Who was, is, and will be Caleb Redd?

             There is roughly six and a half billion people in the world. But only one of them is and ever will be me, Caleb Joseph Redd. Since that makes me unique, it would be important to record some things about myself so that I will not be forgotten in the future. Who better to tell my story than myself? Well I am a very friendly and emotional guy. I like to think that I am very mature and others seem to agree. Some things are meant to be discovered simply through independent study. That being said, I am going to discover who I was, who I am, and who I will be.

It may have been stated that the best is saved for last but I do not like the idea of being all self-glorifying. Being the youngest of six kids really has not turned out as bad as one might expect. By the time I was old enough to actually know I was a person my family moved out West and left their two oldest offspring behind. Therefore, it seems as though I was the youngest of four and with two exceptionally close cousins. Being the only boy in the house made it hard to really get into sports and ‘manly’ type activities so usually I would just stay home and dance with the headphones on my ears in the front room. Aside from that I would just figure out a way to really annoy my three sisters which was my way of saying, “I love you.” One of my responsibilities that came along with being the smallest was to assume the roll of ‘mama’s boy’. I was exceptionally good at it too. All-in-all, in my childhood I learned the importance of a family unit, whether it be big or small, and that everybody has feelings and needs a friend. I would not change my early life experiences for any other ones.

Welcome to reality! I find that it is important to realize what is going on in the present so that I know that if I am doing what I should be. Sometimes, a little bit of correctional actions are necessary. The main thing about me would have to be the fact that I am a Mormon. My reason for this is because it is more of a way of life than a religion. But the key part of this is the opportunities that have opened themselves to me because of it. For one, I would not be as in love with music if I was not as emotionally attached to it. Honestly, it is a good thing that being Mormon and a musician coincide because I am not quite sure if I could live without either of them. Music takes up a large portion of my daily routine. Whether it is choir, orchestra, the musical, or even just regular class I have always got a rhythm going in my head. I absolutely love everything about music, the good, the bad, and the ugly. As our youth group, we have incorporated Boy Scouts into our weekly routine. The friends, experiences, and examples I have received from being a Boy Scout have made me who I am today. That is why being a Mormon has such an impact on who I am.  

I cannot actually claim exactly who I will be one day. But I can try and make a couple general statements. One day in the distant future I would like to become a father. This is because I feel as though children are the most precious thing in this world and so it is a big priority of mine. But before I become a father I would like to become a husband. The idea of this has emotions of both excitement and fear. Of course it will be a constant fight maintain this title and I will do my best. As for an occupation, I have been thinking recently about becoming an educator. The idea of helping people is a must in my job. And as far as I can tell, everything a teacher does is assisting another person. There is quite a bunch of instructors in my family including my mother and grandfather and so I guess I just kind of fit the description genetically somehow. No matter what I end up doing in the future I know that if I take all my skills and experiences that I have and will keep picking up as I travel down the long road of life that I will be prepared for anything that gets in my way. So the only thing I can say is, “Bring it on!”

Although it is impossible to encompass a persons entire life in words this gives a pretty basic idea of who Caleb Joesph Redd is. It is hard to precisely try and explain who I was in the past, who I am in the present, and who I will be in the future. This is because nothing is set in stone. My past keeps getting bigger and my memory fades a little more. The present is constantly changing therefore making the future simply unpredictable. But as long as I am aware of this I think I will be alright.  

Aint No Love in the Ghetto

one time i was driving down the street
and downtown you dont know who you’re gonna meet
so near the end of the day
i went to circle k
and this guy with his boos
begged me to choose
to give or to keep
so i could consciously sleep
i coughed up some change
and he started acting strange
he broke out song  and asked me to sing a long
i told him I had to go and then he sang his solo

aint no love in the ghetto
just  people with threats
i said there aint no love in the ghetto
just me and my regrets

at first i tried to ignore him
but then everything else grew dim
i gave him the cold shoulder
turned back to start my motor
he could care less if i was listening
cause i wasnt the first of his dismissing
suddenly i realized
i needed to apologize
so i gave him my attention
and he showed me appreciation
he continued his singing
i felt my eyes start tearing

as he sang....
aint no love in the ghetto
just people with threats
i said there aint no love in the ghetto
just me and my regrets

his words were so deep
that they started to creep
deep into my soul
i never noticed this hole
theres people dying out there
and we all need to care

cause right now there..
Aint no love in the ghetto.
just  people with threats
i said there aint no love in the ghetto
just me and my regrets

aint no love, aint no love, aint no love 

Teenage Driving

              When someone says teenage driving most people want to run the other direction. This is because most people value their property, hard earned possessions, or in other words: their cars. Because of this we ask: what parent wants to let an inexperienced driver get behind the wheel of their "baby". Well the only solution is the parent(s) who care about the safety of their grand kids. That's right, if an adult cant trust their child to drive a car, how can they trust them to raise a child? Especially if they don't even know how to drive. You can teach someone to drive a car but you cant teach them to raise a child. Sure you can show them through examples but you have to let them do it themselves eventually.
               The problem with teenagers driving is that they're people and everyone knows people aren't perfect. But parents seem to forget that and so they already expect their child to be the best driver in the world. And then when the child screws up once the parent freaks out and just makes the whole situation worse. What should the parents response be then besides panic and stress? In times like this it's probably best to just try and speak in a calm, still small voice. Yelling just makes your blood start pumping even harder and therefore increases the chance of having a heart attack.
                Just because a parent might realize that their child isn't perfect contrary to their own beliefs, doesn't mean they shouldn't let their child learn how to drive. That's just a clear sign of saying that they care about their car more than their own family. And that probably makes them a hypocrite.
               "No music in the car!" "Don't ever think about touching the radio dial while you're behind the wheel." "Give me your phone, you can have it back when we get there."
These statements are all for safety but why lie to yourself? A parent should realize that their child will not listen to those rules when they're off on their own. An adult can definitely suggest and encourage but it's just too much to ask if they force their child to do something and usually just ends up in rebellion.
                 If a parent doesn't want them to ruin their "baby", then buy them their own "baby"! It's as simple as that. No one said it had to be brand new or even have air conditioning. There is a huge difference between needs and wants.
                 In conclusion I'd like to say that being a hypocrite doesn't help anyone out and we may not realize it but we all have someone out there looking up to us and watching our every move so if we just keep that in mind we can make a huge difference in everyone's life including our own. So when you laugh at the fact that people pick their noses at stoplights take a good look in your rear view mirror next time you're at one!

Perfect Day Essay

    Lyrics in music stick in the mind of the listener. Zack de la Rocha, the lead singer of a famous rock band, Rage Against the Machines, wrote a song which at one part says, “It has to start somewhere”. I am not quite sure what exactly he was referring to but a perfect day has to start somewhere. A perfect day takes a lot of things to come true and it usually depends on the person. A perfect day is something that starts from inside a person and reflects off of everything around them in a positive way.
    Like anything, a perfect day has to start somewhere. I believe it starts inside ones self. Something that is found inside a person is feeling. To have a perfect day one has to feel it. They have to always remember that a perfect day is within their grasp. More importantly, they have to believe they can be happy. If one is not happy they cannot have perfection. This is because joy is the result of perfection. Joy and happiness always coincide therefore, one has to be happy to obtain a perfect day. Besides feeling like having a perfect day one has to have a desire for it. The person has to want to have a perfect day so bad that they will not let anything bring them down. The individual has to be willing to go the distance, the extra mile, to complete any task that stands in their way. Even if someone does not have a perfect day, as long as they have positive feelings and desires, they will still have a great day, guaranteed.
    Once a person has positive feelings inside them, they begin to lose control of their joy. This, in turn leads to them expressing their feeling of extraordinary happiness to others. The best way they do such a thing is through their attitude. Attitude really does effect everything else a person does. Attitude is controlled through desires and feelings which is why it is so important to have good ones. Without a positive attitude others will not be able to recognize that a person is having a perfect day and neither will the person. One of the best ways to show that one has a positive attitude is by simply smiling. When someone smiles it creates emotions in others that they did not even know they had. Smiling is so easy to do yet so easily forgotten to be expressed. The other part of having a good attitude is by being engaged. If a person shows others that they are even the slightest bit interested in them then they will be given the same treatment. The opposite of this would be silence, awkwardness, and possibly contention. In the end, no one likes any of those three things. Without attitude it would be very hard to have a perfect day.
    There is opposition in all things. Therefore, since positive energy starts from the inside, negative energy will come from the outside. It is very key that one does not let such negative things get to them if one is going to be successful at a perfect day. If they do, then it will just be a downward spiral of degrading feelings and no progression will take place. The best thing someone can do is respond to those conflicts in a professional and mature manner. All they have to do is be polite, especially if it is a person sending out the negative feelings. This is because if a person responds in the same manner then the spiral effect will occur. The best thing to do is remember that either tomorrow or the next day, it will not matter anymore. Therefore, they can either let it get them down or just instantly move on and continue enjoying life to the fullest. It does not matter what events happen to a person that determine who they are. It is how they respond and react to those events that defines them. As long as a person can keep a positive mood they will be able to have a perfect day.
    When a person is happy with themselves, others, and has a positive attitude that is unchangeable, it gives them the possibility of living a perfect day.Without joy and happiness, perfection cannot be achieved. Without desire, perfection is unnecessary. Without a positive attitude, negativity is left to take up the place of it. Without smiles, others cannot be happy either. Without devotion to being perfect one cannot begin to be perfect. A perfect day can occur everyday. The only thing one has to remember is that if they are not progressing, they are digressing.

Utah Experiences

            Living in Utah right at the foot of a mountain at least a mile away from civilization meant one thing, adventures-outdoors-with-my-siblings. Every day was something different, dancing in the living room with giant headphone on our ears, pushing on my sister's shoulders cause I wanted to help her get the full splits and then running away when I realized how much help I'd given her, hiking in the mountain and then turning around and running home as fast as we could when we saw a bright orange vest in the distance, swimming in the damn up the road and then running home screaming in the rain cause of how close the lightning was, recording videos and wetting my pants because my sister wouldn't let me put the camera down and go to the bathroom so she could sing her song or sometimes we would just play baseball in the front yard. But the most exciting story was found twenty steps from our front door.
          It was a Saturday, midday, when my sister and I were home all alone. We decided to go outside and look around. A house was being built a couple hundred yards down the dirt road and there was a crane with a hook on the end. It was just low enough where we could swing it back and forth and black red neck catch in a way. That was fun until I missed my turn to catch it and it came back and hit me in the back of the head. Don't worry, I'm alright, I think.
       After that we were walking back home. and out of the corner of our eyes we spotted this little plastic igloo. It was our neighbors dog house and I decided to act all tough and get on top of it. I then continued to jump up and down and pound on my chest with my fists.

       My sister's laughing soon turned to screaming as she turned and ran for the house. I did not know what she was so scared of, I wasn't that scary. But soon I learned that I had been jumping on top of the home of a few hundred wasps! I was too scared to jump off and follow my sister's footsteps so I just stood there screaming my lungs out. After a couple dozen stings I ran into the house faster then I will ever be able to run again.
      My sister decided to help by putting band aids on my stings but that doesn't help with the pain. It's the thought that counts. To this day I've learned one lesson, don't jump on plastic igloos. 

Sports Fans

      What is the big deal about sports? If you really like a sport than watch it and cheer on anyone and everyone involved. It shouldn't effect your every day life. Don't purposely choose a specific team and put down others because they don't like the same team as you. Think about it, if everyone liked the same team then the others wouldn't even exist therefore that specific team would have no one to play. Honestly, what is the point in getting upset over a championship game. It doesn't effect your life whatsoever! Cause no matter who you are you still have a family that loves you. Even the coaches and players that lose the game still get paid! The college level players still keep their scholarships. It's no big deal. 
       If you've taken the time to look up specific statistics about a certain team and all it's players think about all the time wasted. Can you think of less than 5 things that you could be doing instead that are way more productive, I can't. Why waste time watching other people live their dreams, get out there and live your own! You cant watch life go by from the sidelines. You have to get out there and be a part of it. Old habits die hard but I know you can be just like me one day.

Girl Kitty or Boy Kitty?

    Boyd K. Packer gave this story in his talk in the third session of the 180th general conference. "A teacher got her students a class kitty. The 2nd graders persistently asked her, "is it a girl kitty or a boy kitty?" The teacher said, "it does not matter" because she didn't want to go into detail about the cat's gender. Finally one boy raised his hand and said, "I know how we can tell". The teacher replied, "How?". His response, "We can vote on it"."

    This task was simple yet it goes against nature. The students could vote all they want but the cat is going to be the same gender as it was before. Thus it is the same with families. You can't just vote to make it possible for two people of the same gender to be able to be considered a "family". A marriage is strictly made up of a man and a woman and no other combination is right. My advice to you who might be for this right is found from the rolling stones, "you can't always get what you want." If you really want to be different buy a pink or yellow car.