Last week I took a quick trip back from Seattle to Provo. The occasion was to present a paper at the 7th International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Natural Computing (CINC) about some of the work I did last summer while at Sandia National Laboratories. Not a large or well known conference, but I’m published. CINC was part of JCIS, the 8th Joint Conference on Information Sciences. It was cool to attend presentations on such a wide variety of topics, including fuzzy logic, agent based modeling in financial markets, and game theory. I stayed five nights in Provo, and had the opportunity to hang out with many of the best people I know. Being without a car or a place in Provo to stay, I was dependent on the generosity of others. I tried not to impose, but there were many people more than willing to help me out. Brady picked me up from the airport. Julie let me stay at her place. McKay let me hang out at his apartment and use his Internet. Genevieve gave me a ride back up to the airport. Having nothing with me other than what fit in my backpack, I was very grateful for the kindness shown to me by my friends. Solely thanks to their generosity, the trip was a most enjoyable success.

Typical Hollywood Money

This is your typical Hollywood big money action movie. I was looking forward to seeing the Fantastic Four in action, but alas, this is relegated to just the last 10 minutes of the film. I thought the film was slow to get started; it felt like they took a long time setting up the accident, and another long time discovering what each of their symptoms were. I was disappointed with the amount of bickering between the members of the Fantastic Four–about half the film was devoted to the petty quarrels amongst the Four. Neither was I pleased by the way Ben was so broken up about the rejection of his wife, but by the end of the movie is partying with his arm around the first girl who’ll give him the time of day. To the films credit, the special effects were nice.

I mentioned to my mom the other day how many miles I’d put on my car since I got it two years ago, and she was a little shocked and worried. I have driven that car from Orlando to Seattle, and countless places in between. I was a little surprised by the differences in our attitudes–I got a car to use it, and am glad that it is being used and for the many experiences myself and others have been blessed with through its use. There is no need to lament its proper use, or curtail usage for fear that something may become used up or worn out. Sometimes we loose sight of the greater purpose our possessions are meant to serve.

I want the carpet to wear out with people coming and going. I want my ring to become battered as I wear it through life.

All that being said, there’s a fine line between use and misuse. I believe strongly in being a good steward, in taking care of people and things, in not abusing what I have the opportunity to make use of. As long as we are doing what is right, let the consequences follow.