Tuesday’s Random Sampler

29 June 2010, 9:32 am by Giggles
Categories: Gospel, Happy Things, Random, Science & Tech

I have several small things that I’m just going to lump all together here rather than write a bunch of real small posts.

Saturday morning I woke up to check out the lunar eclipse. It was quite pretty. Then I went back to bed. Here’s a photo I took.

And this is a link to a photo on Astronomy Photo of the Day – A Partial Lunar Eclipse.

Speaking of photos. Considering all the photos I have taken of temples (small sampling) it was kind of interesting that I didn’t have a photo of the temple we got married in. So last week while we were in Utah we stopped by the Bountiful temple just at sunset and I was able to get these. Love them! Now to decide which ones to print for our house.


And of course this was the sunset. That really is the best view up there on the hill.

I was watching the Brasil/Chile game on Telemundo yesterday. At one point they showed a bunch of fans watching the game in Rio de Janeiro. The announcer than sang, “Brasiiiil, tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-laaa!” 😆

And finally, I have never laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe before like I did last night watching Last Comic Standing. Silent tear-filled laughter for several minutes. Funniest thing ever.

And you can check out a post about the Giles family reunion and our stop at the Grand Canyon on Ooh Shemo.

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Technology is not smarter than the user (usually)

28 June 2010, 10:50 am by Giggles
Categories: Science & Tech

When I was teaching elementary computers we did a lesson on how to use the spell check on a word processor. I wanted my students to understand that it could help them, but that it wouldn’t solve all their problems. So we looked at misspelled words that the computer would suggest different words for and they’d have to choose. We looked at words that were misspellings of the word they wanted but were actually other words spelled correctly (dessert/desert). And we looked at words that the computer would not know how to spell (a lot of names). It was all an effort to show them that technology isn’t that smart.

Last week I found another example of technology that doesn’t always get it right – our GPS, which we “lovingly” refer to as Map Man.

We were driving to Utah and took Map Man because we like knowing how far it is to things, not necessarily because we don’t know how to get to Utah.

We plugged in Mom & Dad Dennis’s home and asked it to tell us the fastest way to get there. It came back with directions that would take us through LA and Vegas, for a total of 1100+ miles and almost 16 hours driving. Um. Nope. xD

So I told it to find us the shortest route. After telling it that we didn’t want dirt roads it came back with something a little bit closer to the actual route we take, but still started getting very mad at us shortly after Flagstaff. :what:

Its fastest trip would’ve taken 16 hours (I think it gives more weight to interstates because its route was all interstate). Our fastest trip took 12.5 hours (and past the tractors with skeletons sitting on them. No idea what that’s about).

So see, it’s not always wise to put complete trust in technology. The user can often do better on their own.

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Two-Faced Bullies

25 June 2010, 3:13 pm by Giggles
Categories: Questions, Science & Tech, Venting

I recently came across this blog posting on the New York Times Motherlode from back in January – When Mommies Are Bullies. This particular quote from the end of it caught my attention:

I’ve also learned that someone who may aggravate me in the virtual playground, where one can opine in relative anonymity, might actually be likable when encountered in the real one.

This is something I have learned as well, over and over again. And yet it’s still something I do not fully understand. I’ve heard so many times that, “I’m not this way in real life,” or, “In person they’re real nice.” Why? Why when you give people a little bit of anonymity, or even just separation through a computer screen, do they feel it’s okay to be a complete jerk to people that they would never treat that way in person? What is it about the internet that seems to afflict so many people with split-personality problems? Their in person nice-ness just comes across as fake after seeing their on-line personality.

I don’t buy it. I am who I am, both on the computer and in person. And I don’t tolerate people who can’t be their true self at all times. Sure we all have the ability to say mean things to people, but if a person is only mean online, I tend to think that might be their true self and they’re just better at hiding it in person. It seems much more likely than hiding a nice person when they are online.

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Blessings will come

23 June 2010, 5:09 pm by Giggles
Categories: Gospel, Happy Things, Life

For me, this is something very important to remember. Blessings will come. But they do not always come when we think they should. When I was planning the time line for my life 15-20 years ago, it was going to be a very different life. But looking back now, the path it has taken has been a wonderful blessing.

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Happy Father’s Day

20 June 2010, 12:16 pm by Giggles
Categories: Life

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Defining a Good Book

15 June 2010, 7:56 am by Giggles
Categories: Books

:book: Last week I picked up and read (again), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As I was reading it I decided on a new way to define a good book.

For me a good book is one that really makes you think. It teaches you something new or makes you look at something in a new light or from a different perspective.

It can also be a book that pulls you in and doesn’t let you go till long after you finished. Those books that you just can’t put down. Or that 6 hours can pass and you feel like you just sat down.

And I’ve decided that another possible definition of a good book is one that you can enjoy just as much the second (third, fourth, …) time around as you did the first because while you already know the end from the beginning, you can now enjoy watching the intricate set-up being done to get you there. All the things you didn’t notice the first time around start to really stand out with subsequent readings.

And that’s definitely something you can say about the Harry Potter books. Rereading them is just as much a treat as reading them the first time. (I still got teary eyed about Dobby. Must remember a handkerchief for the movie.)

But it’s not something I could say about all the books I’ve read. Some I’ve read once, and while I enjoyed it that time, that was plenty.

How do you define a good book? What good books have you read lately?

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Favorite Hymns

13 June 2010, 6:48 pm by Giggles
Categories: Gospel, Happy Things

Music is powerful. It’s hard to imagine a world without music. :whistle:

When it comes to religious music, I actually mark my hymn book in similar fashion to my scriptures, highlighting the titles of favorite hymns or the lines that really stand out to me and give me much needed peace. I’ve written dates indicating events when a particular song stood out to me as well. These are the hymns that I’ve marked.

The numbers refer to the hymn book of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

  • #27 – Praise to the Man. The 3rd verse.
  • #29 – A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. The end of the 6th verse.
  • #85 – How Firm A Foundation. Particularly the 3rd and 7th verses.
  • #86 – How Great Thou Art
  • #97 – Lead, Kindly Light (although I like it better in Portuguese)
  • #98 – I Need They Every Hour
  • #100 – Nearer, My God, to Thee
  • #105 – Master, the Tempest is Raging. The 2nd verse.
  • #124 – Be Still, My Soul. Few things can calm my soul like this hymn.
  • #129 – Where Can I Turn for Peace? Sometimes I need the reminder of where to turn.
  • #130 – Be Thou Humble. Sometimes I also need a reminder of all the places I need to be humble.
  • #131 – More Holiness Give Me. This song sums up my years as a Relief Society president.
  • #136 – I Know That My Redeemer Lives. There are so many lines in this song that I just love.
  • #143 – Let the Holy Spirit Guide. I love the 2nd and 3rd verses.
  • #144 – Secret Prayer. The 3rd and 4th verses.
  • #145 – Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire. The 1st, 2nd, and 5th verse.
  • #152 – God Be with You Till We Meet Again. This is one that is associated with an event in my life. 8 October 2000
  • #165 – Abide with Me; ‘Tis Eventide. I like the last two phrases of the first verse.
  • #193 – I Stand All Amazed. I love the first person-ness of this song.
  • #249 – Called to Serve. Only it’s better in Portuguese because the chorus isn’t so repetitive. 15 March 2001
  • #259 – Hope of Israel. 7 November 1999
  • #284 – If You Could Hie to Kolob. I love the 4th verse. Honestly I do.
  • #295 – O Love That Glorifies the Son. Again, I like it better in Portuguese. 15 September 2000
  • #307 – In Our Lovely Deseret. The middle of the 2nd verse makes me laugh every time.
  • #319 – Ye Elders of Israel. 30 October 2000

What about you? What are some of your favorite hymns? Why do you like them?

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