I will be attending the festivities of BarCamp Conway on August 20. Hosted at the University of Central Arkansas College of Business building, the un-conference will have lots of attendees (over 60 last time I checked) with plenty of topics for everyone. Lunch and swag will be provided. I’ll be making the three-hour trek there to meet and enjoy lots of new company.
A few weeks ago I made a cross-county trip with my wife and in-laws over to Arizona. Our main purpose of our trip was to gather at the Mesa, Arizona temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a family to perform saving ordinances in behalf of Colleen’s grandparents. It was a wonderful occasion to see most of her family in the temple sealing room, bringing to happy closure a journey that began decades ago with the conversion of Colleen’s parents and her two uncles.
Of course, we were able to see some of God’s greatest natural wonders along the way. We travelled through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma, all states I’ve never been to before. We saw the white sands of New Mexico and the massive Grand Canyon. I posted several pictures on Flickr, but here are a few of my better ones.
If you like Gowalla, you can see my journey.
I hate reading blog posts that are simply a bunch of lists, but I wanted to share a list of books/sites I’m currently reading from to help hone my skills.
These are the most recent books I’ve delved into. Actual, physical books are so much better than PDFs or online sources. I just picked up five PDFs from SitePoint for $25 (as part of their Christmas specials, wrapping up with this sale today), but they won’t be read “cover to cover” like the actual books will be. I dig the paper so much better.
This past Wednesday officially began my Christmas break. I took four classes this semester: Literature of the South, Elements of Spanish 1, PC Software/Hardware Maintenance, and WWW Programming. I got As in all four (which was no surprise). The most difficult classes was Southern Lit, in which we had to read seven novels and one play. I didn’t finish complete all of them (and I “read” one as an audiobook). But that’s my challenge to myself, to finish those that I didn’t: Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!, Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird (which I’ve already read before, but I love it that much), and Warren’s All The King’s Men. Yeah, I was a horrible student.
I’ve also become addicted to buying books on Amazon thanks to their free 30-day Prime trial. Since I signed up, I’ve ordered several books, all of which I’m exited about, but there’s three in particular:
The first I actually bought on Amazon some time ago, but haven’t been able to devote the necessary time to it. It’s The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ: From the Transfiguration to the Triumphant Entry, edited by Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas A. Wayment. It’s volume two of a three-volume series, a collection of essays written about the different events in Christ’s life. Holzapfel and Wayment are, like myself, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the seventeen essays in this volume are by LDS scholars who provide insight into the Savior’s mortal ministry. These essays touch upon subjects like the apostles and the seventy, the Transfiguration, the parables of Matthew 13, more details on the Apostles, the death of the Baptist, the Olivet Discourse, and the family of Jesus. The first volume was great, and I’m excited to read this one.
The second book I recently ordered, and it’s the continuation of the The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ, and this volume is entitled From the Last Supper Through the Resurrection: The Savior’s Final Hours. Again, very excited. This volume contains fourteen essays and is, rightfully so, the largest of the volumes. The essays discuss the historical setting of Christ’s prophecies and His life, then the story of the Last Supper, broken into the accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with a separate essay regarding John’s testimony; Gethsemane; the arrest; the Jewish authorities; the Romans; the Crucifixion; the Burial; and the Resurrection, and more. On a side night, this volume has one of my favorite paintings of the Savior, composed wonderfully by the LDS painter Simon Dewey.
The third book is for the design geek in me. It’s Robert Bringhurst’s design “bible,” The Elements of Typographical Style. I’m hoping to gain a lot of understanding from this book, considered to be one of the best on the subject of typography. My design education opportunities in my neck of the woods are rather limited, with UAM offering rather basic art classes. So I’m undertaking a lot of the education myself through the web. In the end, I found books—those tangible, paper wonders—to be the best teacher, though the web is, of course, awesome in its own right.
Needless to say, I’ve got a lot of reading ahead of me, with these books and others I hope to read in the following weeks.
As a left-handed person in a right-handed world, I sometimes just adjust to certain things in life. When something needs to be cut, I hand the scissors to my wife or to whomever happens to be nearby. Scissors are a frustration I’ve come to deal with, but not everything made for right-handers has to be enforced upon those of us in our right mind. (Okay, I had to use that lame left-handed joke—I’m sorry.)
I recently decided to use my left hand as my mouse hand after years of giving in to using my right hand, and I can say that it feels much better to be able to do so. Here’s a few remarks I have about it and some things that have helped along the way.