Quote of the Day: 31 December 2018

“Don't be ashamed to want to live, and to be willing to take the responsibility into your own hands to protect yourself and your loved ones.” -Michael Trust

Quote of the Day: 30 December 2018

“As we establish wholesome traditions that teach the doctrine of Christ, the Holy Spirit bears witness of the truthfulness of our message and nourishes the seeds of the gospel that are planted deep in the hearts of our children by our efforts all along the way.” -Steven R. Bangerter

Quote of the Day: 29 December 2018

“Sincerity is a much overrated virtue.” -Milton Friedman

Quote of the Day: 28 December 2018

“‘Happy’ is by no means synonymous with ‘good.’” -Jordan Peterson

Forest Grove Police Log excerpt, 27 December 2018

The selection from the log of local police activity for this week is a tale of a concerned friend and a probable butt dial.

Sunday, Dec. 16A caller reported receiving a call from a friend and could only hear yelling and screaming in the background. Officers contacted the individuals who were loudly engrossed in a football game. No crime.

So, if a friend calls and you don't hear much but yelling, take a moment to attempt to discern the nature of the yelling prior to contacting police. There's always the chance of something nefarious going on.

Throwback Thursday: Street Magicians

Detail from Dits de Philosophes

It used to be a lot easier for street magicians to conceal things in their sleeves due to the prevailing fashion choices. This guy seems to be doing well. He's gathered an audience of at least three. He must have been a pretty good showman for his day.

Quote of the Day: 27 December 2018

“[C]hildishness comes almost as naturally to a man as to a child[.]” -Isaac Asimov

Quote of the Day: 26 December 2018

“The best evidence I’ve been able to come up with that the human race is increasing in intelligence is that parents no longer give their kids hatchets for Christmas.” -Patrick F. McManus

Bonus Quote of the Day: 25 December 2018

“[I]t was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!” -Charles Dickens

Quote of the Day: 25 December 2018

“Jesus Christ is God’s transcendent gift—the gift of the Father to all of His children.That birth we joyfully celebrate each Christmas season.” -Russell M. Nelson
[Merry Christmas!]

Quote of the Day: 24 December 2018

“Joy is to fun what the deep sea is to a puddle.” -Terry Pratchett

Quote of the Day: 23 December 2018

“As we step back from the world and assess our lives, now is the time to consider what changes we need to make.” -Jack N. Gerard

Quote of the Day: 22 December 2018

“People can overcome some of the superficial factors that produce illusions of truth when strongly motivated to do so.” -Daniel Kahneman

Quote of the Day: 21 December 2018

“Be kind to yourself. You may not be perfect, but you are all you’ve got to work with.” -Henepola Gunaratana

Throwback Thursday: Losing to a bear

Detail from Hunting near Hartenfels Castle

I don't know what possesses certain people to go hunt bears up close these days, when we have effective means of killing them. But these guys, back in the day ... What were they thinking?

Quote of the Day: 20 December 2018

“It is often said that force is no argument. That, however, entirely depends on what one wants to prove.” -Oscar Wilde

Forest Grove Police Log excerpt, 19 December 2018

This week's selection from the log of local police activity brings us a tale of a man engaged in interesting gardening techniques.

December 9• Police contacted a man who was seen rolling around in the mud with his pants down. The man believed he was “helping the grass grow” and told police he was on his way home. He was told to adjust his pants and move along, which he did.

I do wonder what he was actually thinking. Not enough to go looking for him, but I will puzzle over it for a while yet.

Quote of the Day: 19 December 2018

“[T]he dictum that truth always triumphs over persecution, is one of those pleasant falsehoods which men repeat after one another till they pass into commonplaces, but which all experience refutes.” -John Stuart Mill

Quote of the Day: 18 December 2018

“[S]o many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.” -King Azaz and the Mathemagician, The Phantom Tollbooth

Quote of the Day: 17 December 2018

“A desire not to butt into other people’s business is eighty percent of all human wisdom.” -Jubal Harshaw, Stranger in a Strange Land

Quote of the Day: 16 December 2018

“No injustice, no persecution, no trial, no sadness, no heartache, no suffering, no wound—however deep, however wide, however painful—will be excluded from the comfort, peace, and lasting hope of Him whose open arms and whose wounded hands will welcome us back into His presence.” -Neil L. Andersen

Quote of the Day: 15 December 2018

“No matter how much you stop believing in reality, it doesn’t go away.” -Frank Budesa

Quote of the Day: 14 December 2018

“Powers do not expire when the crises that created them have passed.” -Thomas Sowell

Throwback Thursday: Lion Audience

Detail from Das Leiden unsers Herren Jhesu Christi

I recall what it was like to be sitting on some misshapen stone blocks decked out in your finery of an awesome red hat, and rockin' cape when all of a sudden you'd be approached by a lion attempting to French kiss you. Poaching has eliminated those days.

Quote of the Day: 13 December 2018

“[I]f you are trying to change an organization or a society and you do not consider the effects of your changes on moral capital, you’re asking for trouble.” -Jonathan Haidt

Forest Grove Police Log excerpt, 12 December 2018

The selection from the log of local police activity this week includes two stories. Both for amusement, but of different varieties.

Nov. 30• A caller reported that he caught a man wearing excessively low-hanging trousers trying to break into his pickup. The suspect attempted to flee on foot, losing a shoe and dropping items as he ran. Officers searched the area and found a man without shoes and an exposed backside walking along Main Street. The man unconvincingly advised his shoes were taken in a mugging, but the witness was able to positively identify the man. He was arrested.
• Police were advised that a large heifer was grazing on the sidewalk on the edge of town. Officers were unable to locate any cows in the area.

Normally I select items that cause me to wonder why the police were called. But in both of these cases I fully understand calling the police. At least assuming the second story was reported in good faith. What I do not understand is the thief attempting to claim his shoes were stolen from him. Who goes around stealing the shoes off of someone's feet?

Quote of the Day: 12 December 2018

“Always remember that the crowd that applauds your coronation is the same crowd that will applaud your beheading. People like a show.” -Terry Pratchett

Quote of the Day: 11 December 2018

“I am convinced that creating loving homes, good parents and nurturing early environments is the single greatest contribution we can make to human flourishing.” -David Wolpe

Quote of the Day: 10 December 2018

“Much of happiness is hope, no matter how deep the underworld in which that hope was conceived.” -Jordan Peterson

Quote of the Day: 9 December 2018

“To persevere firm and steadfast in the faith of Christ requires that the gospel of Jesus Christ penetrate one’s heart and soul, meaning that the gospel becomes not just one of many influences in a person’s life but the defining focus of his or her life and character.” -D. Todd Christofferson

Quote of the Day: 8 December 2018

“Deficit spending, once embarked upon, creates powerful vested interests which demand its continuance under all conditions.” -Henry Hazlitt

Quote of the Day: 7 December 2018

“Most of those who were involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, whether as attackers or defenders, are not alive today to tell their story. It is up to us in the succeeding generations to remember it and to tell it.” -John Richardson

Throwback Thursday: Getting Up in the morning

Detail from Le livre de trois vertus

I'm envious of someone who can employ three servants to help them get up in the morning. I'm also curious as to why this chick is lying on top of all the bedding rather than being tucked in as would be common today. And why she needs the additional two servants who are just standing there looking on. But who am I to criticize? I haven't amassed enough wealth to employ even one servant for any reason, and I have no four post beds.

Quote of the Day: 6 December 2018

“It is entirely appropriate that people should bear a cost—if only of unpopularity and criticism—for speaking freely. However, the cost should be reasonable and not disproportionate.” -Milton Friedman

Forest Grove Police Log excerpt, 5 December 2018

The selection from the log of local police activity is a rather unusual greeting.

Thursday, Nov. 29A caller reported that a man chest-bumped his car in a parking lot.

This is something I have not encountered before. Is there a group of people regularly greeting vehicles? And in such an exuberant fashion?

Quote of the Day: 5 December 2018

“[W]e do not yet know all the basic laws: there is an expanding frontier of ignorance.” -Richard Feynman

Quote of the Day: 4 December 2018

“The mental and moral, like the muscular powers, are improved only by being used.” -John Stuart Mill

Quote of the Day: 3 December 2018

“You will probably find, in life, that successes and victories tend to overshadow the risks you took, while failure will amplify how idiotic they were.” -Killian, Academ's Fury

Quote of the Day: 2 December 2018

“This very day—every day—He reaches out to you, desiring to heal you, to lift you up, and to replace the emptiness in your heart with an abiding joy.” -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Quote of the Day: 1 December 2018

“Harm in the name of help is one of the oldest games.” -Henepola Gunaratana

#APicADay 2018: Day 30

This is the last day. I'll probably do a retrospective post as well, but this is the last photo of the exercise. I'm fairly pleased with it.

 I also took these.

Quote of the Day: 30 November 2018

“Maxim 21: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Take his fish away and tell him he's lucky just to be alive, and he'll figure out how to catch another one for you to take tomorrow.” -Howard Tayler

#APicADay 2018: Day 29

Today I learned a modified version of yesterday's lesson. I went out to get a shot (or at least to where I hoped the shot would be ready) and passed up several opportunities to shoot some amazing sights where there was beautiful soft pink light. I got the shot I set out to get, but when I went back to where the good shots were, the light had changed. So, don't pass up shots that you are already at. Lesson learned.

 And these two are what was left of the pretty light.

 And I just liked these lights.

Throwback Thursday: Ape hunting a boar

Detail from a Book of Hours

These days, apes aren't armed with crossbows, and wild boars have largely been eradicated from areas where apes are endemic. But what must it have been like to see the majestic ape pursuing not one, but two or more boar at a time, armed only with a crossbow? Majestic is the only thing that comes to mind.

Quote of the Day: 29 November 2018

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” -Oscar Wilde

#APicADay 2018: Day 28

I had been thinking about what I wanted to shoot today, and I had decided to try to find somewhere that had Christmas lights on before it got very dark. Then as I was driving I saw these really pretty clouds off to the south east. I quickly drove to a spot that is elevated with a view of the valley. By the time I had gotten there however, the light had changed, and there were not as many clouds illuminated by the soft pink light. But I took a picture anyway. I should have called it, and gone back to my original plan.

Forest Grove Police Log excerpt, 28 November 2018

This week's selection from the log of local police activity brings us a tale of a distraught consumer.

Sunday, Nov. 18A woman called police distraught that a new mattress had been delivered but the delivery man would not take her old one.

This is another instance of a case where I cannot imagine myself calling the police over this. I'm interested to see that there are people who would. I honestly don't know what to think about this. I'm simultaneously grateful to know about the idiocy all around me, and horrified at it.

Quote of the Day: 28 November 2018

“Resistance to stereotyping is a laudable moral position, but the simplistic idea that the resistance is costless is wrong.” -Daniel Kahneman

#APicADay 2018: Day 27

The light was fading, so I went out and got my shot for today. I'm not disappointed with it, but it isn't a great shot.

Quote of the Day: 27 November 2018

“The effect of every sort of New Deal is to increase and prosper the criminal class. It teaches precisely what all professional criminals believe, to wit, that it is neither virtuous nor necessary to suffer and to do without.” -H. L. Mencken