Photo Book

So I'm kinda pumped that I finished a book that I've been working on for a while based on my fairly recently acquired photography hobby. I called it Record because of the quote I used on the introduction page. The pictures themselves don't have a whole lot of cohesiveness but the purpose of the book is to give the readers a view into the mind of the photographer himself. Books with just photography generally are open to interpretation but with no answers. I was hoping that with my book people were able to draw their own conclusions but then also see the original point of view as well. I'm going to start working on some other books soon with more of a focus on a geographic location. Feel free to browse the pages (there's only 20 pages) and if so inclined, the website allows you to buy one as well!

Record

Photography

By Nate Houle

Book Preview

My thoughts on Web 2.0 (Just ignore this- CSIS assignment)

Web 2.0 is an interesting and almost tangible change that has occurred in the way that the internet is utilized. The concept of being a user-defined content platform not only creates a more interactive population but on the other hand, can produce infinitesimal amounts of "junk" information that could easily be inaccurate (see professors disallowing Wikipedia as a credible source). In the case of non-credible sources, I believe that the pros outweigh the cons and therefore the Web 2.0 movement is a step in the positive direction. The only true concern I see is not The Matrix prophecy of machines becoming like men but instead men becoming the machines with no living breathing society to speak of.


Link to a video explaining here

BYU Athletics

Question: If BYU athletics creates hate for the school in those not affiliated with the school, is it bad for the church, either directly or indirectly?

Reason: I have to watch what I say about the school and athletic programs because I fear tarnishing my own faith indirectly. I know many people that aren't LDS and because of rivalries and other reasons do not like BYU in the slightest and, coincidentally or not, have a similar opinion of the church itself.


This was going to be a lengthy article with quotes, examples, and reasoning but it came across as if I was superimposing my opinion over that of a sustained leader and so I withheld any proposal or recommendation.

What does this mean to you?

I've read this scripture, and ones like it, on numerous occasions, but it seems to be bypassed quite often. I came across it again in church a week or so ago and it once again caught my attention. I don't want to write any opinion on the subject, I just want to hear what most think it means.

From Doctrine & Covenants 59:

"15 And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, not with much laughter, for this is a sin, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance-"

Please discuss

Research Project

One of the great aspects of this life is that each and every person has their own take on it. Perspective is an interesting thing because you never know exactly how another views different things. For example, who hasn't wondered when looking at a red object and thought, "everyone calls the color of this 'red' but does everyone actually see the same thing?" With this interlude, I am brought to a story.

The other day, Cam, Nigel and I were driving home from Wal-Mart and we were debating on the degree of hotness of some famous person. I don't remember who. But, for the story's sake, you need to know that Nigel is notorius for being the one with having the most, how can I say it, "liberal" view of beauty. I'm known as the one is extremely strict on the same and Cam is just somewhere in the middle. Finally, at this moment in the car, we decided that something needed to be done to quantify these levels to more accurately compare ourselves. We needed some kind of empirical evidence.

A plan was formulated and a study was created. We decided that we needed to somehow obtain a mean value for a designated, similar population. We figured the best way for this was to all sit at the same location with a piece of paper, and on the left side of it, the numbers 10 through 1 in descending order. Haha, ok, don't judge me, this is purely scientific I swear. We needed a high-traffic area as to obtain a large sample size to maintain a high statistical power. We went and sat on a bench above the ELC and observed the passing females verifying that all three of us observed the same people. Subjects ranged anywhere from an estimated 70 to 18 years old. After a period of 45 minutes, I had to go to a class, so the study was concluded. Sample size was about 75. Results were as follows:

















Nate's average: 4.36
Cam's average: 4.67
Nigel's average: 5.09


CONLUSION

So, after results were compiled, turns out that we were right in that Nigel had the most liberal view and I had the strictest. Note, however, that when we reached the lower range of the scale, seems that I was more cautious to issue a rating of 2 or below when Nigel was the opposite.

Who said you never apply what you learn in school? ;)

Teh Gheys

Over this last summer, I was working at 26.2 Running Co. and there was this song that would always come on the radio that I totally hated and it drove me nuts. "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry. You may have seen that coming. Now, beside the message being what it is, there is a certain tone or mood that caught my attention more than just the lyrics themselves. I also noticed it in other songs, like, "So What" by Pink. Especially if you watch the music video, it's even more noticeable. Upon this thought process spawned my [theory/hypothesis/opinion/view/decision] on the subject of "teh gheys" ("the gays" for the 1337 declined). I found it interesting that this exact topic was so prevalent this fall because of the Prop 8 vote in California though I didn't engage much in the conversation. You may find this offensive and/or erroneous and I apologize in advance for any negative feelings produced as a result of my words, but not for the words themselves, it's what I feel to be the truth, at least in part, so do with them what you will.

The question of "what makes gays gay" comes up quite often in this modern society. People find the question either very easy or very hard to answer depending on their personal view of the subject. Some cite biological reasons, some psychological reasons and others just pure individual decision. I've personally pondered on the subject a few times and even though my mind was long ago set on the right vs wrong aspect of the argument, I had never really came up with a real reason behind the practice. I feel like I have unraveled a part of the mystery which I claim to be categorized as a psycho-social reason. I'm not saying I'm an expert on the subject or that this the entirety of the reasoning. Just a piece.

The "tone or mood" that I was referring to in the previously mentioned songs was a feeling of masculinity. It may be hard to see in the Katy Perry song, but it's there. I've noticed recently that there is a prevalence of masculinity among women that is increasing, although it could just be my increased awareness of its existence. Watch the Pink music video, it shows her driving down the road on a riding mower, chopping down trees, smashing guitars, etc. I'm not just picking on the media either, even though that is where it is extremely evident, it happens very often in the micro-society of Cedar City and elsewhere even more often. Look around sometime, take note of it. For some reason, many women have drifted to a more masculine attitude/personality and men have drifted more toward a feminine attitude/personality. I ran into an study backing up my opinion:

"Increasingly, men are running into a double standard of attractiveness --what women like about men's bodies and what men think is manly... The male body has arrived. Not only is it being offered up for scrutiny, it seems to be both hypermasculine and strangely feminine, a new mix that accurately reflects tremendous and ambivalent changes in our culture."

-HealthyPlace.com

I personally am more attracted to a girl that likes to have fun and stuff, but also one that is dainty and, well, feminine. Weird, eh? I was talked into going over to this "apartment of girls" by my friend Tyrell and I was like, ok. Little did I know it was the softball girls' house. Don't get me wrong, I like girls that play sports, but this group of girls was very intimidating in a "I'm gonna beat you up" kind of way. Yeah, ha ha, I know, I'm skinny. But hey, regardless of my size, they weren't exactly, how can I put it nicely..."womanly."

Now what does this have to do with homosexuality? Haha, not a whole lot actually. I just wanted to walk you through my thought process a little without boring you excessively. On to the topic at hand:

I'm kinda laughing to myself right now just thinking of the verbal abuse I may incurr as a result of this. Maybe I'll get hundreds of letters hand delivered to me by some social group leader or something. Sorry, back to the current issue:

Look at a generic homosexual guy(I'm sterotyping, I know. Like I said, this also isn't all-encompassing). What do you normally see? A guy that dresses very nice, takes really good care of himself, talks a little higher than normal, and acts a little more feminine than normal, right? What about a homosexual girl? The word granola could come to mind. Short hair sometimes. Kinda masculine?

What I'm driving at here is that many times gays have the attributes of the opposite gender which attracts the same gender. You starting to see this?? Gay guys seems to be attracted to guys with feminine attributes. Gay women seem to be attracted to women with masculine attributes. I mean seriously, look at it. It's extremely visible to me. I don't know how to explain this any more than I have. Could it be purely psychological for some?? That's my question. Sure there's gay guys that are way masculine and gay women who are super feminie, but I've seen these type of people way too much in my own personal experience to say it doesn't exist in a vast quantity. Conclusion: Some gays believe they're gay when really they're not, being attracted to an individual displaying the attributes of the opposite gender, like a straight person is, but erroneously to an individual of the same gender.

Ok, whoa, whoa, stop yelling at your screen, I can't hear you anyways. I know this wasn't very PC or whatever, but that's not what I'm concerned about. This is merely a documentation of my thought process and if you disagree, I don't care. If you think I just finished generalizing all gays into one giant stereotype, go back and read it again. Pay attention to the parts in parenthesis.

Oh, and comment on it please.

Hold on...

One's on its way... Prepare yourselves, it's slightly controversial. To some.