Alright... So one of my hard drives failed in my backup server LVM array, and I received the new replacement disk today. So, I turn on my computer and even though the volume group isn't initialized (due to the missing disk), it still exists, and has all the other drives in the array still held captive. So, this is how to completely destroy your...

Sugarstone, a signed band of Advanced Budget Studios is gonna make it big-time!  Go and show your support for Sugarstone by attending the biggest Battle of the Bands concert in Utah!  The show starts at 10:00am and goes well into the evening. Details can be found here. ...

I'm always pleased and grateful that the Spirit comes so quickly when I read the Book of Mormon.  Sometimes I forget how much I love how the Spirit of God makes me feel and think and act. Anyway...  Great chapter this was.... Of all of the stories in the Book of Mormon, I think I like the one of the 2000 Stripling Warriors the best.&n...

Onward and upward towards the goal of finishing the whole Book of Mormon, writing about each and every chapter, by the end of this year. This chapter was all about war, and strategy.  I didn't find anything particularly enlightening about it, yet I firmly believe that each and every word written in the Book of Mormon has a meaning - and will...

Okay... So with the latest update to xorg-server (I think it was 6.5), xdm stopped loading XFCE4 and I couldn't get it to load anything but TWM. Here was the problem: Somehow, an important file got removed.  The file is this one: /etc/env.d/90xsession The contents of the file is simply: XSESSION="Xfce4" With that...

Stupid Kingmen.  Nothing like having your own people fight against you in the middle of a war.  One thing I noticed this time, which I had forgotten, is how Moroni followed the correct line of authority in order to do what he had to do with the kingmen.  He asked Pahoran for the right to take care of them, and Pahoran gave it to him....

Here I Am New year in a new town, new state, new sisters and brothers in a new ward and I feel wonderful! To end the year 2009, in December I went to the Temple in North Houston and was so warmly embraced by the Holy Spirit I could hardly contain my excitement. Tomorrow, I make the first Temple trip in the New Year. And I am ecstatic! Last mont...

Last Friday, we had the awesome opportunity to meet a fairly incredible group of girls.  They call themselves The Blue Aces, and after having listened to them strum a few chords, I'd say they've earned their title. Their manager contacted me after hearing a few samples from Advanced Budget Studios, and was interested in getting a pilot song...

 If the fortifications that Moroni built in the beginning were enough to astonish the Lamanites to the point that they were afraid to fight, and then failed to kill even one Nephite, while they themselves were slain to the tune of over 1,000 - I can only imagine what the additional fortifications did...  Goes to show that a good Christian...

Okay...  So this chapter wasn't brimming with the deep doctrines of the Gospel, but it did have a few nuggets. I would absolutely love to see some sort of diagram of exactly what the Nephites did to build up their cities.  I have so many ideas in my head of what it could have been, but to what extent that's true, I have no idea.  I...

OK girls camp is coming up fast. I have had a hard time with my Young womens teachers, The two I have a rearlly hard time with are not going, well one is. We have this fund raiser to get the money for camp, I'm  going to auction off what I'm best at :-) LOL! I'm doing two reflexioalgy foot massages each is an hour. My hands are gonna die B-) B...

Okay... I don't have much time to write this, so, let's cut to the chase. This article is freakin' hilarious.   This one is less hilarious, but more informative.  Both articles are simply awesome. Heh....  Some things which I absolutely love about Linux are the following:     1. They got the windowed scrolli...

  Poetry by Kelly Miller   THis is dedicated to my son Shawn VanWagen who left on his mission in 2005 and that next week I started writing poetry. It has been a big part of my life since and has kept me very busy.  Also, to President Hinckley and his challenge for the members to read the book of mormon. and to Bernice Hutchenson w...

Wow...  Moroni doesn't mix words, does he...  Reading this through as much of an objective filter as possible, I'd say there's some serious judgements going on.  Moroni blatantly calls Ammoron a "child of hell", and tells him that his brother went to hell.  heh...  Pretty gutsy, if ya ask me.  Going off of wh...

This chapter is great.  All I gotta say is, if you follow the counsel of the Lord, all will be well. Oh, yeah, also - Zemnarihah had to have had a brain about the size of a peanut.  Great way to get all of your people killed....

Wow...  It really is amazing what a good night's sleep can do to one's attitude.  I don't know if everyone is affected this way, but man...  Yesterday, it was all I could do to keep myself from just walking away from everyone and going to sleep.  I was irritable, quick to frustration, and a general jerk to pretty much everyone. ...

The beginning of this talk was set by talking about the experience President Gordon B. Hinckley had as a deacon.  He spoke of the moving power of the men singing "Praise To The Man", at a Stake Priesthood Meeting. While reading that experience, my mind immediately turned back to a very similar experience I had when beginning my mis...

I'm not exactly sure what I want to write about today.  No...  I know what I need to write about, but I think it's too private, and I want to write something I can publish publicly. Ya know...  I really hate sin.  I really do. I am amazed at how much the world accepts what is wrong.  Pondering how much the world accepts s...

I almost didn't post anything tonight..... But... I've gotta. One thing which seems to irritate me quite a bit is this phenomenon among people of my faith which drives them to make some pseudo-philosophical yet some how not quite doctrinally correct quote and then follow it by "I'm sure it's in the scriptures. I just read it. I swear. " or, "I'...

Well.. Yesterday, I rode home in an airplane for the whole day, but everything was cool.. I rode by David and Sharon that have a 19 year old daughter, Mormon, and single. I didn't get her phone number - just ask me why, I could kick myself. Anyway.. I listened to my music for most of the way home and just enjoyed myself. I actually like flying,...

I just got done reading an excerpt on Sony's new "open", "non-DRM" solution to downloading their music legally. As I understand it, you have to go to a store, buy some sort of card for $12.99 which has a magic code on it, get the code, go to a website, enter the code, and then you are able to download one of their whole 37 alb...

Okay...  So, this isn't gonna be the rant that you thought it was by the title.  With the little time I have, I couldn't come up with a better one... So, the story is - I had just eaten a delicious burger at Coney's, when on my way home, I happened to turn on Rush Limbaugh.  He was talking about this new "cloud" technolog...

When I originally mixed a tune from Sugar Stone, I didn't have enough time to really nail it.  I did a good enough job for the time allotted, but when the product was delivered, I thought there could be a lot of improvements made. So, I decided to spend a few hours today seeing what I could do about it.  Before I go any further, here's...

First, a question. In verse 15, Nephi states that he delights in the scriptures, and that he writes them according to the spirit.  Well...  That leads me to question whether or not he realized he was a prophet or not.  Very interesting, and possibly stupid, question (maybe he already knew about D&C 68:4). Now, the chunk of ...

I've been pondering on how I am to write about this without seeming haughty or prideful, because quite honestly, I feel nothing more than blessed beyond words. When I was offered this job, it just felt right.  Six months previous to my being offered this job, I was offered another job in SLC which seemed right in every aspect but the fact th...

I was brought up in a good, wholesome LDS home where abuse wasn't even thought about.  I didn't even know abuse was a word until I learned about it from others. I went to church, had a good time, and generally enjoyed a wonderful family life. During my teenage years, I started thinking about spirituality for no apparent reason.  I star...

I recently wrote a piece about how much I miss the things that used to come so easily before I had children. Although everything I wrote is true, writing that article caused me to reflect on how lucky I am to be a parent at all. The things which I now miss due to parenthood are luxuries related to selfishness.  The things I enjoy because...

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post about failure and innovation.  I had just seen the movie "Meet The Robinson's" which is a movie all about creativity, failures, leaving the past behind you, and always looking forward. Well...  Orson Jones gave a pretty incredible link in the 1 comment in that post. The comment containe...

I take no credit whatsoever for the following content, but I thought it was too incredible to simply link it.  Here is the link to the original page, but just in case that site ever goes down, I want to make sure to keep the content around.  It's just too beautiful. "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail b...

The answer to that question in today's world is "Not on your life." However, in a perfect utopia, the answer would definitely be, to a degree, "yes". A couple of days ago, I was really gettin' down into myself and thinking about things, when I started thinking about the state of the world. Holy cow, that could open, not only a can of worms, but ...