Kate and Neil’s Awesome Website

So we have it, kateandneil.com finally rests in deserving hands. Kate and I have been fighting for the domain name for nearly 6 months. After much deliberation, debate, frustration, and constantly rechecking the internet we have it.

The only problem is we don’t have an actual website yet. I spent about 2 hours making an intro page to tell visitors the site is under construction instead of actually working on the site. Oh well. Anyway please enjoy. Check back frequently, we are going to get this site running fast, soon.

Also if you want to advertise the site just save one of these little pics and put a link on it. Let me know what you think.

Not sure if you’ve heard, but today it’s been confirmed that Dick Cheney will be giving BYU’s commencement speech during April graduation (click here for news article). This is scandal. Hasn’t BYU taken a non partisan position? Yet never in all my years at this university have I heard of a liberally minded politician being invited on campus to speak. Inviting Cheney to BYU will only reinforce the mind boggling asinine status-quo that Mormons have to be republican. In addition Cheney is a crook, war profiter and monger, and a liar. We do not need another corrupt role model like the BYU professors involved in the BYU/Mitt Romney scandal, Kyle Sampson, the BYU grad who recently resigned as Gonzales’s aid involved in firing 9 anti-Bush prosecutors, or Utah senator Oren Hatch , a BYU grad, who has accepted contributions from the alcohol, tobacco, and gambling associations totaling $75,000 in 2000 alone to teach more BYU students that it’s o.k. to steal, cheat, bribe, intimidate, and kill in the name of business, capitalism, or republicanism. Sorry BYU board of directors and administration you will find no support from me (or anyone else with a conscience) on this one.

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon Canon’s 3D Papercraft website while trying to entertain a 5 year old. Early January a kid came into my office, saw an origami crane atop my computer, and shouted, “a terradactyl!…can you make me one!…and a T-rex?”

So like I said a few weeks ago he came back, ran straight into my office, and placed his order. I was busy so to save time looked online for a prefabricated-non-origami dinosaur. Viola!, a multicolored easy to make T-rex. I printed it out, gave it to the office secretary, and was back to work in less time than it takes to do a valley fold…kind of…at least until I found Canon’s 3D Papercraft website. The site is amazing. They have paper model representations of dragons, cars, castles, and dinosaurs. Some have a hundred pieces and a warning sign that says “do not peck people in the eye with beak. I was overwhelmed by the selection, and if you know me at all, I am always overwhelmed by grand selections (you should ask my poor wife what masters program I am planning on attending) and end up choosing a not so cool, but very difficult model.

So basically it’s been a blast building my little Chinese new year dragon. I am almost finished. A few legs and I will have a 1.5 foot dragon to place on the mantel piece where the family portrait once stood.

It is so much fun I have decided to list a bunch of links as a way to share the joy. Send comment if you have any other site suggestions or want to link a picture of your complete model.

Sites where you can download models:

• A site with a bunch of space ships models.

• The Canon site is a great place to start. They have a great collection of simple to difficult models, animals to air plains, large to small.

• The Yamaha site has some great models. They have an ultra complex motor cycles that requires about a ream of paper, as well as great animal models.

• A great site to find interesting and unique models. They are always putting new ones up.

• A site for 3D trout. Japanese and international varieties.

• Software to create your own 3D models from 3D files.

• A site with links to 3D space models.

Blogs:

• http://papercraft-world.blogspot.com/
• http://www.paperforest.blogspot.com/
• http://www.paperinside.com/

On my jaunt to work I noticed black smoke pouring from the old Provo City Power building. Does anyone know what’s going on? I have been in Provo since the spring 2003 and have, in all that time, never seen a puff come from the building. I wonder if this is a routine maintenance procedure or if Provo is using more power than can be pumped from the outside and so the old plant needs to fired up. Let’s hope not. The Wasatch front can’t handle any more pollution. In fact it can’t really handle the pollution it already has. If they permanently fire up the plant we will be living in a giant pollution cloud and will need fog lights for daytime driving.

If anyone within word-shot of this blog knows anything about this, please let me know. Not that there is anything I can do, just interested. I live right next to the building and my house is in the down draft. If this is permanent I might need to pack up and move…to San Cristobal, Mexico.

Yea that’s right, this Saturday I am taking the GRE in Lindon. For the last month I have studied on a regular schedule and have taken more than a fair share of practice tests. I will get a better score than I would have in December, when I was first scheduled to take the test, but I’m far from certain it will be good enough. Enough for what though? This GRE thing is a scam.

Anyway, if anyone is going to be praying to one of the following deities in the next two days please put a plug in for me:

AAKULUUJJUSI, ABASSI, ACAT, ACCLA, ACOLMIZTLI, ADACHIGAHARA, ADITINGGI, ADNOARTINA, ADRAMMELECH, AHAYUTA-ACHI, AH-PUCH, AHTI, AHURA-MAZDA, AIDA-WEDO, AIOMUN-KONDI, AIZEN-MYOO, AJATAR, AKKA, AKUMA, Alaha, ALCHERA, ALKLHA, ALPHABET-GODS, ALTJIRA, AMANA, AMATERASU, ANANSI, Ananta, ANATA-THEWI, ANU, AO-CHIN, AONGHUS, APOCATEQUIL, APOLLO, APSU, ARAWN, ARES, ASGARD, ASTARTE, ATLAS, AXOMAMMA, BAAL, BABA-YAGA, BACCHUS, BAIAME, BAJANG, BALDUR, BALOR , BARON-CIMETIERE , BARON-SAMEDI, BAST, BATARA-KALA, BEELZEBUB, BENTEN, BISHAMON, BOCHICA, BOGATYRI, BONDYE, BOTA-ILI, Brahmâ the creator, BRIGIT, BUE, BUMBA, BYELOBOG, CAO-GUOJIU, CERNUNNUS, CEUCY, CHAC, CHALCHIUHTLICUE, CHANTICO, CHERNOBOG, COATLICUE, COCOMAMA, COYOTE, CRONUS, CUCHULAINN, CUPID, DAGDA, DAMBALLAH, DANU, DAO , DARAMULUM , Dattatreya, DIEVAS, DREAMTIME, EIGHT-IMMORTALS, EK-CHUAH , EL-DORADO, ELEGUA, Elvis Presley, ENKI, ERESHKIGAL, ERZULIE, ESHU, FATES, FE-E, FENG-DU, FREYA, Garuda, GEB, GHEDE, GILGAMESH , GOD, GUAN-YIN, GUAN-YU HANNYA , Hanuman, HATHOR, Hayagriva, HEL , HERMES, HOORI, HUITACA , HUITZILOPOCHTLI, ILMATAR, ILYAPA, INANNA, INTI, ISHTAR, ISIS, ITZAMNA, IXCHEL, JADE-EMPEROR, JARI, JEHOVAH, JESUS, JIN, JUPITER, KANALOA, KANE, KHON, KINICH-AHAU, KUKULCAN, KWATEE, Lakshmi, LEMMINKAINEN, LEMPO, LOA, LOKI, MAMA-PACHA, MANABOZHO, MANCO-CAPAC , Mao, MARDUK, MARS, MERCURY, MICTLANTECUHTLI , MIELIKKI , Mohamed, MONKEY, MORRIGAN, Narada, NAREAU , NEPHTHYS , NEPTUNE, NUT, OBATALA, ODIN, OGOUN, OLORUN, OMETECUHTLI, ORICHAS, ORISHAS , Parvati, PERIBORIWA, PERKUNAS, PLUTO, POSEIDON , QUETZALCOATL, RAGNAROK, RAIDEN, RAINBOW-SNAKE, RAKSASA, RAMAKIAN, RAVEN, SARACURA, Saraswati, SEDNA, SEKHMET, SEMARA , SHANGO, SHICHI-FUKU-JIN, Shiva the destroyer, SHU, SINAA, St Anthony of Padua, St Catherine, St Clare , St Elizabeth of Portugal, St Francis of Assisi, St Germanus of Auxerre, St John, St John of the Cross, St Simeon Stylites, St Teresa of Avila, SUPAY, TANE, TANGATA-MANU, TEFNUT, TEZCATLIPOCA, THOR, THOTH, TIAMAT, TIKI, TLALOC, Tom Cruise, TUATHA-DE-DANANN, TUMATAUENGA, TUONELA, TYR, UAICA, UKKO, ULURU, URANUS, VAINAMOINEN, VALKYRIES, VELES, VELNIAS , VENUS, VIRACOCHA, Vishnu the sustainer, VOTAN, VULCAN , WAKAN-TANKA , WANDJINA, WAUKHEON, WENDEGO, YAHWEH, YARA-MA-YHA-WHO, YARILO, YEMAYA, YEN-LO-WANG, YHWH , ZEUS

Thanks,
Neil

To be as vague as possible, yesterday I had a procedure. It wasn’t painful just extremely uncomfortable. “Everything on the inside looks good,” they said, “except for a small ring of inflamed tissue.” “We’re going to take a small tissue sample, you’re going to feel a slight tug. It won’t hurt a bit…” Tug isn’t quite the word; doc should have said, “we going take some tissue, you’re going to feel a small but noticeable sensation you would describe as something you’d never want to feel in a place you’d never want to feel it in.” All tugs aside, the procedure went smooth as lubricant and was done in a flick of the wrist…more like a few full turns.

If the tissue tests return negative then my gut problems will be due to poor diet, most likely a lack of fiber. You’d think as a vegetarian I would be getting enough; apparently not. I at least hope never to undergo another procedure like this again…well, until I am 50 at least.

Lucky me…3 PM this evening I am getting a colonoscopy. The processes started last night with a food fast. The only edibles I am allowed until after procedure is water, juice, coffee (without cream), soda, and Gatorade. I am not allowed to eat SOLID FOOD or drink drink dairy, pulp, or red dye. Before bed I popped a mouthful of Milk of Magnesia pills, swigged some apple juice, and climbed in bed.

So, for this morning I have killed the last of the apple juice and have walked to work. At 1 PM I have to give my self 2-3 enemas, and then bike to the hospital for a round of anal probing. Then after all has been removed and I have recovered for a few minutes I can bike home and gorge my self on some vegetarian delight. I am going to take some pics and try to get the procedure on video for a nice update.

Yesterday evening as Kate and I returned home from her parent’s house, we got to talking about how hard it is to live a green or ethical life in Provo. The more Provo develops and the more people move in, the harder it is to bike around, buy locally, or patronize ethical retailers. Since I moved here in 2003 more than 1/2 of the orchards in the area have been cut down and converted into crappy housing (just an observational estimate). Non national chain stores and restaurants last about a year before they are forced to close. In the downtown closed shops remain closed for years, no one wants to invest in them because locally owned businesses struggle to be profitable. Every time I drive down Provo’s commercial streets there is a newly closed shop or eatery. The only businesses that seem to do well at all are multinational mega cooperations like Wall-Mart and the other mega stores, McDonald’s and its fast food counterparts, and Banana Republic and all things shopping mall. Just imagine how much of the money spent in Provo ends up in the coffers of rich corporations hundreds of miles away. I am deviating…

So it’s hard to find local shops to support, local foods to eat, and public transportation hubs. Kate and I try, really try, but it’s difficult because everything that is grown, sold, or made locally is being under produced, under traded, and under cultivated by Mexico, Cincinnati, and China.

Everything good and healthy for a community (parks, orchards, trails, gardens, and local shops) are turned into things that harm community (poorly planned suburbs, fast food joints, and made in China junk stores). What we need is a revolution. A locally produced, made in Provo urbanism and consumerism revolution. We need to eat food grown in Provo, buy products created in Provo, patronize stores that are owned in Provo, and for heaven’s sake reuse the land we already have in Provo instead of tearing down new land.

Well, I know this has been negative, but there is hope and to prove it I am going to post a list of good business, living centers, and development in Provo in my next blog.

I just listened to a recent “PRI’s To the Best of Our Knowledge” podcast with guest speaker Cameron Sinclair, creator of the nonprofit organization, Architecture for Humanity. This guy is awesome! He has created this organization to use modern design to create buildings, homes, and communities for those who are in desperate need of help. For example they have been employed to design housing for victims of the recent tsunami in Southeast Asia and hurricane Katrina. His firm lives for good design. They believe with proper design they can change the world, improving the lives of all. Just imagine is we all worked to improve the world around us, using out talents to help those in need. Be sure to check out their site.

Also if anyone is dying to buy me a gift I would love their book: Design Like you Give a Damn. Send it to 7409 University Station, Provo, Utah 84601