The first step to teaching someone is building rapport and finding common ground.
Of course an animated, rotting corpse is going to worry about dental hygiene!
I was going more for the Sean Connery Bond rather than, say, Timothy Dalton or Daniel Craig. He has that je ne sais quoi that I wanted to portray.
Shakespeare is always good for a laugh...especially the tragedies.
Here's another rerun while we make some behind-the-scenes repairs. this is one of my favorite Not Quite Zen gags, and tonight is Game 1 of the World Series. The perfect opportunity to dust off a golden oldie!
I know there are missionaries who complain about the food at the MTC, but it could be worse. Much, much worse!
My original concept for this was having a skeleton wearing a dress sitting in the chair (it is the month of Halloween, after all). But on second thought, that seemed a little gruesome.
Finishing up the University Avenue project was bittersweet. It was a lot of fun doing the public information for it -- and these cartoons. I also thought it was cool to get paid for hanging around the construction zone and watching the work get done. I enjoyed working with the folks from Provo City, the downtown business association, and Linda Walton, who was the business liaison (and fellow public relations practitioner). There were still plenty of other projects (and there are still more Explore Provo cartoons), but this one was certainly a highlight.
As a missionary, you learn to recognize certain signs that an investigator may not be as golden as you initially thought they were. My son had one of the best examples I can think of. They knew it was time to drop their investigator the second time they had to bail him out of jail. Not a good sign!
Nephi would have been an interesting boss. When I get an assignment at work, I never think of asking where I can go to get the materials to make my own tools. I certainly wouldn't want to be a slacker around the office with Nephi in charge. Instead of a reprimand, you'd know that at any time he could send a shock through you that you wouldn't soon forget! One thing's for certain -- if I had to travel I'd be sure to check the itinerary before I left to verify that there was a return trip. Who knows where you might end up?
Some zombie jokes just write themselves; some shouldn't be written at all. I liked this idea of zombies playing football, but I wanted to steer away from the obvious "foot" ball (I already have another sketch with that theme anyway).
Whenever I substitute for Primary, invariably they sing a song that lets me know I'm not as diligent in my duty as I should be. Maybe that's why they keep sending me back to Primary. Hmm.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is designed to promote not only awareness about breast cancer, but improve education, share information and increase screening.
I couldn't let the passing of Steve Jobs go unacknowledged. Say what you will about him, he was creative, an innovator and his products changed the way we do things.
I certainly expect no controversy over this cartoon.
Missionaries in bike areas do all kinds of things to keep themselves entertained. I know of a set of sisters who used to race buses and make contacts at each stop. They didn't get to wear the cool ties, though.
I always enjoy Elder Scott's talks. I loved the examples he used of scriptures that were his friends. The filing cabinet metaphor was awesome!
One of the recurring themes that I noticed was following the Spirit/receiving personal inspiration. Sis. Thompson's story of getting a testimony while listening to conference on the radio was pretty cool.
Pres. Monson really likes to shake things up! I loved the audible gasps at the Provo Tabernacle and Paris temples. But I have to say, I felt sorry for Elder Alonso. He gave a wonderful talk about the Savior, but there was so much chatter about the temples that a lot of it was lost! It's worth going back and reviewing.
I missed a lot of the Saturday Afternoon session. Elder Bednar's talk on the spirit of Elijah was cool -- one joke we have in our Priesthood group is that Nintendo is developing a genealogy game so that we can do family history Wii-search.
Elder Aldern's talk was another good one. I noticed that the line, "Let us be as quick to kneel as we are to text" has been picked up as a new catchphrase!
Priesthood is always incredible! I loved Elder Holland "getting in our faces" about what our priesthood responsibilities are.
After Pres. Eyring's stories, I may never again answer the phone in the middle of the night!
I'd heard Pres. Monson's story about being dismissed to attend church services, but it's still a good one. I was affected by the remark that since that time he's often found himself standing alone.
Having five boys, I really hope there were several fathers out there who listened to Sis. Dalton's talk on raising daughters!
I thought Elder Hales' talk was among the most poignant of the entire conference. I wonder how much of what he said was drawn from his recent experiences?
Pres. Monson has so many stories! I've got one kid who regularly launders his money, so we could relate to his story about the five dollar bill.
I loved Elder Yamashita's talk. I was especially moved by the story of the coat. My dad served in Korea before I was called to serve there as a missionary -- but he was in the Army. I couldn't very well wear his fatigues! Still, so many people expressed their thanks to me for his service. His sacrifice created a lot of goodwill and opened many doors for me.
Elder Cornish had a great message: "Don't just say your prayers -- live them!"
If you missed any of the sessions, they're available on the Church website. Downloadable MP3s are up almost immediately!
...although there are those who say it's much easier to relax and enjoy the sessions if you stay in your pajamas!
