New directions

Now that I have, hopefully, cleared the air from my last two blog posts, I think I can sum up the experience in a few words: don't write blog posts in the middle of fever and stomach flu delirium.

That said, I am moving in new directions. The texting service I am putting together for an international market is proceeding apace, and that is a great blessing. Yesterday, I was able to listen to the founder and CEO of EcoScraps. He had some good advice, the best of which was probably this: measure everything. If you do not measure it, you don't know what you are doing.

This is the next phase of my life; I've finally finished my degree, and can now turn my entire attention to more important matters. This is a time for goal setting, diligent work, and intense evaluation. How many people am I going to talk to this week? How many pages of my business plan will I edit? How many chapters of a novel am I going to outline? How many words am I going to write? And, most importantly, how many did I speak to? How many did I outline? How many did I write? And what are the consequences of that?

For the record, my farewell to my Utah friends was not a precursor of death or dismemberment. It was simply the acknowledgement that the Lord has a lot of work for me to do at the moment. He would have me begin my professional career, He would have me strengthen my bonds with family, and He would have me more intensely study His words and live His Gospel. I can do nothing else.

All pictures today come from the grounds of King's College, Cambridge University, on the same magnificent evening.

Clarification

An apology:

Apparently, my last post frightened a lot of people. I got a number of phone calls from family members who were extremely worried that I was contemplating death, coming out of the closet, or (in the best case) getting engaged. I guess I didn't realize how melodramatic my post had been.

I also didn't consider how this post followed directly after my last one; another close friend called and was worried that I had dropped everything and begun a trip to Everest.

Fortunately, none of these are correct. I am still romantically interested exclusively in women, I am not contemplating death (either by sickness or suicide), I am not engaged and do not anticipate becoming so in the near future, and I am not embarking for Everest.

I am simply changing my focus and many of my behaviors in extensive ways. I believe these changes will help me draw closer to God, and will help me to become a very different person than I currently am.

And so, I apologize if I have alarmed any of you. I hope this clarification has put your mind at rest concerning me.

By way of apology, I am attaching two posts' worth of pictures. (Of course, if you don't enjoy my photography, the apology will be more effective if you stop reading now. :-) )








These were the gates I walked through every day to get to class this summer. Ahh, King's College...

















Cambridge Botanical Gardens. Phenomenal.

I do love macro floral photography... this is also from the Cambridge Botanical Gardens. Definitely worth a visit if or when you're in Cambridge.

From a trip to Southern Utah, to run in the Red Rock Relay.
















Also. I loved the clouds that day.















Also. As you can see, these were taken through the window of our team van.

Also.

Me being silly at the British Museum in London. This place was incredible, though - I was super excited to find, in real life, the artifacts I loved in history books as a child. The Greek hoplite helmet in my "Stories of Freedom" book? Saw it for real.

Also. Cool statue though, no? I think this one is Babylonian; if I remember correctly, it comes from a pair of city gates. I have no idea how the British managed to transport this intact back to England.

That's the Rosetta Stone. The crowd parted for a moment, allowing my friend Jennifer to snap this picture. I was VERY excited to see this in real life; in fact, it's one of the big reasons I wanted to come to the British Museum in the first place. The foundation of modern archeaology: right behind me.

A New Voyage

Being very ill the past day, and the events immediately preceding my illness, have given me new perspective. I believe I will go on a journey of sorts, and I expect to be gone for some time. I imagine that my friends in Provo won't see very much of me over the course of the next few years.

It's exciting, this journey. I feel I'm currently crossing the Rubicon; once I'm over it, I'll burn the bridge behind me.

Metamorphosis is a change in form and nature; it is to literally and irreversibly become something different. I wonder how often creatures in the animal kingdom choose to change; caterpillars either become butterflies or die. There's still a choice, I guess: just one with permanent consequences either way. So too is it with me. I've been resisting this change for years; now I select it of my own free will and choice. I choose to be a different man than I have been, and that involves going away for awhile.

I'm still very weak, so I will let this entry suffice today. Farewell to my friends here! I love you and will miss you when I am gone.

The pictures below come from a very enjoyable trip to Mirror Lake with the Harmers about two weeks ago.