Random Thoughts

--Some time ago I saw a Halloween flag (banner?) flying at half-mast.  What does it mean??!

--Being surprised about the weather is sort of a thing of the past, isn't it?  Because of the pervasiveness of the forecast (phones, etc.)?  Don't you kind of miss waking up to a totally unexpected snowfall?

--Having kids often just gives me an excuse to do the things I would have wanted to do anyway, e.g., keep to myself at parties, leave meetings early, keep refilling my plate at the dessert table, etc.

--I read about a baseball player whose kids' initials spell out his last name ("Barajas," I believe it was---I'm sure you read it on Laura's post, Melissa!) and became nostalgic for the days when our kids' initials spelled "ASM."  "SAM," I mean.  My determined brain has spent an inordinate amount (unauthorized by my consciousness, I might add---who's in charge here, anyway?)  of time trying to see what all of us could spell now.
  • Damms SJ (an independent South Jordan engineering company, specializing in dams, of course)
  • Ms. Dajsm
  • Ms. Jadsm
  • Sad jmms (the jams are sad because they were spelled "jmms")
  • Jams MDs (What it does when I take all 5 children in for a checkup)
  • Ms. Sam, JD (I really ought to get a law degree)
  • Or, if we are creative with our directionality, perhaps a message to the Social Security Administration: "WWJD, SSA?"

--I really hate the way most people sing the National Anthem.  Not YOU---I mean, not you normal audience singers, but the "soloists."  I also hate the way people clap and whistle when they hit their (inaccurate, unjustified) high notes.

--Niels Bohr said, "The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement.  But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth."  What do you think of that?  I think it applies to much of the seeming "paradox" in the gospel.  (Sam and I always look for paradox when preparing to teach something---as we were taught by my uncle and my dad, both physicists---so we have considered this often.)  Justice and mercy, to take the most obvious example.  I also think that someday these apparent contradictions will become clearly compatible, not contradictory at all, under the light of our greater understanding.

4 comments

  1. All you have to do to be surprised by the weather is to not look at the forecasts. That works very well for me. =)

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  2. Yes! I read that post.

    I could not agree more about The Star Spangled Banner. Thank you.

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  3. I take offence at that: a few years ago I was asked to sing the national anthem at the 4th of July festival in Hurricane, UT. However, as no one applauded my high note (I'm sure it was perfectly on pitch . . . ), perhaps I don't qualify for your criticism?

    Lydia and I are still cracking up about "WWJD, SSA?"

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  4. Rob was recently asked to participate in a problem-solving game in his MBA program. He was supposed to put together a number of 3-d puzzles in a timed period. He couldn't figure out how to assemble the pyramid puzzle like the picture, so he just balanced the pieces to make his own pyramid and moved on.

    The proctor said, "Well, that's not a solution we've seen before."

    "Is it WRONG?" Rob pressed.

    That's what came to mind when I read the Niels Bohr quote.

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