Tuesday, March 12, 2013

And just for kicks...

Here are a few funny videos that you should check out!

This reminded me of my mom!  She already knows that I think that ;)


Then this is why I chose to start using a new deodorant scent...




To conclude with some more old spice....I want to be as successful as Director Wolfdog when I grow up!




I love you all!  Thanks for reading my blog :)


Analysis Paper...

So this one is kind of boring, but I'm gonna put it up here anyways :)  I was critiquing an essay written by C.S. Lewis!


Analysis of The Trouble with “X”
Summary
The essay, The Trouble with “X,” by C.S. Lewis, shows us his personal thoughts on our journey to becoming like God.  While men are imperfect, God is perfect, and he knows each of us perfectly, and he loves every one of us with a perfect love.  Now humans, on the other hand, look for the faults of others, and how they affect their own lives, yet don’t see their own mistakes.  We can’t improve these relationships until we first make a change within ourselves.
As stated earlier, God knows all!  He can see everyone action, ever good gesture, and every dirty deed that is committed upon this earth that he created.  He knows the true happiness that we are capable of feeling in this life, but with judgmental feelings of hate, scorn, or anger towards another person, heaven will be as far away as the sound of beautiful music in the ears of a deaf man; in fact, nonexistent. 
How is this heaven found or this joy obtained?  One must try to see the world through the eyes of God, who can see the world in two ways.  He sees the world as we do, both good and bad, and he sees everyone that we see.  Now God also sees the world in a way different than we do, he can see us, and what we do.  We must remember that for all the things that others do that offend us, our actions cause others just as much grief.  We must change ourselves before we can change others, and only then we will truly be happy.
Evidence
In this essay C.S. Lewis uses two very effective types of evidence to support his argument that make his claims very reasonable to his specific audience.  The first of the two is the use of his intuition based on personal experience.  To begin this essay, Lewis describes a scenario common to many humans around the world, and though it is not clearly stated that any of these conditions are from his own life, since he is also human, we can safely assume that this argument was probably relevant in his personal life.  The scenario explained is that of the natural desires of a person to look for faults in others, and Lewis begins his article by talking about whom this person may have a problem with, what the problem may be, and how others say that one must go about solving this problem.  I assume that he has experienced this situation hundreds of times in his life, either as a witness or from a more involved position; therefore, he has the ability to discuss this topic with his readers because of his life experiences.
            The second type of evidence that he uses in his argument is that of an appeal to a higher authority.  In the second half of the essay, Lewis discusses the thoughts of God, the highest authority; so that we can follow his example, and by doing so better ourselves in hopes of becoming more Godlike.  To demonstrate this point, it is best to quote directly from the essay, the text reads, “He would rather have a world of free beings, with all its risks, than a world of people who did right like machines because they couldn’t do anything else. The more we succeed in imagining what a world of perfect automatic beings would be like, the more, I think, we shall see His wisdom.”  This use of an appeal to authority as evidence is a very intelligent decision by Lewis because a majority of his readers have a Christian background and are reading his work for that reason.
            Overall, I feel that the evidence that he used to support his claims and ideas was very effective.  It added to his argument, and it really helped to prove the point that he was arguing for.  These aspects made his argument valid!
Assumptions
            The first line of this essay reads, “I suppose that I may assume…,” and that leads me to believe that a large majority of this argument is based off of assumptions.  The first assumption that he makes is that seven out of 10 people who read this essay have feelings of discontent with another person.  This assumption allows the author to describe his target audience and talk directly to them.  I feel that this assumption is potentially acceptable, though the number is hard for me to believe, upon a deeper study of human emotion, one could come to the conclusion that seven out of every 10 people have a difficulty with another that they need to deal with. 
            A second assumption that is made in the argument is that God, exists, is all powerful, and has the ability to do as his pleases with the things he has created.  This assumption is based upon study that he has obviously done, and his own personal testimony and beliefs that came from that study.  To me, this assumption is acceptable without additional support because of the beliefs that I have, and Lewis can safely assume that most of his readers will share his same beliefs, making this assumption a very powerful tool in his argument.  Overall, I feel that the two main assumptions that are made in this paper are understandable, and can be considered true, which makes his argument very solid. 
Fallacies
            In this argument, there are several statements made that may appear to be fallacies, but I feel as if as a whole, he is truthful in his assessments.  One such questionable statement reads, “What, after all, is the alternative? You see clearly enough that nothing, not even God with all His power, can make ‘X’ really happy as long as ‘X’ remains envious, self-centered, and spiteful. Be sure there is something inside you which, unless it is altered, will put it out of God’s power to prevent your being eternally miserable.”  Though I agree with this statement, it may be considered over simplification. 
            In his argument, Lewis continually brings everything back to the point that being more Godlike can solve your problems.   In the essay, that is the only solution that is discussed.  To oppose that point, there are several other known ways to solve some of the problems that he discusses, such as counseling, temperance, or faith in something other than God.  If a reader of this essay did not share the same beliefs as the author, then this could be considered a fallacy, but as what has already been stated several times, for his intended audience, I do not believe this to be a fallacy.
Ambiguities
For the most part, this essay is very well written, clear, and easy for the reader to understand.  While reading, I noticed the word “shipwrecked” several times and realized that I didn’t understand the exact meaning.  At one point it reads, “You know, in fact, that any attempt to talk things over with ‘X’ will shipwreck on the old, fatal flaw in ‘X’s’ character,’ and I found myself trying to define shipwreck, just to have a more clear understanding of what was being said.  To more fully comprehend this phrase, I began to ponder a real ship wreck and what happens in that situation.
            In a shipwreck there are two parties involved, the ship and the passengers.  If the ship were to “shipwreck” on a reef, there would mostly be a large amount of physical damage to the sheep rendering it lost at sea with little hope of recovery.  Now the passengers on the other the ship could face one of two outcomes, they could survive the wreck, or “go down with the ship.”  Now how does this help to find the meaning of that phrase?
            I feel that there are two potential meanings for what Lewis was trying to say.  He may have been saying that this shipwreck was fatal and that there would be no chance of fixing the damage that has been done.  In other words, the relationship can’t be fixed if it is caught up on this problem.  On the other hand, he could be saying that even though this shipwreck may occur, there is a chance of survival, or overcoming the problem after an amount of effort is put in to finding a solution.  I feel that the meaning is closer to the second, and that with this definition in mind, a reader could more fully comprehend the essay and what is being argued.
Conclusion
            To conclude, I feel that this was a very well written argument great evidence to help to prove his point.  With the evidence that he found and discussed he makes very intellectual assumptions that allowed him to dive deeper into the concept and make a valid argument that is difficult to contend against in his field of writing.  Though as mentioned earlier there may appear to be fallacies, I feel that they are sound, and that in his writing they can be considered fact.  I also feel that his writing was very clear and that after one understands an important term, shipwrecked, then the point that he is trying to make is even easier to comprehend. 
            This was a great essay and I feel that C.S. Lewis would win this argument!  If someone who was going through a struggle like this were to read the essay, they would be filled with hope that through being more Godlike, peace could be found, and Hell could be avoided.  I feel that this essay enlightens everyone to one of the many benefits of being a Christian, and I am glad that I chose to study this essay!

It's been a while

Hey so brief intro to what's about to go down, I am going to put up a few blog posts today sharing some of the things I have written for school so far this semester.  Let me know what you think about them!

This first one is called "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner."


“Winner Winner Chicken Dinner”
This past week, a group of students here on campus had a contest, one apartment of men and one apartment of women, where the losing apartment had to make dinner for the winning apartment.  This challenge that was initiated by Nathan Lythgoe, a student and now family history enthusiast, consisted of indexing names on familysearch.org, and the winning team would have indexed the most names.  “It all started with a dream,” said Lythgoe, “as soon as I caught the spirit of family history, and knowing that I had the responsibility to help my roommates, I saw it as my best shot to be able to help us all do this work.” 

“I didn’t really get into it at first,” said Nea Aillery, a first time indexer, “but the day I finally just sat down and did it, I got addicted, and it was a ton of fun.  I’m not really into that kind of stuff, so I was very surprised when I actually enjoyed doing it.”

“Indexing is the process of converting hard copies of personal information records, into electronically accessible records,” said Brice Kaline, a ward indexer, “and this information is used to collect information for temple ordinances.”  During the week, both Kaline and Lythgoe were able to index well over 300 names.
According to the family search website, “there is a group of 2.4 billion microfilms that contain photographic images of historical documents from 110 countries.  Examples of these images include census reports, birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, military and property records, as well as other vital records held by local, state and national governments.” 

During this contest, which lasted for seven days, the two apartments were able to get over 1,100 names submitted.  Kodi Norton, one of the students involved in this challenge, is a new indexer; in fact, most of the students who were involved were new indexers.  “It was really fun,” said Norton, “we all just put on a movie and pulled out our laptops, and it was really cool to see all of the old records and talk about them together.”   
Now who won this competition?  In this epic battle of the sexes, the women defeated the men rather soundly, and for their victory, they were awarded a chicken dinner prepared by the men they beat.  “I was surprised that we won,” said Norton, “I thought the boys would win, when I found out we won, it was one of those ‘booyah’ moments…girl power!”  “It hurt my pride,” said Kevin Laughlin, one of the losers, “it made me want to do better next time!”  After the loss, Kevin set a personal goal to do more indexing in the future. 

“I was really nervous about the food at first,” said Norton, “I thought the chicken would be dry, but it was really juicy and delicious.  I was very impressed.”  This comes as a relief to Kyle Hoggan and Nathan Lythgoe who spent several hours preparing this meal.  “I like cooking,” said Hoggan, “and it was a great opportunity to bond with ward members, and I really tried to figure out what these ladies would enjoy, and even though I had never made mashed potatoes before, the dinner turned out alright.”  The meal consisted of grilled barbeque chicken, mashed potatoes, a salad, Asian pot stickers, and ice cold water directly from the tap.  It was a feast fit for a champ, and the champions truly had a meal worthy of their efforts.

These students are not the only ones who have caught the “Spirit of Elijah,” the entire 84th ward here on campus is really starting to do a lot of family history work.  The students in the story above are all members of this ward, but there are many other success stories.  “We were seriously just indexing for hours upon hours,” said Brandon Sandall, “it was a lot of fun.”    In talking about another head to head competition that took place Stacie Peterson said, “for me it was easier [to do indexing] if I have something to work towards.  The week before I only did like 100 names, this past week I did over 1000.” 
In the 84th ward during Sunday school each week, there is a class dedicated to family history work taught by a student, Tyler Beesley.  He is not an expert on the topic, but he is continually striving to improve, and to help the ward learn the importance of this work.  As a part of his class everyone to always remember to have indexing as a part of their life because he knows how much of a blessing it will be to members of his ward and to those who have passed away that are being helped.
Everyone that took part in this work was very excited to keep working on indexing and inviting everyone to join in this fun service.  If you have any questions, please visit www.familysearch.org, and you will be able to find all the information necessary to start the process.

Music Time with Corey Gile

This song was written by Corey Gile and I while serving together in the California San Jose Mission.  We were able to come up with a tune and write the lyrics in about 20 minutes....it must have been inspiration!


To the Unknown Missionary
By:  Alexander Rupp and Corey Gile

We have been called to serve for two full years, filled with many sleepless nights, and pillows covered in my tears.  Others may be lonely or sometimes even bored, but it’s in times like these that I need to put my trust in the Lord.

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me show me just who I can be, I have faith in you Lord, please have faith in me.  Lead me guide me walk beside me help me find the way teach me all that I must do to live with you some day.

Putting on this shirt and tie to others it may seem quite strange, riding around on bikes, or even walking in the rain.  It’s insane the trials that we choose to go through, but as I lose myself, I’m becoming more and more like you.

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me show me just who I can be, I have faith in you Lord, please have faith in me.  Lead me guide me walk beside me help me find the way teach me all that I must do to live with you some day.

Now my purpose, I hope you feel the same, in this time that I get to wear a tag that bears your name.  Help me to help others fell all of your love, and return to you and Father, in our great big home up above.

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me show me just who I can be, I have faith in you Lord, please have faith in me.  Lead me guide me walk beside me help me find the way teach me all that I must do to live with you some day.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Ummmmm hi!

Ok so I haven't done this in a while so I'm kinda rusty!

Hey!  What's up?  What's new? Did you miss me?  haha  So I don't really have anything too cool to talk about today, that's why I haven't done one of these in a few weeks!  I guess just to start off with a few announcements....am still alive!  I know some of you may have been worried that I froze to death out here in Idaho...but I have braved the elements and survived up to this point (hopefully I keep surviving?).  The Walking Dead will be returning this Sunday (Sadly most of the characters in this show are dead, I'm glad I'm not a zombie)!  While on the topic of zombies, I must share with you a quote....

"What's wrong with me?  I just want to connect.  Why can't I connect with people?  Oh, right, it's cause I'm dead.  I shouldn't be so hard on myself, I mean, we're all dead.  This girl's dead.  That guy's dead.  That guy in the corner is definitely dead.  These guys look awful."

Warm Bodies....you should check it out! :)

Ok so what I really wanted to talk about on this blog was tell you all something that I have started doing when I get bored.  I have this photo editor thing on my computer and on my Ipod, and I have started taking a bunch of pictures.  So I just wanted to make my own little art gallery on here that I could display to the world.  Oh and I may or may not comment on some of the pics?  Who knows?  But if you are reading this, you definitely should make some comments and tell me what you think or what I should talk about on my next blog post.  I'm hoping for at least five comments...don't let me down people!


So this is my face!  I took this after church....it's to show my sensitive side!

This is my brothers and I doing the Cam Newton in our Christmas sweaters....we do the Cam Newton better than he does!  (Cam Newton is a football player if you didn't already know that)


This was right after we finished running our half marathon!  Sorry for covering your face Bro. Barker....it was just so Bishop and I could be almost as good looking as you!  haha


This is the boys and I at Disney World getting our party on!  Whoa is Chris smiling??

Okay this is all that I am going to do for now!  Yes I realize that most of these are already on Facebook, yet I  still decided to put them on here?  Why?  I actually don't know, but yeah!  If you made it this far, I guess it didn't bother you! :)

Okay that is all!  "Say something human....nailed it!"



Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Homework! The very thought of thee....

Hey!  So to briefly describe what is about to happen....I was given a homework assignment to observe (creep) on students in a populated portion of campus today for an hour.  I was to take notes on what I observed happening, and afterwards, write a brief descriptive paper on what I saw happening.  I would now like to share with you what I wrote....

Observations:


The time is 4 pm on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon.  The room is a little over half full, and finding an open seat is no trouble at all.  The Cross Roads, the main eatery on campus is filled with students doing many different things, and this was my experience.  You close your eyes and the room is bursting with the sounds of rustling winter coats and sniffles due to some bad cases of runny nose.  I, seated in a centralized location, am surrounded by people, all of them participating in different activities.  To my right are two young gentleman (I say gentlemen because they were very sharply dressed), and they were working together on an assignment.  The first, had his eyes firmly set on the screen of the laptop, and in an appeared state of hypnosis, spouted out things to his friend to write down.  O the poor friend who had to write down everything the other was saying!  I have never seen anyone write so fast.  In front of me I see a very attractive girl.  She is sitting all alone with her laptop, but she had recently begun a conversation on the phone.  I could overhear her saying, “He totally just walked by me and didn't even say hello!  I was like what the heck?  I know right?”  I could actually feel her pain with each “OMG!” that left from her mouth.  After her phone call ended she made eye contact with some boys on the far left hand side of the room.  The boys (four of them) proceeded to try to “spit their game,” but alas, they were unable to win her over with their romantic calls of “hey girl, how you doin?”  A girl with a Kobe Bryant backpack walks through the conversation and ends the flirtatious folks failing follies.  But I digress, continuing on, there are several workers who are situated throughout the eatery.  Two in particular were doing some very noticeable activities.  The first, a larger man, was wiping down tables.  At each table, he would position himself on the right hand side, slowly lean in, and wipe the table down from the bottom left hand side to the right and continue on till done.  Every table was wiped the same way!  Whoever trained him deserves credit, for the tables appeared to be very clean.  The second worker was removing dishes and cutlery from the tops of garbage cans.  The rate at which these items were removed was apparently based on those he could see around him.  When an attractive girl was around, he would remove them very slowly and stare directly at the girl (apparently observing others as I was), until either eye contact was made or he could stall no longer.  If no one of interest to him was within sight, he would be done with his task faster than you could say Jack Robinson.  Now the highlight that defines all that is BYU-Idaho was seen just before my time of observation concluded.  A group of three young men stood behind me, and discussed a plan to ask a girl out.  Now this girl had just recently sat down in front of me.  “Dude what do you think she is gonna say?”  “Man I hope this works!?”  “Do you have Facebook up?”  I must admit that I was mildly confused upon hearing Facebook, but to my surprise, the guys came with their “A” game.

Guys:  “Hi we are conducting a survey, would you mind answering a few questions for us?”
Girl:  “Yeah sure!”
Guys:  “Perfect!  (They pull up Facebook) Do you think that if this guy asked you out on a date that you would say yes?”
Girl:  “You mean this guy right here?  (And she points to one of the guys whose face matches that found in the photo).
Guys:  “Oh yeah him!  He likes to go on dinner dates followed by movie nights at his place.  Could we get your name and number so we can pass it on to him?  I’m sure that he will be in touch with you soon.”
Girl:  (Now giggling) “Sure why not!”  (And she gives them the info).
Guys:  “Thank you for taking our survey!   We will let you know the results as soon as possible.”

Very tactful my friends and I wish you the best of luck with your upcoming date!  My experience in the Cross Roads, was very eye opening, I saw those who were into their studies, those trying to find a future spouse, and those just enjoying their time.  Did I tell of all the students I saw?  Nay, I was barely able to scratch the surface.  I wasn't even able to mention the correlation found between where you were seated, and the probability of getting married in the next year.  Nor was I able to touch on the fact that not a single student recycled a plastic bottle!  I call for a movement to put more recycling receptacles in this student union of sorts.  That is all for now, and I bid you all adieu!

So let me know what you think!?  :)  And yes I do realize that I am a total dork, but I'm okay with that....to once again use my french....Adieu Adieu to you and you and you...GOODBYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

If only I could sing...

Hey there!  So right now I am sitting in my apartment between classes (Writing for a Communications Career and American Foundations to be specific), and I decided that I had enough free time to bust out this blog post....because I'm already a day late!  :(  Anyways, on a more positive note, I have survived the first few days of school, and I haven't died because of the cold weather (HOORAY!)

So for today's post I wanted to stick with the super hero theme from the mini post I put up over the weekend.  To do that, I am going to share with you a song that I wrote called "Superman."  On a side note, if I could sing, this would probably help me to become famous!!!!!  But sadly I digress and proceed to just typing up the lyrics...I hope you enjoy them!

Superman

There you go again, walking past me in the hall
And you don't even notice me, to you I'm nobody at all
And it hurts, to know that I'm invisible to you
Because I want so bad to be the one that you come running to.

There you go again, winking with your bright blue eyes
And I wish everyday that I could take off my disguise
So now, how can I prove you wrong?
And show you that I've been your super hero all along...

Baby I can be your Superman, I'd do what I can
And girl I'd do anything for you.
I could be your man of steel, this is how I feel
Oh I know I could save your world tonight,
but for now you're just my Kryptonite.

There you go again, driving away in your new car
And I'd give anything just to be there where you are
So now, my mind starts to go insane,
dreaming about how some day you could be my Lois Lane.


Baby I can be your Superman, I'd do what I can
And girl I'd do anything for you.
I could be your man of steel, this is how I feel
Oh I know I could save your world tonight,
but for now you're just my Kryptonite.

Oh there you go again looking beautiful, fantastic
And every time I see you girl my heart it goes spastic
Because I try so hard just to be the only boy you see,
but girl you know my weakness, and how to get to me.

 Baby I can be your Superman, I'd do what I can
And girl I'd do anything for you.
I could be your man of steel, this is how I feel
Oh I know I could save your world tonight,
but for now you're just my Kryptonite.

The End!  So the part in bold is a rap that I wrote for one of the verses...to show my "I'm a gangster, but I can still be cute" side.  Ummmm I didn't really right this song about anybody, it just kind of happened one day...sorry to disappoint.  Anyways I hope that you like my song writing skills, and who knows, maybe some famous singer will want to make it famous someday!?!?!

Okay I will talk to you all next week!  :)