Effective, Eloquent Extemporaneous Speaking

I went to a concert with my friends tonight, and afterwards we hung out for a bit in the theater lobby. There was some art there, naturally. One was particularly intriguing so we started looking at it. I took a look at the informational plaque about the sculpture, and one of the more theatrically-oriented friends asked me, partly in jest, "Tell us more about this!" They invited me to make stuff up too.

I did. I started with what I knew and went from there. I just kept talking like I was a tour guide or something, giving random "facts" about the materials and methods behind the sculpture. I even threw in some "quotes" from a few "comments" I got from an "interview" with the artist "two days ago." I must have been yammering for  several minutes before I decided to wrap up (I could have kept going, but I didn't want to bore my captive audience). I impressed myself, actually! I don't consider myself much of an improv actor. However, I have been surrounded by creative people long enough to know how to carry on such a performance.

Another friend told me, after I finished, that during my improv yammering, there was a person or two that were behind me, admiring the sculpture and even nodding their heads a little bit as they heard what I said! We had some good laughs about it. Oh boy. I don't like to mislead people, but if a weird little urban legend goes around about this sculpture, I'll take that as a compliment. ;)

I am grateful for effective spontaneous performance!

Good Compromise

I am grateful for compromise. In a class today, someone mentioned the importance of compromise. Someone was talking about how the American Constitution was built on numerous compromises. The idea is that was a principle that made America great. In government and in conversations, there seems to be too many instances where people aren't willing to compromise. There is something to be said for being strong in principle, but of course that doesn't mean that compromise is weakness.

The scriptural phrase says "The meek shall inherit the earth." As I understand it, a meek person is someone strongly grounded in principles yet humble enough to listen to others and consider other ideas. I wish that was happening more often. More real conversation. That's why I'm grateful for good compromise when it happens.

Ranch Dressing, and Similar Things

Any time I eat spicy food, I am very grateful if I have dairy nearby. By "dairy" I mean milk or sour cream or ranch dressing or something similar. There's always something in my mind that says water will cool it down. It really doesn't. I'm grateful for dairy products when they're on hand as I eat something spicy.

Hidden Rainbows

I witnessed a fascinating phenomenon in my office today. My desk faces away from a wall of windows, and the front wall of my cubicle, right behind my computer, is made of glass. The windows behind me illuminate my workspace, including that glass wall. So, I can see a reflection of the windows behind me.

When I looked to my left, onto the glass wall, I noticed a stretches of rainbow across two of the windows. I turned around to look directly at the windows, but there were no rainbow colors. Somehow, the glass wall at my desk could detect at one angle what my unaided eyes couldn't see at another. The effect was reminiscent of a Lens of Truth (like in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time game), showing me more than I could see otherwise. The effect was actually kind of magical.

I am grateful for hidden rainbows. Actually, I'm a little more grateful that hidden rainbows can exist and be seen. :)

An Interdisciplinary Gospel

It is a great feeling to submit an idea to an organization and then have the chance to write about it. One of my favorite articles to write got published today. It is wonderful to me how the gospel of Jesus Christ can be applied to just about anything. There is a way to find truth and goodness in everything around us, and I truly believe that whatever is good comes from God (Moroni 10:6-7).

I am grateful for an opportunity to combine my beliefs with other fascinating disciplines in a recent article!

Happy Hour!

Work was long today. At times it was hard for me to stay awake. But, I got everything done that I needed to, and at the end of the work day was an all-staff happy hour. There were platters of cheese, fruit, meat, and desserts, as well as some beverages. It was a nice way to end the work day. I'm not used to happy hour anywhere (except at Sonic restaurants), and this was a nice change of pace. I am grateful for a happy hour at the office.

Temporary Losses

Today I lost my scripture bag. I also lost my weekly planner a few days ago. These are both important to me so I got a little worried. But, I figured I had just forgotten where I put them last and sure enough, I now have both. My planner was on my desk, beneath a book. My scripture bag was in the library for some reason, and there my roommate found it. I am grateful that neither my scripture bag nor my weekly planner are lost.