Goals for 2012

• Learn Spanish
• Continue eating better/exercising more
• Improve my handwriting
• Spend more time in the mountains around Logan

Books Read in 2011

I finished the following 26 books in 2011:

Nonfiction:

• 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation by Sid Jacobson & Ernie Colón 
• 1066 and All That by Walter Sellar & Robert Yeatman 
• Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination by Peter Ackroyd 
• Between Pulpit and Pew: The Supernatural World in Mormon History and Folklore edited by W. Paul Reeve and Michael Scott Van Wagenen
• Building a Mystery: The Story of Sarah McLachlan and Lilith Fair by Judith Fitzgerald 
• Catholic Roots, Mormon Harvest: A Story of Conversion and 40 Comparative Doctrines by Eric Shuster 
• Dead Certainties (Unwarranted Speculations) by Simon Schama 
• Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus by Thomas Cahill 
• Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer by David Roberts
• Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot 
• In Great Haste: The Letters of Michael Collins and Kitty Kiernan by Ó’Broin, León 
• Life and Works of Hieronymus Bosch (World's Greatest Artists Series) by Trewin Copplestone 
• Light of the World: The Pope, The Church, and the Signs of the Times by Benedict XVI and Peter Seewald 
• Path to Freedom by Michael Collins 
• Richard the Lionheart by John Gillingham 
• Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland by Bryan Sykes 
• Scribble, Scribble, Scribble: Writing on Politics, Ice Cream, Churchill, and My Mother by Simon Schama 
• Symbols of Catholicism by Dom Robert Le Gall 
• U2 & i: The Photographs 1982-2004 by Anton Corbijn 
• Unforgettable Fire: Past, Present and Future: The Definitive Biography of U2 by Eamon Dunphy 
• Wall & Piece by Banksy 

Fiction:

• Alchemist by Paolo Coelho 
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 
• Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen 
• Redwall by Brian Jacques 
• Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Duets!

Lately, I've been enjoying male/female duets by some of my favorite singers:

• Coldplay (Chris Martin) and Rihanna, Princess of China, from the album Mylo Xyloto, 2011

• Gavin Friday and Amy Odell, Land on the Moon, from the album catholic, 2011

• Fran Healy and Neko Case, Sing Me to Sleep, from the album Wreckorder, 2010

• Travis (Fran Healy) and KT Tunstall, Under the Moonlight, from the album The Boy with No Name, 2007

• The Smashing Pumpkins (James Iha) and Nina Gordon, ...Said Sadly, from the EP Bullet with Butterfly Wings, 1996

Free Books

It's that time again: I've culled my personal book collection and the following titles are yours for free if you want them. Just reply to me (email, phone, Facebook, etc.) before NOVEMBER 1.

RELIGION

• Book of Bible Lists by H.L. Wilmington (1987)
• Christianity Through the Centuries by Daryl Chase (1944)
• Joseph Smith: The Mormon Prophet by John J. Stewart (1966)
• Joseph the Prophet as He Lives in the Hearts of His People by Daryl Chase (1944)
• Our Church and People by John Henry Evans (1924)
• Witnesses of the Birth of Christ by Joseph Fielding McConkie (1998)

GREAT BRITAIN

• Changing Views on British History edited by Elizabeth Furber (1966)
• The King's England: London by Arthur Mee (1948)
• Life at the Court of Queen Victoria edited by Barry Nevill (1984)
• Queen and Country: The Fifty-Year Reign of Elizabeth II by William Shawcross (2002)

OTHER HISTORY

• The 9/11 Commission Report (2004)
• Ancient Egypt edited by David Silverman (1997)
• Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love by Dava Sobel (1999)
• Readings in Medieval History edited by Patrick Geary
• Vinland Map and Tartar Relation by Skelton, Marston, and Painter (1965)

MISC

• 1000 Years of Irish Poetry edited by Kathleen Hoagland (1975)
• Facts and Fallacies: Stories of the Strange and Unusual by Reader's Digest (1988)
• New College Latin & English Dictionary by John Traupman (1966)
• The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Romantic Period (2000)

There and Then

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From July 12-14, 1999, I rode a Greyhound bus home to Salt Lake City from Pelham, Massachusetts, leaving a family vacation early and embarking on a solitary, life-changing experience at age 18. Amy and I had become engaged just three weeks earlier and she paid for my ticket home. After finding and re-reading my journal from my return journey (written in the form of short notes to Amy scribbled in pencil within a plain blue spiral notebook), I found many similarities between my style of writing and that in the letters of Michael Collins and his fiancé in the book I am currently reading: In Great Haste. Here is that journal, presented in all its strange, beautiful, glory, and posted with Amy's consent. It is a unique document of my experience, but also of our relationship, which has been fascinating for us to explore on the eve of our twelfth anniversary. All grammar, spelling, and capitalizations are original, reflecting the honest intensity of the moment (and my status then as a high-school dropout!)

***
DEAR Amy
I just got on the bus and I'm so scared. I'm scared more than I ever have been. I Wish you Were here, so bad! I Need you to hold me in times like this. I will never leave you for a long period of time again. What I'm really scared of is New York. I have to switch busses there and I know I'LL get lost. Oh, well Just have to face it now. I love you so much and I'm sorry for leaving you. Right now you would be saying "It's okay." But I really think it was wrong to leave you right after proposing I'm such a terrible person sometimes. I'll have to tell you about my experience in New Jersey Later. It's been a really long week. I'm going to read now, I'll write again later.

I Love You

I Just got on the bus at SpringField.[1] I'm on the right bus for New York, I Hope! 3 hours away. I better get comph comfortable. I fell asleep on the last bus- I hope I don't miss any stops in the future. I'm still scared of New York and I just realised I have an hour to spend there. I can't stop thinking about you and that's a good thing. I miss you so much; even more than I ever did while you were at college. I'll be home in two days to hold you and love you forever.

I LOVE YOU.

I Hope you don't find this journal thing too annoying but it gives me something to do and an insight for you into what I'm feeling I just got into Hartford[2] and just thought I'd write you again in between naps.

I LOVE YOU

We're coming into New York City now. I never got to come with my family. I'm looking at all the housing projects that surround this area and it reminds me of the towers in "Running to Stand Still."[3] I've seen pictures of them and they look a lot alike. We just finished watching a movie called "Washington Square"[4] about a girl who wants to marry a man she hasn't dated for too long and her father gets in the way (a lot like us except for the ending). It kept me awake through to NYC. We're almost at the station now. Ron and Jean[5] packed me a meal so I'll eat it during the hour away from the bus. I have lots to tell you about us when I get back.

I LOVE YOU

Guess What? New York was okay! I got there, asked some questions, then went right to the gate. My only problem was when I thought I was in the wrong line and so I got out of it and had to go to the back. (I was in the right line to begin with!) But I still got a good seat- all by myself for this overnight part of the trip. While I was with my family I read my Oasis book[6] and started Michael Collins.[7] Hopefully It'll be done when I reach home. I'm going to have the same driver on this bus all the way home. I can't wait to hug you and hold you and kiss you and love you.

I LOVE YOU

P.S.- there's a great sunset outside my window right now. Too bad you won't see it for about 3 more hours. I'm thinking about you.

I LOVE YOU

It's about 10:00 here (I'm guessing) and we just stopped at McDonald's so the driver could get some coffee. I don't want to spend lots of money yet so I got a water-in-a-bottle thing. I still have plenty of food from Ron. Probably will sleep until Cleveland.[8]

I LOVE YOU

Just came into Cleveland and I'm on the road again but I think I'm on the wrong bus. Oh well, I'll figure it out in Chicago.

I LOVE YOU

Stopped in SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, but nothing much to see. Now I'm in Chicago and 3 1/2 hours ahead of schedule so I have a long time to wait. The trip home hasn't been that bad but I can't wait to see you. This trip has made me realise how much I love you and how much I need you in my life. I want you to know that I have been faithfull from the night we started dating[9] til now and will be forever.

I LOVE YOU

Right now I'm on the bus to IOWA City, IOWA And we're gonna stop for dinner in 5 minutes. Pretty boring ride right now. Just trying to read my 3rd book "The Giver."[10] 1 more day and I'll see you. Hopefully I can sleep through a lot of it.

I LOVE YOU

You wont believe the variety of people I'm sitting by: a kid from France, 2 girls that each have a screaming baby, a hilarious black family, a teenager with a thick British accent, a kid with the biggest buck teeth  I have ever seen, a teenage hippie girl, a straight-edge boy and a nun. Wow- this is so interesting to just watch them interact. We're heading to Des Moines now and I'm halfway through my Book- it finally grabbed me. It was boring throughout the beginning. I forgot to say that I met this guy in New York who looked like he was going to kick the shit out of me but then he started talking to me about when he was in Utah in 1974 or something like that and we talked for awhile. He was a really great guy. I hope he makes it to Montana okay. I can't wait to see you in your pink tank-top.

I LOVE YOU

We're traveling to Ogalala, NEB.[11] after a long night. I couldn't sleep for some reason and so I just helped take care of one of the screaming babies so it's mom could get some rest. There's something different about that child: too hateful and angry at this early age. Oh well, she's their kid, not mine. I won't be traveling across the country on bus with a very small child. Tonight I see you!

I LOVE YOU

It's about 1:00 and I called you an hour ago. It was good to hear your voice again. There's nothing much to say. I finished my 3rd book so I bought a newspaper in Cheyenne.[12] Still bored to death. I read over your letter again last night. I don't want you to be ashamed of what you believe. I know it's important to you. Anyway, we'll talk later about it. My love for you increases every day, so don't worry about the letter.

I LOVE YOU

Almost 5:00 now and I'm getting excited. 4 hours, 4 hours, 4 hours I don't know if I can make it. Okay, calm down. Nothing much has happened except I got to take care of the baby again. It was much happier this time. 4 hours, 4 hours, 4 hours, In one hour we'll be in Limon[13] or something like that. Talk to you later.

I LOVE YOU

***

[1] Springfield, Massachusetts

[2] Hartford, Connecticut

[3] 'Running to Stand Still' is a song from one of my favorite albums, U2's The Joshua Tree.

[4] 'Washington Square' is a 1997 film adaptation of the Henry James novel.
[5] 'Ron and Jean'- my uncle and his long-time partner who lived together for many years in Pelham, Massachusetts.
[6] 'Oasis book'- may have been 'Take Me There: Oasis- the Story' by Paul Mathur which I owned at some point during this time. May also have been 'Getting High: The Adventures of Oasis' by Poalo Hewitt which I think I remember checking out from the library.

[7] Unfortunately, I have no recollection of which Collins book this was. Could have been Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland by Tim Pat Coogan which I had acquired sometime earlier in Amy's and my relationship.

[8] Interesting to later realize that, at this point in the journey on Interstate 80, I passed within 2 miles of Clarion, Pennsylvania- home of Clarion University where I was to earn my Master's degree 10 years later.

[9] Friday, June 19, 1998: A night to remember!

[10] 'The Giver' by Lois Lowry is a Newbery Medal-winning children's book given to me by my mother for the trip.

[11] Ogallala, Nebraska

[12] Cheyenne, Wyoming

[13] Lyman, Wyoming

Now and In Time to Come

Crazy that it's been almost three months since I last posted here. I've been thinking a lot about it. It's probably a combination of a couple reasons. The things I find that I want to make others aware of but don't want to comment on, I post to Facebook. I sometimes want to spend time crafting worthwhile posts about the world around me but I find I don't have the discipline to accomplish this at the moment. I've also become much more introverted and solitary lately, not feeling like I can or should share what's on my mind. I'm not sure what the future of this blog is and while I admit that I have thought about taking it down, I will probably keep it if only as my one free spot on the web.

Here's an update of sorts. I currently love my wife, my kids, and my career more than ever before. I've read some good books lately. On July 14, I took my whole family to the Explosions in the Sky concert in SLC and we had a fun time. That's three of my top five favorite bands that we've seen in the last nine months. I try to run a 5k about every 10 days around my neighborhood. I'm getting a new boss at the library tomorrow (August 15). I wish I had more time for my hobbies (reading, drawing, watching films, writing poetry, playing guitar, learning languages, researching for my books, etc). It really weighs on me that I might not be able to accomplish all that I hope to in my life before my time is up. That's how it goes for everyone I guess.

Reference at Home

Nerd alert.

I like reference books, especially those in the fields of study that fascinate me. Even when I was a kid, I enjoyed perusing my parents' World Book Encyclopedia. A couple years into our marriage, I had the opportunity to purchase a World Book set for cheap and it has been a great resource for our family. You probably know what a big supporter of Wikipedia I am.

Here's an annotated bibliography of some of our fantastic reference books that I love to pick up.

• Oxford Guide to the Bible by Metzger & Coogan [Recently bought this one for cheap at the Borders store that closed in Logan. A scholarly guide with articles on almost anything you can think to ask about the Bible e.g. 'Sex in the Bible,' 'Mormons and the Bible,' etc.]
• Shakespeare A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Plays, His Poems, His Life and Times, and More by Charles Boyce [Found this a few years ago on the book sale at the Merrill-Cazier Library. Used it extensively for my paper on Othello actors. Interestingly, the only section of the book which has writing in it is the article on Richard III, one of the pieces I was most interested in]
• The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens by Mike Ashley [Bought this while working at the Sugarhouse Barnes and Noble (2001-2002). Convinced me there was a whole world of British history out there which I had never explored.]
• The Complete Films of Laurence Olivier by Jerry Vermilye [Lists every film of my favorite actor and examines it in context. Especially great for all those films I have never seen. First checked this out from the Merrill-Cazier Library when I was a student and then later forgot about it. After seeing 'The Complete Films of Spencer Tracy' at The Book Table, I purchased this online. It came in worse condition than was promised but since it only cost me (I think) $.97, I don't care too much and will replace it someday if the opportunity arises.]
• The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang by Leonard Malton & Richard W. Bann [First checked this out from the library and later bought my own copy from Sam Weller's. Examines every Little Rascals short (all 221 of them!) as well as actor bios and much more info. The reference on the subject!]
• Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints by Matthew, Margaret, and Stephen Bunson [Short blurbs on hundreds of Christian saints. Found at Deseret Industries for $4.00.]
• On This Day in the Church: A Illustrated Almanac of the Latter-day Saints by Holzapfel, et al. [Cool book wherein one can look up a date and discover what events from LDS Church history happened then. A few years out of date, now.]
• The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth: Tolkien's World from A to Z by Robert Foster [If you love the Lord of the Rings, you have to have this book! First found a mass market edition at Deseret Industries about five years ago. Gave that one to my brother (who promptly lost it) and recently bought a newer trade paper edition.]
• Book of Bible Lists by H.L. Wilmington [Purchased this at my library book sale. Haven't used this so much.]
• The Mormon Book of Lists by Parry & Morris [Interesting lists on Mormon topics such as '10 Uses for the Urim & Thummim as Cited in the Scriptures,' and '28 Books by Men Who Later Became General Authorities']