My blog is moving!!
I am moving my blog to leejhinkle.com. Check it out on the "blog" header.
Thanks for dealing with me and this movement! I'm super-excited. I may not quite have the same blog support as with blogspot, but it'll be nice to have other support as well.
Lee J
06 March 2011
05 March 2011
IT Fun
This has been a really fun week for me in IT. I've set up servers at school and at home. And I completely fubarred my home router trying to install dd-wrt on it. It seems like every spare moment I've had has been spent doing mostly useless things in the IT area.
But it's bee very good for learning. I also bought two domain names, leejhinkle.com and leejhinkle.net. It's likely that the -.net address will end up pointing to the -.com one, but we'll see what happens.
Anyway, it'll be fun to try hosting those sites myself. I'll set up IIS on Windows Server 2k8 on my desktop and work to set my sites up and show them to the world. But for now, the blog will remain here.
But it's bee very good for learning. I also bought two domain names, leejhinkle.com and leejhinkle.net. It's likely that the -.net address will end up pointing to the -.com one, but we'll see what happens.
Anyway, it'll be fun to try hosting those sites myself. I'll set up IIS on Windows Server 2k8 on my desktop and work to set my sites up and show them to the world. But for now, the blog will remain here.
06 February 2011
Goals
Always a fun topic, Goals focuses on several things. Or at least brings greater clarity to me of what my goals should be.
Somethings you can jump right into. Other things you have to learn a little bit about and then you can jump in. Others have a completely foreign culture (maybe) and take some getting used to.
I went to Jackson Hole, WY last year with some friends. One of the people I went with talked about doing a bike race from Logan, UT to Jackson (332 km). Initially, I thought he was nuts (I still kinda do), but I spent a lot of time after that trip riding my bike and running some shorter races.
And I realized I am addicted to adrenaline and to competition. I like the feeling of passing people and knowing I can pass more people. Or maybe I just like everyone looking at my butt.
Anyway, I want to do Lotoja (LOgan TO JAckson). One problem. My physiology. I'm a sprinter. This is made very obvious to me by my ability to be good in short bursts and breath heavily for a while and then do it again. And I have a 30+-inch vertical--meaning my musculature is at least 50% and likely 70+% fast-twitch X muscles.
I ran two 5k and one 3k race last year. I felt 5k was a little farther than I'd like to go and 3k is almost perfect (of course, I'd really prefer <400m, but those really don't exist). In any case, I placed very well in the races I ran.
Then I tried a super-short triathlon hosted by my university's tri club. I did it without any training during the two months prior to it and placed very well in my division (the one without the really good triathletes).
So anyway, I've been looking for local 5k to run this year--I want to run at least one a month (or 12 on the year, because January is gone and I didn't run one and I doubt I'm gonna run one in February). Also I've been looking at sprint-distance triathlons (200-800m swims, 10-15 mile bikes, 5k run) and there are a fair number nearby. But then Lotoja is in the back of my head.
For both the triathlons and Lotoja, I have to have a new bike. Period. The 5k obviously don't require a bike. I'll probably get a new bike in June, but if I want to do Lotoja I have to be riding 100+ miles/week prior to June and I don't know if my current bike can handle that.
I think the solution to my dilemma presented itself. Swim and run now. Keep biking to school. Compete in 5k events until I get a new bike, then do triathlons. Biking 10 miles is easy-peasy. Simple to do at top speed, especially on a new bike. Running and swimming are my crappy events anyway. Focus on Lotoja next year. Because I'll need more than 7 months (Feb to Sep to alter my physiology enough to last for 10-12 hours in the saddle). And my musculature may not be the only thing that needs altering. :-/ I love thinking aloud.
Somethings you can jump right into. Other things you have to learn a little bit about and then you can jump in. Others have a completely foreign culture (maybe) and take some getting used to.
I went to Jackson Hole, WY last year with some friends. One of the people I went with talked about doing a bike race from Logan, UT to Jackson (332 km). Initially, I thought he was nuts (I still kinda do), but I spent a lot of time after that trip riding my bike and running some shorter races.
And I realized I am addicted to adrenaline and to competition. I like the feeling of passing people and knowing I can pass more people. Or maybe I just like everyone looking at my butt.
Anyway, I want to do Lotoja (LOgan TO JAckson). One problem. My physiology. I'm a sprinter. This is made very obvious to me by my ability to be good in short bursts and breath heavily for a while and then do it again. And I have a 30+-inch vertical--meaning my musculature is at least 50% and likely 70+% fast-twitch X muscles.
I ran two 5k and one 3k race last year. I felt 5k was a little farther than I'd like to go and 3k is almost perfect (of course, I'd really prefer <400m, but those really don't exist). In any case, I placed very well in the races I ran.
Then I tried a super-short triathlon hosted by my university's tri club. I did it without any training during the two months prior to it and placed very well in my division (the one without the really good triathletes).
So anyway, I've been looking for local 5k to run this year--I want to run at least one a month (or 12 on the year, because January is gone and I didn't run one and I doubt I'm gonna run one in February). Also I've been looking at sprint-distance triathlons (200-800m swims, 10-15 mile bikes, 5k run) and there are a fair number nearby. But then Lotoja is in the back of my head.
For both the triathlons and Lotoja, I have to have a new bike. Period. The 5k obviously don't require a bike. I'll probably get a new bike in June, but if I want to do Lotoja I have to be riding 100+ miles/week prior to June and I don't know if my current bike can handle that.
I think the solution to my dilemma presented itself. Swim and run now. Keep biking to school. Compete in 5k events until I get a new bike, then do triathlons. Biking 10 miles is easy-peasy. Simple to do at top speed, especially on a new bike. Running and swimming are my crappy events anyway. Focus on Lotoja next year. Because I'll need more than 7 months (Feb to Sep to alter my physiology enough to last for 10-12 hours in the saddle). And my musculature may not be the only thing that needs altering. :-/ I love thinking aloud.
14 January 2011
Tolerance and love
While I was at home I ripped the entire series of M*A*S*H to dvd. (Thanks Mom and Dad!) So I've been watching it a lot recently. One of the topics that seems to come up frequently is the need to accept people for who they are and love them. This is evident through the interactions between Major Frank Burns and Captain Hawkeye Pierce.
Burns is a very intolerant person and often refers to the enemy (Korean War ==> Chinese) as "gooks." He uses this dehumanization of people to justify his doing his duty as a US officer. Because all the officers at M*A*S*H are doctors, they have a higher calling and responsibility than just to their country. Their Hippocratic oath is an oath to all humankind--therefore the lesson Hawkeye often must show by example is one of human decency--putting the enemy on the operating table ahead of American soldiers because they are more mortally wounded.
In one episode, Hawkeye starts quoting Rudyard Kipling's poem Gunga Din--a poem about British occupation in India. The poem is linked here. As I read the poem, I was moved by the speaker's brutal honesty. He speaks of the need to fit in with his comrades, but also the need to treat the regimental bhisti with better respect, because he is a better man than the speaker.
The speaker speaks for all of us as we realize that often we act exactly as he did: we see that others whom we treat poorly are better people than we are, but for social reason--and any others--we may not have the inner fortitude to better our actions. And we essentially say with the speaker,
Tho' I've belted you an' flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you.
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
Burns is a very intolerant person and often refers to the enemy (Korean War ==> Chinese) as "gooks." He uses this dehumanization of people to justify his doing his duty as a US officer. Because all the officers at M*A*S*H are doctors, they have a higher calling and responsibility than just to their country. Their Hippocratic oath is an oath to all humankind--therefore the lesson Hawkeye often must show by example is one of human decency--putting the enemy on the operating table ahead of American soldiers because they are more mortally wounded.
In one episode, Hawkeye starts quoting Rudyard Kipling's poem Gunga Din--a poem about British occupation in India. The poem is linked here. As I read the poem, I was moved by the speaker's brutal honesty. He speaks of the need to fit in with his comrades, but also the need to treat the regimental bhisti with better respect, because he is a better man than the speaker.
The speaker speaks for all of us as we realize that often we act exactly as he did: we see that others whom we treat poorly are better people than we are, but for social reason--and any others--we may not have the inner fortitude to better our actions. And we essentially say with the speaker,
Tho' I've belted you an' flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you.
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
28 December 2010
Unique teaching methods
A new movie burst into my top five tonight. I'm not sure which one it knocked out, so maybe my top five has six, but that's not the point.
I spent the last six hours or so working via a virtual private network (I love being able to do that). Luckily the work is mindless enough that I can watch movies and other things to keep myself entertained as I work. I had watched several episodes of M*A*S*H, but I felt need for a more in-depth, cohesive storyline, not something that changes every 25 minutes. So I plopped myself in front of my parent's DVD cabinet (hence the need for the VPN--working for a Utah-based company while in California can get pretty tricky) and searched for something new to watch.
I chose Charly a movie written by an LDS physics professor that I heard was "sappy" and "a total chick flick." Never having been too put off by such things (although most chick flicks are trash) I decided to watch it.
It is a definite tear-jerker and would have elicited more from me if I had not been partially focused on my work. I'm kinda glad I didn't see it for the first time with a girl because I may have lost all semblance of manliness in her eyes if I had. However, experience shows I may not be much better the second time around.
To move to my actual thoughts: the story is not about the love Sam and Charly have for each other. Their love is the vehicle for the underlying message: when love is founded in true principles, it can be eternal. That is, "happily ever after" is not a fairy tale. It can be reality if both individuals want it and work at it.
Some sort-of spoilers follow, but knowing what happens won't change the powerful emotional effect the movie has one you.
Movies that elicit powerful emotions quickly jump to be among my favourites. The last forty minutes (as I saw it--your experience may differ) is about a man who loves his family so much he will do anything, include acting contrary to God's will (a belief he holds very strongly) to try to ensure that family can live together. Sam takes every step he can think to hold onto Charly and Adam for as long as he can. But Charly's illness proves to be terminal.
Sam is a powerful example to men of how strongly they ought to love their wives. Together he and Charly teach the viewer how a couple must foster a relationship so it can last longer than "as long as you both shall live." Part of this is belief in correct principles, part of it is the continuation of courtship beyond marriage.
One symbol pervades the story: a ferris wheel. When Sam meets Charly, they ride the ferris wheel for hours, mostly annoyed with the other (you gotta watch it to understand why they would torture themselves like that). Here the wheel symbolizes the futility of their conversation and even their relationship to that point. It symbolizes a happy-go-lucky girl stuck in a constant state of college party and a too-old man (only within a certain culture ;) ) constantly stuck in his boring ways.
The first time they return to the ferris wheel (maybe the second?--I was working) they actually are engaged and each has progress toward the other. Now the ferris wheel symbolizes potential. They dream of creating a relationship that will last forever, a relationship that death cannot terminate.
Later they again return to the ferris wheel (the practical person in me wonders how it is still there, given the transient nature of most ferris wheels) and it symbolizes their immediate hope for an eternal relationship together. It is their last time to ride the wheel together. But it symbolizes eternity--the ride has no end. There is no beginning or end to a circle--there cannot be. Thus the ferris wheel symbolizes their hope and faith in an eternal relationship--what they worked so hard to create and what they look forward to when they are reunited after their deaths.
After Charly is buried, Sam takes Adam for a ride on the ferris wheel. The story begins again, but in a slightly different place. This last visit moves the circular story into three dimensions and we realize what was a circle in two dimensions is a helix in three. Throughout the story Sam and Charly have been circling on this ferris wheel, but each time they come back to it, they are on a higher plane--they are closer to both God and each other. This last time introduces Adam to the ferris wheel and begins his symbolic journey to mimic what he parents created.
Thus the author actually uses the relationship of Sam and Charly to teach the principle of eternal marriage. And hey preys on people's emotions to make the story hit home. Realizing how similar I am to the characters and how similar my life could be draws me into the story and makes their emotional roller coaster one I must experience, and one I should prepare for. I pray I never have to leave a young wife, and I pray I am never left by my wife when I am young, but I know I can overcome the trial with faith in God, with faith in His teachings and His gospel. No matter how many nights I end up crying myself to sleep if that happened to me, I know that pain will be replaced with joy, because I will be married for eternity.
What is perhaps my favourite line of the movie came after the credits ended, and summarizes my belief of life on earth and whether this is the totality of existence. I cite it verbatim:
Not The End
I spent the last six hours or so working via a virtual private network (I love being able to do that). Luckily the work is mindless enough that I can watch movies and other things to keep myself entertained as I work. I had watched several episodes of M*A*S*H, but I felt need for a more in-depth, cohesive storyline, not something that changes every 25 minutes. So I plopped myself in front of my parent's DVD cabinet (hence the need for the VPN--working for a Utah-based company while in California can get pretty tricky) and searched for something new to watch.
I chose Charly a movie written by an LDS physics professor that I heard was "sappy" and "a total chick flick." Never having been too put off by such things (although most chick flicks are trash) I decided to watch it.
It is a definite tear-jerker and would have elicited more from me if I had not been partially focused on my work. I'm kinda glad I didn't see it for the first time with a girl because I may have lost all semblance of manliness in her eyes if I had. However, experience shows I may not be much better the second time around.
To move to my actual thoughts: the story is not about the love Sam and Charly have for each other. Their love is the vehicle for the underlying message: when love is founded in true principles, it can be eternal. That is, "happily ever after" is not a fairy tale. It can be reality if both individuals want it and work at it.
Some sort-of spoilers follow, but knowing what happens won't change the powerful emotional effect the movie has one you.
Movies that elicit powerful emotions quickly jump to be among my favourites. The last forty minutes (as I saw it--your experience may differ) is about a man who loves his family so much he will do anything, include acting contrary to God's will (a belief he holds very strongly) to try to ensure that family can live together. Sam takes every step he can think to hold onto Charly and Adam for as long as he can. But Charly's illness proves to be terminal.
Sam is a powerful example to men of how strongly they ought to love their wives. Together he and Charly teach the viewer how a couple must foster a relationship so it can last longer than "as long as you both shall live." Part of this is belief in correct principles, part of it is the continuation of courtship beyond marriage.
One symbol pervades the story: a ferris wheel. When Sam meets Charly, they ride the ferris wheel for hours, mostly annoyed with the other (you gotta watch it to understand why they would torture themselves like that). Here the wheel symbolizes the futility of their conversation and even their relationship to that point. It symbolizes a happy-go-lucky girl stuck in a constant state of college party and a too-old man (only within a certain culture ;) ) constantly stuck in his boring ways.
The first time they return to the ferris wheel (maybe the second?--I was working) they actually are engaged and each has progress toward the other. Now the ferris wheel symbolizes potential. They dream of creating a relationship that will last forever, a relationship that death cannot terminate.
Later they again return to the ferris wheel (the practical person in me wonders how it is still there, given the transient nature of most ferris wheels) and it symbolizes their immediate hope for an eternal relationship together. It is their last time to ride the wheel together. But it symbolizes eternity--the ride has no end. There is no beginning or end to a circle--there cannot be. Thus the ferris wheel symbolizes their hope and faith in an eternal relationship--what they worked so hard to create and what they look forward to when they are reunited after their deaths.
After Charly is buried, Sam takes Adam for a ride on the ferris wheel. The story begins again, but in a slightly different place. This last visit moves the circular story into three dimensions and we realize what was a circle in two dimensions is a helix in three. Throughout the story Sam and Charly have been circling on this ferris wheel, but each time they come back to it, they are on a higher plane--they are closer to both God and each other. This last time introduces Adam to the ferris wheel and begins his symbolic journey to mimic what he parents created.
Thus the author actually uses the relationship of Sam and Charly to teach the principle of eternal marriage. And hey preys on people's emotions to make the story hit home. Realizing how similar I am to the characters and how similar my life could be draws me into the story and makes their emotional roller coaster one I must experience, and one I should prepare for. I pray I never have to leave a young wife, and I pray I am never left by my wife when I am young, but I know I can overcome the trial with faith in God, with faith in His teachings and His gospel. No matter how many nights I end up crying myself to sleep if that happened to me, I know that pain will be replaced with joy, because I will be married for eternity.
What is perhaps my favourite line of the movie came after the credits ended, and summarizes my belief of life on earth and whether this is the totality of existence. I cite it verbatim:
Not The End
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