Dallas Petersen

Our family (OK, me especially) likes to play boardgames. Read my list of favorite family games.

Others have asked me, and I’ve asked myself–why is not eating any food with high fructose corn syrup a goal of mine for this year? Great question. Honestly, it’s kind of a whim-of-a-goal. I’ve read a few things, and talked with a few people, that have told me a few good reasons. Here they are:

• Health reasons
  • Contributes to obesity.
  • Contributes to diabetes.
  • One of the main ingredients in soda, candy, donuts, and most fatty foods = don’t add to my burgeoning waistline.

In no particular order, here are a few things I will do this year:

1. Cardio, cardio, cardio.
2. No food with high fructose corn syrup.
3. Finish my board game.
4. Finish my maternal grandparents’ personal histories.
5. Go on a three-day hike with my son.
6. Attend GenCon 2008.
7. Read scriptures with my family every night.
8. Have family home evening with my family every week.
9. Have family home evening with my extended family (both sides) every month.
10. Finish my parent’s 50th anniversary project.
11. Complete my basement’s finish work (caulking and painting).
12. Help my kindergarten-age daughter learn how to read.
13. Build up a year’s supply of food.
14. Learn how to use wheat from home storage.
15. Motivate my kids to take piano lessons.
16. Buy a good HD digicam.
17. Read a good book once a month.
18. Early to bed, early to rise.
19. Study kanji via the scriptures or the リアホナ.
20. Write in this blasted blog once a week (so I’m at least as prolific as my wife or my friend Paul).

My wife and I saw John Mayer and Sheryl Crow at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado on Monday. John Mayer was the first of the headliners to perform–a fact that meant we’d hear fewer of his songs because he wouldn’t be doing any encore numbers. His set was dominated by popular songs from his first two albums. Personally, I think Mayer’s newest album, Continuum, is his best yet–he’s brought the blues influence of his musical background to the foreground, much to the improvement of his songwriting and musicianship. My wife and I first saw him at Deer Valley in Park City, Utah–pre-Grammy-winning and on the rise as a major musical talent. It’s nice to see that he continues to grow and entertain–he has a long career ahead of him.

Sheryl Crow was terrific. She had a string quintet backing her up along with her regular band. Sheryl did an impersonation of Bob Dylan before she sang Mississippi and made a humorous comment when someone through an Hawaiian lei up on the stage. Sheryl is an amazing talent. It was a tough choice, but we didn’t want to be stuck in the traffic after the event, so we left a few songs before she was done with her set.

As for Red Rocks… it is amazing–the best music venue I’ve ever been to. With the lights of the Denver cityscape in front of us and the 400-foot tall red rocks around us, it was a sight to behold. I look forward to going there again.