Number 11--More Christmas

It's been a wonderful holiday, filled with much merry-making and festivities with the family. Aside from the standard holiday flicks, I am privy to some new gems. We also watched plenty of soccer, a staple of any meaningful time off for me. Amid all of the television and laziness, I have also managed to do a spot of reading. Mostly, I continued my informal research into coral husbandry, which, by the way, is only growing more interesting to me. I also made fair progress in the novel I'm reading, "Harlot's Ghost" by Norman Mailer.

It's funny. I consider myself a reader, and even by objective measurements, I likely read a greater than average amount. Still, in a family of readers, it's tough for me, the ultimate competitor, to keep from feeling inadequate. Some of my family members read SO MUCH! My sister Val reads more than anyone I know. It's just not possible to keep up with her. I'm not trying, of course, but still, I can't help but compare myself to her.

I think that should be enough for now. Being still new to the blogosphere, I am still trying to figure out where the line of appropriateness is. I know that not many people read this, but still, I am uncomfortable putting into the public domain descriptions of my feelings which are of a sensitive nature. On one hand, I like the relative anonymity of the internet. I enjoy the feeling of releasing my thoughts out into the void. It's cathartic. On the other hand, in some cases, it's just not worth the risk. Thoughts on certain topics, especially those which are not fully formed, should be kept to oneself.

Number 10--Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I've had a migraine all day, and it's only started to mellow out in the last few hours. Oh, well. Better today than tomorrow (I hope it's gone tomorrow--and doesn't come back). I'm hanging out in the kitchen my Shannon and my mom. They're making cookies for Santa and I'm looking at cool corals for sale online. Wonderful!

I'm excited for tomorrow--not for the presents really (they certainly don't hurt, though), but mostly to spend the whole day with the family. They're the best and I love the crap out of them! With many of my friends having family that doesn't live close, I feel really lucky to have mine in the valley.

Enough for now. Happy holidays!

Number 9--Felt Like Writing...

...which is a bit funny by itself, considering that I've been writing my tail off for the last few weeks on a combined nearly fifty pages of legal papers. The blog feels awfully comfortable after that--a deep, cushy armchair of writing freedom. I can say whatever I want, leave out citations, mispell werds if I feel like.

It's been quite a semester, and I am very proud of myself for making it through. I love school, I really do. I'm sort of addicted to that "light bulb" feeling of learning something new. That said, this semester was horrible. Of five classes, I had one that I really liked, one I didn't mind, one I disliked, and two that I Hated. That's right. Capital H Hated. Oh, well. It's all over now.

In other news, the new frag tank is just about up and running. Well, it's up and running, but not properly. Maybe I will try and figure out how to post a picture of it. Never mind, posting a picture of the other tank instead. It looks way better. The frag doesn't even have anything in it yet.

There's a party tonight with my choir peeps, but it's all the way down in Draper. That's pretty far, plus there is a bunch of snow on the ground, plus I'm pretty burned out from the papers.

1. Natives, Plants, and Patents: Whether Bioprospecting Is Imperialism and Whether It Is A Problem
2. A Case for Coral: International Law and Coral's Own Austin Street Murder

Can you guess which of the two I enjoyed writing more?

Okay, enough of that. I'm done! Just have to clean up one more class, but I don't have to do that right away. It can wait until after Christmas. All right, enough rule-less writing for now. I am going to read something fun! Then I am going to go look at some coral!

Number 8--Church, Fantasy Football, Schoolwork

Had a very busy Sunday this week and failed to try out anything new. However, I did attend the ward of my choir director (we sang for his ward's Christmas program) and it was quite nice. Of course, the reason I liked it so much may have been because it was the Christmas program, meaning that there were no annoying speakers and there was a bunch of music. Oh, well.

In other news, I beat Nate in the last round of Fantasy Football. Here's a quick snapshot of the season.
1. Nate's team scored the most points over the course of the season. He finished in last place.
2. My team scored the second most points over the course of the season. I finished second to last.
3. Allie had the second most points scored against her. She finished first.

Long story short, Fantasy Football is a crapshoot.

In school news, I have very slowly been working on my final papers and I think they will be passable by next Tuesday, the due date. That's really all I want to say about them, except maybe to say, "Don't buy wild-caught corals! Really, pretty much every species can be aquacultured. There's no reason to be depleting the reefs!"

Number 7--General Update

Successful choir concert this evening. One down, one to go. I got a nice letter in the mail today from the First Presbyterian Church, thanking me for visiting last Sunday. They also included some pamphlets and information which was mildly helpful. I would recommend the church to others. Still, for me, it is not the answer.

Plans for this Sunday are still up in the air, but I would like to check out the Methodist church on Second South (on the corner of either Second or Third east), and I also want to learn more about the Universalist church. I will post more as I learn more.

In other news, the semester is winding down, and I still haven't made a proper start to my International Law paper. I have a bunch of material which I think will be good background reading, but I am still not sure what my thesis is going to be. It will be a stressful week or two figuring it all out.

It is snowing again tonight and the view over the valley is quite nice. I am hoping that it stays warm over the weekend and that we continue to get snow. I'm really starting to fell the holiday spirit, though that may only be due to the fact that someone in my building had started burning some holiday-scented candle. Still, Happy Holidays, World!

Number 6--Cold/Homework

Five degrees Farenheit outside. Brrr. Finally got a space heater to help thaw out my apartment. The thing was not even all the way out of the box before I was plugging it in and setting it to work. Good luck, little space heater!

In life, the routine has become pretty constant, but I am looking to break that routine tomorrow. I have papers due in two weeks, and I have spent the last week and a half doing absolutely no work on them. Tomorrow I plan to lay seige to the law library, beginning my research on paper number two and not quitting until I have a good foundation of an actual topic. I have been doing some half-hearted research, but I haven't read anything in sufficient depth to get any good ideas about a proper topic. No more! Tomorrow is my time! I will prevail!

Number 5--Babies

So I have been getting kind of excited about being a "blogger" and I wanted to go out and read other blogs. I wanted to bask in them and, even though those bloggers would not know, to call out to them across the internet, "Hello! We are one, you and I! We blog!"

Small problems, though:
1. I don't very many people with blogs.
2. Those I know that have blogs do not write as regularly as I would like.
3. It turns out I have little interest in reading the blogs of strangers, especially since 8 out of 10 blogs are about babies.

Don't get me wrong. I love babies. Still, give me a break. Here on Blogspot, I clicked the "Next Blog" link ten times in a row before I found a blog that was not dedicated either to a baby, to a set of children, or to a family. Again, I am not opposed to family, but when a person writes a blog about kids or their family, it reads to me like dry, uninteresting, neverending gossip. If you have any relevant and interesting opinions or stories that do not relate to your infant, I will read them. Not bitter, I swear. Just starved for decent reading material.

Number 4--First Presbyterian/Fantasy Football

I went to the First Presbyterian Church yesterday--the really pretty one on South Temple a block east of the Cathedral of the Madeline. It was quite nice, and quite similar to a Mormon service. Sure, the format was different and there were a bunch of little differences, but there were also a bunch of similarities. Some things about it I liked better than a Mormon service; some I liked less.

The thing that I find interesting now is that the few bits that troubled me did so not because I felt obligated to critique the service through an LDS paradigm, but because a few things that were said actually conflicted with what I felt inside myself. I found it to be very helpful. For example, in one of the readings, the congregation said something like: "God, you have promised us that we will all have salvation."

Certainly, this is a nice sentiment, but as we were reading this, the little lawyer in my head perked up. "Whoa. Hang on a second there. Not all, right? Surely there is some other requirement. Something that is required of us in order to earn that salvation. 'Lead a good life'--something like that?"

So I am glad I went, and I think that I will keep up the exploration. When I went to my regular LDS ward after the Presbyterian service, it felt like home. It was nice to be back. I still get bugged by the stupid things people there say, but what are you gonna do, right?

In other news, I won my Fantasy Football (FF) game against Allie, but I still did not make the playoffs. Despite my assertions otherwise, Nate assures me that I don't suck at it. There's just too much luck involved. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.

Number 3--Snow / Religion Part 2

Wow, a lot of wrecks on the roads today! Slow down, people! It's slippery out there!

I want to follow up my religion comments from yesterday. I have been thinking about this for a while now--maybe months. So, while I am only writing it down now, many of these thoughts are not new. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I am debating on what to do. I was thinking about checking out another church in the morning before going to my regular ward.

In my thoughts regarding what I believe versus what I know, I have determined that I know that there is a God, while I merely believe that Jesus is my Savior and that there is a prophet of God on Earth today. I don't think that this is necessarily a bad thing. I think maybe a comment I made in yesterday's post may have sounded misleading. I think that striving for knowledge is something that is part of life and so, would certainly be part of membership in a religion.

However, as part of that striving for knowledge, I think it is important to me to be well-informed, to see what else is out there, and to make sure that I know and choose what is best for me. Hence, the idea of visiting another church tomorrow.

After determining what I personally know and believe to be true, I have been trying to think about religion as broadly as possible regarding the "What's right/ What's right for me?" question. Eliminating atheism was simple, seeing as I know that there is a God. However, more difficult and complicated questions are consequently raised. Who is God? What, if anything, does he want from me? How has/does he manifest him/herself?

For answers to these questions, I plan on doing some reading, learning more about other religions, and figuring out what jives with what I currently believe. I am hoping that this process will lead me back to where I am, only with a firmer conviction that it is right/right for me.

Number 2--Religion

It's the last day of classes and finals begin next week. I wisely arranged my classes so that I would not have any finals this term, so I am feeling pretty good about my situation. I have to write two papers, but they are not due until the 22nd, so now, instead of outlining or working on those papers, I am going to write a blog post.

I have been thinking a lot about religion lately. I haven't exactly been having doubts about my current religion. Actually, I quite enjoy it. The problem that I've been having is that in church, I hear people say all the time "...and I know that [such and such]". As a stickler for words, I have always had a problem when people say that they know something as unknowable as whether there is a God, whether Jesus Christ atoned for our sins, whether a certain person is a prophet of God on the Earth today, etc.

If all these people had only said 'believe' instead of 'know', then I may not have come to this place of questioning. After all, I believe those same things. The problem is that I wouldn't say that I know those things. At least, not all of them. Hence, the questioning:

1. Is there something wrong with me?
2. Do I even believe these people who stand up in church and say 'know'?
3. Though I have never professed to know these things, are they things that I should know before proceeding further with my religious devotion?

My answers:

1. No, of course not.
2. No, I don't.
3. Yes. Even if I don't believe that other people truly know one thing or another, I should do my best to define what I know and to flesh out my beliefs.

I will post more later as I think about this more and bounce my ideas off other people.

Number 1--The Pilot

I am now on the blog bandwagon. I have chosen the Minima template. I hope that it is visually appealing to anyone who happens to be reading.

Why write a blog? Seeing as they are so popular, I was hesitant to begin one without a good reason. I pondered some of the possible reasons a person might write a blog. Very few of them seemed like good reasons to me, so I have decided to write this just for me--sort of like being pen pals with myself. I have read some other blogs which I enjoyed reading very much. However, even my favorites seemed at some point to cease being merely musings and seemed to begin to cater to the readership.

Dear Reader, if indeed you have found my blog, I hope that you enjoy my writing. I do not mean to hurt your feelings, but I am going to do my best to ignore you.