For the past year I have been thoroughly entranced by the talents of a stunning group of videographers & musicians taking YouTube by storm. Continue reading
The Irresistible Piano Guys
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Category Archives: Creativity
Closer To God One Synthetic Cell At A Time
Image via Wikipedia
The world has made an amazing scientific leap. I don’t know where we are leaping yet, but I sense it will be far and wide. Last May, the Wall Street Journal reported that Scientists Have Created A Synthetic Cell. Heralding a new era in biology, scientists for the first time have created a synthetic cell, completely controlled by man-made genetic instructions. The day of the announcement, I wrote this blog post – but, for some reason I never hit the “publish” button and it sat quietly in my “draft” queue – until today. At the time of the article’s release I wondered how the world would react to this news? Would the media pounce, or ignore? Would the breakthrough be applauded or picketed? Only time would tell. For me, the discovery was another witness of God. Continue reading
2010 In Review
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how the Mormon Soprano blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall “blog health”: Continue reading
Welcome All Online Angels!
Nearly a century and a half ago, LDS President Brigham Young gave a prophetic command to the membership of the church, with a promise:
Pres. Young
“There is a great work for the Saints to do…progress, and improve upon, and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds….and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations.”
(Brigham Young, Deseret News, Aug. 8, 1860, 177, as quoted by Dieter F. Uchtdorf)
This ’call to cultivate’ is still in effect, and can certainly be likened to our modern circumstances and 21st Century creative work. That also means the promise is still in effect: angel visitors.
I personally like the image of of our departed loved ones taking a little down-time from preaching the gospel beyond the veil to surf the net. [do you think they use MAC or PC?] Imagine angels online, checking in on our virtual activity…Hundreds of heavenly beings lurking through cyberspace, bookmarking their favorite sites, and hopefully, delighting in our online offerings! Do you think perhaps they’re even allowed to help us out a little? Maybe they attempt to whisper some heavenly inspiration into our ears as we sit down at our desktop, ‘boot up’, and ponder post subjects. Who knows? Certainly anything is possible in the Realms of Glory. So, I decided there’s no harm in sending a message:
Dear Online Angels,
You are officially invited to visit my humble blog, www.MormonSoprano.com. I extend a warm welcome to each of you. Please enter my world wide garden! Pull up a …er, cloud, and rest your wings. I’ve been cultivating this little spot of earth for awhile. I hope you will find joy, and delight, in my offering. Comments and/or inspiration is always appreciated! – Best wishes always, MoSop
P.S. Please feel free to sing along!
What To Celebrate Now? Get Creative With Flagpoles
Celebrating Jan 2nd
Well, here we are. January 2nd. For the past month I have posted [nearly] every day. Naturally, the built-in theme for the first 3 weeks of December focused on the joy and anticipation of Christmas, and then the last week we spent some time saying goodbye to the old year, writing resolutions, and generally welcoming in the New Year.
OK. Now what?
Birthday? Nope. Celebrated in December. [didn't write a post, because frankly there's nothing significant or exciting attached to age 43, other than the fact it's nice to get to be alive another year, but I'd rather not declare my age to the world ... which, of course, I guess I just did .... ]
Anniversary? Nope. Once again, in December. This year WAS a very significant one – our 20th, to be exact. I didn’t officially dedicate a post to it because I had this completely fantastic idea that I couldn’t pull off in time, and so, like the paralyzed perfectionist I often am, I didn’t commemorate it formally on the blog at all. [sorry sweetheart].
At times like these, a blogger must either get really creative, or just start conducting random Google searches, until she stumbles upon a site dedicated to BIZARRE AND UNIQUE HOLIDAYS, where one can learn that on every January 2nd it’s time to celebrate:
Run-Up-The-Flag-And-See-If-Anyone-Salute’s DAY!
Yes, you heard me! I’m not making this up. Today’s “holiday” actually has nothing to do with a Flag, or a Flagpole, or even Saluting, for that matter. The whole thing is ”Just an expression of speech“. It means to suggest an idea to see what people think, or to see if they even notice. From the website I quote:
Run it Up the Flagpole to See if Anyone Salutes Day is set aside to allow people to do just that. Be creative today. Use this day to try and test new ideas and concepts. Don’t limit the ideas to business applications. In your personal life, try out a new dress or clothing style, perhaps a different haircut. Or, maybe buy a new houseflag and run it up the flagpole to see if anyone salutes…or even notices…
So there you go. Today is your big chance to share a UNIQUE IDEA, and then watch to see if anyone notices.
Got any ideas? Do tell!
I promise to notice.
