Cosmere Keyboard

As some of you may know, I'm a fan of Brandon Sanderson's books, particularly his books in the cosmere universe. In the Stormlight archive, I recently finished The Way of Kings, which is the first book in that series. I've also read all of the Mistborn series to date, currently six books. I want to read the other books in the this universe that Brandon Sanderson has created.

In both the Mistborn series and the Stormlight archive, there are symbols. In Mistborn, we have their alphabet and in the Stormlight archive we have their glyphs used to represent their ten orders. Well, I have a 3D printer and I downloaded a blank keycap file from thingiverse.com. I changed it a bit and printed these...

Most of the allomantic symbols from Mistborn were already associated with letters of the alphabet, except one. They also didn't have a symbol for 'Q', so I used that symbol for it.

I've also been learning the Colemak keyboard layout, so I arranged them accordingly and got this keyboard! I indented all of the symbols except the ones for 'T' and 'N', which is where 'F' and 'J' normally are. I embossed those two instead. I'm a big fan of how it turned out. The Knights Radiant Glyphs nor the Cosmere symbol used for the escape key turned out perfectly due to the resolution required. I did use a smaller nozzle than normal to achieve what I did.

I would like to potentially add aons from Elantris, but the lines used in those would be too thin and the symbols too big too work.

I just thought I would share because it combined a few things I like, mostly 3D printing and the Cosmere. I've also spent a good amount of time recently looking at mechanical keyboards, which are pretty nice as well.

Furniture from Goodwill

Angeles and I moved a couple weeks ago to Rexburg! 😄 We haven't really told many people that we're here yet.

We spent the first few days buying furniture, like a bed and a couch. We both wanted desks and chairs for those desks, so we could have an office. We've been keeping an eye open on Facebook Marketplace, but we were never fast enough to get the things we wanted. Angeles got a hired for a stay-at-home job two days ago and so we decide to work a little harder to find a desk for her. Our budget was $100.

So we went down to Idaho Falls and began going to thrift stores to find one. The first place we went to didn't have a desk that would work. The second place we looked up turned out to not even be a thrift store. It was just someone's house. We don't know how that happened. The next two places were closed 😞. Then we tried Goodwill and we found a desk! Not just one desk, but two and two chairs to go with it! and a small bookshelf :) All for $53! Now, that's a tender mercy :) They aren't in the best condition, but it's was an awesome bargain despite that they are a little beat up. Thankfully, they also all fit in the van, so we didn't need to make a second trip to IF.

As you can see, the desks fit pretty perfectly wall to wall in our office. 😄 Angeles and I were saying how next time we need some furniture Goodwill will be a good place to check :) Just one huge tender mercy. We are so blessed.

Shiny Rayquaza

I had a tender mercy a couple months ago and Angeles told me to write it down so I don't forget it, so I've been meaning to write this for a little bit.

In the world of Pokemon, Rayquaza is a really powerful legendary dragon. He looks cool, is strong, and is just awesome. In Pokemon Go, Rayquaza is the best dragon-type attacker (although is does also depend on whom he's fighting, but I do tend to care a lot more about offense than defense in this game).

One the left is a normal Rayquaza and on the right is a "shiny" Rayquaza. When talking about pokemon, "shiny" really just means a different color. And this shiny is so cool! And basically Shinies are rare. During raids in Pokemon Go the chances are increased a great deal to 5% (or so I've heard).

So one day playing Pokemon Go I saw that someone got a 100% IV weather boosted Rayquaza from a raid. I mentioned to Angeles that that was really awesome, but I would still feel kind of bummed that it wasn't shiny. I also felt like that'd be too much to ask for. Then I was invited to do a Rayquaza raid and I joined. From it I caught a 100% weather boosted shiny Rayquaza with the best move-set to top it off! I could've changed the move-set if I needed to, but it seemed like the cherry on top to show that God was the one who blessed me with it :) After doing a little research, I found that the chances of this happening was 1/25920 or 0.0039%. That's crazy! And I think a big part of how I know it was a tender mercy from God was because not two hours before I was talking about how I wanted one and how unlikely it was to happen! It's a testament to me of how God is always aware and listening to us. He loves us. And I know Pokemon Go is just a game, but it's a game I enjoy and that's what matters I think. If I enjoy it, if it matters to me, then it matters to a God who loves me.

There have been other times when I feel like I've been blessed in the game, but this was just outstanding! I have a 100% IV Lucario too, which is super awesome! :)

(I feel like I need to say that I don't own the pictures of Rayquaza... just to be on the safe side... but I'd be surprised if it was a problem...)

FDREL 404 - Writings of Isaiah assignment

Part of my assignment mentioned that I could make this on a blog, so here I am! This is meant to be about a topic that I learned about in Writings of Isaiah this semester. I hope you like it!

Isaiah was a prophet. He wrote using a lot of symbols, which can inspire or be confusing.

Photo taken from my mom's blog

Isaiah taught the people about Christ. Christ was the best teacher of all. This is my father (on the left). He is a teacher. We should try to live our lives after the pattern Christ set for us. "The aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values" - William S Burroughs. My dad taught me well.

Isaiah saw Christ's day. He knew Christ's characters and of His kindness and mercy.

From Dreamstime.com

Isaiah warned people to keep the commandments or be destroyed. His warnings are called "burdens" and there are a lot of them especially in the beginnings of Isaiah.

From Dreamstime.com

In Isaiah chapters 17 & 18, Isaiah talks about a bad harvest and then a good harvest. If we are wicked, our "harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow." (Isaiah 17:11). If we are righteous, we shall be protected "like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." (Isaiah 18:4)

Let Us Beat Swords Into Plowshares statue at the United Nations Headquarters, New York City; sculpture by Evgeniy Vuchetich, 1959; picture from www.plough.com

A very famous scripture from Isaiah is Isaiah 2:4, where Isaiah speaks of the peace that will be on the earth. This will happen only as we teach to love one another. We will have no more need for weapons of war and shall "beat [our] swords into plowshares."

Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis

A few days ago, in the mail I received Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis. It's Harry Potter in Latin. In my Latin 102 class, we'll start reading it at the end of the semester. I'm really excited for it. It shouldn't be too hard as long as I know the vocabulary. The grammar will definitely be easier than poetry, which can be all over the place; placing words in seemingly random places in each sentence.

In Latin we're currently doing a little bit of poetry mixed in with our normal readings. Listening to Latin poetry is quite soothing due to its rhythm.

I took Latin last semester too. I had been studying Latin for the past couple years on my own. I didn't get too much of an in depth study, but it helped a lot. I was also off track, so I had time to study, but I loved that class and I'm loving my class now. I love Latin; it's a strong and powerful language. I feel that anyone that takes Latin knows that it's not useless. It's awesome!

Anyway, I don't know what to say besides that I'm really looking forward to reading Harrius Potter. I've been looking through it and reading what little I can. I'm really excited. I love the idea of modern books being translated into Latin. I'm not much into reading, but I feel like this would be something I would like to read.

Seeing Old Friends Again

So I feel that some of my tender mercies are personal and they may not make sense to others. Last week there were a couple experiences that I felt that way and so I did not put them into the blog. I feel like it would be more fitting to focus on uplifting and spiritual messages from the week. I feel like it would be best to try to uplift others with the things I share. So that is what I will focus on. It may also be some what like a journal.

Also because I have been sustained today I can now share that I got a new calling in church today. I have been called to be the new Assistant Ward Clerk.

4 September 2016, Sunday
After Church, We played some more games at Andrew and Heather's. We played a game that some of Andrew's students had made called Temple Escape. That was a lot of fun. Henry was really cute at church. There were a few times that I wish that I could record what he was doing.

For instance, he saw another toddler and walked toward him with arms outstretched for a hug. Andrew said, "Ben, Henry loves you." Ben just walked away. He is so precious.

5 September 2016, Monday
Our family home evening lesson was about being agents and not objects. Jessica V. showed the Mormon Message called Life's Drama. I liked the lesson. It tells me that I shouldn't be lazy and to "refrain from idleness" (Alma 38:12). Don't let others dictate your life for you. Be informed and learn how to make your own decisions. Be your own individual and help others. "Do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way" (Alma 37:46).

6 September 2016, Tuesday
My roommate, Jonathan, got our apartment together for a game of Dungeons and Dragons. It was a lot more fun than expected. I played it a couple times in the past, but I really enjoyed it today. I'm guessing it was just more organized than previous times. Also, we didn't spend forever making our characters. We used some pre-made characters. It was a really good bonding time for us roommates. It was good.

7 September 2016, Wednesday
Make package of nori (seaweed sheets) that I had ordered came today. I was expecting Friday. That made me happy. I probably won't make more for a few more days, but I'm just happy to have it.

Last night, Karl N. without trying convinced me to buy a smart phone. I didn't know TracFone had smart phones. Basically, because I mainly text having a smart phone will be cheaper than the flip phone I currently use. So I ordered one.

8 September 2016, Thursday
We had white glove clean checks today, which were nice. Like I've mentioned before I love just having a clean apartment. I always feel good after I clean.

Also, something that I find to be incredible and awesome is I noticed that our apartment managers own Dead of Winter. Dead of Winter is my favorite board game and Paul was really surprised that I not only had heard of it, but that I've played it. He said that we're going to play sometime soon. I'm totally looking forward to it. When I saw the game in their apartment I just got super happy. I love that game so much. The makers of the game made an expansion/stand-alone of it called The Long Night. Eric also told me that they're making another expansion. I'm looking forward to each one. I haven't played the game in a while.

9 September 2016, Friday
It was weird this morning. Yesterday, there were hardly any cars about, but today they were everywhere. Today was check-ins and the Get Connected program for the school, so overnight a whole lot of people came to Rexburg. It was really good to see some of my friends again tonight. I spent the night playing games like Warewolf, and Codenames. I had never played Codenames before it was a blast that takes a lot of thinking.

I also got the chance to sign up for my Latin 101 class. I'm really looking forward to that class. I've been studying the Latin language off and on for the past couple years. I really like it. It's strong and powerful and it's really cool when I find connections with the English language. A couple of the first connections I found were "audio" means "I hear," and "video" means "I see."

I also got the chance to make some more sushi today with Emily T., her brother Josh, and Eric. It was fun and delicious.

10 September 2016, Saturday
I got to see a lot a friends that I haven't seen in a while today. I loved it. It's good to have people back in town. I also saw a few people that I didn't expect to see. I love seeing old friends.

Visiting Provo

Henry is trying to get into Eric's suitcase

28 August 2016, Sunday
Yesterday, I thought about how I hadn't seen The Best Two Years in a long time and that I wanted to see it. I don't really like to watch movies by myself because then I feel like I'm just wasting my time rather than having some sort of social interaction. I was invited over to have curray and someone suggested that we watch it. It was awesome. There were a couple people there that had never seen it before, and it was fun to watch it with them and to see how much they enjoyed it.

29 August 2016, Monday
I made a list of things that I wanted to get done today. I'm happy that I was able to get it all done. The list was to read the scriptures, buy some more seaweed on Amazon, practice the piano, apply to Subway, and make more sushi. I also got some homework done and I went to Family Home Evening.

30 August 2016, Tuesday
I saw a good friend of mine today, Zac M. I didn't know he was up here for the summer. I feel like any time I see him it's a tender mercy. He's awesome. He said we should hang out sometime. So I'll probably text him later and set it up. He always seems so happy to see me and it makes me feel good.

31 August 2016, Wednesday
I was able to talk with Andrew today to set up when Eric and I will go visit him. I set up a couple of rides on the ride board, yet one of them still needs to accept my ride request. After an hour or so of talking with Andrew, I got a phone call from Henry. He's 16 month old now I heard him cooing for a few seconds then he hung up. I called him back a few minutes later and I guess he answered the phone because I got to hear him for another minute before he hung up again. It was super cute. I love Henry... It's probably not a good idea to let him play with the phone. Who knows who he'll call?

1 September 2016, Thursday
I was able to spend most the entire day working on homework. I got basically all of it done that's due Saturday night. Now, when Eric and I visit Andrew, Heather, and Henry I don't need to stress about it. All I have left for the semester for World Foundations 101 is an essay about Dante's Divine Comedy and a test. I'm only worried about the essay.
Today was a very good day. I felt very productive with my time. I definitely strengthened my diligence today.

2 September 2016, Friday
I'm happy that I was able to secure a ride to Provo for this weekend. Yesterday, I had tried to get one on zimride, but the person never contacted me back. Thankfully this new person got back to me within minutes and I didn't have to stress about it.

3 September 2016, Saturday
Eric and I went down to Provo and We've been having fun with Andrew, Heather, and Henry. It was a blast to see them again and play board games. I learned how to play Istanbul and Elysium. Both were really fun. We also played a game Andrew had made maybe a decade ago called Interstellar Pig. It was a lot of fun.