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.
Sara called from Rome a few minutes ago to wish me a happy Easter. She sat on the third row and watched the Pope conduct a Catholic Mass on Easter Sunday in Latin. Wow! It was probably as eye opening as the first time someone who thinks goes through the temple endowment. Sara, it was sure nice to hear your voice! I miss you, and I am very glad you had the opportunity to go to Rome and have this experience (Rome is one of the places I have not been to yet).
Melanie has postponed her Lasik surgey for a couple of weeks. She has `big pupils' and has to wear her glasses for a couple of weeks to remove the effect they have on reshaping our eyes. Sara, she misses you too. She just visited Grandma Jackson. She said to say hi to everyone. They are ready to leave Denver, and are coming home in the middle of May for Jared's sister's missionary homecoming.
Speaking of missions, I received the following from Cousin Diane Cluff:
I took an Easter Basket over to Rob today, and no one answered the door, although both cars were there. I hope each of the rest of you received your Easter gift. Last Sunday for Familiy Home Evening I read to Matt, Rachel, and Andrea from Gary Chapman's `The Five Love Languages.' I didn't discover this book until after the divorce, in my vain attempt to mend an emotional rupture. It was a completely new thought to me that different people express love differently, and sometimes, try as we might, they don't understand our efforts to tell them how much we love them. His five love languages are:
I remember how angry I used to get at my Mom, because she was always giving me things, and I interpreted this as trying to buy my love. Mom, I'm sorry. As I have matured, I have discovered my love language is also gifts, and on reflection have realized this is my motivation in sharing new combinations of words in the form of Prime Words, Lovelets, and Thoughtlets to you kids. These new combinations of words are the only things which feel like they are truly mine, and not something physical, which belongs to God, which I can not take with me when I die, and which I am simply a temporary steward over. However, as I write these words, I realize He also provided language, and thus it is actually simply a stewardship to use language. So it is only appropriate that on this Easter Day, I write new combinations of His words, with the simple purpose of expressing my love and the importance of eternal truths and things to those I love.
It is hard to see the mundane activities of our week as related to eternal truths and things. Yet I am convinced that the activities we are involved in each week reach out across the space-time continuum and touch ancestors and descendents and their associates. And this is also part of our stewardship. To be honest in all of our dealings, calling a spade a spade, so if it is not a spade it, or someone who knows it, will properly name it a heart, or whatever. To keep a journal of our activities and choices, so we can review what worked, what didn't, and use this distinction to make better choices in the new day. And to share our learnings, as parents and as mentors, as children and as students, so others don't need to go through the same valley of the shadow of death as we have traversed. This is best practice at it's core, it is the scriptures, and it is what I strive to find in and provide through these Thoughtlets. I apologize for those who do not understand my Love Language, and I hope and pray you will be able to see past my weeknesses to see how much I care, how much I love each of you, and how much I want nothing but the best for you individually.
This week was dominated by a friend of Andrea's Aunt Nadine: Marvin Goldstein. I had seen the advertisements for firesides around the church over the last few weeks, and Andrea had told me she knew him. However, like many things in life, it was when she introduced me, talked about her reclusive Aunt Nadine, and I listened to Marvin talk about her as one of his true friends, that I realized at a gut level the impact this Jew has had in my life. And maybe it will turn out his influence on me has only just begun to become manifest.
Monday I had lunch with Dan Vigeler and Mike McCardle at Johnny Carino's on Mason at I-10. My first time there. Dan is doing some innovative exploration with non-traditional hydrocarbon seep detection tools. I find it very interesting. We had a meeting at the house on Wednesday morning with his friend Reed Tomkins who uses enzyme leaching, near surface magnitite measurements from high resolution magnetometers and other geochemical tools to identify hydrocarbons. On Friday afternoon he brought his friend Sam Reeves from outside of Ft. Worth to the house. Sam invented the mechanical bull, and he invented a way to measure hydrocarbon seeps with a type of dopler radar. Very opinionated, and finds my plans for Dynamic too restrictive. However, we agreed to work together, with him working as a contractor for Dynamic.
Tuesday I visited with Dave Eichen at Chroma to review the different color maps I used in my Matagorda Island project presentation last week. Then I had lunch with Marc Lawrence of Fairfield Industries, and four of his colleagues. Fairfield is a seismic contractor which has specialized in collecting speculative seismic data in the transisition zone between the shoreline and 60 meters of water where the large seismic ships can run. Back in the mid 1980's Brad Macurda and I looked at every spec 2-D seismic section Fairfield had in the offshore of Texas for the purpose of selecting data for courses and presentations for showing off Landmark technologies. In the early 1990's Marc and I had a memorable lunch at an Argentina restaurant named Currisco's, where I suggested Fairfield use their data to earn a piece of the action. I was representing the newly formed Dynamic Oil & Gas Corporation, which never got off of the ground because of the issues with HyperMedia Corporation.
When Richard Nehring called the previous week and said he is going to generate 100 Prospects in the shallow water by the end of April, I recognized the need to have seismic support. So I had called Marc for a lunch meeting to discuss the possiblity of getting access to Fairfield's data (for maps see http://www.walden3d.com/dynamic/Fairfield). Marc invited the President, Walt Pharris, the Director of R&D, Bob Shurtleff, his colleague, and the General Manager of Dynamic Geoscience Services, Michael Fontenot. We had lunch at the Sugar Creek Country Club. I described Dynamic Resources, and they asked questions. When we got back to the office they gave me a tour, and Walt brought me upstairs to propose forming a new company, owned by Dynamic and Fairfield, in which Fairfield would put all of their spec seismic data, Dynamic would provide technology and explorers, an oil company would be recruited to provide management, and $100 million would be raised to fund a real exploration program. It will be interesting to see what happens with this. I find it particularly interesting that my initial request for $2 million was raised to $10 million by Swede Nelson and now it has been raised to $100 million by Walt Pharris. Next it will probably implode, like a hot air balloon that raises too far too fast.
Thursday morning I participated in an advisory meeting at Chroma Energy. They reviewed 3 projects. Great work. Tremendous opportunities are sitting there, waiting to be picked up. They found over 70 drill sites in one 3-D survey, in a period of 5 minutes, once they had calibrated the color display of the patterns in the 3-D seismic. Exciting. After the presentations, I met with one of the presenters and modified her color palette to highlight sands in yellow and carbonate benches in blue. Truly spectacular.
Thursday evening I was the assigned adult leader chaperone from the Nottingham Country Ward's Young Men's organization for the annual stake Youth Conference. They had a talent show. It was really quite good. There were a couple of the usual ego presentations, with little talent behind them. However, for the most part, it was very well done, and a lot of fun. Nolan Hoyt from the Katy 1st Ward and I had an interesting conversation about Dynamic and the things he is doing in Austin with a new start up. Andrea has started working on Paul and Kate's quilt, and she was late coming to watch `her girls' in the talent show. At the end of the talent show there was a performance by Marving Goldstein, who mentioned he turned down an opportunity to be the pianist for Three Dog Night. After the talent show Andrea took me to meet Marvin Goldstein and to talk about Aunt Nadine. As he described 70 firesides last year, large numbers of Youth Conferences, and other church speaking assignments, which sound like they are fun to do, I couldn't help but ask him how it is all paid for. Andrea was very quick to say it comes from sale of his CD's, from concerts, and the like.
Friday I spent the day working on Dynamic. Matt was limited with his access to TV and to playing computer games, and was bored to death. He threatened me, and I responded in a way to make sure he knew he doesn't threaten me. He complained to Rachel, via Sarah Turner, and I found myself called on the carpet for being a parent. I found this interesting, and wondered how much of the attitude came from Marvin Goldstein's presentation to the youth. Probably none. Friday evening was Matt's soccer practice, and we went to Wendy's for dinner as Andrea and Rachel were at Youth Conference. Saturday morning was choir practice, Matt's soccer game, and then to work. In the evening, Andrea and I drove up to the Cypress Stake Center to listen to Marvin Goldstein's fireside. Here are my notes:
As he played a melody of Primary songs, I drew out pictures of how Bavinger's color classification scheme could be used to create a new type of musical instrument. It was exciting, and I found tears from the spirit creeping out of my eyes. Continuing:
Criptic notes do not carry the spirit of the fireside. Maybe it is because it is Easter Weekend, and our ward choir practices and sang:
And:
And:
I would not have gone to Marvin Goldstein's Fireside without Andrea wanting to go. The tears flowed as he played the Primary Songs and the hymns of Zion. I do not know what will come from this first encounter with this lifetime music missionary for the church. However, I sense I will be writing about him in the future. And if any of you ever hear there is a concert or a fireside in your area, and you can go to it, please listen to the message of a Jew named Marvin Goldstein."