I've thought of writing several times, but each time I've shied away. I've had thoughts a brewing and varrious debates with myself. I've learned some new things and had experiences and feelings to share but I've put off blogging or simply chickened out when the time arived.
I've been thinking about coincidences and how it really does feel like a small world at times. So many people who are in my life now have had cameo appearances previously and it becomes like the game of spotting Hitchcock's cameo in each of his movies, who and how and where and why. I've had some breakthroughs and some light bulb or aha moments. It's almost comical to look back at ways that I was so sure my life should go and now understand how unhappy these things could have made me and probably others; I now see that the direction of reality over the dream has been better for me. It's nice to be reminded that there's a plan for my happiness by one that knows better that I do at times, what will bring me happiness.
P.S. I've really been enjoying this song.

Have a very Merry Christmas, or a happy holiday.

A random and unrelated to Christmas post

My little brother is playing some computer game where I am repeatedly hearing a shooting sound -like gun shot- and I found myself thinking about the one time I went shooting. One of my friends really wanted to go to a shooting range so she, I, and a guy she was interested in who was also interested in shooting went. I'd never done it before but I figured it'd be no big deal, that maybe I'd feel like a character from my favorite spy show.
I really didn't realize how far removed it would be for me from the tv show. (I know that ought to be obvious but some things are only obvious when you've stepped back for a minute and given them real consideration). We went and bought a box of ammo and rented a hand gun, a .45 if I recall correctly. We put on our ear muffs/hearing protection and eye protection and went back to the range.
I hated going shooting
pretty much from the moment we stepped into the shooting area. Even with hearing protection, gunfire is incredibly loud. I wasn't prepared for casings flying everywhere as shots were discharged. I wasn't prepared for muzzle flare. I wasn't prepared for how terribly awful I felt shooting a gun. I took my first turn (we were sharing) and shoot the magazine full, by the end I was just closing my eyes and firing down the range, I could see the flare through my closed eyes. I just wanted to be done. Though my friend's friend thought I was totally lame, I conceded all the the rest of my turns, anxious never to do it again.

Snow

I am happy because there is beautiful snow on the ground. I love waking up to find snow, it's one of the happiest things for me to find a beautiful, white blanket of snow undisturbed on the ground. I was disapointed yesterday because even though it was snowing a lot of the day, the snow was melting and there wasn't much snow when I went to bed. So it's really Christmas-y now, the tree's up and decorated, there's even a train set up around the tree. Hurray for snow.

picture by Campbell Photography

Christmas in Killarney

I was introduced to this song last night by some friends and I quite like it, it's nice and jolly. Enjoy.

Make art not war

That is now my own personal hippy slogan, it's probably been used before. Oh well.
Yesterday while watching a travel show focused on Greece, the show was going through a museum of Greek antiquity, especially their art and the host mentioned that there weren't many of the spectacular golden age bronze statues because some had been melted down for weapons or something else to do with war. It makes me sick to hear such a thing, that priceless, beautiful works of art were melted down in order to kill or help kill people.
It saddens me that dazzling shrines in Tibet and China survived for hundreds and thousands of years, until they were destroyed in the cultural revolution.
How can we reach the point where we come to war, where we destroy beauty around us and more than that destroy people, men, women and adorable little children? Maybe we really ought to step back a minute and admire beauty so that we remember it and don't destroy it.

Busy

The Christmas season is upon us, and the busy/crazy ness has commenced. From last Sunday until Christmas I've got more Christmas events than I can believe. I have three holiday related events to attend before Sunday. I don't have to go to all of these events, or even any of them, however I want to go to them, the amount of them just makes things a little crazy. This is a wonderful time of year for getting together with friends and family, it just makes me wish that we could spread them out into the rest of the year a little more, rather than having them all now. Maybe I'm wrong. Anyway I hope everyone out there's having a wondeful Christmas or other holiday season.

Some thoughts about Christmas

It's been a little hard to adjust to it being the Christmas season this year, we went to Boston right after Thanksgiving in what I suppose is generally the transition time. I've been listening to my Christmas music since I got back and loving it, I got my Christmas books and little decorations out before we left, and now my little college Christmas tree is up in my room, I watched our video of recorded Christmas programs on Saturday, several hours long and shows I've watched since I was a kid; but it now really feels like Christmas after the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional last night, it was wonderful!
Before the devotional I'd been enjoying traditional things of Christmas but wondering if I was enjoying too much commercialism and not enough of the real meaning of Christmas. Watching the Christmas programs on Saturday I watched The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Mickey's Christmas Carol, etc. and it was an interesting mix of commercialism and trying to get the real meaning, or meanings through. This is a wonderful time of year but I think there's a delicate balance to it that we can so easily upset. It's important to remember that, as the Grinch found out, "...Christmas doesn't come from as store...Christmas means a little bit more." or a lot more. Christmas is to remember the birth of Christ and his life, and from that to also try to act more like him, spending time with our loved ones, doing what we can for the less fortunate, and visiting those who are alone or lonely. I want to remember those things this Christmas season. Think of Charlie Brown, he was having a miserable Christmas season, but when Linus told him the real meaning of Christmas, the things that had bothered Charlie Brown before dropped away.

First Presidency Christmas Devotional

It's tonight and I'm excited!

Wexford Carol and accents

One of my favorite carols the last few years is the Wexford Carol, it's just so beautiful. What are some of your Christmas favorites?

Something from Boston that I really loved was hearing the accents, I know that different accents exist, but none the less it fills me with glee when I hear them. From the lady on the bus who was talking to her boyfriend (loud enough that the whole bus couldn't help but listen, some of us with eager interest), to the man who served us people, and the kind man who gave us directions. I loved the Boston accent.

Today's memory of Boston is the Holocaust Memorial, I guess Boston has a large Jewish community. The memorial was quite powerful, a path covered in glass with three or four glass towers and on the glass, very small, were the number of the people in concentration camps. There were soo many number, I know that should be obvious but it was a little startling to see them all together. There were also quotes from survivors, or soldiers who helped to liberate the camps. Lots of little stones on some of the stone slabs with quotes and facts, which to my understanding is the Jewish equivalent of putting flowers on a grave. I think it's important for us to remember the Holocaust and to have that little shock of realization that comes from meeting the reality of something in a history book.

As for today's Christmas music, we have several Kurt Bestor albums and probably half of them are Christmas albums. I really enjoy his style and I've grown up with this music, it's definitely a part of Christmas for me. This is his arrangement of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Enjoy.

Music and the T

I know I had the big long Boston post yesterday, but there's so much more that I didn't fit in. So I thought I might share a bit more as I go. Today, the subway, they call it the T in Boston. They have four or five lines: Red, Blue, Green, Orange, and silver but I think that one's more of an airport line. My favorite was the blue line which has nice new clean trains and nice stations but we only rode that a few times on our last day. My second favorite was the red line, still very nice trains and stations and we rode that a fair bit. The green and orange lines were pretty comprable from what I remember, we only rode the orange line once to get us to China town, but we rode the green line a lot to get us to a lot of museums etc. The green line is old and grubby, it's got terribly squeeky brakes and runs a bit more like buses do. So there you have it, my thoughts on the subway system in Boston. You can wake up now.

I also decided that I might share some of my favorite Christmas music, I realized in my years of listening to radio Christmas music at work, that I didn't grow up listening to a lot of mainstream Christmas music... if there is such a thing. You can keep I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, and Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer, in my opinion the writers of those songs should be punished. You can also keep My Grown Up Christmas List (a little part of me died when I learned that Michael Buble had sung that song) and the Christmas Shoes. Most of my favorite Christmas music isn't played on the radio but it's beautiful. A lot of my favorites come from the Christmas concerts that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir do each year. My first song to share is from the 2008 concert with Brian Stokes Mitchell, the song is The Friendly Beasts. I was lucky enough to attend this concert and they asked us before the song started, to be quite and not laugh, etc. so that they could get a good recording, they hadn't been able to the previous evenings. I had my fist in my mouth trying not to laugh, or atleast not be audible. Enjoy

Bawston

I just got back from a lovely trip to Boston and Cambridge.It was a pretty quick trip but it was great.
Friday: On Friday we flew out and got there that evening. We didn't do much that night because it was cold and dark and we were tired but we did wander around Harvard Square and tour some of MIT.
Saturday: Saturday we went to the Harvard Natural History Museum, and that was pretty cool, but natural history museums aren't my favorite thing.We saw a bit more of Cambridge (where MIT and Harvard are, across the Charles River from Boston) and went to the MIT museum. There is some pretty cool things that they do and have done at MIT, a lot of work in robotics.We also went to the Prudential (a building/mall) where they have a really tall building and an observation deck on the top. We were there at the end of sunset and it was really pretty and cool to look down at all the buildings and people. After the Pru we went to Chinatown to a very authentic Chinese restaurant which is also apparently Zggat rated. I don't remember what the place was called but I do remember being terrified looking at the menu (I'm less than adventurous when it comes to Americanized Chinese food) but happily what I got was delicious.
Sunday: We took a brief walk through the Freedom Trail, which is a line of red brick that goes through historic Boston past historic sites. We went to church after that.
Monday: This was my favorite day of the trip, we went to the Museum of Science in the morning, had delicious pizza in a little place in the North End (Boston's Little Italy) and got canoli from Mike's Pastry (and unfortunatly this is where my camera battery died). The best part of the day, and of the trip for me was going to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, it was wonderful, except that I could hardly see all that I wanted to before the museum closed. We made a stop at the Boston Public Library, a lot of the cool stuff was closed but that building is so beautiful; also public libraries seem to have originated in Boston. We also walked through the tunnels at MIT that night (or maybe a different night, I don't remember) most of which was unexciting for me but we did pass the MIT glass lab where we stopped to gawk at some students making beautiful things out of glass.
Tuesday: Our last day in Boston we went to the Aquarium and had lunch at the Quincy (they say it Quinsy) Market. And got on the plane to head home. Our first flight was to Washington DC were we saw the White House, Lincoln Monument, the Jefferson...whatever it's called and the National Monument, all from the plane or the airport. We then got on our final plane and went home.

The Best of Boston

*Boston accents
*the buses and subway (I love reliable public transit, I don't have a lot of trust in the local public transit)
*the North End
*the Longfellow house, we didn't actually go in, we just wandered around it in the dark; the garden's probably beautiful when it's not dark or winter
*ocean and river views
*great museums etc.
*The MFA Boston - I could have happily spent the eintire trip there
*brick buildings and roads everywhere! so beautiful...a little hard on a roller suitcase though
*the Boston Public Library, that building is stunningly beautiful
*cool historic sites and great old buildings
*Canoli, delicious.
There's probably a lot more but I can't think of them now.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm grateful that soon we'll be with family and that we'll get to eat delicious food and eat the pies that we made last night (we are going to have so many pies that there will be enough for a half a pie a piece if people so desire). I'm grateful for the beautiful day it is outside and that I slept nice and warm and cozy inside.

I'm grateful for how peacful and serene it is when snow is falling at night. I'm grateful that the storm didn't hit us as hard as expected, it might have been cool to have a blizzard but I'd rather not be snowed it and have power and heat. I'm grateful that soon I will be free (by my rules) to listen to Christmas music. I'm grateful for Christmas books, mine are sitting out ready to be read. I'm grateful for washing machines and dryers. I'm grateful for pie, I probably said that already but pie is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving, we generally have 6-9 types of pie at our Thanksgiving dinners and we're in charge of the pies. I'm grateful for real mashed potatoes (some of my cousins have potato pearls for Thanksgiving (to be fair, that's their dad's line of work) and I just can't support that.) I'm grateful I didn't wake up to my brother practicing the drums today. I'm grateful for public libraries and libraries in general. I'm grateful that I'm not a rock star, it's ironic that the people in the lifestyles that people generally envy quite often don't have lives that enviable. I watched LennoNYC last night, an American Masters about John Lennon's time living in America.

I'm grateful it didn't snow yesterday when I was out driving around. I'm grateful for the beautiful day it was. I'm grateful that I don't need to rely on finding parking spots close to a store or handicaped spots; I'm grateful that I have legs that work and thus I can walk, even from the other side of a parking lot. I'm grateful that I don't need to take any medications. I'm grateful that I was proven very wrong in thinking that Book of Mormon Pictionary would be a boring activity, it was so much fun. I'm grateful that I was on the winning team and now have a coldstone gift card. I'm grateful that the horsey sauce mashed potatoes I made up last night turned out pretty good. I'm grateful that it's almost Thanksgiving!

picture taken by Campbell Photography

I'm grateful for church yesterday and the wonderful lessons and talks that were given. I'm grateful for the bishopric member who got released yesterday, we'll miss him a lot. I'm grateful for the chance to get to know a new bishopric member. I'm grateful for the delicious ward thanksgiving dinner that I got to eat yesterday and for the wonderful ladies who made it. I'm grateful for snow. I'm grateful to be donating to the food bank rather than receiving. I'm grateful for pies and that my mom makes great pies and that we'll be eating them on Thursday!

Sorry there wasn't a post yesterday, it was a crazy day.

I'm grateful that I still got to go and play volleyball, even though my alarm didn't go off and I slept in. I'm grateful for the nice lady who let our team play even though we only had one guy (co-ed rules, but I never saw anything saying we had to have three boys, the just assumed we'd have them) and that said lady became our team's personal cheerleader, she was wonderful. I'm grateful for the people who showed up so we'd have enough people to play, the one guy on the team who's girlfriend dragged him in and the lovely lady who hadn't intended on coming but came because we needed her. I'm grateful that getting hit in the head with a volleyball doesn't hurt that bad and I'm grateful that my glasses and my eye are both okay from the impact. I'm grateful that our couches are in the couch again (they were in the garage for the remodel). I'm grateful that when driving last night I had a companion and navigator. I'm grateful for a fun evening of friends. I'm grateful that despite the snow we were able to get home safely. I'm grateful for how beautiful it looks when it's snowing at night. I'm grateful for a warm, comfortable nights sleep. I'm grateful for the joy I feel in waking up in the morning to snow (it's so beautiful and there's so much more this morning). I'm grateful that it's Sunday and that I'll get to go to church in a few hours. I'm grateful for the ward Thanksgiving dinner that we'll be having after church today and for the wonderful Bishopric and their wives who'll be preparing it.

I'm grateful for the special days that Fridays are. I'm grateful that I get to play volleyball tomorrow. I'm grateful that I'm no longer hearing drum practice. I'm grateful for the scriptures. I'm grateful for warm showers. I'm grateful for family traditions.

Mortality and Gratitude

I was reminded of my own mortality this morning when I found out that one of my past FHE brothers (FHE stands for Family Home Evening, every Monday night in LDS families we have an evening together as a family, in college or singles wards we're not with our actual families so we gather together in FHE groups.) died yesterday in a plane crash. It's sort of a shock, to think about someone my age and that I knew being dead so suddenly. Life is precious and we don't really know when it will end. He was a really nice guy and my condolences are with his family and his wife. It's sad to think about but it makes me so grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge that we can see friends and loved ones again someday. I'm grateful that through temple covenants, families can be together forever, that mariages don't have to be "'til death do you part" I am grateful for the gospel and the numerous blessings that it brings into my life. I'm grateful that death isn't just the end.

I'm grateful that ganache is being made upstairs. I'm grateful for chocolate and it's wonderful smell. I'm grateful that I found my knee pads so I can play volleyball on Saturday (when I play volleyball without them I have friction burns and bruises on my knees, knee pads were a great investment). I'm grateful for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, which I'm listening too now. I'm grateful for books, and book shelves, and reading.

I'm grateful for friends and laughing and being silly with them. I'm grateful that I got to hear a friend's a capella group give a concert last night. I'm grateful for skills that I have. I'm grateful that my room is cleaner than it's been in ages. I'm grateful for shows like Rosemary and Thyme that our family enjoys together.

I'm grateful for prayers answered and for the opportunity yesterday to teach a lesson on baptism and to be taught in turn. I'm grateful for the tallents of others. I'm grateful that enough people signed up in my ward that we can have a team play in a regional volleyball tournament. I'm grateful that I was able to take bookbinding in college and learn how to make books. I'm grateful for good art museums.

I'm grateful for beautiful music and free concerts that feature beautiful music. I'm grateful for beautiful places. I'm grateful for beauty wherever it can be found. I'm grateful for useful tools. I'm grateful for my responsibilities and when I'm able to do them well. I'm grateful for the fresh start of a new day. I'm grateful that it's Sunday once again. I'm grateful that I've been able to make some of the things hanging in my closet and I'm grateful for the help I've received in making those items.

I'm grateful for Costco and for samples. I'm grateful for a nice warm coat. I'm grateful for caramel apple flavored things. I'm grateful for finding acorns and chestnuts. I'm grateful for crunchy leaves. I'm greatful for spellchecks. I'm grateful that I'm a much better speller than I used to be. I'm grateful for ice skating and gymnastics on tv.

I'm grateful for the people who've gone before who've established and created things that I appreciate and even take for granted. I'm grateful for the beautiful art work of friends and mentors that provide motivation and inspiration for me. I'm grateful that I went to school at BYU and got my degree in visual art despite all the well meaning people who've tried to talk me out of it along the way. I'm grateful for the well meaning people who care about me and have tried to talk me out of pursuing art (even though it can be frustrating and discouraging at the time). I'm grateful that I live so close to so much beauty.

I am grateful that I've never had any inclination to join the circus, especially after seeing a tv show about life, and the people of the circus behind the scenes. I'm grateful for a slice of perspective to make me see just how lucky I am in my life and how much more grateful I ought to be for things that I've taken for granted. I'm grateful for my family. I'm very grateful for my religion.

I'm grateful for beautiful music. I'm grateful for warm flannel sheets and fleece slipper socks. I'm grateful that I have a computer and access to the internet.

"Is Civility Dead?"

A week or so ago on the Today show they were asking that very question, "Is civility dead?" I didn't watch the whole story but they went on to give numerous examples of our society's lack of civility. Watching and hearing about these examples made me both sad and concerned. It's very true that we're surrounded by the lack of civility, from reality tv, to sitcoms, to the news, to traffic, etc. I'm guilty of incivility and I imagine that just about all of us are or have been. I didn't like what I saw, all those examples of how common incivility is, it made me want to be a more civil and civilized person, kinder and more respectful. Civility may be close to death but I believe that we have the power to change that and to bring back civility. Each one of us controls our actions and has the power to bring more civility into our lives. I was reading Elder Quentin L. Cook's talk from general conference and I think it is a good guide on civility. I'm working on my own civility and I hope other people will do so as well.

I'm grateful for how pretty the snow is, and for one of my favorite breakfasts. I'm grateful that I got my room a little cleaner/more organized. I'm glad for the cozyness of being warm in your bed when it's cold outside.

I'm grateful for the feeling of productiveness. I'm grateful to feel needed and of worth. I'm grateful for all the good reading that's available to me. I'm grateful for chocolate and for carmle apple sugar babies.

I'm grateful for daylight savings in the fall. I'm grateful for the Sunday Comics in the newspaper. I'm grateful to get to go to church today. I'm grateful for a great ward.

I'm grateful for good food cooked by someone else. I'm grateful for good food period. I'm grateful that I've got a book from the library that I've been looking foreward to.

I'm grateful to have my copy of the conference ensign. I'm grateful for good books marked down to prices I can justify in buying. I'm grateful for the cereal bowl full of raspberries I was able to pick yesterday - in November!

I'm grateful that even though I may not always enjoy it, I have the chance to help my Grandma's, give a ride, mow a lawn; it's good to spend time with them and to get to know them better. I'm also grateful that I got to see beautiful fall leaves and a beautiful sunset.

I'm grateful that I can do my laundry without saving my quarters. I'm grateful for friends and family. I'm grateful that the elections are over and with them the commercials and phonecalls from/about candidates. I'm grateful for chestnuts and oak trees. I'm grateful for socks. I'm grateful for flannel sheets and pajamas.

Thoughts on Christmas Music

I know there are people who are listening to Christmas music now, those that were listening in July, and even those who never stop listening to Christmas music. My feelings on Christmas music is that it ought not to be played until after eating on Thanksgiving. I believe my firmness about Christmas music season comes, at least in part, from my years working at a cafeteria in college, especially my time as a cashier; when Christmas music was played at the cafeteria it meant that I was hearing it in four hour shifts, every other day for the season. I know that there are people who love this, the station that was usually played at work plays Christmas music non-stop for 100 days until Christmas. I'm not against Christmas music, I quite enjoy it, I'm against the Christmas music that gets played on the radios. There really aren't that many Christmas songs, at least not played on the radio, there are hundreds of versions of these songs, but in essense there aren't that many songs and they get repetative. I took a tally of song frequency one year while at work. There were songs that I think were played four times an hour on average. That's a lot. My second problem with a lot of the songs that really have nothing to do with what Christmas is really about; you may love "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" and "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" etc. but I find them annoying and without purpose.
I do love Christmas music though and our family's library of Christmas music which is not so frequently played on the airwaves. We're in November now and it's tempting to just break out the Christmas music, I'll hold off a little longer. I think that Thanksgiving is a great holiday, a great time to reflect on the blessings we have in life, not just food, football or shopping. It makes me sort of sad that Thanksgiving gets shoved aside by the commercialism of Christmas.

I'm grateful for fun and friends. I'm grateful that it's Tuesday. I'm grateful for libraries. I'm grateful for the scriptures. I'm grateful for sketchbooks and drawing pencils. I'm grateful for enjoyable works of fiction.

kitchen update

The ugly wall paper is all but gone but now we have the cabinets in.

I am grateful for cars and their convienience. I'm grateful for the beauty to be found in nature. I'm grateful that I have access to a washer and dryer and that I don't have to hoard quarters to use them. I'm grateful for candy.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I'm grateful for cars, and for warm houses. I'm grateful for family and family fun. I'm grateful that there are now chairs to sit on upstairs (most of that sort of thing's still in the garage from remodeling). I'm grateful for temple marriages and I'm grateful for my ward. I'm grateful for beautiful music.

I'm grateful that I live so close to so many temples. I'm grateful that I can make frequent temple trips. I'm also grateful for bagels.

I'm grateful for a warm house, socks and that I get to see family tomorrow at my cousin's wedding reception.

Gratitude

Starting now and through the month of November I'm going to be celebrating Thanksgiving by posting about things I'm grateful for. Hopefully I'll do this every day, but we'll see.

I'm grateful for the snow that's outside and so beautiful but I'm also grateful that it's not on the roads. I'm grateful for warm showers and space heaters and the fact that we have indoor plumbing and enough water that we can all shower every day. There are places where that doesn't happen.

A cool experience

Today I got to sing at the conference center in the choir loft for a regional broadcast that was broadcast to people all over the area. It's been a pretty cool experience, to see the conference center from a different perspective, to sit in the same seats that the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir routinely sit in, and to read the teleprompter while apostles are speaking and to know when they deviate from their writen talks.
The conference was wonderful with a great spirit and so many wonderful talks and insightful messages including talks by Elder Nelson and President Uchtdorf. The choir sang beautifully (I'm not tooting my own horn here, I was only a small part of the choir and not the best part by a long shot). It was a rare experience and I'm grateful to have been a part of it. I'm also grateful that the conference is over, we worked long and hard to sound our best, the songs were beautiful but challenging.

Lately I've been thinking that fall might be my favorite time of year, I don't really know that that's true but I do love fall. The leaves have been turning colors and the world is so beautiful. The mountains are filled with blushing trees alongside those that are ever green. There a hues of yellow, red and orange all against blue skys. Crunching leaves beneath your feet, really, what's not to love?

I had a very culturally enriching weekend this past weekend. I was able to go to two operas and to visit an Islamic Center. I didn't plan for it to be such an opera packed weekend, it just happened.
The first opera I got to see was La Boheme, which is a very famous opera by Puccini. I wasn't sure how much I would like La Boheme because it's a tragedy and I'm not a huge fan of tragedy, however there was a fair amount of comedy in the opera and so I did indeed enjoy it. The music was beautiful and beautifully sung. If you get the chance you should see this opera.
The next event of the weekend was visiting a local Islamic Center. My friend's co-worker invited her to come and have a tour and to be able to talk to the Iman (the spiritual leader of the Islamic Center) and my friend invited me. When we got to the Center I realized that I'd actually been there a few years earlier on a field trip. The building itself isn't exactly what one might think of when they think of an Islamic place of worship (aka a mosque, however I found out that mosque isn't really what it's called but I forget the other name), I think of the grand mosques like Dome of the Rock, etc. which are exquisitely beautiful. The Islamic Center I went to is a more humble building, many of it's patrons are immigrants and refugees, but it is still a lovely building.


It was very interesting as the Iman showed us around the building and told us about his religion, correcting popular assumptions as he went. We were able to observe as members of the community gathered for their prayers and afterwords the Iman and those who were there taught us more about some of the essentials of the Muslim faith. It's really very interesting and intriguing to see how very similar the beliefs of different religions are. Islam is a fascinating and very simple, yet complex religion. If you'd like to learn more about the religion find your local Islamic Center and ask about a tour etc.
The last big event of the weekend was seeing Mozart's The Magic Flute, I've been interested in this opera for a while, I had a brief introduction to it when I first saw the movie Amadeus, years ago. I really enjoyed this opera, if you're new to opera this is a good opera to see, the music is beautiful, the plot intriguing and comical. This opera was a little different from other opera's that I've seen, the music was sung in German and then there was dialogue in English, I enjoyed the opera but all the same I would have preferred language continuity. In a lot of opera's rather than spoken dialogue they have would sing/speak along with piano/harpsichord accompaniment and this was called recitative. German didn't lend itself very well to recitative and so instead they did Singspiel. In singspiel they sang the music and then spoke the dialogue making it a bit like a musical today. The plot of The Magic Flute is very fantastical and also contains a lot of Free Masonry connections which are really cool. I whole heatedly recommend The Magic Flute. PS the queen of the night's aria is insane.

Wallpaper

I am here to say that I am not a fan of wall paper. I've spent a lot of time lately scrapping away the old and ugly layers of wall paper pictured in this post. In some ways disposing of old wall paper can be fun, those ways are when the paper comes off in long strips or big chunks; that doesn't happen very often. My whole family are long time watchers of the show This Old House, I've watched this show my whole life, I remember an eppisode lately where they were taking down layers of old and ugly wall paper in a house and the crew that were doing it were preforming wall paper miracle, they made it look so easy, the wallpaper was practically falling off the walls. There's several differences between this eppisode and what the rest of us might meet up with; We're not professionals, nor did we do all the stuff that happened behind the scenes to allow the magic to happen. A life lesson learned I suppose, TV still isn't reality, and I don't think I ever want to have wall paper in any house I might live in, in the future. May you be spared ugly, old wall paper in your remodeling endevors.

Conference

Saturday and Sunday the 180th Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Durring these two days members world wide gathered to hear the words of our church leaders. It was wonderful to be able to listen to these good men and women and to feel the spirit. I'm so grateful to be a part of this church, for all the blessings it brings in my life and conference is one of those blessings. I've had things that I've been struggeling with, things that I've been pondering, things that aren't working well in my life and so many of these things were addressed in conference. Though others have different struggles, etc. than I do, I know that many others also recieved answers they were seeking or advice they needed.
Last weekend the Relief Society, the women's organization in the church, had it's conference meeting, it was such a wonderful meeting and I came away feeling so uplifted. This was one of the talks that I enjoyed most from that meeting.

Hollywood

I really enjoyed this song and this video by Michael Buble.

time machine

We're redoing our kitchen and in taking tiles off the walls we started taking off some of the wall paper. It was really kind of cool to see the layers of different and ugly wall papers that were in the kitchen. It was a bit like looking back in time, I was wondering what lives the kitchen might have had and what times and people were responsible for all the wall paper choices.

I am a part of one of the largest and oldest women's orginizations around, the Relief Society and last night was the annual meeting, it was such a wonderful meeting!

It's funny the ways that perspective can change; there was a time when the 6th grade seemed so grown up...some of it might have even been in 6th grade, highschool, college, on and on. I still say things like "when I grow up I want to..." sometimes it's in jest, a lot of times it's real. What is that makes you a grown up? Age would be one, but it's not always a gaurentee, I know men that are grandfathers that aren't grown ups.
I do sometimes feel like a grown up but not generally. I sometimes want to be a grown up, but sometimes I really don't. Sometimes I'd just like to go back to bed forever.

I'm not a very big fan of Man of La Mancha, but I must admit that this song is just beautiful!

lucky

Lately I've been coming to understand better just how lucky I am to live in the age and country that I do. I've been grateful, pretty much all my life that pants are everyday wear and that girls and women are no longer required to wear skirts; I've never liked skirts or dresses much and feel a bit baffeled when others tell me how much they love them, when I think about people wearing them because they want to, I'm taken aback. As I've grown and learned more about history, I've found more and more things to be grateful for, things that I've taken for granted: not wearing corsets, that I can have and choose my profession, that I was able and encouraged to get an education... the list goes on and on.
I have a feminist streak and no doubt about it. I believe my feminism was sparked by learning about the suffragette movement, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Caddy Stanton, and others who's names I can't think of. These women worked hard and suffered a lot to bring the vote to women. I always loved this song from Mary Poppins, it was years before I understood what it was about but now I do and I appreciate it all the more.
I recently watched a movie about Coco Chanel called Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel) and I had no idea how much I ought to be grateful to her. Before Chanel women's clothes were lovely but restricting and impractical, Chanel got rid of her corset and made clothes that allowed women to breath and to do the things that men could do.
There are so many more things and women to be grateful for, but I'll stop there. Here's to the men and women who've worked towards equality.

It's a great and a beautiful place out there.

Coldplay

Dear Coldplay, thank you for the music you write and preform that I love so much. Songs like this and this make my day. Thank you.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"
That's from the first amendment. I don't know that a mosque at ground zero was the best idea, but these people are within their rights. Being Muslim doesn't make someone a terrorist. Being a Christian doesn't make some one a good person. There are good and bad people withing any religion.

Labor Day weekend, a holidy extra beloved because it means time off of school/work and probably a barbeque. I enjoy the holiday for these reasons but this year I can't help thinking about how these days it's too easy to take the enjoyment of a holiday and forget why we celebrate a holiday.
The importance and significance of Labor Day were really brought home to me earlier this year when I was reading a book about what life was like for those who worked in the factories and lived in tenements. We celebrate Labor Day because of striking factory workers who wanted better conditions and more rights. I'm pretty far removed from their situation in my life, these people were packed together in small rooms, they spent their days in factories where they had to work hard all day to make enough to support their families. Children either didn't go to school or didn't finish school so that they could work and help support their families. These people worked in sweat shops, underpaid because of all the people looking for work and all the profits that the higher ups were making off of them.
So remember why we celebrate Labor Day and remember that there are still people all over the world who are slaving away in sweat shops.

It's a small world...

I've found some suprising connections lately. Several years ago I saw a current friend of mine in a concert. A friend I met a few months ago wrote a commet in my book for my art show over a year ago. Three years ago I saw a painting of a girl who is currently my friend.
It's sort of weird to think about these connections I've had with friends before I even met them; I wonder who I'm interacting with now that might be a bigger part of my life someday.

good reading

I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants section 121, the whole section is very good but I was especially struck by verses 34-40.

I'm back in my posting slump, I've got a lot on my mind but nothing seems to be willing to lend itself to blogging.

Disclaimer: Thoughts on "Chick Lit"

A friend posted this on facebook and got me thinking about "Chick Lit" I will be honest and say that I mroe skimmed the article and had a hard following it other than that people didn't like the term and were calling for more equality and recignition between the sexes. I'm not here to talk about the article per say but about the thoughts that this article and it's title brought up.
For purposes of this discussion...or perhaps rant, I will define the term "chick lit" as books aimed at females, specifically those who are single and living vicariously through various forms of fiction, books that have rather implausible plots centering on romance and sex, etc. I could probably further this definition, but I think I'd better quit while I'm ahead.
I have read a lot of chick lit in my time, and I enjoyed them, they're generally easy to read and enjoyable. I have noticed some unpleasant side effects from reading chick lit: depression at the worlds of differences between my life and the plots of the books, irritability, etc. During college, due both to lack of time and accessibility of these books, my reading of these books became more infrequent and after reading Austenland at the urging of my roommate, I decided that I was going to stop reading chick lit, and I believe that by in large I've held to that; there are books that I still read that might be considered chick lit, however I've stayed away from the ones that top the best seller charts and fit my previously listed definition.
I've strayed from the point that I wanted to make. The above mentioned article has made me think; apparently there are those who are angered by the term chick lit, possibly insulted by it. I don't know their whole story, as I mentioned, I only skimmed the article but I have no qualms whatsoever about categorizing certian books as chick lit, when a book can be read in a few hours, has the plot and vocabulary of a sitcom and leaves the reader disgruntled with their life or perhaps lack of life then I see no reason why it should not be called chick lit. That's really all I meant to say, I'm sorry it took me this long to say it. Those are my thoughts.

Zions

Our stop at Zion was the last part of the trip, it was interesting, in Bryce we were pulling out our jackets, in Zion we were melting in the heat. I personally like Bryce better than Zion but they are both quite beautiful.

This is the view from weeping rockThese are the patriarchs

Tarzan

I really enjoyed the Disney movie Tarzan when it came out several years ago, the characters, animation and music are all wonderful. A few years ago I heard that Disney was making a musical of a few Disney movies including Tarzan; I couldn't really see it going well and didn't think much more about it. A year or two after that I had a roommate who'd seen the show in New York and had the sound track and through listening to it with her I came to enjoy the extra songs that hadn't been in the movie. Recently I've been listening to the soundtrack of the musical and liking it more and more with every listen. This summer I found out that Tarzan would be performed locally and dreamed of going but figured that it wouldn't happen.
I got to go though, I recently saw Tarzan and I loved it; I don't have pictures however because they weren't allowed. I think a lot of the show's success is due to the fact that the music and lyrics are by Phil Collins. The story is modified from the movie but is still quite enjoyable.One of the coolest things of the performance was the flying/vine swinging that Tarzan and the gorillas did. They had multiple zip line type lines on various paths across the stage and over the audience and the actors could go across. My new fantasy dream job is to be a bungee gorilla for Tarzan.
I highly recommend Tarzan.

"It's a hell of a place to lose a cow."

I think this thing is called the cathedral.
A smattering of pictures from Bryce Canyon. Bryce Canyon was discovered, at least by white people, when Ebenezer (or another E name of similar nature) Bryce lost his cow there. It's pretty weird and beautiful.

Roadtrip

Get ready for a highly photographed string of posts. Updated as I have time and enthusiasm. Enjoy.