Someday, I’d like a pair of shoes with those wheels on the bottom.

That’d be the stuff.

Sitting here, minding my own business. Simply reading news articles on my iPad, when I notice two “gentlemen” laughing in my general direction. I notice a windows based net book on their table. I shoot them a look that quite possibly corrupted their registry.

They leave without giving me another look.

I smile.

I have no issues with other peoples’ technology choices. Really, I don’t. But give me a break. Don’t knock it till you try it.

After discussing blog options with my elder brother Adam, i felt encouraged to sit down and update the site. Progress was made, with Wordpress being upgraded and the appropriate app being configured on the new iPad.

I won’t talk about work too much on this or any other blog, but I’ll use it to bang out other weird and random thoughts again. I’ve started shooting more photography, so what little free time i have I’d like to spend doing that. If circumstances allow, I’ll finally get around to updating the main web site via iWeb.

That’s it for now. A brief, but motivating entry.

Ooh, writer’s block. My mind has been empty this entire week.  I know the solution is always “start writing”, but I feel I have nothing to say.  A house full of sick kids and adults has left me worn out.  Myself?  I’m ok.  But usually, I’m a night owl.  Lately I can’t stay up much past 9:00.

We saw Star Trek last Friday.  If it weren’t for that brief diversion, I’d be much grumpier right now.  I love a night at the cinema.  It helped tremendously that the movie was good, too.  I’d never been disappointed by the previous Trek movies, but I’d rarely been particularly impressed, either.  A few of them wowed me, First Contact being the one that pops into my mind first.

It doesn’t matter.  I’m enamored with the idealistic future of Star Trek.  Not the technology, though that’s all well and good.  Who wouldn’t love the idea of forgoing the 13 hour drive to Utah for a little transporter action?  That’s a story for a different day, I think.

No, the future I speak of is how those from Earth ended up as a human race.  An entire people brought together not entirely because of the threat of annihilation, but because of the cause of discovery and exploration.  Contact outside of the inky blackness of space caused us to wake from our apathetic and self-absorbed nature.  It’s cliche, but those in the Trek future found out that they were not alone, and that was the reason to reach for something better.

The wife was shocked, and still a little unbelieving, to hear my confession that Star Trek, not Star Wars, is my favorite set of Sci-Fi flicks.  I tried to explain why; Star Wars is fun and vast, but it holds no ties to mother Earth.  It’s very separate and  it allows for a great diversion, but it doesn’t make me think (and hope) like Trek does.

I don’t learn heavily toward the majority of my religious culture. Being Mormon, we are taught to hope toward the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which I truly believe in and look forward to.  I have a feeling, however; that some of my faith look to every current event as a sign of doom and destruction, and I’ve never found that a deeply satisfying outlook on life.

Some may argue that it is a sign of weak faith on my part, or a misplaced love of this world that makes me believe that the human race shouldn’t be on a one-way collision course with doom.  Call me crazy for wanting to believe that we should pull ourselves out of any tailspin that we find ourselves in.  Call me naive because I believe that a common cause, such as discovering the space beyond our own, could firmly and finally bring us together.  You can call me those things, only because I’m pulled both ways and have been taught that this cannot not be our final ordination.

Thought about a different way, I know that the final cleansing of Earth does not mark the end of human existence.  I know that, as immortal beings, we will continue to learn and grow and have the vast treasures of the universe unlocked and unfolded before our very eyes.  This brings me great joy to think about, more-so than the vain hope that alone we humans may finally figure out how to be civil to one another.

I do look up at the night sky every now and again, and I do see God working.  I know this is his creation, and I believe in the scientific nature and order of it.  I wish I had a telescope that could show me the heavens as they are now; it baffles my mind that the light I see in the sky predates my own existence my millions of years.

I have no idea how a story about a night out to the movies turned into a religious and philosophical meditative drama, but there we have it.  That’s why I like Star Trek more than Star Wars.  It makes me think.  I don’t like taking things for granted.

And look at that. I started writing, and the words finally came.  They may not have made sense to you, but I had a great time putting them on the screen.

So far, no updates from the hospital, so I doubt I’ll be volunteering there this week.  I’d just like to know, you know?  Because knowing helps you feel better about the time when you didn’t know.  So it will be a few more weeks of waiting.  I’m excited to get out of the house a little bit, gather some outside stimuli to dust off the cobwebs in my mind.  Sometimes when I write, I feel like I am peeling away at old information.

Some points of excitement for me, as I’m getting iLife and iWork tomorrow for my little Dell Macbook.  The thing that worries me is whether I’ll have enough room for all the neat programs they come with.  I really only want Pages from the iWork suite, and really want to try out iPhoto from the iLife collection.  iPhoto has some great features that should make my thousands of digital photos easier to find.  And Pages just removes the clutter while you write.  I find it harder and harder to write with all that can distract you on this screen.

The family is gearing up for the trip to Utah next week; we’re leaving the heat.  I just hope it doesn’t snow while we’re there.  I’d like to take at least one trip up into the mountains, you know?  Hike a little bit (lot).  I’m not much for skiing anymore, so the less snow on the mounts, the better.

I don’t put nearly enough pictures on this blog, I know.  It’s extremely difficult to do with my blogging tool.  You’re thinking to yourself, “Didn’t you change the whole thing so it would be easier?”  Yes, yes I did.  And in the process, added 8 more steps.  I could be back to the old format before you know it.

Talked to Sumner’s teacher a little bit after school today, seems the lad can’t stay in his seat.  Most other aspects of his behavior in the classroom are steady for now, but the chair is his mortal enemy, it seems.  Strangely, this makes me smile, only because that trait is so much like his pop.  In so many ways, he has the charisma and predilections of his dear mommy, so whenever I get to mark one in the daddy column, I like it.  

No, I never wanted to stay in my seat.  In my young mind, there were about 50 other things that I would rather be doing, or seeing, or experimenting with, and I was actively categorizing them in my mind for later activity.  I see the same in Sumner.

As far as SaraJane goes, she cut two more teeth in the past week, with a few more looking ripe for  departure.  She’s also cruising around the couches more and more, looking braver for that first big step away from the hand hold. 

It breaks my heart to see her grow so fast, because little girls turn into big girls, and big girls turn into young women that find a way to get married.  18 years is never enough with a daughter.  I hope that, somehow, she sees how much her daddy loves her.

My goodness, I’ve reached the magical 500 work threshold yet again.  That’s more than enough.  Goodnight, and thanks for reading.