Tuesdays with Muerte

The  Kitchen Timer  method was lifted from Award-winning comedy author, Lauren Graham's, book, Talking As Fast As I Can . Graham recounts how she learned it from Don Roos, who based it on the Pomodoro Technique . Along with Graham, I can say that this  method has transformed the way I write. I now spend way fewer hours, being productive. It gave me structure where there was none. It has changed my life as a writer, and I hope it changes yours too. The principle of Kitchen Timer is that every writer deserves a definite and doable way of feeling successful everyday. To do this, we learn to judge ourselves on behavior, rather than content. We set up a goal for ourselves, as writers, that is easy, measurable, free of anxiety, and above all, failproof—because everyone can sit, and an hour will always pass. Here’s how it works: 1. Buy a kitchen timer that goes to sixty minutes. Or use a timer app . Or tell Siri to start a timer for sixty minutes. 2. Decide on Mon...

Christmas time is a reminder that Jesus Christ is the light of the world. By following his teachings and example these 25 days leading up to Christmas, we can share His love and light with the world around us. Visit mormon.org  each day, December 1-25, to get the scripture prompt and watch a video example of how to apply his words. Search this  #LightTheWorld facebook group for more ideas too. My 2017 Light the World Effort Official PDF Calendar Here's how I plan to #LightTheWorld this year: December 1st: "Freely ye have received, freely give." — Matthew 10:8 Smile. The free-est thing I can think of (insert ‘Merica meme here), is a smile. I’m not a naturally smiley person. But smiling always makes me feel good. I will light the world by intentionally smiling at everyone I come across today. If I don't see many people, I'll just smile whenever I think of it and hope it affects the impersonal interactions I have with others. December 2nd: ...

In the  April 2013 LDS General Conference , church leaders emphasized the need for members to  hasten the work . It's taken some time, but I have begun to think about what it means to "hasten the work," and what I can do, personally, to hasten the hastening. Angel Moroni by Karen What Does It Mean to "Hasten the Work?" The work  refers to the work of salvation or four-fold mission of the Church: to proclaim the gospel, to perfect the saints, to redeem the dead, and to care for the needy. While the work  refers to all four of these emphases, special emphasis has recently been placed upon the gathering of Israel.  In the 2013 special mission presidents' training broadcast,  Elder L. Tom Perry proclaimed, "the need and opportunity to share the gospel has never been greater." It is projected that the Church will have 100,000 full-time missionaries serving by December 2013; almost a 100% increase from the previous year.  (Incident...

Finding Roommate Harmony As we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, I want to give a shout out to my terrific roommates.  I love the current make up of our house.  My roommates are incredible individuals. However, I think the harmony I feel has less to do with the behavior of others, and more about my own perception of them.  In other words, as I started to change the way I looked at things, the things I looked at changed. I've learned a lot about how to be a good roommate over my past 17 years.  Most of the turmoil I have endured in that time has been caused by my expectations not being met.  (E.g., not doing dishes, breaking the honor code, blasting music at all hours of the night, etc.)  While I'm still far from being a pro at developing positive roommate relationships, here's my observation into my current feeling of success—it's simple: roommates bother me less as I become more loving and accepting of them as people.  Accept that we are dif...

Tired of being in a bad mood? I've got the perfect fix for you. I dare you to not smile throughout this entire YouTube playlist of kids being adorable. (I'm telling you now, you won't be able to do it.)  My Guaranteed to Cheer You Up  playlist works for me every time. I typically break after the first one. All challengers welcome.

Who is Tim Ballard? (O.U.R. History) Timothy Ballard spent over a decade working as a Special Agent for the Department of Homeland Security where he was assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and deployed as an undercover operative for the U.S. Child Sex Tourism Jump Team. He has worked every type of case imaginable in the fight to dismantle child trafficking rings. Ballard specializes in undercover work, in the United States and in multiple foreign countries, to infiltrate child trafficking organizations. During one of his routine training visits to South America, he threw the training book out the window and actually helped them plan an op! But a problem arose. Their plan was dependent on U.S. support, and unfortunately they were outside U.S. jurisdiction. When the U.S. government was ultimately unable provide the resources ($80,000 and 10 operatives for 3 months) to rescue dozens of trafficked children in South America, Ballard decided to leave government ...

After 5 years long (and nerdy) years, I've decided to stop feeding my Cosplay board on Pinterest, which has more than 60,000 pins on it. Note: Unfortunately, if I unsubscribe from the board, it will disappear… The purposes of my cosplay collection were: To introduce visitors to a variety of new, fictional characters. To offer the cosplay community creative costume alternatives to traditional takes on characters. To share the joy of viewing well-done cosplay and photography by others. To provide a clean resource of tasteful cosplays, where you don't have to worry about sifting through dozens of source materials exclusively featuring scantily-clad ladies before getting to ones that you could actually wear to a party or convention. My personal purposes in creating it were to: Learn more about all the characters out there in the geek and nerd universes. Honor the creativity people put into recreating and personalizing their favorite characters. Curate a re...

I Was Not Living My Truth As a child, I was told that I was too serious; that I ought to smile more. "What for?!" I'd ponder. "Had someone said something funny? Am I about to have my photo taken?" Too often, our natural gifts and talents are tragically perceived as flaws. I sometimes worry, while walking down the street, that I might be perceived as unfriendly, unemotional, or austere. In my personal relationships, I am concerned that I might come off as too critical or too "honest." In large-group settings, I often feel pressured to socialize and connect because that's what I am supposed to do. I didn't know it until now, but these are all evidence that I had not been living my truth. In Carol Tuttle's  Dressing Your Truth ®  (DYT ℠ ) Energy Profiling™ system, every person has a “Type,” which is determined by the nature of energy expressed in one's physically features and movement. Tuttle argues that when people fail to e...

Helping my Circle Leader patch up her radiator (May 23, 2017). What Circles Has Taught Me For most of my life, I've attempted self-improvement from the solitude and safety of my own mind and heart. Being vulnerable can feel scary, even dangerous. Generally, when I am presented with opportunities for growth, my instinctive approach is to pretend I'm stronger than I am or to "armor up" emotionally in anticipation of potential attacks. (I was afraid to truly open up to others for fear that they would confirm my worst fears about myself—that I'm not enough.) However, in helping local families realize their goals of escaping poverty, I also have learned to share my insecurities and receive the motivation and support I didn't know I needed. I've learned from participating in Circles it's that isolation is an unhealthy coping mechanism in the face of conflict, fear, hardship, and other growth opportunities. Instead, healthy growth naturally occurs in an ...

The Dream Last night, in my dreams, I was a young tennis pro at an exclusive country club.  The club was located in a majestic old-growth forest somewhere along a coast; it felt like a subtropical Redwood Forest, but in Italia. I won't try to chronicle the many events of my dream. Instead I'll just set the stage for the most incredible one. The entire dream took place the last two weeks of summer. Since tennis lessons had died down, I was fortunate enough to be able to work as an event photographer at a professional tennis tournament happening nearby. I was single and anxiously looking for fun opportunities to end the summer right. One afternoon at the tournament, I ran into a friend, Deborah Weiss, who was sitting down to lunch with girlfriend of hers. Thrilled to see a friendly face after months of social isolation, I asked if I could join them. After briefly reconnecting with Deb, I turned to her friend to introduce myself. "Hi. I'm Bryan. I'm a photogra...

Law #4 of Power: Always Say Less Than Necessary.  "When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinx-like. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.”  ― Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power When you know. Don't blink. Boxing referee Steve Willis really loves his job. Bros before credit card debt. BYU Cougars, December 2015 Meditative. Don't mess. What's your price? Concert dad. BYU PDA. YesYesYesYesYesNo. The only acting lesson I'll ever need. #hollaback Forever Alone. "Let me love you!" Kodoma from  Princess Mononoke IRL. Ineffectual security guard. #Irma When you like the smell of imported cigarettes.  ...