I had great success tonight making some Dutch/Indonesian peanut sauce. That sauce, together with chicken and rice, was one of my favorite dishes to make when I lived in Holland. There, you can buy the sauce in the store as a very thick paste, to which you add water. Unfortunately, the only place to buy that here in Utah is at the Old Dutch Store in Salt Lake. Seven dollars is a bit much to pay for the sauce for one meal, so I set out to find a good recipe.

This is the first recipe I’ve tried, and it went really well. I’ll probably make modifications as I go along, but it tasted pretty authentic as it was. I found the original here. I started out trying to follow the recipe exactly, but it didn’t make nearly enough for three people, and I didn’t want it to be quite as spicy. As such, I changed the quantities of quite a few things.

My version looks more or less like this:

Ingredients:
1/2 of a small yellow onion, diced
Some butter
1-2 cups peanut butter (not actually sure how much I used)
2 Tbsp ketjap manis (soy sauce might also work in a smaller quantity)
3-4 Tbsp dark brown sugar
Some lemon juice
1-2 Tbsp sambal (to taste)
1/2 cup milk (maybe more)
2-3 crushed garlic cloves

Preparation:
Fry the onions in butter in a small saucepan. Add the peanut butter at a low simmer. Once the peanut butter is melted, add the ketjap, sugar, lemon juice, and sambal. Gradually add the milk to bring the sauce to the desired thickness. (If you’ve never had it before, think of the thickness of country gravy, and then a little thicker.) Add the garlic and mix thoroughly. Adjust the ingredients to taste.

If you give it a try, let me know what you think of it!

Two weeks ago, I was approached by a friend of mine who is in the beginning stages of creating a startup. Two other of his friends (one a programmer, one a businessman) were already on board with the idea. He invited me to a meeting to discuss the design of the project. I went and was excited about the idea. But there was still something looming over my head: time.

I’m probably about as busy as the other three guys, so it was hard to use that as an excuse. In reality, the problem isn’t time. It’s priorities.

These three all have pretty stable lives already: two are married and the other, though single, has a salaried job. So even though all four of us are still in school, they are in more of a position to take risks with a startup than am I. Because of that, I imagine it’s easier for them to make a startup venture a priority than it is for me.

At any rate, I decided today that I won’t be working on the project. The reason isn’t because I don’t have the time, but because I have other priorities that are more important (school, paid work, friends, and the like). I could make the time for the startup if I wanted to, but I’m choosing to use that time for other things instead.

What have I learned?

Since that Tuesday two weeks ago, I have started doing a few things to improve my use of time. One is sleeping 6 hours a night but always at the same time. I got this idea from an ebook called “40 Sleep Hacks: The Geek’s Guide to Optimizing Sleep” that I read a few months ago. An acquaintance of mine has been doing it since about that same time, and he really likes it. So far, it has worked out well for me, too. I have an extra two hours a day. I’m not any more tired than I was when I slept irregularly for 6-9 hours a night. And I have adequate time in the morning to eat a good breakfast, study the scriptures, and prepare for the day. It’s been great!

The other thing I’ve been doing is keeping track of the time I spend on various things. I got an app on my phone called Clock In. The purpose is not to track what I’m doing every minute of the day but rather to identify where I’m spending my “working time:” the time when I’m not eating or spending time with friends. I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do with this data, but it should present some interesting trends after a while. I’ll keep you posted if my findings are worth sharing.

I’m so excited for this week’s concert with the BYU combined choirs and a guest conductor, Dr. Philip Copeland of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In preparation for that, I’ve written a few program notes for you to read through. If you want a 2-for-1 code, RSVP on the Facebook event page.

The Concert Choir (which I sing in) will be performing three pieces, and we’ll be singing one other with all the choirs together. Here they are:

In Paradisum by Matthew D. Nielsen

Matt Nielsen is a member of the BYU Singers, and he wrote this motet last year specifically for the Concert Choir. Tonight is more or less its debut performance. The text comes from the end of the Requiem Mass, in which the spirit of the deceased person is finally bid farewell and wished a safe journey into paradise. Consistent with that feeling, the piece has an ethereal quality, accomplished more through tonal clusters and melodic fragments than flowing melodies. As part of the Requiem Mass it is a prayer for the deceased. But as Matt pointed out in his own notes at the beginning of the piece, it can also be a comfort to those of us among the living who are facing death, either ourselves or of a loved one. Altogether, it is a very moving piece.

Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein

We are singing the first of three psalm settings written by Bernstein for a choral festival in Chichester. It was originally composed for a full orchestra (including percussion) and choir. Our version is an organ reduction with percussion, but it will be performed on two pianos. (At our concert in April, we will perform the whole piece with organ.) The piece is rather jarring the first time you hear it, as it uses a lot of dissonance and constant modulation. To best enjoy the piece, listen for the melody introduced by the men after the grandiose introduction. That melody travels through the various sections of the choir, changing key and setting as it goes. The text is Psalm 100. The first few bars come from Psalm 108:2: “Awake, psaltery and harp. I will rouse the dawn!” The joyful, almost boisterous introduction conveys that exuberance wonderfully.

Song to the Moon by Antonin Dvořák

We sang this piece at our concert in the Tanner Building last month. This piece is a choral transcription of an aria from the opera “Rusalka” by Dvorak. It is a very Romantic song to the moon, asking it to “stay awhile” and “lighten the path of [the wanderer’s] lone journey.” Near the end of the piece you will hear some tonal structures reminiscent of the majestic horn opening of “Largo” from the New World Symphony.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go by Joseph M. Martin

I wrote some of my thoughts on this song a few weeks ago on this blog. This is a gorgeous song, and probably my favorite of the pieces we’re performing tonight.

I took a few minutes this afternoon in the Harris Fine Arts Center to stop and look at the Casey Childs exhibit. Most of his works were paintings or charcoal drawings. One of them in particular, a charcoal portrait titled “Arnie,” stood out to me.

Arnie’s face is worn and wrinkled. He looks to be a man in his late 40s or perhaps 50s. The eyes betray sadness, and it almost seems a tear is forming in the corner of one. It is apparent that he has spent much of his life doing difficult, tiring work. But his mouth tells a different story. The lips are pressed together and look just as tired as the rest of his face. They do not form a smile, but neither do they form a frown. Rather, they have a contented, satisfied look, hinting that deep in this man’s heart, he is happy. No matter the hard work and the troubles of life; these will be finished in their time. Arnie has reason to be happy despite it all.

What a great attitude that is to have about life! Life is hard at times, sure. But that doesn’t outweigh all the good things, the happy things, the sacred things. We have enough; we are enough. There is so much reason for us to be happy and optimistic.

I read a great editorial this afternoon in the Daily Universe called “The Perfection Syndrome”. Jade’s thesis is summed up pretty well by this excerpt:

Perhaps the most annoying of pointless criticisms come in the form of self-righteousness. BYU students are recognized around the country for our high moral values. We don’t have to deal with the same roommate immorality and drunkenness issues our friends at other universities do. But even those of us who pray, read our scriptures and attend church regularly are often not good enough for some of our fellow students.

Faithful students at this university get publicly lambasted for a few too many inches of knee showing or a little scruff. Their good works mean nothing to some if they study on Sunday, boo during games or think scripture parodies are funny.

This spurs a very interesting study in human behavior. We can (and are apt to) judge easily on criteria that are measurable. It’s a lot easier to judge someone based on whether he shaved this morning than whether he read his scriptures this morning. That, for the simple fact that someone’s appearance is measurable while their actions in private are not.

I support BYU’s Honor Code, but I don’t like the culture that has grown around it. Academic honesty is just as much a part of the Honor Code as the dress code. I would even argue that academic honesty is more important than how you dress or groom yourself. The problem is that BYU students can’t easily evaluate each other on academic honesty because it’s something you can’t see. So they judge each other on outward things.

The gospel of Jesus Christ encourages us not to judge others merely on their appearance but to be charitable in our relationships. There is much about a person we simply don’t know. Indeed,

The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7

As easy as it is to measure some things, they shouldn’t be given so much emphasis that they outweigh the more important things that can’t be measured.

Let’s not judge each other so much. This is something I can work on as well. I believe that people are basically good. Even when they do something wrong, there are a lot of things they are doing right that I may or may not ever see. I ought to be more charitable and forgiving in relating to others. Let us strive to see others as the Lord sees them.

I savor the privilege of singing in the BYU Concert Choir. Each day at 2:00, I get to set aside everything I’m working on, everything that weighs me down—all the worries and annoyances and troubles of the world. All these I set down and leave outside as I enter the Madsen Recital Hall. Often quoted is the passage from Mozart’s Magic Flute, “Within these hallowed halls.” That’s something I ought to write about another time.

Yesterday was a bit of a rough day for me, so coming to choir was a welcome relief. One of the pieces we’re working on right now is called “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go.” It is a Methodist hymn by George Matheson, with a musical setting (not the original tune) by Joseph M. Martin. It is beautiful. Yesterday as we sang the song, I was touched by the truth of the words. This is how it goes:

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths
Its flow may richer, fuller be.

O Light that follows all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in the sunshine’s blaze
Its day may brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seeks me through my pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And know the promise is not vain,
That morn will tearless be.

O Cross that raises up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

The whole text is profound, but the third verse was particularly meaningful to me yesterday. Even in all our pain and sorrows, however great or small they may be, the Lord seeks us out to bring us joy. I, too, cannot close my heart to His grace and love when He comes seeking me like that. In those trials, I view the rainbow: its presence due equally to the rain ahead of and the sun behind me. Seeing that rainbow, I know that the Lord is mindful of me. Tomorrow dawns a brighter day; the rain will stop and things will get better. The Lord will support me through everything. What a wonderful promise and comfort that is!

The story behind the text is touching as well—you can read more about it here.

EDIT: Adam, a fellow choir member, posted his thoughts about this song on his blog today.

In the CES fireside tonight, something that Elder Christofferson said struck me. His talk was about living life day by day and letting tomorrow take care of itself (not at the expense of proper planning, of course, but by not worrying too much about the future). At one point, he related that to working toward a goal. If you have a goal, you only need to worry about whether you can keep it today. Don’t worry about the rest of the week and whether you’ll be able to hold out. If you can just do it today, you’ll be fine.

That reminded me of the mathematical principle of proof by induction. In order to prove that you can achieve the goal in the long run, you only need to prove that you can achieve it today, and that you will be able to keep going tomorrow. Then you have enough information to prove by induction that it’s possible.

Beautiful principle.

Happy New Year! This is a wonderful time of new beginnings, and I’ve set a few goals for myself for the year.

Jay McCarthy mentioned something in his post this morning that I think is worth repeating:

One thing I realize now is that it is better to set goals about what you will do than what you will accomplish. I do have an end in my [sic], of course, but the means is the measurable thing, so I think that’s the best thing to make a resolution of.

Most of these are also day-to-day things, the “means” to the end, as Jay put it.

1. Read every day. Jay and another of my professors (both of whom I really respect) have mentioned that they spend time every day reading. That’s important for them not just as educators but as seekers of knowledge themselves. As a student, I often only make time to read my textbooks, while I spend other precious time doing other less-important things. This year I’m going to make more time to spend reading. As I envision it, that will include a lot of different kinds of books, from fiction to religion to computer science. There’s a lot out there that I want to learn.
2. Write every day in a journal, either in my physical written journal or in Momento. The latter is much easier for short-form writing, and it has the nice side-effect of also compiling all my digital activity from Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. But I don’t want to neglect the physical record of myself that I leave behind.
3. Make time for people. I’m an introvert. But because of that, it’s really easy (and comfortable) for me to just do my work by myself and not spend enough time with the people around me. I want to be there for my friends and family, even as busy as we all are. I’ve noticed over and over that the times when I stopped everything else and just focused on people were well worth the effort, even when my productivity suffered initially.

Those are really simple goals, but I think that focusing on them will go a long way in improving my intellect, spiritual well-being, and relationships.

Good luck to you with your goals this year!

Christmas break is always a nice, well, break. Especially being in college now, any break is the figurative manna from heaven. And breaks between semesters are the best, because they mean that there’s no possible way I could have homework that’s due when I get back. Thanksgiving falls into that category of intra-semester breaks, as it was filled with paper-writing this year. But Christmas! Oh, Christmas. A wonderful thing. A time to breathe and step back from the crazed pace of modern life.

My impetus for writing today is because this week two of my friends have started blogs, and another has returned from a long hiatus. They got me thinking about all the people that have helped me in my life. While I won’t go into detail about each of them here (this isn’t really the right setting for that), I do want to say thank you to all of you.

Thank you to those of you who have been there to listen to me, to give me your advice, to comfort me when I was down and be happy with me when things were going well. Thank you for making my life so wonderful. I really couldn’t have done it without all of you. And you know who you are. Thanks, guys!

Of course, I can’t write a post on the day after Christmas without wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May the Lord bless you in all you do, and may you have success and happiness in the coming year. I’m looking forward to the adventure.