Day Two

Oh, the daily grind of blogging. What a heavy responsibility, what a toll it takes. I intended to write last night, but I'll have to do a quick entry as I start my work day. I would have to say that I am satisfied with yesterday, the first day of my blog experience. I let a select group of sophisticates know I was keeping a blog, people who have no personal connection to me whatsoever, and it seems that something in my blog resonated with them. Admittedly, the response was mixed. Some readers offered the same level of unbridled enthusiasm that proved to be the downfall of Billy Mumphrey, while others offered suggestions on editorial direction and content. One individual suggested that my personal life is so devoid of substance that I would need to purchases stories from a co-worker known for his passion for life. Another person asserted that the first two comments had surely been posted by none other than myself and one of my friends. On day one, I received responses from readers in Asia and North America (including from 3 different states), and I will attempt to make Greg Jones' Blog known in other geo's through use of my extensive network of international friends and acquaintances (right . . . ). Because I chose to comment on a movie on Day One, some may have concluded that this is a movie review blog. Well, it is not that. But, if not that, what is it? To answer that question, I would draw your attention to the streets of Boston, Massachusetts. I have been spending about 3 weeks a month here since January 2005. Getting lost on the roads here is a rite of passage, but perhaps a rite that never ends. I'm not sure what they did before having the Internet and web services like mapquest. The roads are a veritable labyrinth that only Daedalus could navigate. One road atlas for Boston explained that one merely has to understand the type of road system that exists in Boston. You see, the road system is "organic," it evolves, it lives, roads come into existence, morph, expire over time, depending on forces from within and without the system. Well, this blog will be an "organic blog." We'll see where it goes. As I said, I need to get to work,so just a couple of other thoughts for the day. I mentioned Littleton, Colorado yesterday, To any extent that I grew up, I grew up in Littleton, a suburb of Denver. Sunday, the Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots by the score of 28 to 20. I am here in Waltham, just outside of Boston, this week. So, yesterday I, with no subtlety, mentioned to a co-worker (and hopefully friend) that I am from Denver. There was a brief moment when I saw my life flash before my eyes. After some moments of disconcerting silence, she called out to my boss, saying "When is Greg going back to Provo again?" I have a way of not learning lessons. I was visiting friends in Chicago during the glory years of Michael Jordan (and the Chicago Bulls). After watching the Bulls pull out some great victory on TV, I made the mistake of mentioning why I liked Michael Jordan better earlier in his career. Mind you, I did not even say I did not like him, just that I used to like him even more. Suddenly I felt very vulnerable and alone as I had drawn everyone's attention and all conversation had stopped. Oops . . . Finally, at my Church I came upon a book called "Marathon of Faith." The book was about Rex Lee and his wife. Rex Lee was the founding dean of the BYU Law School, Solicitor General of the United States under Reagan, and the president of BYU. He died early, from cancer. I was fortunate enough to take two semesters of constitutional law from him. he was brilliant, enthusiastic, intellectually challenging, funny, great. When we studied from the case book, at times he would matter-of-factly say "What we were trying to do in this case was . . . " Once, when studying for a final exam for his class, I could not reconcile my notes with the case book. I went to his office. He was working at the computer, but when I entered he turned his chair and gave me his full attention. This may have been the only one-on-one contact I had ever had with him, and ever would. He answered my question with the same energy and clarity he would in this class discussions. I was impressed, and grateful. I later shared this experience with a former BYU Academic Vice President, and he was not impressed by my story at all, Rex Lee did what every professor should do, I was told. That's right, he did what every professor *should* do. I remain impressed.