daines'n around

It is rare that I am interested enough in a speaker at BYU that I take the opportunity to get out of bed early for the 11 a.m. forum talks held on Tuesdays. Earlier today Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., spoke to those present at the Marriott Center.

Reid spoke [full text of speech here] at length about the challenges of love, the strength he garnered from the support of peers and how important his own family has made his life.

I only scrawled a few things in my notebook that I wanted to keep with me. I'm going to list them here along with some thoughts about why I chose to remember these moments.

"In the struggle against evil, only faith matters," Reid said, quoting an old Jewish saying. This applies to so much more than simple religion. It appeals to the hope that resides in each of us for a better world.

"I'm a Democrat because I'm a Mormon, not in spite of it."

Independent thinking is necessary for progression. Active, informed decision making leads to opinions. Those opinions are fought for, and if any type of evil needs to be overcome, it is by the conviction of those fighting evil that the struggle may be won. Democrats aren't always right. Republicans aren't always right. But together they legislate in an effort to do the best for the people of this country.

"We can. We will. We must."

Reid's mother kept a purple pillow with gold lettering hung on the wall with this quote from Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It's a mantra worth repeating until it becomes ingrained in each of us. We can create a better world. We will create a better world. We must create a better world.

"Education was the equalizer in my life – it must be for you and for all of us."

Our backgrounds take us so far. What we learn, and what we do with that knowledge takes us beyond the reach of what we could only imagine without that knowledge.

"Crisis leaves people with only family, government and God."

This makes me think of so many things. Darfur. Iraq. Hurricane Katrina. Crandall Canyon mine collapse. Death.

Borrowing from Harry Reid's speech given at BYU I adapt these statements.

I'm a journalist because I'm a human being, not in spite of it. In the struggle against evil, truth will be the most successful and damning weapon. I can continue to tell the stories of the world around me. I must share these stories with the world around me. I will continue to listen to the world I live in. In the great crisis that is mortality, we are left accountable for our actions.

Not every story will change the world. But the world can never change without our stories.

Thank you Harry Reid for sharing some of your personal history with each of us.

After the great computer melt-down of 2006 my half-new computer (Rubberredux -- the original was Rubberduckie) is now on the fritz. Adobe Creative Suite lots text functionality, and the system seizes to a halt when two memory-hog applications are open. Data has begun to become corrupt when transferring to to USB drives and burning DVDs always leaves one or two files unreadable.

Solution?

Buy more stuff. Logically.

I originally built my computer in 2002. It has been a good six years (aside form the melt-down) and I'm about to be able to handle my RAW photographs with ease. I also got a copy of Widows Vista for good measure. It will be interesting to have a brand new computer and operating system at the same time. I'm contemplating a new monitor, since I bought everything on credit anyway, but that might not happen. I have a hard time spending money. Especially when I don't have any.

Any idea what my new computer should be named?

I have exciting things I cannot blog about. It is disappointing.

Rock Canyon was beautiful this morning

I hiked farther up Rock Canyon than I had previously, and found myself wishing I had gone a few weeks earlier. Most of the leaves were already off of the trees, but not in the picturesque autumn setting. It was closer to a winter scene without snow.

That reminds me that snow is coming soon.

And because it was on sale, I got a hoody at threadless.com's sale

It's sure to warm most people's hearts, and may even get me a date. If i want to date someone based on my fantastic hoody.

New computer will be built soon. I'm still taking pictures.

It's been a while since I didn't have to deal with color problems in Photoshop CS3. I ran into this problem on my old computer when I started shooting in the RAW format. This proved a huge problem as I would have to edit photos two, or three times. Once in CameraRaw before opening the image in Photoshop itself, then again in Photoshop to match color settings that would reproduce in print and online.

How did I solve my problem?

Yes. Rubberredux, my pieced-together computer after the computer meltdown of '06 imploded. Say hello to blueduckie, my new computer. After a few scares with a faulty power supply, overcharging by Tigerdirect (since rectified) and a long panicky evening at work my new computer is put together.

It's fast! 3gb RAM, 1.5terrabytes or hard drive space (3x500gb SATA), Intel Core 2 quad (Q6600) 2.40 ghz and a 518mb geforce nvidia video card. I also upgraded to Windows Vista. I was hesitant at first. I've known XP so well for so many years now. But I'm happy now, here's why.

I have lost my color problem.

No longer must I edit photos two or three times. The CameraRaw of Photoshop CS3 translates to web color flawlessly. I still have to try out printing, but I'll wait for a photo worth experimenting with.

Here's to many years with my new computer. and a rebirth of being able to use Photoshop to its full capabilities after a year of shortcutting.

Help me save money by cooking for me?

Maybe a part time job in the mornings would help.