Happy Valentine's Day to My Sweetheart!

Valentine's day fell on a Saturday this year and I work double shifts every Saturday so this was going to be tough. On top of that, I had been filling in during the week (yes, Friday too) for a co-worker who is on vacation, who works 2nd shift (3pm-11pm). So, my plan was to run over to Costco before they close and buy some roses for my sweetheart. But I got busy with a project and didn't remember until 8:50pm, 20 minutes too late. And I planned ahead for this, brought a pitcher to keep the flowers in until my shift ended.

I had to resort to Giant (the grocery store) and no doubt I paid more but at this point it didn't matter. I picked the two best dozen I could find, red and pink. I had given Cathleen a beautiful Lenox vase for Christmas that has been sitting unopened in its box in our dining room ever since. It was all part of the plan. Normally she is already in bed and asleep when I get home at midnight but not this Friday. She has been watching all of the back episodes of LOST, trying to get caught up on a few seasons, so that she can watch the current ones with me and Christopher. Several of the kids have been watching too. So when I came in, they were all engrossed in an episode and I carried out my plan in the dining room, trying to be very quiet. I turned the lights off in the dining room and had hoped that she would come down Saturday morning and discover them. I went on up to bed since I had to get up early for my double the next day.

When she came to bed, she gave me a hug and thanked me for the flowers. It didn't matter, it was still Valentine's day, and I was happy because she seemed happy. And she didn't even yell at me for spending the money :)



So, what to say to your best friend and romantic partner, sealed to you for all eternities??? I Love You! I could write or say volumes of wonderful things and not get the exact sentiment across. It is a feeling that I can not express in any way except maybe through the Spirit. I can offer my enduring gratitude and express my eternal love verbally, but it doesn't say what a hug, an expression and a sincere heart will say in person.

When we were engaged, she was in New York and I was in Utah at school. I had her framed picture and very expensive long phone calls almost every night to look forward to. In the present day, on my long Saturdays at work, we talk quite a bit, but we are apart. But I am grateful for the short moments of time when we are together, that I can truly express my feelings without even saying any words. A hug, a kiss, a smile from across the room. Those feelings can't be conveyed over the phone or through pictures. I am so grateful to share mortality with her, to share in the parenting responsibility that we have undertaken, to grow and progress together on our journey to eternal life. She is my best friend and companion and I love her. Happy Valentine's Day Cathleen!

New Rigs

Christopher and I finally got new PCs.


My case (black), Christopher's case (red) with pull out MB tray

Back in December 2005 (Christmas), I built new PCs for all of the kids. Gregory already had a newer mid range gamer PC (with a robust AGP graphics card), the rest of us had antiquated Dell Pentium IIIs that I bought off of ebay. Despite them being a little bit outdated, the kids were thrilled to each have their very own PC. They were good enough for the times, but eventually the newer games would not play on them. The new 2005 Christmas PCs weren't true gaming PCs (they had integrated lower end graphics cards) but they were the latest technology and would therefore play most everything the kids wanted to play. Though soon enough Tory would need a slightly more capable graphics card for SIMS and also a bigger hard drive to store her audio books, etc. Gregory at that time got the best of the best, a Super Gaming PC with a $300+ graphics card. Christopher got a new red dragon case (pictured on the right above, very cool but very expensive, notice how his motherboard pulls out of the case on a tray so that it is very easy to work on) and then he just inherited all of the guts from Gregory's older gaming system. This would be as capable as the other new PCs (other than Gregory's new one), but the AGP graphics card was more "game" capable. Eventually this would bite us as the AGP architecture fell by the wayside and his motherboard/graphics card would not be scalable for the future leaving his PC stuck in time with regards to upgradability. It was a decent gaming rig but it kept getting too hot as the more demanding games pushed the hardware. This would cause the BIOS to shut the PC down to protect itself from damage (cooking). So Christopher was ready for a more capable machine, and so was I (the max memory my Dell would support was 1GB, not good when you're messing with photos/videos and such).


This Christmas Jonathan and Nathaniel got new graphics cards that would allow them to play some new games that they were also getting. Christopher's computer (with expensive older AGP graphics card) was barely able to play these games, and he tends to play more advanced games than the little guys. So Christopher didn't get anything for Christmas other than just a promise that he'd get a new rig soon. Since I too never got a new system back in 2005, (not entirely true, I got a hand me down Dell from a friend that was slightly better than any of my Pentium IIIs). So, I finally bought Christopher and myself new parts from newegg, mostly the same stuff for both except that Christopher got a beefier "gaming" graphics card.


Great memory $16/GB, a cheapy $40 gaming graphics card for me

The beauty is that these PCs are much cheaper and yet much better systems than the December 2005 ones since the technology has advanced quite a bit since then. We each got dual core CPU processors for a fraction of what I paid for the single cores in 2005 (the new quad cores of today are currently about 5X the price of the dual cores and don't offer all that much bang for the buck for today's software applications so I passed on those). We each got 4GB of memory, lots of disk storage and the mother boards are compatible with quad processors so they are scalable. Christopher's gaming graphics card is middle of the road. It was a $150 board on sale for $100. Considering the good gaming boards go for $300-$400, I considered this pretty cheap. The most demanding game out called Crysis is what everyone uses as a benchmark (we don't have that game). People on the newegg review boards said they can play Crysis with Christopher's grahics card at high resolution with only a little bit of lag (5%), or zero lag at medium resolution. For $200+ more, we could make that 5% little bit of lag go away... I don't think so! The beefier graphics boards get a lot hotter and consume more power so then you have to start thinking about water cooling, more and larger fans and a bigger power supply.


Christopher's Graphics Card, the new rigs are nice and clean (and new and fast)

But it is inevitable that newer more demanding software applications (games) will come out and these PCs will be left in the dark. For now (and probably at least 3-4 more years) even the 2005 computers are still fast enough and able to handle pretty much whatever we throw at them and we feel blessed to have them (and to be off the Pentium IIIs, which were also a great blessing for their time). Computer parts have definitely come down a lot, you can really build a screaming machine for not all that much money. 4GB of memory is only $65, a few years ago it was more than that for 1GB. I have been encouraging friends and family to swap out their motherboard, CPU and memory for about $150 and essentially they'll have a new fast current for the times rig. The power supply, hard drive and case can't be too antiquated though, beyond say 4-5 years and you're probably obsolete for the most part (other than for simple emailing and word processing). I still have a few of my old Pentium IIIs serving as file servers. They're fine for adminstering my little domain but not much else unless you have a lot of time (and patience). YouTubing, video and photo editing, etc are going to really bog you down unless you have something a little more modern. All of our monitors are the old CRT style except Cathleen's. I'd like to replace them with the flat LCDs, but they are doing their job so its hard to dish out the money, especially when the LCDs keep coming down in price. When I can get a 19"-21" for $100 each, I'll be ready to make the jump (they're twice that currently).

Eventually I'd like to have this 52 inch monitor sitting on my desk...

Another Racquetball Post...

The dedicated southpaws, Bruce Andrew and Bishop Rhett Jefferies played both days

A few of the High Priests here in our White Oak ward had indicated recently an interest in getting together to play racquetball. It struck me on Sunday that either MLK or Inauguration day would be perfect since many would be off work and that fortunately the YMCA would open for their regular hours both days. I threw it up for discussion on Sunday at the beginning of our meeting and had sufficient interest. Since some could make it one day but not the other we decided to just play both days and see what we'd get. People preferred early in the AM (7am) so that they could have the rest of the day open.


Nathan Nielson recently took a class, he takes his racquetball seriously

On Monday I did not play since I work my 3rd shift and am pretty blurry eyed by 7am on Mondays. Here are those who showed up: Rhett Jefferies, Garrett Jefferies, Bruce Andrew, Darryl Barksdale, Joe Rupp. This morning we had Bishop Thomas, Nathan Nielson, Joe Rupp, Rhett Jefferies, Bruce Andrew and me. We had fun, there were some good battles. We mostly just played singles having all three courts to ourselves, trading up after each match. Toward the end Bishop Thomas dropped out so we had a singles and a cutthroat court going.


Bishop Jeff Thomas said, "I'm out to get some exercise" and "not get hurt"

In retrospect, I wish I had brought my Nikon DSLR but I hate having to worry in the back of my mind about theft and what not when I'm trying to hang out with friends and play. So the compact Canon SD1000 was the back up and it just did not get the job done! Nevertheless, I'm posting the pics anyway. Joe and I were paired up to square off when I took these photos so I didn't get one of him. But so he doesn't feel left out, I'll go ahead and re-post this one of him from our recent New Beginnings YW activity.


Brother Rupp with his game face on!

It was enough fun that everyone said they'd be interested in doing it again soon.

New Neighbors And More...

We now have new neighbors across the street in the model home. There was a moving truck and movers over the weekend but the owners have not actually stayed in the home yet. There is a parking lot next to the model across the street that is still there and no signs of ripping that out yet.



Less than a week ago, the home in the lot next to us went under construction. There are another two homes down our street that just went under construction too. At 7:30am the racket starts and it pretty much goes all day long.




I have mixed feelings about about all of this activity and what it will eventually mean. On the one hand, once these houses are built they'll finish our roads, which are probably not real great on the struts and shock absorbers. On the other hand more people means more traffic and less privacy, etc. But I guess it's inevitable so I'm planning on documenting photographically the construction, and how our new world is changing right outside our door.

New Callings Today

I was released as the High Priests Group Secretary and called as a Gospel Doctrine Instructor (there are two, so we split the duties teaching every other Sunday). This should be interesting since Cathleen and I mostly hide out in the back and keep to ourselves in Gospel Doctrine. Inevitably the whole experience will be much more beneficial to me than it will be for the class, that's the beauty about teaching.

Brother Nielson (Counselor in our Bishopric) said they weren't looking for an intellect to teach this class. Many people might be offended by that comment, but for me he was saying, "I know who you are Brother Baker and you're what we want". If I could be more intellectual I probably would be, since it's something that I've always wanted to be. But alas I don't have to worry about that. I was also comforted by some things that I learned in a course that the Bishopric asked me to attend earlier in the year, "Teaching, No Greater Calling". In this course they emphasized the following:

• Question: “He that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?” (D&C 50:17).
• Before hearing the revealed answer, let us note that the Lord is here talking about teaching the gospel, the word of truth, the principles of salvation. He is not talking about the doctrines of the world and the commandments of men, the adherence to which is vain and does not lead to salvation.
• The question is, when we preach the gospel, when we teach the word of truth, when we set forth the true doctrines of salvation, do we do so by the power of the Holy Ghost or in some other way? Obviously the “other way” to teach the truth is by the power of the intellect.
• Now the revealed answer: “If it be by some other way it is not of God” (D&C 50:18).
• Let us make this clear. Even though what we teach is true, it is not of God unless it is taught by the power of the Spirit. There is no conversion, no spiritual experience, unless the Spirit of the Lord is involved.
• Question: “And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?” (D&C 50:19).
• Answer: “If it be [by] some other way it is not of God” (D&C 50:20).

Shortly after completing that course I was asked to teach the Temple Preparation course. I enjoyed that, trying to apply some of the principles that I had learned in the "Teaching" course. The difference however, there were only 3-4 participants and I had been to the temple many times whereas they all had never been. I will now find myself out of my comfort zone standing in front of 30-50 people, where many may have a lot deeper knowledge and understanding of the Gospel than I do.

Cathleen also received a new calling today. She was released as the Humanitarian Aid Specialist and called as the Laurel Advisor in the Young Woman's program. She has served in the Young Woman's program before as Beehive Advisor, about 8 years ago. She has also been Miamaid Advisor and has served as Counselor and Secretary in the YW presidency, but all this many years ago and therefore she too feels a little out of her comfort zone.

I'm certain that she'll do a great job. The Laurels are the oldest class (Tory's age group) and Cathleen provides a great example of the choices that a young woman should make. They'll all mutually benefit from this experience, I have no doubt.

How to Take Better Pictures

I purchased a digital SLR back in October 2007. I spent a lot of time researching, trying to decide which camera would best suit me and my needs. I found various review sites that I researched: kenrockwell.com, popphoto.com, dpreview.com. It's hard to tell who to believe and what to believe, but I decided that I liked what Ken Rockwell had to say and how he said it. He really seemed to know his stuff and so I went with his recommendation to buy the Nikon D40. He basically said that it was a great all around camera, the least expensive and the one he grabs first of all his many cameras. I'm no expert and I don't pretend to be one but I do know a clear picture from a blurry one and I had had enough sucky pictures of important family events. I went through a handful of horrible point-and-shoots that would take one decent shot of five (if I was lucky) and that just had to change. Admittedly, my Nikon D40 can still take bad shots but most are decent, several are exceptional and only on occasion do I get duds.



I did find one older model big and clunky point-and-shoot that takes the most beautiful pictures and quite consistently at that, rivaling my SLR. It is the Canon PowerShot S50. You can find them used on ebay for cheap but you have to be careful, there are a lot of broken ones out there (make sure they have high feedback rating). I love this S50 camera! Cathleen dropped mine and the battery hinge door broke off. But I would buy that camera again in a heartbeat it is that good. You would not be disappointed with that camera (except for the size), and it does video too (DSLRs can't do video). I can not say much good about any of the newer Canon point-and-shoot cameras that I've tried/owned (sd800, sd1000), though I do like the size and the video quality is pretty good too.



I love my D40, but I know Canon owners love their DSLRs too. Some will say you don't need a DSLR, that a point-and-shoot works just as well. I disagree 100%. You still will want a point-and-shoot for video capture and for the portable convenience factor (they of course do a much better job than cel phone cameras). Though, another option that you might want to consider, if you still have your old legacy 35mm SLR, you can take beautiful pictures with it and have the photos digitized quite reasonably at Costco and they'll look great. But of course you don't get the benefits of instant gratification that DSLRs offer. Those 35mm are dirt cheap any more, most people have one in a closet that they're not using (including me) which means they're selling for peanuts on ebay. So if a DSLR is not in your budget yet, you might want to consider the 35mm option instead of the point-and-shoot, you'll probably get more consistent better pictures.

I'm including some picture-taking pointers that I cut and pasted from somewhere that I researched back a year ago. I apologize that I don't have the reference to give proper credit but suffice to say, I didn't come up with this stuff myself. Perhaps these tips will help you in your quest to compose a better or more interesting picture. In the heat of the moment, I snap spontaneously and worry about composing later when I post process using Phanefare, Photoshop, Elements, ACDSEE or Paintshop Pro. Of course I can't always easily crop out trashcans after the fact that I seem to often manage to get in my shots... Let's just say that I find trashcans artistically appealing (after all, art is a personal and subjective thing)...

How to Take Better Pictures





I'm quite fascinated by photography, but I currently fall into the "capture the moment, record history" category. I was just so tired of red-eye, blurry, grainy, poor exposured shots that I can never get again. I just wanted clear pictures of my family at this stage in my life, pretty minimal requirements. If you have higher expectations, you might want to do a little more research but be prepared to spend more money. Someday when I'm retired (LOL, OK resurrected) and have time to hike around in nature at early sunrise and during late sunsets, I'll consider a more professional grade camera.

Happy clicking!

Blogworthy Indeed

This is very cool!

I can't even imagine how many rehearsal hours went into this.

Vampires, Vampires, Vampires...

I mean, what's not to like? OK, cold stone white clammy dead-like tissue epidermis is kind of repulsive to me, and the whole cannibalism notion is a bit morbid, but if you can look beyond that you do have beautiful people (again looking past the cold pasty un-living aura...), passion, seduction, immortality, super-powers, growling, fighting, music for the senses, a touch of that James Dean "I'm too cool for my school" rebellious allure. Throw into the mix driving machines such as a red convertible BMW M3 (in the book but not in the movie), a silver Volvo C30, a black Mercedes Benz S55 AMG and a jacked up macho-dude 4x4 wall climber all driven effortlessly at reckless speeds and with dangerous yet instinctively controlled maneuvering and you just may win the hearts a few manly men in this epitome of a chick flick. Admittedly, I tend to be more of a romantic than I am a fighter so this "Twilight" love story with high speeds, fast cars, beautiful people and super strength/powers provided the chick flick factor but still let me keep my man card (I think).



I loved the soundtrack and the leading characters were beautiful, thereby reaching the viewer on the two relative senses that pertain to cinematography. I felt the acting (at least that of the lead characters) was excellent. They were attractive, interesting, somewhat unpredictable and even humorous. Some of those in my party who had read the book beforehand were rather disappointed because the movie deviated somewhat from the story, but for me, even after I had read the book after seeing the movie (finished this past Friday), I still liked the movie better. I guess my imagination is not quite as good as the ensemble of actors and settings that the movie producers put together. Granted, I was not totally impressed with the main vampire character's family, I didn't think they were as beautiful as the book alluded, but it didn't detract much from the entertainment.



The music and the leading character's performances can make a movie for me, even if the story line isn't all that strong (Phantom of the Opera comes to mind). If I don't like the main characters (i.e. if Anne Hathaway starred as Bella) I become disenchanted with the story. For whatever reason, I'm not a big fan of Anne Hathaway. Sandra Bullock is another that always ruins for me whatever movie she's in. If she never opens her mouth, it wouldn't be a problem, but when she talks and I get a sense of her personality, it's like nails on a chalk board for me. Music and sound in general contribute immensely toward the appeal of a movie for me, I loved the Paramore song "Decode" and the Carter Burwell "Bella's Lullaby" was/is beautiful. Linkin Park and The Black Ghosts were just frosting on the cake.



Now let me contrast to the cult vampire movie of 1987, The Lost Boys. In that movie I thought they also did a phenomenal job casting the main characters. Even the dorky little brother and his pals were well cast/acted, though I didn't care much for their roles and the storyline of the underground anti-vampire patrol. Kiefer Sutherland was the flawless "bad boy" vampire, he was absolutely perfect in this movie (in retrospect, I wish he had been cast as Dr. Carlisle in "Twilight"). He does a decent enough job as Jack Bauer in "24", but he was awesome as "David" in The Lost Boys, very convincing. In addition, Jason Patric as "Michael" and Jami Gertz as "Star" were the beautiful seductive people providing all of the necessary eye candy for those that need that (for me it helps), and I felt they all acted well too.





The Gerard McMann "Cry Little Sister" song was perfectly choreographed as was the Saxist Tim Capello in the outdoor concert scene playing "I Still Believe". I thought the vampire dress/make-up was pretty convincing for that time and the movie provided enough scare to keep you on the edge of your seat (it is a vampire movie after all). Michael's little brother was well acted, he added some needed humor, but his yo-yo anti-vampire pals pushed the corny factor a little too far. The mom/boyfriend and grandpa made the movie drag needlessly and didn't really contribute to the underlying story. They just escalated the corniness factor that much further (a third of the the story really needs to be rewritten). Despite those negatives, it's definitely a classic, especially if you love the 80's. As would be expected, the 20 year more modern advantage gives "Twilight" the definite edge in my opinion.



If you prefer the more comedic vampire tales, you can always go back to the bug eating Nicolas Cage (Vampire's Kiss, 1989) and/or the bug eating Arte Johnson (Love At First Bite, 1979) for a campy chuckle. They did use a "bugs and worms" reference in "The Lost Boys", but you wont see the glamor boy Edward Cullen or any his elitist family members snacking on creepy crawlers... If horror is more your genre of choice, Stephen King's contemporary Dracula story "Salem's Lot" (the book, 1975) will no doubt provide spine tingling entertainment for you.

Speaking Of Coincidences…

I was in 2nd grade at George Washington elementary in Wycoff, New Jersey. In those first few days of school that year I made friends on the playground with a boy in my class, his name was Duncan Taylor. It wasn’t long before I would ask my parents if my new friend could come over to my house to play. I remember my mom reacting strangely when I announced his name, she was certain that she had attended high school with his father (parents) and she was equally anxious at the possibility of reacquainting. It turns out that Duncan’s dad had married his high school sweetheart and that in fact they all did attend Ramsey High together (graduating class of 58, my dad was a few years older and grew up in New York).


2nd Grade: Me in yellow, Duncan in blue

Our families started to become friends somewhat, but not much later my dad would accept a job in California taking us across the country to a whole new world in the wild wild west. A few years later, Duncan's parents would divorce and his dad and the four boys would move west, eventually ending up in California. My parents too would divorce, but not before Mr. Taylor and Duncan had looked me up and had arranged visits to renew our friendship. It is perhaps obvious what transpired after that, the friendship of two young boys would lead to nuptials which would bring these two families together. I would gain four new step brothers and a step father, Duncan would gain a step mom, two new step brothers and a step sister (later, much later, our half sister Sydney would be born).




Duncan and I in 6th Grade together

Duncan and I grew apart over the years, in high school our interests and abilities took us in opposite directions. Duncan was extremely athletic, it seemed he excelled at whatever he endeavored to do, you can't imagine a person with so many natural abilities and gifts. I would spend my young life wishing I was him, or maybe just wishing that I wasn't me, desiring gifts and talents that would impress others. Duncan got involved in Wrestling and dominated at the State level, I never realized how good he was until years later, reading about his accomplishments in a program at our 20 year high school reunion. I, having spent my youth on swim teams took to the non-competitive pursuit of ocean sports including surfing and scuba diving and with that, associated myself with the deadbeat underachieving surfer crowd. Surfers ambitions were much lower than those of the athletes. We were more interested in making trouble than achieving. Had I been born with talents of a different nature, I imagine my life would have taken a completely different path. Eventually my choices, the direction my life was heading and the subsequent disappointment in myself would motivate me to seek a different path, try harder and I would eventually turn myself around to more noble pursuits.

As adults, Duncan and I are still quite different. Duncan did well in college and went on to get a degree from Hastings law school and became a lawyer, continuing to excel at whatever he set out to achieve. He eventually took an interest in surfing and has become a devoted surfer, traveling all over the world, surfing in the most exotic and celebrated places. He has two step daughters from a previous marriage, he is currently single with no children of his own and that is his greatest source of unhappiness, his kryptonite. He is handsome, has most all of his hair and he is in incredible physical condition. He has lot's of free time, lot's of play time. If he didn't maintain his moral and ethical values, he'd be considered to have the perfect bachelor life that any worldly guy would want. But this model doesn't lend to well to perceived happiness for the LDS faithful with the most recent proclamation to the world which states "the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children". And so Duncan has his challenges in life too.



I in contrast have never been a quick study (not that I'm stupid), I am bald and rather unfortunate looking (not that I'm ugly), I am not in good physical shape and I have very little personal time to myself. But thankfully, despite all of this, I somehow managed to marry a beautiful intelligent woman and to have 9 beautiful (maybe not so intelligent) children. I always tend to have to work hard at things, nevertheless, I have always been able to achieve my dreams and to find a great deal of happiness in my life. I have learned over the years that while everyone has different gifts and talents, they also have different weaknesses and challenges that help keep things somewhat balanced and very interesting. The playing field is more level than it may appear, the grass is not really greener in other pastures.

The intent of this post was not to compare and contrast me to Duncan but simply to illustrate how bizarre life can be where the lives of two people, who are so vastly different, when put together in such a way can have such an intertwining and yet significant impact on the lives of so many others. But was this far reaching event really a mere bizarre coincidence, or was it fate?