"I'm Ready For My Close-up."

Thought the bird might actually be a little more interesting to look at!

Trapping Last Season

What a thrill to hold a wild prairie falcon. Even for a few mintues. This was an adult, so I let him go just after the photo opp. I just came across this photo and it reminded me of why I love winter!

Cool Tunes Accoustic

Cool Tunes Accoustic: "1. No Air duet with Chris Brown (Acoustic Version) - Jordin Sparks"

Okay This is Just Cool!

More chalk drawings from Julian Beever. Scroll down slowly and stop at each new frame. Incredible!!!!!
Julian Beever is an English artist who's famous for his art on the pavement of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium . Beever gives to his drawings an amazing 3D illusion.

People are actually avoiding walking in the "hole"

Which is the real guy & which beer is real?

The image below has been taken from a wrong angle:

Remember, both his feet in reality are flat on the pavement

Politicians Meeting Their End

World's Biggest Fly-Spray

This drawing of a Rescue was to be viewed using an inverting mirror

girl on a beach mat.

Make Poverty History drawing from the side(40 ft long)

Spiderman to the rescue

Batman and Robin to the rescue(SO COOL)

Splendid Irony

Jeffry Larson to Discuss Happiness During July 14 BYU Devotional

Headline and photo from today's BYU Homepage. Probably the greatest and happiest guy on the planet, but this photo caught him in the pre-smile stage and presents him as perhaps the last guy qualified to speak about happiness.

Shayne Clarke – Seat Broker

[Editors Note: We have a great new family that moved next store and attended church for the first time yesterday. I had an amusing thought, so wrote them the following letter and delivered it the middle of church. Good Friend Natalie, has suggested that I post more pithy things like this, so here it is.]

Shayne Clarke – Seat Broker

Welcome to the Ward.

Finding the right seating arrangement for your family can be challenging especially when you are new to a ward. Knowing who normally sits where and how many generations have occupied a particular bench can be tricky, and you should generally avoid fist fighting over a seat on your first day at church.

That’s where I come in. For a small fee (less that $495 a month) I will help you sit anywhere in the chapel you wish. I will bump someone out of a seat if the desired seat is filled.

I will also place you where you can be seen in the best light or perch you where you can see others the best. This is especially helpful if you wish to pass judgments on folks. (For another small fee I can also give you dirt on every member of the ward to jump-start your judgments.)

Please note: the Duffys sit on the second row. I placed them there for several reasons. First, John is aging rapidly and doesn’t see or hear well. Oh, he looks perfectly fine--runs triathlons and eats bran muffins--but it’s all show.

Second, Sheri sits there so she can flip the ears of the deacons if they don’t sing or if they snicker during the prayers.

The Duffys, are also more focused on the Celestial Pursuit than anyone in the ward, are closest to achieving it and frankly pay quite a bit more for their monthly seating fee. But as a service to you, being new and all, I can negotiate a rate which will put you on the second row, middle, no smoking, for around $895 per month.

Don’t worry; I will work it out with the Duffy’s so they remain friendly as neighbors even though you are sitting in their seats. They will be one row behind you so please don’t snicker during the prayer unless you want your ears flicked.

I can also give you information on the other quadrants in the chapel, quadrant presidents, and the advantages of each. For example, until you get a calling assigned, you may wish to sit in the right-hand quadrant where the Bishopric can see you marking your scriptures, looking pensive at each talk, and where your children sit quietly with their arms clear-duct taped and folded.

Again, welcome to the ward, we hope you enjoy yourselves and your seats for many years to come!

Sincerely,

Shayne Clarke

Seat Broker

What is the Deal with Blogging? Part II

I did it again. I assigned my class to create a blog or tap into their spouses’ blogs. Why would I do this? These for the most part are business students. And debit, they have accounting to figure out, information systems to systemize. Not to mention my class where they will remember the difference between clauses dependent and independent, and that the purpose of a resume is to get an interview, not necessarily a job. The job follows a good interview.

But blogging, I say, will help them be good writers? Really? Yes, I still believe it. Blogging is writing and a “Writer writes, always” (Billy Crystal from the film, Throw Mama From The Train.) Blogging can be little warm up exercises to write other stuff, or blogging can be a rant about something or a personal essay about something you care about.

Yes, and I need the nudge too. It is hard to tell my students to Blog when my own attempt at blogging here is a mish mash of mush mush. So I don’t pretend to be modeling good blogging (whatever that is) although perhaps I am modeling the exercise of figuring out what and how to write even as they are.

And just as it is for my students, it is the exercise I need to write other stuff.

What to write about? they ask. Just look around and react. Facebook, Twitter blogging and the rest amuse me right now because we are all trying to figure it out.

I jumped on Twitter just to see what all the excitement is about. It is the same reason I read Twilight. There was something big going on there and I wanted to see what it was. I read the rest of the series because I thought it was a cool story.

Twitter is a micro blog. It’s quick, it’s quirky and there are no quizzes to take.

What I like about Facebook, Twitter and blogging is when people share what they are thinking not just doing. It is the same reason I like personal essays or creative non-fiction.

I’ll jump over to Facebook right now and catch the latest “news”. Looks like someone has taken the test of “What Disney Movie Song Are You?” someone else is going to Oregon, while someone else is chewing on a quote about the Second Coming.

Of those reports, the most intriguing for me is the quote someone is chewing on. Blogs, Tweets, and Facebook entries where you learn that someone is brushing their teeth, or walking to work, or wondering why it is snowing (but not as much expressing thanks for the sunshine) or eating Mac and Cheese is just not that interesting. At least for me.

So write on we will. I hope our blogs become that chat around a good meal or fire pit where we share what is on our minds. Rant if you must, joke if you will, chew on hard topics, wrestle with a challenging idea, quote from your last favorite read, or just write about not being in the mood for any of that.

Or if you must, write about what you are doing.

Like right now, I’m eating a large bowl of Post Honey Bunches of Oats cereal. But not the regular kind—this one is “with real peaches”. It’s going to be a good day.

Loose Change: Shayne Waxes Philosophical

[I sent this note to all my M Com 320 students as we wrapped up this past semester.]

I wish on the last day of class for our final we could just eat Daylight Donuts and chat. But the university as well as life wants a bit of measurement, so we conform. And were I to take time on the day of the final to give a last lecture or some kind of wrap up, I suspect you would be reviewing what HATS stands for, and not really listen to me.

I’ll share those donut thoughts here as a wrap-up lecture or chat.

First, thanks for your contribution to making our class what it was. I always hope to create a good learning environment where we can teach each other. I’ve been taught well.

Some of you are jumping out into the work force about now. Your resumes are no longer just for practice. So what will you find out there?

The world has hit the Restart button financially. Rebooting usually fixes nagging problems, but often with a loss in the process. Sure it can seem like a scary time to be graduating and looking for a job. If you haven’t heard the news: its bad out there; just ask the person standing next to you if they know anyone who has lost a job recently.

I think it’s actually a good time to enter the work force. Am I just ignorant? That could be debated. But I am an eternal optimist. Why not be? I don’t recall any bestseller titled The Power of Negative Thinking.

You enter the work force with a sense of realism that others haven’t had. Others before you left college with a sense of entitlement, a sense that the world owed them something. They entered a market where some business processes and practices were sloppy because they could afford to be. Mediocrity could still get a job with an average salary.

Now, mediocrity will be searching longer while excellence will still get a job as it always has. It may take longer than before, will require more creativity, and perhaps even more patience. But there is always work for those who are willing to pay the price and think outside the rectangle.

Our economy will correct itself. People are still curious and creative and will figure out how to make it work. And yes, that might take a little while, but what is a little while compare with the rest of your life?

Greed and making money from nothing torched a fire that is burning not just the cheatgrass but a few nice homes as well. But after the fiery flames blow through and the winds die down, there will be growth. You will be positioned to take advantage of that growth—if you keep your wits about you.

As you face the future, I draw particular attention to the talk just given in the LDS General Conference by Robert D. Hales. http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1032-2,00.html

I know you are not all LDS, however the principles he addresses transcend specific religious affiliation. Among other things he said:

These two lessons are the essence of provident living. When faced with the choice to buy, consume, or engage in worldly things and activities, we all need to learn to say to one another, “We can’t afford it, even though we want it!” or “We can afford it, but we don’t need it—and we really don’t even want it!”

Imagine if everyone borrowing money for a home that was beyond their means had followed this counsel.

Follow the advice of all those who spoke and will continue to speak at these General Conferences. Don’t ever feel you are an exception to what is being taught there.

Don’t let your career prohibit you from serving in your church or from flying kites with your kids. There is just a short window where your kids will want your attention, and then you will spend the rest of your life trying to get theirs.

So I wish you the best. You are excellent! You have a contribution to make to this world. Do it! Some of that may be with your career. Do your best to stay balanced. Don’t let your career pursuits supersede your family success. Your career gets buried with your bones. Your family lives with you forever. Have fun! Laugh your head off. Eat chocolate.

One more thing. The other night I was at dinner for the Marriott School. I saw two of my former teachers-both retired, but still alive! I hadn’t seen them for 25 years. One was my M Com 320 teacher and one was my Organizational Behavior 321 teacher. I said hello to both of them and they were kind and asked what I was up to, but clearly didn’t remember me. I wasn’t that surprised because they’ve had hundreds of students in 25 years and I was eminently forgettable as a student—especially as an undergraduate.

But it did get me thinking. I can’t imagine not remembering you good people, but it may happen. Perhaps sooner than later. So if sometime we bumped into each other, and I call you Jaraslov when your name is really Margo, or Brooke when your name is really Jordan, please understand that although a mind is a terrible thing to waste—mine will be wasted.

And stay in touch. I have your blogs and I can be found here, on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and who knows what.

All the best to you!

With great respect,

Shayne

The Web is a web

Call me persnickety. In trying to figure out the right way to spell "Web" and "web" and "Web site," and whether to capitalize "internet" I've come across this little ditty from the Internet. It is odd that these spellings would garner so much attention from me because I can't spell “receive” or any of the i-before-e words (as soon as I learned there were exceptions like "neighbor" and "whey" I decided not to learn it.) Yes I know whey is speled wrong.

In truth, I should focus on the i-before-e words or how to spell "license" or "misspell" because they aren't going to change anytime soon. How we spell Web site, probably will.

So here is what Bob Wyman said.

‘Internet’ vs. ‘internet’ and ‘Web’ vs. ‘web’: Wisdom from Net guru Bob Wyman based on IETF usage

By Bob Wyman

Moderator: You should cap “Internet” and “Web,” at least in a “the” context. Below, excerpted with permission from a post to the online-news list, is wisdom from Bob Wyman, a Google tech staffer and long-time Net expert. - D.R.

"In the technical community that created and named the Internet, the convention is to capitalize when one is writing about the specific “internet” that we call the Internet and not to capitalize when referring to generic internets. In this case, the technical community is essentially acting as their own lexicographers and using the capitalization to add disambiguating information to the text. Think of it as a case of case-sensitive encoding.

Those who doubt the value of this distinction need only scan any of the thousands of documents on the site of the Internet Engineering Task Force. The IETF is responsible for the internet standards that make the Internet work. They should know how to spell the name of what they build.

If you “never capitalize internet and web,” you are simply indicating that you don’t understand the technical distinction between the Internet and an internet. Also, you don’t understand the difference between the Web and a web. (For instance, Tim Berners-Lee clearly wrote the first Web browser. However, I may have written the first, or at least one of the first, web browsers.) The difference in capitalization is exceptionally significant.

The Internet is an internet.

The Web is a web."

Source:
http://www.teleread.org/2008/03/27/internet-vs-internet-and-web-vs-web-wisdom-from-bob-wyman-based-on-ietf-usage/

When Grandma Goes To Court

Moral of the Story

[Don't know the author; got this via email.]

A Teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment: Get their parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it.

The next day the kids came back and one by one began to tell their stories. There were all the regular type stuff, spilled milk and pennies saved.

But then teacher realized, much to her dismay, that only Ernie was left. 'Ernie, do you have a story to share?'

'Yes ma'am. My daddy told a story about my Aunt Karen. She was a pilot in Desert Storm and her plane got hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory and all she had was a flask of whiskey, a pistol and a survival knife. She drank the whiskey on the way down so the bottle wouldn't break and then her parachute landed right in the middle of twenty enemy troops. She shot fifteen of them with the gun until she ran out of bullets, killed four more with the knife, till the blade broke, and then she killed the last enemy with her bare hands.'

'Good Heavens' said the horrified teacher. 'What kind of moral did your daddy tell you from this horrible story?'

'Stay the hell away from Aunt Karen when she's drinking.'

New Line on the Horizon

U2
New Line on the Horizon

Worth the wait!

Now to see them again in concert!