Favorite Albums of All Time Top 12

A friend of mine did something fun on her blog and listed her most influential and I’m supposing favorite albums of all time.

I shall do the same but I would say check out her blog for her list along with lots of other people’s lists.

Even though I will say right now my picks are obviously the best and or coolest eclectic mix out there.

Romanza - Andrea Bocelli
This is my favorite album one of the first I listened to, by one of my favorite artists.

Lost and Found - Will Smith
Not too much into rap but this album was clean thoughtful and very inspiring. I think it is a demonstration of the potential that Rap and Hip Hop hold. The song by the same name (Lost & Found) is probably my second favorite song of all time, it has a great, powerful, strong, meaningful, message.

Closer - Josh Groban
Another of my favorite artists and my favorite of his albums.

Pop 20! - Erasure
Man I grew up with this stuff. My sisters listened to it and i liked it. This is by far the best album of their old stuff. It’s their greatest Hits… the stuff everyone knows and loves.

Nightbird - Erasure
This is a fairly new album by an old favorite. I think it came out about 4 years ago and I love the feel to it.

Eyes Open -Snow Patrol
This is a testament to the fact that the older I get the more I am tending to like some newer music.
I used to like classic rock when I was young. I prefer the newer stuff now days.

Beautiful World - Take That
Random, Random find. I didn’t know who they were and for that matter I still don’t. I hear they were popular back in the day… well this was just released a couple of years ago and it’s awesome.

Calogero - Calogero
I listen to so much foreign music that it was a hard decision on a album that was great all the way through. This one is. It’s French rock.

Gli Anni - 883
As far as influential this one is importat, because it was one of the first Italian albums I fell in love with.
It has good songs but it’s mostly about the influence to the point that I love french and italian music. The CD was a big black and yellow soccer ball… and that was pretty darn cool.

Flood - They Might be Giants
This takes me back… great, funny, goofy… and this was the album that made me love them.
I can’t listen for hours on end, but from time to time there’s nothing quite the same!

Division Bell - Pink Floyd
This was the music I listened to in high school. I still absolutely love some of the music. But this album was specially appealing to me then and still my choice of all their music today.

Best Of - Def Leppard
Probably my favorite music from “My Era” that i never actually listened to. I thought they were a really hard group because of the name and the rap… but when I finally got around to listening to them and in particular this album I understood what I missed. Great stuff

Honorable Mention:
Insieme a Te - Alessandro Safina,
L’anno zero - Nek,
Centoundici - Tiziano Ferro,
Notting Hill - Soundtrack
Parce Qu’on Vient De Loin - Corneille
The Mission - Soundtrack
In your Honor - Foo Fighters
Je te serai fidèle - Roch Voisine
Seal - Seal
Donde estan los ladrones - Shakira

What customers want… really?

“If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.” – Henry Ford

I guess it depends on what you’re doing

Here’s a couple of cases in the photoshop world. Written by John Nack

What I think we’re going to be doing at the Envision The World project might be better than what most customers even could have thought of. And yet there are some things they can think of in other areas that I’m sure we’d love to know. So it can both ways just like with most industries.

The “Don’t spam twitter” debate is off track

The “Don’t spam twitter” debate is off track

People should know that I love it when you tell me when your new blogs and podcasts are up! I’m afraid the backlash will make twitter devoid of use… But obviously don’t overdo it or actually spam… such as direct message people. Because unwanted messages are spam.

When I follow someone I expect to hear about what they’re doing… including what they’re writing!!

By the way  i’m using twitter… i should probably add a plugin for it and stuff. @jarvie

More apt

yes i used the word apt
And it’s not the abbreviation for apartment.

So I’d like to state that we are more apt to do things more aptly after we have done them first a few times.

For many people doing new things is a welcome event.
For others not so much.

We either like to stick in our comfort zone.
Or explore the possibilities
Or both.

There are those things that we won’t aptly and easily do.
But then things happen and we find our self doing it
(either because we want to or we have to or just because that’s the way it happened)

But then after having done it once (or a few times) we are no longer hesitant to do that thing.

I was thinking of examples…
But really it works with everything!

You’ve heard this theory before in other words.
“Actions become habits”
That’s probably a saying somewhere in the book: 7 Habits of Highly Effective people (Covey)

I guess my deeper realization is the fact that I’ll drive to Salt Lake City much more apt to drive there for almost any reason now days.
Before it would take some self-cohercing and some type of big deal to get me up there.
Now I do it almost without thought.

What made that change?
Well… just doing it a lot.
Having a job where I did it every day certainly didn’t hurt.

So the moral to this story!

Do stuff you haven’t done before
Eat somewhere new
Listen to new music
Play games you’ve never played before
Do something cultural you haven’t done before

Just basically do things so that when you find yourself in need or you decide it’s beneficial
You’ll be more apt to do it.

It doesn’t mean you have to make these all into regular occurences or hobbies.
That’s for another discussion the things  you should be doing with your time and things that are best for your life.

But for sure learning, exploring and being more rounded is one good thing!

And sometimes it just takes being more willing… and that will lead us to being more apt

No Effect

Yesterday on the way back from doing wedding pictures about 2 hours away I got super tired driving.
Keep in mind this is the middle of the day. 1-3pm happens to be one of the sleepiest times of the day for me.

It got me thinking about the things that people say get them “wired”

Perhaps I’m just not good at perceiving things but it doesn’t seem like I’m ever really effected by things that people say make them wired.

I’ve never noticed an effect from Sugar, caffeinated drinks… heck when I was a freshman in college i wanted to stay up and finish a paper and my graveyard-shift-working-roomate gave me nodoze… I took one, was still tired, took another and fell asleep.

I don’t think I’d notice an effect from an energy drink! Nothing…

So am I really numb to these things or am I just not cognicent to notice the effects?

There are some people that can drive non-stop and not get tired. I can’t drive at nights and I have a terrible time from about 1pm-3pm…

So the question is… what’s the deal with all of this? It’s a conundrum

With the breath of Kindness

It seems we often hide things from other people to show a better side.
And why many of us will promptly label the practice as deceptive and bad, I’m sure someone could come along and explain why in certain situations it isn’t so terrible.
I guess it pivots on why we did it.
Sometimes we just don’t tell people because there’s no reason to… perhaps it’s just not important enough.

Anyway I’m not here to wax philosophic about it.
Just to say I find myself just spitting everything out from time to time!
Even when not asked…. specially then.
I tell people the reasons and actions that usually lead up to something, like sharing the inner workings of my madness

EX) I told someone today the reasons, thoughts and actions that led up to me leaving an embarasing voicemail message on their phone… only to have those things in reality be more embarassing in the end.
And it’s not like I didn’t know! I thought about it and said it would be embarassing if I told her… but when it got in my head to tell her I just decided why not and did it!

Perhaps it’s the Ego letting go and saying… they can see all of me for all I care. So what if it’s a laugh at my expense! It’s all about great memories… and unless we do something memorable it won’t be worth remembering anyway!

I wouldn’t say I do this in all occasions… perhaps I’m hoping the following quote rings true!

“Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithhful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away. ”

— George Eliot

Seriously what a beautiful quote! It’s been one of my favorites for such a long time! How perfect really…
It really is what I’m looking for in a eternal companion! Someone who takes it all in and does exactly what Mr Eliot suggests

Can you relate?

Memories: Pictures, Writing… and who I met yesterday!

it’s kinda funny how every time I meet a new girl it prompts me to write a few words.
I don’t do a good job of documenting my life, but i worry that one of these days will be the day that I finally meet that girl that I’ll eventually end up marrying.
And I’ll kick myself for not haven written a little something about the day we met. It hasn’t happened yet and all the times in the past I guess have just been practice writings. Not necessarily done in vane but more of a trial run in writing for that one time where I’ll really document it well and have something great to show my kids. Instead of “Met a nice girl today” say her name and then say if my baseball team won or something, end of story.

It seems that at the end of the day or sometimes on the morning after I’ll just be wishing I had done more or have a heart full of emotions. And as the state of emotions are such that they are very subject to change I want to create something that makes me look back and remember.

I think I have a special connection to pictures because they do just that. They make people (and by people I put high emphasis on myself) remember the details of and perhaps even recall the feelings of a certain event. I have this connection because much of my past years are lost in oblivion of my forgetfulness . I do remember some things and as I think about those things they are most often connected to pictures. The pictures somehow serve as an anchor on that memory or that event.
I don’t think we realize how much of our life passes by and we think we’ll never forget this powerful moment and these dramatic feelings and emotions. Sometimes they’re so powerful we think them impossible to forget. But I speak for my segment of the population when I say… they can be forgotten (recalled later yes), but certainly they aren’t immune. I’ve had some amazing things happen in my life, and while some of them have stayed as frequent reminders and pop up often others have been gone for many years. They pop back up from time to time as another event makes us recall them that is for certain. But almost 30 years of experiences you’d hope there were more than just those rare occasions. And I know that some very powerful events haven’t been recalled since a week after they happened well over 10-15 years ago.

So perhaps that longing to be able to remember is why I hold on to and love photography as much as I do. One of the theories.

But there is another great and even older method of recording our experiences and feelings. Another way that can bring things back. It takes a lot longer to create but still often can be seen as an art that can flourish with our creativity… and that’s writing.
It’s what I’m doing right now and it’s the presice reason I am doing it.

Now this one is harder for me. I don’t do it nearly as much and I reread the things I wrote even less. But I do find myself to be quite wordy and I can go on for a long time.
That’s another thing that keeps me away so often… it takes so long to say everything I want to say… and some days I don’t even feel like saying anything, let alone spending ages doing it.
And If I wait until there are days like these to say something I’ve missed such a long period of time that I can’t hardly touch upon a fraction of all I want to say.

Then there are those things that you’d rather forget so why write about them and anchor them in.

How do you approach recording in writing the instances of your life. With photography you often stick with recording the more exciting moments.
When writing in a journal it seems many do a travel-log of everything that’s going on, like an itinerary of their daily proceedings. Others I’m sure are more about their thoughts and feelings. Some don’t do it at all and I wonder what they see when they look back at 30,50, or when they have grandchildren. What do they see looking back.
Maybe it’s just me who can’t remember and everyone else is doing just fine.

But the thing about writing (or for that matter talking to someone) is that it helps to understand your feelings. Either to define them better, or in some cases to escape them, like when we’re hurt. Sometimes writing or talking seems to help us cope with them and other times I think we just want to dwell in them (either positively or for the worse)
Today is one of those days I just want to dwell on it, just kinda stew in the feelings of yesterday.

I’ve kinda always seen myself as kinda a hopeless romantic and kind of emotional.
I suppose for a hopeless romantic who’s primary goal in life has always been to get married and have a wonderful family that being single for quite a few years has been hard.
But there’s a lot of lessons to be learned out of it and I can see that I’m only stronger for it. Besides there are some pretty important things I’ve been able to do and I’ve had perhaps the grace to be able to set those yearnings on hold while I do those other important projects that I know my Father in Heaven needs and has chosen me to do. (Not that he wouldn’t have just gotten someone else to do them, but it just so happens to be on me)

As you might tell the more I feel the more I reflect and the more I write.
And if you’re still listening… I’m impressed. If not you’ve probably been wise and skipped to the next thing. Heck I don’t read the long blogs either.
But sometimes we just write for ourselves.

But anyway I guess i should say. “Met a nice girl today” her name was ####… and the Padres won! (Name withheld to protect the innocent, I’m sure she knows who she is.)

Rhetoric - An Oft Disgusting Practice?

What was rhetoric? Aristotle defines it as the “art of persuasion,” the technical skill by which one convinces people—convinces, that is, everybody of anything for a fee, according to Clement of Alexandria. It is the training and skill by which one can make unimportant things seem important, according to Plato, or, to quote Clement again, “make false opinions seem true by means of words.”
(For these and other definitions, Hugh Nibley, “The Unsolved Loyalty Problem: Our Western Heritage,” Western Political Quarterly 6 (1953): 652–53.)

See Nibley’s talk Rhetoric and Revelation and understand more of what he’s trying to say. On FARMS website

I would like to hear your comments or opinions and wether you are responding to the quote or have read the whole text of his argument.

As for my part I am interested in the subject of Rhetoric and not interested in the use of Rhetoric to defend yours or Nibley’s practices. It is a given we all use Rhetoric in some form or another. Perhaps the question could be…When does it become destructive?

Changes

Since i’ve been doing the whole job thang for the last couple of months and it will be continuing for at least a while longer.
It leads to a few different things… Some Changes

My pattern of life has been changed up a bit and so I will be changing up how I approach this Blog.

I haven’t posted very often because in the very few hours of truely “Free time” I have, I spend this time trying to catch up with the important projects and other important aspects of life.
In addition by the time I get home I’ve depleated much of the resources of body and mind.

(Not to say that I have gone beyond my capacities, but instead to say that the mundane actions of the day have done little to pump in a sense of thrill and excitement for life or a shall we call it a Zest. And I come home with less than adaquate motivation to do Other stuff.) In a sense, as I have stated, it has done more to depleat me of this Zest… This shouldn’t be a blame to be placed completely on Jobs <understandably> as we should take responsability for our life, actions and feelings.

That being said.

I will for this period of time try a series of short to the point Blog entries.
Dealing with things I notice.
I won’t try to be comprehensive.
I will often simply throw it out for consideration and possibly debate.
Perhaps a simple one liner or a quote and perhaps a question.

And all this I will do on a frequent basis… if only a good quote of the day to make you go hmmm.
Or a question

Eyes upon ALL Men

“Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high and whose eyes are upon all men…” DC1:1

(For further insight into this concept please read the first few pages of Hugh Nibley’s essay “Zeal without Knowledge”)

For me this is what I got out of this scripture this time around:
(Obvious reasonings that I just never thought about in this way until today)

Nibley discussed that our minds are more or less set to think about one thing at a time. That’s just how our mind operates and even when we think we’re multi tasking we are actually processing one thing at a time. These are other conceived notions about how our minds operate… and when people assume that it is in like fashion that God’s wisdom and mind operates, it is then that problems in understanding arises and possible confusion occurs.
God can have his “eyes on all men” not because he processes the circumstances of all men everywhere in every possible world (that might or might not exist). But because his mind isn’t one at a time at all. (how many at a time I don’t know…whether or not there even is a limitation) It is with this information that we can understand better how his eye is on the sparrow and the Lily of the fields as well as every man woman and child.
In short he doesn’t have our physical limitations that’s an important thing to remember and that opens up a world of understanding.

His eyes are surely on every man and not just every so often not just every day when we check in (or fail to check in) with a prayer. Not just when we call out his name. His eyes are always on us and every man all the time, not just because his love and caring propels him to do so… but because it is also completely within his realm of capacities and power to do so.

How important is it to understand the character of God!!
It helps us to understand so much about his plan which is the gospel.

For my part it helped me to understand and gain deeper insight into a common scripture

Insufferable Prigs

I enjoyed it so much I thought I should share it.

Feel free to comment on this one…
as it’s a great topic of conversation and should strike at our way of life.

“Insufferable, self-righteous prigs” what a strong and yet enjoyable way of saying it.

From Hugh Nibley’s essay Zeal without knowledge found in his book Approaching Zion

QUOTE

“We think it more commendable to get up at five A.M. to write a bad book than to get up at nine O’Clock to write a good one - that is pure zeal that tends to breed a race of insufferable, self-righteous prigs and barren minds.