Paul Jones Dayton

I’m going to start a project where I record myself for 5 seconds each day and compile it into a continuous video.  I’ve seen a couple folks do this, and I was inspired.  I’m going to set a couple ground rules for my recordings here:

1.  The recording must take place in the particular day, any time in the 24 hour period.

2. The recording does not need to include myself, but I do need to make the recording, or be somehow directly involved in the recording.

3. I must appear on the recording at least twice a week.

4. I must record at least 5 seconds.  Recording more is not an issue, however I am going to expect to edit each clip to 5 seconds.

5. I may change my edits to less than 5 seconds.

6. I will make all raw video available publicly.

7. As a side project I will work to automate the automatic compilation of the video.

8. I can change any rule, except I need to record every day.

I will consider 1/21/2013 my start day as I have video of myself for that day, plus it aligns nicely with the beginning of Obama’s second term.  Raw video will be saved here: http://vday.ximz.com I’ll start combining the video in the coming days when I’m ready to get fancy with my scripting fu.

I’m really looking forward to working on this project.

We’ve made it to 2013. This is the year where I turn 30, which I’m very lukewarm about. It could be worse, it could be 40.

Here is my map for 2012. Let’s see how I do:

Paul Jones Dayton predicts the electoral college results for 2012.

I remember years ago my grandmother often reflecting, in frustration, “That’s what you get for having children.” She would often lament in such a way after some crazy thing that me or my sister did.

Well now is my time, and I will fully admit, it is very difficult. As the children grow they are capable of taking care of their physical needs, however their emotional or psychological needs grow. No where is this more evident than in the growth of my 7 year old daughter Starla.

She is at a point where emotions rule the day, and she is not easily swayed by other distractions. All of this at age 7, it may be a bumpy ride.

I’ve found that the best way to approach parenting is from a position of love. If my children know that they are loved, despite the fact that they are behaving poorly, they seem to be much more capable of understanding why they have erred. However, if I approach discipline from the perspective of anger, all bets are off as to how effective I will be, and I usually lose control of the situation. Today in frustration I told my daughter to “shut the hole in her face.” She sensed my anger, continued to say what she was saying, and immediately informed Mandy about my statement upon returning home. Now the wife and kids make fun of me, and I’ve lost a little bit of credibility with my daughter.

I guess the point I’m trying to make to myself is this: be calm, patient, loving, and firm with the kids.

Pictures from my hike to the top of Maple Mountain near Spanish Fork, Utah on June 16, 2012.

[Show as slideshow]

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Should I put up the Obama 2012 sign? Will the people of Spanish Fork be influenced by their liberal neighbor? Stay tuned!

You decide:

This video truly amazes me, but is doesn’t surprise me.  If you have been following Romney’s campaigin, you will notice that he is always very cautious to not mention the poor.  He loves to focus on the middle class, and I think he does so because a lot of people like to believe that they are middle clase (regardless of their actual income).  Many very poor individuals in America probably believe they are in the middle class.  Who wants to be really poor?

It is with this political calculus that  Romney presses forward with the following quote.

On the surface this sounds like a political gaffe, but I think it truly exposes the way Romney, and in a larger sense, Republicans in general view the poor.  They don’t feel as if they need to be politically accessible to the poor, and they don’t feel like it hurts them politically to ignore poor folk.  I was floored when Romney deferred any political issues relevant to the poor to the purview of Democrats.  Romney essentially said, “I don’t care about the poor, they are taken care of, and Democrats can deal with them.”

In a democracy a vote is a vote, regardless of the economic situation of the voter.  And in these economically difficult times, middle class people who have been out of work for months may actually begin to believe they are really poor.  Ask unemployed people if they believe in American social safety nets.

It’s my podcast, the next generation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:10:00 — 2.5MB)

As with all years, this year passed quicker than the last. Starla and Miles have been wonderful kids and Mandy is a wonderful wife. We leave this year humbled by the experience of Malinda (Mandy’s mom) who suffered a stroke early in 2011.

With each passing day I become all too familiar with the notion that life on this earth is not finite. I think now in terms of decades and not years when it comes to major milestones in life. I am very optimistic that the greatest days are ahead of me.