Motivation

As many of you know I am contemplating redirecting my life. That has lead to lots of lists and soul searching. The main issue I keep running up against is: Why do I dislike my current job? By truly understanding the underlying causes of my discontent I think I will be better equipped to not repeat the problem.

This video does a lot to help me clarify things. It is mostly about how people are motivated (hint it isn't money!).

Essentially my job has a lot of purpose, occasional autonomy but I have no desire to obtain mastery over it. So I need to find a direction that will combine purpose, autonomy and mastery. Too easy...?

Missionary Moment

Check out this video from TED. In it Julia Sweeny describes a first discussion with two Mormon missionaries. First 5 minutes can easily be skipped.

Analysis:

It is obvious that Ms. Sweeny did research on the history and doctrine of the LDS church for this talk. Most missionaries don't start out with a long and drawn out description of such mundane facts. They focus more on the spiritual questions. Like the first question she discusses (and then comes back to). She is delveing into details for comedic effect--I get that.

I found her reaction to the first question a classic example of "when they are learned they think they are wise". Instead of addressing the question she pontificates (internally at least) about genderizing and anthropomorphizing God. It is only at the end of the video that she comes back to the real issues behind her reaction to the question. But interestingly she doesn't really resolve anything just leaves us hanging. Which, to me, says more about her own faith then anything else.

Barefoot Running

I grew up "country". My dog was never on a leash. Summer meant swimming in the local irrigation canal and going barefoot all day. Something about the feel of ground beneath my feet changed the way I experienced the season. Even now I still enjoy being barefoot. After spending all day with my feet encased in leather boots it is very liberating to wiggle my toes and shuffle around the house and sometimes my neighborhood.

Given this penchant I was really intrigued when I stumbled on the five-fingered shoes. I wondered if it was possible to run or walk in what essentially amounts to a foot glove? Well scientists are asking the same question and lucky for us they have money and labs to research that stuff. Unfortunately they haven't come up with any solid answers yet.

This article in the CSM does a nice breakdown on the phenonmenon and gives some good links and further reading material. The author makes a good case for running barefoot:

"It is counter-intuitive, but the truth is – and studies back this up – that the more you block out the feeling of impact in your feet, the more impact you are likely to put into your body, at the wrong time in your stride, by moving and landing differently than you would if you actually felt what you were doing.

Have you ever wondered why you have so much feeling on the bottom of your feet, so much information sensing capacity? Well, one of its purposes is to feel impact and make changes in your stride to reduce it through form and technique."

Honestly I just keep thinking of how amazing those African runners are at the Olympics and a lot of them train barefoot. There must be something we are missing.
So I want to give the shoe/glove a chance. Unfortunately the price tag ($169) makes my miser heart skip a beat. Maybe I will just take the cheap option and go barefoot. Well at least for the summer.

Eruptions in History

In honor of the awesomeness of Iceland's baby volcanoe raining on everyones parade I give you this article from the Christian Science Monitor.
Most interesting to LDS is the following:

"Tambora
April 10, 1815

The Tambora eruption was the largest in modern history. According to the Global Volcanism Program, it was the only eruption in at least 1,000 years to rate a VEI 7.

The eruption of Mt. Tambora in what is now Indonesia cast a veil of ash around the world, lowering global temperatures by more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit. The result was the "year without a summer" in 1816. A foot of snow fell in Quebec City, Quebec, in June. Crops failed worldwide in what historian John Post called "the last great subsistence crisis of the Western world."

The eruption is also tangentially credited with the invention of the bicycle, as the cost of maintaining horses rose, both because of the cost of oats and the death of many horses."


1816 was the same year that the Smith family was forced to move to New York due to the bad harvest. So a geological event half way around the world directly contributed to Joseph being in Palmayra.

Cool right?

Groove Your Bum

Does this count as shaking the baby??

Coach

i started to coach youth sports two years ago. I have coached soccer (indoor and outdoor), basketball and t-ball. It is a fun way for me to be involved with the community. Plus I think learning how to control twelve 4-5 year olds for an hour is a great exercise in patience. With my job it can sometimes be difficult to squeeze it all in. I am not a very technical coach but I am very enthusiastic.
Sometimes after a long practice or game i am left wondering what I was thinking signing up to be a coach. The kids run circles around me and i struggle to teach them just one thing about the sport.
Today's t-ball game was a prime example. Most of the kids spent more time kicking up dirt then paying attention and a few kept fighting over the ball. Completely spent, I was relieved when it was all over. The kids were all running off with their parents and I was stuffing helmets and bats into my bag. Then one of my cutest, sweetest little 4 year old girls ran up to me. I looked at her expecting that she had lost something. But instead she threw her arms around me and gave me the cutest little hug. When I pulled away too quickly she lifted her head and gave me a little kiss before running back to her parents.

Suddenly I remembered why I coach.

Pandora

I have been a huge fan of Pandora radio since college. Long before the iPhone app really made it take off. In fact one of the main factors of me buying a iTouch was that I could stream Pandora. I have tried to turn lots of people on to it and so here I am attempting again!!

This is a decent video that describes Pandora. The cool part is seeing a songs musical genome get created. If you have been living under a rock and don't know what pandora is you need to check it out.