cc: file, Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, Claude and Katherine Warner, Lloyd and Luana Warner, Diane Cluff, Maxine Shirts via mail.
"On Wednesday I received the following e-mail from Rick Hawthorne (../9643.html, ../9728.html, ../9740.html, ../9813.html, ../9822.html, 0002.html, 0015.html, and 0048.html):
I responded with:
I've thought about this correspondence several times since Wednesday. Particularly on Thursday when Rick wrote back and said:
About the same time the monthly newsletter from FARMS came (The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies at BYU). In it was an interesting description of some previously unknown by me writings of one of the Catholic philosophers:
Reminds me of Joseph Smith's King Follett Discourse, as published in the Times and Seasons of 15 Aug 1844, by Joseph Smith, before about twenty thousand Saints at the April conference of the Church, 1844, being the funeral sermon of Elder King Follett:
Sometime since Thanksgiving Andrea and I watched the video tape Uncle Tony put together about the 213th 50 Year Reunion in St. George in September 2000. Tony and Buhela put this entire reunion together for those in the Utah National Guard who were called up and put on the front lines in Korea. I once again found tears as I looked at the old men and listened to stories about the days before they grew an appendage around their middle. I laughed when former Utah Governor Cal Rampton described going to a construction site with his wife and the foreman came up and warmly greeted her, he being a boyfriend from her youth. The same type of warm exchange occured as they were leaving, and the Governor turned to his wife and said, `Aren't you glad you married me instead of him?' She said `Why?' He said, `Well, I'm the governor!' She looked at him and said, `He would have been governor if I would have married him.' He shared the story to get a laugh, and he had to be wondering inside about `what I'm going to be when I grow up.' If you can take an hour while you are here at Christmas, I encourage you to watch this video, and to take the time to remember why we have the freedom we have.
Friday afternoon Andrea, Audrey, Rachel, Matt, and I went to see the new movie: `What Women Want.' Funny. Raunchy, and typical of how perverted our society is so rapidly becoming. And it was funny. My heart crys out for Ethan and his generation and for the strength they will have to have to `stand in their own light,' for they truly will be alone even more than you guys are, and to not get caught up in the addictions of pornography, sex, drugs, musical beat, foul language, etc. As with every parent and grandparent, even those who are caught up in the addictions, the hope and the prayer is that The Holy Ghost will guide and watch over and bless each child as they strive to determine `what I'm going to be when I grow up.'
Yesterday I was building some web pages for the RC-SIG (reference 0006.html and 0038.html, or pages at http://www.walden3d.com/rcsig), and decided to go and see where www.hypermedia.com ended up. There was a press release at http://www.hypermedia.com/news/news.html saying `IBM today announced a strategic alliance with two Interpublic Group branding agencies to create a world-class e-branding consultancy for Fortune 1000 and emerging dot-come companies. ... The Coleman Group's HyperMedia unit is a dedicated digital branding company. The Coleman Group has twenty operating offices in fifteen countries making the group one of the largest global firms in the marketing communications sector. Visit www.colemangroup.com for more information.' They asked for comments, so I dropped them an e-mail pointing them to the old HyperMedia web site Roice built at http://www.walden3d.com/hmc, and asking them if they thought their use of the words Immersive Environments and HyperMedia might form the basis of a way to get a return on investment for the HyperMedia shareholders. An idle threat, since `what I'm going to be when I grow up' is not someone who pays lawyers to pursue those who may or may not have stolen ideas and IP (Intellectual Property).
Last night Melanie and Jared stopped by on their way back to Austin from a youth temple trip. It was sure good to see you guys. Melanie, I was suprised by how quickly you commented on the wallpapering Andrea did in the front entry way a week and a half ago. I remember how funny it was to me, when a couple of Andrea's walking ladies showed up in a top of the line blue Lexus to help her put some wallpaper up. Maybe it is a girl thing. Melanie, it was nice to hear you say how `this house will always be my home.' My Dad always kept the house in the valley as home, and I'm glad it is still in the family. Even though there is a mortgage on this house again, and the house has no more value than when it was purchased in 1984, there are a lot of good memories in the walls and halls, the floors and doors, the kitchen and closets, the library and living room, the yard and greenhouse, and even the garage. Melanie, it was fun at the dinner table to listen to you describe when I locked the Willis Whippet Coupe (1928 Jeep sedan Identification Number 96A396313) in the garage just before Christmas and would go in to `feed it' and would not let the kids see it. They were convinced it was a horse, and thus were very disappointed on Christmas day. For those who don't know, my cousin Leon Roice Nelson (Uncle Bud's youngest son, see ../9937.html), has the car in storage in Cedar City. I still have the title, and if I want to get it back I will end up paying more in storage than I paid for the car.
Melanie wanted to know if we were moving back to Cedar, and if we were going to sell the house, and so I expect some of the rest of you have the same questions. Kind of a variation of wondering `What I'm going to be when I grow up.' Rachel wants to finish High School at Taylor. I'm concerned about the drugs at Taylor and who Matt might end up running around with as testostorne really kicks in. Both Andrea and I are comfortable with the idea of moving back to Southern Utah, especialy since it will always be home for both of us. However, my profession is all tied up around the oil industry, and there is no place like Houston to be involved in exploration and production. Best case scenario is we will pay off the house again, build or buy a house in Southern Utah, and split our time between the two places. Worst case scenario is we will die before we accomplish this, and then, as the song says:
Melanie mentioned Andrea had given me a deadline before I go out and get a real job. Actually, I told Andrea I would go find a regular job if there was no progress by last Friday. As with much of life, the answer is gray. I closed a deal with Chroma Energy, where they pay me $12,000. next week, and $4,000. in March, April, and May, as a draw against (1) commissions for selling their stuff (see http://www.chromaenergy.com) and (2) consulting fees and overrides for working on projects they initiate. I also have the right to hire them to work on projects I initiate. With the $5,000. from Continuum, this will allow us to pay bills, have a small Christmas, and provide money for tuition and fees for Audrey and Heather. I should make more than a regular salary fullfilling the terms of this contract. I was also offered $5,000. per month by Mike Dunn at GDC to work on some deep water Gulf of Mexico reports they are doing over the next four or five months. I went by Friday and told him I am not excited about $52/hour ($330/day), when I have contracts at $200/hour. On Monday I meet with a guy I'm asking for $1-5 million for to fund Calibrated Imaging Corporation out of Brisbane, Australia, or $2 million to fund Dynamic Oil & Gas' Gulf Coast AOI (Area-Of-Interest), or $100 million to fund Dynamic and Walden 3-D projects. I put a low probability on any of these happening. Then at 9:30 I have an interview with Digital Prospectors, who are interested in having me be their Offshore Exploration Manager. I will spend Monday afternoon beginning training on Chroma Energy's software. At 11:30 Monday morning I have lunch with Dennis McMullin at Macaroni's on I-10 (since I have missed lunch appointments with him 3 times, including last Tuesday, he sent me a PowerPoint File to print and put on my computer screen which says:
Needless to say, I feel very foolish. Monday was a very busy day. The highlight was when Sam LeRoy and I called Richard Nehring and agreed on the basic terms of our letter-of-intent for him to work with Dynamic Oil & Gas. I worked very hard to get this written out just right. I got up Tuesday morning and was very busy finishing this and putting together a package on Calabrated Imaging Corporation and forgot to look at my calender. As I mentioned last week, it doesn't do any good to write it down if you don't look at what you have written down. Wednesday was also spent printing proposals, placing phone calls, and working to close a deal. The new Sister Missionary came by and practiced her discussions with us at 7:00. She gave us the Joseph Smith story in sign language. I again found tears. It was very touching. I had Scout Committee meeting from 8:30-9:45. I am taking the Priest's on a campout to Stephen F. Austin this Friday afternoon, and the Deacon's are going to be invited to join us. We will have black powder rifles with us. Then next Friday night we are taking the Deacons, and the Priest's are welcome to come along, to Brazos Bend. If Matt goes on both of these, he will only have one more night of camping to earn his camping merit badge.
Thursday afternoon, Andrea and I went to the Continuum Christmas party. It was nice. I mistook margarita mix for lemonade and almost died after a small swallow. I can't believe people drink that stuff. The party was at Las Alamedas (0006.html), which, as John Amason and I reminiscenced over a nice Mexican lunch, was where the first Landmark Graphics Christmas party was located. Joe Amason joined us. He is doing great, looks good, and has good things to say about how Rob is doing. I miss Rob. Oh well! Andrea and I went and looked at HP combination fax, copier, scanners, printers and decided we better wait to buy one until a big contract is signed. Friday I left early, and Mike Dunn at GDC was the only one of the four groups I intended to meet with I was able to meet. Oh well! Maybe we will close one of these deals on Monday, and thus meet my arbitrary deadline. And maybe not.
Last week I wrote about what I'm going to be when I grow up:
In other words, I have no idea what I'm going to be when I grow up, other than that I am going to continue to strive to meet the Savior's admonition in Matthew 5:48 to `Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.' I do believe we are not given any commandment we can not achieve, if we strive to with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. I have come to recognize the process is more important than the end. I know I enjoy each day, particularly the last couple of years, and I always strive to choose the right. I know I pray for each of you, worry about each of you, and want you each to find lasting happiness and success. In other words, when I grow up I'm going to be a husband, a father, a priesthood holder, and someone whose work continues to make a positive difference. I hope each of you find a similar worthwhile goal for your life."