A new resolute resolution

This will be what I would consider a preemptive new-year's resolution. A new "year" can begin at any time right? So what is this new resolution you ask? You are reading it, right now. I wish to make known more of my thoughts so that they just don't disappear.

It's very interesting thinking about all the things I have experienced and, though my memory is yet keen, I know there are things that I don't remember about my life. I always ask myself: "Am I in the right place in my life that I need to be right now?" I feel I have been led to the path I have thus far followed. I also have this unshakable feeling that I have been destined for much more than the meager existence I am currently experiencing.

Then a question is asked: "What are you doing to get from where you are to where you feel destined to arrive?" This is obviously the hard part for me and probably most people. I have so many grandiose visions of my future  (and I believe I have been blessed with many of the gifts and tools to achieve them) but I still don't know how to get there. That's the rub. I can't seem to put one foot in front of the other for fear that if I do it the wrong way some of these visions I have for my future will not come to pass or I won't be able to achieve them. So then I am stuck in a loop; and with the weight of other things still pulling on me the loop inevitably becomes a downward spiral...

I don't mean for this to sound depressing. I wish to merely express my thoughts in order for me to clarify to my own self that what I am thinking is what I just described.

So. How to proceed? What first step do I take? Which one will lead me closer to the future I hope to have for myself and my family? Probably any of them. I am sure that the most important thing fight now will be to just take a step and then see where it leads. Spinning around in my limbo loop does no good for anyone except the adversary of all things good.

I believe that posting this thought wandering is a good step. My brain has far too long sat idle. It needs good stimulation and this will begin to facilitate that. I do also wish to continue the original purpose of this blog: to expand my thoughts about my own fiction and maybe draw conclusions for my own life from the lessons I can put into these fictional characters' lives.

I hope that, whoever you are reading this, you have been able to draw your own conclusions from my meanderings. I also hope that it made some sense. Until next time, may the road rise up to meet you, adieu.

Mind movie

This is my mind movie. I have had a great time making it. I only hope I can get it onto my mp3 player or pocket pc so I can watch it all the time...

Lucas Singing

Here are two spliced clips of me singing in the Upper Valley Idol contest. The first clip is Josh Groban's "You're Still You", the next is "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins. Enjoy!!

Happy Scotchtoberfest!!!

Today, October 17th, I celebrated Scotchtoberfest...not to be confused with Oktoberfest. I was bedecked in the classic Scottish garb of a kilt and a puffy sidelong hat like a loose beret. Spiderman plaid was the fabric, and I even wore it to work and sold trees like a true Scot.

It was interesting to see people's reaction to a man wearing what looks like a skirt (a very manly skirt). It was a very fun day. I recorded this movie in the office at my work. It is the classic commercial by Vocal Point "Scottish Spring"...you'll get the rest



One of my coworkers, Jordan, was also man enough to wear a skirt. Here we are:

What you thought you saw...Look closer

I always thought that flowers were beautiful in the spring and take time to notice them whenever I see them. However, there is always a deeper level of understanding to everything. So, the deeper you go, the more understanding you are presented with. What you do with the understanding constitutes how life goes... this next picture is my favorite picture I have ever taken...because of the depth of understanding that is presented in being so close...
ENJOY!

Thinking out of the Ice Box

This is an assignment I had for my Sales and Marketing class. We had to go out into our ten-acre demonstration gardens and find a picture of beauty amidst the gloom of the weather. The assignment was for us to change our paradigms. So I titled the series "Thinking out of the Ice Box"

We had to have a caption for the finished product and I found a great quote by Albert Camus (ka-moo) which fits the last picture well.

"In the depths of winter I learned there was in me an invincible summer."

I really like the quote and enjoyed the assignment. Here are some of my shots:


Above is an Oriental Spruce that only shows this beautiful yellow in the cold of winter

I saw these rose fruits popping out of the snow still showing signs of life and coloring the white surroundings.

This one is just a cool shot of hops fruit dried out on the vine.

This is one of those pictures that just comes when you are ready. I was looking through the different arches in this little gazebo thing and I turned and there was this girl perfectly centered in the frame...so I snapped it and it turned out really cool. There is darkness inside the arch and bleakness of winter outside. But right in the middle is the color of her scarf and the determination to mak it throught the winter.

This was the one with the quote. There were a bunch of dead looking sticks and I looked closer and saw the potential for spring and new life in these fuzzy bright Sumac fruit.

Enjoy

Tree energy

Since one of the reasons I started this blog was to muse and ponder about the book I am writing, I might as well get to doing that. The reason I haven't been very current with my postings is that Have been both working mostly full-time doing my internship and going to school full-time. Needless to say I am glad for the semester to be over.....so on to the book wanderings.

The books starts on a different planet that is for now called Yuriel. Yuriel has just been through the AEW or All Encompassing War. This war had a terrible effect on the planet because of all of the volcanoes that were set off intentionally by an evil government power. This government is very two-faced in all of their dealings.

The effects of this cataclysmic war were many, but most important and devastating was the perma-cloud that covered the planet. This cloud cover was so dense that virtually all plant life died. The other terrible effect was that their main source of energy (solar) was taken away from the denseness of the clouds. This government had a back-up plan: they had stored up tons of the solar energy in batteries and they became the only source of energy for all the survivors in their city state.

Their batteries and supply thereof wouldn't last forever so they organized elite research and reconnaissance teams to find a new source of energy. They scoured the battered planet to find something usable, salvaging many things from decimated cities.

One recon plane the gov't sent ahead reported something unusual across the continent from the city-state and their best team was sent in to investigate. Off in the distance they see a green glow and decide to proceed with caution. As they get closer they realize the green glow is coming from a giant grove of trees and the reason they are glowing is because there is a hole into the sky and the sun is shining down on them!

This amazing discovery along with some intense research allow them to take the excess amount of energy produced by the trees and store it in bio-batteries. Voila! They found a new source of energy...in this same research they found that humans have light energy as well, just more pure and usually more of it in children...and the government funds (under the table) an organization that steals children to take their light away.

And thus my story begins. (that was all prologue)

The Man Who Planted Trees

I just finished watching an animated movie based on a book called by the same title The Man Who Planted Trees. I have seen it before but am always intrigued and moved by the story. The short animated film is narrated by Christopher Plummer (Captain von Trapp) and won an oscar in 1988. I think everyone should at least see it once in their life if not own it. The story talks of a simple man who by the endless toil of planting trees and his love for the land he changes the face of the countryside from a barren wasteland to a verdant paradise in just over 30 years. We have been talking in my landscape materials class (plant ID) about creating microclimates but this man in the story reached so far as to creating a macroclimate. This happened to the Salt Lake valley. When the pioneers found the place where they were to live--it looked like a barren desert(it was). Now it is very lush and green and the climate is much milder--all because (I believe) of trees and hard work. I think that this is the way God has fulfiled his promises to the saints in areas like Utah and Idaho. By their planting of trees to change the almost uninhabitable areas to great places to live.....Well, I have probably said enough for now.

A new blog and a first of many

I guess I am joining this crazy blog thing too. What I would really like to do is use this to muse on ideas for my book(s) that I am writing (hence the title of the blog). I hope that my imagination is something that will entertain you. I like it. I guess you can't see it like I do but here it goes anyway...