Finally, I’m certain someone is going to call me out on my residency. I do not live in California, I have not lived there, nor do I have plans to do so soon. I’m the first to acknowledge such. California, however, is a trend-setting state. Historically, we have seen that laws and policies enacted in California spread relatively quickly to other states. We cannot afford this law to be enacted in any state, especially California, because other states will follow suit. Please inform, invite, and commit with your friends and family to the support of proposition 8. If you have a few bucks to spare, please chip in at https://www.causes.com/fb/donations/new?cause_id=5030&goal_id=10385&m=4832f22d. A little cash will go a long way if everyone gets involved.

I suppose the list could be longer, but that’s a great way to get started. Oh, one last thing: believe every word you hear about college being better than High School. It is infinitely better in so many ways, High School just doesn’t compare or even come close.

For instance, let’s say you are on a fixed income of $1000/month (Very low, but it’s a nice figure). You would be able to create an inlet into your finance system of +1000. From there, you could route out of your system fixed expenses like rent and utilities, variable expenses (perhaps even specifying a margin) such as food and entertainment, and even take routes for savings or investments, calculating potential returns and bringing them back into your finance system. Then, with some fine grain control options, it would be possible to enact scenarios, forecast earnings, budget, and perform a myriad of other tasks all from a simple, logical system. Rather than estimate numbers, wouldn’t it be nice to visually see the paths your money takes into and out of your life? It makes more sense that way, being able to control your cashflow in a very literal way, as if the cash flowing between points is a fluid. These metaphors are meaningful, but are only used as written terms, not literal symbols.

Ack – Another good idea! Creating a system for analyzing databases, where you use certain notation to specify schema within the tables and fields themselves, then using the structure dump of these tables in an analysis program to generate appropriate queries, perhaps being able to link columns, rows, and related tables visually in order to generate query information. That would be cool!

I suppose that calling University level work (particularly at BYU, which is on the same plane as Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Stanford) “easy” is incorrect. It’s not easy, but it’s manageable, much more so than when I was in High School. The dynamic is nowhere near as high as High School. The demands are much more manageable. The focus and intensity demanded for success is basically the same, but focus and intensity are habits. When developed and maintained, they serve you unfailingly with little personal expense for upkeep. So, in that sense, higher education is easier than in High School. I am no longer experiencing the growing pains and refinement of high intensity, but enjoying the blessings that come from having already been there, applied myself, and learned how to work hard without undue stress, anxiety, or fear. It does help that I have developed a very structured time management system, too, however that is a direct byproduct of having been through a crucible of self-discipline, so I suppose that I can still attribute this organization to a thorough, grueling, refining experience prior to coming to the university.

Either way, regardless of why or how I’m surviving here at College, I think that my theory of educational climbs holds true. In pre-school, I remember hearing how Kindergarten would be very hard and I would have to really apply myself to be successful. Going into Jr. High I heard horror stories about how they only accept cursive, how teachers would yell if you turned things in late, and how if you left your name off an assignment they would scream in peals of laughter and make you take some kind of walk of shame. High School was painted in a similar light, albeit a few hues darker. Finally, teachers wouldn’t even talk about college experiences, leaving mere suggestions that professors consumed the souls of their students for breakfast, and that it was common for students to collapse with exhaustion while on the way to class from sheer mental duress. I first postulated that these claims made by my instructors were a little far-fetched and even outright untrue on my first day of Jr. High and solidified this claim further when I entered High School. Although somewhat wary of university life, I have watched closely for incongruence between what is told by teachers of university life and what it is actually like. I’m pleased to say that the postulation holds true. We’ll see if it’s just the first week and a half of school, or if I’m right again.

First, they believed in something. They believed in a theory, or in inspiring man through sonnet and song, or that disease could be cured through careful study and practice. This belief in a brighter, truer universe was the kindling for the flames they would ignite. Without the belief of the future or of themselves, no further progression would be possible. I suppose this is why Gordon B. Hinckley was such a critic of pessimism cynicism, for true pessimists would never believe in the possibilities of man, choosing to dwell upon the frailties and failings of him and leaving man as little more than offspring of pond-scum. Please note that I mention cynicism (a belief that man is motivated purely by self-interest instaed of honorable or unselfish reasons), for man cannot actuate himself without contributing to the well-being of his fellowmen. Had Shakespeare burned his complete works or never performed a single couplet, he would have been forgotten to history. Had Einstein filled his mind and notebook but never spoken of it, he too would have never been remembered by mankind and his contributions to science would have been left to another man in the future. Thus, the cynic as well as the pessimist have no place in a world that is to progress to greater and higher aspirations.

The second common trait is that they were all human. This is crucial, and I’ll tell you why. The difference between man and beast is that man varies with great significance in his capacities, interests, and drives. One man may be motivated to achieve a scientific accolade. Another may simply find joy in writing poetry or creating art. Even another may simply find self-actualization in thinking about the complexities of logic found in the universe and then recording his musings in a journal. Each of these instances is what turns the human creature into a man. Many people live their lives without discovering that they harbor the capacity to achieve greatness in their own way. Anyone, regardless of talent, preternatural skill, or practice, has within them the capability to change the world. Mankind has been entertained by stories of heroes and heroines since the beginning of time, men who were not particularly great  in the eyes of their fellows but discovered and utilized the greatness inherent within them. It is this discovery coupled with action that serves as not only the fuel but the eternal flame that burns within the human spirit. With discovery men find that the fuel of the spirit is within themselves. With action men use that fuel to warm and brighten the world around them, impressing their mark upon the forthcoming generations. The analogy of fuel and flame is very apropos in this context. If a man were to heat his home in any season, he must acquire a stock of fuel. In days past this was accomplished by chopping wood and preparing it in piles. Today, we pay the utility bill with currency and gas is piped into our homes. Both are comparable, for both require work and effort (even if by proxy of currency). Regardless of the medium, would it make sense for man to prepare a wealth of fuel and never use it? To make his gas payment but not turn on the stove? Or, even worse, to not make his payment but expect the fuel to be available? This latter example is akin to not striving to discover the best within oneself or to know it is there but choose deliberately to not harvest it for your own benefit.

In each of these instances, it is apparent that for us to truly make the most of what has been granted us by our Heavenly Father, we must seek within ourselves for that which we consider The Best Within Us. Although I doubt that any man can truly know the scope and depth of his character, he can still plumb the depths of his divinely crafted soul and then maximize that which he finds. If a man had a field prepared and ready for, even anticipating, the planting of crops, and he chose to only use a portion of that field, leaving the rest to waste, is that a sin? In the minds of the aforementioned elite, it is. It is a sin of omission. In the words of The Master (See Matthew 25:14-30)

And unto one he ^agave five ^btalents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability;

Then he that had received the five talents…made them five other talents

And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

And so he that had received five talents…His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful ^aservant: thou hast been ^bfaithful over a few things, I will make thee ^cruler over many things: enter thou into the ^djoy of thy lord.

He also that had received two talents…His lord said unto him, Well done, good and ^afaithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Then he which had received the one talent came…His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and ^aslothful servant

It is apparent that such is a Sin of Omission, bordering on a Sin of Comission when you refuse to maximize what is given you.

Enough for today. I have a few sections of chemistry to get to. Happy Monday!