you will be one of those. But if you have talents in the sciences or mathematics, do not be too swift to lay those aside for the glory of the limelights. And even if you do decide to become an artist, take an accounting class, just so you will be able to count the millions you will make.

Then again, you can always just call me.

Last Post Deleted

2010-04-30T12:10:00.001-07:00

To those of you who saw my last post entitled "What to do when Mom gets old" I want you to know that after venting here I realized that my post was not truly indicative of how I felt about my mother, her age, my age, my role in life, etc.

So I deleted it to hopefully avoid any misunderstandings.

Judging from the number of comments attached to that post (none), it may be that either no one saw it or everyone was embarrassed about it. Regardless, it is now gone and can be forgotten.

My true feelings about my mother are much more tender than what I wrote. I must say that of late I have been feeling rather foul. Maybe it's a mid-life crisis. Maybe I need a vacation. Maybe I need a hug. Maybe I just need my father to gently tell me to "snap out of it".

I really miss him. He would have been 72 today. Happy Birthday Dad.

I Hate SPAM

2010-02-01T16:10:00.000-08:00

In this case, we are talking about electronic SPAM. The ham-like product enjoyed so much in Hawaii is fine with me and I consumed my fair share as a Boy Scout, usually chopped into Mac & Cheese.

But I'm tired of being asked if I want any of my anatomy enhanced. And I find it extremely disturbing that I'll get both male and female anatomy enhancement offers on the same day.

Until recently, my blog seemed to be immune from SPAM, but there were two comments left recently that linked to what appeared to be disreputable sites. I deleted the comments and have included a word verification requirement when leaving comments. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it would appear to be a necessary evil.

More to post later -- sorry for not writing for so long -- very busy year for too many wrong reasons.

I Must Be Old Now

2009-06-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

When the pop idols of your youth are dead have you crossed over into old age? Granted, both Michael and Farrah were killed by disease and not old age, but I still felt a twinge of ancient history as I explained to my much younger associates yesterday about the years of Farrah being the hottest pin-up of the 70s and Michael once being black, good looking, and talented (not that his talent ever really wained, but he was more infamous than famous of late).

I do wish their families condolences. There are children and loved ones left behind and that is always sad, regardless of what you felt about the individual. I'm sure that there will stories and too much rehashing of these two idols' lives over the next few weeks and months. That seems to be what grieving people do -- either venerate or destroy the memories of the dead.

For me, I'm just feeling old and tired. Maybe I should put on my Thriller album (yes, I said "album", not CD), have my wife put on a blond wig, and dance like it is 1983.

Or maybe not.

Happy 1984 Day

2009-06-08T14:21:00.000-07:00

Today is the 60th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell's "1984". It is also the 200th anniversary of the death of Thomas Paine, the 18th century philosopher whose writings greatly influenced George Orwell and his dark vision of the possible future.

NPR's "Talk of the Nation" did a piece about both events today, which I enjoyed. But it reminded me of when I read "1984" and Orwell's other masterpiece "Animal Farm". I made sure that I read "1984" before the year passed -- a strange goal, but one I set and met. I read "Animal Farm" much earlier -- it is an easier book to read and understand, but lacks nothing in its commentary on social systems and governments. I saw an animated version of it as a young teenager before I had ready the book (it was while my family was vacationing in Hawaii and I saw it with my siblings on the hotel TV). The ending was changed so that the animals rise up against the pigs after seeing them through the farm house window "change" into humans. Whether this was an attempt to make the movie more palatable or was intended as a further commentary on the future of communism, I do not know, but that is not how Orwell ends his book (the book stops with the animals looking through the window and seeing the pigs change -- no reaction, just revelation left to the reader -- powerful, but haunting, ending).

The comments on today's NPR program focused on how we did not become the world of "1984", with the exception of North Korea (some interesting points were made about that). That in fact, our world was drifting more to the vision of Orwell's friend and teacher, Aldous Huxley, and his novel "Brave New World". Oddly enough, I read this one either just before or just after "1984".

I do not agree that the world is headed towards either eventuality. It has become more evil, or at least we are more aware of the evil. But the destiny of this earth is not so bleak as an overarching or all powerful government predestining our lives and attitudes. Free agency continues to exist and we still have the ability to use our will to choose. The actions of others, individuals, governments and corporations, cannot take that will away from us. We can give it up but it cannot be taken.

Yesterday in our High Priest's Group meeting, we discussed obedience and agency. One point that was very interesting was the idea that agency can be expanded by our actions and obedience. For example, if the Bishop asks me to play the organ in Sacrament Meeting, I do not have the agency to say yes -- I can't play the organ and thus my only response can be no. But if the Bishop asks my mother, because of the choices she has made and her obedience to certain rules and laws (i.e. learning to play the organ and practicing it), she has more agency -- she can either say yes or no, depending on whether she wishes to do so or not.

The bleak visions of these satirists could only come to pass if all individuals voluntarily give up their ability to choose.

So choose wisely and make a better future.

Time To Vote Again

2009-05-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

The media is saying that tomorrow's CA Special Election voter turnout will be at historic lows. This may be true for the physical go-down-to-the-polls-and-punch-the-screen group, but many of us have already turned in our "absentee" ballots.

Whatever category you find yourself, please vote by tomorrow.

As to how to vote, that is another issue all together. It may be that voter sentiment is off because they are tired (I know that I am) of all of this foolishness. We spent millions of dollars electing officials who cannot get along and come to any kind of compromise or meaningful idea for improvements and thus we have a HUGE mess that they are asking the voters to fix by voting on propositions that are so convoluted and confusing that most voters are throwing up their hands in disgust and yelling, "I'd move to Nevada if I could sell my house!"

In my most humble opinion and based on my understanding of law and finances, this is how I suggest that you vote -- NO. That's right, the whole mess is trying to be fixed by robbing Peter to pay Paul. The mess that Sacramento is in today has a lot to do with debt and being able to finance that debt. So instead of raising taxes and fees (which they are doing as well), they are asking to be able to borrow from future gambling revenues (and just who are they borrowing this from?) and to redirect monies fixed by the voters for certain purposes to go to the General Fund to just be thrown at more waste. Yes, they will kill school programs in the end. But the propositions will do that too, so there is no difference. These propositions fix nothing, but only shove more money down the hole.

My question, and the one everyone should be asking, is this: if CA has one of the largest GDPs in the world, where is the money going? I know that a great deal of it is going towards the debts that were incurred in the past (the piper WILL be paid), but that doesn't count for everything. Is it just a bunch of little things adding up or are there places where savings can be made? I know of a few crazy tax credits that CA has on the books that maybe could produce some income, but then I'm not in the rice straw business, so I naturally think that credit is crazy (a rice straw farmer would probably disagree with me). And don't tell me that this is the fault of people not paying their taxes. Yes, there are some who owe the government and some of them could owe significant amounts, but the fault is not the revenue side (again, one of the largest GDPs). The fault must lie in the spending.

They call it a budget and yet they constantly overspend. If I overspend on my budget I have to make up the difference by either cutting back somewhere or getting another job. The same thing applies here. But instead of cutting back on wasteful spending, I see essential services being cut and taxes being raised.

Maybe we need a real cut-throat accountant in Sacramento to sort this mess out. No one would like him. No one would invite him to parties. He would have to be independent of everyone -- corporations, politicians, voters alike. And then have him cut to ribbons the CA budget, killing programs that do not produce results and raising taxes when all else fails.

But too much power in one man's hands is too dangerous. So we have committees and sub-committees and politicians and statesmen and lobbyists and unions, etc., etc., etc.

I guess the only true answer is an omnipotent, omniscient King. And He isn't saying when He will return to claim His throne.

Thus, in the meantime, study the issues, think carefully, pray, and then vote. It is the best we can do for today.

A Quick Joke

2009-04-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

A pastor pulled two glasses from behind the pulpit during his Sunday Sermon. One was full of water, the other gin. He then pulled a worm from out of a match box and dropped it into the glass of water. It wriggled around for a moment and then the pastor pulled it out and dropped it into the glass of gin. Instantly the worm went stiff as a board, dead.

The pastor then asked, "So what does this teach us?"

From the back of the room a small boy piped up, "If you drink gin, you won't get worms."

Easter -- The Time For Renewal

2009-04-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

Easter seems to have been forgotten this year. I have found very little in the media or the general public sentiment that even acknowledges the season. Personally, I'm spending a great amount of time at work due to the looming tax deadline. But I am tired of making excuses about why I didn't plan to attend church (I repented and went to church this morning -- I need His help at this time of year -- I figured I owed Him some time this day).

But Easter should be remembered. In fact, it must be remembered. The spring season is a time of rebirth for the Earth and its plants. The animals come out and newborns are introduced to the world.

And an empty tomb makes our rebirth possible.

I do not have enough time to write everything I feel for my Savior. I do not have enough words to express my love and gratitude. English (and every other language I either know or am familiar with) is inadequate as a medium for my feelings, thoughts, desires, love and pain.

And yet we try, for that is the best we can do. Maybe the image of falling at His feet, feeling the prints of the nails, and soaking his robes with our tears is close. For today, it is close enough.

I have been saved from Death and Hell because of the events of Easter. An unparallelled gift was given and we are wrapped in His love.

And yet the world ignores.

Poor foolish world.

Don't be a fool.

Beware The Ides of March

2009-03-15T22:53:00.000-07:00

And thus it was that Julius Caesar met his maker (probably a shock given his Roman religion and that he thought himself to be a god) on Idus Martias, otherwise known as the deadline to file calendar year-end corporate tax returns or extensions. He was stabbed to death by a group of Senators, the final blow coming from his friend, Brutus.

And on this day of celebration for the Roman god of war, Mars, I sit in my office, listening to Grieg's Piano Concerto, doing tax returns.

The 1099 forms are even later this year (thank you, Congress) and the K-1 forms are nowhere to be found (again, thank you, Congress). Brutus and his Liberatores may be long dead, but I feel like the back-stabbing bums in today's Senate are only lacking the white robes splattered with blood. Yes, I know that trying to engender feelings of sympathy for the tax accountants is a losing proposition at best, and that my futile cries for pity are only met with silent apathy, but really, Government Leaders need to spend a few moments trying to do their own tax returns under intense pressure before they start laying out more complicated provisions with shortened deadlines attached.

The reason the 1099s are late is because the IRS and Congress found out that many financial institutions were struggling to provide accurate 1099s by the January 31 deadline. The banks and brokerage houses would send out some misleading filth by the deadline and then issue "corrected" forms later -- sometimes months later. Sometimes they would issue multiple corrected forms as new information would become available. It really was getting out of hand. And the whole mess was only complicated by new reporting legislation to "make the investment industry more transparent". Given recent events, we haven't seen the last of that bit of "Government Help".

So the geniuses decided to extend the 1099 deadline to February 15 in order to "avoid the multiple corrected forms and thus allow the American people to file accurately the first time". I guess there were those who thought they could trust the first set of 1099 forms and would file quickly only to find that a new form required them to amend their return, possibly multiple times.

But did those same geniuses extend the filing deadline to say May 1? No, they just squeezed the time available to file from maybe two and a half months to just two months.

But it gets better. The same problem was happening with partnership and trust K-1 forms. The partnerships were so complicated that they wouldn't finish the K-1s until almost the end of the EXTENDED deadline, let alone April. So the geniuses said, "the American people are having to rush to file their personal returns, thus we will require that all partnerships and trusts can only extend 5 months as opposed to 6." Now most people would think, "Ah, that means we will have a full month to file our personal returns and not be crunched as we were." And they would be correct if they were also totally ignorant of how businesses work. I guarantee that when we get those rushed K-1s, they will be wrong. The amended K-1s will come later, maybe even months later. Which means that more people will have to file amended personal returns.

Of course, some of you out there are saying, "But Accounting Man, doesn't that mean more work, and thus more revenue, for you?" And the answer is "Yes, it does." It also means that I will never run out of work. Never. I will never finish the 2008 filing season, because it will continue into the 2009 filing season next year. I will be perpetually filing returns in order to correct someone else's problem. I could be filing multiple return years simultaneously (you think I'm messed up now, just wait). Oh, and just think of what your reaction will be when your accountant tells you, "yes, we did file timely, but now we have to file again and I will have to charge you again." Those are conversations that can be SO much fun.

The alternative is to just not file the amended return. And then we can respond to the IRS matching notice. In fact, once a client has filed his return, he usually doesn't think that he will be receiving any more data for that year and thus we may not get the amended data until long after the IRS has had time to process it and send out a notice. Yep, it is what my father used to call "a communist plot" to take your money and give it to Government Pigs who are trying to pull the nation out of a recession (or depression, depending on your point of view -- i.e. whether or not you have lost your job too and not just your neighbor). And dealing with IRS auditors is on my list of least favorite activities. They have the audacity to send audit notices NOW. In the middle of filing season. Just another item in a long line of gripes about government workers and their inability to think. And if the intention is to try to catch me off-guard since I am extra busy now (and I suspect that is exactly what they are thinking since I rarely get audit notices during the summer when I have more time available), they are sorely mistaken. It just makes me agitated and more willing to fight them to the death (or at least turn the audit into a refund for my client, which is always good).

So I finish tonight, knowing full well that most of you think I am bitching all the way to the bank. And you are probably right. But if a man is perpetually filing tax returns and fighting incompetent government agents (and yes, they are that stupid -- tenacious, but stupid), when can he enjoy the mounds of cash he is supposedly bringing in?

I hear your groans. But this is my blog and I can cry if I want to. Take your knife out and get back to solving your own problems. Mine will go away soon enough.

And then they'll come back.

They Are Past Feeling

2009-01-11T21:16:00.000-08:00

Recently I heard a film critic talk about how in his opinion the best movie of 2008 is "The Wrestler". Several other film critics agree with this particular assessment and on their recommendation, my firm decided to go see it. (For those of you who have a problem with my seeing films rated anything other than G or PG, please know that I was unaware of the film's rating at the time, as I usually don't even check such things. Maybe this is an area in which I could do better, but that is a topic for another day.)

In short, the film was AWFUL! We sat through nearly two hours of mundane, mono-emotional, unimaginative, depressing drivel, hoping that this film had an ending where someone somewhere finds some kind of redemption or at least that the moral is not just "don't let your kids grow up to be professional wrestlers". Nope. The main character and everyone around him are losers. They have problems that they do not solve or even have ideas of how to solve. And in the end, nobody is helped or saved or redeemed or even learns any kind of lesson, regardless of the value. No, this was two hours of "slice of life" about a loser who can't figure out why he's a loser and knows nothing better than to be a loser. Those whose lives he crosses are no better or worse for his being there. There were moments where connections with a lover or his estranged daughter could have gone somewhere, but the film makers decided to not pursue the idea (let alone the build up) of a plot line.

Now, my point is this: WHY THE HECK IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE SUCH A GREAT MOVIE???

I think that we as a society have gone beyond being able to feel emotions. We are afraid to feel sad or mad or happy or energized. We cannot bear to be seen with tears in our eyes or be heard to laugh. We can't acknowledge that we want to cheer for anyone or anything. We are constantly afraid of having emotions. And that is too bad.

The Ancient Greeks created the drama as a catharsis for emotions. They depicted scenes of outrageous arrogance or hubris in order to have the audience feel the emotions of fear and/or sorrow. By so letting these emotions out, they believed that in "real life" they would not be subjected to the consequences that these emotions can produce. By letting these more "negative" emotions out, they had room to be thoughtful, happy and attain joy and unity in their democracy. To say that they were always successful would be overstating the ability of the drama, but the benefit of vicariously living a moment in someone else's shoes cannot be denied.

Plays, movies, and, to a lesser degree, TV shows should give us this same opportunity. We need to be driven to tears and laughter by our entertainment, otherwise it is a waste of our precious time. This film did nothing for me. I didn't care about the characters. I didn't care whether they won or lost. I only wanted the experience to be done. And when it was done, I was not changed in any way. That I had experienced nothing made me upset for having lost my time. And it made me question every film critic that thought this was such a great thing to see. The lead actor is supposed to be up for awards for his portrayal of a loser. Great, he knows how to play a loser that no one could care about, including the audience. Supposedly, the actor's portrayal is based on his own journey into the abyss of mediocrity. So this is what make an actor great -- mediocrity? His great portrayal is one that lacks feeling and doesn't move the audience??

To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. But I am more concerned about why we are so caught up with elevating the mundane, lionizing the mediocre, and praising those who achieve nothing. No, not all movies have to have cool special effects, actors (male or female) in tights, an obvious villain and an obvious hero. There are some great movies about the struggles of real people. But they have plots and they show how one has overcome, or could have overcome, the odds placed against him. The hero doesn't always have to win. But we need to care about the struggle, be invested in the journey.

I ask only that my entertainment entertains! That I can FEEL something. That I can experience something. I don't want to be subjected to films where there are no winners and no one to care about and be told that this is entertainment. It isn't. It is just a waste of resources. Yes, we can have cinema verity, but let it have some meaning. I recently saw "Frost/Nixon". I knew the story -- I remember the history (I lived through it). It was presented as a pseudo-documentary. And it was entertaining. There was some conflict. There was some hubris. There were moments of laughter and moments of frustration. I felt better for having seen the film.

Maybe that is the gauge we should use -- are you better for having spent this time in the theater? There are those that would argue that films are just a waste of time and you are never better for having wasted your life in such things. And maybe they have a point in that there is probably always something better that we could or should be doing with our time. But if you do see a film, do you feel better? Have you been enriched in some way?

Or are you like these film critics who are so past feeling that they don't even recognize what quality really is?

Being of Sound Mind and Body I Spent It All -- Go Get Your Own!

2008-11-19T16:56:00.000-08:00

My father was fond of telling us that his will would say the above. I only wish that he had lived long enough to make it come true.

And now that the Republicans, Democrats, Proposition Supporters, and various others have done their duties and the election is over, it is time to be needled by every charitable cause under the sun. Everybody seems to want my money. And I know that this year has been and will continue to be very hard for the shelters and food banks, but just because there is more need does not necessarily mean that I can afford to give more to meet that need.

I have been inundated with requests for donations of late. The Public Safety groups call nightly, the charities send letters daily (which makes me wonder where they are spending the money they do get -- administrative costs or the charitable purpose?), the Young Women are selling calendars to raise money for next year's girls' camp, the Young Men are putting on breakfasts and will soon be taking lawn aerating orders (their camp fundraiser), the ward is collecting food for the local food bank, everyone seems to think that I need to have my house inspected or fumigated or have my gutters cleaned, my nieces and nephews are selling various things (magazines, candy, girls scout cookies), and my clients are now hitting us up for their kids' choir trip to China or some other thing. I'm tired of it all.

Now I must be careful as one of the above is a dear niece that kindly asked me to support her band and get a magazine subscription. Since she was the first to ask and did so nicely, my wife and I decided that we would start getting Reader's Digest again. So I don't want her (or her mother) to think that I am complaining about her because I am not. But the situation started me to thinking about fundraising efforts in general.

Why are we subjected to having to purchase some product so that the kids can go to camp or get new uniforms or build a new wing on the music building? Why can't I just give them the $20 directly and not get a box of candy I shouldn't eat? And don't give me that "you could give it away" stuff -- if I don't think I should eat it, why is it OK to give it to someone I care about as a token of my affection? It isn't OK. It's insincere. "Here, I don't care to eat this crap, but I know how much you like to eat crap and I don't care about you staying healthy or getting diabetes, so enjoy." Nope. It's just a little worse than the feeling I get when I re-gift the wine my clients send me. "I don't drink wine since I believe it is a sin and unhealthy, but I know you like to get hammered, so here's some more for your disgusting habit."

But the kids are told, actually trained by the idiots who put together these "fundraisers", to not accept direct donations. In some cases, they are told that it is illegal to do so. What a racket! The magazine publishers get a bunch of kids to hock their stuff at $20 per subscription and they turn around and give the school or group a few pennies per subscription sold.

I remember selling jackets for the track team and then later for the band. And we sold candles for the band. In fact, entrepreneur that I was, I sold candles during a blackout. Unfortunately, we were only taking orders, so the sales pitch became more of "if you had bought these candles last month, you wouldn't be in the dark now". It would have been better to have a set of candles on hand. But oh well.

My sister and I pooled our sales of candles one year and qualified for a "promotional gift". I still have that tape case. It's still full of the tapes we kept in the old Volvo we drove to school. Ah, music from the 80's. But that's just another piece of the racket -- give aways as incentive to hock as much stuff as possible. And it works for the kids. Obviously, it worked on us.

But here's my point -- why should I feel guilty if I don't support your thing? How is it that you feel justified in giving me a guilt trip? Charity should be done in private. I am a fairly charitable person, both with my time and with my money, but often done anonymously (which I really like best -- it isn't right to gloat because you helped someone -- let them never know). I give to causes where I know that the funds are going directly to the people that need it. This is why most of my charity is done through the fast offerings donations. My father used to quote President Kimball (I think), that in relation to fast offerings we should give more, and in some cases, much more. We give a lot more than just the cost of a couple of meals and since I am the ward financial clerk, I know where those funds are going and who they are helping. They help the ones closest to you -- the ones in your ward and stake first. Excess funds are sent to Salt Lake for world-wide distribution, but much of the funds collected, at least in my ward, are used locally.

I am not blind to the suffering of others. I will give what I can to the food shelters and such. But stop pressuring me. Stop expecting me to be the one to bail you out. Times are tough all over. My own little family had some trials this year and the medical bills were not cheap. I won't be filing for bankruptcy, but the hospitals and doctors and ambulances all came with a stiff cost. Granted, I'd rather pay them than an undertaker (which could have been the option). In fact, I would pay anything to keep my son alive, so there are no complaints. But, cash is a little tighter this year for many reasons.

I guess I'm just griping. And there is little need for it. But sometimes we have to vent. And usually when I vent to people they eventually just tune me out. So here I vent and moan and if you don't want to listen, I'll never know the difference.

Happy Holidays -- because even in these economically challenged times, there are things for which we can give thanks and celebrate. No need to go overboard. No need to spread fear and doom. Just raise a glass of something tasty and pledge to make the next day, the next month, the next year a little better. If you can't give some cash, then give some time. Call someone you love and tell them so. Don't waste the only asset everyone gets the same amount of everyday -- time. But spend it all -- it can't be saved. "Time saving" devices don't save time -- they just make life more busy. We use a lot of time trying to save time and we are more busy now than ever before and yet we don't accomplish very much. Maybe we should just do something with our hands and our hearts and stop trying to be everything until we become nothing. We talk more now than ever before but we say a lot less. Maybe we should say what we mean most and then just shut up and listen.

And lastly, live long and prosper. Because the alternative is die young and destitute. And that just isn't as much fun.

GO VOTE TODAY!

2008-11-04T11:53:00.000-08:00

For those of you who did not mail in your ballot already or vote early, TODAY is the LAST day to vote.

So go do it! Lines or not. Rain or not. This may be one of the most historic elections ever and you need to be part of it. If you didn't mail in your absentee ballot, then you MUST take it to a polling place today in order to be counted (Saturday was the last day to mail in a ballot).

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming (heh, like another 12 hours of election coverage and endless political commercials)...

A Political Conversation With My Cousin

2008-10-13T05:22:00.000-07:00

My cousin ("J") and I had the following email conversation. It started with a joke and led to the first conversation we have had in years. We used to be very close. I still love him and consider him my close cousin, but our lives have sent us in VERY different directions. That happens sometimes. Here is the conversation:

J:
It could happen!!!
Much is made of McCain's age. Has anyone brought up the fact that Obama smokes and both of his parents died at an early age. Plus Biden has had two brain aneurysms which could have killed him. If they both died while in office; that would leave Nancy Pelosi as president. I can't think of a better reason to vote for McCain & Palin.

AM:
So you are voting for the old guy and the clueless wonder so that Pelosi doesn't become president? That's a weak excuse to vote for anyone.

J:
I will vote for who I feel will be the best President of our country. I agree if the comment below were the only reason to vote for anyone it would be an extremely weak vote. However, I will not vote for anyone as inexperienced and unamerican as Obama. I don't care what you promise to the country in any debate, if you turn your back on the emblem of our country, the emblem that represents the blood lost by countless men and women over the history of our country and refuse to show honor to the emblem for which you will be called to serve as President then you have no business even running for office anywhere i.e. city, state or nation.

You can believe what you want, that is the blessing of living in this country and that blessing was won through the blood and tears of American Heroes. Obama doesn't care one bit about that no matter what he says.

AM:
I applaud your enthusiasm and passion. And of course, everyone should vote for the person they believe will do the best job -- I hope you understand that my comment was in the same jesting vein as your original posting.

But may I make one point against what seems to be sweeping this nation? I had not heard about this "Obama refuses to salute the flag" issue until a friend in church (he is the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric -- we count the tithing together on Sundays) brought this up. So, curious about this heated issue I had not heard about, I went to the Internet to find the news segment about it. I found it. I found the controversy. And I found the explanations, the excuses, the heated words, and the fear mongers spouting lies and truths simultaneously. I also found Senator Obama leading Congress in the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of several Congressional sessions and joining with school children in the same activity. The picture for which much has been said about him refusing to salute the flag and "turn his back on it" is true but also misleading. The flag is behind everyone on the stand (i.e. nearly no one is saluting it, although the other candidates do have their hands on their hearts, and two do turn around to face that flag, unlike the other 6 people on the stand). I also found an amateur video of the same event. The national anthem is being sung (rather poorly in my opinion, but that's not the point) and Senator Obama is singing along while the other candidates are just standing (either enjoying or cringing). I agree he should have put his hand on his heart. No question. But was his inaction to do so out of spite for the flag or refusal or because he doesn't care about the country or the men and women who have died for it? Or was it because he just didn't do it or forgot? I honestly don't know the real reason, but here is the point -- NEITHER DOES ANYBODY ELSE. But that doesn't stop people from ASSUMING and then spreading that he is a flag-hating, scum-sucking, anti-American lying son-of-a-gun.

There is a wave of hatred being spewed during this presidential election. There has been mud slung at the presidential candidates, some justified, some not, ever since George Washington decided to not run for a third term. But it would appear that the hate mongers have taken over the airwaves and are spreading fear and lies against both candidates and parties with such passion that people either buy into it or they don't know what to think anymore.

I had not heard about this "controversy" because I don't listen to any of them -- neither the right or the left. All of them twist the truth into what they want you to believe or what supports their twisted agenda. I can't name anyone of the media or the pundits that I would say is unbiased and so I have said "goodbye" to all of them. My voting decision will be based on what the candidates themselves say. And yes, just like every election I can remember (and that goes back to Ford/Carter -- I was a little young for Nixon, although I do remember him leaving office), the candidates are going to give a lot of promises that they can never keep and have a lot of hope they can never accomplish. The political system is more complex than any of them care to acknowledge and the office of the President has less power than some would like and more responsibility than anyone should want. But I watched both conventions with an open mind. I've listened to the debates and will tune in to the ones coming up. And then I will turn off the TV or radio before the pundits and spinners can spout anything about I just heard. I don't need their "help". And neither does anyone else.

I gather you will vote for McCain given his ties to the military and your affiliation therein. And there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, you have as good a reason to support him as anyone. Personally, I'm not sure who is best for the job of Commander in Chief, and while I will vote my conscience, I'm pretty sure that my state will vote Democrat as it has since Reagan left office. Not that my vote won't count -- it's just a little discouraging to know that if I vote Republican, I will be in the minority. But I will vote. And I will encourage others to do so. And I encourage everyone to make up their own minds and stop being swayed by hate mongers and those with alternative agendas. If you think that Senator Obama will be a bad president or that Senator McCain will be a good president, please vote accordingly. But please don't vote against someone because of what you have heard some pundit spew. If they are to be believed, then no one is fit for the job and anarchy should be established (yes, I know that was oxymoronic).

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Feel free to trash this if you wish -- that is part of the freedom you help defend and that I help fund. Differing opinions and the ability to express them is part of what makes America great and why so many wish to join us. It is also why others fear us and wish us harm. But as long as we continue to debate and let others keep their opinions, right or wrong, we will survive until the One whose right it is to rule returns.

I hope you and your family are well.

J:
I apologize for getting on my soap box. I appreciate your frank reply and learned (again) to take the time to research what I hear and what the media says on TV. I will take the time in the future to try to learn more about an issue, like this one, before I share my opinion. However, I find it increasingly difficult to find credible sources for such information. It is hard to know what to believe. Candidates make promises they can't keep, the media only reports what sells newspapers and airtime and people continue to forward unsubstantiated e-mails around the globe.

Please accept my apology for being too passionate. Thank you for your patience and candor. It is my prayer that our Savior comes soon, so that the world will praise His name and He will rule in righteousness and the secret combinations of the wicked will cease.

May God bless you and yours always.

AM:
No problems. If the people of this world were guilty of only being a "too passionate patriot" like yourself, it would be a much better place than it is today. I hope you know that I am very proud to be able to say that my closest cousin serves in the Air Force and has been to places (most of which the rest of us have very little desire to visit) to help secure our national freedoms. While I was in the MTC and you were in Basic, you wrote to me that you wanted to be like Captain Moroni (I believe you even called him your hero at the time). He had a problem with misinformation once and acted very passionately about it. That is one of my favorite stories from the BofM, and you remind me of him.

Ironically, the freedoms you help protect are taken advantage of to the point that most Americans are confused by the shear volume of information (and misinformation). I too have had a hard time finding credible sources this past couple of years (longest presidential run EVER). I have to keep asking myself "Really?". In the beginning I listened to everyone. That didn't work -- they are all angry, opinionated, self-centered media whores (if you will forgive the term). So I then listened to just the candidates. That didn't work either -- all of them change what they say and promise depending on their audience and whether they need money from that audience, which is most of the time. So then I decided, "I'm a smart guy with a college degree -- let's find the official platforms and compare and contrast." That actually was very enlightening. And the biggest thing I realized was that no one in politics has a clue about the real world, how to fix the problems, or what the ramifications of their ideas could be. This was particularly true when it came to tax "reform" -- a subject I do understand. And I can tell you that nobody running today, and few who were running before, have any clue about tax law. They want to use it as it has always been used -- to reward or discourage certain behaviors. And they don't realize that half of what they want to do is not allowed by the tax code as it now reads -- thus they would need to change the code (literally by an act of Congress) in order to do what they propose. Good luck. This past two weeks we saw how "easy" that is to do. And the mess that they passed for this financial bailout is not even known by the general public. I have read what they passed and it is a major amount of tax provisions that does a whole lot for very few and punishes both the guilty and the innocent. Just wait -- you heard it here first -- this latest tax bill will bite someone you know.

So how do you make an intelligent decision? Well, prayer would be the best answer. If it is truth that we seek, then we must go to the source of truth. But if I am to take the D&C at its word, I should come to some conclusion first, right? So now I just pray to be guided in my search and for inspiration when the time comes to actually vote. I have listened to the candidates, including their various speeches and debates, and maybe in the end what I should look for is the candidate who will help the Savior come faster. Unfortunately, that may mean picking the guy who will bring about a lot of pain and suffering. :) Yes, I do have a warped sense of humor, but you already knew that about me.

Thus, in the end, I've decided to sit back, relax, listen to the various comedians poke fun at the candidates (especially those who do not take sides, but mock everyone equally) and not take anyone too seriously. It has become very apparent that this country is full of a lot of stressed out, fearful, panicky people. We all need to breathe and realize that neither candidate is a terrorist or a savior. We should remember that financial crises have come before. Presidents, Congressmen, and every other type of politician come and go. The end of the world will come, sooner or later. And for some of us, it will come sooner than it will for others (i.e. don't worry about the Second Coming -- focus on when your meeting the Savior might come -- our grandfathers didn't have to wait for the end of the world).

I better get back to work. Thanks for the chance to chat -- I do miss our days of being in closer physical proximity. I guess we finally grew up and had lives. I just wonder sometimes when it was that I grew up. :)

God bless you and yours

Hey Little Sister, What Have You Done

2008-09-23T17:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Daredevil Mom! Thinking about you today and driving to high school with the music blaring "Today is your birthday (du, du, du, du, du, du). It's my birthday too, yeah. (du...) Happy Birthday to you."

Yeah, I'm old. So what.

Another Tasteless Joke

2008-07-21T16:12:00.001-07:00

What do accountants do when they are constipated?

They work it out with a pencil. (ewww)

From the Humor Department

2008-07-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

A young man was preparing for a date with a beautiful girl. He had read that he should get his date something to give her at the end of the evening as a token of his appreciation. So he went to a chocolate store and asked the owner for three separate boxes of chocolates -- a one pound box, a two pound box and a three pound box.

The owner was happy to fill the order but asked the young man why he purchased three separate boxes.

"Well, you see," said the young man, "I have this date tonight. How the date progresses determines the size of chocolate I will give my date as a token of appreciation."

"And how does that work?" asked the owner.

"If she only lets me hold her hand and doesn't allow me to kiss her, then I will give her the one pound box. If she allows me to kiss her goodnight, but only a sweet little kiss, then I will give her the two pound box. But if she allows me to make out with her, then I will bring out the three pound box."

"I see," said the owner. "Well, good luck."

"Thanks," said the young man. "I'm really hoping that tonight will be a three pound box kind of night."

Later that evening, the young man came to the girl's home. Her mother opened the door and asked him to come in for just a moment as the girl came down the stairs. Her father also came out to meet the young man and just before they were to go, the young man asked if they could pray before leaving her house. Impressed with his commitment to his religion, but a little taken back, the girl tentatively agreed. Mom and Dad stood quietly as the young man began to pray. And he prayed and prayed and prayed. Finally, and much to the relief of the girl and her parents, he ended his prayer and they left the house.

"I didn't realize you were such a religious person," noted the girl as they got into his car.

"I didn't realize that your father owned a chocolate store."

We Have Sufficient For Our Needs

2008-07-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

This week has been one devoted to Temple service. On Tuesday and Thursday I taught the second and third Preparing to Enter the Temple Lessons (I have been the Temple Prep teacher off and on for over 10 years). On Wednesday my wife and I dropped off our son at school and then went directly to the Temple to do an endowment session (it was wonderful -- small group and they asked us to be the witness couple). And tonight I am going up to help the youth do Baptisms for the Dead. With all of this activity you would think that I would be stressed out of my mind. And while I am busy, and have had to stay a little later at work to make up for the time off, I have been at peace and have felt more spiritually fed than I have in some time.

As I told the class last night, it is about rendering service. When we serve others, we are blessed. Period. When we serve those who cannot help themselves, those who are depending on our time and talents, then I find we are blessed in ways that are unpredictable. Granted, I have known that truth for many years (most of my life, in fact). It is odd that we have to be reminded of what we believe so deeply.

The title above is one of my favorite lines in the endowment ceremony. It struck me a few years ago about how funny this line is -- I no longer have to stifle a giggle, but I still smile when this line comes up. Satan asks the speaker if he has any money (and goes on to tempt us with the idea that we can sell those things that are sacred for money). The reason this response is funny to me is that while the line is absolutely true, the speaker has no money at all. He doesn't need any (he has perfect knowledge that the Lord will provide for all of his needs, as he is on the Lord's errand). There are several great lessons here, all of which came back to me as I sat in the Temple on Wednesday morning.

Some time ago, a story was related to me that a knowledgeable church scholar made the statement that everything you need to know in this world is taught in the Temple. The scholar was challenged by one who heard this statement and the scholar replied that this other man had not been paying attention. The story went on as a lesson regarding paying attention while doing work in the Temple and specifically not falling asleep during the endowment session (a problem I think many have been guilty of, but can be repented of).

Whether the story is true or not (and since I can't document it, I have not included the names of those involved as it was related to me), I have since then tried to pay more attention to the Temple ceremonies and I have found that there are many lessons not necessarily obvious at first. One in particular is this line about having sufficient for our needs. Actually, there are several lessons involved in that line. First is the obvious one about not being greedy. Be satisfied with what you have and don't accumulate wealth or possessions for the sake of accumulation. It is not true that the one who dies with the most toys wins. The one who dies with the most toys leaves behind a lot of toys to be sorted through by his heirs!

But that leads me to think, "how can I be satisfied with what I have?" Two answers come to mind quickly -- either you have to need less or you have to earn more. In order to earn more, we have to improve ourselves -- better jobs come with more education and more hard work. I recently read that managerial accountants who have a CPA licence earn approximately 25% more than those who don't. Education takes time and effort and is often not easy. But the rewards are only too obvious.

To need less may be the harder of the two answers, though. It requires a change of attitude and maybe taking inventory of what we NEED. I will not preach that we should look at our spending habits and then cut out all vacations, dating, entertainment, or other forms of non-essential spending (i.e. anything that is not shelter, clothing or food). However, I will preach until I am blue in the face that we need to know how we spend our resources (both time and wealth) and then be aware of what our needs really are. I believe that we do NEED to have some fun, even some semi-frivolous activities. If those activities are done with the time and wealth that we have, then so be it. But the problems come when we spend resources we don't have (i.e. putting the vacation on a credit card that cannot be paid off immediately with existing funds). Money management is taught in the Temple! We must have sufficient for our needs, whatever those needs are, or we need to repent and change so that we do have sufficient for our needs.

Yes, I did say repent. "But if I don't have a good job, why do I need to repent?" I hear you screaming at your computers. Repentance is about changing our lives. It is about changing our lives to be in harmony with the Lord's will. And the Lord wants us to have sufficient for our needs. It takes a great deal of faith in the Lord to be able to do it. Evaluating our lives (recognition), desiring to make changes in our lives (remorse, although we don't need to beat ourselves up about it), and then changing our spending habits or our employment (repentance and restitution, if you will) requires us to have faith in the Lord and rely on His helping us.

By relying on the Lord, we can have sufficient for our needs. The laws of the Gospel have promised blessings of health, wealth, peace and security attached to them. Obey His laws and He will bless you so that you will have sufficient for your needs. Don't get me wrong -- opening the windows of heaven does not translate to having a sack of money dropped on your head (which could cause you more harm than good, come to think of it). Sometimes that blessing from heaven is increased knowledge that allows us to get a better job and earn more sacks of money. Were you blessed or did you do it all on your own? If you think that your job and your talents are self-made, you do need to repent. Maybe that blessing is one of health and thus your medical bills do not overwhelm you. Maybe your garden yields more than you could have imagined. There are various blessings that can come out of those heavenly windows.

Everything comes from the Lord and He has a reason for blessing you the way He does. Maybe you need to learn how to make ends meet, so that you can help others do the same. Maybe you have a great job, earn lots of money so that you have more than you currently need -- your responsibility may be for the welfare of others and the Lord's Kingdom itself. What I do know for sure is that the Lord WANTS to bless His people. We just have to do our part and be able to receive and recognize those blessings.

The Finer Points of Rude Hand Gestures

2008-05-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

Home to Energy recently wrote about trying to explain the American Middle Finger Salute to her six-year-old and finding that this conversation only leads to a discussion of "the birds and the bees" (which she was graciously spared by possibly divine intervention). Granted, I laughed until I had tears when I read (and then again shared) this account. But it got me to thinking about rude hand gestures and why they evolve.

I am only guessing here, but I would assume that The Middle Finger is probably anatomical in origin as is the British and Australian V (backwards "peace" sign). The Asian "got your nose" gesture and the South American "OK" sign probably also fit into this category. And all of them are rude sexual references. But the French Thumb Nail Bite and Beard Flip make no sense to me at all (eh, they are French -- what more explanation do you need?).

My office manager mentioned that when she was a child her older sister explained to her that the middle finger gesture was "all of the bad words rolled up into one". And that is as good an explanation as any for a child's understanding. I don't think that children need to know that a middle finger is a rude sexual gesture, per se, but just that it is as bad a gesture as it can be. Truth be told, gestures are not usually literal anyway; although, I was once propositioned by a hooker in Korea with the "got your nose" gesture -- and yes, I am sure that she meant "come on up and see me" and not just "get the heck out of here you stupid American". But that one incident aside, usually the gestures are just meant to be rude. Thus, a vague explanation of "it's a very bad gesture" is not inaccurate.

It is also interesting to me that when people want to be the most mean to each other they suggest that the other person engage in a form of physical intimacy that is usually quite pleasurable (unless, of course, the suggestion is one that is physically impossible, like "go do yourself", which makes no sense at all, or is morally reprehensible, like "go do your [fill in the relative]"). Personally, I don't use such language or hand gestures. They are rude and for the most part I try to be as "non-rude" as I can be.

And then this line of thinking hearkens me back to a conversation I had with HTE and our brother about the meaning of words and the fundamentally moral value of words themselves. My point (and HTE did not fully agree at the time, and I would doubt she has changed her mind since then) was that words in and of themselves are worthless. They are merely sounds to which we have assigned sentiment and meanings, but that to other people, particularly other languages, these words are nothing more than random sounds. For that matter, the glyphs you are reading right now are no more than scratchings to which we have assigned meanings and associated sounds. For example, the sounds of that "evil" middle finger gesture word (yes, the "F" word) are used extensively in Vietnamese (I think it means noodle, and is Anglicized as "Phuk" or something like that). Sounds are neither evil nor good. They are just sounds. That does not give us license to go around spouting sounds that are offensive to those around us, but we should also not take offense at the sounds we hear.

In fact, we shouldn't take offense even when the sounds spouted are intended to offend us. I don't use nor care for the dreaded "F" word, but I don't flinch every time it is heard in my presence. If I were a teacher of children, then maybe I would try to curb such behaviors as a means of teaching social responsibility or manners or just better vocabulary skills. But I am not a teacher and so all I can do is be an example of one who speaks with more useful words. If the time ever presented itself that only the "F" word were appropriate, then I would use it. But I have yet to find such a time (although in an ancient Latin poem where the word was "Latinized" the usage is funny as it both rhymes and turns the phrase into a double entendre -- but that is a rare example).

The lesson for today -- learn all the words you can and use them to the utter disgust of everyone you meet. I have found that having a somewhat broad vocabulary gets me into trouble -- either I will use a word incorrectly or no one will have a clue what I am saying or both. But I think that is better than sounding like a Smurf.

If Worse Comes to Worst, We're Skrewed

2008-04-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Dad! It is seventy years ago today that my father was born.

I realize that several of my posts address my father's life and impact on me. I guess that just says how much he means to me.

Silly Pun (my dad liked these too): If your father is from Canada and your mother is from Chile, does that make you a Canachile (pronounced: can-a-chili)?

OK, the groaning can stop now.

The Universe is Expanding; that should ease the traffic

2008-04-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

At the end of the week, my wife, son, mother and I leave for Europe. We have been looking forward to this trip for months. And while many say things like "you deserve to go on vacation" I'm still just a pedantic stick in the mud -- I don't DESERVE to go on a vacation. I WANT to go on vacation. I can AFFORD to go on vacation. I may even NEED a vacation. But DESERVE is just such a strange sentiment.

And maybe I'm the only one who thinks about such things. But the only thing anyone DESERVES, outside of life and liberty (which are God-given gifts) is the chance to prove himself. And when we have been proven, can we merit any deserts? Or even any desserts? We cannot truly make claim to the first, and we probably don't need the second (however much we may desire it).

But enough pointless ranting for today. I'm very happy to be going. And I intend to leave cares and worries behind. At least that is what I am trying to do. Unfortunately, in order to go on vacation, one must work extra hard to finish everything needed to be done and then I know that as soon as I get back, there will be a mountain waiting for my attention.

I guess that is the price we must pay in order to play. Work is still a four-letter word.

The title to this post is from Steven Wright. I just like it. I have no intention of expanding on it.

However, there is a topic about which I do wish to rant or muse -- global catastrophic fear. My wife was watching a Discovery program the other day about our "global footprint". It was a program that graphically detailed the amount of goods, etc. that each person consumes, uses, or discards in one's lifetime. It was interesting and informative and the graphics were very well done (it took hours to set up all of the pints of milk they laid out to show the amount consumed by one person over the course of his average life). But while it gave you this guilt trip about how much of a "footprint" the average person makes, it gave no answers.

And that is because there are no answers. Yes, we should be aware of what we consume and we should be conservative, and even change our lives and lifestyles if appropriate, but this overwhelming guilt and fear that man is destroying the Earth has got to stop. The Earth was made for man, not the other way around. And I think we lose track of what is important. "There is enough and to spare." Not that there is enough to waste, and wasting resources is sinful in my opinion, but we shouldn't be working ourselves into a fit about the Earth drying up (or flooding or whatever). We should use the knowledge we have to be the best we can be. But becoming fearful of the future is just as sinful as wasting resources.

I'm tired of the constant bickering on this topic. Maybe they bicker because they do not understand the full picture (and few people do understand it). The bottom line is this -- the world will end, there will be catastrophes, those who are prepared have no need to fear, and the others will die. There will be suffering and joy. There will be acts of selflessness and selfishness. There will be money made and lost. And many people will live through it in one way or another, right or wrong, better or worse. The only real difference is that we can prepare for what is to come and we can know that the endgame will be "great and terrible."

So stop bickering. The polar ice caps are melting. The seasons are more severe. We should do what we can to be more economical and profitable (yes, it all comes down to spending resources in the end). And we should stop hating everyone else who doesn't believe the same as we do. If they refuse to see the light in front of their faces, they will be burned in the end.

What is the worst that could happen? Death? Death isn't so bad -- I've seen a lot of people die (or at least, I've attended their funerals) and I can tell you one thing is for sure -- EVERYBODY is going to die sooner or later. The only question you need to ask is "if I were hit by a truck today, could I face God and not shrink in shame?". The rest of it all -- did I do everything I needed to do, did I love enough, did I prepare enough, did I teach enough, etc. etc. etc. -- is all minor drivel in the end. The only thing that matters is can you face your Maker today and be able to enjoy His loving embrace. He will take care of the families we leave behind. Yes, we can do things to help make that transition easier on the "survivors". And maybe I will write about that process in another post. But we should tune our focus today, feel joy today, put aside fear today, live life today, and be prepared for the only test that really matters. All else will fall into place behind.

Ordination to High Priest

2008-04-08T01:43:00.000-07:00

I am not usually the kind of person that feels comfortable writing about accomplishments or milestones in my life, and I am not all that comfortable now. Yes, those who know me would probably scoff and say something about being conceited or some such, but I really do feel a bit of guilt when I mention that I've been ordained to this or called to that. I have no problem telling people that I'm an amazing accountant. That is a little odd, isn't it?

Bottom line (since I have very little time): tonight my Uncle ordained me to the office of High Priest. It was an extremely moving and emotional experience and the blessing pronounced helped in ways that made me know that my Uncle was inspired (there was no way he could know about that which I privately struggle and yet those concerns were addressed in a very personal manner).

Since the Bishop asked me if I was ready to be ordained, I have studied the office of High Priest and I have been impressed by this holy calling and that others consider me worthy of it. The words of my Uncle (or, more appropriately, the words of my Father in Heaven spoken through my Uncle) confirmed to me that the Lord and Our Father consider me worthy of this office. And now I will live up to Their trust and fulfill the duties associated with being a High Priest. It is a little odd, but I actually feel different -- revitalized, more powerful, more holy since being ordained earlier tonight. During my drive back to work I could feel the calm power of the priesthood in me. It reminded me of when I was ordained an Elder and when I was baptized. These are cleansing ordinances for a man -- and they make him a man of God.

There is so much more that I feel, but cannot express in words tonight. I fear that if I don't write something, I will lose this opportunity to express myself. And thus I am sharing this very personal and holy moment with you. I do not write it here to boast, but just to make it known, if only to me, that tonight I felt the changing power of the love of our Father in Heaven and His Son, our Savior.

Tasteless Joke

2008-04-02T06:15:00.001-07:00

You've been warned...

Did you hear about the lawyer with diarrhea?

He thought he was melting.

For some reason, I just needed to share that one. There may be others coming. Again, you were warned. And do you know how hard that word is to spell?

Welcome To Tax Season

2008-03-28T22:51:00.000-07:00

You can leave your sanity outside -- life is crazy in here.

I've wanted to write for some time. I really wanted to write on Leap Day since it doesn't come around very often. I even started a post and then the computer ate it (no, really, the screen blipped and my writing was gone -- I guess I wasn't meant to say those things).

The other day my sister, wife and I (with others in the room commenting as they could) had a conversation about addictions. She was saying something that I have agreed with since I saw the movie "What The Bleep Do We Know?" My wife didn't like the film, but I found it to be very interesting. One point that was brought up was that addiction is a brain chemical reaction -- certain behaviors trigger a chemical reaction in our brains that after a while our brains crave. Thus, we become addicted to the behavior. This wasn't new to me, but the twist that I liked was that the behavior didn't have to be the usual cadre of addictions (tobacco, alcohol, narcotics, caffeine, chocolate, sex, etc.). Some, in fact many, people become addicted to certain attitudes, be they good or bad, because the same chemical reaction occurs.

I'm sure you have met that person who is never happy unless she is complaining (forgive me if that sounded sexist by making the person female -- very unintentional). In fact, she is never happy, period. And you wonder why she is always complaining. It is because she is addicted to a negative behavior. And while she isn't happy when she is complaining, her brain is getting that chemical stimulus that it craves. Thus, she HAS to complain or she will go through withdrawal symptoms.

I find this fascinating. And my sister did, too (as far as I could tell). She mentioned that she didn't think that she had ever been addicted to anything. I referenced a time in her life when she was very depressed and was complaining often, even seeking sympathy from any and all, and made the point that she could have been addicted to being depressed at that time. I don't think that she liked my thought and I hope I didn't offend her. But I do wonder if when we are in deep depression, which she was (and we should all give her a break due to the circumstances of those months -- she lost a father and a husband in rapid succession), if our brains don't start to feed on that depression and begin to crave it more, or at least crave the chemical reaction that is stimulated by the depressive thoughts flooding in.

Could this be why the best cure for depression seems to be to do something for someone else? If we starve the brain of its chemical fix, we have to literally replace that "high" with something else. Service to others and the love we receive from the recipient and from the Spirit is a powerful alternative drug to depression (or any other addictive attitude). As I watched my sister go from depressed lump to vibrant single working mother, I noticed that she helped to overcome her depression through service to others, including her sons, her extended family, her church callings, and her work. She works in early childhood education and while that is a place not reserved for this Accounting Man, she seems to thrive there (and more power to her).

Whether she agrees with me or not, I think my sister overcame her depression and her addiction to it through service and hard work. "Forget Yourself" is good advice to any and all, but especially I think to those who can do nothing but feel down. If we can turn towards others, and in a very real way, turn towards our Savior, depression will have no place in our world. And our brains will stop craving it and start to crave the high of serving others and feeling good about them and us.

What a marvelous thing this body is! It may take an eternity to get it to a state of perfection because it is such a complicated thing. But the interesting point is that when we subject the physical to the spiritual, the physical follows along very nicely and both are exalted.

The Faith of the Few

2008-01-25T17:24:00.000-08:00

Daredevil Mom posted a quick note to ask for the prayers of her readers in behalf of her friend. No details were shared, but this friend has need of divine help (I happen to know the situation and I will be adding my prayers). What touched me was that within moments, one of her readers responded that she would pray for this person, even though the reader had no idea what was needed nor even the person's name.

I've written before that we are all part of the family of God -- He is our Father and we are all brothers and sisters in a very real way. Of course, we would pray for our sister, and do anything else in our power to help her, since we love her as a brother or sister would. By the same token, our hearts are grieved by the actions taken against our sister by a man who has been cruel and devilish. This man is also our brother. And while his actions have been those of a monster, we should pray for him too. We should pray that he will find repentance and forgiveness, even if we know that his actions are dark and sinister.

I have always said that I am glad that I am not the ultimate judge. Part of me would like to see justice pronounced upon this man -- and by justice I mean pain equal to what he has caused to others. But I realize even as I write such thoughts here, that to demand justice for him would be to deny him the mercy Christ freely gives to all of us. I am in no position to condemn this man and probably have need to repent of such an evil thought. For since I am not God, it is not my place to take away from one of His children the gift of life and agency He has given us all.

Lucifer's plan was to usurp God's domain. God the Father alone has the authority to judge His children. He gives that authority to Christ, who sits upon the judgement seat and offers to us the opportunity to repent. If we accept Christ's atonement, His mercy, then He pleads for us when we stand before the Father, humbly asking to return to Their presence. To take upon myself the role of judge and deny another what I myself need in so much abundance would be a grievous error indeed. Thus, I am glad that the judgement is not my responsibility -- by myself, without divine intervention, I would probably be a poor judge.

But back to my original thoughts (the blog is titled "musings" -- I tend to ramble in my musings). DM's friends love her enough to pray for someone they do not know, but only know that this is a person that DM loves. My friend's friends are my friends and my sister's sister is my sister, too. Well, of course she is our friend and sister, if not by blood, then by spirit. And if all of DM's blog readers pray for "DM's friend" what miracles could occur? If mountains can be moved by the faith of one, could whole worlds be shaken by the combined faith of a few? If all of the church members prayed for the same thing, with faith that their prayers would be answered, would that thing come to pass?

I'm inclined to think that it would, for better or for worse. Like any parent, when all of your children ask fervently for the same thing, are you not inclined to grant them their desires? And especially if their desires are the same as your desires? But that must be the key -- do we ask amiss? We won't if we follow the promptings of the Spirit and ask only for that which needs to come to pass. Why then do we need to ask at all if we are only asking for that which our Father already intends to provide? The answer I think lies in the truth that this life is for OUR perfection. We must learn the lessons and one of those lessons is how to listen to the Spirit. The power that comes from aligning our lives with the will of the Father is greatly untapped, in my opinion.

And what if so many, while only a few, were to listen to the Spirit and then pray for their brothers and sisters? Could the world be improved and peace finally reign? If we turn our hearts to each other, will our hearts be increased in love? Will we finally see one another as we truly are? Maybe I am asking for the promised utopia of Christ's Millennial Reign. But could we find some peace, if not worldwide, then in pockets here and there, by just praying for each other, even when we only know that our unknown brother or sister is in need? If we find ourselves praying for even those we don't know have we attained a new level of love and spirituality? Wouldn't we be closer to being ready for Christ's coming?

And thus it is that I pray tonight for DM's friend. And I pray in thankfulness for DM's readers who love DM enough to add their prayers to hers and mine. And if you don't mind, I pray for you, dear reader. You too are my sibling and if for nothing else, I'm grateful for your attention. Maybe you can join me in prayer for DM's friend. I don't care if you are a member of my church or another or don't belong to any church. God is still our Father and He listens to our prayers.

And Happiness For All

2007-12-19T00:37:00.000-08:00

More than twice this past week someone has commented to me (in response to something I've said), "Thanks, I really needed to laugh today." And I am happy to bring a little chuckle to people every now and then. Sometimes I can be quite funny (yes, accountants can be funny). But I started to think about how many people commented that they needed to laugh. Is it just me or is it sad that so many people are lacking in happiness, or at least joviality, in their lives? Maybe it is just this season of the year when the weather turns colder and the skies turn darker and the holiday stress beats down upon us.

And yet, shouldn't now be the season for happiness? Shouldn't now be the season for laughter and jovial fun? Shouldn't now be the time to laugh with friends and family, even if it is just to observe how human and funny we all are? Shouldn't now, when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, King, Lord and Redeemer be the time when our burdens are lifted and our hearts are lighter? I didn't say that we should be silly or light-minded. Indeed, there is never really a right time for light-mindedness (though there are times for some silliness now and then). But we should have lightened hearts, as opposed to heavy hearts.

(Speaking of silly, while my family and I were in New Orleans this past month, my sister and I were walking down the grand staircase in our hotel. For some reason we both started to race each other to the bottom. About 5 or 6 stairs from the landing, I got the idea to jump, and thus beat her to the bottom. She had the exact same idea at the exact same time. We both hit, rather hard, the cement and tile landing at the same time and broke out laughing. We also both realized that we were no longer as young as we once were and that the landing did jar our legs and feet a bit more than we would have liked. Of course, this realization made it all the more funny.)

I am reminded of a desire I once had to write a book about happiness. I was taking time off between changing jobs and I thought to write down my impressions on living and achieving a happy lifestyle. I was very young (and idealistic) and I am sure my book would have sounded like so much rehashed tripe. But the point is that I have thought for a long time that we in this country (and maybe in many parts of the world) do not know how to be happy. We search for happiness everywhere and never seem to find it. We attend seminars, lectures, retreats, and buy books, devices, herbs, and medicines and yet we still aren't satisfied (I did recognize the monetary incentive to writing such a book -- it is a billion dollar industry and I wanted a piece of it). Maybe we need to look more inside than outside.

We say we relax and yet we don't. When was the last time you turned off ALL of the electronic devices that command your attention and actually relaxed? No phones (cell or otherwise), faxes, pagers, PDAs, TVs, radios, computers, lights (I'll explain in a minute), video games, or appliances of any sort. If you listen right now you should be able to hear the various hums of those machines. Even if you conscientiously don't listen to them, that noise is always there. The lights in my office, the computers, the fridge, and the heater are only a few of the sounds that I can hear right now. And they are CONSTANTLY on. They are destroying our hearing. They are giving us headaches. And they make us agitated with their low level humming. Why do you automatically feel more peaceful in the forest? Might I suggest that the lack of electronic humming is a key to relaxation? Has our dependence on and use of technology helped us lose, or at least misplace, our happiness, maybe even our sanity?

Every so often we need to relax. And every so often we need to laugh. Many studies have shown that laughter is good for us. It makes us feel better by releasing endorphins into our brains and bloodstream. Laughing increases the amount of oxygen in our blood, which helps us think, breath, pump blood, digest, etc. And it is great exercise for the abdominals and diaphragm.

So why do we deprive ourselves of these things? Why do we stress ourselves out and then seek out "recreational" activities that make us even more tired as opposed to invigorated?

I say it is time to stand up and laugh! Don't just sit there reading this gibberish! Stand up, take a deep breath, and let a belly busting burst of laughter come forth! Arise and Be Happy!

And then tell a good joke to someone, because chances are, they are in need of a laugh, too.

The Worst Season is Over

2007-10-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

Most people don't understand that tax accountants have two busy seasons -- April and October (or March and September for those who concentrate on corporate tax). October 15 is usually a difficult date for my firm (as it is for many others) as there are no more days for delay. No more extensions. No more tomorrows. No more anything. Which is also a good thing -- the deadline arrives, and like it or not, we're done.

Or at least we were, until this year. This year was the worst possible busy season ever. Up until now, October 2001 was the worst. In 2001, we were completing the 2000 year tax returns. The year 2000 was the last year of the Dot Com boom (the beginning of the end) and a lot of people made a lot of money in the late nineties and in 2000. The problem was that in 2001 they lost a lot of money. Budgets became very tight very quickly. People didn't want to pay for us to spend the time that we had to spend in order to get the more complicated 2000 tax returns correct. Added to this were a number of factors -- clients didn't want to think about the past and thus were late getting us the data; the data was late coming from other sources (partnerships, etc.); and then there was the emotional upheaval of September 11, 2001. Business as usual wasn't.

The night of October 15, 2001 we had clients waiting in our lobby. They were waiting for me to approve the calculations and press print on the returns so that they could sign them and then we would make a run to the airport post office, which is open until midnight. With only a few minutes to go, I still had three clients waiting. It was awful. The paper was so fresh from the printer as they signed their names that one client got a little burn on his finger.

We swore that we would never do that again. And for six years we were usually finished by October 14 (with a couple of fires to put out on the 15th). We were sure that with proper planning and hard work, we could always make it happen.

About a month ago, we thought this year might be more difficult than usual. But up until a week before the deadline, we thought we could handle it. But with seven days to go, we had 50 returns still to complete and the man hours required came to more hours than what was available in a week's time, and that was without accounting for sleeping and eating.

Our staff meeting was not a happy one. As I am the managing associate, I felt and received the majority of the blame for our impending doom. I had been working 12 to 18 hours a day for over a month and still we were in trouble. Again, several factors led us to this point -- clients procrastinating, late data from underlying partnerships (and VERY complex partnerships at that), the death of my boss' father-in-law (which took him out of commission for about a week), and a lack of staff (we have been short-handed all year). I went home the next morning around 6 or 7 and before collapsing into bed, prayed with all my heart for a miracle. I told God that I knew He could perform a miracle on our behalf, even if it meant sending an angel with a background in tax accounting to help. I was impressed to NOT ask for an angel to come down, which I thought was an odd impression, but I obeyed and simply replied that I knew that He knew our predicament and that I would leave it in His hands.

I arrived at the office around 3 pm later that day to find out that my associates had been on the phone calling in favors all morning. We would be receiving the help of two very qualified individuals for the better part of the week and most especially on the weekend. We had to pay them an exorbitant hourly rate, but we did so willingly, knowing that less profits for us was preferred to no profits at all (which would happen should we fail to provide the returns to our clients before the deadline). We prioritized the remaining clients by geography (furthest away got first attention as their returns needed time to get to them) and travel schedules (many were traveling around the deadline date).

That final week was very tough. But the bottom line is that we basically made it. There were three clients who did not get filed on October 15. All three agreed to file late, mostly because they knew that their tardiness in providing us the data had led them to this point. At the moment I am taking a break in between completing two of those clients (the third still owes us data, but is currently travelling in China for work).

Most importantly, though, I need to exclaim that our Father knows us, cares about us, and provides miracles in our lives. No, this miracle wasn't about feeding thousands with a single loaf of bread. Nor were any lame made to walk. But I didn't need to be healed of lameness, blindness, or hunger. I needed help of a different sort. And while it doesn't make for compelling writing or reading, it was a crisis in my life and He provided the miracle.

Of course, there are those who would say that the help came from friends and family. And they would be correct to a point. But what influence came into those friends' lives to prompt them to give up their nights and weekend to help us? Was it just the financial incentive? I don't believe that it was anything less than a caring Father in Heaven making the way possible for them to come to our assistance. And His plan was probably set into motion some time ago, as He already knew what I needed long before I asked. But He didn't inspire us to make those calls until it became desperate and I found myself on my knees pleading for a miracle.

There is a print of a painting in my home that depicts the Savior pulling Peter out of the water. This is the end of the "walking on the water" story in Matthew. I like this rendition as the artist shows the tendons and veins on the arms. Jesus' hold on Peter is not a limp handshake, but a grasp of His hand around Peter's outstretched forearm. There is desperation and strength and effort shown. It shows the Savior PULLING Peter out of the stormy water, not just lending him a hand for him to grab at (and maybe miss). And then comes the Savior's words, "Wherefore didst thou doubt?". Was this a rebuke regarding Peter's faith to walk on the water or was it a rebuke regarding his faith in the Savior to always be there for him? After this past month, I can at least apply the latter idea to my own life. Why did I doubt that He would help me, even when my problems, while large to me, are so small in comparison to world events and issues? Why do we not think that God cares about us individually and that He knows what we need and want, however insignificant in the grand scheme of life?

And yet that is the point of knowing our relationship with God. He is our Father. There is nothing I wouldn't do for my son, however trivial or odd. And I know that my own father would have done anything for me had I asked him. Well, then the words of the Savior come back to us -- Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (Matt. 7:9-11)

So it is once again that I learn that God cares for me like a Father. I have always known this and yet these events in my life continue to bring this point home. Maybe that is what we (or at least I) need to learn -- we need to understand our relationship with God. We need to know that He cares about us, individually and personally. And that He knows our struggles and weaknesses and only wants us to succeed in life and beyond. I mean, what do you want for your children? What would make you the most happy to see them achieve or accomplish? So it is with our Heavenly Parents and with our Older Brother. I know how much I care for my siblings -- would Christ's love be any less? Of course not. In fact, it is a billion times more potent. I know that I am happy when I see my siblings succeed. Of course, Jesus is happy to see us succeed. And succeed in everything that we do in righteousness. It doesn't have to be just "church" work, but in all aspects of our lives. They want us to be whole and perfect. And that means in one's profession and in one's family and in one's standing with all of God's children and creations.

God grants miracles in our lives. They serve many purposes, but this one is common -- they confirm to us that He loves us. He has the means to save us, even from our own mistakes and foolishness. And He is always willing to do so. All we have to do is ask. Sometimes, like Peter, it is with desperation and a cry, "Lord, save me!" And sometimes the help comes with a loving rebuke, "Wherefore didst thou doubt?" But He is ALWAYS ready to grasp our arm and pull us from the stormy sea. All we have to do is ask.

Happy Birthday, Mom

2007-09-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

Today is my mother's birthday (she is also turning 69 this year). I don't have enough time to discuss this event, but I wanted to note it and then in a couple of weeks I will know that I need to discuss my mother a little more. Suffice it to say that it is hard to find a good woman in this world -- I was blessed to be born to one, to have four others as sisters, and then I married the best one. I guess I am either very lucky or the adage is wrong -- good women abound. Maybe we men are just blind and stupid (that's probably it).

So Much To Do, So Little Time...

2007-09-17T15:50:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post. I don't know if everyone has been waiting on pins and needles wondering whatever happened to me. More than likely, the few people who do look here just understand that life is sometimes very hectic.

On several occasions I have thought, "that would make a great topic to discuss on my blog" and then not done anything about it. Now that I am here I can't remember any of them.

So for right now, here is the deal -- I am busy beyond belief and that is as it should be. I am looking forward to going on a cruise with my family in November, which will hold a special treat in that my sister and I are trying to put together a winning talent show act (vocal duet to knock the audience over). We used to sing a lot together when we were teenagers. Time and distance have prevented us from repeating such experiences much, so this is something I am anticipating with joy. Hopefully, we will do well, but more importantly, we will enjoy it. She has an amazing voice and musical ability. This should be a lot of fun.

Fear not -- I will rant against all things stupid and disturbing later. But for today, suffice it to say that with one month to go before the drop dead filing date for individual tax returns, I can be found chained to my desk. Don't cry for me -- when the work is done there will be two months of relaxation. It is an odd job with an odd schedule, but I like it.

Tag I'm It

2007-06-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

Daredevil Mom tagged me because she is really interested in my answers. I'll try not to disappoint...

Four Jobs I Have Held

CPA Tax Accountant
BYU Student Teacher (International Relations)
Children's Computer Games Tester (that was a lot of fun - I still giggle at "Oh no, I can't get my nose out" - ask Daredevil Mom)
Assistant Manager at Domino's Pizza (I made the pizzas and delivered occasionally - once a party of late teenage girls asked me to come in and stay - for once in my life, I made the right choice and took my money and left)

Four Movie I Can Watch Repeatedly

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Cyrano de Bergerac (Gerard Depardieu version, in French)
Cinema Paradiso
The Magnificent Seven

But there are SO many others, like The Thin Man movies, Some Like It Hot, Bringing Up Baby, Arsenic And Old Lace, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?, The Wizard Of Oz, The Incredibles (yes, the Pixar film), Citizen Kane, Frequency, The Great Escape, and Ben Hur (I have a DVD collection that can rival several video rental stores).

Four Places I Have Lived

Santa Clara, California
Provo, Utah
Chinju, South Korea
Sunnyvale, California

It is strange to think about where one has "lived". I experienced a lot of Life while touring in Europe at a teenager (study abroad for one month - and yes, sometimes it was study a broad - there was a somewhat torrid love affair that ensued - I said I experienced a lot of Life). But in retrospect, I grew up in my parent's home, I went to college in another state, I served a mission in another country, and then I returned to the city in which I was raised to pursue my career. It was never planned that way - I fully intended to move away (I interviewed with companies in Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Dallas). But the best job opportunity was in the place I knew well. So why fight fate? I am not some hick who has never seen anything (no offense to those of you who may fall into that category) of this world. I just came full circle. Odd, but true.

Four Categories Of Television I Enjoy

"Freaky, Freaky Space Shows" (that is my wife's assessment of my viewing pleasures - I would call it Science Fiction - shows like Star Trek, Lost, Heroes, Smallville and Babylon Five - it is a very broad category)
British Science Fiction or Crime Dramas (separate from above -- this would include Doctor Who, Life on Mars, Hex, Torchwood, and Jonathan Creek)
Food Network Shows (especially Good Eats -- informative, fun, delicious)
Legal or Medical Dramas (Boston Legal, House, Shark)

There is a category of show I enjoy that is not well represented on TV -- the quirky and intelligent. This would include shows that often don't make it very long. Examples include "Studio 60", "Wonderfalls", "Monk", "Dead Like Me", "Sports Night", and (the most enduring of the bunch) "The West Wing". Obviously, I am a fan of Aaron Sorkin, David E. Kelly, and Bryan Fuller. They write scripts that are intelligent. The dialog is at once very serious and then very funny. And the fun is not laugh track, cheap joke funny. It is irony, quirkiness, the world turned sideways and exposed kind of funny. Maybe I'm just a snob (though I do have several guilty pleasures in my DVD collection). Or maybe I am just really tired of the pandering, LOWEST common denominator, inane, fluffy, and insipid wasteland that inhabits most of the channels today (especially during the summer months -- do they think that the more intelligent of the species have all gone to Europe for vacation? Maybe we should and leave the USA TV landscape to the chest-thumping, slope-headed, numb-skulls that the advertisers believe inhabit this land.). But enough of this...next question...

Four Places I Have Been On Holiday

Alaska (Ketchikan, Juno, Skagway)
Mexico (Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas)
Europe (study abroad / holiday -- not much difference) (England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece)
Crater Lake, Oregon

Four Favorite Dishes

Dinner Plate, Cow Creamer, Bread Plate, Gravy Boat :)

OK

Potatoes Au Gratin
Fillet Mignon
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Macaroni and Cheese

Unfortunately, while I really LOVE cheese, I'm finding that my system is becoming increasingly intolerant to processing it. My father was right...it is a bitch getting older.

Four Websites I Visit Daily

MyFamily.com
Yahoo Finance
My AOL Email
Daredevil Mom's Blog (although, she has been a little sparse in her postings of late -- maybe a bit busy with her acting, kids, job, life)

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now

Lucerne, Switzerland
Juno, Alaska
My Endless Pool
Scotland (I've never been there, but I have always wanted to go)

Four People I Tag Next

Now this is a bit of a cop out, but as I do not know the people who read my blog, here is the deal: If your name isn't Daredevil Mom, you are tagged (I presume that there are no "tag backs" in this game of tag). Let me know who you are by posting a comment to this post and I will visit your blog and read what you have to say. Deal?

Happy Summer Soltice

2007-06-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of my father's passing. He was with my mother celebrating their 41st wedding anniversary in San Diego at a musical convention (Mom is an officer in her local chapter of the Music Teachers' Association of California). As I think I have mentioned before, he has a massive coronary while walking with my mother back to the hotel from a lecture on Beethoven Piano Sonatas. A couple of hours later, I received a phone call from my little brother who was near hysterical and I had to go into "Big Brother To Action" mode. There was much that had to be taken care of and there were those who looked to me to do it. So I did. My little brother was worried that I didn't get a chance to properly grieve. I did get that chance, but it was some time later and in my own way. Some things are done best alone.

Before they left for San Diego, Dad called me to say they were going. I thought it odd at the time as they were only to be gone for an extended weekend, but I appreciated the phone call nonetheless. I ended it by saying that I would see him when he got back. I did. And I have seen him since (but those are stories for another post).

Normally, you would expect that I spent at least part of yesterday visiting his grave site. I didn't. I did think about him a bit and I did wish my mother "Happy 46nd Wedding Anniversary" (to which she responded, "Has it really been that long?"). But, to put it tritely, life moves on. I had work to do. We attended my nephew's baptism yesterday evening (my wife and I were asked to give the prayers and Mom spoke on the importance of baptism). I am sure that my father was a proud grandfather looking in on his grandson's baptism.

A lot happened five years ago. Besides my father passing away, two of my sisters got divorced. The events weren't related, but they did occur during that "Year From Hell". The younger of those sisters, with her two young sons, moved in with my mother. The little brother mentioned above and his wife were already living there and the resulting influx of bodies led to some very unpleasant emotions being unleashed. It took several months (closer to a couple of years) to at least stop the bleeding, let alone heal the wounds.

Five years ago, in December, I was called to be my ward's financial clerk, a church calling I have enjoyed more than almost any other I've had.

Near the end of December, the little pickup truck that my father loaned me $8,000 to buy while I was in college (and which I paid him back within my first year out of college), died. I was headed to work and it just stopped. The mechanic said that the on-board computer was fried. The cost to even diagnose the issue (including knowing whether or not the rest of the electrical system was shot) was much more than the value of the vehicle. I donated the 13 year old friend to a charity and bought a Prius (and I still love my "new" car).

Five years ago, my wife and I had to fight the school system to get our son into an autism class. We had to visit a medical specialist who gave a medical diagnosis of autism in order to convince the short-sighted administrators of what we knew best as parents. That being that our son was not and would not be able to cope in the regular "special learning" classes they shoved him into. He was so over-stimulated by the stuff hanging from the ceiling and posted on the walls and spewing from the teacher and aides that he daily broke down, spun in a circle, cried and then hid in a corner of the room (face to the wall). In the end, we pulled him from the school program entirely, learned more about autism, and with medical diagnosis in hand (and a little help from the Regional Center) got our son into the County Autism Program. He has excelled ever since and is considered by all of his teachers and therapists as one of the best students they have ever had. Yes, I am a proud father, but I can show you the official records to back me up. :)

Five years ago today I was dealing with death, grief, sorrow, sadness, pain, and confusion (i.e. "what do we do now?"). Since then I have given seminars on what to do when a loved one dies. With the immense help of my wife, I created a checklist to use for that event and I have let Bishops and many others use it to help others cope with this very common event. I am at a point in my life where my older friends and relatives are beginning to cross over to the other side of existence. Five years ago, I learned how to deal with this first hand and since then I have been able to help dozens of others deal with the same.

Five years ago my father died. Am I wallowing in grief today? No. As I said, life goes on. Both mine and his.

Just Deserts

2007-05-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

I think I'll blame McDonald's for this "we deserve" attitude that is so prevalent today. Go ahead -- sing it with me -- "You deserve a break todaaaay...at McDonald's". There are a lot of things wrong with the world in general today, and I'm inclined to blame McDonald's for a lot of them (but I'll have a diatribe about McDonald's another time).

But this attitude of "I deserve this or that" really rankles me. It is a selfish attitude that excuses the speaker of all sorts of ill behavior under the overriding theory that the he/she is somehow entitled to behave this way. I've got news for you, America, you don't DESERVE anything! "I deserve a new car." No, you don't. What you deserve is to be rewarded for responsible behavior. A new car is not a right -- it is a privilege that carries responsibilities that must be obeyed. "I deserve to spend my money frivolously because I earned it." No, you don't. You deserve nothing -- you earned the money and can now choose to spend it how you wish, but you don't deserve anything.

On the last Home Makeover program that I saw (the season ending episode -- very touching story and gave me a lot to think about), Ty tells this woman that she "deserves" this house. I agree that this woman, who had sacrificed a lot in order to take care of four boys (two of which were born with HIV), was an amazing example of self sacrifice and love. She had, out of pure kindness, adopted these three boys (the fourth was her own) and provided a home for them as best she could and suffered all kinds of discrimination and meanness from others. It breaks ones heart to think that there are those who would discriminate against children, even to the point of issuing death threats and bodily injury, just because they were born with a disease. Granted, HIV is scary and not well understood, but that is no reason to ostracize a child or an innocent angel who cares for that child.

I agree that this woman had done wonderful things and was deserving of praise and emulation. But the statement that she deserved a house fell on me like a spiked ball (it stung but then rolled off). And I thought again about what is it that we deserve. According to Jefferson and the Founding Fathers, we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, including the rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (or the opportunity to rise or fall according to our own industry). The original draft actually included the word Property instead of Pursuit of Happiness. I am not sure who decided that the wording should be changed, but I agree with that change. Property, or the ownership of property, is not a right of this citizenship. We believe in the free market system (with all its faults) that allows one to own property if they can find a way to afford it. The right to Property is thus earned and paid for.

So did this wonderfully generous woman earn the right to the property? I don't think so. She earned our respect and she is an example that others should follow, if not in deeds then at least in attitude. But she didn't earn the property. She didn't "deserve" it. That ABC was willing to reward her for her selflessness and give her this marvelous gift is laudable; although, ABC and its sponsors make money on this show -- the market system still rules here. That is not to say that I think they should stop. On the contrary, anyone with the means can afford to be generous and should be generous. And it usually transpires that by doing generous acts, the individual, group or company is more than compensated (either in monetary property or some other blessing) for their efforts.

Maybe I'm just being pedantic. Maybe she does, in a way, deserve some reward for her love. But I think that her reward is actually more closely related to her actions. She took care of these boys -- in the days and years to come, they will take care of her. And maybe, their story that touched the heart-strings of America (and thus made for very good TV) is how they helped to take care of her. Maybe.

As for the rest of you who just think that you are entitled to property (be it cars, jewels, houses, possessions of any kind, leisure time, higher salary, etc.), you need to start thinking. And then think again. You are entitled to nothing but what you earn from the sweat of your brow. And if your works are such that your deserts are not what you would want, then you need to review and revise your works. Ultimately, the lazy man will not eat the bread of the worker. The foolish will not be allowed admittance to the wedding supper. The sinner has no place in the Kingdom.

Of course, that leads me back to King Benjamin (grab a Book of Mormon if you don't know about him) and his statement about us all being beggars. Yes, in the end none of us deserves a place in the Kingdom. Paul explicitly put it -- We are all sinners and fall short. Justice would demand that we get our just deserts. And we deserve less than eternal bliss. But Mercy does intercede and He rewards those who are worthy of it. We don't deserve His Mercy, but he gives it to us anyway. He wants to give us this gift -- not because we deserve it but because He can purchase with His wealth what He wants. And He wants us to be happy and rewarded. Think about that for a while and then realize that our selfish attitude of deserts is out of sync with what is really true.

Happy Birthday, Father

2007-04-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

Today, April 30, 2007, my father would have turned sixty-nine. Apart from the overt references this number implies, I have always liked it -- I like things that have double entrendres attached to them. They are funny. But the number itself is also just interesting -- any number that is the same upside-down as upside-up is interesting to me. Similarly, I like words that read the same backwards as forwards (palindromes for those of you who are wondering). And the reason I mention these things, is that I acquired this taste for words and numbers from my father.

The turn of a phrase is a beautiful thing. And Dad loved to hear them, read them, and speak them. Being the eldest son in my family I think I got to see a side of my father that my siblings may not have had the opportunity to see. As an adult we did things together, including vacationed together (taking my wife and my mother along), participated in an investment club, served on Boy Scout Committees together, provided the music for the Priesthood Meetings on Sunday, and we communicated as equals (or more appropriately as those who respect the experiences and opinions of each other).

But to the point of today's musing, my father showed me the humor in words, numbers and people. We secretely smiled during the Sunday organ postlude music, noting that the beautiful "hymn" being played was in fact an operatic aria sung to a tree (see "Xerxes"). There is a line in a movie that to the question, "Do you have any money?" the responder states, "We have sufficient for our needs." On many levels, this is a very profound answer and one we should strive to understand and apply to our lives (either as an incentive to provide for more or as an attitude of being able to need less). But the humor is that the responder has no money at all, yet the response is accurate as he has no need for any.

I found myself seeing the beauty of the phrase turn in the Bible yesterday in Sunday School. The subject was the passage in Matthew where the Savior states, "Thou are Peter and upon this rock I will establish my church". The verse is widely misunderstood to mean that Jesus established His church on Peter -- and to an extent that interpretation is the basis for the authority of many churches today. But not only do they not understand the true meaning of the verse (the rock He references is the testimony that Jesus is the Christ, which is obtained by the Spirit -- thus, the rock of revelation about the bedrock of the Savior's calling), but in so missing the point, they miss the beauty of the turn of the phrase. Christ is employing a literary tool in order to make a point in a clever manner. It is marvelous. Yet, few people see it. If you look you will see that Christ does this with the language constantly (it helps to note the Hebrew as sometimes the sublties are unfortunately lost in the translation to English). He is a poet -- a title not often used in reference to Jesus. But if He provided for great poets in former and latter days, wouldn't He Himself also appreciate a good phrase? Where do you think all of those Psalms and Proverbs come from? If not God, whom?

I believe that my father taught me that if your addition of a series of numbers is off by a multiple of nine, you have mistakenly transposed one of the numbers in the series (all transpositions are divisible by nine). Granted, I surpassed his math education when I was a sophmore in high school, but that didn't mean he had nothing more to teach me. And more to the point, he and I could enjoy the equations and machinations together. He used to subscribe to "Games" magazine and while I wasn't always able to solve the problems, we had fun thinking about them together.

This pattern of spending time together and learning things started very early in my life. I can remember sitting on his lap reading the TV Guide with him when I was five-years-old. He would giggle that I could pronounce words like "emergency" and "psycologist" just fine, but would stumble on "broad" (I said "board") or "loading zone" (I said "landing zone" which made for an interesting visual image at the entrance of that particular building). I didn't have dyslexia -- my eyes were just reading too fast for my tongue.

He introduced me to Science Fiction and James Bond and so many other worlds. Someday, when my time to cross into the next life comes, I fully expect him to be there to help introduce me to that new world as well.

So, Happy Birthday, Father. You are sixty-nine -- let the giggling commence. Tomorrow is my birthday (I was born the day after my father's 29th birthday -- so you can do the math and realize why birthdays are on my mind). I'm not sure what I will do to celebrate -- maybe I should find a good book to read to my son.

What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it is all about?

2007-03-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

Daredevil Mom said some things that I have been thinking about a lot lately as well (I need to figure out how to link to her post...). She mentioned that various thoughts had been plaguing her mind and she just had to write them down. When I am in the middle of tax season (like now), the same thing happens to me. Random, often persistent and sometimes embarassing, thoughts return to me again and again. Maybe it is just my mind's way of rebelling against the constant barrage of tax returns and number crunching. I have relived old relationships (both the good and too often the bad), bemoaned the loss of contact with best friends over the years, thought about my father (particularly his relatively early exit from life due to a heart attack), tried to repent of past missteps, and revisited the promises I've made to my wife and son about being more available. And, of course, my best tax planning ideas come to me as I try to wake up in a hot shower (I have always found that to be very odd, but that seems to be where inspiration has cast its conduit in my house -- the master bath shower stall).

I have been able to make good (for at least a few weeks so far) on one promise -- even during my busiest time of year, I have been sure to be home by 6 ish on Fridays. This has been a good thing for many reasons. I am going to keep it up for as long as the busy season will allow (I imagine that come the first two weeks of April, I won't even know if it is Friday or not, let alone be home).

In the end, we have to choose what is most important and do it. There are a lot of good and bad things that clammor for our time. Make your choices and be ready to take the consequences. I chose to lose weight by joining Jenny Craig. I've lost nearly 40 pounds in the past year. But the downside is that I have become so accustomed to the low fat, low sodium, low calorie diet that when I do indulge, I become physically ill -- my body can't take it. Oh well. I have spent many years helping to develop a very successful tax practice. The downside is that outside of my immediate family I have no time for socializing activities. And my family is wonderful and I wish I had more time to spend with my brothers and sisters (their visits during the holidays are usually when I am buried with year-end tax planning).

Is it wrong to want it all? No, but it is unreasonable. There are 24 hours for every day. No more, no less. You do not have any more or less time than any other person on the planet. But how you choose to spend those hours, while completely up to you, will determine what you can accomplish. For Daredevil Mom, I say she is doing very well, especially as she is a single mother of 3 girls who are entering the teenage years (my hat is off to her -- I hope she realizes how much of an inspiration she truly is). She made choices. Some of the consequences of her choices are long lasting (i.e. parents take note -- children are yours eternally -- the consequences, while absolutely wonderful, are also long lasting). I chose to be an accountant many years ago -- the consequences are both lucrative and time consuming. Knowing that this life is what I chose actually makes it easier to do. I chose to be a parent. I have a strong feeling that in the pre-mortal realms I chose to accept being the father of a very sweet, but also developmentally challenged, little boy. If I were given that choice again, I'd make it the same way. I love being his father. The consequences are sweet and fulfilling, as well as frustrating at times. My wife and I have trouble leaving him with babysitters (mostly due to a lack of qualified individuals) and thus our "dates" are usually family outings. That isn't necessarily a problem, but I have pined to have more traditional moments with my spouse. No complaints; no regrets; just consequences of choices made.

Don't get me wrong -- I enjoy being a tax accountant, a father, a busy person. It is just that on March 22 at 2:30am, I'm a little tired. But writing tonight has helped to put the mind monsters back into their cages for at least a few moments.

Black History Month

2007-02-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

"To truly provide equality we must celebrate our differences." This is a paraphrase from a very respected performer, whose life story I am reading. He was raised in a suburb of Baltimore, worked his craft from childhood through high school, got a break to be a regular on a local TV show and then a national TV show in New York (living in various rent places, including Hell's Kitchen, which was an improvement over where he had been), got movie offers he had to turn down in order to fulfill prior commitments, and eventually became a huge international star, complete with a plush toy that was the Christmas gift that made everyone go crazy. The performer is Kevin Clash - the forty-six-year-old, six-foot, deep voiced, African-American male who is the hand and voice inside of Elmo. He was a puppeteer from the age of 4 or 5 and has made hundreds of puppets and Muppets that have delighted children and adults for about 40 years.

As the USA turns its attention to Black History Month and commercials and specials loom at us from every corner, I sometimes feel a little strange, like I'm being force-fed a dish that is supposed to be good for me. I do not consider myself a racist. In fact, I like to think that I am quite colorblind. It is true that I grew up in a middle class Northern California suburb in a middle class family. But being in California, our neighborhood and schools were not predominately any color -- during my senior year, the high school basketball team's starting line up had four different races (one white, two black, one Mexican, one Chinese). And the short Chinese kid was the one who could dunk the ball!

But the fact that I do recognize differences of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, etc. makes me wonder if I am not as open minded or colorblind as I would like to believe. There has always been a nagging little voice inside my head (one that I suppress as often as possible) that says things like, "Why isn't there a White History Month, too?" Maybe there should be. Or maybe there shouldn't have to be a need to have any kind of Color History Month. Maybe we should be learning, understanding, praising, and celebrating all of the colors ALL of the time. If our schools and our places of worship and our inward thoughts have to be channeled by a Congressional Decree, then maybe we have a lot further to go than we would like to think.

When we study history, we should study ALL of the history. All of the stories, the good and the ugly, have much to teach us. The Blacks, the Whites, the Christians, the Mormons (who are also Christian, but segregated in this list for the sake of illustration), the Jews, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Indians, the Muslims, the straight and the gay have all suffered, have all triumphed, have all had moments of great glory, have all had moments of great shame, and should all be understood. And the same can be said for any other group that I have not listed here. We shouldn't pretend that any part of it didn't happen (there were slaves from many nations forced to work here and many of our ancestors were both kind and cruel). We can't forget the sacrifices of those of all races, religions, etc. There were those who fought for the underdog who were not the same color as the underdog. There were those who stood up to oppression, often with deadly consequences. We must celebrate all of those who fought for justice and a better life.

Why can't we feel good about being different? Why can't we be comfortable celebrating with our brothers? Why can't we invite our brothers to celebrate with us?

The pettiness has to end. The "I'm right and thus you are wrong" has to end. The "we are great and thus you are not" has to end. That such foolish thoughts exist at all is mind boggling to me. I may not be perfectly colorblind, but I do know that we are all human. We are all brothers and sisters. The blood that flows through my veins is the same color as every other person on this planet. If we are any color at all, we are all hemoglobin red.

And from a religious standpoint, I am becoming more aware of the perfect sublimeness, subtleness, and awesome concept of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man (that would be the generic Man as in Humankind). We are, in a very literal way, brothers and sisters -- a family. There is nothing more nor less than this. And maybe like any family we have squabbles with each other; we don't always agree; we don't always like to get along. But in the end, we are a family that has to love each member or else we will not survive.

So Happy Black History Month! Here's to being different, unique and a beloved brother. The hurts and pains of the past should be forgiven, but not forgotten. And the heroes of this world should be celebrated -- not just today or during this month, but always. Please allow me to celebrate with you and please know that you are always welcome to celebrate with me.

Initial Musings

2007-01-25T18:47:00.000-08:00

This is a new adventure. I have no idea how often I will update this blog or what I will even talk about. If you are looking for the exceptional, I won't promise you will find it here. But I have been interested in just having a place to write my musings. If you find them interesting, great. If you want to comment, great. If you want to ignore me, great.

As the profile states, I'm an accountant. I specialize in tax accounting. I am married and have a son who has Down Syndrome and is Autistic. Yes, initially that would seem to be a strange combination, but we have found that it is not uncommon. There is evidence to suggest that both are linked to genetics. There has been a lot of talk about "finding a cure" for Autism. I will probably have to devote some time to that subject in a future post, but let me just note for now that there are no "cures". There are ways of understanding, methods for coping, and techniques for lessening the more destructive characteristics. But one does not "cure" something that is not a disease. And to say that Autism is a disease insults me for some reason. My son doesn't get insulted -- he just ignores you. But I feel insulted by the insensitive comments that are perpetuated by the uninformed and/or the ignorant. I won't say that I know everything, in spite of what my siblings will claim that I have boasted. But I will say that I try to learn before I speak too loudly. I am not always perfectly informed, but I do try. I guess I should be more tolerant of those who are also trying. I should probably be more tolerant of those who are not trying, too.

My life so far has been eclectic. While I am a tax accountant, I am also a musician (I sing and I used to play the trumpet fairly well -- the time to pursue all of my interests no longer exists and thus I no longer make the time to practice the trumpet, which is an informed decision, but one that does make me sad at times) and a lover of good books and good movies (and some not so good movies, but ones that are a lot of fun -- call them guilty pleasures). I have lived in or traveled to several different countries and am recently finding a great pleasure in taking cruises through NCL -- our family vacations have been to Alaska and Mexico recently and we would like to go to Europe and cruise through the Baltic capitals some day soon.

I am sure that more of my interests, lifestyle, background, family, and opinions will surface as we continue this journey of ramblings. But I will end for the moment as time is always going to be a major factor in this adventure.

But speaking of time, I will close with this thought -- we all have the same amount of time. What we choose to do with it is up to us. To say that we don't have time for this or that is just plain asinine -- what we must recognize is that we have time to do whatever we want. It is all a matter of choices. How we spend our time is our decision to make. Sometimes our past decisions monopolize our current time allotments, but again, we still made a choice at one point or another, for better or for worse.