RipplecutBuddha

*devising another way to declare myself immune from having to pay for things I want*

I was only home from the San Diego mission five years when this was posted. I coulda given him some good info, too....

The Stradivarius violin is one of the most valuable and collectible musical instruments in history. To find an original in playable condition is a rare find. Many examples are insured for several hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not long ago, someone began attempting to create forgeries of the magnificent violin. Multiple dozens of examples made it into circulation with no one the wiser. However there was something wrong with the forgeries that revealed their nature. The end of the violin's neck is capped with a single wooden piece that is called the scroll. It holds the tuning pegs in place and works with the neck to keep the strings taught and playable. The scrolls of the Stradivarius were thought to be no more special than any other, as very few if anyone thought they contributed to the sound of the instrument overall. The truth of their importance came out hand in hand with the discovery of the forgeries. Whenever a C note was played on a true Stradivarius, it rang strong and pure as any other note on the instrument. However when a C was played on a forgery, the note had a lifeless, almost dull tone that was clearly uncharacteristic of the legendary instrument's reputation. The cause of this fault was very painfully examined and researched for months until the cause was identified. There was something wrong with the scroll that caused the sour note.​ Sure enough, all the forgeries were identified by testing them with the single note weakness that the true instrument would never have. In the end, several people were out hundreds of thousands of dollars, multiple investigations were launched, but nobody could determine who had made the forgeries. To this day, the entire episode is known as The Mystery of the Dead C Scrolls.

"I am disinclined to aquiese to your request.... Means 'no'." My favorite line from the pirate trilogy. Here's my view. Both Edgar Allen Poe and William Shakespeare had voluminous vocabularies, as well as solid command of multiple other languages beyond english. Neither one of them was afraid to display their respective prowess. The result is that both happen to be legendary literary giants. Here's the odd part. I love E.A. Poe, but I cannot bear to read Shakespeare. I have tried repeatedly, but to no avail. There's nothing wrong with encouraging the elevation of one's reading and writing skill level. After all, there are degree-bearing college graduates that have an abhorrent lack of spelling and grammar ability, much less reading level. I think using the word 'ban' when one merely means 'to avoid when possible' is a trendy word in itself that ought to be avoided. Much along the lines of using the word 'hack' in place of the word 'tip'. Another one I dislike is the phrase 'you're doing it wrong' when all the presenter is sharing is a different way to accomplish something which may, or may not, be better or more effective. Either way, moderation in all things with an eye to constant and consistent improvement is the best method.

I have a brother in town who has, along with his family, been eagerly supportive of me. Add to that the local members of my ward, and along with everyone here, I'm confident I'll make it through intact. One thing that will help is my life-long habit of forgiving others quickly. I just can't care about things long enough to hold a grudge. I've ended up friends with every girlfriend I had before I got married, and I talk with two of them on facebook fairly regularly. They both have wonderful families of their own, and I find myself genuinely happy for them in every way with no reservations. What had happened between us so many years back is just part of life to me now. If anything I simply have regrets from not having treated them better, as each of them deserved. I am quite certain I will get to the same place with this matter after the healing process is done. It's just right now there are moments that bring it all into the forefront of my mind. Having to explain to people at work what happened is tough. Leigh (My new ex) worked at the same hotel I did for a while, and everyone liked her quite a bit. I can tell nobody wants to get too involved in it, and I can't blame them. It's not their burden, and not their problem to worry about. On that front everyone has been fantastic. For now it seems everything is going as well as could be hoped, so God has been blessing her and I both in spite of what is happening. I cannot fathom what His thoughts are on the matter, given what he knows of us both, but to know he still intends to give us as much happiness as he can at all times is a great boost to my faith and determination to see it through.

thank you all for support and prayers. Things have levelled off as far as the emotional impact. One of the difficulties is that most of her belongings are still here, even though she's found a new place to live. Having the reminders of her makes it, well, difficult. She is in process of moving it all to her new place, so it's moving along, I suppose. I just have to sit down and remind msyelf that when I asked her dirctly if she wanted the marriage to work out, whatever it took, she gave a simple 'no'. The fond memories I hope to have for the rest of my life, but for now, I can't let them overshadow the reality that she decided she was done with our marraige long before I knew it was even in that much jeapordy. I'll keep coming here as long as I can. You've no idea how much you all do for me, just by giving me something to read and ponder from the forums. May God be with us all, to the end of our days in this life, and may those days be many.

I just finished watching Dream Theater's latest concert DVD Breaking the Fourth Wall. The band got their start at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. This concert, they go back and perform with a student coir and student orchestra live. It is one of my favorite concert DVD's of all time. Plus, the music is very theraputic and healing for me, something for which I am currently very grateful.

Being offended is a choice. And most often an unwise one.

Well, I had hoped to hang on to this until after the holidays, but I need to heal, and hanging on is not aiding me at all. My amazing wife of 2 years has asked to divorce me. I won't go into personal details. I'm not like that. My first divorce took me off my feet for a year. This one might be as long or longer. All the feelings associated with failure are back. She was my world. I'd still do whatever I could to mend the damage and try again. But she's resolved. It will take a miracle, and I'm not even certain that such aid would work. I came back to the site to get things started on the right path with her, but it seems it was too little too late. I will keep coming here because I need the strength of the Spirit with me as often as I can have it, and everyone here is a tremendous source of strength and support for me in all kinds of situations. Thank you for all you do and who each of you are. I will get through this, though I may have to walk a mile to do so. I'm very grateful that I have family and friends by my side when that mile seems so, so long.

Of all my better qualities, it's my humility that I'm most proud of. My mission president was a surgeon, so occasionally he would use medical examples in his talks and presentations. Speaking directly about humility and pride, he viewed them as diseases, and had this to say about each. "Humility is an odd disease. Once you know you've got it, it tends to disappear." "Pride is also an odd disease. The symptoms appear in everyone but the carrier."

The weakness in all mortal prophets is precicely why we are instructed to seek the truth on our own, from the source himself. Thus, if a prophet doesn't get the message exactly right, the faithful followers can still get the message as it was intended. The purpose of a prophet isn't, nor has it ever been, to rule over and command the faithful. Rather, it has been to lead the faithful back to the source of the prophet's own wisdomn and inspiration; to make sure everyone is on the same page. It's not necessarily that the prophet is any better than anyone else, it's just that God needs to start the message with somebody, so he chooses the most capable he can find, and begins with them.

I wish I had a lifetime credit card with no limit I wish my body could be changed to Colossus' from the X-men, so I could enforce fire lane parking rules whenever I go shopping I wish deliberate idiocy and dishonesty were immediately and acutely painful.

So I've been gone for quite a while, but recent events have driven home how much strength I have gained from being here. Strength that I have noticed missing in recent days, for various reasons. Long story short, I'm anxious to return to the strength of testimony and positive view of life I could have had all this time. Look forward to dry jokes, bad puns, and generally almost inappropriate humor to come. It's not the same as coming home, but it's the next best thing.

To finalize what was said above, since I also did years worth of research in this area, 95% (roughly) of all the points of argument used against the church were formulated while Joseph Smith was still alive, and they were easily defended and countered at that time as well. The only 'recent' matter would be the straw-man search for 'Nephite DNA' among the native people of the Americas, and it was just as easily and quickly taken apart and explained as soon as it came out. Thus the lies have not changed, nor have the answers to them. There are far better ways to build one's testimony and/or serve as a missionary for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As long as one can maintain a civil discussion, I have no problem talking with anti-Mormons about their questions. As soon as the contention begins, I try to graciously thank them for their time, testify, and get out. Anything beyond that destroys any chance of them hearing you out.

I wonder.... ....If the Colorado Avalanche or Rockies will win another title in the future. ....why you drive on a parkway, but then park on your driveway. ....how long it would take to travel to, and do a session in, every currently open temple on the earth. ....if the sealed portion of the BoM will be revealed at the beginning of the millennium, as new scripture tends to be a key opening moment in each new dispensation. ....what Pres. Monson's favorite kind of music was as he grew up.