5 (baker's dozen)

.

065) A Son Is Forever by various, finished July 29

My mother gave me this Blue Mountain collection for Coast Guard Day in 2002 with an inscription saying she couldn't choose one as more appropriate than the others to describe her feelings for me. So I read them all.

Why did it take six years?

Hoo.

Well, um, they're all kind of the same. And although they look like poems, there's not much poetry there.

But I appreciate the sentiment. I've realized that my mom likes sentimental greeting cards and the like and so I'm trying to learn to appreciate them for what they are intended to be. It's kinda hard. But hey! I'm totally filial!

I know.

I've read the book.

days away from six years

064) Good ol' Snoopy by Charles M. Schultz, finished July 13

I couldn't help myself. It was sitting there. I had time.

And I LOVED it.

maybe twenty minutes

063) Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi, finished July 13

I tell you what: after reading this, I'm nervous about leaving Lady Steed alone in a room with nothing but ladies.

a day

062) A Doré Treasury edited by James Stevens, finished July 12?

I've been eating and breathing Doré lately and this collection is one I would recommend to anyone wanting a nice variety of Doré prints to leave out on the table. Also, Stevens's introduction was a nice, brief and quite interesting look at Doré's life and career. You can find it for under ten bucks on Amazon if you nose around a little.

better part of an hour

061) Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.; finished July 8

I first read this in high school after being blown away by Cat's Cradle. I didn't like it as much. I started out liking it much more this time, but in the end, still not one of my favorite Vonneguts. Sorry, rest of the world. So it goes.

over two weeks

Previously:

065) A Son Is Forever by various, finished July 29
064) Good ol' Snoopy by Charles M. Schultz, finished July 13
063) Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi, finished July 13
062) A Doré Treasury edited by James Stevens, finished July 12?
061) Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.; finished July 8
060) The Enoch Letters by Neal A. Maxwell, finished July
059) Sock Monkey: The Inches Incident by Tony Millionaire, finished July 3
058) The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 by Thomas Ott, finished July 2
057) Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi, finished July 1
056) 300 by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, finished June 16
055) Fox Bunny Funny by Andy Hartzell, finished June 16
054) Where Did I Leave My Glasses?: The What, When, and Why of Normal Memory Loss by Martha Weinman Lear, finished June 15
053) The Mystery Guest by Grégoire Bouillier, trans. Lorin Stein, finished June 14
052) The Legend of Spud Murphy by Eoin Colfer, finished June 10
051) Good Bones and Simple Murders by Margaret Atwood, finished June 10
050) Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney's, Humor Category edited by D. Eggers, K. Shay, L. Epstein, J. Warner and S. Kleid, finished June 9
049) Bikeman by Thomas F. Flynn, finished June 5
048) Fool Moon by Jim Butcher, finished June 5
047) The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, finished June 2
046) Sixty Poems by Charles Simic, finished May 30
045) Replay by Ken Grimwood, finished May 28 044 The Age of the Conglomerates: A Novel of the Future by Thomas Nevins, finished May 27
044) The Age of the Conglomerates: A Novel of the Future by Thomas Nevins, finished May 27
043) W;t by Margaret Edson, finished April 19
042) Halo and Sprocket Volume 1: Welcome to Humanity by Kerry Cullen, finished May 17
041) Storm Front by Jim Butcher, finished May 16>
040) 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill, finished May 9
039) I Am the President of Ice Cream by Geoff Sebesta, finished May 4
038) On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, finished May 3
037) The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester, finished May Day
036) The Drifting Classroom Vol. 1 by Kazuo Umezu, finished April 30
035) The Complete Peanuts 1965 - 1966 by Charles M. Schulz, finished April 29
034) Nextwave: Agents Of H.A.T.E Volume 1: This Is What They Want by Warren Ellis et Stuart Immonen et al, finished April 29
033) Batman: Hush, Vol. 2 by Jeph Loeb et al, finished April 29
032) Batman: Hush, Vol. 1 by Jeph Loeb et al, finished April 28
031) Chéri by Colette, finished April 17
030) Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett, finished April 13
029) Animal Farm by George Orwell, finished April 8
028) Macbeth by William Shakespeare, finished April 7
027) On the Road to Heaven by Coke Newell, finished April 4
026) The Great American Citizenship Quiz: Can You Pass Your Own Country's Citizenship Test? by Solomon M. Skolnick, finished March 23
025) Long After Dark by Todd Robert Petersen, finished March 23
024) The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, finished March 21
023) Robot Dreams by Sara Varon, finished March 10
022) The Complete Peanuts 1963-1964 by Charles M. Schulz, finished March 9
021) Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, finished March 7
020) Unorthodox Practices by Marissa Piesman, finished March 5
019) Happy Hour at Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta, finished March 4
018) A War of Gifts: An Ender Story by Orson Scott Card, finished Leap Day
017) Watership Down by Richard Adams, finished February 26
016) Old Boy Volume One by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, finished February 25
015) Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, finished February 18
014) Ultimate Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, finished February 15
013) Trusting Jesus by Jeffrey R. Holland, finished February 11
012) Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham et al., finished February 11
011) Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach, finished February 4
010) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, finished February 3
009) American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, finished LDotFMotNY
008) Zombification: Stories from National Public Radio by Andrei Codrescu, finished January 22
007) Marriage Lines: Notes of a Student Husband by Ogden Nash, finished January 22
006) Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, finished January 20
005) The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time by Douglas Adams, finished January 14
004) Lord of the Flies by William Golding, finished January 10
003) Rising Sun by Michael Crichton, finished January 7
002) The Marketing of Sister B by Linda Hoffman Kimball, finished January 2
001) Animal Farm by George Orwell, finished January 1



The First Five ( 001 / 005 )
The Second Five ( 005 / 010 )
The Third Five ( 011 / 015 )
The Fourth Five ( 016 / 020 )
The Fifth Five ( 021 / 025 )
The Sixth Five ( 026 / 030 )
The Seventh Five ( 031 / 035 )
The Eighth Five ( 036 / 040 )
The Ninth Five ( 041 / 045 )
The Tenth Five ( 046 / 050)
The Eleventh Five ( 051 / 055)
The Twelfth Five ( 056 / 060)
The Thirteenth Five ( 061 / 065)

What to Get Me for Coast Guard Day (beautiful woman edition)

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Coast Guard Day is only a week away and, well, the packages haven't been arriving in the mail as expected. To help those of you worrying about what a thmazing-type recipient might want, I'm putting together a list of women with beautiful voices. Because let's face it: I can't have too many.

(more)

Sunday School Svithe (part two of three) belated

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Sorry this is late---we never did get around to turning on the computer yesterday. so we had a nice digital-free shabbat. This week's post is a continuation of last week's, notes from my Sunday School lesson on Alma 17-22.

Since last week's post, I've heard a few comments on my lesson, and the main one--a little surprising--is that it was 'funny.' You wouldn't really get that from the notes. I didn't plan any jokes......

Anyway, here's the second of the three lessons I prepared. We ran out of time and only barely touched on this one, but there's some interesting stuff. I used the Blue Letter Bible for my vocabulary research (what word[s] were translated intoguile). If you're not familiar with it, it's a great tool.

------------\\


GREEK

-John 1:47 (dolos)
+2 Cor 12:16 (dolos)*
-1 Thess 2:3 (dolos) seems to say the opposite of 2Cor12
-1 Peter 2:1 (dolos)
-1 Peter 2:21-22 (dolos) Christ was without guile
-1 Peter 3:10 (dolos)
Revelation 14:5 (dolos)


HEBREW

-Exodus 21:14 (ormah)
-Psalms 32:2 (r@miyah) Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
-Psalms 34:13 (mirmah)
-Psalms 55:11 (mirmah)


English

-D&C 124:20
-D&C 41:9,11
-D&C 121:41-42**


*Some translations suggest that this is a continuation of Paul listing the ways he had supposedly taken advantage of the people. They way I read it myself is that he is saying that if he tricked them, it was not for their money but, you might say, for their souls.

This is a further likening to Ammon. Upon first meeting Ammon, it's clear that Lamoni's father expects that he, Ammon, is after wealth. With a bit of squinting, we could guess that Lamoni started with that assumption as well. A bit of swordplay and Ammon, like Paul, has apparently found a sneaky way to riches. But, in fact, all his guile is used for is in freeing his brethren and helping his buddy Lamoni.


**This one is particularly interesting to me. In a list of attributes of your good priesthood man, guile
is explicitly excluded. And this is the same God that had Joseph translate whatever word was in the Book
of Mormon as 'guile.'

How do we choose to understand this?

Or, perhaps, what was it about Ammon's and Paul's "guile" which makes it okay?

My guess: charity.

Also, consider this: Ammon had a chance at guile with Lamoni's father and all he did was ask favors for friends. And what result did this have?

Within moments of trying to kill Ammon, he says:
Alma 20:27 And I will also grant unto thee that thy brethren may be cast out of prison, and thou and thy brethren may come unto me, in my kingdom; for I shall greatly desire to see thee. For the king was greatly astonished at the words which he had spoken, and also at the words which had been spoken by his son Lamoni, therefore he was desirous to learn them.

So Aaron and presumably Muloki come to visit the king and they offer to be his servants (they've learned from the Ammon playbook). But the king will have none of that.

Let's read. We have an Aaron, a king and a narrator. Please share a mike, folks. And read with gusto!

If you want to follow along, Alma 22:2-18.
Pay close attention to the startling lack of guile on the part of the king. I'll be asking you what we can learn from him and how we can apply those lessons.

Narrator: And it came to pass that he went in unto him into the king’s palace, with his brethren, and bowed himself before the king, and said unto him:

Aaron: Behold, O king, we are the brethren of Ammon, whom thou hast delivered out of prison. And now, O king, if thou wilt spare our lives, we will be thy servants.

King: Arise, for I will grant unto you your lives, and I will not suffer that ye shall be my servants; but I will insist that ye shall administer unto me; for I have been somewhat troubled in mind because of the generosity and the greatness of the words of thy brother Ammon; and I desire to know the cause why he has not come up out of Middoni with thee.

Aaron: Behold, the Spirit of the Lord has called him another way; he has gone to the land of Ishmael, to teach the people of Lamoni.

King: What is this that ye have said concerning the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, this is the thing which doth trouble me. And also, what is this that Ammon said—If ye will repent ye shall be saved, and if ye will not repent, ye shall be cast off at the last day?

Aaron: Believest thou that there is a God?

King: I know that the Amalekites say that there is a God, and I have granted unto them that they should build sanctuaries, that they may assemble themselves together to worship him. And if now thou sayest there is a God, behold I will believe.

Narrator: And now when Aaron heard this, his heart began to rejoice, and he said:

Aaron: Behold, assuredly as thou livest, O king, there is a God.

King: Is God that Great Spirit that brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem?

Aaron: Yea, he is that Great Spirit, and he created all things both in heaven and in earth. Believest thou this?

King: Yea, I believe that the Great Spirit created all things, and I desire that ye should tell me concerning all these things, and I will believe thy words.

Narrator: And it came to pass that when Aaron saw that the king would believe his words, he began from the creation of Adam, reading the scriptures unto the king—how God created man after his own image, and that God gave him commandments, and that because of transgression, man had fallen. And Aaron did expound unto him the scriptures from the creation of Adam, laying the fall of man before him, and their carnal state and also the plan of redemption, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, through Christ, for all whosoever would believe on his name. And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth; and that he breaketh the bands of death, that the grave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory; and Aaron did expound all these things unto the king. And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said:

King: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.

Aaron: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.

Narrator: And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying:

King: O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day.

Narrator: And now when the king had said these words, he was struck as if he were dead. But don’t worry, everyone! Things work out! He’s not really dead! Not till chapter twenty-four, anyway! Back to you, Brother Jepson.

Well? What do you think of the king?

What does it mean to be willing to give up all your sins to know God?

Why do you think the king offered his sins? To Ammon he offered half the kingdom.

How can we be more like the king?

When SHOULD we be more like him?

And HOW CAN WE BE MORE LIKE HIM?
This is something I want to know.

last week's svithe

The Country Music Scene as a metaphor for the Mormon Literary Scene

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I like country music, I do. I've blogged about Gram Parsons and Kasey Chambers before, and if you're willing to look around, you'll love given to Emmylou and Alison and others as well. It's not inaccurate to say I love country music. But I would never say that because people would get the wrong idea and interpret that to mean I love country radio which is an entirely different thing.

A thing what sucks.

You turn on your country radio and do you hear Emmylou Harris's new album which ranks among the best of her stories career and which you are seriously considering buying me for Coast Guard Day (only eleven days left!)? No. No you don't.

So what do you hear?

Well, crap to put it gently.

If you're lucky there will be a good song every hour, but that's pushing it with most stations. And most stations have no sense of history. No Hank Sr, no Tex, no Gene, lucky to get any Willie.... It's the Church of What's Happening Now. So long as you define What's Happening Now in terms of what has a beat / is crazy sentimental / has embarrassing puns / is silly patriotic / is desperately trying to maintain crossover appeal.

There's a lot of good stuff happening in country music as a listen to KPIG or the Miller will tell you.

If you just followed either of those links, you'll notice that my hatred for crossover music does not equal a feeling that country music should not be allowed to cross-pollinate. Country does not exist in a bubble. But neither must it cave to pop sensibilities.

I think a lot of people who casually reject country music have no idea what breadth the field actually has.

Take this song, about ten years old now, by Buddy Miller:


Great song. Very country. But it's about landmines. Want to guess how many times it was on the radio?

Buddy Miller's great (his wife is even better), but a song that doesn't meet the strict strictures of country radio gets missed by most fans and people who could be fans.

And that's a tragedy.

(ps: I was serious about getting me that emmylou album)

Appreciating Comics 101

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For a number of reasons, the time has come for me to make a list of good reads in the world of contemporary storytelling comics. Each of the books below I highly recommend and most are widely available in libraries if you don't want to fork out the cash in your search for autodidactism.

There are a few notables missing from my list, but I don't like Harvey Pekar or R. Crumb and if you think that makes me a terrible person then I have nothing to lose by calling you rude names. I do like Will Eisner, sure, but I haven't read a book of his yet that I feel anyone has to read. I'm still looking. (Hey! Buy me Contract with God for Coast Guard Day!)


American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

This book caught me off guard. Yes, awards, blah blah blah, but I didn't expect its innovation of form or depth of characterization. It's a book any minority -- whether racial or religious or toenailular -- should take as a model. Not that this book could be imitated safely, but it's a good one to add to the ol' cistern. (more)

Halo And Sprocket: Welcome To Humanity by Kerry Callen

This group of short stories will make you laugh. Guaranteed. (more)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

This is certainly my least favorite book in this set, but I think it's cinematic manner of telling a story may represent a coming trend in comics and if not terrific, the story is still no slouch. Also, being the longest Caldecott winner ever must count for something. (more)

Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware

Chris Ware is now the comic artist of choice for art and literary snobs throughout the anglosphere. I don't know that flavor-of-the-monthing someone is good for their soul, but no doubt: Jimmy Corrigan is one of the most heartbreaking books you will ever read.

A great thing about grabbing this book is that it will give you several comics-based educations at once. You will learn about the ironic look at classic comic forms of the past. You will learn about how to get funny little cartoon characters to bleed pathos. You will get a glance at the sort of flavor the altcomics scene has been shouting for a while.

But mostly, you will read a great book.

And when you're done, the Ware-edited issue of McSweeney's is a great primer in what's up in the altcomics scene. (Which is good since, though I like altcomics, not much of them made this list.)

Bone by Jeff Smith

Bone! Holy smokes, have you read this? This book stormed into a comics world it did not belong in and slowly took the place over. If you want to oblige me to call something the Harry Potter of comics, this is my choice (although I would resent you forcing me to do that). This is one to read with the kids, folks. Brilliant. Hilarious, exciting, fun. Go buy it. (And, speaking of Coast Guard Day, I don't have a copy to read to my kids, so, you know.... The links right up there....)

Maus by Art Spiegelman

This is the obvious choice, the Pulitzer-winner that shows up on every list. But it deserves its place in eternal sunshine. Spiegelman stabbed through everything we thought we knew and showed we had been wrapped in opaque curtains and their was a beautiful world outside.

Welcome to that world.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

I've been reading more Satrapi lately, but this first book is where it all began and an excellent place to start. Welcome to Iran in the Seventies. Welcome to a young girl's world. Welcome to upheaval and change and, perhaps, too much growing up. Welcome to literature, comixtyle.

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross

I kept the superhero books to two on this list because I'm worried about perpetuating this weird notion many people still have that comics in book form = Superman.

But there's nothing wrong with Superman and some of the greatest allegories and mythmaking of the Twentieth Century happened in superhero comics.

This book is broad enough to be its own religion, with enough apocalyptic imagery to scare anyone into faith.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the gang are old. It's been years since they were all that and now they're a bunch of cranky old geezers. But unlike most cranky old geezers, they haven't devolved into stereotypes and gimmicks. Have you noticed this? How most storytellers seem to think we become less human as we age until, finally, we're just a human-shaped joke with a walker? That doesn't happen here. Never have these characters been more real or had more thoroughly felt lives of their own.

Plus, it still has great action scenes.

Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli

Frank Miller remade Batman and no one's thought to stop thanking him yet.

Batman, as we're reminded in Christopher Nolan's films, is a myth that speaks deeply to the American soul. Do we want to be Batman? Are we afraid that we already are? Why does Batman speak to us in a way that bypasses rationality and grasps directly onto our primitive selves? I don't know, but this book is evidence that such is the case. Batman. Batman. Batman.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill

Okay, okay. I suppose this is technically a superhero book also. It even has that dubious distinction of being made into one of the crappiest movies of this decade's Golden Age of Comic Book Movies. But this is a superhero comic safe for people too cool for superheros.

One of the delights of this book is ferreting out all the clever literary references. Another is O'Neill's line. Another is the faux period ephemera. Really, the delights are endless.

I picked this book as my favorite from Alan Moore's entire oeuvre. If you like it, get in line for V for Vendetta (an excellent dystopian novel, made into a much better movie than LXG was), Watchmen (which isn't my favorite, but hey! every other reader on the planet can't be wrong!), and Swamp Thing (which almost singlehandedly made mainstream comics safe for thinking adults).

Blankets by Craig Thompson

My absolute, all-time, no-questions, rilly-dilly favorite book about adolescent love. It speaks to me more deeply than Romeo and Juliet, for instance. And as if the story isn't good enough, Craig Thompson draws it in a way that makes we weep with jealousy. If I could draw as I wish to draw, I would be Craig Thompson. He can take a single penstroke and make me weep.

The Blue Aspic by Edward Gorey (also available in this collection, which is more readily available)

Edward Gorey, people! If it hasn't occurred to you that he makes comics, it's time it did! How did I pick this one over all his others? This one wets my eyes. For reasons I'm afraid to analyze.

The Sandman Vol. 7: Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman, Jill Thompson, Vince Locke, Dick Giordano, Danny Vozzo, Todd Klein

Picking a single Neil Gaiman book for this list was no easy task--even narrowing it down to Sandman didn't speed things up much. I ended up selecting this one because I love its use of the quest form and the way Delirium humanizes Dream. It's an excellent introduction to the world of the Sandman and its mythical weight, and a fine example of perhaps the single most influential comic of the last twenty years.

The beginning of a wisely aborted letter accompanying a book submission

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Hello and thank you for taking a look at Byuck: A Novel. Before you open it up, I feel I should disabuse you of any of these common misconceptions about Mormons:

1. We can't drive cars or use electric toasters (those are the Amish).

2. We sneak around and kill people in the middle of the night for some blood-related reason (those are vampires; one exception: Stephanie Meyer).

3. We think Jesus and Satan are brothers (actually, this one is true; the problem was that annoying Huckabee guy's delivery).

I'm sorry. I don't mean to suggest ig

Sunday School Svithe (part one of three)

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If you're at Church with me right now, you already know that as this post is magically hitting the web, I am teaching Sunday School. I prepared three lessons for this hour and expect to get through at least two of them. For the next three weeks (unless something interrupts me), my svithes will be my notes for these three lessons. Starting with the first.

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On how stupid we can be in ignoring what we feel to be true, et cetera

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Ammon's put with the flocks (which, given the life expectancy, makes you wonder about the daughter offer)

When the bad guys scatter the flocks, here is the servants' assumption:
We will all get killed

Ammon's solution seems so obvious (gather the sheep) that we wonder how they could never have thought of it before

Possible reasons
Afraid the bad guys will kill them (problem with this?)
Afraid it cannot be done (problem with this?)
Basically, their feelings about the balance between their skills and the task at hand (comments?)

Q: How is the servants' response similar to the reactions of the Nephites as Ammon recalls them in Alma 26:23?

How do our spiritual capabilities sometimes fail to match our opinions thereof?

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Matt 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
2 Nephi 4:19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.
Alma 34:15 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.

So in the end, does it MATTER if our spiritual capacities fail?
Could the servants of Lamoni have collected the flocks if Ammon hadn't been cutting off arms?

Which brings us to Ammon's pov. (Please emphasize the first 20 words.)
2 Nephi 2:8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

WHY is Ammon off in the land of the Lamanites, anyway? Why is he there?

(testimony)

Let's return now to the convert of Ammon's that Mormon found most interesting: Lamoni.

He's heard the story, he's got the pile of arms at his feet, he's wondering what the heck is going on and----

I'm changing the subject entirely. Don't raise your hands, but how many of you shut off the water while you're soaping your hands?

Turning it off while brushing my teeth was easy to grasp onto and easy to implement.

Soap on handles, slipperiness, messiness of cleaning, etc.

And what about the lengthy showers I was once known for?

With the recent water restrictions, I began to fear exceedingly, lest I had done wrong in wasting so much water. My conscience pricked me and I now use about three gallons per shower.

Sometimes, we don't listen well to the Light of Christ, or the Holy Ghost. It doesn't occur to us (or we won't LET it occur to us) that taking long showers or not gathering the sheep or killing our servants isn't the best path to take.

Let's look at Lamoni:
18:4-5 --- And now, when the king heard these words, he said unto them: Now I know that it is the Great Spirit; and he has come down at this time to preserve your lives, that I might not slay you as I did your brethren. Now this is the Great Spirit of whom our fathers have spoken. Now this was the tradition of Lamoni, which he had received from his father, that there was a Great Spirit. Notwithstanding they believed in a Great Spirit, they supposed that whatsoever they did was right; nevertheless, Lamoni began to fear exceedingly, with fear lest he had done wrong in slaying his servants;

Plainly, deep inside, Lamoni had always known this was wrong.
How often are we the same? How often do we require a big something to get us to make a change we already know needs to be made?

(stories? examples? thoughts?)

last week's svithe

Is it any wonder that, all else being equal, I want to be John Linnell when I grow up?

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Theric guesting on A Motley Vision

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For those of you who don't frequent my favorite multi-author blog, today would be a good time to take the first of many visits to A Motley Vision. I'm guesting today and already the comments are terrific. So go! Visit! Read The Sin of Saint Onan!

Minutia catalogued

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When commenting on this post, please include the number and abbreviated title of the item you have chosen to comment on. So doing will ease the commenting-upon-comments process for all participants. Thank you.

1) Blueberry Poop (BbPp) Large S loves blueberries. His poop of late is basically just blueberryskins stuffed in his pants. Stains his butt purple.

2) Pixar-level Competence (PixComp) We went to the Oakland Museum today and in the the Natural Sciences Gallery were the most astonishing examples of craftsmanship--the recreations of natural habitat were astonishing to observe. Amazing work.

3) Pink Home Base (PHB) The Big O's home base tore and we fixed it with pink duct tape.

4) Birth of the Cool (BCool) We went to the museum specifically to see this exhibit. Which was cool.

5) Angels in the Outfield (AinO) This is the Big O's new favorite movie. Did you know Adrien Brody is in it? Adrien Brody!

Anniversary

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Lady Steed and I were wed 8 years ago. Given that I am on the cusp of 32, this means I have been married 25% of my life.

(smile)

How long till it reaches 100?

This svithe is totally gay (or, you know, not)

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Two weeks ago in my parents ward, the bishop read the First Presidency's letter on the proposed marriage amendment here in California. The bishop said he would let us know as soon as he knew what we would be asked to do. The speakers touched on the urgency of the issue and its connection to the evil in the world.

Last week the letter was read in our current ward with an introduction from the bishop, in essence, explaining that sometimes callings cause you to do things you really would rather not and we don't always understand why we're asked to do the things we do. Followed by a testimony wondering not about the definition of marriage but why the letter contained so little we-still-love-you.

The stake president bore his testimony later in the meeting and never mentioned the marriage issue, but did say that God loveth his children, a soft reference to the recent pamphlet.

The people most vocally against the amendment keep reminding us how well Prop 22 passed, 61.4%. Personally, I don't think that's a super-mighty showing. Plus, it was eight years ago. A lot has changed in California since 2000. I don't see the amendment passing.

But whether it will or not is a different question than whether or not it should.

The first thing I think of whenever this issue comes up is something Orson Scott Card said at Endercon. He was addressing issue of "Is this bad for children?" and said that heterosexual divorce had damaged more children than homosexual marriage ever would.

But it's not really about children, is it? It's about the morality of homosexuality.

Personally, doubting than many people "choose" to be gay, I find it troubling to call it a moral issue at all. I didn't choose to be white. How can being white be a sin? (Critical Racists take note.) And it also seems to me that by allowing marriage between gays and lesbians, many of the alleged immoral excesses will fall into the same range we see among randy heteros.

Having many gay friends, I have a hard time closing doors on them. Granted, I don't see marriage as a constitutional right (more extraconstitutional--like my right to chew bubblegum--only more impactful on my life and happiness), but I also don't see who it's going to hurt. I'm rather utilitarian in my feelings here. If it doesn't hurt anyone and makes some people happy, why not?

On the other hand, I have faith in the teachings of my church and I have to recognize that if I accept a) that God knows more than me and b) the First Presidency knows more about God's will than I do, then c) how can I deign to reject counsel that claims that Godly genesis? Who am I to second-guess God?

For most moderns, this dilemma reveals how little religious people are capable of thought and how beholden to the old men and dead books who do their thinking for them. But that's because they don't recognize the source of faith, which is outside of me and my little brain. Don't accept that, fine--I'll never convince you otherwise--but at least don't thoughtlessly dismiss my testimony that it is true.

For now, my thoughts on the issue center much on the scripture quoted at the beginning of the pamphlet mentioned above:

I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

And I never will. And I really don't have that much control over which things I do understand and which things I don't. And that means I have to make decisions based on uncertainty.

But that's normal. That's life. Being a Saint doesn't give me access to the Absolute Right Answer to Every Question. And if it did, what kind of life would that be?

God doesn't like telling us what to do--not in the detail work.

Another thing I've been thinking about, courtesy of Brigham Young:

I refer you to the exhortation you have heard so frequently from me . . . . You may know whether you are led right or wrong . . . . I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not. This has been my exhortation continually.

Well, that's a lot more quote than I needed, and meaty enough to deserve it's own svithe. So I'll just stop here and take a nap.

Goodnight.


last week's svithe

The curiosities of prepositions

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I'm working on a poem right now, the first line of which contains either "in to" or "into" ----

The one I select affects the entire line's implications: Am I talking about a man entering a room, presumably a bedroom? Choose the former. Am I talking about a . . . man entering a, ah, vagina? Pick the latter.

See kids, this is why English class is so important. When you're writing an email to your boss, you had better be darned sure you know the difference between "in to" and "into" ----

One of the Animation Show's highlights

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What was wrong with The Animation Show this year?

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The Animation Show has traditionally been one of the high points of my year. I saw the first and third shows in theaters and own the first two on DVD. For all the occasional missteps, the overall effect of each show is overwhelmingly brilliant.

In case you don't know, The Animation Show was begun by Don Hertzfeldt and Mike Judge. It comes to theaters roughly once a year. And as I said, it's collection of short films has generally added up to one big WOWZA.

Not so this year.

So what went wrong?

I have a few thoughts:

1. Don left. I don't know why--no one seems to know why--but Don't left and so Mike Judge was the sole name running this year's show. Which means his taste dictated things without any checks or balances. Besides the fact that I just like Don's stuff a lot more than Mike's, letting one person's taste run a show means that it's much easier to end up with a show that doesn't cover all the colors of the taste rainbow. To mix my metaphors. Mike, get someone to help you out.

2. Nothing historical. Although the second and third years were brilliant, they lacked one of the first year's big pluses: history. The first year had old Disney short and Tim Burton's "Victor" and some older stuff by Don and Mike. And it all added up to a big fat AWESOME. Although The Animation Show's raison d'être is to showcase little known working animators, it should return to its secondary goal of educating viewers about the artform's history and victories. Next time show Humorous Phases of Funny Faces and something from the Communist Bloc c. 1965.

3. Overreliance on already discovered talent. Please. No more Corky Quackenbush. And yes, the PES short was brilliant and Georges Schwizgebel's was even better than his last one, but I'm afraid you're relying too much on what you've already found in the past. Go back to the slush pile. Find us something new and brilliant.

4. Too many from the same people. Like my last complaint, you don't need to use so much from the same people. Taking just one per animator opens up room for more. For instance, the God short was brilliant--one of my favorites. The polar-bear-and-penguin one from the same team? Not as great. Should have cut it and put in something completely different. More variety equals more chances at big success. And it's just better programming.

5. Too crude. I'm admit it. Angry Unpaid Hooker was pretty funny. But Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker wasn't funny enough. I'm not advocating for a kid-friendly show, but c'mon. The only reason to laugh at that is because you think drugs and S&M are funny. Boooring.

6. No bookends. Yes, there was the piratey opening sequence, but nice structures like shows 1 and 3 had really ties the room together, know what I mean? Ask Bill Plympton to do it for you. Or Jason Steele.

7. No standouts. This is harder to fix, but it's the single biggest problem. I hope that by dealing with the earlier problems, this one will solve itself, but who can say. But TAS4 hadn't a single short that left me gasping for air. Not a single short that blew me away by the beauty of its art. Not a single story that moved me. TAS3 had Versus, Rabbit and 9 respectively--and those are just three examples from that one show.

The Animation Show is an important part of America's cinematic landscape. I would hate to see it grow stale and die while still so young. Heal thyself, Animation Show! Heal thyself now!!!

If you're considering watching The Animation Show this year, do it. Then let me know what you think. I liked plenty of it--the undertakers, the paintballers, the pie--but those shorts shouldn't have been the best ones. The best ones should have been even better.