Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Verbal photo #2

Here's another verbal photo. I'm trying my hand at writing by creating photos with words, painting pictures that form in my mind. It's a little nerve-wracking posting these for public scrutiny. So take it for what it is, amateur writing. Actually.. an attempt at amateur writing!

The moving truck

The moving truck sat on the side of the road, sighing into the chilly night. If you didn't know better you'd say it was bored. A thousand families moved, a thousand nights just like this one, sitting under a lone street lamp, while a family loads its worldly possessions into a 14' x 10' canister.

The air inside the dark compartment of the truck held a hint of history. The dust that had collected on the floor wanted to tell you interesting stories about the families that had left it behind. However they weren't well remembered, these families. The truck remembered them only as a sequence. And tonight would be no different. Tonight's family was number eleven hundred and fourteen. There was nothing special about the house it sat in front of, or the contents now tucked neatly in it's cavernous belly. Nothing particularly noteworthy at all, for the truck.

It was quite a different story for the lone straggler standing inside the giant metal container. He was looking sadly at the neat columns of boxes and the tetris-like precision of household goods stacked on top of each other. They were all packed into a near-perfect cube, barely visible by the dim light of the streetlamp. None of it held any value for this visitor. Although all of it together was priceless. A representation of two and a half years of rewarding friendship.

As he hefted himself down from the back of the truck, he looked up the steep driveway and could see the family he had come to help, standing tired now in the lit garage, sorting the last niggling things as night weighed heavily on all of them. To most others the scene in the garage would be a forgettable one. But to our visitor it was something special. These were his good friends.

Muted voices floated down the driveway and rolled to a stop near his feet. He realized he may never again see these friends, who so quickly became important to him. And who will so quickly be gone.

He's happy for them, of course. He always is. But inside, a feeling of irreplaceability stretches from his gut, into his throat, where it forms a lump that he can't ignore. He tries to shake it off, but not before the moisture in his eyes finds its way onto his sleeve. He wants to rush up the driveway and grab them all in a heartfelt hug.

Instead, he turns to the moving truck, and with an acquiescent sigh, considers that perhaps it knows best how to deal with these things.




Monday, October 13, 2008

Have you ever conteplated this?

It's exactly the sort of thing I try hard NOT to contemplate. Especially on a Monday. But what can I say, I'm not always successful..




Sunday, October 12, 2008

Verbal photo #1

I've been wanting to try my hand at writing. But never quite sure what to write. So I decided to start by using words to form pictures. Pictures that I see in my head, but could never capture with a camera. I figured that's a first step. Next would be, yes, telling an actual story.

Here's my first photo. I'm going to play with this and see if anything comes of it. Obviously, you're welcome to enjoy them too. Leave a comment and let me know when I can quit my day job..

Waiting for dinner

The recorded voice of a female jazz singer tries repeatedly to pop up over the sizzle of meat frying in the kitchen. It fails more than it succeeds. But it's enough to give me the impression of music in the room. Punctuated by an occasional trumpet note vaulting overhead and landing squarely in my ear, the day feels lazy. The air is as relaxed as I am. I'm lulled into a near-nap by the comforting sounds of life in my house, and more specifically, my wife working in the kitchen.

The smell of her cooking has been hiding around the corner, building strength, preparing to pounce me in a single rush. When it hits, it targets my nose first. Which instinctively stands at attention and surrenders all will. Soon my tongue finds itself salivating to the aroma that wasn't there 10 minutes ago. And my stomach becomes keenly aware it has been neglected for, well, at least an hour now. What at first seemed like a simple wait for dinner, has now turned into a concious effort to remain seated and not move into the kitchen to circle like a shark.

I understand sharks better now, though.

I distract myself by admiring the light that plays its own symphony on the stained oak in my living room. The stark sun in diagonal lines and sharp edges is a welcome straggler. Who can explain why he's still here in October? I don't know, and I don't care. I'm just glad he hasn't made an exit for the winter. Yet.

Then, from accross the room, "Amor, rapido! Vai esfriar.." Come quickly. It will get cold. I look over to find the table set and dinner ready. Couldn't I have at least set the table? Of course I could have, if I hadn't been so engrossed in my own thoughts. I jot a mental note for next time, 'don't let Camila do all the work'.




Sunday, October 05, 2008

My gratitude

In my Church's General Conference this weekend, gratitude has been a resounding central theme. This morning our Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, spoke again of gratitude, saying "If a lack of gratitude is one of the greatest offenses to the Lord, the expression of Gratitude takes its place as the greatest virtue."

I've seen a lot of blog posts where the author lists 100 things they've done in their life. I thought I'd take a different approach on that theme in the spirit of gratitude, and list 100 things I'm greatful for.

In no particular order...


And no guarantee that I'll make it to 100...


  1. My wife

  2. Her wonderful laughter

  3. Her simple, sincere, and honest heart

  4. My family

  5. The wonderful example of my grandparents.

  6. Growing up almost poor, and the lessons I learned from that.

  7. Achieving a college education, and having to pay for it almost all on my own.

  8. Being called to Portugual to serve my mission for the LDS Church

  9. Speaking a second language (Portuguese), and almost a third (Spanish)

  10. My relationship with God.

  11. My understanding of the Gospel of Christ.

  12. Having a home.

  13. Having a few material possessions..

  14. .. But not having too many.

  15. Being able to appreciate what I have by traveling to places where people have nothing.

  16. Being able to travel.

  17. My first amazing year with my wife, and the 5-ish months that I spent with her in Brazil during that time.

  18. My company at the time, Business Objects, letting me take my laptop to Brazil and work remotely so I could be with my wife.

  19. My wife's culture and upbringing.

  20. My sisters, so different as they are, one from another (are we still sure we're all biologically related???)

  21. My parents, and that they're still married. Not because they shouldn't be. Rather because there is so much divorce in the world. Rare to see couples hitting 40 years together like mine did recently.

  22. My cousins, who never cease to impress me.

  23. My friends, having so many from so many walks of life

  24. Having friends more mature and wise than me, who like me anyway and put up with my shinanegans

  25. My ability to easily meet people (I thank my Mom for that one)

  26. Having a Mom who thinks I'm the greatest. Still..

  27. WAKEBOARDING!!

  28. Hang-gliding, even though I don't do it any more.

  29. SCUBA!!!! LOVE IT!!!

  30. For nieces and nephews I wouldn't trade for any others in the world

  31. My friend Agnes, for reminding me each year to celebrate another year of life since our terrible motorcycle accident in '87.

  32. That I survived that terrible accident, and have almost NO negative effects from it.

  33. For living in a free nation

  34. For soldiers willing to die to protect my freedoms

  35. For the lessons I've learned from credit debt, and since then, having gained the wisdom to live within my means

  36. For the scriptures, both the Bible and the Book of Mormon

  37. For my guiding principles

  38. For challenging neighbors like Bill who give me the opportunity to develop patience, and practice forgiveness

  39. For Camila's patience with me!

  40. For blogging

  41. For C-O-M-M-E-N-T-S I receive on my blog!! (hint-hint)

  42. For a job, in the midst of our current economy

  43. For career skillz that keep me employed.

  44. That I had the wisdom to bail out of Business Objects when I did. Read some history on that in these two entries.

  45. That my current job is less than 5 miles from my house.

  46. For discovering the joy of triathlons. (Did I really just use the word "joy" to describe tris??)

  47. For living in an age of whizzy technologies. (Think Napolean Dynamite "I love technology" song)


Unfortunately I'm not going to make it to 100. If you've read this far I'm impressed! There are probably 100 things, easily, that I'm thankful for, but these are all I'm coming up with at the moment.




Thursday, October 02, 2008

Desktop background switcher


I said it in an earlier post, and I stand by it: Sheee-oooooot! Da-gum-it this is cool!

I've been using John Connor's free background switcher, and just downloaded his latest version.

I love it when someone makes something awesome, and it JUST WORKS! In John's case, he makes a cool software tool that displays pictures on your computer's desktop. His switcher pulls fotos from almost anywhere you store them on the web, and throws them up in almost any design you can imagine. His latest release does postcard style fotos, as shown below.



I push his switcher to the limit. I use two monitors on my computer, each with a different resolution. I use a laptop, so I have a number of preset monitor configurations and each configuration has a slightly different set of resolutions. Nothing his switcher can't handle though. The sceen shot above is from my desktop. You can see the Taskbar across one of the monitors, and that both monitors have different images on them.


Cool? Yes it is. Download John's background switcher by clicking here! While it is completely free, John is a regular joe (well, 'john') trying to make a buck. So if you enjoy his tool, he has provided a link here to donate via PayPal...

In addition to his switcher, John shares lots of good photography "wisdom" on his site, to help the less-adept... Like ME!

Thanks John, and GREAT TOOL!