The Downside of Technology

The fact that you won't want to read this makes the point of the article.

Subtle changes [introduced by technology] are causing great harm to our neurological well-being. Given that adults commonly consume two, three or even more gadgets at once now -- all while carrying on conversations with people – they are beginning to lose their ability to focus and concentrate. ............a phenomenon called "continuous partial attention," a state of divided attention which leaves people unable to perform tasks that require concentration. Worse, it leaves its victims less and less able to connect with and empathize with each other, they said.
"When our minds partially attend, and do so continuously, we scan for an opportunity for any type of contact at every given moment," "(People) no longer have time to reflect, contemplate, or make thoughtful decisions. Instead, they exist in a sense of constant crisis -- on alert for a new contact or bit of exciting news or information at any moment." Under that kind of stress, the brain secretes cortisol and adrenaline, creating a temporary high followed by depression, leading to something the authors call "techno-brain burnout."


In children, the effects can be worse. When face-to-face contact is replaced by excessive digital media, a child's neural circuits can atrophy and the brain may not develop normal interactive social skills.
"Several studies in both children and adults ... tie frequent technology use to conditions such as ADD, ADHD, autism, depression, anxiety and even sociopathic behavior," they said.

I guess I should get off this computer!

Cone of Shame

Someone won't stop licking his leg. I'm not going to show you a close up of Sonic's "hot spot". It's kind of gross. Well, I guess it's just (slightly inflamed) pink skin with no hair. It's getting better but he has to wear this every night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IAN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR GRANDSON, IAN!!! 8 years old is pretty special. We will be out to Utah for your baptism in a few weeks. We love you very much and think you are an awesome boy. We hope your birthday is a fun one.
Love,
Grandma and Grandpa Harris

Sparkly Sunrise

CHURCH IS CANCELLED!!!!!

Because of this. Poor emu!

And this. We had lots of ice and snow Friday and Friday night.

This is a great look, don't you think? Talk about mascara.

See if you can find 2 emus in this picture. Tomorrow or later, I'll post pictures of the dogs in the snow.

Someone's turning 30!!!

That goofy guy in the middle is actually turning 30 even though he delights in acting like he's 13 or is that 3?? I guess that's why we love him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SCOTTY!!!

Thanks for bringing so much joy to our family. Hope you have a terrific birthday because we think you are a terrific son. Much love from your mom and dad on your special day.

Another photo of Elder Harris and a Funny

This from Reader's Digest: "Robbie, my nine-year-old grandson, recently asked his mother about puberty. She explained that it occurs when children's bodies begin to change. 'Boys,' she said, 'grow taller and develop muscles. Their voices deepen, and they start to grow hair, like facial hair.' Do you understand?" "Yes," he replied. "I just hope it happens on a Saturday, when I'm not in school!"

Pictures of Elder Harris!!!

Demonstrating the Keystone of our Religion.

No, the elders didn't crash this prom photo session. The promites insisted the elders get in on the action. Pretty dresses.

With a recent convert. The boy's mother was also baptized at the same time.

Kyle with a young man who is now serving a mission in Colorado. The elders helped him get excited about going on a mission.

This is an older picture of Elder Harris and Joe (his brother). They managed to have lunch together when Joe was up in Idaho Falls visiting his in-laws. Elder Harris comes home May 6th!!!

Utah Scenes over the Christmas Holidays

I start with wintry scenes of Kaylee, Joe, Jim and me on Temple Square in freezing temperatures.

Joe in front of his favorite Temple Square tree. I think he likes it even without red lights.

We had a great dinner with the extended fam and then a terrific sing-a-long!

I finish with pictures of the grandkids (I guess I didn't get a picture of Justin in this bunch) in their bathing suits!!! We always take advantage of the pool at the Hampton.

Christmas in Utah

Here's a couple pictures from our trip to SLC over the Christmas break. Joe and Sadie with some Christmas morning detritus. That red spot on Joe's arm was where it intersected with a hot frying pan. For the love of bacon! Isn't Sadie a cutie?!

Just before we were dropped off at the airport we stopped in for some IHOP. Yum! More pics of this trip and Houston to come.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMBER!

It's hard to find pictures of you, Amber. I think you are behind the camera too much. But I thought this was sweet. I forgot how old you are. 29 or something, I think. Hope you have a great birthday!

NYC and Washington Crossing the Delaware

This picture above is where Washington crossed the Delaware. Now there is this very narrow bridge on which 2 cars are supposed to be able to pass. With our mirrors pulled in we succeeded. The river is wider than I thought it would be.

Liz said no one who knew NYC would believe that NEITHER of our cab drivers were Middle Eastern. Both were very nice and drove like they didn't want to kill us.

The Chrysler Bldg! Check out those gargoyles. Interesting architecture on the bldg in front of it, too.

Liz and I at the Manhattan Temple. The weight of those doors behind us gave some clue as to how it can be so quiet inside. It's right across the street from the Lincoln Center and Juliard. I recommend that everyone try to go. Nathan Botts works there and I think Susie Roberts used to. Many of the interior style elements seemed to be a nod to the Salt Lake temple.

Princeton

Here's some lovely shots of picturesque Princeton University taken with a camera whose lens had a nice fingerprint on it. I like to do that occasionally for a special effect! Do I look academic? No?? Liz and I were on campus for an organ concert at the university chapel, one of the largest in the country. They (cathedrals) are ridiculous Gothic monstrosities where the Spirit is noticeably absent but I can still admire them from an architectural standpoint. I just felt that as Bach was rumbling from the pipes a film crew might jump out at any moment from the sides and start making a mild horror movie.

Park Avenue!

I just got back from my week in Pennsylvania with Liz. She is doing pretty well and we managed to have a lot of fun and laughed often as the wall plaque says. I will write about going to the temple in Manhattan, seeing Grand Central Station, and other fun stuff which were all firsts for me. But you will have to wait until after Thanksgiving since I'm scrambling to get ready for that holiday. We'll be at Emily's. Hope you all have a terrific holiday, too!!!!! Sure wish this country wasn't so big so we could all be together much more often. Well, maybe in the next life.

Incredible Sadness

This morning I was awakened to learn that the husband of one of my best friends died last night in a motorcycle accident. Mark Forsyth was on his way home from a church meeting probably in conjunction with his calling as Branch President of the singles ward in their Pennsylvania Stake. He was a great father and a terrific husband. It is hard to believe that this was his time to go (their youngest, Ian, is only 16) but I have faith, as I'm sure Liz does, that it is all in the Lord's hands. Things will always work out when we live by faith. Our hearts go out to Liz and all her family at this very sad time. Thankfully they were married in the temple (not positive it was Oakland) and their family is sealed together for all eternity. Liz is very close to the Spirit and I know that she will feel the Savior's arms around her, giving her strength during the trying times ahead.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Too funny not to give more air time. Thanks to Valerie Bond on Facebook.

The Harris Mash

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Elder Harris--abducted by aliens

Kyle's latest email is proof that he has been abducted by aliens. Who is this person anyway? I gave Kyle a hard time in my email about him having lunch with Joe and me not hearing about it for 3 days! And if it weren't for Amber's blog I still might not know about it.

heheheh...
oh i guess that i didn't mention about my lunch with Joe. let's just say that i wanted to leave it so i had some more things to talk about this week, but it turns out that there is plenty to talk about anyway.
so, here's how it went down: in the morning time, elder busath answered the phone, and his one-sided conversation was
"hello, this is elder busath...no, elder elder busath... elder harris? yeah, he's over here."
then he hands the phone over to me and this is some of the dialogue:
me: hello, this is elder Harris.voice: elder Harris! this is Joe!me: Joe...?voice: your brother, Joe... you know, like, your brother.me: Joe?! how-- what-- how did you get this number?!
anyway, i sure was astonished to hear from him, but i told him to call up president and see if he was able to have lunch with us, and then to call back. sure enough, he called back and said that president said yes. he picked us up from our apartment, and we went to craigo's, a pizza buffet. it was sure great to see him, it made my day. it made me think, 'wow, i haven't seen anyone from my immediate family for 17 months.' it was a weird feeling. the actual lunch was pretty normal. we talked just like it hadn't been 17 months, and after wards it was just like, "well, we'll see you in a few." it a great boost.
so here's the other news. president asked me to conduct this next zone conference. I'm pretty nervous. talking in church is no big deal, doing trainings for the entire zone is no big deal, giving instruction topics in zone conferences impromptu is no big deal (our zone conferences have 3 zones meet at a time, so about 60+ missionaries); leading music when a general authority is there, singing for a general authority, all of these things are no big deal, but I'm stressed about conducting zone conference. i don't see why the APs can't do it like they always do, but that's OK. i guess it will be good for me. i can just see it now: "president Scott w colton presides at this conference, and he has asked that i, elder Harris, conduct." sheesh. now i know why dad said he would rather speak in church then conduct.
president colton has decided that more responsibility needs to be put on the zone leaders. i guess the "vacation" is over. i enjoy being a zone leader way more than being a district leader. true it's always interesting to be involved in emergency transfers, and when missionaries in the zone get into car accidents, it is up to us to handle everything in a professional, confidant matter. (no one got hurt, but it was a hit and run, and i don't know if the car is totalled yet.) such is the life of a zone leader. we have to be there to make sure that everyone in the zone is taken care of. it's fun though, i like it. being responsible is a pretty good thing. we also get to have private meetings with general authorities when they come to do mission tours, which is pretty cool.
anyway, the church is still very much true. we set a baptism date this week, and we have a couple of promising referrals that we are going to contact. the zone is doing pretty well, and as soon as zone conference is over (it's this Friday) I'll be able to breath a little bit easier. oh yeah, i have to sing at this one too. i do quite a bit of singing these days. in this area I've probably sung in church 5 or 6 times. i like it. anyway, I'll wrap this up, as my thoughts are getting scattered. i love all of you, and will talk to y'all later. thanks for everything that you do!!
love,elder Harris

Elder Harris sent new photos!!

Elder Harris said it was even tough to pull a handcart empty and on level ground. This was a primary activity. He says he can't resist all the great grass and has to do flips at odd moments.

After much crying Elder Harris posed with Pres. and Sis. Somers, his outgoing mission president and wife.

I think this is a service project, hence the paint. It's kind of a shock to see Elder Harris's bare knee. What's the world coming to?

This picture scanned weird. Sorry. In response to all our comments about his shirts being too small, Elder Harris is posing in someone else's shirt who had a neck size of 20. I think it was the large elder from Tonga.

No Apologies Necessary

JFK's Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaule said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible. Rusk responded "does this include those who are buried here?" DeGaule did not respond.