Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Maya's Baby Blessing

Thanks to my dad for getting some great pictures of the family after Maya's baby blessing. Here are just a few of them.


This is Ai and her parents who came in from Japan for the occasion (okay, so they said that they came for a wedding, but let's be honest).



Here's the Blackhurst grandparents who came all the way from Sandy, Utah.



Sunday, March 9, 2008

A Thought On Mastering Something

I have to thank my brother-in-law for this great quote.

“People who aim to master an art seem to say to themselves, “While I’m still not too good at this, I’ll keep it to myself and not let anyone know what I’m doing. People will be more impressed if I practice in private and show myself only after I’ve developed true skill.” But anyone who says such things will never learn a single art well. For it is the man who mingles with the masters even as a beginner, uninhibited by ridicule or laughter, always pushing ahead coolly -- it is that man, even if he has no special gift from birth, who will not stumble along the way or become too casual in his attitude. As the years pass, such a man will surpass one with natural gifts but no dedication, in the end arriving at a higher level of performance, expanding his talent constantly, and gaining the high opinion of the public as an artist of matchless reputation."

Yoshida Kenkoo (吉田兼好) (ca. 1330)

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Failed Vocab Quiz


One of the funnest parts of being a parent is watching my children grow and develop. With each passing day there is a new phrase or word that my boy spits out, which usually causes my wife and I to wonder where the devil he picked it up.
Along with a new-found vocabulary often comes mishaps that confuse the poor toddler. The other day, he was practicing his newest word band addition: the word, "kick." He repeated it over and over, "kick, kick, kick," until he, apparently, got it all twisted and backwards in his head. Suddenly, "kick, kick, kick," turned into, "ckki...ckukie...cukie." In his 21-month old mind, he now heard, "cookie, cookie, cookie."
For the next several minutes, my wife was rallied with petitions for animal crackers.