Tai Pan Trading Co., also known as...

Today I went to visit Tai Pan Trading for the first time- a Utah store that sells a variety of home decor items. I had been warned by my brother that it was the place that had "everything you never needed," but when I texted him to ask if I should go there to find planters and pots for plants, he replied, "oh yes." So, after work today and on my way to look at planters at Lowe's (Home Improvement), I decided to make a quick visit. I had a few plants that are getting too big for their britches.

To cut a long story short (yes, you can thank your lucky stars today- this post will be shortER), I didn't get lost, but it was difficult shopping. Everything is in general 'areas' and you have to just meander through it all, hoping you're going to find another display of what you're looking for, or wondering if you're entering another area, or if you've seen everything that particular area in which you were hoping to find something.

Okay- I confess, I found a few long planters I liked- and I bought them. But I found them the second time I meandered back through the pottery area, or areas. Without the normal aisles and rows I just followed the outer wall, for fear I'd get lost and locked up inside the store when everyone went home for the night. I knew when I was getting close when I once again approached the stoneware and plastic food displays- one of which is a bowl of plastic chocolate-dipped strawberries. I thought that the strawberries were there to show off the dishes, but no, they sell those too.

In conclusion, I think that that the store needs to change it's name. What would be an appropriate name? The "Pre-D.I." For those of you who don't know what the D.I. is, it is a local thrift store, more commonly called by its initials rather than its name, the Deseret Industries. At Tai Pan you'll find the common items normally encountered at garage sales and thrift stores. So, if you want something from Tai Pan Trading, just visit a neighborhood garage sale IN A FEW YEARS and you'll find EVERYTHING they bought at Tai Pan Trading THIS WEEK- and you'll get it at a fraction of the price!

Why do we write? (re-post)

Alternate title: "Loren's Excuses for Blogging")
(original post was started on Feb. 2nd, but never finished and published until now)

I've thought the last week of the topics about which I could write. As a student at Utah State University I did a research project on the value of students to engage in reflective writing for students. This is one of the reasons that I like to write- in order to reflect. Often in the act of expressing ourselves is when we begin to bring greater understanding to our own thoughts (if we are actually thinking as we express them). There is a philosophy that exists in education that is termed, "Writing to Learn." The basic premise is that the writing requires us to summarize and synthesize our understanding in our own words. It reveals what is inside each of us.

Writing also brings clarity to our thoughts- it expresses what is inside us. Many times I have begun to understand concepts not only as I think on them, but as I seek to relate my thoughts to others. One goal I have as an educator is to help children read well, think well, write well, speak well, and serve well. We attempt to sow good, with the hope that their lives will yield a veritable harvest of attitudes and skills as they set out to change their world.

My mother gave me my first journal when I was about 7 years old and I have some entries I penciled in- full of mistakes and a mix of upper and lower-case letters. The first memorable entries are about fighting with my brothers and also about some ducks my brother had just brought home. I think we write about things that have impacted us or that we're thankful- see Bamamoma's blog about keeping a gratitude journal. I think we also write about compelling topics, about things we are particularly concerned or passionate. We share things that we want others to hear- or we just write because we want to remember. Just after I had started this blog entry I read Monica's blog on writing.

In early February I made a list of topics for about which I hope to write and reflect:
1. Writing (this entry)
2. My Mother
3. My Father
4. Where does a guy buy a good pair of shoes? (a plea for good shoe-stores for men)
5. Emergency preparedness & food storage
6. Home projects (tiling, yard, fences, flowers, trees, sprinklers, grass... can you tell that I have a lot left to do?)
7. Human Dynamics
8. Good, Better, Best
9. More favorite books (two recent ones)
10. 6 Thinking Hats (a model for decision-making/perspective-taking)
11. Mark Lambert's bread recipe (and my variations on it)
12. Another topic I yet have to reveal... (I don't feel yet qualified to even mention it here)
13. Automobiles
14. "Trick or Treat" - a Halloween lesson from some kids in Clearfield, UT

Boyd K. Packer writes in his book, Teach Ye Diligently, that the reasons for us to gain knowledge and understanding are that we might both live and share it. That reminds me of an experience I had that I could also write about...

15. Second-grade pea-plant experiment on gravitropism (geotropism) and phototropism.

Primarily, I think I write to share.

16. Oh yeah- I need to respond to Bamamoma's blog entry on furnaces and fireworks. What a great post!
17. And another update on presidential candidates! If you enjoy reading about the candidates, visit RealClearPolitics.com 2-3 times a week and read all of the articles they list there. Many of them are excellent and written by leading political analysts from leading papers. It is interesting to me to discover more and more about the three leading candidates.

Parabolically Speaking

"And he spake many things unto them in parables..."
-Matt. 13: 3

For a few weeks in late January and early February I was helping a high school student I knew prepare for the ACT test. He was getting ready to apply for college and was looking for a little help. During these weeks I once again re-visited all of those wonderful and once-confusing math concepts. I can remember learning about "conics" for the first time in trigonometry- one of which is the parabola. For the student I was tutoring this was his first introduction. I am sure he was thinking what I did in my first encounter, "Okay, when I am I going to use this in real life?" He had a point (I also note here that it is a a good thing that we ask this question). Asking this question just proves that Jean Piaget, French philosopher and developmental psychologist, was right with his constructivist ideas- that we always seek to connect new knowledge to what we already know, use, and understand.

Hey- maybe knowing about conics would come in handy on that future day when you're cutting a slice out of a cone-shaped chunk of cheddar cheese. You could then say, "Look! A parabola!" What is interesting is how an understanding of various concepts, theories, or historical events, can provide us with a "multi-dimensional" view into different problems and/or situations. Having that additional background knowledge allows an individual to think on more than one level, or approach the idea or problem from more than one angle. Mathematics has always amazed me. It began being tough for me in 5th grade (fractions), and continued until, like Charlotte, two high school teachers helped me to rediscover my confidence and begin to understand the math world. I cannot tell you how many little mathematical "aha's" I've had over the last 10 or so years as I've taught and tutored math. Some have been doctrinal/scientific in nature, and some are just basic math that I should have caught in elementary school. A few years ago I was taught by a first grader who solidified my theories on Euclidean/non-Euclidean geometry and the course of God. Her quick and simple answer to my deep scientific question about the universe was all it took.

Well, a little gospel math clicked in my mind today with regards to the teachings of Christ and the teaching style of our newly-ordained prophet, President Monson. Both a parabola and parable has two sides- the obvious side and another, less-obvious side. When you're driving that knife through the "conical chunk of cheddar" you're creating two new "edges"- on both the close and far sides of your knife. But first note the meaning and origin of the word, "parable..."

parable
Main Entry: par·a·ble
Pronunciation: \ˈpa-rə-bəl\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin parabola, from Greek parabolē comparison, from paraballein to compare, from para- + ballein to throw
Date: 14th century

: example; specifically : a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle

My thoughts are not profound, but last Saturday I found myself really thinking deeply on the simple story that President Thomas S. Monson shared in the world-wide training broadcast (text, audio, & video available here). It was his first formal address to members of the Church as its president. He encouraged us to develop:

1. A pattern of prayer
2. A library of learning
3. A legacy of love
4. A yearning for home

At the end of his address he shared a simple story about a young man who did not know his parentage. The only distant memory he had of his childhood were some chapel bells that rang each Sunday. He went out in search of that sound that he knew that he would recognize when he heard it, and continued on, stopping in each town to listen to the bells on the Sabbath day. In the story, the man eventually recognized and found the home of his birth.

In the lesson today our instructor challenged us to become familiar with and understand the language of the prophet Joseph Smith. It was different that ours. My mind went to the story shared by President Monson. It had many different meanings- from missionary work and the Spirit, the purpose of mortality, and to my own family.

Listen to a prophet. When he shares again the story from his childhood about giving up a few beloved train cars on Christmas Day in order to brighten another's life, don't start falling asleep- listen! There is another side. He is telling your story! It will always go a little deeper if we take the time to ponder on it- and especially act on it.

I wonder if I would have dismissed the Savior as a "teller of simple tales" had I encountered him in his ministry.

"And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it."
-Mark 4: 33

President Thomas S. Monson

I have come to know President Thomas S. Monson just a little better over the past few weeks. I worked with his sister for 3 years as a teacher and she told us that the childhood stories he shares are exactly what he was like as a child. She (his sister) also shares the same qualities- kind, stalwart, open, fun, etc. I have reflected a lot on all that he has taught (in word and deed) over my lifetime. This morning for the first time I watched the press conference announcing his ordination to be the new president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. View it below if you haven't already.

If there were a scripture that described the love and Christlike service of President Monson, it would be James 1:27 -

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

Ruth Wright Faust & James E. Faust

I read in the news today that Sister Ruth Faust, wife of President James E. Faust, passed away yesterday- exactly 6 months after the passing of her husband. I do not know much about her life and family, except that Pres. Faust was extremely fond of her and expressed it often. I read an article in the Deseret News that says it all. The photos are also from www.deseretnews.com. This may be my last blog post before the copyright police haul me off. I quote from it below (heavily)...

"My dad has always made it very clear how much he loves my mother and respects womanhood," daughter Lisa said in a 1995 church magazine article. "He has always treated her with a sweet tenderness."

It was his love for his wife, Ruth, and their family that held sway in his heart.

"With all my heart I want to thank Ruth Wright Faust for letting me share her life and giving me the hope that we can share eternity together," President Faust said in 1973 when he was called as an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve. "She is more than a wife and a sweetheart because she has become part of my very being."

"The Fausts were one of the church's great love stories," said Olsen. "President Faust won her away from many suitors. When they came into the same room, the world stopped and for a few moments, it was just the two of them, as they communicated through a glance or greetings. If you were in President Faust's office and she called, he not only always took the call, but also made it clear that she was his number one priority. The heavens are richer and the world poorer with the change of residence of Ruth Wright Faust."

-Deseret News article by Leigh Dethman

What a great example they are! I am so grateful for the examples of all of those who demonstrate what marriage is meant to be- in every stage- from beginning to... well, of course it doesn't have an end... isn't that just dandy!
-Loren

Republicans are up a creek without a brain!

Alternate titles for this blog entry:

Who do I vote for now?
President Hillary Clinton?
Feeling the pain with John McCain
Red or Blue?
Would your mama approve of Obama?
What does it feel like to be a Democrat?
"Mitt, Mitt, Mitt..."

Mitt Romney, in a speech this past week, chose to "suspend" his run for the presidency. It has literally caused a lot of recent thoughts to become a reality and has left me and others with a few choices. More on the choices later, but for now, here are some of my thoughts over the past few weeks... and as I finish this entry I can't help but think that Mitt may know something that we don't. Why did he pull out of the race so early? As he announced his decision publicly, the cries of, "No! No!" from some of those in attendance say it all.

While waiting in line to vote this last "Super Tuesday" I welcomed the 30 minutes of calm in what was shaping up to be a crazy week (parent-teacher conferences = working 12-hour days). I spent some time reading the walls, watching people, chatting to the woman next to me, and pondering my political choices. I stood there as one of the 3 out of 5 Utahns that are registered voters but have not declared themselves as affiliated with a party.

Yup, 60% of Utahns have not declared themselves as either Democrats or Republicans. I think of myself as a fairly intelligent and informed voter, one who chooses candidates that I feel are honest and would best represent us on different matters. Honestly, here in Utah, many Democratic candidates running for local, state, and national positions are actually quite conservative. Running as a conservative Democrat in Utah is like having to wear your sister's pink coat to school because you lost yours- and you want to arrive at your destination without freezing to death. You just put it on, run like heck, and then ditch it in the bushes outside. It can be easily retrieved it at the end of the day when everyone else is long gone. In what is largely a red (Republican) state some look down their noses at Democrats, but a whole big chunk of the state is voting for them. One of our current representatives in the U.S. Congress, Jim Matheson (D), won by a landslide. I'll bet that half of the people or more that voted for him typically vote for those on the Republican ticket. A private ballot allows for many of us to be "closet Democrats," if you will. In Utah the two-party system often allows us to pick between two conservatives. I think it's kind of funny to discover that in many cases, the Democratic candidates are actually as conservative- if not more- than their Republican opponent. Some local/state candidates think that just because they're "Republican" that we should vote for them. They also think that they are therefore not required to have a brain and assume that we do not have one either.

So there I was in line- and was reflecting on if why I wasn't registered as a "Republican." I thought I had changed it at a caucus meeting some years before. Earlier in the day I had looked up my polling location on-line and did find that I was in fact "registered as unaffiliated." I would have to fill out that little paper in front of everybody and acknowledge my political neutrality in public.

I had some other thoughts while in line. They are very similar to those expressed by Heidi in her "Bamamoma" blog. Knowing that Romney was a shoo-in here in Utah, should I vote for Obama in hopes that it might circumvent one little delegate vote going to her campaign? Hillary received 9 Utah delegates and Obama 14.

My choices now are:
1. Write in Mitt Rommey when I vote this November.

2. Vote for somebody else. What does McCain have to offer? What are Obama's positions on national security, moral issues, etc.? Mr. Obama has a lot of charisma but does he have the strength to lead a nation? I think I'd rather write in Mitt, but will that help get someone into office with whom I agree even less? I'll have to do my research. Obama seems very pro-family and seems to want Americans to put their best foot forward. Let's hope that he will gain the edge over Hillary because of his "we-can-do-it-together" attitude. That motivates people more than Hillary's "I'll solve all your problems" rhetoric.

3. Vote for McCain? Right now I can't bear the thought. Maybe he'd get smart, further unify the party, and choose Mitt as his V.P. running mate. That'd be a miracle. McCain would definitely benefit from Mitt's proven business background, sound advice, and national support. Maybe Mitt has some insider information that we don't. He has a lot of connections and support from within the party on the national level. Continuing to run the race against McCain may have further pitted the two against each other, and pulling out may be an opportunity for reconciliation- AND consequently put Mike Huckabee in the hot seat. Speculation is that McCain will choose Huckabee as his running mate, but pulling out before Huckabee may have been Mitt's way of offering the olive branch first. I know who I'd choose as my running buddy if I were McCain. Right now this is the only way that I could bring myself to vote for him.

4. Wait to see how things play out and then make an informed decision in November. It'll be interesting to see what happens on both sides. Who will McCain choose as his potential V.P.? Who will win the Democratic nomination?

I think it is important for leaders to require more from those they lead- not just promise them ease and prosperity. "Prosperity" and "wealth" is relative and cannot be measured in monetary terms. It is found by children whose families may be on the lower rungs of the social-economic ladder, but know that they are loved because their parents and their community care about them and teach them.

Tell me your thoughts! (or at least tell me where the typos are...)
-Loren

Super Tuesday!

The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all -John F. Kennedy

It's here! Tuesday, February 5th, 2008, is the day on which citizens everywhere can become voters and help to determine which two candidates will represent the two major parties in the presidential election this November. Get smart by educating yourself on candidates and issues, choose a candidate, and vote! Promote your preferred candidate- even if he/she is about to get skunked!
Here are some my "primary" thoughts:
1. Ron Paul is fun to watch! He's a firecracker. He has strong ideas and he reminds me of Ross Perot. I wonder why both he and Mike Huckabee have not pulled out of the race.

2. Mike Huckabee is as stubborn as Mitt Romney! Mitt is frustrated as to why he and Ron Paul have not yet pulled out of the race. In Mitt's mind these two fellas have no chance of winning. He's probably right- and that must mean that they have other reasons for staying in the game- as a distant 3rd and 4th place, Huckabee and Paul have a lot of power. Just one of them pulling out and endorsing one of the two Republican front-runners could single-handedly decide the party's nomination.

3. I am curious as to why Barak Obama is gaining so fast in the polls. He is right behind Hillary Clinton right now. It will be a close race for the Democratic nomination! I may end up being right with my former prediction that Obama will win. I have seen 3 of his television advertisements here in Utah. They are family-oriented and very "pro-people. I like Obama's "challenges." I think that the most significant thing that a president can and should do is to inspire individuals and unite people in service. Obama has the best, and most "symbolic" campaign. (For more on the "symbolic" perspective, see one of my favorite books: Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership, by Lee G. Bolman, Terrence E. Deal)

4. I cannot yet understand why people are choosing to vote for John McCain. Ann Colter, conservative "super-nag," says she'd rather vote for Hillary than for John McCain. I don't know her very well and don't think I'd agree with too many of her ideas, but I think she has something here. So if you're a Republican voting for McCain, vote for Hillary instead so that Mitt Romney has more of a chance. It won't hurt you to be a Democrat for a day. He's a good, strong-willed fellow, but I don't think that means he should be president. I think he has no vision. He is clearly the "same old story." His only good ideas are those on campaign finance reform. Has he even stated what he'd do for us as president? I know he keeps sharing old war stories...

5. Yup- you guessed it- I think that Mitt Romney most deserves to be our president. In my mind he most deserves the 4-year opportunity to remodel the executive branch, influence legislation in his effort to solve problems, invigorate the economy, and in his own words, "change Washington." I am curious as to how he would do. I think he'd get frustrated at the fact that he won't be able to restructure or change things as fast or as much as when he was turning around businesses, but I think he has good ideas. His weaknesses are that he resides too much in the world of facts and forgets that voters are people, not business investors. He needs to connect. I think that if he'd hired the right people to help him promote the human side of things, he'd do better. Romney did very well during the Salt Lake 2002 Olympics as he created and inspired an army of volunteers. He should have taken the same approach (and people) in his bid for the presidency. He needs to make more "human" connections. (The "human" perspective is also one of the 4 "frameworks" from Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership, by Lee G. Bolman, Terrence E. Deal)

Thanks to our good old Constitution, and organization under it.... [The country] only needs that every right thinking man, shall go to the polls, and without fear or prejudice, vote as he thinks. - Abraham Lincoln

Gratitude & conversion

I'd heard the name of Glenn Beck, but didn't know much about him. I still don't. I guess I am out of the loop. Apparently he is a fairly well-known talk show host who has written a book, entitled An Inconvenient Book, that is currently second on the N.Y. Times bestseller list. If you want to hear a simple and yet great story of he and his family, watch the first clip below. If you want to learn more about Glenn Beck, see this article in the Deseret News.



There is another clip my brother sent me by two of my brothers. It is Mr. Beck sharing his gratitude for the life of President Gordon B. Hinckley when he heard of his passing.

Why do we write?

(Alternate title: "Loren's Excuses for Blogging")

I've thought the last week of the topics about which I could write. As a student at Utah State University I did a research project on the value of students to engage in reflective writing for students. This is one of the reasons that I like to write- in order to reflect. Often in the act of expressing ourselves is when we begin to bring greater understanding to our own thoughts (if we are actually thinking as we express them). There is a philosophy that exists in education that is termed, "Writing to Learn." The basic premise is that the writing requires us to summarize and synthesize our understanding in our own words. It reveals what is inside each of us.

Writing also brings clarity to our thoughts- it expresses what is inside us. Many times I have begun to understand concepts not only as I think on them, but as I seek to relate my thoughts to others. One goal I have as an educator is to help children read well, think well, write well, speak well, and serve well. We attempt to sow good, with the hope that their lives will yield a veritable harvest of attitudes and skills as they set out to change their world.

My mother gave me my first journal when I was about 7 years old and I have some entries I penciled in- full of mistakes and a mix of upper and lower-case letters. The first memorable entries are about fighting with my brothers and also about some ducks my brother had just brought home. I think we write about things that have impacted us or that we're thankful- see Bamamoma's blog about keeping a gratitude journal. I think we also write about compelling topics, about things we are particularly concerned or passionate. We share things that we want others to hear- or we just write because we want to remember. Just after I had started this blog entry I read Monica's blog on writing.

In early February I made a list of topics for about which I hope to write and reflect:
1. Writing (this entry)
2. My Mother
3. My Father
4. Where does a guy buy a good pair of shoes? (a plea for good shoe-stores for men)
5. Emergency preparedness & food storage
6. Home projects (tiling, yard, fences, flowers, trees, sprinklers, grass... can you tell that I have a lot left to do?)
7. Human Dynamics
8. Good, Better, Best
9. More favorite books (two recent ones)
10. 6 Thinking Hats (a model for decision-making/perspective-taking)
11. Mark Lambert's bread recipe (and my variations on it)
12. Another topic I yet have to reveal... (I don't feel yet qualified to even mention it here)
13. Automobiles
14. "Trick or Treat" - a Halloween lesson from some kids in Clearfield, UT

Boyd K. Packer writes in his book, Teach Ye Diligently, that the reasons for us to gain knowledge and understanding is that we might both live it and share (teach) it. The purpose for every good thing that goes "in" to us is meant to "come out." That reminds me of an experience I had that I could also write about...

15. Second-grade pea-plant experiment on gravitropism (geotropism) and phototropism.

Primarily, I think I write to share.