So, my good friend James has a 2 year old daughter who is amazingly talented when it comes to Geography. Amazingly talented doesn’t even capture all of it - she’s astounding!!!
Anyway, they were all on Oprah on May 12th, 2008 - so I TiVo’d the episode and worked some magic to post the video online. Hopefully Google doesn’t shut it down since it’s only a small clip and not an extended version of the Oprah show.
One thing to note is that James is totally wearing the Association for Systems Management dress shirt that I designed and we all wore during 2007. Pretty funny way to send a shout out to your friends! I just wish he’d used the 2008 T-Shirt that I designed instead… Haha
So, I really wish I had some great hobbies… As I’m getting into the summer, I’m realizing that I spend a lot of time on the computer (partially work’s fault), watching TV, and reading. Now, reading is generally pretty productive and stimulating, but the other stuff really doesn’t do a whole lot for me. So, in the spirit of self-improvement, I am on a search for hobbies and/or things to fill my summer months with…
I don’t think I want to build a fancy, schmancy Nintendo Controller Coffee Table like the guys in the above video, but there has got to be something I could spend some time mastering and enjoying. I could always try photography again, but if I do I will need to talk with some others who are really talented or start reading a bunch of books (which only slows down the process of me getting involved).
Web development and things like that are totally out of the question, since I essentially hate programming. With that in mind, I’m always up for playing with new technologies, I just wonder if I really have the money to invest in things like that. Building computers makes no practical sense, and it also screams NERD pretty loudly. I would much rather find something universal that I can enjoy with or without a bunch of money, and something I can do with other people.
Anyone have any good recommendations? Seriously, I could use some help… :)
Hopefully this humors the rest of you like it humored me! Seriously, who spends the time and energy is takes to do something like this? I guess I won’t complain though since it does make me smile…
So, I completely abandoned Pyxlin recently… I abandoned it because I was pointed towards LDSJournal.com, which I consider a better solution to my needs. Not only is it free, but I like how easy it is to use, without the obnoxious wait times and such that I experienced with Pyxlin’s site. Pyxlin was great, and I don’t regret the money I spent to get a year subscription (it was cheap, and I wrote daily), but that’s all a sunk cost now that I see something that meets my needs in a better way.
Few examples:
LDSJournal.com runs much faster because it doesn’t run on the silly platform that Pyxlin uses!
Pyxlin:
LDSJournal:
As you can see, posting on LDSJournal is very similar to posting on your blog. I don’t have to worry about the silly typesetting thing that gets really annoying.
You can also use Firefox spell checking (see above picture for red squigglies), which you could not do in Pyxlin… You were instead forced to use their retarded spell checker.
LDSJournal also allows for footnotes (images and such) as well as journal addendums that can be time stamped differently to show that you went back to old journal entries and had thoughts that you wanted to share. This could be really neat for reviewing your journal at the end of the month or end of the year. You could go in and explain how certain thoughts became really important to you as the month went on and how different experiences may have shaped what you decided your next steps in life to be.
I also don’t have to have silly chapters and things in my LDSJournal. Everything is associated with a date (see the calendar on both the image above and the one below that lets you know when you’ve made an entry), and when I decide to print something (the functionality for that is forthcoming, but I’m faithful since I’ve already seen development since I moved to their service) it will be set chronologically without hassle. Apparently they are also working on the “tag” feature I would really like, which would allow me to print a different journal just based on entries with spiritual experiences or confessions of love (cheesy!).
I also like that it tells me right at the bottom what my most recent journal entries are and the dates associated with them. This just makes it a little easier for me to keep track of my progress with an actual idea of what I wrote about based on the entry title.
Anyway, this is my new recommendation! Certainly check it out (it’s FREE). I encourage everyone to keep a journal for a bunch of reasons:
It helps you process what you did during the day
It is great for thinking through whatever you are experiencing in life
I often have my “A HA!” moments as I’m writing in my journal, and those really help shape my life
It’s sort of recommended by the Prophets and Apostles…
