Before it’s too late, seniors like I should ask,
“Did I leave anything on top of my car?”
(Yes — Sunday night. A sign of brain fog?)
One of these may ring a bell:
Why am I going into the next room?
What things matter most?
Am I addicted to collecting?
Whom may I serve today?
Any story will do for conversation, a speech, or writing, as long as it’s short and personal. To qualify as an anecdote according to all-knowing AI Overview, it should also "offer a quick example that helps an audience process information, understand a complex topic, or feel a connection." (My experience in Toastmasters International must have taught me that, so why did I have to look it up? Rhetorical question.)
For example, I remember being in Wayne’s Barbershop on Third Avenue, Salt Lake City, when Russell M. Nelson brought in his little son for his first haircut. So cute! To this day, as President Nelson celebrated his 101st birthday, that scene is unforgettable. I guess it was years later when Dr. Russell Nelson performed heart surgery to save my father’s life. One of the Nelsons’ beautiful daughters was in my East High Seminary class. Another daughter was in Kay Hinckley’s East High class.
For many reasons, I feel a connection to our dear Prophet, who lovingly leads and teaches by example worldwide. He so blesses friends and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Kay & I are grateful for President Nelson’s good life. Happy birthday!
Incredibly, I made it through 17 years of school (not counting preschool) and 19 years of marriage without a cell phone. How did we do it?! Was life so much simpler? (Fast-scan this to compare.)
One call I remember used the yellow wall phone in the lower-level recreation room in our big home on Northcrest Drive. I carried the handset into the hall for privacy, as I gathered courage to invite a young woman to a high school dance. Getting a date was a scary challenge for this shy boy, despite having freely enjoyed private group dances throughout 8th grade — unforgettable.
Big jump ahead, past the “brick phone” years, and past the smaller one I carried in my back pocket for business management. Years later, I downsized to a favorite phone with a slide-out keyboard. At some point, a cheap Cricket was my extra business device to avoid exceeding my minutes limit.
Then iPhone came and changed my life. Several years ago, an upgrade deal got me an Apple Watch at half price and a Bluetooth JBL Clip Speaker; all three were life-changing. Side note: by sliding a button on the left side of iPhone, I intentionally kept it on silent 24/7 since October 2018, and usually only answered calls on my Contact list — never telemarketing or scam calls. Text messaging has saved me countless hours of conversation when I’m in a hurry. Answering some calls on my Watch has been helpful when my hands are tied. Unlimited Internet access in hand manages frequent “senior moments” and music; Personal Hotspot connects my laptop. Notes files easily handle journals etc. Frequent Copy-&-Paste is too easy. Kay & I would’ve been lost without iPhones on our Detroit mission. Google Docs and Google Sheets work anywhere while waiting in line, on hold, or in bed. Have I mentioned my OC photography and photo-journaling?
With iPhone and Watch used conservatively, I stay on the path to “Simplify! Simplify!”
Part of my personal history must be what I say and think of saying. Just a few examples:
(To family:) “You can wake up now.”
(Waiting behind cars at a stop light, to prompt drivers:) “You can go now!”
(Explanation:) “I always sit in the back row, so I can see all the people … especially the latecomers.”
(Wishful thinking:) “I want to attend Relief Society, but I really wouldn’t fit in.”
(Personal planning:) “Monday is my day of rest.”
(To clarify — avoid ambiguity, especially on Sunday:) “It's next week, not this week.”
(Admiring new cars in a showroom, am I interested?) “Yes!” (Am I looking to buy?)
“I prefer not to.” (Why?) “I prefer not to say.”
(Not in sales training manuals. Always works.)
(Aging thing:) “I forgot, so I Google-searched.”
(Good news after 25 moves, smiling:) “My peaceful, top-floor apartment is facing west … for the sunset of my life. I will never move again.”
(Getting more personal, revealing:) “My TV is still in the box. I prefer to read.”
(Introduction in ARP group I support:) “I’m Ned, a recovering collector.”
(Keeping life simple:) “I’m a wannabe minimalist.”
(From my experience:) “Healthy, favorite snacks: oatmeal raisin cookies and dark chocolate.”
Speaking for many Utahns, “My all-time favorite main course is funeral potatoes.”
(At church and concerts:) “I like an empty seat next to me, in case my wife Kay takes a break to sit and visit. It’s about love.”
Just saying.
Confession: I am a recovering collector. Every day in my spare time, I am gifting, donating, recycling, or discarding. The path to become a minimalist is not easy for a collector by nature. In the beginning was my copy of Walden by Henry David Thoreau with “simplify, simplify” underlined. Years later, I’m still working on it, hoping to leave little to burden our children when I pass. I can’t take it with me.
Recently a Treasure Trove store opened nearby to test my resolve, especially on one-dollar Wednesdays, for hunting valuable gifts. My limit of $4 is easily reached in two minutes of scanning piles of cool merchandise … with restraint.
Gift hunting (shopping) shows my weakness or strength. For example, I learned years ago to not wait until Christmas Eve, and to buy additional gifts during clearance sales afterwards … to save for Three Kings Day (Epiphany) on January 6th. (Party on!) So, gift hunting all year gets me in the holiday mood early. On the other hand, finding gifts in my home is a challenge … and a nice surprise a year later. Nevertheless, KIS is my goal: keep it simple.
Remember when children spent summers outdoors, riding a big wheel, playing catch and “no bears are out tonight” …? Back in the day, summer time for me was freedom from curriculum cares and scheduled activities. It was hours of solo fun building a three-story hut, rafting on ranch canals, riding ponies, railroading with American Flyer, and reading books.
Back in the day, we had no AI Overview to explain this “colloquial idiom referring to a time in the past, often with a sense of nostalgia or fondness for that period … [without specifying] a particular time frame.” And no Internet. Was I deprived ("suffering a severe lack of cultural benefits")… or what?
Ogden Pioneer Days celebration never ceases to amaze me. Gets better every year — well worth a journal entry. Yesterday 9am I walked a half block from my apartment and watched the big parade, which included a float for myHometown Ogden. I walked around the corner and cooled down with my daily few minutes of exercise at the new Marshall N. White Community Center track above the sports courts. An afternoon visit to best friends at the Community Resource Center on 24th Street was relaxing. At 6:30pm a dear friend from Belize (British) accompanied me to the annual band concert at Barker Park in North Ogden — pretty cool near the canyon road over the mountain to Liberty and Eden.
Monday 7/22/2024, a sweet cousin invited me to the world-famous rodeo in the new Pioneer Stadium by Ogden River Parkway Trail. Elizabeth & husband had free tickets as volunteers managing concessions. Amazing drone light show at the end. Altogether an awesome event!
Kay & I are forever grateful for our pioneer heritage which blesses our posterity and us. May we all exercise “faith in every footstep” … with love.
(A random addition to personal history, copied from iPhone Notes.)
7/11/8pm I awoke from a dream about glazed donuts ... before I could eat them. Darnet!
6/2/25 Found my 1970 Argentine poncho in [storage].
3/21/7:31am Awoke from a dream about $1 profit I made on a small put-option trade. Exciting! [Needless to say, I didn’t always beat the market makers in my trading days. AI Overview: “While market making is a legitimate activity, concerns arise when market makers are perceived to be exploiting retail traders.”]
5/24 Every Saturday night in ARP group
I support, my serious intro is, “I’m Ned, a recovering collector.”
(Exceptional — not trivial:)
I had been in myHometown Spanish class:
1/13/25 9pm “Mi esposa se llama Kay.”
My wife is Kay Hinckley Cannon.
Sweet memories today, honoring our 54th wedding anniversary. Surprise celebration: our third great-grandchild was born this evening — she’s a girl! A most beautiful baby joining a loving family.
My young bride Kay & I share our love for so many friends and family … with gratitude. It’s about time … and eternity!
Several different journals serve me well. Here’s a new one, a rare exception to, “This blog is not about food.”
Sugar Snap Peas, a no-spill snack for computer work to publish my book.
Cheerios — a handful like my wife Kay often had for school lunch while working in her classroom.
Fun animal crackers and healthy Veggie Straws.
Dove dark chocolates with a message. Sweet!
A spoonful of peanut butter, plus yogurt with sliced banana after 6/25/25 tooth extraction.
Farr’s ice cream in this hot Utah summer
and cream soda float, discovered this week.
Pure cherry juice like Sister Cannon chose at Trader Joe’s in Michigan 2018.
What do you write in your journals?
To start writing your history, here’s an option: keep it simple. Just start writing randomly. For example, I took a few minutes of siesta and wrote this imperfectly on my phone Notes to be edited later … when I feel like it.
Once I was a child. I was born of goodly, loving parents with an older sister to help raise me. Mother and Dad taught me and kindly disciplined me. I was probably shy and selfish, so at age 3 my first word was “cookie”, because that’s what I wanted most. My best memories of kindergarten in the basement of Lowell School are of nap time and playing store. I started reading in first grade with Miss Nash, as I recall my teacher’s name.
I enjoyed my own neat bedroom on Second Avenue near downtown Salt Lake City, close enough to hear the trains on summer nights. I don’t know which came first: my love of trains, or Grandfather Cannon taking me to the train station. Real trains and model railroads became a love of my life. Good music and books inspired me forever.
After my mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Argentina North, true love surpassed trains when I started dating my younger neighbor and U of U classmate, the charming Kay Hinckley. Music Appreciation 101 was key. So, the rest is history … gratefully with no end.
In 2024, putting off my own personal history, I published my wife’s biography, the extraordinary history of Kay Cannon. I have a feeling she is pleased, as members of our eternal family are all amazed.
I like this scripture: (Jacob 6:12) “O be wise; what can I say more?”
A man of miracles is my dad, blessed throughout his life by Heavenly Father. Born of goodly parents with amazing heritage, he honored them and faithfully passed his heritage to us six children and our posterity … with love.
I remember visiting my dad in his upstairs office, a humble “executive suite” at 43 West Broadway.
He provided a spacious home he remodeled, with a huge backyard in the perfect 2nd-Avenue neighborhood. He let me, his oldest son at about age 7, help him build an addition for the growing family. Dad let me salvage materials and do my own thing for a crude 3-story hut (another story by itself).
My father always loved animals. He took me on early-morning horseback rides at the ranch, a “30-acre weed patch” he acquired, south of SLC airport. Of course, I also enjoyed rafting on the canal. Years later as a young teen, I did heavy labor there for the family company.
A heavenly story: inspired move to Hinckleys’ ward, where he served as bishop for my future wife. By lifelong example, Father & Mother taught us to serve God and mankind.
Remembering Dad, I’ve only just begun …
A new word and term I hadn’t seen, introduced yesterday in this UTA safety message: Don’t ride … on FrontRunner train platforms. ( It should go without saying.) Added to iPhone Notes for easy copy-&-paste: micromobility vehicles
That includes my Razor kick scooter (favorite), longboard, and mountain bike. So, don’t run into people on platforms, and don’t fall onto the tracks. Got it. Thanks, Utah Transit Authority, for helping passengers stay safe — especially us seniors trying to maintain our balance.
True stories in general conference talks that especially get my attention — really about love that brings us closer to Jesus Christ
Thomas S. Monson’s plane-flight story of carrying a 1939 photograph of a German family my father hoped to identify
Photography — “A picture is worth …”
My photo journaling, a rather lazy, fun way
“Tell Me the Stories of Jesus”, Children’s Songbook p.57, a childhood favorite of mine in 20th Ward Primary, 2nd Avenue, SLC
“Book of Mormon Stories”, Children’s Songbook p.118, a favorite of kids these days
“True Storytelling is the act of entrepreneurship.” — YouTube: What is …
True Storytelling is “tailored to empower you to effect meaningful transformations in your organizations and every facet of your life.”
— T… S… Institute, truestorytelling .org
True (apparently) stories told and written by Rowland Smart, and published by me for his monthly home teaching in East Mill Creek
Storytelling taught at every annual RootsTech, worldwide genealogy conference
“Life Story Help” mini-workshops at church
for prompting people to write personal and family history
My wife Kay’s biography published in 2024, full of fascinating true stories we love
There is no end
I like to ask new friends, “What is your story?”
No need for “The Ultimate Guide”, as each junk journal is unique and creative — a way to “record memories, thoughts, and inspiration.” Different than scrapbooking. You may write your own guide as you collect and paste meaningful ephemera, etc. As usual, I will take backup pictures of my journal to digitize it … in case it gets tossed in the trash.
What will grandchildren learn when discovering it? How to have fun journaling?
In the beginning of my blog, October 2010, was my interest in the English language. This is probably my first post about the beautiful Spanish language I am recalling and learning.
My foundation: two years of Spanish classes in 8th and 9th grades, three months of intense study at Language Training Mission (LTM, Q1 1968, waiting for a visa), and 24 months of living in Argentina (North) as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Thursday Spanish classes at myHometown Ogden are helping me learn more and recall what I studied during siestas from 1968 to 1970.
Exciting to realize this old man can remember and acquire knowledge! Hasta luego.
A bit of TP disables any annoying key on laptop computer. Working well for me on CapsLock & F1 since that stroke of genius (“brilliant and original idea”) last summer.
Repurpose a broken-off, straight snow shovel handle or mop stick to push a low load on a four-wheel mover’s dolly. (Recalling the heavy snow at Ogden church on Friday the 13th last month. Plastic joint broke — designed for disposal after one winter.)
Warm your home in winter by opening blinds for free sunshine. Close blinds at night for warmth and privacy. (Goes without saying.)
Unplug and cover a TV with an old sheet or beach towel to avoid bad news and dust. Use a VCR or DVD player to watch without annoying ads.
Many more on my mind, as you may imagine. Share your low-tech strokes of genius, and simplify, simplify this year.