Tuesdays with Muerte

It was my pleasure to encounter this Trekkie on Day 3 of SLCC.  I first took notice of her during the William Shatner Q&A in the main auditorium.  As he is 82 years old (but looks 60), his memory is not as sharp as it once was.  So when ever he hesitated, or gave some incorrect information, this trivia-whiz piped up and shot the answer up to him from the second row.  After two or three times, Shat began to just point down to her whenever he needed to recall something.  I really was quite amazing. Later on, I bumped into her in the main convention hall.  I tried to get to know her, but she refused to break character.  I asked her where she was from and just looked at me like I was stupid. "Vulcan, naturally."  I asked her where she stays when she's on earth and she replied that it regulations state that officers are to be stationed on Star Fleet HQ while on duty. It went on like that until I simply ran out of questions and asked to ...

A BYU professor once taught that Shakespeare used the simplest language to communicate his most important messages. Do you think that is an accurate statement?  I wondered if this theory extends to the word of God? (Perhaps that's where William got the idea.) After comparing a handful of examples, I found some fundamental differences between  the most important statements  from Bill Shakespeare's works and the holy scriptures.  Bill's pithy expressions of truth always seemed to be in the form of witty comebacks.  God's words naturally stood on their own.  Bill's axioms, while self-evident and universally accepted, seemed context specific. When God taught, He used small words and familiar concepts to express complex and situation-diverse principles. While Bill invented maxims couched in mostly-fictional stories to lend his truths credibility, God didn't require adages to convince His readers.  God just laid down the truth, like a boss. ...

This post is dedicated to my mother.  I moved into a 2006, three-level townhouse three weeks ago.  And my loving mother is dying to know all the details.  (I think she has been actively holding herself back from texting me everyday about it.)  Not everything is unpacked yet, so I wanted to wait—until I realized, that unpacking will never really be "done."  So without further ado, Bryan Tanner, and Dan and Jason Randall present: The Martin House (pics and a video walkthrough).  Livingroom from the hallway Living room from the dinning area Kitchen My Aerobed My dresser-less wardrobe Bedroom Wall My Private Bathroom My work area Our townhouse is named The Martin House for two reasons: It is named after the Martin Handcart Company, who pressed on to Utah, through the Winter, nearly killing everyone. (Fitting since we live in a development called, Pioneer .) It is also named after George R. R. Martin, who coi...

Review Update Here's a review from January 2014 after seeing these five shows: I loved Legend of Korra . I watched them all online the week they aired. It was the only one of the five that I followed regularly. Sleepy Hollow and S.H.I.E.L.D. were both charming stories—the next most entertaining shows after Korra.  However, neither story had enough substance, or character relate-ability, to hold my attention after the first three episodes.  I might try again later. Person of Interest could have been cool.  Maybe I didn't give it a fair chance, but I quit watching after the season premiere.  I think I wanted it to slow down a little bit and show us more character development. The trope of having Jim Caviezel strut around New York, shooting everyone, and saving the day is becoming a little stale for me. Dragons: Defenders/Riders of Berk is already in its second season! And I haven't seen it yet.  Not one else I know watches it, so I wouldn't ...

TL;DR Black, White, Straight, Gay, or whatever — we are all worthy of respect & love. My Biases I am a straight, white male trying to appreciate the experience of my gay brothers and sisters. I started from a place of ignorance and unsubstantiated, conservative "truths" regarding same-sex attraction (SSA). As I continue to learn more, my opinions are changing. I hope that by writing this post and getting feedback on it, I will grow even closer to those who are different than me. I began my personal discovery process with the naive hope of understanding the driving forces behind SSA (probably with the intent to justify my biases). But now, I realize that  having all the answers  doesn't matter; people matter. This post is now motivated by a quote that resonated with me recently: "Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy of it." Why Did I Write This Long Post? Two reasons: First of all, I just needed a pla...

In recent months, I have noticed an  unprecedented wave of fast food strikes across the nation, including  Chicago ,  St. Louis ,  Detroit ,  Milwaukee , and  Seattle .   In each of these cases, the  workers have demanded a raise to $15 an hour.  Fine.  People are free to want more money.  Obviously, they have their reasons since  84% of NYC fast food workers report "wage theft."   However, this is not a question of desires, but of economics. Before striking, any wise laborer would be aware how much the employer would need to spend to replace the workers.  If the strikers are unwilling to work for less than what it would cost to replace them, they will quickly find themselves out of a job. As these strikes persist,  I'm concerned that businesses will find it more profitable to automate blue collar workplace processes than it would be to employ hirer-minimum-wage workers.  (E.g. Amazon is investing billion...

USA Volleyball created some illustrations to help new players understand volleyball fundamentals: Underhand Serve Dig Pass Overhand Serve Set Jump Set Joust/Block Spike I downloaded and shared these diagrams here because I think they are too great to risk disappearing on their original webpage.   USA Volleyball also has this 24-page PDF  explaining strategy, rules, and other essential elements of the game.  However, you're probably looking at this webpage because you're hoping to move your team beyond that point. How to move beyond the fundies: "The reason many teams stop progressing is because they keep working on the same things over and over.  You see, you can work hard, but if you aren't continuously augmenting and improving your skill set, you'll never get ahead of your competitors." —Coach Kevin Coach Kevin  developed the following 23-page drill set (PDF ) in order to give your team the varied skill set and c...