For those of you who have been biting on nails and wondering with growing frustration and angst, "Why hasn't Sayyadina blogged in - like - two months?" (As if anyone was actually thinking that . . . I'm so self centered! ; ))
I am now caught up.
In the space of a few hours I have done at least eight new blogs.
Enjoy reading them as much as I have!
Friday, December 12, 2008
More granules of wisdom from the hordes of Dune.
*"When I made this choice what were my expectations?"
*"Safaris through ancestral memories teach me many things. The patterns, ahhh, the patterns. Liberal bigots are the ones who trouble me most. I distrust the extremes. Scratch a conservative and you find someone who prefers the past over any future. Scratch a liberal and find a closet aristocrat. It's true! Liberal governments always develop into aristocracies. The bureaucracies betray the true intent of people who form such governments. Right from the first, the little people who formed the governments which promised to equalize the social burdens found themselves suddenly in the hands of bureaucratic aristocracies. Of course all bureaucracies follow this pattern, but what a hypocrisy to find this even under a communized banner. Ahh, well, if patterns teach me anything it's that patterns are repeated."
*"People will try to understand me and to frame me in their words. they will seek truth. But the truth always carries the ambiguity of the words used to express it."
*"If you find a truth, even a temporary one, it can demand that you make painful changes."
*"These journals of which you speak, for whom are they written?"
"For posterity after the span of millennia. I personalize those distant readers. I think of them as distant cousins filled with family curiosities. They are intent on unraveling the dramas which only I can recount. They want to make the personal connections to their own lives. They want the meanings, the truth! . . . What is a diary, a journal? Words."
*"Forcing the issue is the surest way of losing what I treasure most in her. She must come to me with all her strengths intact."
*"Laws tend to be temporary over the long haul. There is no such thing as rule-governed creativity."
*"I am not sure what the events in my journals may signify to your times. I only know that my journals have suffered oblivion and that the events which I recount have undoubtedly been submitted to historical distortion for eons. I assure you the the ability to view our futures can become a bore. Even to be thought of as a god, as I certainly was, can become ultimately boring. It has occurred to me more than once that holy boredom is good and sufficient reason for the invention of free will."
*"The thing you must trust about Siona is her creativity. She can create the new and beautiful. One always trusts the truly creative. . . . You always know the creative because it is revealed openly. Concealment betrays the existence of another force entirely."
*"Sometimes you do not know what to think of me. Am I all powerful and all-prescient? You bring me these dibs and dabs and you wonder: Does he already know this? If he does why do I bother? But I have ordered you to report such things. Is your obedience not instructive?"
*"Wealth is a tool of freedom. But the pursuit of wealth is the way to slavery."
*"Until the sandworm reigns once more on Arrakis" or until Christ comes to reign on earth, "We will have tested ourselves by then with a profound experience shared by all. We will have learned that a thing which can happen on one planet can happen on any planet."
(this phrasing of "profound experience" was in a place where most would put "trail" or "adversity." How much dearer are all these things when called something so positive as a "profound experience!")
*"Don't you understand about death?"
"Help me, Lord," she whispered.
"It is the most profound experience of any creature. . . .And it is the survivors who maintain the most light and poignant hold upon the beauties of living. Women know this more often than men because birth is the reflection of death."
*"Without readily available violence, men have few ways of testing how they will meet that final experience. Something is missing."
*" When I need to identify rebels, I look for men with principles. . . . Principles are what you fight for. Most men go through life unchallenged, except at the final moment. They have so few unfriendly arenas in which to test themselves."
*"A bad administrator is more concerned with reports than with decisions. he wants the record which he can display as an excuse for his errors."
*"Anything and anyone can fail but brave good friends help."
All of these are quotes from Lord Leto II, The God Emperor of Dune written by Frank Herbert.
I'm not even finished with the book yet!
*"Safaris through ancestral memories teach me many things. The patterns, ahhh, the patterns. Liberal bigots are the ones who trouble me most. I distrust the extremes. Scratch a conservative and you find someone who prefers the past over any future. Scratch a liberal and find a closet aristocrat. It's true! Liberal governments always develop into aristocracies. The bureaucracies betray the true intent of people who form such governments. Right from the first, the little people who formed the governments which promised to equalize the social burdens found themselves suddenly in the hands of bureaucratic aristocracies. Of course all bureaucracies follow this pattern, but what a hypocrisy to find this even under a communized banner. Ahh, well, if patterns teach me anything it's that patterns are repeated."
*"People will try to understand me and to frame me in their words. they will seek truth. But the truth always carries the ambiguity of the words used to express it."
*"If you find a truth, even a temporary one, it can demand that you make painful changes."
*"These journals of which you speak, for whom are they written?"
"For posterity after the span of millennia. I personalize those distant readers. I think of them as distant cousins filled with family curiosities. They are intent on unraveling the dramas which only I can recount. They want to make the personal connections to their own lives. They want the meanings, the truth! . . . What is a diary, a journal? Words."
*"Forcing the issue is the surest way of losing what I treasure most in her. She must come to me with all her strengths intact."
*"Laws tend to be temporary over the long haul. There is no such thing as rule-governed creativity."
*"I am not sure what the events in my journals may signify to your times. I only know that my journals have suffered oblivion and that the events which I recount have undoubtedly been submitted to historical distortion for eons. I assure you the the ability to view our futures can become a bore. Even to be thought of as a god, as I certainly was, can become ultimately boring. It has occurred to me more than once that holy boredom is good and sufficient reason for the invention of free will."
*"The thing you must trust about Siona is her creativity. She can create the new and beautiful. One always trusts the truly creative. . . . You always know the creative because it is revealed openly. Concealment betrays the existence of another force entirely."
*"Sometimes you do not know what to think of me. Am I all powerful and all-prescient? You bring me these dibs and dabs and you wonder: Does he already know this? If he does why do I bother? But I have ordered you to report such things. Is your obedience not instructive?"
*"Wealth is a tool of freedom. But the pursuit of wealth is the way to slavery."
*"Until the sandworm reigns once more on Arrakis" or until Christ comes to reign on earth, "We will have tested ourselves by then with a profound experience shared by all. We will have learned that a thing which can happen on one planet can happen on any planet."
(this phrasing of "profound experience" was in a place where most would put "trail" or "adversity." How much dearer are all these things when called something so positive as a "profound experience!")
*"Don't you understand about death?"
"Help me, Lord," she whispered.
"It is the most profound experience of any creature. . . .And it is the survivors who maintain the most light and poignant hold upon the beauties of living. Women know this more often than men because birth is the reflection of death."
*"Without readily available violence, men have few ways of testing how they will meet that final experience. Something is missing."
*" When I need to identify rebels, I look for men with principles. . . . Principles are what you fight for. Most men go through life unchallenged, except at the final moment. They have so few unfriendly arenas in which to test themselves."
*"A bad administrator is more concerned with reports than with decisions. he wants the record which he can display as an excuse for his errors."
*"Anything and anyone can fail but brave good friends help."
All of these are quotes from Lord Leto II, The God Emperor of Dune written by Frank Herbert.
I'm not even finished with the book yet!
The highest compliment
"Prince of Overall Wisdom:
"My eternal gratitude to you for having transmuted into an endureing asset of priceless value, all of my past failures, defeats, errors of judgement and of deed, all fears, mistakes, disappointments and adversities of every nature; the asset consisting of my willingness and ability to inspire others to take possession of their own minds and to use their mind-power for the attainment of the riches of life, thus providing me with the privilege of sharing all of my blessings with those who are ready to receive them and thereby enriching and multiplying my own blessings by the scope of their benefit to others.
"My gratitude to you also for revealing to me the truth that no human experience need become a liability; that all experiences may be transmuted into useful service; that the power of thought is the only power over which I have complete congtrol; that the power of thought my be translated into happiness at will; that there are no limitations to my power of thought save only those which I set up in my own mind."
"So when adversity overtakes me, as it overtakes everyone, I am not awed by it, but I begin immediately to search for that "sed of an equivalent benefit" and to germinate it into a full-blown flower of opportunity."
~Napolean Hill, "The Master Key to Riches"
While reading this aloud to Muad'Dib who was playing with my hair, he interrupted me and said, "You do that."
"I do what?"
"Aren't you even listening to what you are reading?"
"No."
"Read it again."
I advise you to read it again as well. I'll wait.
"Wow. You think I do that?!"
"Don't you?"
And that is the highest compliment I have been paid in a long time.
Husband Tag
1) Where did you meet? The first time was at the North Ogden Library, where we were in a production together at the wonderful ages of 14 and 15. We went on a few group dates, though none when he actually talked to me ("Hey, I was on a date with someone else!" he protests). So the most important meeting was at the Ogden LDS Institue when we both made Folk Dance.2) How long until you got married? 6 months from when we met, about four months from our first date. Yikes.
3) How long have you been married? Seven years in February.
4) What is your favorite feature on him? I'd have to go with his mouth. Everything about it, and everything that comes out of it. I love that I can please him by feeding him and that he has such a beautiful voice. He's so smart and says such caring things. I have never been so well complimented as those that come from his wonderfully kissable mouth.
5) What is your favorite quality about him? He invariably creates a feeling of safety. I endeavor to repay the favor. I also love his love for learning. And he is incredibly funny.
6) Does he have any nicknames for you? Not any real consistant ones. I remember the first time he called me "Chels" though. And he got a real kick out of me picking "Sayyadina" as my blogger name and Xbox handle. Mostly I guess he calls me "Womern." (and no, that's not a spelling error!)
7) What is his favorite food? Tiramisu. Or anything flavored with the Sauce of Service :)
8) What is his favorite sport to watch? I would guess Soccor, but he doesnt really watch or follow sports.
9) When was your first kiss? Sometime after Thanksgiving, but I can't remember the exact day of the month. We had gone to Temple Square to see the lights and I thought I was giving him glaring signals all night . . . but I guess not. When we got back to my house, we were making popcorn for a movie and he kissed me in the kitchen. Who knew it would be my last first kiss!
10) What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Laugh. No matter the context, we love to laugh together. Very few people can get Muad'Dib to laugh like I can. And vice versa.
11) Do you have kids? Two. One of each.
12) Does he have a hidden talent? If by hidden you mean that most people don't know about it, then . . . hm . . . I might say it's his writing. He is a talented writer. He's also a very good soccor player. He also has a talent for seasoning meat and cooking without a reciepe (like his mother!)
13) How old is he? 28.
14) Who said "I love you" first? I did. But who knew it first? He did.
15) What do you admire most about him? Most? Most. Above all the other things I admire about him . . . He is not afraid of change. I don't know that he's afraid of anything.
16) What is his favorite music? I think it's vocal accapella jazz. Ick. He also really enjoys rock, though. And broadway. He's quite well rounded.
17) What is his favorite book? Probably "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. It's certainly the one he's on my back to read the most!
18) What is his favorite movie? He says it's Amadeus. But he never watches it. So I guess I don't know.
Raindrop on Roses and Snowflakes on Windows . . .
My home on a winter morning . . .
And in the tradition of Mountain Road Ranch: Snowflakes on windows!
Though Dreampacker actually had to come down and teach me how to make a six sided snowflake. I only knew how to make square ones.
And I put my favorites not on my front window, not in my kitchen window, but on the sliding glass door leading to my balcony. I love good traditions.
And in the tradition of Mountain Road Ranch: Snowflakes on windows!
Though Dreampacker actually had to come down and teach me how to make a six sided snowflake. I only knew how to make square ones.
And I put my favorites not on my front window, not in my kitchen window, but on the sliding glass door leading to my balcony. I love good traditions.
These are a few of my favorite things.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Playing in the leaves
Before the first Snowfall, my children found the leaves at my parent's house and Lemur took advantage of the ground cover in any form. 
" What're you doing, Lemur? "
"Making an angel."
" What're you doing, Lemur? "
My princess.
Uncle PillBug even joined in the fun!
Lemur went from "Angel" to "Leaf Monster!"
Rivulet was excited to play in the leaves . . .
Until the leaves took it too far . . .
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Halloween
What? You didn't post our Halloween pictures?! Mawwwm!
Enter Indiana Jones (below) jiving to the music in his very first Halloween Parade. He was one of six of that character, but easily the best looking.
And here is Quasimodo . . . I mean . . . Rivulet impatiently waiting for her brother to prance and parade.
Lemur's class in full Hallow's Eve regalia!
Jones. Indiana Jones.
And I just thought this costume was funny. 100% recycled. Hah!
Enter Indiana Jones (below) jiving to the music in his very first Halloween Parade. He was one of six of that character, but easily the best looking.
And here is Quasimodo . . . I mean . . . Rivulet impatiently waiting for her brother to prance and parade.
Lemur's class in full Hallow's Eve regalia!
Jones. Indiana Jones.
And I just thought this costume was funny. 100% recycled. Hah!
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