03 Feb 2002 #0205.html

Neckties

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Dear Paul and Kate, Melanie and Jared, Bridget and Justin, Sara, Ben and Sarah, Heather, Audrey, Rachel, and Matt via hardcopy,

cc: file, Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, Lloyd and Luana Warner, Diane Cluff, and Maxine Shirts.

Welcome to "Thoughtlets." This is a weekly review of an idea, belief, thought, or words that will hopefully be of some benefit to you, my children, with an electronic copy to on-line extended family members. Any of you can ask me not to clutter your mail box at any time.

"I had a good week. Hopefully everyone else's week was as productive as mine. It was NAPE (The North American Prospect Expo, see ../9851.html, ../9904.html, ../9905.html, ../0020.html, ../0105.html, ../0126.html, ../0135.html, and ../0151.html). My week started last Sunday, after Andrea proofed and helped me to edit the Thoughtlet, she offhandedly said, `That was funny how you referred to not closing new business even though you wore your new Christmas necktie.' I thought it was funny, she thought it was funny. So I got thinking about neckties, and am going to use them for a theme.

So yesterday I took all of the neckties in my closet out and put them on the livingroom floor. I ordered them by when I think they were purchased (click on the images for full sized images):

To the left I show the neckties looking from the past, referenced as `A. from the left' in image above;
or to the right looking back from the present, referenced as `B. from the right' in image above:

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So here is what I can remember about the 28 ties currently in my closet:

1. These four ties came from my Dad's closet when Sara and I cleaned out the house. I miss my Dad.
2. These two ties might have come from Dad's closet, or they might just be old ties, maybe even dating back to my mission.
3. This is my Davy Crocket clip-on bow tie, my oldest tie, probably about age 6:
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4. These two SEG bolo ties are probably my all-time favorite neckties:
   
5. This tie was picked up in Glasgow when I went there for Landmark Graphics. I love the weaving and pattern, and for a long time I was really into wearing black ties. I guess black describes how I felt about myself.
6. This is probably my all time favorite regular necktie. EAEG stands for European Association of Exploration Geophysicists, which I was very active in for many years at Landmark. It is black, the way I felt about myself in those years (specifically because nothing I could do made Marti happy, and I mistakenly took complete responsibility for her depression not knowing what to do about it). I specifically like it because of the statement: Quaere Et Invenies, which means `seek and ye shall find.' I think this is such a wonderful society mission statement, particularly for those involved in oil and gas exploration and production.
7. This brown tie with little skier's on it was bought in Calgary when I went to teach a course and forgot to pack a tie. It was the only one I could find in the big famous hotel I was staying at. I forget the name of the hotel. It was built a century ago, and has big English rooms.
8. The elephant tie was bought in the airport in Bangkok on one the way to one of the two courses I taught in Dehra Dun, India. I like the brown, and the elephants. However, it is too short.
9. I don't remember where I got this tie. I do know that over the years I have spilled a lot of food on ties, and in so doing have ruined many ties, which are now thrown away. This was a conservative, non-discript tie, and has been around my neck for many conventions, papers, and work days.
10. This tie was given to my by my Mom. When she gave it to me, she said, `This is to be your lucky tie.' So I would always wear it to important meetings. I can't say that it brought me any luck. However, I can say, it was the tie where I learned I still have a superstitous streak in me. I've wondered how this relates to my interest in spiritual things and in the restoration of the gospel.
11. I remeber buying this tie when I ruined another tie. I bought it because the little cubes look sort of like little 3-D seismic surveys. Funny the reasons we pick a rag to wrap around our neck.
12. These two ties were bought in the early 1990's, on one of the annual trips to replace Levi's and shirts. It was the first time I recall buying a red tie. Red was such a bad color to dress with. I'm not sure why. Power. Mom refering to women who dress in red as harlots. I remember wearing it with a gray shirt and telling people it was the same as MIT's colors representing blood on cement. It must be that these were from HyperMedia days.
13. This bead tie is supposedly made of real pearls. Mr. Meng Ersheng (../9945.html, ../9946.html, ../0138.html) gave me this tie on one of my last trips to China. I was very proud of it, and wore it often after getting it, until someone said, `Roice, that looks like a riverboat gambler's tie.' Funny how fast perceptions can change. The last time I wore it was to the banquet the Chinese hosted for us on the 12th of September (../0138.html).
14. One of the PAIRS classes we were suppose to dress up in a costume that represented ourselves, and a separate costume that represented someone else in the group we were assigned to represent. Rhonda was working for me in those days, and I had her go out and buy me two masks. The Santa Claus beard included this tie in the same package. I liked the red and gray (MIT colors), and the pattern, and for a long time this was like my only tie.
15. When I gave up on Marti, and decided to get on with the rest of my life, and find someone who wanted to be a friend and a companion, I decided to buy some new ties. These were the ones I selected. Red. Chain links, and yellow blobs which look like rocks. Funny choices.
16. This was one of Andrea's first gifts to me. It was a tie she asked Carole's parents to send from China. Originally she thought she bought it in China, and her trip was before we were reintroduced.
17. This was the tie Andrea bought for our wedding. Roice, Ben, Paul, Rob, Nate, and Matt have or had the same tie.
18. I forgot to pack a tie when Andrea and I went to Calgary for the SEG (../0033.html). So Andrea and Georgeanne Massell picked out these three ties for me, while I was at another meeting. I remeber they were purchased on the Sabbath. Oh well!
19. This is the tie Melanie and Jared gave me for Christmas.

I find it fascinating how many ways our lives can be written about. Who would have thought there is so much history and so much emotion tied up in neckties. I remember as a youth thinking neckties were dumb. I remember reading a psychology book about the relationship of men and apes, and specifically the comments about the man in a little red convertable sports car, or those who wear bright red ties, and how these were nothing but phallic symbols. I don't remember much about neckties while I was on my mission. I guess the wearing of them just became kind of second nature over those two years. I don't remember ever throwing a necktie away (sort of like pictures). However, I'm sure there were many so soiled they were thrown away for me. I don't mind wearing a necktie. I prefer not to. I think the more relaxed dress code we often find today is an improvement over wearing a necktie. I'm not sure why neckties are part of the `Priesthood look.' And it is ok with me. I do think there are many little things about our lives, like neckties, which we kind of take for granted, and never stop to think about. At the same time, I'm not sure how much benefit is gained by exercising nurons over neckties.

Joseph Smith didn't wear neckties. Brigham Young wore something between a bolo tie and a bow tie. And today, when we get dressed up, we wear a necktie. Andrea tells me she likes neckties. And I guess that is a good enough reason to wear one, at least when we are getting dressed up to go out someplace together or to go to church.

In terms of my week, it was all tied up around NAPE. I had put together the proposal to get someone to fund Dynamic Resources going to NAPE and APPEX London. It didn't fly. Too short of time frame was the main comment I got back from folks who were looking for the cash. Oh well! It took most of Monday and Tuesday to finish up the AAPG presentation on the Infinite Grid(SM) mentioned last week (http://www.walden3d.com/aapg). I ended up creating 83 web pages, and the folks at Petris were suitably impressed with the results. Tuesday at noon I went down to Sam LeRoy's and put the results on a CD so they could be transferred to the Spotfire portable PC I've been using. Spotfire called and they are going to take this computer back this coming Tuesday. Matt is disappointed as he has been playing computer games on it on Saturdays and some evenings after school.

Tuesday afternoon I went to the International Session at NAPE. Very interesting. The deals folks are selling don't seem to be put together much better than what we have done over this last year. The biggest difference is that most of the deals have the land tied up. And that is a big difference. It is expensive to purchase mineral rights, and can cost up to several hundred dollars per acre to do this. When you talk about plays that cover thousands or tens of thousands of acres, this adds up to real money. In the evening they had an icebreaker. It was good to see friends. Scott Sechrist has recovered from his hurt leg, and he introduced me to one of the principals at Huber. I saw several other friends. I lost my voice, maybe an allergic reaction to one of the hors d'oeuvre sandwiches. So I was standing in a drink line to get a glass of orange juice and introduced myself to the geologist next to me. He ended up inviting me to talk at the SIPES meeting in February in Corpus Christi and expressed interest in having us work up leads for two counties near Corpus using the Prospect Machine.

Then I was talking to another friend, Dan Morris with e-Seis, when Herbert Hunt walked by. Herbert and his brother Bunker Hunt are famous because of their attempt to manipulate the silver market. They lost their family fortune in the process. When I was at Mobil, and frustrated to death because they wouldn't listen to me about the importance of interactive 3-D interpretation, I gave up and answered an advertisement from the Hunts. I interviewed for a job with the Chief Geophysicist, whose name I believe was Campbell. He took me upstairs to meet Herbert. This was in 1978, before I went into field operations. I mentioned this in my thoughtlet on Job Interviews (see ../9735.html). He took me upstairs to meet Bunker, who was talking to one of his horse racing buddies. I still remember feeling like a stock show calf being paraded in front of these guys. Anyway, I excused myself, walked over to him and introduced myself. He said, `Hi, I'm Herb Hunt.' I responded, `I know, I turned down a job offer from you in 1978, and I have often wondered what my life would have been like if I would have taken that job offer.' We had a nice conversation. I told him about the 5 billion barrell oil field opportunity Sam LeRoy and his office mates have in Paraguay. He asked me to come by the booth, and told me he wished I had not turned down his job offer. When I got home and was telling Andrea about the evening, I noticed his business card reads:

I worked until 11:30, and then got up early Tuesday and worked some more, sending out a couple of e-mails to folks I met at the ice breaker, and preparing a new brochure, and doing several other things. It was 12:30 by the time I got to NAPE. There was no parking, and I had to walk from the building where II&T used to have their office. I went right to the Petro-Hunt's booth, and it was an hour later before I was able to corner Herbert alone. I don't feel the conversation went very well, although his Chief Geologist, Bill Fairhurst, said that the two of them would fly down to Houston next week to look at the opportunity. I have business cards from 37 folks from Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I could write about each of them, and I won't, since most of you would not be interested. I will point out I wore my new blue necktie each of these days. And although I didn't close any business, I made great contacts. I would have made 5 or 10 times more contacts with the booths. Oh well! Hopefully we will close some of these contacts right away.

Thursday evening I went out on missionary splits with Elder Taylor. We had a good evening. We spent most of the time with Sister Lumbrearas teaching her 7 year old grandson Patrick the first discussion. Elder Taylor has about 4 more weeks until he returns to Cedar City, and then goes back to college in Idaho. He seems like a good kid. He told me Audrey and his friend called him when they were on a date.

Friday was the big presentation to the AAPG at PETRIS. It went well, although one of the attendees said, `I'm completely overwhelmed' as he left for another meeting. Sam and I spent from 11:30 to 2:30 with Mike Forrest. He did a detailed reveiw of our standard presentation, and has sent two e-mails since then making suggestions about how to repackage it to better sell it to clients. Friday evening and Saturday morning was spent reworking the presentation. Mark Roulston picked up the PC and is going to write the 975MB of presentation files I have on that computer to CD's so I will still be able to give presentations after Spotfire takes their computer back. Saturday afternoon Andrea and I went to see `I Am Sam.' Good movie. Reminds me of what an unfit father I have been in too many ways. Too busy. Too demanding. Trying too hard to make up for preceived lack in others. Oh well! I encourage each of you to see this movie. After the movie I shredded three garbage bags of Fairfield seismic sections, as per Marc Lawrence's instructions, while Andrea and I watched `From Russia with Love' while switching back and forth to `The General's Daughter.' Rachel was out with her friends. Matt spent the afternoon helping with the school play and was playing video games upstairs in the evening.

Today was nice. I did notice that all of the men were wearing a necktie. Good Fast & Testimony meeting. Marion Pickerd does a very good job with the Gospel Doctrine lesson. Jeff Jurinak taught a wonderful priesthood lesson on reverence. He started with a metronome going slow and discussing his Grandfather's lifestyle, then speeded it up to discuss his Father's lifestyle, and then really speeded it up to discuss his lifestyle. It reminded me of a stanza from Prime Words:

It also reminded me of a scirpture I discovered in The Book of Moromon (II Nephi 19:18), which is cross- referenced to the Old Testiment (Malachi 4:1), both of which are respectively quoted below, so you don't need to look them up:

Particulary nice today was talking to Roice, Sara, Ben, Jared, Melanie, Mom, Kate, and Paul (the conversations occurred in that order). I think I'm going to like having these free weekend minutes. And Heather and Audrey, I might even learn how to talk on the phone. I do know that heart felt conversation does not require a necktie."

I'm interested in sharing weekly a "thoughtlet" (little statements of big thoughts which mean a lot to me) with you because I know how important the written word can be. I am concerned about how easy it is to drift and forget our roots and our potential among all of distractions of daily life. To download any of these thoughtlets go to http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets or e-mail me at rnelson@walden3d.com.

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Copyright © 2002 H. Roice Nelson, Jr.