Monday, June 2, 2008

I'm way overdue

After the flurry of comments I received over the weekend (thanks Dad and Kendra), I realized that I ought to finally post some thoughts over here.

Here's something funny, I actually cited myself from this blog for a paper I handed in this last semester.  I'm not sure how wise that was, but I got an A in the class so I figured it was fine.  I did the story about Spencer wearing a tiara in from of the A/C repairman.  I wanted to use the story for a paper, and I liked the way that I wrote it for the blog, so rather than put it in word for word and risk having it get picked up by one of those online plagiarism checkers, I just cited myself.  An idea to any college students out there.

Also, yesterday I gave my first lecture (of what I hope will be many throughout my life) on marriage relations to a church group.  I was invited in as a guest lecturer for the Elder's Quorum.  I based my discussion on the four predictors of divorce identified by Dr. John Gottman.  For anyone wondering the four predictors are:

1. Criticism: Turning complaints about a thing or situation into an personal attack.
2. Defensiveness: Denying your own problems when they're raised by bringing up unrelated problems
3. Contempt: The conscious decision that you are better than your partner, and disregarding all opinions he/she holds.
4. Stonewalling: Unwilling to engage in any discussion about problems though any means of communication (verbal or nonverbal), or disengaging from an argument using the same technique.

I took conference talks and Ensign articles to show that the Brethren have been saying the same thing for decades.  I think that it went well.

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