Okay, that's a bad title. It should more properly read, "What to Do When You Idiotically Drop Your DVD Remote into a Cold Cup of Milk."
You see, some time ago I came up with the brilliant idea of using an oversize metal cup to hold all the remotes in our bedroom. It worked great, and even had a cute picture of an Old Navy reindeer on the front.
Yesterday, however, I was tired of working and thought I'd eat my lunch in front of the TV set. I was just about to watch my very first episode of "Lost." (Yes, I know the whole world has been watching that series for the past 7 years, without me in their midst. Does that mean I have to do things on everybody else's timetable?
I set my over-sized cup of milk in front of the cup holding the remotes and enjoyed something delicious while I watched people racing around trying to cope with having fallen 40,000 feet through the air onto a deserted island (well, deserted except for the ravaging creatures that sneakily pick them off one by one). I can't remember what I was eating right now, but that's beside the point.
I have this nasty habit of putting things away whenever I see them laying around. When I didn't need the remote anymore, I plopped it into its cup....noooooo!!! Not THAT cup!!!!....it was that over-sized metal cup half full of milk! I yanked the remote out, but it was too late.
It took quite a long time to get all the milk out of it and wipe off the batteries. No, it did NOT work anymore. Aughh! And how can one enjoy "Lost" if one can't rewind the best parts?
I explained my tale of woe to Ted, who came up with the brilliant plan of submerging the remote in a container of rice overnight. The idea behind that is, the rice sucks up all that extra moisture. Evidently Ted had used this method on his cell phone when he got it wet.
Yup, you guessed it, when we took it out and inserted the batteries in it today, it worked!! Yay!!
So this is my blog about dehumidifying DVD remotes. I should probably put this device on the market! Well, there was one downside, and that is that the remote sounds like a marimba now...there's no getting that rice out. But that is a small price to pay for being able to rewind an exciting episode of "Lost," right?
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
What Was I Created to Do?
When you read first-hand accounts of near-death experiences, often you'll read where someone in authority up there is telling the person to fulfill their mission on earth once they get back. Then the knowledge of that mission is erased and they're sent back to earth. Now why would they do that?! Seeing how each of us is unique, wouldn't it help to have a hint of what we are uniquely supposed to be doing on earth for the benefit of our fellow-man and ourselves?
I've come to the conclusion that the only way to figure this thing out is to look back on our life and ponder the things that we've instinctively been good at, use our patriarchal blessings as a guide, and then keep ourselves worthy to notice when the Spirit nudges us in the right direction.
In my own case, as a child I thought it was odd that I was really good at two things: spelling, and rhyming.
Of course, spelling is important because if you can't spell correctly, people won't take you as seriously. Try to picture the following essay in a child's handwriting.
Sticker Story Hores
I like hores. Hores have other hores frinds.
Hores like carrots. You wouldn't think they could
but they can put their legs strait up.
Hores make you feel good. My dad wants a hores
but my mom says no. When I am. 16 or 20
I will buy my own hores.
Okay, I hope that wasn't too offensive, but you get the point.
Spelling is important.
As a youngster, I read many poems. I really liked poems, so I found myself very irritated when I found out that RHYMES + POETRY = BAD. Rhyming was no longer in style. Now everybody was just putting their thoughts on paper without any sort of rhythm whatsoever. Note the following example:
Speak
Voices
Not mine, but someone else's.
Someone else's advice
Their hopes, their dreams
What do they say?
Do you choose to listen?
They're very convincing
All morals aside
It's fun, its easy, its ok
But it's also them, not you.
Will you be their echo?
by whisperettex16
It has some good thoughts, but it's missing something.
Now read this one:
Count That Day Lost
If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went --
Then you may count that day well spent.
But if, through all the livelong day,
You've cheered no heart, by yea or nay --
If, through it all
You've nothing done that you can trace
That brought the sunshine to one face--
No act most small
That helped some soul and nothing cost --
Then count that day as worse than lost.
by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)
So much more satisfying!
Later, after many hours and years of struggling with the keyboard, a new talent emerged. I found out that I could play the piano, and I was good at it!
It is just now, at this late date, that I've realized why I was good at those three things. It's because all were necessary to create SONGS.
One day I figured out that the songs I liked best were the ones that followed the natural cadence of a person's speech. Look at any Beatles song...usually the melody follows how a Beatle would naturally speak those words. That was an important day, because that's when I discovered that I could put all four elements together...spelling, rhyme, piano chops, and melody. (Chops = A slang term for the technical skill with which a jazz or rock musician performs).
Now that I've begun churning out songs, I'm started to understand what my place in the world is, and why it says in my patriarchal blessing, in effect: "Your influence will be felt by many."
The reason why I say we should keep ourselves worthy to notice the nudges of the Spirit is because I've found that when I'm doing what I know I'm supposed to be doing, not doing what I know I'm not supposed to be doing, and taking baby steps toward becoming a better person, that's when the musical floodgates seem to open. When I follow any other course, the floodgates are shut tight.
So, what are your natural talents, and what have you discovered about yourself?
What is your place in the world, and how are you using your talents to improve the lot of mankind?
I've come to the conclusion that the only way to figure this thing out is to look back on our life and ponder the things that we've instinctively been good at, use our patriarchal blessings as a guide, and then keep ourselves worthy to notice when the Spirit nudges us in the right direction.
In my own case, as a child I thought it was odd that I was really good at two things: spelling, and rhyming.
Of course, spelling is important because if you can't spell correctly, people won't take you as seriously. Try to picture the following essay in a child's handwriting.
Sticker Story Hores
I like hores. Hores have other hores frinds.
Hores like carrots. You wouldn't think they could
but they can put their legs strait up.
Hores make you feel good. My dad wants a hores
but my mom says no. When I am. 16 or 20
I will buy my own hores.
Okay, I hope that wasn't too offensive, but you get the point.
Spelling is important.
As a youngster, I read many poems. I really liked poems, so I found myself very irritated when I found out that RHYMES + POETRY = BAD. Rhyming was no longer in style. Now everybody was just putting their thoughts on paper without any sort of rhythm whatsoever. Note the following example:
Speak
Voices
Not mine, but someone else's.
Someone else's advice
Their hopes, their dreams
What do they say?
Do you choose to listen?
They're very convincing
All morals aside
It's fun, its easy, its ok
But it's also them, not you.
Will you be their echo?
by whisperettex16
It has some good thoughts, but it's missing something.
Now read this one:
Count That Day Lost
If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went --
Then you may count that day well spent.
But if, through all the livelong day,
You've cheered no heart, by yea or nay --
If, through it all
You've nothing done that you can trace
That brought the sunshine to one face--
No act most small
That helped some soul and nothing cost --
Then count that day as worse than lost.
by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)
So much more satisfying!
Later, after many hours and years of struggling with the keyboard, a new talent emerged. I found out that I could play the piano, and I was good at it!
It is just now, at this late date, that I've realized why I was good at those three things. It's because all were necessary to create SONGS.
One day I figured out that the songs I liked best were the ones that followed the natural cadence of a person's speech. Look at any Beatles song...usually the melody follows how a Beatle would naturally speak those words. That was an important day, because that's when I discovered that I could put all four elements together...spelling, rhyme, piano chops, and melody. (Chops = A slang term for the technical skill with which a jazz or rock musician performs).
Now that I've begun churning out songs, I'm started to understand what my place in the world is, and why it says in my patriarchal blessing, in effect: "Your influence will be felt by many."
The reason why I say we should keep ourselves worthy to notice the nudges of the Spirit is because I've found that when I'm doing what I know I'm supposed to be doing, not doing what I know I'm not supposed to be doing, and taking baby steps toward becoming a better person, that's when the musical floodgates seem to open. When I follow any other course, the floodgates are shut tight.
So, what are your natural talents, and what have you discovered about yourself?
What is your place in the world, and how are you using your talents to improve the lot of mankind?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)