Inigo Montoya You killed my father. Prepare to die. This is what I had on my name badge when I ran into the Bishop at the LDS-sponsored community service event last November. I know he looked at it, and I’m not sure what passed through his head as we parleyed about my family’s departure from [...]

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Most Western showers (at a length of about 10 minutes) waste 60 gallons of clean, potable water. [I have no idea where that number came from or how accurate it might be.] In contrast, a “Navy shower” can use as little as 3 (I’m sure I use more than that when I do it). Although [...]

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I’ve been reading, perhaps ad nauseum which could be my issue, the debate of theist and atheist apologetics regarding the source of ethics. The debate can be summarized as follows: Theist: Atheists cannot be ethical without resorting to theist arguments. Therefore, God. Atheist: Theists don’t understand the Euthyphro dilemma. God and morality cannot both exist. [...]

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There wisdom in the following quote from the Buddhist monk, Matthieu Ricard, but I’m a bit disturbed by it as well: We want the world to allow the unconditional fulfillment of all our aspirations. And since this does not happen, we fall prey to suffering. Our search for happiness is more often founded on our [...]

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When I was a kid, vacation with my mom & dad meant getting up at the (butt) crack of dawn to hit all of the museums/churches/historical sites within driving distance. Going to bed and getting up the next day to do it all again. I always felt that I needed a vacation after such a [...]

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I’m finding that I like the spouses of the leading Democratic presidential candidates better than the candidates themselves. I was impressed with the following YouTube videos: Elizabeth Edwards eloquently rip Ann C**lt*r a new one (I’ve tried to not give Ann any publicity on this site). Michelle Obama stumps for her husband on Clinton turf [...]

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Harry and Hermione. In less than fifty hours, an era will draw to a close with the release of the final book in the Harry Potter series. So far it’s been heralded by supposed electronic copies available via torrents and spoilers, complete with page numbers on the Wikipedia entry (Jana tells me that it’s taken [...]

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One of my sisters & I have discussed the fact & agreed that we are, in fact, of different generations, even if she only has 10 years on me. The Brazen Careerist has come up with an amusing test for identifying cultural generation based upon (perhaps biased) current-culture abilities and knowledge-sets (copied whole-sale from the [...]

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I was listening to Gimon& Sarfunkle recently and one of my favorite songs came on: Old friends, old friends: Sat on their park bench like bookends. A newspaper blown through the grass Falls on the round toes Of the high shoes of the old friends. Old friends, winter companions, the old men Lost in their [...]

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I’ve noted before that I do judo. I work out in my brother-in-law’s garage, which we call an “invitation-only” dojo, since none of us pays dues (although we donate our services to their family, I built the jungle gym in their backyard, as well as Tiger Balm to the dojo at large). In the adult [...]

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