Salt Lake Comic Con #FANX16 - My Experience Through Memes

This past weekend, I traveled with my employer, Future House Publishing, to the bi-annual Salt Lake City Comic Con, affectionately called 'Fan Xperience.'

I worked hard to ship books, carry books, sell books, and talk about books as much as I could, working with fellow employees and authors alike to promote our brand and pique interest in the amazing things we're doing over here.

Of course, I saw an opportunity to detail my experience (and all its idiosyncrasies) through the medium of memes. Once I came home, I prepared everything and threw them into this blog post.

Enjoy!

Of Ink and Steel

1 John 4:9 - "In this was manifested the love of God toward us ..."

Yesterday was all about literature.
Indeed, I seem to be thriving in a sort of natural habitat for myself. I have gotten it all worked out that I can be doing something with words in some form in just about every second of the day. A quick rundown of what I did yesterday:
1.) Woke up and turned on Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians audio book. Exercised throughout.
2.) Read my scriptures during breakfast.
3.) Turned audio book back on for drive to work.
4.) Resumed reading Interesting Times ebook as I walk into office and wait for computer to boot up.
5.) Begin writing a series of three to five articles for internal and external audiences.

6.) Reward myself for a job well done between articles by reading a few paragraph blocks in ebook.
7.) Listen to ebook on way to meeting and back home again.
8.) Write blog post.
9.) Start typing up my personal daily quota of eight pages out of my mission journal.
10.) Sit down with Pops to watch The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for the first time.
11.) Bachelor scripture study following the rollicking adventure.
12.) Finish typing journal quota.
13.) Touch novel a little bit. Review some notes for a particularly difficult upcoming scene.
14.) Play audio book while preparing for bed.

In thinking about it, I realize just how blessed I am to be living here, at this time, with the ability to push my work forward immediately, to be able to enjoy literature while doing other things, and, most importantly, to be able to really enjoy it. I have met so many miserable people who don't grasp just how awesome this time is! And, the thing is, it's not just me. God is allowing so many marvelous inventions in the world, that soon, I'm sure everyone will be able to do what they love, even playing football, even while driving to work. And that would just be groovy.

Temples and Temping (with Added Commentary)

D+C 88:124 - "... retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated ..."

So! My body's a temple. It may not be as pretty as some of the other temples out there, but it's a temple regardless. Last night, I did as the above verse suggests, and went to bed early. I even rose earlier than my alarm!
Of course, the only reason why I did either of those things is because I'd worn myself out staying awake too late and getting up earlier than recommended for weeks and weeks on end. I didn't just 'go to bed early.' My body decided it had had enough, and as I was typing up my journal, my system just shut down on me. I barely had time to reach a bed before I was out and gone. Notice it wasn't my bed; bro opted to avoid completely trading places and laid down on the floor downstairs. So, when I woke up, I had forgotten my prayers, I had failed to achieve everything I'd wanted to the night before, and, most importantly, my breath was awful. I think it's time to give me just a little more rest each day. Can't be hurtin' the temple, ya know.

I was working all day yesterday, and I had a blast. I got another post up on the hospital website, and another one went up this morning (though it was more of a collaborative project between me and my boss than anything else, so I'm not really sure why I'm being credited as the author, especially when you compare my first draft to the final). Either way, I had a great time, and I could tell my writing skills were improving from the beginning to the end of the day, especially with all the feedback and advice I was getting. Though most of my companions were blue-collar types on my mission, I stuck to my guns that I personally thrive in a white-collar environment (ironically, I wear a blue collar to work, as you can see), and it's proving to be true.
Talking with the various members of the team about their own life choices and how they ended up working in communications gave me a greater perspective about paths I can choose when I reach where they've already walked. I'm looking forward to those moments.

Hey there! I wrote a short commentary on this post on November 20 of 2014. Click here to read it!

ROFL (with Added Commentary)

1 Corinthians 6:19 - "Know ye not ... ye are not your own?"

I had a real struggle with being humble yesterday, a fight I'm happy to report I won. I only do my internship twice a week, all-day Monday, all-day Thursday, and so today was the first time I was actually able to write an article.
Well! I wrote one article, and I was bombarded with praise from all sides. My superiors were so impressed, they gave me another article to write, and once I finished, I endured another series of compliments. Of course, my superiors had suggestions for things I needed to change or fix--I certainly didn't write a flawless article in one draft--but, regardless, I found it would have been very easy to get a puffed head over everything. Thankfully, I was able to keep in mind the simple fact that God gave me every bit of writing talent I have. If I take any credit for any amount of talent I have, all I can say is that I exercised my agency to practice something God already gave me.

My family invited a whole heap of Mormons over for a party right after I got back from my internship, and I wasn't really looking forward to the experience all that much. As you recall from my post from yesterday, large groups of people still wonk me out, so I was worried I would be sitting there, awkwardly unable to participate or contribute to the surrounding conversation. 

Well, to my relief, some of the people who were invited to the party were actually kindred spirits, and our discussion on all things geek brought me much relief. They actually invited me to participate in a good old fashioned Fourth of July game today: Call of Cthulhu. I'm gearing up to check that out in just a few hours. It's funny how God tosses us those little tender mercies.

Hey there! I wrote a commentary about this post on January 15, 2015. Click here to read!

Enter: The Intern

"...By our righteous choices and actions, we liberate them from darkness by increasing their ability to walk in the light..." -Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

I think I have a habit of being too demanding or preachy. I recognized this following the private conversations I had with my brother yesterday, during which I'd encouraged him regarding his missionary labors and overall charisma. In retrospect, I could have done a better job helping bro feel like his potentially differing opinion still held weight, rather than simply telling him my opinion and, in essence, saying it was the only way. Presenting no choice is, ironically, Satan's way, not God's. Because God loves us enough to give us our agency, he allows us to choose even not to follow Him. Respecting others' choices, even when we disagree with them, will provide us a clearer pathway to God's rest.

I started my internship at PeaceHealth yesterday, and I really enjoyed the experience. I went in feeling pretty nervous, worrying that I would get as hazed as dad was sure I would be, but I was completely relieved when I was outright welcomed with a 4th of July smiley-face button and a bowl of blueberries. For the rest of the day, the team was very patient with me, even when I messed up a series of scans and had to redo them. Despite my expectation and my placard that I would be referred to as simply, 'The Intern,' I was even called by my rightful name. Sure, I was still hazed, sure, I was still called 'The Intern' once or twice, but I felt very at ease throughout the day, even when I ended up lost in the bowels of the building looking for a conference room I was convinced never existed. So far, it's looking like it's going to be a rather delightful experience, and I look forward to continuing to learn from my mentor's stead.