Resolution For 2012

Do you make new year resolutions? I have in the past, but after a few years of not accomplishing them I gave up.

Then I went to the TOFW last month, and have since bought the DVD.  The talks on there were just what I needed.  Not for a new year resolution, but for a new life.  Also, I'm not waiting until 2012 to start, I already have started, in small ways.

For the most part of this, I'm posting on the Widowed Connections Blog, as I am hoping there may be some other widows who are at the point that I'm at and wanting to join in, or widows who have already done this and can offer support and advice.

Wish me luck!

http://widowedconnection.blogspot.com/

The Lost Art of Thank You Notes

Nativity Video

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ran a video during the Christmas Devotional that depicts the Nativity. An article on the Church's blog also gives a little bit of the story behind the video, including a video with interviews of the cast of the video.

Here is the video titled "A Gift To The World"



Here is the video from the blog:



There are more Bible Videos available to view and even download with an app. Here is the link: Bible Videos

Here is the link to the blog article: Actors Share Nativity Experiences

President George Albert Smith

Learning from the love and leadership of President George Albert Smith during this time of turmoil in the world is brilliant.

President Smith served in leadership positions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during and after WWI and assisted in the post-war relief efforts, served as an Apostle of Jesus Christ during the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression, and became the Prophet of God at the end of WWII to oversee the Church's efforts in relief after the affects of War.

What can we learn from him? A lot.

I found a few videos of him on YouTube, many thanks to the posters. By the way, if you would like a hard copy of this video, the Church released it some years back on DVD called Presidents of the Church.

Wedding Rings

Lately things have been very tumultuous in my life. My finances have hit rock bottom, which has brought renewed bouts of depression and anxiety. Getting sick over Thanksgiving wasn't the greatest either.

The straw breaking the camel's back for me was the passing this past weekend of my "grandmother". This was a sweet woman I've gotten to know over more than 30 years. These last several years I've been her Visiting Teacher and I loved visiting her. She never judged me, she just loved me. No matter what.

In tears of joy for her reunion with her eternal companion as well as tears of sadness that she won't be around to talk to anymore, I felt I needed some extra help. I put my wedding rings back on, and along with praying for the peace from the Holy Ghost, I've also been praying for some peace from my eternal companion.

This is what having an eternal marriage is, and what the world does not understand. Sacred unions honored by God continue after death. I can't see Decker, but I can feel him.

Last night, with the rings on, I slept better than I have in months.

Today, with the rings on, I've had more peace in my heart than I've had in months.

Some of the financial mess I've been in is starting to miraculously work out.

The rings will be staying on for a while. (Smile)

Perspective

Kris is so hilarious.

Stories

I can always appreciate new ways of telling old stories and histories.

This is so me. Really.

Gratitude for the little things in life...

What Would Your Sign Say?

How Many 13 Year Olds You Know Can Do This!

Source: From CNN

New on QVC

This Is Halloween

No Brainer?

You would think using land that had been historically set aside to house veterans would be a no brainer in housing the homeless veterans in the Los Angeles area, right? Not if our own government has anything to do with it. Link: Homeless Veterans

Stanford Commencement, 2005

RIP Steve Jobs

More New Music

I'm finally catching up to listening to the music I've been buying the last few months. LOL. I LOVE this CD. My recommendation so far: Light of Hope from Mercy River Link: Women of Hope

Lovin The Music!

Now playing on my iPod and Computer! Too fun! Link: Popcorn Popping

Daughters in My Kingdom

Here is the video telling a little more about the book profiled in the Relief Society General Broadcast this evening. It's available on the www.lds.org web site as a free download.

General Relief Society Broadcast

In case you missed it, or would like to see it again. President Uchtdorf's talk at the end will require hankies.

From The Other Side

I saw this CNN article on people who have been visited by the deceased. I don't personally believe they are saying goodbye, but rather to let the living know they will always be there to watch over and help those whom they loved during their mortal life. I've had experience with this, with different loved ones in the course of my life, and it's always been a sense that these people are watching over me, including Decker. Do Loved Ones Bid Farewell From Beyond The Grave?

Pulmonary Embolism

In case you are wondering, Decker was misdiagnosed as having a heart attack when he died. An autopsy was ordered by the police, and it was discovered to not be a heart attack but a Pulmonary Embolism brought on by Deep Vein Thrombosis. This is another medical condition that doesn't have to be fatal if it is diagnosed and treated properly.

Atrial Fibrilation

Here's a few videos from Barry Manilow on AFib.

Barry Manilow Talks About Atrial Fibrilation: MyFoxNY.com

Here's the link: http://www.GetBackInRhythm.com/

PCroissant

If you've never had one of these (I have mine without the coffee), you're tastebuds have missed out. Terribly. My favorite? The one filled with Bavarian Cream. Yum. Website: http://www.pcroissant.com/

Books, books and more books

I've been on a reading spurt lately, but I'm enjoying it. The Facebook games have their diversions, but a good book can take me to new places in the author's mind or memory without my feeling I'm rotting my brain on something mindless. The latest book?

So Many Heroes

KristyJackson.com

In Case People Are Wondering...

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. The school year has started and I've been walking around feeling like my head is stuck in a tornado. LOL. Someone has taken the stopper off of the bottle of pandemonium in my life. I have updated the books read over the summer at the bottom. I'm slowly getting there.

Playing On The iPod

This brings back memories, but in a weird way also reminds me of Pride and Prejudice.

For Those Who Remember Vinyl Records

Reality TV

Reality television shows aren't all they appear to be...

Your Happily Ever After

This is a wonderful little book, designed to inspire.  It only took me about 1 hour to read it, but yes, I did cry in a few areas.  I hope you'll be able to get your hands on a copy of this book and enjoy it yourself.

U.S. History 101

I've said this before:  Those who don't bother to learn history will often be the ones repeating it.  I wonder what kind of grades the leaders in the White House and Congress (both parties) got on their history lessons?

Article:  Broken Trust from CNN

Women and Technology

There's a lot I agree with on this blog post (warning:  there is a swear word at the end.):

Forbes: Why Women Shouldn't Go To Tech Conferences

Gorgeous Greek Islands

This is what Greece needs to be using to help get itself out of the debt it is in.  Unfortunately, given there were reports coming to the U.S. of our citizens being abducted in Greece (and that was before their economic crash with rioting in the streets),  this means tourism is going to get hurt.  Greece is one of the culturally rich countries, I really do hope they can get themselves stabilized and begin to flourish once again.

Gorgeous Greek Islands on CNN

Heritage Products

Out of full disclosure, I will tell you this company has been started by a friend of mine.  I will also tell you, Heritage Products' medallions are beautiful.

Here's the link:  http://www.heritagemedallions.com/

Arizona State Tourism

Why One Good Teacher Decided To Quit

There are a lot more great teachers leaving education, even more leaving the high needs schools than people realize.




From CNN

Firebolt - BYU Divine Comedy

This is too cute!

A True Hero

We tend to have idol worshipping syndrome in the world today, but I'm glad there are still those who understand true heroism.  I didn't find any objectionable language in these clips, hopefully these will be something to share with the kids. Leroy Petry is somewhat descriptive, however, in his wounds.

To those serving in our armed forces, the veteran and active, and the families supporting these brave men and women, thank you.

Part 1:

The Daily Show - Exclusive - Leroy Petry Extended Interview Pt. 1
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Part 2:

The Daily Show - Exclusive - Leroy Petry Extended Interview Pt. 2
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Mormon Messages On Temples

Again, these are available for free download on iTunes.

Mormon Messages

I'm loving the Mormon Messages. I haven't gotten through all of them yet, but I'm getting there.

Did you know that some of these are available for free download on iTunes? Click here for the link on iTunes.

Great Idea For Primary Next Month

I'm so glad the Church has released this movie on YouTube!  For the uninitiated, this is Johnny Lingo, a movie about self-esteem.  It's a great movie.  There's an updated version on DVD, but be sure to get the deluxe DVD combo pack if you buy it, as that contains this original classic.

Next month's Primary Theme is "My Body Is A Temple".  Self-esteem factors into this quite a bit.  It would be a good movie to show the kids.

Shocking - But Yet Not

And the most shocking?  I had a higher opinion of Rupert Murdock - only to find he's trying to save face, and I had a low opinion of Hugh Grant (let's face it, he's no angel) - only to find I admire him more.

The News of The World Hacking Scandal

Arizona Monsoons

If you've lived or currently live in a desert area, you'll know what I'm talking about here. Last night we had a rather large and ferocious dust storm, followed by the lightning later through the night. When these things come, the best thing to do is get inside. Fast. If you're out on the road pull off to the side and turn off the lights and wait it out.

Pictures and more can be found here: azcentral.com

The Beast

If you didn't know yet, I like to call my MacBook Pro "The Beast". This thing can devour data like you've never seen and turn it into polished gold.

Yesterday I took The Beast to Primary to show the video I made for I Love To See The Temple. Everything was going fine. Took it home, checked my Facebook and email before shutting the lid and putting it into sleep mode for some much deserved rest.

Last night I came back to the computer, but when I opened the lid, the desktop didn't come back on. I checked everything, but nothing was working. I held the power button down and hard booted the computer. It tried to start but couldn't get past the indicator lights turning on before it shut down again.

After using the "pull the battery out to reset" trick, it still was giving the same problem. Thankfully, I have my HP Windows laptop, so I pulled it out and went to the site for my local Apple Store and made an appointment with a genius.

I went today, and found out it was the power supply card that regulates the power to the machine. I've seen these go out before, and they are fixable, but I was worried that since I purchased my laptop in 2008 they wouldn't fix it. I looked online, and with my educator discount it would still cost me $2500 to buy a new laptop, and it wouldn't have the features I've enjoyed with this one.

Thankfully, they can fix it and they are. It's no longer under warranty, so it will cost me between $300 to $1,100 to fix, but it's still better than having to spend $2500 to buy a new laptop and the amount of time it would take for me to re-install all of the software.

Now if you're wondering why I'm not freaked out about losing the stuff on the laptop?

It's because I bought and use a Time Capsule in my home. It not only handles the wi-fi in my home, but also has an external hard drive that does automatic backups of my laptop. Since I didn't do much work on it on Sunday, there isn't much that would have been lost if I had to replace The Beast.

But, all in all, I'm so thankful that I will be getting The Beast fixed and it will hopefully last a while longer to continue to devour more information. In the meantime, the PowerPoint I was going to make is going to have to wait until I get the laptop back. Hopefully it should only take a few days.

Happy Independence Day, America! From, China

A very insightful article about the trade deficit and what our import money to China is paying for.

From CNN

How Do You Feel About This?

Seriously. I have some bad feelings about having singing "celebrities" actually being computer generated. In a world where we have kids whom cannot distinguish the difference between what's reality and what's fiction (tv reality shows don't help), now people want them to idolize someone who is a computer generated person?

What kind of a lifestyle is this "person" going to have? What kind of morals are they going to espouse? Do you see where I'm going here?

iTunes Festival

If you can't make it to Coachella or any of the other festivals, Apple has an online one for you. Here's the link: iTunes Festival

Zynga's IPO

If you're not into the business world, an IPO is an Initial Public Offering for stock. Zynga, which has been a privately run company until now, is going public. As in $1 Billion (with a B) IPO.

Source: Wired.com

If you're not into Facebook, then you've probably not seen much of Zynga. They are the Farmville, Cityville, Cafe World, Mafia World... (etc.) people. I do the first three and not very well. I was trying to make my city in Cityville to look like Walt's version of Epcot, but it requires too much land. No wonder Walt was so secretive about buying up all that property in Florida.

$1 Billion is a lot of money, however for the amount of revenue it brings in on it's games, it's a fair estimate of what it can raise.

Congrats to Zynga and good luck with the IPO!

17 Miracles

I saw this movie yesterday, it's very, very moving. A great movie, just be sure to bring the Kleenex. And yes, the miracles haven't ended...

On The Heels of Escala Comes...

Sterling EQ:

I Love To See The Temple

In May I began receiving emails on my YouTube account, asking if I could make the Praise To The Man video in a downloadable format. What I didn't know was that the hymn was the song for May's Sharing Time in Primary. I started realizing that what I had made could make an impact.

Then, three weeks ago, I got called to be the pianist for my Ward's Primary Organization. Due to Stake Conference, this past Sunday was my first Sunday to play. Note to self: practice more on the piano. :-)

After the block of meetings, I spoke with the chorister and thought, this next month (July) is going to be on the Temple. Surly I could do something with that! And yes, I have.



I have the above video available for download at this link: I Love To See The Temple

For those who are also doing the Sharing Time, I made the picture of the Tabernacle of Moses. I couldn't find it anywhere on lds.org.

It's not exactly to scale and probably not at all the right colors, but the concept is there.

A better version can be found in the Church's video "Between Heaven And Earth". If you don't already have this in your library, buy it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have over the years.

Here are a few snippets I found someone else had posted on YouTube:



Solomon's Temple:

If you would like to teach children a little about Family History as part of July (Pioneer Day is just around the corner), I was part of a Stake Project a few years back called Turn Your Hearts (please see the link at the top of the blog page). This includes a workbook designed to teach children how to gather information on their family, starting with themselves.

There is more to come, so please stay tuned and I'll update you when the next phase of the Temple project is finished!

Praise To The Man

For those of you who haven't seen this yet, yes, I made this video a few years back (I remember President Hinckley passed away while I was finishing the video) and posted it on YouTube. I didn't identify myself at the time, I just thought I'd put it out there using a username that wouldn't identify me really well, and see what happened.

Little did I know how things would work out with this video.

I've made a new video, for July's Primary Sharing Time on the Temple, which I will be posting separately.

Enjoy.

What Is Your Calling In Life?

This is a fantastic talk by Jeffrey Thompson at BYU.

The one thing I will add to this, though, is that my calling in life has changed with the major changes that have occurred in my lifetime so far.

Ultimately, our calling in life is to return to Heavenly Father, however what is His will for us can change depending on the seasons of our lives.

Perfect

Thank you, Pink, for writing this song, and for the video that makes me cry, particularly at the end.

Because of the paparazzi trying to get photos of her new daughter (link: Pink's Official Web site), she and her husband had a studio picture taken and released to the press with the money going to charity. Link: People Magazine

My congratulations to the new parents!

Hope For Barry Manilow?

Who's going to say it if it ain't me, right? LOL.

Explain It To Me: Mormonism

This is from CNN.

This Would Be Rachel

Pottermore Is Now Open!

Very, very clever and very exciting! Click on the link below and enter your email address (if you can get through, they are a little overwhelmed at the moment).



Pottermore Web Site

Jane Austen And Her "15 Minutes" of Fame

If you've been reading my blog for a while, I posted on April 30th about the books I had bought and the book I've been reading. I haven't finished it yet, I'm at the point where she is writing Emma.

Link: The Aroma of Books

I'm still finishing up with the biography of Jane Austen, but as I read through the chapters of the publication of Sense & Sensibility and later Pride & Prejudice, I was struck by something. As you've noticed, Barry Manilow has come out with a timely CD that talks about what happens when you become famous. The CD is called "15 Minutes". It's a CD (and a story) worth looking into.

Jane Austen's biographer, through letters and journals of Jane Austen, her family and friends, gives the reader a glimpse into what transpired during the publication of these now-famous novels. I do need to dispel a few myths, though, before I do.

Myth #1: Females were not allowed to be published authors during Jane Austen's time.

Fact: This is not true. There were a lot of female authors during that time period, with Jane reading books from both male and female authors.

Myth #2: Jane Austen was not credited with authoring Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice until after her death.

Fact: This was also not true. Her book, Sense & Sensibility was published "By A Lady" in order to protect her from the harsh criticism Jane and her family feared she would get from the novel. Instead it met with much praise (although not all critics liked it) and word got out with a few select people that Jane had authored the novel.

When Pride & Prejudice came out, it became a huge hit. Although it was also said to be authored "By A Lady" and the author of Sense & Sensibility, at this point, even the family members were bragging about who had authored the book, so it was pretty much no longer a secret, not only in the village of Chawton where they lived, but in London also.

Due to this, Jane was confronted with fame, as well as more money than she had ever had in her possession. How did she handle it?

Based on the biographer, Jane was very concerned about both. She was in her late 30's when Pride & Prejudice came out and her identity exposed to the world. Her brother, Henry, lived in London and had been the one handling her publishing affairs. When she went to see him, she found herself with money, and with people calling on her. Some she admired, some she didn't.

She found herself having to be very cautious as to how she handled things. She was no longer someone who could sit anonymously in a room, she was a part of the crowd, who was expecting her to give her opinion on all manner of topics.

She found that she could keep her feelings on things in the world reserved herself, but allow her characters in her stories to speak for her. After all, it was simply a fictional story.

As for the fame, she enjoyed it at first, but quickly tired of it and actually longed to be back home in the peace of Chawton. She did, however, enjoy the card parties, the balls and the conversations with some of the authors she had been admiring in print. She even had an episode of frivolity, bought a new gown, hat, had her hair curled and rode through the London streets in an open barouche.

She was close to her family, her father was deceased, but her Mother, brothers and older sister Cassandra (whom she considered to be upright and perfect in all she thought and did) were her confidantes. Namely Cassandra. This was her greatest asset. They kept her grounded, and were her first priority, as shown when Henry became ill and she cancelled engagements to nurse him.

She was also weary of being too extravagant with the money, she would not want to be seen as a rich snob, not only within the family, but also with the people in Chawton. She didn't seek to make a new home in London, given her age and experience, she had witnessed enough of the pride of others to keep her humble and desire a quieter atmosphere.

Who knows, if she were alive today, she would probably identify with some of the songs on the "15 Minutes" CD.

15 Minutes Videos From QVC

I posted this a week or so ago, and am re-posting it now. It's a great CD!

If you haven't heard this album yet, it's not your typical ballad album.

Many thanks to QVC for uploading the videos from Barry's show on your YouTube account.

I don't know if I'll have these in the correct order, so please forgive me if I don't.

Behind The Scenes:



The Show:















Here's the link to QVC: QVC

To order directly from Starz.bz (Barry's Merchandiser): Barry Manilow

A New Reason To Be Careful of What You Post Online

Now there is a company performing online checks on you and storing them for 7 years.

Source: Forbes

Help Needed

Last night while eating dinner, one of my crowns came off of it's tooth. I'm not in a lot of pain (mild discomfort and some sensitivity). I went to the dentist today, and the tooth is not going to be able to be saved.

I'm scheduled to have the extraction done early in the morning one day next week and will need someone who can drive me there, wait in the lobby during surgery, and then take me home.

If you can help me with this, please contact me privately via email (my friends who are here locally know how to reach me). I would really appreciate the help.

For everyone else, kind thoughts and prayers are always welcome and appreciated.

Pottermore

Attention all Harry Potter fans: Have you heard about the Pottermore site?

It started with this article from Digital Spy, talking about a puzzle that was appearing on fan web sites. They were using latitude and longitude coordinates to spell out pottermore.com.

Now they've added more to the site than the title and signature:

From CNN

That's right, you guys, the owls have started arriving. What you get next, though, is really blowing my mind:

Click on the owls on the Pottermore web site and you'll see what I mean. Go on, click on the link!

The YouTube page is absolute genius. I want to know how they did this! First of all, you have owls that have taken over the page. But that's not all.

Look at the video for the page on YouTube. Is it a static video? NO!!!! It is a live stream giving the countdown clock!

Not only is this exciting for those of us who LOVE the books, but for anyone in marketing - particularly using technology to attract and excite your customer - this is definitely a huge success. It's getting all kinds of buzz, not only within the Harry Potter fan sites, but in the news outlets as well, who are reporting on this.

Curious, very curious indeed!

Another Gifted Songwriter To Admire

New Calling

I've been called and sustained in Church today as the Pianist for Primary. There's going to be a bit of a learning curve, I'm a little familiar with the songs, but not that well. New adventures to come!

The MakerBot

I had heard about this, but hadn't really seen it up until now.



Here's the link: http://www.makerbot.com/

The Story of Google Doodles

If you saw yesterday's main page of Google, you got a musical treat.

The Story of Google Doodles

Apple's Proposed New Headquarters

Read the article I've linked below and be sure to watch the video. The video presentation is nothing exciting by Apple standards, however the design is and it reminded me of the videos of Walt Disney introducing Disneyland (Anaheim) and later the Epcot project in Florida. I know, I'm an Apple geek.

CNN Money

I Was Wondering How The Orphans Were Doing

The devastation in Japan hasn't ended yet, not for the orphans.

Japan's Tsunami Orphans

Oh, Man, More Books To Get

I'm catching up on a few Jon Stewart shows (and trying to skip over the remarks regarding human body parts), and am finding more books I want to buy. Right now I'm very interested in getting books from Richard Beeman.

The videos are not edited for content, please use discretion if you're showing this around kids.

Part 1:

The Daily Show - Exclusive - Richard Beeman Extended Interview Pt. 1
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Part 2:

The Daily Show - Exclusive - Richard Beeman Extended Interview Pt. 2
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Song Chosen

A few posts ago, I mentioned a video I'm making for the students being promoted to high school from 8th grade. The video is made, but with a different song. This one was requested by one of the students and approved by their teacher. It's a gorgeous song, I love the melody and the instrumentals that were done with this.

One True Love and Other Myths

So, what do you think? Do you think there is only one true love for you out there? I thought about that with Decker, but I'm finding I'm more able now to open up my heart to someone new as time has progressed. Decker will always be my eternal companion, and yes, I do long to see him again, but it no longer envelops my entire life. Now I'm much too busy in a state of constant change in my life to focus on that anymore.

From CNN

Well Said

Here's the link:

From CNN

Big Bang Theory

I was talking with friends at work about this show, I'd only seen one episode of it, but watching videos of it online are making me love it more.

End of The Year Work

Another school year is coming to a close, and with it a new set of students going into the world of High School and beyond. I'm working on a video that I hope will meet with approval to show at the Promotion Ceremony for our 8th graders. One of the songs I'm thinking of using a portion of in the video is this one. What do you think? What other songs would you use to encourage the youth?

New Arizona Census Information

This has a lot of economic ramifications, but it's also interesting from a genealogy standpoint as well.

Night School

The majority of my college years was spent going to school in between or after my work hours. This meant a lot of night classes. I'm so glad things have come a long way from my fighting ASU to get the prerequisite math classes for my Bachelors degree available at night. When I went there, they were only available during the day. I remember sitting down with one of the staff counselors at ASU and telling them that they are not servicing my needs as their customer (student). It was entirely true. Up until the late 1990's to early 2000's, the majority of the upper level classes required for graduation were only available during the day. If you were supporting yourself - and in my case paying my own way through college - leaving work to take these classes was not an option.


Here's the article the video came from:

The Great Recession's Lost Generation

An Idea With Promise

How about a school where children are placed in classes and groups based on abilities, rather than grade level? Some schools are doing it.

On CNN

A Blog To Follow

There's a blog I was sent a link to by a co-worker, for the video posted, but when I started looking at the blog in it's entirety, I find I'm fascinated. A lot of old pictures and local history, but also some fun thrown in.

Here's a favorite post:

http://martynorth.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/my-grand-father-started-to-drink-after/

Another favorite:

The Fairy Tale All Women Should Read

Phoenix Sky Train

If you travel a lot through Terminal 4 at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, you probably already know about this, I just found out about it watching the video on Horizon:


Web site: http://skyharbor.com/about/automatedtrain.html

Video from the web site:

What Would You Do?

Last night I watched television. I haven't watched television in quite a while, so it was kind of a big thing. I was tired and bleary eyed from being on computers all week, and I just needed some relaxation time, as well as some time to watch my favorite programs on Friday nights. Usually I just watch PBS. After 30 minutes on Sheriff Joe Arpaio and 30 minutes on Osama bin Laden, though, I was done with the news stuff. I channel surfed and found this show. I had heard about it and liked the premise - to see with hidden camera how people would respond to witnessing something happening that shouldn't be happening. This segment last night had me crying.

What Men Will Do To Snag A Wife

Thankfully Decker didn't resort to this when we met.

Man Kept Gator To Woo Women

Of course, being the Disney geek that I am, I also thought of this movie (The Happiest Millionaire) with great fondness:

Profiles of The Tabernacle Organists Part 3

It looks like Part 3 came up!

Richard Elliott

Got Credit?

If you have a credit card, regardless of whether you carry a balance or not, you're going to want to read this. If the regulations for the Consumer Protection Agency get relaxed by Congress, you could find yourself in a world of hurt.

The War Over Consumer Finance Protection Intensifies

Profiles of The Tabernacle Organists

These are a few of the organists who perform at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, UT.

Part 1: Andrew Unsworth

Part 2: Clay Christiansen

Part 3: Part 3 is not up yet, but it is supposed to profile Richard Elliott. If that name sounds familiar to you, I blogged about him this past Christmas: Amazing!

Hopefully they'll post it soon!

Philanthrocapitalism

Uh oh, looks like another book to take a look at...



Their web site: http://www.philanthrocapitalism.net/

Horizon's Economic Growth Show

This was aired this past week and contains segments from previous shows giving indications where economic growth is occurring within the State of Arizona.

Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke's Press Conference

In case you missed this with the Birth Certificate release, the budget issues in Congress, the Royal Wedding media blitz, further revelations regarding an investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and other assorted news, Ben Bernanke, who is the Chairman of the Federal Reserve (they handle the flow of currency and interest rates, among other things) gave a unique press conference this past week. The reason why it is notable is due to the transparency and the explanations to the public, not to Congress, as to what decisions were made and why.



For a better explanation of the Federal Reserve, view the video below.

Online Genealogy Volunteer Opportunities

For those who do not know, there are a few opportunities where anyone can help with the digitization process of genealogical records.

One of these, recently mentioned in the comments section for a previous blog post (thank you, Kevin), is the RecordAGrave app on Facebook.

The easiest link for it is here: www.recordagrave.com

The resulting text can be found on www.findagrave.com.

Another opportunity to spend a little free time is with the LDS Church's Records Extraction Program. It used to be called FREP when I was first introduced to it.

This isn't digitizing LDS records per se, but is digitizing the microfilms kept in the granite vaults outside Salt Lake for a number of years. The pictures have been digitized, however now those pictures have to be put into text that can be used on the FamilySearch.org web site.

Looking for a productive way to spend your summer? This just might be the answer.

One Last Bit of Video From The Royal Wedding

This is too funny, and I'm sure it's already gone viral.

The Aroma of Books

Do the aroma of books in a bookstore or library calm you? They do me. After a particularly stressful day yesterday, I went to Barnes and Noble. It's in the same mall as Petsmart, (time to replenish my supply of cat food for Rachel) so I decided to go. I spent more than I meant to, I wanted to get "Malled" by Caitlin Kelly and "Idea Man" by Paul Allen. While there I found "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens Personal Workbook" by Sean Covey on clearance, so I bought it to take to school for any students needing something like this. I also found "The Steve Jobs Way" by Jay Elliot, and given that I'm a business geek as well as a computer geek, I thought this might be something interesting to read.

So, which one of these do you think I'm reading?

Answer: Trick question.

I'm still reading "Jane Austen: A Life" by David Nokes. His is a more in depth look at the life of Jane Austen without painting her as perfection.

On Amazon

A Benefit of Keeping A Written History

One of the benefits is to allow your progeny to see what your life was like and what you did.

Here's a good example:

The Handy Chronicles

Royal Wedding In A Nutshell

Thanks to CNN for putting this together.

Free Online Classes Help People Climb Their Family Tree

Yea! Now there are some free tutorials/classes for people wanting to get started with Family History (aka genealogy) but didn't know where to start!

Free Online Classes Help People Climb Their Family Tree

Genealogy Meets Facebook?

Now this could be fun!

From MSNBC

Fun Science

Too fun!

Ric Elias on Ted Talks

This is a short, but great talk.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

The CNN Article:

Why I Sold Out

Uh Oh

Well, congratulations to the U.S. Supreme Court on this, because of Citizens United, you now have corporations telling their employees how to vote.



Thought Control: Right-Wing Koch Brothers Caught Telling Thousands of Employees How to Vote

The link to the article is below:

The Nation

Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz: Assault on Social Spending, Pro-Rich Tax Cuts Turning U.S. into Nation "Of the 1 Percent, by the 1 Percent, for the 1 Percent"

This is an outstanding interview on the growing disparity in the U.S.

Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz: Assault on Social Spending, Pro-Rich Tax Cuts Turning U.S. into Nation "Of the 1 Percent, by the 1 Percent, for the 1 Percent"



Here's the Vanity Fair link:
Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%

Modeling Cities

It's too bad we can't get more cities to look to their young population to see what kind of answers they would come up with to solve local problems.

This is from the show Need To Know on PBS:

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

Giving Up Talking For Lent

Personally, I find this boy to be courageous. Good for him! I"m sure he's counting down the hours, though, until Easter Sunday.

Malled By Caitlin Kelly

This past week as I was driving to work, I heard part of an interview with this author over the radio. I'm thinking this is going to be a good book to read, particularly if you've ever worked in retail. I have.

From USA Today

On the link below, scroll down on the page until you see Caitlin Kelly's picture. The radio interview is in two parts.

KEZ Archives Page

Paul Allen on 60 Minutes

This is someone I could definitely have an interesting conversation with.



Here's the extra part with the tour. I'm loving the artwork with the water slide.



Here is some footage you won't see anywhere else.

Google's New Web 2.0 Doodle

I've posted previously (Halloween) on their doodles, this time they've combined their talents with their YouTube service.



www.google.com

HBR Podcasts

I'm catching up on the Harvard Business Review Podcast Videos and I liked this one. This is something that could apply to a lot of different industries, including education.

In Preparation For Easter

A really touching video about Jesus the Christ.

Midway To Heaven

The plot is predictable, but it's a great movie to watch. There were some really funny moments, but some moments that really made me cry, given that I understand where this father is coming from after losing his wife. It's a clean family friendly movie; no need to worry about sending the children out of the room.

God's Handiwork

Somehow I'm becoming more and more convinced that God has a hand in these "abnormalities". After all, He is aware of the fall of a sparrow, isn't He?

Nature Can Be So Breathtaking...

From National Geographic: New Aurora Pictures

Pre-Existing Conditions

Apparently humans are not the only ones with pre-existing conditions:

From azcentral.com

A Little Technology History

This is a very interesting article written by Paul Allen in Vanity Fair, regarding what had happened when Paul left Microsoft. I had wondered what had happened, from Paul's point of view, and here it is. And yes, life is too short, live it while you can.

Microsoft's Odd Couple

Playing On The iPod

I'm loving the jazzy guitar.

Hooked On A Feeling

The song for the day. And no, this is not the David Hasselhoff arrangement. Not interested in him, sorry.



Bjorn Skifs, the lead singer, has evolved somewhat over the years. Here he is singing with Agnes for the Royal Wedding of Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria.