Taking responsibility for our own spiritually: 

Posted on November 3, 2014 by
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I appreciate when I can learn new things from fantastic people by what they say or what they write. I read one article that talk about us taking responsibility for our own spirituality. I thought I would expand upon that topic in today’s teaching embellishments blog. I hope today’s topic can be of use to youth ministries, family counselors, family devotionals and home evenings.

Many people may have played the cup of flour game

  1. Pack a bunch of flour tightly to a cup.
  2. Place the cup on a plate then remove the cup so that you have the mound of flour in the mold of the cup.
  3. Place in dime my on the top of the flour structure.
  4. Now take turns as a family or class of cutting away parts of the flour structure with a butter knife. Cut enough to remove the flour, but not compromised foundation of the dime. As more and more flour gets cut away and moved away from the center of the plate. The pedestal with the dime becomes more and more narrow. Eventually one cut will be made too close to the foundation and the dime will fall.
  5. Normally the person who dropped the dime has to go after it with their mouth, thus making the whole face covered with flowers. But for the sake of this lesson. The idea is cutting away our carnal selves to become more spiritual, so that what remains is the type of person that Christ’s asked us to be. To be in all aspects Christian.

Here are some ideas of how I can improve in this area:

  1. I see something I need to improve on. Then I work on improving that particular thing. One example, my personal life is that sometimes I would pray without kneeling just before been when I was really tired. I heard a talk talked about the reasons of why we kneeled before God is to show humility and as a token respect. Hearing that observation motivated me to make more conscious effort to kneel when praying.
  2. Seek out various ways and sources of things that inspire us. That means avoiding things that would maybe take away the spirit. For example, watching a movie of violence, sex and swearing may not make me feel charitable are compassionate. Watching a movie or reading books or listening to good music may inspire me, as well as make me feel happy.
  3. Often things easier to have a bunch of friends to help us with it or family members when we share a similar goal. I had a friend who was preparing for marathon so we would sometimes walk together in the mornings. The same could be done in the achieving other goals. I can make more of an effort to associate with people that are doing activities to help other people inside and outside my church.
  4. Sometimes I find that there are books or presentations that can help me gain better insight on the Scriptures by scholars or inspired individuals who have learned and studied the Scriptures. I can also ask God for the inspiration to help me relate the Scriptures to my personal life. Once someone suggested that we could read the Scriptures, we insert our names so that the verses become more personalized. Another good way to understand the Scriptures as may be learn more about the time period and culture of the people, so we can make an interpretation of what is being said. I’m told, a lot of the book of Isaiah is written in poetic verse using the patterns favored by the Israelites. If I make an effort to understand some of those poetic patterns, my understanding Isaiah may improve more. Educational classes in Sunday school can help me understand the Scriptures. This is one of the great reasons going to church so that we can hear other people’s observations and enlightenment of the gospel
  5. If you have a close friend and confidant. In your conversations on the surface level of more in depth? When we pray to God. One way to help our specialty would be to have a real conversation. Sometimes I’m so busy praying to God, I don’t give God the chance to get a word in edgewise with the promptings of the spirit. This could be an area. Many of us can improve on.

These are just a few ideas on the topic taking responsibility for our own spirituality. If you have more to share on this topic, please do so in the comment section of this blog. Thanks

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Harassment: 

Posted on November 2, 2014 by
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Thought this would be of interest as how things said by some can be interpreted as harassment by others.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/viral-video-documents-york-street-harassment-26568112

***

Over a week later, i saw another anther prescriptive; http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/11/06/conservative-comedian-claims-youtube-put-his-video-on-safety-mode-so-kids-cant-see-it-watch-the-video-here/

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Spelling Exaggerate: 

Posted on October 30, 2014 by
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Bad:    exagerate

Good: exagGerate

I keep missing the second g. One way to exagGerated to add two Gs.  Have a better way to remember? Share in the comment section of this blog.

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Inserting photos into Word files: 

Posted on October 29, 2014 by
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I am currently writing two picture books that require inserts for art. The first is called Fiddlesticks serenade where an insect Norman can imitate any sound in the forest by rubbing his stick like limbs together. Norman makes those sounds to the tune of Beethoven’s 5th.

The second picture book is Hopscotch to the 7 wonders of the world where I’m inserting photos of the 7 wonders of the world (as an inspiration for illustration for the artists).

Well I didn’t remember how to insert art so a friend in my congregation helped me. I took notes and thought I’d share them here in case anyone else could use them. Why not share the wealth of knowledge right? Thanks Shara S. for your help.

Bringing a picture from the web:

  1. Go to location where your desired art resides. There are areas that offer free art or there may be art that can be shared legally.
  2. Right click on the art and do a ‘save image as’.
  3. Under ‘file name’ put in a name that will help you identify the piece later.
  4. Under the ‘save as type’ box click on the drop down menu and choose ‘all files’ or preferably ‘jpeg’.
  5. Save in at a location that is appropriate for your project.

Bringing the document into Microsoft word which usually has the text of the picture book I’m working on. There is usually a very simplified picture program in Windows called Paint.

 Left click on the Start (bottom left of your screen usually)

  1. Click all programs
  2. Accessories
  3. Paint
  4. Under pain select File | Open
  5. Find the folder where you saved your picture(s)
  6. Select picture and Open. If the picture is marked as all files, select the jpeg as file type
  7. Save the file with a title it brings the picture n

Insert the picture/photo into Microsoft word.

  1. Place the courser at the locating you want the photo to be added.
  2. Click insert
  3. Select picture.
  4. There is also an option to determine how to put text around the picture. I can’t find my notes n that. I’ll have to see if I can add that later.
  5. But at least these are the key steps of inserting photos/pictures into a document.
  6. Another suggestion is that you can also insert a text box to put in typed text.
  7. Insert
  8. Text box
  9. And you can type in the test.

Hope this is of use. If a reader of this blog remembers how to inset text to be a companion to a photo to rest bright beside the photo and puts in those steps before I do, please feel free to provide those steps in the comment section of this blog.

Now if I need to remember these steps I have them documented on my web site.  Do you have other useful suggestions for authors, please share in the comment section of this blog.

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Action plan for domain management: 

Posted on October 28, 2014 by
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Last fall I attended a financial seminar and learned about domain managements and how it can be a source of income. Here are some of the notes I took. I hope they can be of use.

  • Learn quickly.
  • Set basic goals.
  • Take action now
  • Send email to dentist show them what you offer them for sale
  • process:
  • Buy 50 domains at 40. Five per week. May cost 2 K
  • Relist domain 50 domains. $500 equals 20 5K
  • Choose proven marketing domain techniques 500
  • Broker: pay commission
  • Book: domain 101,

Have something to add to the list, please do so in the comment section of this blog.

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We are works in progress:

Posted on October 27, 2014 by
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How many of us have heard that church is for the sinner. How many of us have found that we are not perfect and that is one of the reasons we join in communities of Christ to study his gospel and work together to improve ourselves.

Often people set high standards for themselves and may get depressed when they are not reaching their goals of self-improvement quickly. Here are some ideas on how we may stay encouraged in our goals. I hope this lesson can be of use for family counselors, family devotionals, youth ministries and family home evenings

Object for this lesson. Find a marble egg. Through a series of days, the rock in mud and let it dry. Maybe put paint on marble egg or find other ways to mess it up. Now for the object lesson. At different points of our lives, we may feel as messed up as this rock. Our sins and our bad habits may cover our inner potential just like the mud covers the rock. Through repentance and acts of self-improvement, we can begin to chip away the mud or bad things in our lives see the beautiful rock beneath.

Maybe as a family or class, began to chip or break away different parts of the dirt, grime and discuss different techniques and ways of how we can depart from sin or bad habits. Mention habits specifically as we knock off individual parts of grime. Eventually you may have all the mud knocked, but the paint stains may remain. Go ahead and use a sander or a buffeting cloth to take off the paint. Eventually all the grime is removed, leaving only the rock. Go ahead and shining up to its original, beauty. If you have access to a rock collector, that person may have a machine that can shine the rock. The beauty of the rock is revealed through buffeting and cleaning just as we abandon our habits and acts of sin.

Talk about how each individual section of grime is worked on independently. As one section, habit or sin is cleaned, se, can move on to another. Discuss how repentance, recompense, and salvation of Christ and his act of mercy in the garden of Gethsemane have contributed to our removal of sin. As we stop one bad habit, we can move on to another. Sometimes if we have a strong commitment, we may make an abrupt change in our lives, and abandon multiple sands and habits simultaneously. Our actions in partnership to Christ’s actions can leave behind a beautiful rock.

This can be compared to how we can work on individual challenges. We can change our habits and increase our self-improvement gradually. Benjamin Franklin had a checklist of things that he wanted to improve on. He would devote each day to a specific habit. George Washington also had goals of self-improvement, as inspired by a book he read as a youth. Think of how great these men became as they made a constant effort of self-improvement.

We can also become better people, by removing the grime of our rocks. It may be a gradual process, or an abrupt one. The goal is to continually clean our rocks and Christ through his atonement will help us in our goals.

If you have something to contribute to this topic, please do so in the comment section this blog.

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Judging the judges on 2014 Utah ballot:

Posted on October 23, 2014 by
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Every time I’ve gone to vote, there is one section of the ballot that I have Sometimes skipped. I have never known how to find out info about judges to either keep them or get rid of them. So I have often ignored that part of the ballet as I was an uninformed voter in this area.

 

Well I finally found out where we can get information about judges. Look at the info and see if you agree with their actions. Then make your decision if you feel they maintain the US constitution and Utah constitution.

 

  1. http://vote.utah.gov/vote/menu/index
  2. Select candidates & parties
  3. Candidate filings.
  4. Second from the bottom of this list is Judicial retention. Now we can do our homework on judges.

 

Everyone, I invite each of us to be an informed citizen and to vote. Thanks

 

Here is the list of what candidate info is available:

 

Federal Candidates
Utah Constitutional Offices Candidates
Utah Senate Candidates
Utah House of Representatives Candidates
State School Board Candidates
Judicial Retention
Write-in Candidates

This is the direct link:

http://elections.utah.gov/election-resources/2014-candidate-filings

Happy voting.

If you have other info or links that would help voters to be better informed citizens, please feel free to share those areas in the comment section of this blog.

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Spelling Specialty 2:

Posted on October 22, 2014 by
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Bad: Speciality or Specility

Good: Specialty

I consistently get special part right. It’s the TY that I often mess up. Hummm. I guess I’ll just have to see if sound will work Special –ty. We’ll see if that’ll work.

Have a better idea, please share it in the comment section of this blog.

 

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Writing short fiction:

Posted on October 21, 2014 by
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While I attended Life the Universe and Everything this year I took some great notes on a panel about writing short fiction.

  • Short fiction is anything under 40 K
  • short stories are usually 7500 or lower count an estimated two magazines and anthologies.
  • Flash fiction is often under 1K of words.
  • In short fiction, you can be more experimental in your writing and techniques.
  • Many magazines can be viewed for free online.
  • You can be creative in plot structure through short fiction.
  • Daily science fiction is where they will send you a story to your email.
  • Circular in the colon is when the character ends up in the same spot is where they started.
  • Short fiction is like a window into a world
  • Short fiction readers don’t have as much time to but plot.
  • With short fiction, you have little danger of getting stuck on a project.
  • It’s easy to finish a short story. It doesn’t feel so intimidating.
  • Short story should highlight just one main idea. One example is one short story was a letter from insurance policy, saying they would not cover the damages of the spaceship. They got caught up in an asteroid belt.
  • X marks the spot: is an example of another successful short story
  • skip to the important parts of the story through seeing breaks.
  • One good beginning to a short story is of a person nudging a courts. We don’t need to lead up to how they found the courts just have them by the courts. Then, for the sake of precise writing. If they go up wanting to the other instead describe them traveling, just transfer them to the new location/scene.
  • All words in the story should serve multiple purposes. You need enough details to make the story rich.
  • The way to tell if you have a short or novel idea is by how complicated the plot is already have one or multiple characters. Another way is how much time you want to spend on story
  • the short stories. No one cares about branding. It can be in its genre.
  • Can write in different genres is not limited.
  • Submitting short fiction is a way to practice writing. It can also be a way to practice Projects.
  • Seek out Opportunities to Read Slush Pile Fiction. It helps you understand what works and doesn’t work in short fiction.
  • org is a good place to review and have your fiction review.
  • Figure out what works for you. One author was told to cut cut cut on the fiction and then when she submitted to editors, the editors felt that her stories had rushed ending. Watch out for white room problems. A room used to have details in these be populated.
  • If the hook of the story takes over half of the story. It’s still unbalanced.
  • The usefulness of writing groups is that different members have different strong points in critiquing.
  • Resist the temptation to reject your own fiction video feel it’s good enough. Let the editors do their own job.
  • Authors often bad and analyzing the quality of the own work.
  • Editors of short fiction will pick up things that they love.
  • Write the things you love and then find the editor who love the same things you do.
  • Short fiction gives you a chance to practice writing in other genres.
  • Submission grinder, is a site to document sobs when alternative is to document your submission work is Excel
  • sffla will be the counting six cents a word as professional criteria for publishing.
  • Daily science fiction pays $.10 a word.
  • Tor pays $.25 a word but has a long response time.
  • Lightspeed but wanted to day response time
  • Melva: if you have a member, your writing group that is good on characterization and they have a suggestion on your characterization, and that is a person to listen to
  • Melva: critique circle is another good place to critique fiction and get your fiction review.
  • Melva: You can use a story to explore parts of your world that you create
  • Practice flash fiction (which are stories under 1000 words)

Have a suggestion to add to the list? Please do so in the comment section of this blog.

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Domains, a source of income: 

Posted on October 20, 2014 by
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Last fall I attended a financial seminar and learned about how buying domain names can be a source of income. Here are some of the notes I took. I hope they can be of use.

  • Pertrotta: Is a company that provides domain information.
  • Domains is a variant of buying investment grade real estate
  • if you do a search on Google for bedroom and furniture. You’ll get 123 hits a month. That would be a good domain to buy.
  • CPC: means cost per click.
  • PPC: price per click.
  • Only .02% of all tradable domains are being managed by anyone.
  • Chapter 7 bankruptcy information can be appraised for 10K. Option for 50 you get 15 (I have no idea what I met here)
  • Google’s pays for hits with phrases
  • domains can be a portfolio of tradable and rentable domain assets
  • Three pillars to make a successful business person.
  • Right attitude.
  • Taking time in a decision, 24 hours is a great equalizer.

Have something to add to the list, please do so in the comment section of this blog.

 

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