Girl advice

[fwd to blog from another conference]

 

General girl advice to any young males who might be in love: telling her exactly what you're feeling because you can't hold it in any longer is not generally an effective strategy, because (her being a woman and you being a man) what you say is not actually what she will hear. Also, since women are more emotional than men (in general, just like men are taller in general--there are exceptions)--because of that, the best way to communicate may be to her feelings, not her intellect: use very few words indeed. The goal is not for her to KNOW how much you love her so she can make the correct logical inferences from that fact, it's for her to feel how much you love her so she can intuitively make the correct judgments for herself based on that reality. Note also that the goal is not for her to feel how much you need her--that's your problem. "I love you and I want to bring you joy. Interested?" It's an offer, not a plea. If not you are doing it wrong.

 

~Max

 

--

Be pretty if you are,

Be witty if you can,

But be cheerful if it kills you.

 

If you're so evil, eat this kitten!

 

 

--
Be pretty if you are,
Be witty if you can,
But be cheerful if it kills you.

If you're so evil, eat this kitten!

Check your pronunciation

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Announcing/Standard_Pronunciation

 

I think I've been mispronouncing "apartheid", "candidate", "electoral", "foliage", "inclement", "jewelry", "mayonaise", "Visa", "zoology" and "diphthong" for years. I would have been mispronouncing "bruschetta" too except I don't even know what the word means [five seconds later: I do now]. But at least I say "hundred" correctly (and "twenty" also, though it's not on the list).

 

Surprisingly, the way I pronounce "spiel" ("shpeel") is incorrect/nonstandard. The naive way ("speel") is correct. Oh, and "yarmulke" should be pronounced phonetically, after all.

 

-Max

--
Be pretty if you are,
Be witty if you can,
But be cheerful if it kills you.

If you're so evil, eat this kitten!

Articles of Faith

A friend of mine at work asked me, "What can you tell me about The Articles of Faith? Its history / purpose, etc?"

 

I really like the Articles of Faith, and I think there is logic and a pattern to the statements which not everybody notices. I've mentioned this to several people verbally but never written my observation down, so I think I will quote my response to him here on the blog just to get my thoughts on record, even if I turn out to be wrong. : )

 

The Wikipedia article is pretty decent. Originally written in 1840 or so as part of a response to someone who was writing a book on Illinois history or something and wanted information for include a chapter on Mormons. The fellow didn't end up using the information in his book but it's still a pretty good capsule description of the gospel. I might loosely paraphrase it thusly in my own idiom:

 

"We believe in God the Father, and also that Jesus Christ is his Son, and that the Holy Ghost testifies of both. We believe that sin brings punishment to the sinner, but that through the Atonement of Christ any man may receive forgiveness of sins which are past, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, which are: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost. These ordinances must be received from the Lord's authorized servants, called by revelation. The church exists to organize those servants, now as in ancient times, and includes prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers, etc. as set forth by Paul the Apostle in Ephesians 4. We believe in miracles and in the Bible; we also believe in the Book of Mormon, and in everything else which God has revealed or will yet reveal, which is much. We believe in the literal fulfillment of Biblical prophecies regarding Israel and Christ's return. We believe in freedom of religion for ourselves and for those not of our faith, and in obeying the laws of the land. If there is anything which is true and good we also believe in it, no matter where that truth is found."

 

-Max

 

--

Be pretty if you are,

Be witty if you can,

But be cheerful if it kills you.

 

If you're so evil, eat this kitten!