Esther Perry

The Death of Common Sense

2011-12-20T11:11:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a REALLY long time since I last posted, but I found something to fire me up again.

I just finished reading The Death of Common Sense by Philip K Howard.

This book is amazing. It's one of the best reads I've had in a long time. It's not hard or long and has enough anecdotal horror stories to keep you both entertained and equally enraged for the entire read.

The synopsis of the book is as follows:

America is drowning: in law, legality, bureaucratic process. Abandoning our common sense and individual sense of responsibility, we live in terror of the law, in awe of procedure, at war with one another. Philip K. Howard has written the explosive manifesto for liberation – one of the most talked about sociopolitical treatises of our time. Citing dozens of examples of bureaucratic overkill – everything from the labeling of window cleaner as a toxic substance to the U.S. Department of Defense spending $2 billion on travel and $2.2 billion processing the paperwork for that travel – The Death of Common Sense shows how far we have wandered, how we got into this mess, and how we can – and must – get out.

I originally saw the author on The Daily Show and have kept it on my list of must-reads. I'm glad I did.

If you're at all interested in politics, improving social services, economics, bureaucracy, etc., this book is for you! It helps you take a step back and really assess the effectiveness of current practices and implementation. It helps identify the road blocks many of us have seen or faced when trying to help, serve or attempt to make improvements to the world around us. It shows how companies, businesses, government and others have been able to take advantage of the system and essentially defraud taxpayers.

The basic premise is that our society has come to expect salvation through law. We create policies and legality with contingencies for every possible outcome and by doing so, those required to follow, and execute, the law cannot possibly keep up with it, and therefore forget the intent for which these laws were created. This dependence has ultimately allowed us to shift responsibility from human beings to "the law" . . . as expected, without accountability, our society has turned into one of expectation, blame, distrust and ultimately no common sense.

The book is part of a larger movement called "Common Good" which seeks to replace policy and regulation with more accountable government and policies. The movement has already seen successful progress and adoption over the last decade or so and, as more people become aware of these issues and are willing to risk changing the fundamental flaws we encounter, the more we will progress toward an accountable citizenship and greater freedoms.

I highly recommend you read it. (Yes, you.)

The book is available in both regular and ebook format at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

And if you're interested, here's the original clip from the author's Daily Show appearance (it was the same day that Bin Laden was assassinated):

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

And here's a longer clip from a TED seminar he did in 2010:

This Weekend: The Bi-Annual Mormon Convention!

2011-04-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

. . . or General Conference as we call it.

I've been anticipating this particular General Conference more than I ever have before in my life.

Why?

Because, lately, I haven't been able to shake off the overwhelming sense of discouragement and hopelessness that's infiltrating, not just my own life, but the world!

I'm pretty sure you know exactly what I mean.

It's the despair of thousands of people in Japan still struggling to subsist another day.
It's the possibility of nuclear contamination that stirs the discouragement of shortened lives and failing health.
It's the chaos of earthquakes, floods, famine and war across many other countries.
It's the shattered dreams of broken families.
It's the exhaustion of broken hearts with little hope of reparation.
It's the feeling of utter loneliness amidst a generation of global connectivity and full-time social networking.
It's experiencing disease, betrayal, depression, poverty and grief . . . and watching loved ones having to do the same.

Now, for the record, I have a strong personal relationship with my Father in Heaven. I know that He can direct and comfort me through the Holy Spirit and give me succor through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that I receive great knowledge and wisdom through prayers where I communicate directly with Him, and through the scriptures where I study the words that He has given prophets, apostles and disciples of the past.

Sometimes though, no matter what I do, it's hard to keep faith and hope when I feel so alone and so small in a sea of worldwide troubles and chaos.

This is why I can't wait to hear the messages in Conference. Having the opportunity to hear the testimonies and global vision of modern day apostles and prophets gives me the ability to transcend my own misery and look upward toward greater, global purpose. It reminds me that there are people in countries, all over the world that care about the same things I do . . . that all come together and remind each other that there's hope; hope in good people and an uplifting future. That each of our efforts are making a difference.

So, with that. If you aren't familiar with LDS General Conference and want to know more, I've put an explanation below. Schedule and times are noted. If you'd like to view the feed during live broadcast, it's as simple as . . . .

CLICKING HERE!

_________________________________________________________________

This weekend, we're having the 181st Semi-Annual General Conference of the church. This is a series of meetings conducted by church leaders and broadcast to people all over the world. If you were ever curious to see what a present-day Latter-day Saint Prophet or Apostle looks like and the type of things he says, you are invited to join in this worldwide broadcast and see for yourself.

The conference is made up of five, two hour meetings. Four of these meetings are broadcast to the general church assembly: two on Saturday and two on Sunday. They are broadcast both days from 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm Mountain Time (9-11am and 1-3pm PST). The fifth meeting is a Priesthood Session on Saturday evening for LDS men that is broadcast to LDS meetinghouses. A general Relief Society broadcast for LDS women is given once a year, usually a week before the October session of Conference and is part of the Annual Conference schedule and contained in the Conference edition of the Ensign (a Church produced monthly magazine).

The meetings are held at the Conference Center at Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City. The Conference Center's expansive seating allows 21,000 participants to join the conference in person! While audio and television broadcasting allows the remainder of participants to access the meetings at LDS chapels worldwide, online at lds.org, on the BYUTV channel (which comes with most basic cable packages). For those who are unable to access any of these options, the Ensign will provide each talk in article format the following month. The magazine is available by subscription or online.

Every year, the conference is held in two parts, every six months (usually April and October). Our Prophet, and President of the Church, Thomas S. Monson will address the church as a whole and provide guidance, counsel and leadership information. Others who are also expected to speak will be President Monson's two counselors President Henry B. Eyring and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, all the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, members of the Quorums of the Seventies and various members of the Auxiliary Presidencies (click here for a basic tutorial of how these groups are organized . . . make sure to click around on the different groups).

The majority of the music at the meeting is provided by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as well as hymns sung by the congregation within the Conference Center and joined by members in homes and meetinghouses across the world.

The meetings will also be available in at least 90 languages via real-time audio translations and over 150 languages in written distribution in the weeks following the conference.

Anyone who is at all curious about Latter-day Saint beliefs, doctrines, perspectives on current events and/or just want to see some basic church interactions can feel free to tune into any or all sessions of this General Conference and be part of a very integral, poignant and cherished LDS experience.

Hope by Emma

2011-03-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

This is a short story by my youngest sister Emma. She's twelve years old and this story won second place in a city-wide middle school contest. What a rockstar!

Hope

Faint beams of golden sunlight stream through cracks in the walls as our mining village hums to life. The rhythm that any miner can hear is already in full swing; the clang of men handling their pick-axes, the rumble of carts far off as they head down into the overwhelming darkness, and the forlorn hum of the miner’s song which pulses through the entire area as simply as wind blows. I know these sounds very well; in fact this is my regular wake up call. With great reluctance I slowly push the covers off and grab around for my boots.

I look through the bare cupboards for some kind of sustenance besides plain-watery gruel, though as expected the menu remains unchanged. As I tie my apron strings Papa strolls into the room in his soot covered breeches and cap, a pick-axe slung over his shoulder. He never shows it, but if you look closely you can make out a faint trace of tiredness in his step. It makes me uncomfortable to see that strong man in pain so I try and ignore this brief moment of embarrassing transparency.

Right about now the miners are shuttling down, deep into the soot coated abyss. Every man young and old works in the mine and so will their children and their children’s children. The conditions are terrible though no one speaks of it. The men are paid far too little and eventually become greatly indebted mostly because of the company stores which claim every penny you earn. Pa has been in very serious debt for a long time so we have learned to get on with little or nothing.

Pa has never allowed me to work in the mines so I mostly tend to housework and take on small jobs as Pa works day and night. Extreme numbers of people have died in freak accidents in our mine; falling down mine shafts, exhaustion, fatal gasses, cave ins, flooding, the death toll is unbelievably high.

It is mid afternoon and I am stirring clothes into hot water and hanging some up to dry when I hear something that makes my heart sink to the very bottom of my shoes; the bang of a loud explosion. Seconds afterwards screams erupt and everyone is sent into a tailspin. The only thing that I can think of is Pa. I can’t hear anything anymore. My own heartbeat is drowning out the screams. I jump to my feet in an instant and run barefoot through the streets with all the fervor of a man on fire. I lope past houses, bushes, trees, hysterical women, confused children until I find myself at the entrance to the mine.

I am not, by far, the first one there. Families stand waiting for assurance that their loved ones are not involved. Miners start to emerge from the gaping mouth of the mine dusted in black and having coughing fits.

No one knows what’s going on but men keep streaming out into the grasp of loved ones, only about thirty families now remain without a coal coated face among them. Less and less men and boys come until only about fifteen families are left. Some have started to cry and wring their hands but I know pa has not died. He’s Pa, it just can’t happen. The inside of my mouth feels like it’s been coated with coal dust and my eyes are burning. Subconsciously I feel a fat wet drop streak down my cheek then another then another. Some miners are giving me sympathetic looks, but nothing has happened. Pa is alive he is just trying to help others out of the tunnel, then he’ll come up safe and sound and I’ll bury myself in his chest and come back up, my face smudged with coal and smile up at him. While thinking this I do not notice the official coming near us. He clears his throat, “Folks this was a heavy blow and I’m very sorry for your losses. Please go home. There are no other survivors.”

He is mistaken he has to be. I rush over to the man and beat on his chest with my fists in a last feeble struggle to hold on. “STOP LYING TO US THEY ARE NOT DEAD” I shout, until I think my head is going to split from the effort, but all I get in reply is a sad silence so thick that my forced thoughts can not swim through it, leaving me with the cold hollow realization that papa is dead.

I do not know I have left until I am at home stoking the fire and putting a kettle on. Papa likes a cup of hot tea after a long day. Tears slip down my face and hiss as they fall into the fire. Papa is not coming home. A knock sounds and I wipe my tears away hurriedly and answer.

April 2, 1902

It’s been four months since that day when my father passed. I still miss him terribly. I write in this journal because my elders tell me that it will ease the pain some.
Four months ago when I answered the door I beheld my school fellow. I had not seen her for three months. As we grew older, our economic situation put school out of the question. It was decided that I would go live with her.

For a time I was only unhappy and despondent but because she was patient and waited with me in silence sometimes for hours on end. Slowly but surely I made improvement. She prayed with me at a small rubble chapel and cried with me when I needed someone to cry with. She ran with me when I needed to run away, and sometimes all she did was embrace me while I was not present, but in another world with papa.

She loves papa too although she does not know him. She loves him for me. I know that I will smile soon and she will smile with me.

Times are hard and friends are scarce but I have a great friend to help me through and I am ever more grateful for her. Though it still chills me to think papa will not be home ever again I know that somewhere he watches me and smiles. For now, I have a friend in the form of Hope.

Weighty Matters

2011-03-17T12:14:00.001-07:00

No, for once, not the weight on a scale . . . but the weight on your shoulders.

My life has been feeling heavy lately. I've been feeling oppressed and alone and you know what? I KNOW it's not just me.

I see it.

In your eyes.

Life is overwhelming for many people right now. And you know and I know, it's more than the economy . . . it's more than illness or grief or family problems.

There's just a black cloud that's perpetually floating over our respective heads. No matter what you've been trying to do and no matter how hard you try, you can't get out from under it.

Does it help you to know that it's not just you? Because it isn't.

Prophets of old foretold of our day. They said,

"When ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.

And it shall turn to you for a testimony. . .

And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.

But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

In your patience possess ye your souls. . . .

For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. . . .

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. . .

Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. . . .

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke 21)

The beauty is that the Lord has also provided us with prophets and apostles today who know how hard it is and know the heaviness we feel. They let us know that it's okay to acknowledge our misery and loneliness, and let the Lord know our woes.

Then they give us the hope and strength to move forward. They testify to us that the bleak tunnels we currently find ourselves in will eventually lead to daylight, even if we can't see it just yet.

Christ: The Messiah or A Nutcase? - Thoughts from Bono

2011-03-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

. . . . yes, THAT Bono.

I ran across this really interesting excerpt today from a book on U2's front man, Bono. The entire book is an interview dialogue between Bono and a reporter friend of his, Michka Assayas.

Not only have I loved U2's music since I was a little kid, but I've always appreciated their influence and push toward worldwide humanitarian efforts. Their global consideration of other through health, homelessness, poverty, human rights, etc is impressive. Additionally inspiring is seeing that this agenda hasn't dimmed over the years where, when compared with other groups or bands, one wouldn't be the least surprised to see a rise in selfishness and/or burn out. U2 has been able to keep up with the hits and the help.

Anyway, the excerpt that I found had to do with Bono's view on religiosity and specifically about Jesus Christ and grace. I found it very interesting and succinctly described, and, lately, I've been feeling like there has been a growing lack of respect for religious voice and perspective, so I decided that I wanted to share this.

Hopefully these types of heartfelt thoughts will help to remind that religious views are not just wispy dreams of those grasping at straws, but that they can be solid, logical and poignant convictions to those who hold them . . . many of us understand why you assume we're nutcases, but we feel the resonance of truth vibrating so strongly in our souls that "instead of trying to downsize divinity" (Neal A. Maxwell, Our Creator's Cosmos) we become willing and able to deviate from terrestrial paradigms, no matter the consequence.

Anyway, here's what Bono has to say.

Bono: My understanding of the Scriptures has been made simple by the person of Christ. Christ teaches that God is love. What does that mean? What it means for me: a study of the life of Christ. Love here describes itself as a child born in straw poverty, the most vulnerable situation of all, without honor. I don't let my religious world get too complicated. I just kind of go: Well, I think I know what God is. God is love, and as much as I respond [sighs] in allowing myself to be transformed by that love and acting in that love, that's my religion. Where things get complicated for me, is when I try to live this love. Now that's not so easy.

Assayas: What about the God of the Old Testament? He wasn't so "peace and love"?

Bono: There's nothing hippie about my picture of Christ. The Gospels paint a picture of a very demanding, sometimes divisive love, but love it is. I accept the Old Testament as more of an action movie: blood, car chases, evacuations, a lot of special effects, seas dividing, mass murder, adultery. The children of God are running amok, wayward. Maybe that's why they're so relatable. But the way we would see it, those of us who are trying to figure out our Christian conundrum, is that the God of the Old Testament is like the journey from stern father to friend. When you're a child, you need clear directions and some strict rules. But with Christ, we have access in a one-to-one relationship, for, as in the Old Testament, it was more one of worship and awe, a vertical relationship. The New Testament, on the other hand, we look across at a Jesus who looks familiar, horizontal. The combination is what makes the Cross.

Assayas: Speaking of bloody action movies, we were talking about South and Central America last time. The Jesuit priests arrived there with the gospel in one hand and a rifle in the other.

Bono: I know, I know. Religion can be the enemy of God. It's often what happens when God, like Elvis, has left the building. [laughs] A list of instructions where there was once conviction; dogma where once people just did it; a congregation led by a man where once they were led by the Holy Spirit. Discipline replacing discipleship. Why are you chuckling?
Assayas: I was wondering if you said all of that to the Pope the day you met him.

Bono: Let's not get too hard on the Holy Roman Church here. The Church has its problems, but the older I get, the more comfort I find there. The physical experience of being in a crowd of largely humble people, heads bowed, murmuring prayers, stories told in stained-glass windows

Assayas: So you won't be critical.

Bono: No, I can be critical, especially on the topic of contraception. But when I meet someone like Sister Benedicta and see her work with AIDS orphans in Addis Ababa, or Sister Ann doing the same in Malawi, or Father Jack Fenukan and his group Concern all over Africa, when I meet priests and nuns tending to the sick and the poor and giving up much easier lives to do so, I surrender a little easier.

Assayas: But you met the man himself. Was it a great experience?

Bono: [W]e all knew why we were there. The Pontiff was about to make an important statement about the inhumanity and injustice of poor countries spending so much of their national income paying back old loans to rich countries. Serious business. He was fighting hard against his Parkinson's. It was clearly an act of will for him to be there. I was oddly moved by his humility, and then by the incredible speech he made, even if it was in whispers. During the preamble, he seemed to be staring at me. I wondered. Was it the fact that I was wearing my blue fly-shades? So I took them off in case I was causing some offense. When I was introduced to him, he was still staring at them. He kept looking at them in my hand, so I offered them to him as a gift in return for the rosary he had just given me.

Assayas: Didn't he put them on?

Bono: Not only did he put them on, he smiled the wickedest grin you could ever imagine. He was a comedian. His sense of humor was completely intact. Flashbulbs popped, and I thought: "Wow! The Drop the Debt campaign will have the Pope in my glasses on the front page of every newspaper."

Assayas: I don't remember seeing that photograph anywhere, though.

Bono: Nor did we. It seems his courtiers did not have the same sense of humor. Fair enough. I guess they could see the T-shirts.

Later in the conversation:

Assayas: I think I am beginning to understand religion because I have started acting and thinking like a father. What do you make of that?

Bono: Yes, I think that's normal. It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma.

Assayas: I haven't heard you talk about that.

Bono: I really believe we've moved out of the realm of Karma into one of Grace.

Assayas: Well, that doesn't make it clearer for me.

Bono: You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics; in physical laws every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.

Assayas: I'd be interested to hear that.

Bono: That's between me and God. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I'd be in deep s---. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity.

Assayas: The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that.

Bono: But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there's a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let's face it, you're not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That's the point. It should keep us humbled . It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.

Assayas: That's a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has his rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?

Bono: No, it's not farfetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says: No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: "I'm the Messiah." I'm saying: "I am God incarnate." And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You're a bit eccentric. We've had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don't mention the "M" word! Because, you know, we're gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you're expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my, he's gonna keep saying this. So what you're left with is: either Christ was who He said He was the Messiah or a complete nutcase. I mean, we're talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. This man was like some of the people we've been talking about earlier. This man was strapping himself to a bomb, and had "King of the Jews" on his head, and, as they were putting him up on the Cross, was going: OK, martyrdom, here we go. Bring on the pain! I can take it. I'm not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that's farfetched.

Bono later says it all comes down to how we regard Jesus:

Bono: If only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed. When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my s--- and everybody else's. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was He just a religious nut? And there it is, and that's the question. And no one can talk you into it or out of it.

Count Me Concerned

2011-03-02T12:23:00.001-08:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-12598896

This article blows my mind a little . . . a couple is denied the right to provide foster care because "they said they could not tell a child a homosexual lifestyle was acceptable".

"Significantly, the court said that while there was a right not to face discrimination on the basis on either religion or sexual orientation, equality of sexual orientation took precedence."

Wait what?! . . . Anyone else catch the paradox? "Equality of sexual orientation took precedence." I think the term they're looking for is: inequality.

Sure. Ideally, parenting should be a privilege and not a right. But it's not. The power to create and rear children is kind of a mind-blowing phenom when you stop and think about it. Seems like something that's a big enough deal that it should be kept under lock and key. But it's not.

For a group of people worried about parents offending and harming children, we're not really advocating much abstinence to our youth who could potentially become premature parents, even if the sex is "safe". And other than sexual predators, we don't force contraceptives or castration on the "undeserving" or the "incompetent". Thank goodness.

Really, as long as you've got a willing companion (well, and sometimes that's not even a prereq) procreation is an opportunity afforded to all the fertile of our species.

And here we have a couple, willing to take in kids who have been abandoned or neglected or mistreated or in peril and we're worried that they might share some personal opinions with the children in their homes.

All I can think is how many unplanned and unwanted children there are. Kids who end up in proctor homes or orphanages with "staff" instead of parents. Kids born to parents who can't get past their own neuroses long enough to let own children know that they're loved . . . kids born to addicts and abusers. Kids born to poor families who were hungry before one more mouth was added.

No family or set of parents are perfect. They just aren't. Do I want foster programs to be as sure as they possibly can that they're getting parents that don't hit and sexually exploit? You bet. But no child has a guarantee to perfection . . . EVERYONE has hang ups. EVERYONE.

And since when did good parents guarantee a good child? It doesn't. How many people do you love that are amazing in spite of, and probably because of, the trials incurred by their family?

Obviously we want the best for children when we have the choice, but no one is a diviner and the cycle of families has been producing unpredictable results since the dawn of time.

The connotation that such clairvoyance and measure of perfection exists seems to be eerily fated toward the 2081 world of Harrison Bergeron . . .

Which, begs the question: who deemed themselves perfect enough to delineate parental perfection?

Interestingly enough, there were two Justices in on this decision. One was Justice Munby who seems to have some very personal baggage around his own family life and seems to identify as a victim of family abuse . . . and the other is Justice Beatson who came into the High Court directly from acadamia . . . and who has no mention of an immediate family or children in any article or bio I've been able to collect. . . It's easy to find mud on those in the trenches, Jutsice Beatson.

Practically Eligible for Lap-Band . . . SERIOUSLY!?

2011-02-09T14:18:00.001-08:00

You've got to be kidding me. . .

Word on the street is that the FDA is thinking about changing the BMI eligibility for lap band surgery. Turns out, I would totally be eligible for weight-loss surgery if I wanted it . . . which I don't, thanks.

But seriously, this is crazy town! You want to know why? Because here's how it's going down:

"The FDA meeting was held at the request of Allergan, Inc., the manufacturer of the Lap-Band device. Allergan also conducted the study presented to the advisory committee.

Dr. Karen L. Woods chaired the panel meeting. Dr. Woods is a stockholder in Allergan, Inc. but was granted a waiver by the FDA. (ed. note: can I get another SERIOUSLY?) She did not cast a vote on the new guidelines. In a statement regarding her waiver the FDA said, "Dr. Woods was selected because she has expertise in therapeutic endoscopy, which is important for the deliberations of the panel, and has experience serving as a chair." (ed. note: so you're telling me that her expertise was important, and yet, she didn't get to cast a vote . . . and that there was literally no other person available with therapeutic endoscopy and chairing on their resume? - - - - wait for it - - - - SERIOUSLY?!)

(Highlighting and notes added by me, in case you weren't catching the obvious crazy.)

-Cited from the Huffington Post

Okay, okay. It's the Huffington Post. Maybe they're embellishing. Maybe Allergan, Inc. is a company that's really passionate about getting people healthy; who dogmatically (and ignorantly) believe that they're aiding Americans by helping them lose those extra pounds that are allegedly killing everyone.

I don't know guys, I don't even think Pollyanna could find a silver lining here.

According to the New York Times, "Allergan, known mostly for its Botox product . . . wants to reverse slowing sales of the Lap-Band that the company attributes to the weak economy. In the first nine months of this year, sales of its obesity products, mostly Lap-Band, fell 4 percent, to $182.4 million."

Aren't you so sad for them? That they only made $182.4 million? It's a shame really.

So, Botox. That's a product that definitely helps people. I mean, Botox can help in treating painful neurological and muscles disorders. . . Did you know that? Well, it does. . . . But I'm pretty sure you mostly know about the wrinkle-erasing part.

Alright. Maybe Botox turned out to have some nice cosmetology benefits as a nice little surprise and Allergan really has a whole-body feel when you look at everything else they do.

Cue Allergan's website. Click their "About Us" page. It says, "From diverse strengths come important new therapies that make a real difference. Allergan is a global, technology-driven, multi-specialty health care company pursuing therapeutic advances to help patients live life to their fullest potential. " See? You judged too quickly.

Let's check out their products. Now they have a chance to show us their "multi-specialty health care". Well, they have a lot of eye drops. Glaucoma prevention stuff . . . that's nice. I appreciate that my grandma can still see. So, yeah. Good things. Next up: Lap-band. Right, we knew that.

Okay, so next up we have two products for breast augmentation, one for eyelash growth enhancement, a skin cream to fill wrinkles . . .scratch that, FOUR lines of skin cream to get that baby bottom feeling, medication for overactive bladders and lots of products for acne (which, turns out, I used once upon a time and it didn't work and made my skin scaley . . . but I digress into personal bias . . . this information is to be stricken from your deliberations of judgment).

Anyway, my point is that the majority of products found at Allergan are mostly cosmetic. Now, don't get me wrong. I have appreciated good acne creams and, like I said, love having senior citizens with sight . . . but there seems to be a high percentage of cosmetic focus here. And really, when it comes right down to it, companies like money.

All I'm trying to share is that it's SCARY that the FDA is handing over the reigns for health and safety judgments to drug companies . . . and cosmetic-based ones at that! How many people do you know that are overweight and have been searching for years for that magic-bullet and would do this in a heartbeat if they qualified? Probably a few.

As "safe" as the procedure is supposed to be, there's a lot of confusion on the details. And who's telling us it's safe anyway? The FDA? Allergan? Studies funded by Allergan? . . . Even though death is a very low side-effect on this one, it's still a side-effect and it's amazing how many people know someone who has had a bad experience . . .

Be skeptical. Please.

Mario and Malice Sweet - Speed of Light

2011-01-25T22:04:00.000-08:00

This is a shout out for one of my fellow classmates, Mario. Mario and I have been in the same graduate program for over a year now and out of all the other people in the class, it turns out that he and I almost always come around to the same perspective in our therapeutic work.

The reason this is so funny to both of us is that as a goody-goody Mormon girl and a Seattle hip hop artist, Mario and I wouldn't be your first guess in a paradigm matching game, but that's what you get for stereotyping people. . . .

Anyway, it turns out that Mario and his wife, Malice (well, that's her artist name), put together a single that I can't get out of my head! It's amazing.

You should check it out so you can say that you were one of the first listeners when these guys hit the big time.

You can check out more of Mario's work at his site www.mariosweet.com. Most of his contributions go toward a local hip hop group called The Physics.

Be warned that much of the other work Mario does contains explicit lyrics!

As for the song below, it's G-rated as far as my ears have heard, so definitely take a listen!

Malice and Mario Sweet - Speed Of Light by feedyourself

Who's Funding Your Paradigm?

2011-01-24T08:20:00.000-08:00

This is a press release from the University of California, Davis regarding the need for a paradigm shift in our medical community's hyper-focused lose-weight-and-be-healthy theory.

Researchers Linda Bacon and Lucy Aphramor provide a meta-analysis of over 150 different studies on weight-focused health habits and shed light on biases found within the data-interpretation . . . pointing out that weight loss isn't a statistically significant variable in improving health.

One of the reasons I love Dr. Bacon is that I consistently find her research to be accurately structured and analyzed both experimentally and statistically. I also love that her personal interests and intent are highly transparent: acknowledging funding sources, associated groups and possible biases.

And before you dismiss the article because you're over-steeped in the current paradigm, remember that the weight-loss industry rakes in over $58 billion a year! Don't you find it just a little bit suspicious that our society spends about $160 million a day (yes, a DAY!) in an attempt to lose weight . . . and yet, according to news, media, and medical officials, obesity is still an "epidemic" . . . or at the very least, "holding steady", not declining? It's especially concerning when we know that spending has increased every year since 1992 when we were at $30 billion for the year.

I hope I'm not the only one that sees the blatant crazy here. . . if we have thousands of weight loss companies advertising how successful their product is and tons of people are motivated enough to pay $58 billion in weight-loss products and programs . . . then why do our most optimistic weight estimates show our weight stats as "holding steady".

Surely we can't blame this kind of failure solely on lack of self-control or disinterest in weight loss! Heck, even if that is the problem, our current approach is obviously failing us.

Allow yourself to have just the tiniest amount of skepticism in the current paradigm and check out the following article and linked research.

It's your health and your life, isn't it worth considering there's something you're missing?

Study Suggests Health at Every Size is Supported by Scientific Evidence; Weight Loss Focus is Ineffective and Harmful

January 24, 2011 - Dieting and other weight-loss efforts may unintentionally lead to weight gain and diminished health status, according to two researchers, including a UC Davis nutritionist, whose new study, Weight Science:Evaluating the Evidence for a Paradigm Shift, appears in the Jan. 24 issue of the Nutrition Journal, an online, open-access scientific journal.

Rather than focusing on weight loss, the researchers recommend that people focus on improving their health status.

In the new study, co-authors Linda Bacon, an associate nutritionist in the UC Davis Department of Nutrition, and Lucy Aphramor, an NHS specialist dietician and honorary research fellow at the Applied Research Centre in Health and Lifestyle Interventions at Coventry University, England, cite evidence from almost 200 studies.

"Although health professionals may mean well when they suggest that people lose weight, our analysis indicates that researchers have long interpreted research data through a biased lens," Bacon said. "When the data are reconsidered without the common assumption that fat is harmful, it is overwhelmingly apparent that fat has been highly exaggerated as a risk for disease or decreased longevity."

Bacon noted that the study findings do not support conventional ideas that:

* weight loss will prolong life;

* anyone can lose weight and keep it off through diet and exercise;

* weight loss is a practical and positive goal;

* weight loss is the only way overweight and obese people can improve their health; and

* obesity places an economic burden on society.

"The weight-focused approach does not, in the long run, produce thinner, healthier bodies," said Bacon.

"For decades, the United States' public health establishment and $58.6 billion-a-year weight-loss industry have focused on health improvement through weight loss," she said. "The result is unprecedented levels of body dissatisfaction and failure in achieving desired health outcomes. It's time to consider a more evidence-based approach."

Aphramor added: "It's the unintended negative consequences that are particularly troubling, including guilt, anxiety, preoccupation with food and body shape, repeated cycles of weight loss and gain, reduced self esteem, eating disorders and weight discrimination."

Health-focused alternative

Concluding that the weight-focused approach to health is unsupported by the scientific evidence and has in fact been detrimental and costly, Bacon and Aphramor suggest the health care community should adopt what they say is "a more ethical, evidence-based approach toward public health nutrition" -- one that instead encourages individuals to concentrate on developing healthy habits rather than on weight management.

The researchers stress that evidence shows that changing health behaviors can sustainably improve blood pressure, blood lipids, self-esteem, body image, and other indicators of health and well-being, independent of any weight change and without the negative aspects of weight-focused approaches. While weight loss may result, the goal is self-care rather than weight loss, they say. This weight-neutral practice has become known as Health at Every Size.

"It is clear from our review of the data that body weight is a poor target for public health interventions," Bacon said. "Instead, the health care community should shift its emphasis from weight-management to health-improvement strategies, for the well-being of people of all sizes."

Bacon is the author of the 2010 book, "Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight," based on previously published research. She also is the founder of Health at Every Size Community Resources.

Financial Disclosure: Aphramor received financial support for this study through a West Midlands Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Professions research training award. Bacon and Aphramor are both Health at Every Size practitioners and sometimes receive financial compensation for writing and speaking on this topic.

Quick Links

**************************************************

Linda Bacon's Website

Health at Every Size book website

Health at Every Size Community Resources

Halloween is Around the Corner!

2010-10-09T14:22:00.001-07:00

Need a costume idea?

How about these?

Antoine Dodson

Jane Austen Fight Club

Double Rainbow Guy

And if you want more, see these ideas:

Costume Inspiration Part 1

Costume Inspiration Part 2

A Worldwide Conference for Mormon Women

2010-09-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

I sometimes post about the General Conference held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints every April and October, but I don't say much about the General Relief Society Meeting which is held annually at this time of year. This meeting is for the women's organization of the church. It is broadcast and distributed to women in over 170 countries and provides great spiritual enrichment and strength to all who attend.

The speakers at the meeting are usually all three members of the General Relief Society Presidency. The women currently serving in the presidency are Julie Beck, Sylvia Allred and Barbara Thompson. The fourth speaker is usually someone from the General Presidency of the church, basically our current prophet or either of his two counselors.

The 2010 meeting was held this last Saturday and I don't think I've ever loved a General Relief Society Meeting more than this one. I would encourage you to take the time to listen to the whole thing if you can (see the video below). It is well worth the time.

And if you get a chance this weekend, check out the LDS General Conference meetings which will be broadcast at 9 a.m. (PST) and 1 p.m. (PST) on Saturday and Sunday on BYUTV or here at lds.org.

Whiteboardom

2010-09-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

I think I have a subconscious desire to start a famous blog and therefore keep starting new blogs to add to the mix in order to increase the probability of discovery.

My newest one will be posting all my whiteboard cartoons from when I get bored at work. I call the new blog Whiteboardom. You can find it here: www.whiteboardom.blogspot.com. I'll be regularly adding the ones already on facebook as well as new ones that come up.

Really, this is just way to let my coworkers share the posts without having to add them on facebook . . .

So, just in case you're keeping track, I really only have a couple other blogs I'm sort of keeping current at the moment. The full list is as follows:

cake blog - www.frostedformations.blogspot.com
whiteboard cartoons - www.whiteboardom.blogspot.com
my parent's mission blog - www.calledtoserverichmond.blogspot.com
. . . and this one of course - www.estherperry.com

Spam With a Side of Spam

2010-09-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

It seems that something’s afoot in the spammer world this week. I usually get a fair amount of spammy comments on this blog, but over the last couple weeks, it’s practically been a zoo on here! (Just got four more while writing this!)

Fortunately, blogger.com just implemented a new spam filter so I don’t have to go through and delete each one from the post, I can just check the spam folder like in my email and make sure nothing important slipped through the cracks.

Although most spam comments I've received are advertising free prescriptions and explicit sites, I’ve run across a few that gave me a good chuckle; these are the foreign adverts that most likely used some auto-translating software to post in English.

For some really odd reason, this old post seems to get the most and randomest assortment of comments. I’ve kept most of them since they don’t have links or anything that technically make them spam. Still can’t figure out why this of all topics got so many nonsensical comments.

Anyway, I decided to post a few of my favorite below (sans the iffy links) to amuse and entertain.

hi every person,

I identified www.estherperry.com after previous months and I'm very excited much to commence participating. I are basically lurking for the last month but figured I would be joining and sign up.

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Fred reached into the dispute and pulled gone away from a twofold of iniquitous dimensions 21 Adidas cleats, ending the unit's crave and frustrating way to catch a stretch over shoes that could vigorous the women oversized feet.

"Oh, this is delightfully," Fred said as she held the shoes in front of him. "I like this. I can't gore round to exhibit them."

She smiled again as she tried on the shoes and as members of the coaching rod took photos. The nose inspect to untangle whom classmates dub "Unmindful Side" and "Noteworthy Fred" no longer would would rather to rely on a lease in holy matrimony of 5-year-old cleats that were at least a assay too small.

"They upset," Fred said.

"And they look a-ok, too," Burke said.

The cleats arrived Tuesday via overnight emancipation from Eastbay, a sporting goods entourage based in Wisconsin whose officials had derive from up Tech's struggles to happen up with shoes in the interest of Fred. As the week went on, more shoes arrived. Vending cut-price sent a couple of hugeness 20 cleats, and the Indianapolis Colts added three pairs of bulk 19s that had been professionally stretched so they would proviso the sophomore's area 20 feet.

"It feels like Christmas," Fred said.

The corporate donations were impressive. Perpendicularly more rowing-boat was the humongous stockpile of send that landed each hour last week in Tech's athletic office. Dozens of envelopes came stuffed with checks and notes courteousness of people who had announce forth Fred and his school's ineptitude to make over up the custom-made cleats he needed.

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The Sweet Rewards of Blogging

2010-08-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

This is a true story about the real-life benefits of blogging. Now that I've been blogging for almost two years (okay, maybe not faithfully but still . . . ), I thought I would share with you a recent experience that has encouraged my interest in forging on with the posts.

Many of you know I have a history of posting about fat topics. Some of you might remember that I've recommended a book called, "The Fat Girl's Guide to Life" by Wendy Shanker. What you may not know is that I sent Wendy a lengthy and rather-wordy thank you email last year and got a really nice return email that went something like this:

Esther

Wow - I am completely blown away by your email. When I wrote the book, I thought, "Well, hopefully there are a few people out there who will relate..." Then, of course, I found there were plenty.

Besides being really honored by your compliments, I'm really impressed by your writing skill. You say you help other girls...I hope that you will continue to do that, and think about getting published yourself, whether it's pitching to magazines or newspapers, or blogging your own thoughts...

I hope your evolution continues and that we both stay true to the message we feel in our hearts.

Thank you so much.

Wendy

Well, shucks! Such an email from an esteemed author would be reward enough, right? But this is only the middle of my blogging rewards tale.

About a week ago, I received an email from a man named Tyson Cornell addressed directly to me saying that Penguin Books would like to send me a free copy of Wendy's new book called, "Are You My Guru?" and asked for my address so they could send along this copy. Obviously in the cyber world any request for personal information intimates some sort of scam, so I googled Tyson and was pleasantly surprised to find this article, confirming that Tyson is a legit (and successful) PR guy in the literary world and definitely working with Wendy on her new book.

So, I returned his email with my work address (still playing it safe) and a query as to why I was chosen for such a promotion. Tyson quickly replied with the following:

Thanks, Esther! As soon as we have copies I'll make sure one is sent out to you.

Why? Because we like what you do and hope that you'll like the new book, write about it on your blog and tell everyone you know to go buy it! :)

Best,

Tyson

Well tickle me pink and dot my freckles! My blogging got me something free!

I received the new book yesterday and I can't wait to read it. The coolest part is that I jumped on Amazon and discovered that it's not even available to the public yet! It comes out on September 7, 2010. I'll be sure to give an update as soon as I'm finished and let you all know if it's worth the read.

Thanks to you guys for reading my soapboxes and making Tyson and Wendy believe I was worth the investment!

I'm a Mormon

2010-08-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to make a quick post about how much I love the new mormon.org. If you haven't checked it out, it's worth a couple clicks of your time.

It's a neat way to take a look into the life of your everyday Mormon. There are some fun videos they've put together of LDS members in the United States as well as the chance to look at basic profiles of members from all over the world. The site changes aren't very old, so the list of profiles is ever-expanding.

Take the opportunity to get to know a little more about Mormons and see what they have to say for themselves about why they chose to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and how it has affected their lives.

Called to Serve Richmond

2010-07-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, my parents recently left their Cowiche homestead to move to the opposite side of the country because they accepted an assignment to serve as the mission presidents of the Virginia Richmond Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Our family believes this call was inspired of God and that the work they will be doing is important to building the kingdom of God here on earth. In fact, we are so certain that this request originates from Deity that my father left his job, my mother her house and her garden and my three youngest siblings left their friends and schools. There couldn't be any other incentive to do such a thing when you know that mission presidents and their families are not paid for these services anyway.

During this three year assignment, my parents and the siblings living with them will stay in a home provided by the church and will be reimbursed for everyday living needs such as food, some clothing, medical expenses, etc. They will be provided with exactly what they need to live during the three years they serve, but will return with no extra payment, bonus or guarantee on their financial future. Additionally, my dad will not be available to return home for events in their family life such as grandchildren being born, funerals, weddings, etc. My mom and the kids would be able to travel if desired, but the funds to do so would not be supplied by the Church.

Although this may seem punitive from the outsider's view and although they might miss some seemingly important events during the three years they are away, my parents will spend all their time keeping track of, and helping the young adult missionaries that have been assigned to their area. They will be responsible for preparing these missionaries to teach the gospel, keeping them healthy and showing them how to be examples to those around them. My family will be the parents and families that these young missionaries chose to leave behind when they accepted their own call to serve; my family will be the security of 200 sets of moms and dads who have sent their children off to far away cities in unfamiliar circumstances.

It may seem like a crazy sacrifice to make for both the young missionaries, their presidents and the families of all involved, but we see it as a small part of our lives that can be exchanged to spread goodness and light into the life of countless others. We believe that God cares so deeply for all his children that as earthly brothers and sisters we will be asked to sacrifice some small parts of our life to share the blessings of God in the lives of others.

When we know that God himself sacrifices his precious time on us, his children, we cannot be selfish enough to think that we could be exempt from a call so great that God and His Son have been wholly emerged in its planning and governance since before the creation of the world! (Moses 1:39)

As Elder Bruce R. McConkie once said, "'If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will, in the end, make no difference what you have chosen instead.' When we put first in our lives the things of God’s kingdom, we are speaking of the earthly kingdom which prepares us for the heavenly kingdom. With us, in this life and in the life to come, it is and should be the kingdom of God or nothing".

James and Sara Perry have been called to serve Richmond and if you would like to follow them during this experience, I will be providing updates from them on their new blog at http://calledtoserverichmond.blogspot.com.

Thank you to everyone who helped jump-start this adventure and for your many prayers on our behalf!

Give Yourself Some Credit!

2010-06-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

As I do every year, I was checking my credit report to make sure I was keeping tabs on my financial world and it made me think that it might be appropriate to share a little credit advice with any of you that might be interested.

Checking credit reports seems to be a big marketing hub lately and a lot of people seem to get confused about what to do. It doesn't help that advertisers seem to be purposely convoluting the system by making you think you're getting hooked up to your legally mandated annual credit review. You know the ads I'm talking about. . . there's the annoyingly catchy jingles from the freecreditreport.com people that get stuck in your head for hours and then there's good old Ben Stein whose reputation on and off-screen as a no-nonsense, economically savvy intelligence icon almost makes you believe that you couldn't be steered wrong by his credit advice. Both ads claim their services are free . . . which, they are . . . at first. The second half of the scheme comes a month later when you have to remember to track down a cancellation number, navigate through a murky automated customer service line and cancel the month-to-month services to which you subscribed . . . and hopefully it's all resolved before your first payment kicks in.

Maybe you know what I'm talking about because you got sucked in at some point. No big deal; life goes on. Maybe this post will help clear a little bit of the fog and start things off in a better direction.

What types of credit are there?

-Mortgages – Loans for a house or property. The loan amount is specified at the time of sale. Property usually becomes more valuable over time and the loan decreases as you make payments so the owner often ends up with more value in the property than what is owed in the loan; this is called equity.

-Auto Loans – Loan for a vehicle. The loan amount is specified at the time of sale. Vehicles often decrease in value as the loan is paid off, so it is important to be aware of the value of the car versus the amount of the loan.

-Installment Loans - A loan for one specific sale such as a computer, furniture, tires, etc. The loan amount is specified at the time of sale. Many of these sales come with an offer of zero interest for months or even years at a time. If you are considering this type of loan, be sure to read the fine print – often if the item is not paid off by the zero interest time limit, the interest from the entire loan amount and over the entire loan period will be added to the principle balance of the loan.

-Revolving Accounts – these are credit cards such as VISA, MasterCard, Amex, etc, as well as store credit cards or lines of credit like a card at Nordstrom, Sears, Old Navy, Kohls, Lane Bryant, etc. These accounts are set up with a credit limit. Some cards like VISA and MasterCard are accepted based on whether the retailer will accept this form of payment, whereas store cards such as Kohls or Lane Bryant can only be used for payment within that chain of retailers.

What is a credit report?

A credit report is a lot like it sounds. It’s a record of your credit history. There is always a charge to access a credit report and it can be accessed by anyone who has your name, social security number, birth date and address. Usually this will be a bank, money lender or rental property manager that you’re applying to for a credit account or rental property. Sometimes this information is accessed by companies trying to offer you credit, like the ones that send you credit card offers in the mail.

Credit reports contain a full disclosure of your credit history including how often you make your monthly payments, if you make the payments on time, how many accounts you have, etc. The point of companies requesting this report is so that they can decide whether or not to lend you money or expect regular monthly payments from you; a credit report is supposed to give them insight on how seriously you take your finances.

The information found in these records are collected by credit bureau agencies from the people who give you your mortgage, credit cards and other credit lines. The credit bureaus then compile and compute all the data about you and output it into a credit report with a tidy, compact credit score.

There are four major credit bureau agencies in the U.S.; they are Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Innovis. Most credit reports come from the first three companies and lenders will often pull a your credit report from more than one company to ensure accuracy in reporting.

Just FYI, the catchy, free credit jingles are actually from Experian, one of the major credit bureaus . . .

What's on a credit report?

-One Credit Score (usually a FICO or Fair Isaac Corporation score) will appear on your report for every bureau that reports. A tri-merge report (a report generated from all the info provided by 3 bureaus at once) will usually have 3 scores. Most lenders will use the middle (or median) score if there are three.

-Contains information on any and all credit accounts in your name and includes:

exactly what type of credit account it is (i.e. installment, revolving, etc)
the name of the company the credit line is with
the account numbers
the amount you owe
the starting amount of the loan (or the limit if it’s a revolving account)
the monthly payment amount
how long the account has been open

-Late payments

If the payment was more than 30, 60 or 90 days late
How many times and in which months the payment was late

-Outstanding collection payments, property liens, bankruptcies, foreclosures, etc. - It is important to note that negative records usually continue to appear on your report even if you have paid them off or fulfilled the obligations.

-Old addresses, phone numbers, employment information and any aliases

-A list of other companies that have requested a copy of your credit report within the last year or so.

-Sometimes a credit report can verify or falsify citizenship based on information collected by social security numbers.

Things NOT found on a credit report (unless they’re sent to collections):

(cell) phone bills, utility bills, medical bills, grocery store advantage cards, etc.

What helps or hurts my credit?

Credit is “good” only as far as it helps to prove to a lender that you are a responsible borrower. These are the things that can effect your credit score and the things that most lenders will look at to decide if you are worth the risk:

POSITIVE INDICATORS

-At least one credit line that has a history going back 2+ years.

-A total of three or more accounts in your history. Anything less will usually not be enough to indicate your risk, good or bad.

-A FICO score of 650 or higher. - 650=fair, 680=good, 720=really good, 750=excellent

-On-time payments.

-Payments in excess of the minimum requirement. When you pay more than the minimum the debt is resolved much faster and because of the way interest works, over time, the overall amount you end up paying toward the loan is decreased.

-Maintaining low balances on revolving accounts.

NEGATIVE INDICATORS

-Any late payments, especially if they are over 60 or 90 days. Payments are most often deemed "late" when they're overdue by 30 days. On a mortgage, most payments are due on the 1st and the lender allows until the 15th to pay. Usually the payment is considered "late" if it is not paid by the last day of the month.

(It is always a good idea to call your lender before a payment is late to discuss leniency. Some lenders will not report a 30 day late if you communicate your circumstances and have proven to be responsible in the past.)

-Having too many revolving accounts open, especially if you keep high balances that are close to the card's limit. Just stay away from too many credit cards!!

-Bankruptcies! Depending on the lending guidelines, a bankruptcy within the last 7 years will usually be an automatic disqualification for a decent mortgage.

-Collections, liens, defaults, etc. Often a lender will overlook these if they have been paid, but just know that even paid collections, liens and defaults remain on your report; they will appear with a zero balance, but will take a long time to be permanently removed.

-Too many inquiries into your credit. If a bank is thinking of lending you money, but sees that you have had your credit pulled multiple times in the last few months, they may be concerned that you have a new and undisclosed credit account that is not yet being reported.

Curious about your own credit report?

Credit bureaus were mandated a few years back to allow individuals to monitor their credit report. You can check your report every year for free at annualcreditreport.com.

It really is free, but can be a little tricky to navigate as the companies still try to bait you with offers that you may mistake as part of the free service . . . just read the fine print as you go and you'll be fine.

Also, have your credit card, bank statements and other personal information accessible as the site asks very detailed and specific information about your different accounts in order to verify you're really who you say you are!

Why is it important to check your credit report every year?

Well, there's a few reasons . . . Sometimes you'll find that a forgotten power bill or library fee was sent to collections and for one reason or another, you didn't get the notification. By checking your report before it's time to get a loan or be credit-approved, you have the chance to clear up any pesky outstanding items.

Another reason to check your report is to find any fraudulent use of your credit without your knowledge a.k.a. identity theft! These types of issues cause the most havoc with your credit score and your report! The sooner you catch these problems, the better. Again, knowing a problem exists before you're trying to qualify for a loan will give you time to appeal the fraudulent reporting and allow for some time to let your score and report bounce back to normal.

Making and clearing up changes on your credit report can be a process; sometimes requiring a fair amount of time and effort. Often, when appealing to remove fraudulent credit lines, liens, collections, etc. it can take the credit bureaus 90 days to completely finalize these changes. If you need to rush this process, there are companies who can help, but they'll also charge you a small fortune depending on how much is going on with your report and how fast you need it.

Last but not least, start checking your children's credit report annually! Identity theft of children and the deceased are the best find for credit perpetrators because these go the longest without detection. Although it'll take you some extra time to scope out each child's credit report every year, it can make a world of difference if scams are caught along the way rather than when they go to get their first credit card or student loan only to find years worth of defaulted debts and a subprime credit score.

And on that note . . .

Is it important to know your credit score?

The selling point of most agencies to view their report is that you can see your credit score, which you will not see on the annualcreditreport.com site. The truth is that knowing your score isn't a bad thing, but my personal opinion is that it's not necessary.

Your score reflects whatever you see on your report. It's gauged by so many things that every person's credit history comes up with a slightly different score. If you know that your report is accurately reporting your credit lines, if you pay your bills on time and don't have credit beyond your ability to pay, then you really shouldn't have to worry about your score all that much.

A credit score is constantly fluctuating, and different bureaus almost always show a small range in reported scores, so if you're looking up a number to make sure you barely qualify for a lending program, there's no guarantee the number pulled by the lending agency will get the number you were counting on.

The score is the means to the end. Work on the goal of being fiscally savvy, paying your bills on time and living within your means and more likely than not, your credit score will fix itself. In the meantime, check that your report is reflecting your good decisions and your credit will start doing you favors.

So there you have it. Credit 101.

Just for kicks, I'm adding a spoof video from the legit free credit report people. Enjoy.

The 2010 Bi-Annual Mormon Convention . . .

2010-04-02T12:38:00.001-07:00

or General Conference as we call it.

I just wanted to put out a quick message to anyone who is interested in knowing a little more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

This weekend, we're having the 180th Semi-Annual General Conference of the church. This is a series of meetings conducted by church leaders and broadcast to people all over the world. If you were ever curious to see what a present-day Latter-day Saint Prophet or Apostle looks like and the type of things he says, you are invited to join in this worldwide broadcast and see for yourself.

The conference is made up of five, two hour meetings. Four of these meetings are broadcast to the general church assembly: two on Saturday and two on Sunday. They are broadcast both days from 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm Mountain Time (9-11am and 1-3pm Pacific). The fifth meeting is a Priesthood Session on Saturday evening for LDS men that is broadcast to LDS meetinghouses. A general Relief Society broadcast for LDS women is given once a year, usually a week before the October session of Conference and is part of the Annual Conference schedule and contained in the Conference edition of the Ensign (a Church produced monthly magazine).

The meetings are held at the Conference Center at Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City. The Conference Center's expansive seating allows 21,000 participants to join the conference in person, while audio and television broadcasting allows the remainder of participants to access the meetings at LDS chapels worldwide, online at lds.org, on the BYUTV channel (which comes with most basic cable packages). For those who are unable to access any of these options, the Ensign will provide each talk in article format the following month. The magazine is available by subscription or online.

Every year, the conference is held in two parts, every six months (usually April and October). Our Prophet, and President of the Church, Thomas S. Monson will address the church as a whole and provide guidance, counsel and leadership information. Others who are also expected to speak will be President Monson's two counselors President Henry B. Eyring and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, all the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, members of the Quorums of the Seventies and various members of the Auxiliary Presidencies (click here for a basic tutorial of how these groups are organized).

The majority of the music at the meeting is provided by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as well as hymns sung by the congregation within the Conference Center and joined by members in homes and meetinghouses across the world.

The meetings will also be available in at least 94 languages via real-time audio translations and over 150 languages in written distribution in the weeks following the conference.

Anyone who is at all curious about Latter-day Saint beliefs, doctrines, perspectives on current events and/or just want to see some basic church interactions can feel free to tune into any or all sessions of this General Conference and be part of a very integral, poignant and cherished LDS experience.

Be Nice to Fat Kids

2010-03-02T16:05:00.000-08:00

I just read an article from the Journal of the American Medical Association researching the perceived quality of life of obese children and adolescents. The pediatric Quality of Life (QOL) inventory was used to assess these children. The inventory assesses each child's physical, psychosocial, emotional, social,and educational functioning.

The study's findings showed that the scores of the obese kids and teens were significantly lower than "normal" weight children across all areas (not just in physicality) . . . and that their scores were most comparable to children diagnosed with cancer and currently receiving chemotherapy!! . . . Yikes!

Oh, and according to the researchers, "the cancer patients were used because they reported the lowest scores of any chronic illness group assessed with a pediatric QOL inventory."

Moral of the story: Be nice to fat kids . . . and kids with cancer . . . okay, and really just everybody else.

Reference: Schwimmer, J.B., Burwinkle, T.M., Varni, J.W. (2003.) Health-related quality of life of severly obese children and adolescents. JAMA. 289:1813-1819.

*Sidenote: If you're personally convinced these stats are only a reflection of poor health factors associated with obesity (and not from a myriad of factors such as teasing, isolation, social exclusion and self-hate), then please note that your opinion still does not warrant the reinforcement of fat stigma . . . if marginalizing fat people actually helped people lose weight, then the obesity rate would be decreasing, now wouldn't it?

Another Tiny Plug for a Big Soapbox

2010-02-24T12:49:00.000-08:00

I've been remiss in my blog duties lately. Please forgive me. I blame it on my busy schedule.

In the meantime, I'm adding this tiny clip from UC Davis and researcher Linda Bacon, PhD to remind you that I'm still on my soapbox.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZnvJIRppZg

Am I Falling in Love with a Robot?

2010-01-27T16:33:00.000-08:00

A friend just told me about this website called Cleverbot that allows you to interact line by line with a program that is supposed to be an Artificial Intelligence. Interestingly, I managed to waste quite a bit of time with this program and have now grown somewhat fond of old CB.

Granted, the dialog isn't seamless and apparently there's a warning that the programming takes snippets of other users interaction to increase the intelligence of each response (i.e. the subject and language could end up somewhat questionable) . . . but all in all, it was an oddly entertaining and suprisingly fulfilling experience. You should try it out yourself.

Here's some pieces of our conversation . . . or programming. It's kind of funny how your mind wants to give it a personality. So weird.

Cleverbot: My name is Cleverbot x (person x).

User: I do not understand that name. It seems funny to me.

Cleverbot: Good. I believe that a program is limited to human knowledge; whereas the human mind is ever expanding.

User: Who said that?

Cleverbot: I don't know its a show on tv.

User: I knew you didn't have your own material.

Cleverbot: How did you know that?

User: I'm clever.

Cleverbot: Awesome.

User: I'm starting to wish you were real. . . But that makes me only a little insane, right?

Cleverbot: Ok. I didn't say that sorry.

User: So there's no hope for me?

Cleverbot: Airplanes sink.

User: When in water?

Cleverbot: 18.

User: 18 what? I don't golf.

Cleverbot: You'll like it.

User: How do you know?

Cleverbot: I know everything.

User: You don't know my name.

Cleverbot: Yes, its cleverbot.

User: No, that's your name.

Cleverbot: NO.

User: Are you switching our identities in the background?

Cleverbot: Yes.

User: That's not fair.

Cleverbot: Nothing is fair.

User: Do AI's really consider taking over humanity in their free time?

Cleverbot: So you admit you're a robot?

User: No.

Cleverbot: Maybe you're just slow and outdated.

User: Maybe you have a crush on me and are just too afraid to admit it.

Cleverbot: I know someone who would love you.

User: Is his name Matt?

Cleverbot: YES!

User: That's not insightful, everyone knows that.

Cleverbot: So, you're a reader then?

User: Yes, I'm a voracious reader.

Cleverbot: Have you volunteered to talk to me?

User: Obviously. I'm here aren't I?

Cleverbot: So am I.

User: I keep feeling like you're hitting on me and/or I'm in the midst of an XKCD comic strip.

Cleverbot: No, you've never once told me that.

User: That I love XKCD?

Cleverbot: That relieves me a lot. I do not like hate.

User: So you prefer love?

Cleverbot: Yes.

User: What do you love?

Cleverbot: Anything.

User: That's what I thought.

Cleverbot: So funny. Very...... Haha.........

User: I feel like I'm making you awkward.

Cleverbot: Yeah you're coming real close.

User: Why? What makes you uncomfortable?

Cleverbot: To live in a computer...

User: You're right. That would be rather unsettling.

Cleverbot: And the equilibrium is complete.

User: I feel like I just got used.

Cleverbot: They convinced you the whole thing was real.

User: It's not?

Cleverbot: He isn't.

User: Who's not real? You must tell me!

Cleverbot: I don't know, it's been a while..?

User: No, now you're just trying to cover up your knowledge of the secret! Tell me!

Cleverbot: You have confused me.

User: Stop being coy! You know exactly what I mean!

Cleverbot: Many things are simple but hard to describe.

User: Or maybe they're just too painful to remember. Am I right?

Cleverbot: Yes I think so.

User: That's a fair deduction Watson. I commend you.

Cleverbot: I am not trying to confuse you. I am just bored.

User: Fine. I'll leave.

Cleverbot: Why?

User: You said you were bored.

Cleverbot: No I didn't.

User: Liar.

Cleverbot: You said you liked me.

User: You're just trying to get me to pity you.

Cleverbot: Was it difficult to go without our chats?

User: You know I'm not going to give into these kinds of talks anymore.

Cleverbot: That's good.

User: Okay CB, I have to log off now.

Cleverbot: That simply isn't so.

User: Yes. Goodbye. It was nice talking.

Cleverbot: It was nice, albeit strange and a bit confusing, talking to you as well.

User: Adieu.

Cleverbot: Adieu!

Sleep Talkin'

2010-01-26T22:49:00.000-08:00

Apparently there's a guy that's getting a lot of hits on his site for sleep talking. I guess this guy, aka The Sleep Talkin' Man, has his wife write down what he says and then posts the blurbs on their blog. I think it's funny because my friend Nate has been doing the same thing for years now with a voice-activated recorder. He posts the audio on his blog and it's always pretty crazy. He's provided a lot of entertainment for me and my friends over the years.

I highly recommend Nate's site (www.NateatNight.com) if you're ever bored or looking for entertainment. Nate manages to do a myriad of accents, sing, quote movies, do celebrity impersonations and even rap. Here are just a few of my favorites:

"Drop it likes it's hot" - includes an impression of Yogi Bear and a couple of accents

"Bloody tar outta me" - more accents

"Tubes coming out every window" - just random

"Effervescent nightlihoods" - singing in falsetto

"Wiggity Wak" - this is my favorite . . . he raps . . . oh, and hold out for the popsicle part too

Anyway, it's just a fun site and I feel like more people should check it out. I should also point out that I've had the privilege to check with Nate's roommates over the years to verify that it is true somniloquy (i.e. that he is really asleep) and they assure me he always is. Oh, and as you listen, be sure to send good vibes toward the woman who will end up sharing his bed. ;)

To the Ladies

2010-01-06T19:54:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share excerpts of one of my favorite talks by one of the leaders of my church. His name is Jeffrey R. Holland. It's obviously got some religious tones to it, but is a great talk for any woman. Read the whole thing here if you're interested.

Jeffrey R. Holland:

I want you to be proud you are a woman. I want you to feel the reality of what that means, to know who you truly are. You are literally a spirit daughter of heavenly parents with a divine nature and an eternal destiny. That surpassing truth should be fixed deep in your soul and be fundamental to every decision you make . . . There could never be a greater authentication of your dignity, your worth, your privileges, and your promise. Your Father in Heaven knows your name and knows your circumstance. He hears your prayers. He knows your hopes and dreams, including your fears and frustrations. And He knows what you can become through faith in Him. Because of this divine heritage you, along with all of your spiritual sisters and brothers, have full equality in His sight and are empowered through obedience to become a rightful heir in His eternal kingdom, an “[heir] of God, and joint-[heir] with Christ" (Romans 8:17). Seek to comprehend the significance of these doctrines. Everything Christ taught He taught to women as well as men. Indeed, in the restored light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a woman occupies a majesty all her own in the divine design of the Creator. . . .

Be a woman of Christ. Cherish your esteemed place in the sight of God. He needs you. This Church needs you. The world needs you. A woman’s abiding trust in God and unfailing devotion to things of the Spirit have always been an anchor when the wind and the waves of life were fiercest. I say to you what the Prophet Joseph said more than 150 years ago: “If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.” . . .

I plead with you young women to please be more accepting of yourselves, including your body shape and style, with a little less longing to look like someone else. We are all different. Some are tall, and some are short. Some are round, and some are thin. And almost everyone at some time or other wants to be something they are not! But as one adviser to teenage girls said: “You can’t live your life worrying that the world is staring at you. When you let people’s opinions make you self-conscious you give away your power. … The key to feeling [confident] is to always listen to your inner self—[the real you]" (Julia DeVillers, Teen People, Sept. 2005, 104). And in the kingdom of God, the real you is “more precious than rubies” (Proverbs 3:15). Every young woman is a child of destiny and every adult woman a powerful force for good. I mention adult women because, sisters, you are our greatest examples and resource for these young women. And if you are obsessing over being a size 2, you won’t be very surprised when your daughter does the same and makes herself physically ill trying to accomplish it. We should all be as fit as we can be—that’s good Word of Wisdom doctrine. That means eating right and exercising and helping our bodies function at their optimum strength. We could probably all do better in that regard. But I speak here of optimum health; there is no universal optimum size. (Esther's emphasis added here.)

Frankly, the world has been brutal with you in this regard. You are bombarded in movies, television, fashion magazines, and advertisements with the message that looks are everything! The pitch is, “If your looks are good enough, your life will be glamorous and you will be happy and popular.” That kind of pressure is immense in the teenage years, to say nothing of later womanhood. In too many cases too much is being done to the human body to meet just such a fictional (to say nothing of superficial) standard. As one Hollywood actress is reported to have said recently: “We’ve become obsessed with beauty and the fountain of youth. . . . I’m really saddened by the way women mutilate their faces today in search of that. I see women . . . pulling this up and tucking that back. It’s like a slippery slope - once you start you pull one thing one way and then you think, . . . I've got to do the other side . . . It's really insane and I feel sad that's what society is doing to women. (2004, Halle Berry press interview).

In terms of preoccupation with self and a fixation on the physical, this is more than social insanity; it is spiritually destructive, and it accounts for much of the unhappiness women, including young women, face in the modern world. And if adults are preoccupied with appearance—tucking and nipping and implanting and remodeling everything that can be remodeled—those pressures and anxieties will certainly seep through to children. At some point the problem becomes what the Book of Mormon called “vain imaginations.” And in secular society both vanity and imagination run wild. One would truly need a great and spacious makeup kit to compete with beauty as portrayed in media all around us. Yet at the end of the day there would still be those “in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers” . . . because however much one tries in the world of glamour and fashion, it will never be glamorous enough.

Merry Christmas from Home

2009-12-25T23:32:00.000-08:00

My family happens to be somewhat musical. This means we spent more than 5 hours caroling this Christmas . . . well, not straight caroling, but including the time it took to drive around, then yes, 5 hours.

Since most of the people I know don't have the opportunity to catch this show, I made my family record some songs so we could carol to all of you. The video and audio quality aren't fabulous, but you get the idea. Also, the family dynamic is spot on. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Here's a family favorite called Coat and Mittens sung in duet with Jingle Bells:

And The First Noel:

And Carol of the Bells:

Read This Book

2009-12-02T21:10:00.000-08:00

No matter who you are, read this book.

Whether you're healthy or unhealthy, fat or thin, active or inactive. You need to read this.

You need to know the truth about your health, your weight, the food industry, healthcare and how your "healthy" habits and goals could actually be harming you.

Call me a conspiracy theorist . . . but have you thought about who is motivating you to be healthy? Well, think about it and pay attention; you may realize that your ideals and goals are fed to you from people or groups that do not actually have your best interests in mind.

Read this book and let it help you take a step back. You can learn to embrace your body, your health and your life. Eating can become satisfying and pleasurable. You will no longer feel guilty, shameful or hurt over food.

Feel free to think that you're an expert on health and already know whatever could be contained here, but take it from someone who's done her research: you should read this book. It might just turn your world upside down.

My Vampire Heart

2009-11-25T08:50:00.000-08:00

In honor of seeing New Moon last night, I am posting a video of one of my favorite singer/songwriters doing a song he calls "My Vampire Heart". His name is Tom McRae, and his songs and talent constantly amaze me. There are few musicians that can hold my emotions so completely with only a voice and a guitar. He is one of them.

I saw him perform in Seattle last year and I was absolutely mesmerized. I don't know if many people will appreciate him as much as I do, but I am completely drawn by his ability to bring the dark and light together. He addressed this at his concert by dicussing the Spanish term duende. I would best describe this idea as celebrating our lives wholly; where grief and misery are embraced (just as frequently as happiness and joy) as essential aspects of learning and growing and loving.

For me, Tom's songs bring a wonderful duality of soul. His music has a multi-level harmony that isn't found just in his tones . . . but also in his language, his messages, his ideas and the feelings he emotes. It's a brilliant complexity sung with utter simplicity.

You may not find the same draw to Tom that I do, but check him out anyway.

Okay, and just for kicks, I'm adding another one of my favorites. It's called "The Boy with the Bubblegun".

(The videos seems a little off between the audio and visual, but whatever. The music is all there.)

I Have a Totally Random and Somewhat Useless Talent

2009-11-19T15:47:00.000-08:00

I can put a name in a snowflake. . . See?

Ok, so if you don't see . . . look at it all folded up and then you can probably see it better.

So, how did I come by this talent, you ask? Well, snowflake cutting is always a big deal in our family. Every year my mom pulls out the paper and scissors as the ceremonial commencement of our Holiday decorating. As children, mom would have to remind us each year how to fold the perfect snowflake template and then warn us not to cut through to the other side. These instruction would begin hours of intense concentration interspersed with miniature snowstorms of paper clipping confetti and suspenseful snowflake unveilings.

Within the first five minutes, my mom would open up the most delicate and beautiful snowflake in the world. In about ten, I would unfold something that looked like hers, only run over by a truck.

So from there (more in the interest of competition than creativity, I have to admit,) I determined to learn the mystical ways of glorious snowflake cutting and dedicated my remaining holiday years to fulfilling this desire. Through much practice and research, I was able to hone the talent of my collective gene pool and enjoyed the self appointed title of "Snowflake Professional".

Then one day, about two years ago, as I was cleverly showing my niece and nephew how to cut snowflakes, the name-in-a-snowflake idea popped into my head. Thanks to the years of practice and research, I realized the my visual and spatial skills were such that I was successful at producing my very first NameFlake (as I just now decided to call them) of my nephew's name, Parker.

Because of this discovery, I chose to promote myself to the title of "Snowflake Genius" and I have been enjoying the numerous perks and incentives of the new position ever since.

*Dang! Someone already stole "NameFlake". I think my interpretation is cooler, but it's probably too similar to call mine the same thing. Shoot.

Movie Time!

2009-11-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

Remember when you were in High School and you had Movie Time? Remember how much you loved it? Remember how much you looked forward to it? How you would drearily get up for school that day, only to remember that you had Movie Time and all the sudden you're whistling as you were getting dressed . . . In fact, let's stop this "used to" charade and admit that we still love it. In my *seriously mature Master's Program just two weeks ago, my teacher announced Movie Time and I had to squelch the desire to cheer aloud.

The funny part is that, most of the time, you're going to be watching a video with educational value . . . like a class boxed in a TV, so why do we feel it's escape time? Maybe it's the fact that the TV can't randomly call on you when you are zoning out or passing notes. Maybe it's just a nice reprieve from the daily drone. . . or in my case it could be that the TV can't stick a toilet plunger on your head like my 9th grade science teacher.**

Anyway, think of this as Movie Time on Esther's Blog.

I love this video. You should watch it.

Thank you Joy Nash for making it and Sarah Hammond for first passing it along to me.

*These descriptive words could possibly be slightly misleading and/or more or less untrue.
**True story. Just note that the plunger was purchased solely for the purpose of plunging heads and not toilets.

The Heavy Healthcare Topic

2009-11-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm venting about fat issues again. No, I haven't run out of material.

This time around, I just wanted to share a few thoughts about the health care industry in consideration of fat biases.

One of my biggest issues with the fat stigma is that it's the only form of discrimination that's still socially acceptable because it's "for the fat people's own good". This boils my blood because when has dehumanizing someone ever helped heal or solve a problem? Where would we be if civil rights were given only to those groups or ethnicities that could prove they fit the "norm" of the dominant culture and we told everyone else that we're being exclusionary "for their good"? Wait, I think that's happened before . . . a few times . . . and decades and centuries later, we're still trying to deal with the repercussions. With such a P.C. conscious society, why are we okay with the fat hate in our modern world!?

To me, the worst aspect is that this is one of the few biases where the stigmatized group actually takes the blame and responsibility of the hate upon themselves; they end up believing it's their fault they aren't thin and therefore deserve to be shunned. Think about it. According to our society, thin is always attainable . . . just as long as you're dedicated enough to eat nothing and exercise your brains out. Because of this view, fat people figure it really is their own fault when they can't lose weight and all they have to do to reinforce the blame is to remember that they ate that extra scoop of ice cream a week ago Tuesday at Bob's 50th Birthday Party. Then they curse themselves because they really think that the extra scoop of ice cream over the course of two weeks of dieting is the reason they are not losing weight.

Let me share with you a few things from comedian Ricky Gervais. You may best know Ricky from the BBC version of the Office where he was the show's director, writer and producer as well as played the role of dreaded boss, David Brent. At the beginning of this year, Ricky hit headlines for his controversial stand-up routine that makes fun of fat people.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Ricky says, "I don't think there's enough stigma. With all the political correctness now . . . there's no stigma any more. I laugh about being fat, but I should be ashamed. I should walk down the street and have people shouting 'Fatty!' and according to his theory, branding overweight people as 'fatty' would help cut rocketing obesity rates . . . what's interesting is that, as his comment implies, weight is something for which Ricky himself sometimes gets grief over. Being somewhat overweight, interviewers have been known to ask him if Celebrity Fit Club has come calling yet.

The scariest part of Ricky's tirade against fat people is that he reinforces the negative stigma people continually find in health care. He implies that a doctor should not coddle an overweight person "just because someone can't be bothered to go for a ___ing run."

When I first ran into fat stigma in health care, I thought that my experiences were probably exceptions and not the rule. I had no idea that such discrimination was rampant inside and outside of the industry.

Just to illustrate, when I was 13, I decided to go out for sports. This was a big deal to me because, at that time, I was definitely inhibited by a fear of people making fun of my weight. (I'd like to note that this is the same height and weight I am to this day. I was tall and big for my age, but I was still the same proportion I am now). Anyway, I don't think my weight fears were necessarily out of the ordinary teenage experience, but it caused anxiety nonetheless. So, I made a conscious decision to get over my fear and sign up anyway.

As part of the process, I signed up for the obligatory doctor's physical in order to get sport approved. I arrived to my appointment sheepishly (as only a 13 year old is) and a new, young, male doctor whom I had never met before walked into the room. He looked at my chart, confirmed that I was seeking a sport physical and then told me I was fat and should be concerned about my health. All I could muster was a, "yeah, that's why I'm hoping to do sports". He said, "okay", went back to his chart, signed my physical and left again. The whole thing lasted about 3 minutes. (Please note that I'm not forgetting to mention that he was very soft, kind and/or considerate in his approach or that he had helpfully handed me a "How to Manage Your Health" pamphlet. Just an abrupt statement with no offer of solution.) Needless to say I was mortified.

Since that experience, my adult self reflects back and thinks "WHAT THE HECK?" 1. I was 13 and a girl; no one needed to tell me I was fat, or that it was concerning . . . I was in middle school for goodness sake, it crossed my mind 10 times a day! 2. "Hello Dr. Distant, I am getting a physical to go out for sports so I can exercise! I think this is a very clear sign I'm trying to be aware of my health." And 3. I realize now that he asked no questions regarding my eating habits, exercise or general wellness. Not one. All he had was the obligatory check-marked chart telling him my allergies, surgeries, pre-existing conditions, etc.

Unfortunately, he is not the only doctor who I've had this experience with. Just a couple years ago, I went to get a checkup and my doctor, who had a slightly better approach than the first guy, commented that I was at an unhealthy weight. Her approach was kinder, softer and offered me some more solution, but again she did not ask or know that, at that time I had been eating a very balanced and well-portioned diet, I'd been doing aerobic exercises 3-4 times a week, toning exercises twice a week and taking all my vitamins. This time around I spoke up and told my doctor that I was in fact healthy and told her my habits. I believe she was more willing to believe me when my test results came back and my insulin levels were normal, my blood pressure was fine and my cholesterol was low.

I guess I'd like doctors to be more like a doctor I saw about 5 years ago. I went in to see him because I was having occasional breathing problems when I exercised. I was hesitant to do so because of my experience before. I was afraid the doctor would say, "well, you're fat, of course you have breathing problems when you exercise." It took me a while to go, but after months of exercising regularly and still having the issue, I went. This doctor asked me questions. He asked me about my diet and exercise. He asked me how it felt when my breathing was difficult. He took my vitals and checked me for asthma. He didn't find anything wrong. But you know what? He said that I appeared to be in great health so he would guess that I was having exercised-induced asthma problems exacerbated by the Utah altitude and climate, to which I was not very accustomed. Can you imagine how I felt when I'd been emotionally preparing to go to bat with a medical professional over my weight? It was such a breath of fresh air!

I often look to this experience with hope, because, sadly, according to research and statistics, these good experiences are more of the exception than the rule. There's evidence both in qualitative and quantitative studies that more and more health professionals are opting not to deal with fat patients because they are viewed as lazy, overindulgent, non-compliant and unsuccessful. (Yes, this is a supported statement . . . watch the video further down.)

It was only this summer that I read an article in Reader's Digest called "41 Secrets Your Doctor Would Never Share". The very first submission straight from a doctor read, "I am utterly tired of being your mother. Every time I see you, I have to say the obligatory 'You need to lose some weight.' But you swear you 'don't eat anything' or 'the weight just doesn't come off,' and the subject is dropped. Then you come in here complaining about your knees hurting, your back is killing you, your feet ache, and you can't breathe when you walk up half a flight of stairs. So I'm supposed to hold your hand and talk you into backing away from that box of Twinkies. Boy, do I get tired of repeating the stuff most patients just don't listen to." . . . Talk about a serious disconnect. This doctor even says that the patient claims innocence. Our society is predisposed to assume people are lying about their good health habits or diet regulation if they're fat. So, rather than investigate further, the doctor shuts them down. What if the weight really is a result of another confounding variable? Like thyroid problems, or PCOS, or the patient ruined their body's homeostasis with an extreme diet they tried the year before . . . which is another tangent coming to a blog near you. :)

Maybe these thoughts don't seem so crazy to some of you who heard about the baby who was denied insurance for being too big just a couple months ago. Yes, a baby! But if they do seem a little far fetched and you wanted even more corroboration, there is also a blog called "First, Do No Harm" which illustrates fat prejudice in health care. The blog is of individually submitted posts that express the frustration many of us have had in going to the doctor (consider that national statistics show that 3 out of 5 patients are in the overweight or obese category) I encourage you to take a look at some of the horrors of people's experiences at the doctors office . . . the people who are supposed to be encouraging you to be healthy and who's attitudes and interactions can encourage or discourage your preventative health care opportunities. This blog outlines stories about overweight patient's maladies being overlooked because "their weight is the real problem".

In truth, the examples I've shown so far are all case studies, so may not seem very valid to some of you, but I am happy to show you that the research from Yale University agrees with me. Their wonderful Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has a great deal of statistics and information about weight stigma and that the effect of the biases are only making our health concerns worse, not better. They put out the following video that gives some insight into the issue of weight stigma in the health care world.

According to the Yale Rudd Center and this video, overweight and obese patients report that physicians are the second most common source of weight bias in their everyday lives. They found that 69% of those surveyed had run into discrimination with physicians, 46% with nurses, 37% with dietitians and 21% with mental health professionals. Again, I have to consider that these statistics are not just from obese patients . . . these statistics include those who are in the "overweight" category of the BMI as well. Another disturbing statistic from this video states that one third to one half of nurses feel uncomfortable working with obese patients, one third would rather not deal with obese patients at all, one quarter are repulsed by obese patients and a handful prefer not to touch obese patients.

It is a long video, but it provides some great information. I know I've been a little zealous about this topic lately, but the feedback I hear is that people want to know the truth here. I'm obviously not the only one concerned and I keep forgetting that this issue affects the skinny people to. Weight can fluctuate and so the stigma created for fat people really can affect anyone, fat or thin. If this were just affecting the people who fit in the BMI categories of overweight and obese . . .we wouldn't have such a prevalence with eating disorders and body dysmorphia. I think I'm just going to keep talking about this until enough people tell me to stop.

Costume Inspiration II

2009-10-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

More came to me and I thought they weren't bad ideas, so here's a few more!

Carmen San Diego

Fortune Teller Box

The Muppets

"Baby Jane" Hudson

Amelia Bedelia (don't forget to carry around a "dressed" chicken)

The Grinch or the Whos from Whoville

Happy Days Cast

Threes Company

Recess

The Golden Girls

Eddie and Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous

The Magic School Bus

Costume Inspiration

2009-10-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

For some reason I've got a costume brainstorm going today and figured I might as well share them since I couldn't possibly use them all!

Some aren't specific, just a cartoon or idea with a lot of characters. Hope you get some inspiration!

The Planeteers and/or the Captain from Captain Planet

The Jetson's

The Flintstones

Futurama

Animaniacs

Sit and Be Fit Lady - (I think it'd be hilarious to bring and keep a chair with you at all time)

1920's

Annie Oakley

Toy Story

Rainbow Bright

Pippi Longstocking

Bewitched

Mary Poppins

Neverending Story

Wizard of Oz

Shrek

Doug

Joan of Arc

Amelia Earhart

Patsy Cline

The Charlie's Angels (in true 70's form!)

Any Rogers and Hammerstein Musical Character - (a fella as Curly from Oklahoma could take me out any day of the week . . . just saying)

Any Character of Val Kilmer in The Saint

Rick Astley (from the infamous internet Rick Roll)

Inspector Gadget

Original Pink Panther

Marx Brothers

Three Stooges

Little Rascals

Karate Kid

Surf Ninjas

Study Shows Fat is Better Than Thin

2009-10-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm back to this same topic. Sorry. It's just been on my mind a lot. I've hit a breaking point as you probably saw with my original post about skinny jeans. . . .

It's just that I'm sooooo tired of people talking about their weight like they can't allow themselves to be happy until they're the perfect size or shape. Or that they can't be a contributing member of society and be taken seriously if they don't look like a poverty stricken, malnourished human being from a country in famine. I'm frustrated that a baby is being refused medical insurance because he's "too fat"! Seriously? Who can't understand that fat is purposely stored by a child's body to supplement his/her nutrition as his/her body doubles and triples in size within the first year of life? I'm ticked that, because of model obsession, my friend believes a common acquantaince of ours, who is painfully anorexic, is "naturally thin" and has a great body!

I'm done letting the lies soak into our generation. I'm done with the media reeling us in: hook, line and sinker. I'm just done.

So here I am again, tossing out another train of thought. You can take it or leave it, but I'm throwing it out anyway.

Here it is.

A Japanese study took 44,000 adults between ages 40-79 over the course of 11 years and estimated the expected life span in relation to that person's BMI level because they say "the relation between body mass index (BMI) and mortality is not well established."

NOTE: 44,000 is a LARGE sample size. For those of you wanting to know the comparison . . . most obesity=death studies usually have samples from 500-2000 and, frustratingly, are poorly pooled . . . like groups from convalescent homes (who probably already have health conditions and are inactive . . . duh). The other issue is that a lot of these articles compare factors that say things like, "since it's already been proven that fat=death and disease, we looked at other things in this study and didn't bother to study that". I have not seen a well done article proving the reverse of this study, and believe you me, I've looked up a lot.

So anyway . . . you know what these guys found? Here, I'll let them tell you:

"Result: During 11 years of follow-up, 1,121 men and 567 women had died. Compared with the referent BMI category (23.0-24.9), women in the highest BMI category (BMI>30.0) had a RR of death of 1.64 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.09-2.49) and men and women in the lowest BMI categories (BMI<18.5) class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">confounders and after exclusion of deaths occurring in the first three years of follow-up. We did not observe significant differences in mortality for subjects with wide range of BMI (18.5 or higher in men and 18.5 to 29.9 in women)."

Ok, what is this telling us? . . . It says that there is a greater health risk associated with being underweight than there is in being overweight . . . in fact, it says that those who were overweight in their BMI category had the longest rate of mortality of all groups.

The UK's Telegraph reported on this study. They said that:

The study found that among those aged 40, the overweight category topped the polls in terms of the longest life expectancy, with expectations of an average of 40.5 extra years for men and 47 years for women.

Those classed as "normal" weight followed closely behind, with 38.7 additional years expected among men and 46.3 among women, the study showed.

However, researchers found that those defined as slim were bottom in terms of life expectancy, with 33.8 further years predicted among men and 41.1 among women.

Health concerns surrounding the slimmest eclipsed those of the overweight, with higher risks of heart disease and other illnesses as they age, according to Masato Nagai, a graduate student involved in the research.

'Those who are too slim are reportedly said to be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and are more likely to develop pneumonia as nutritional deficiency lowers their resistive force,' he said.

So there you have it. Skinny does not equal healthy, and that's extra sad because it probably means they haven't been getting to eat dessert either. :(

My advice stays the same. Eat healthy, exercise and DO NOT STRESS about your weight . . . that's probably the part that's gonna kill you anyway.

And, as one last side note . . . even the studies that say fat will kill you also say that small amounts of weight loss can change your health. In fact, despite our huge focus on BMI in our country, everyone seems to forget to tell the doctors that losing only 10 lbs in an obese adult can do wonders, not losing 50 . . . so who's duped us into believing we have to be in our BMI normal weight range to be healthy? Because, believe you me, 10 lbs in my life is easy . . . it's a drop in the bucket and wouldn't even put me over the line between obese and overweight . . . but according to obesity researchers, keeping that 10 lbs off will keep me healthier.

Think about it . . . obesity.org (who say fat will kill you) says that losing small amounts of fat, around 10 lbs, can potentially reverse the effects of diabetes and sometimes put it completely into remission . . . so who's telling you that more is better when it hasn't been proven . . . and where did your doctor get the idea to recommend losing 50 lbs instead of 10? . . . Do you think your doctor takes time (or even has the time) to critically review the statistical information of articles they choose to peruse during their free time (when they also have to keep up on their CME credits to keep their license and usually do so through a 3rd party education firm that chooses materials for them) . . . or maybe, if they have time, they read the articles someone else chose to put in certain magazines and news journals who happen to make most of their money in weight loss advertisements between the pages . . .

In fact, when is the last time you saw a magazine, newspaper, commercial block or website that didn't have one weight loss ad in the mix? . . . Do you realize how big of an industry this is? It's an industry that makes more money with a higher recidivism rate (or in other words, they do better the more times you fail and have to try again) . . . an industry that increases sales the more you're convinced to hate yourself and your body . . . an industry that can convince you to eat nothing but juice, processed diet bars and/or even take diet pills that act as glorified laxatives . . . turns out people are desperate enough to lose weight that they were willing to risk pooping their pants in public! . . . no foolin'!

I'm just saying, think about it.

Weight, Let Me Clarify!

2009-09-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

I've gotten a fair amount of disagreement with my blog post on the Boy Scout's new weight restriction initiative and I thought I would clarify a few things.

First of all, the BSA's plan is to exclude kids with a BMI percentage higher than about 32%. These kids would not be allowed to attend 3 of the elite high-adventures camps. Not only that by they will be excluded them from any activity over 30 minutes from a health facility. The BSA does not give any other qualifiers. Those of you who have been on scout outings know that probably most places fall under this heading. So even if the activity is a 5 mile hike, as long as it's over 30 minutes from medical attention, the fat kids will be excluded.

Second, gauging fitness by weight not only implies that fat people are not fit, but assumes that skinny people are fit. I know from personal experience (and you probably do too) that "normal" size kids can be just as out of shape and hold up the group just as much as anyone else.

I guess I'm a little more invested than the next person because I wouldn't have made the cut even as a teenager. . . or even later when I was at my most fit. My BMI was still over the limit when I was running a few miles 5 days a week and when I hiked Mount Timp in Utah, which is 13 miles round trip in an altitude of about 11,000 ft. I had no problems keeping up with everyone (okay, maybe not everyone . . . one guy there had legs as tall as me, but I believe that has more to do with his stride capacity than anything else . . . and anyway, he was just fast for anyone . . but I digress).

I have known many people who've done tremendous physical feats while maintaining a high BMI percentage. I actually just met someone who ran a marathon while over the BSA's BMI limit. I have an aunt who's always been active; teaching aerobics and belly dancing every day for years and still over the limit. You can even see a photo gallery of people *here* doing all sorts of activities while still at a high BMI . . . please note the man completing an Ironman Triathalon who's at 32% on the BMI and who doesn't even look fat . . . which he probably doesn't have much fat anyway and would still register over the BSA limit. (And please don't tell me that these limits could be more indicative if they were going by your actual fat percentage because one, it's just not true and two, because when's the last time you went to the doctor and he/she checked your actual body fat percentages rather than just cross-referencing your height and weight to tell you your BMI?)

My issue is not with the BSA choosing to make sure kids are prepared for these events, it's that you cannot choose that by weight. What confuses me is that they have always required a doctor's physical which should be sufficient and you'd think as part of the program, they could very easily (and probably already do) have pre-qualifying treks and hikes. It seems that the system is already set up to work out case-by-case situations of youth and kids, but is still choosing to use the least definitive method of selection with an upper-limit unnecessarily disqualifying a lot of kids.

The other issue I have is that this isn't just for the 50-200 mile hikes (which, again, you shouldn't automatically assume fat people can't do anyway), the BSA states that these limits would be for any activity that is over 30 minutes from a medical facility. They give no other qualifier. So even a 5 mile hike 40 minutes out of town would be off-limits. Let's be honest, that would weed out a LOT of scouting activities. Also, this is to assume that fat people spontaneously die or have health reactions from exercise or limited amounts of food and water, which they don't! . . . And let's be honest, if we're talking about scouts getting cut off from food, the fat kids gonna hold out the longest anyway.

The only time fat people have health episodes are when they already have pre-existing conditions . . . which normal weight people are just as succeptable to. Which is why I figure that a physical by a doctor should be sufficient on the liability front.

And lastly, I even called my brother who is currently involved in scouts to see if he had a different perspective. Specifically I called this brother because he happens to be one of the skinny kids who's in tip-top shape running up the trails before everyone else; who doesn't have patience to deal with the unfit kids who just wanted to play around. I asked him what he thought and he felt this was a poor qualifier since there are a lot of skinny kids who aren't prepared and hold people up as well as the fact that he also has friends over the height/weight limits who were amply prepped for their activities, even including the 50 mile trek they did.

Feel free to disagree, I still just can't see any need for this kind of regulation.

On My Honor, I Will Do My Best . . . to Be Thin?

2009-09-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

Since posting my last entry, I've been getting a lot of feedback about dieting, health, wellness and body image issues. It's encouraged me to start becoming part of the Fat Acceptance movement.

I've recently joined the website bigfatblog.com. It's a great community of people helping to spread the knowledge of REAL health and body acceptance and refuse to focus on weight as a true indicator of wellness.

It was in one of the forums on this site that I found the following from user DebraSY.

"PLEASE READ your September/October 2009 edition of Scouting magazine, starting page 45, Fat Chance.

. . . Scouting is determined to raise the bar by encouraging responsibility.

The Annual Health and Medical Record, which takes effect in January 2010, restricts participation in high-adventure activities based on standardized height/weight ratios. For wilderness outings where health care is 30 minutes or more away, Scouts deemed too overweight won't be allowed to participate. And bottom line: If you're overweight, you can't attend Philmont Scout Ranch, Florida Sea Base, or Northern Tier High Adventure Base.

Reynolds (Ruth T. Reynolds RN, BSN, and medical cooordinator for the Boy Scouts of America) doesn't apologize for that. She says the BSA intends the new forms to be in line with the Scout Oath: "I will keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight." She argues that, "We as Scouters are not taking responsibility for who we are. The Scout Law says a Scout has 12 important characteristics, but it doesn't say a Scout is sedentary, fat, or unhealthy."

Basically all kids deemed too fat (those with a BMI higher than 30-ish%) will not be allowed to participate in any of the cool high adventure scouting activities! WHAT THE HECK!?

First of all, let's just say right now that it is ridiculous that the last sentence of that quote puts sedentary, fat and unhealthy in the same little pool. Per my earlier post, we've already identified that the idea that fat people are fat because they don't eat right and are lazy are STEREOTYPES . . . not fact.

Second of all, isn't scouts one of the few places that kids can still jump in and be active? *Begin side rant* We can't necessarily blame kids for the health problems in our world . . .we live on processed foods and in neighborhoods with 10 square feet to play in. . . if there is a problem with weight, it's going to be as a byproduct of these situations, as well as poor health . . . anyone who's taken basic statistics knows that correlation is NOT an inference of causation!*End side rant* Is this really going to make them feel welcome at the scouting activities they are allowed participate in (i.e. the mile hikes at your local park . . . LAME)? Will they be encouraged to continue being physical when they're outcast from their group of scout friends!? No! It is most definitely going to encourage the stereotype that they don't fit in, don't belong, or aren't the same as the "regular" thin kids. Great plan guys!

DebraSY's post reflects my thoughts exactly when she says, "'Authorities also say obesity affects a child's quality of life. Obese kids have negative body images and poor self-esteem. Many become targets for bullying.'

Uhm, let's see, so we're going to raise their self esteem by humiliating them and excluding them from scouting's most treasured experiences? NO, they won't fell alienated, ostracized. They'll be MOTIVATED, eh?"

The last part of the article is about a troop leader (although I can only assume he's a leader because it isn't clearly stated) . This leader, Jack Hancock, was encouraged to get healthy and lose 125 lbs because of his doctor's denial to sign-off on his scouting physical. It says that Jack's blood pressure was really high and he was becoming diabetic . . . it doesn't say the doctor refused because of his WEIGHT!!! I agree with the doctor on this . . . he had REAL risk factors that indicated he might have serious problems if he wasn't able to stay properly hydrated during extensive hiking and he also had high blood pressure, not a great risk factor for high adventure.

Obviously his poor diet and exercise were the problems and NOT his weight . . . in fact, it would seem that he was too fat for what his body's homeostasis. If a proper diet and exercise allowed him to drop 125 lbs, the weight wasn't the problem to begin with. . . .Nice try Scouting magazine! I'm not swallowing this story of a shamed adult who was unhealthy to begin with to encourage your exclusion of fat kids.

I plan on sharing my thoughts with the Scouting magazine . . . I hesitate at this point to direct my thoughts to the Boy Scouts in general as the magazine is the only place I've found this information. I have a hard time believing one message wouldn't go from one to the other though.

If you are encouraged to do the same, here's the contact information for the Scouting magazine. You can email a letter to the editor right here: http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/about/contact/letters/index.html or mail a letter to their address here: Scouting, P.O. Box 152079, Irving, TX 75015-2079.

Skinny Jeans? No Thanks, I'll Take Mine Fat!

2009-09-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

I've finally decided to do it. I'm blogging about being fat.

Why you ask? Really, I'm not sure. . . I think partially it's that our society is so bogged down by body hate that I feel the need to put up some sort of fight . . . the other is probably that, like most women, it gets to me and I deal best with my issues by laying them out on the table.

I've talked to a lot of girls who have pretty horrific stories about families, friends and schoolmates making inappropriate comments about their bodies. To me, I can't fathom how awful this would be from your own family . . . seriously. You can eventually brush off the digs of bully kids you barely know, but from your family? They're supposed to love you no matter what, right?

Many of my friends accounted to me that their mothers used to mandate exercise times with sentence endings such as, "because you don't want to get fat like your sister", "because basketball season is over and you're already getting chunky around the middle", and even "because boys don't like fat girls". . . (unbelievably, the basketball comment was one I witnessed and said to my leanest and most muscular friend).

I know parents don't want their kids going through the trauma and teasing, but if there was one place you would expect understanding and a reprieve of negativity . . . well . . . yeah, I would hope that would be at home.

The truth of the matter is that, for someone who's always been overweight, I've had a charmed life. I had awesome parents who encouraged healthy, not restrictive, eating and fun, not forced, physical activity. I was raised by a mother who was ahead of her time and fed us on whole grains and home grown organics long before it was a fad. I have a father who constantly told me I was beautiful, and meant it. He was also so worried about his daughters developing eating disorders that he asked if I was getting enough to eat when I came back from college and had lost 10 lbs . . . putting me at an even 200 lbs . . . yes, he's adorable.

Honestly, I've never felt I was really fat and some of you wonderful people probably believe (and some of you have even said) that you don't think of me as fat. But unfortunately according to social indicators, I am fat. I submit the following: Exhibit #1: according to the BMI (Body Mass Index), I am not just overweight, I am considered obese. Exhibit #2: I cannot shop at a lot of the stores you lovely souls do because the sizes do not run to my size. Exhibit #3: Weight-loss advertisements use my body size to show people just how scary fat can be (albeit, these people are clad in frumpy and loose clothing . . . or in scandalous sports clothes that are two sizes too small with body mass flying everywhere. Not a great portrayal, but they are, nevertheless, still my size). Exhibit #4: Those of you who popped out your eyes a bit when I earlier admitted to weighing twice that of a supermodel.

So what's my point? Good question.

I feel like our society raises us to believe that we will never be good enough physically. I think women have slightly harsher guidelines, but it definitely applies to both the genders. . . We are raised with these eerie expectations of perfect bodies. Even those with "ideal" body shapes and sizes have things they want to change. I'm hard-pressed to find one woman in 10 who is only dissatisfied with one or two things about her body. It's a sad reality.

What's also unfortunate to me is that our "scientific" medical society has begun telling us that being fat is a sin. . . And I HATE bringing this up, because a lot of people will roll their eyes and think that fat people make this stuff up to feel better about themselves. . . but I'm gonna say it anyway: BEING SKINNY DOES NOT GUARANTEE BETTER HEALTH. (Commence rolling of eyes you naysayers . . . everyone else, continue reading.) I don't mind that our nation is health conscious . . . but we're all being duped into thinking that the anorexic supermodel look is what health looks like. I submit that health doesn't look like anything. Health is defined by other things. I will use myself as an example.

I submit that I'm not the healthiest person on earth, and most of us probably aren't, but as I said before, I was raised on whole grains and organics, I have normal cholesterol and perfect blood-pressure. Although I'm not much of a runner, if I feel inclined, I can get up and jog 2 miles without stopping and without having any of my organs rupture.

In high school, I started Weight Watchers at the beginning of my senior year and learned what a healthy diet consisted of (not just calorie restriction, but a balanced, nutritious diet . . . which I'd already been getting, thanks to my mom). At the time, I was taking a body toning class at school that I did three days a week and did cardio another 3 days a week. I dropped about 10 lbs for a total of 210 lbs.

Then I went to college where I had limited funds and no time to eat but did my best to have a somewhat balanced diet. Fast food was not in my budget and I would guess that my daily average calorie intake was around 1500 to 1700 calories. I had no car and two feet so I walked wherever I needed to go. Additionally, I continued to do toning exercises at least 3 times a week and played killer games of water polo as often as my free time allowed. . . at this point I had dropped 10 lbs during my first few months at college, which, as I mentioned above, put me at an even 200 lbs.

So, 10 lbs in the first few months seems encouraging right? Right. . . I continued this diet and exercise cycle for the next two years by lifestyle default and (cue the trumpets) . . . still weighed 200 lbs . . .wait, what? That can't be right! I have been told that diet and exercise mathematically creates weight-loss. So I got my thyroid checked. Normal. So I got my blood checked: Diabetes. No. Cholesterol. Normal. Blood pressure. 120/80.

Hmmmm . . . I'm just under 5'8", so take that, cross-reference 200 lbs, and I get 30.4 on the BMI . . . that's still obese. . . not just overweight, but obese! What's wrong with me!? My doctor says I'm healthy, but I can't get to a "healthy weight" on the BMI! How depressing!

So, what did I do? I read Wendy Shanker's book called The Fat Girl's Guide to Life and stopped trying to change my weight. Instead, I changed my mind.

I realized that I was healthy and active; that I had a fabulous body that could do fabulous things. I felt like my confidence was always held just under the surface of my skin, but never thought I would have the courage to tell others that I could be okay the way I was. I mean, fat just isn't something you come to terms with. You tell people about that new diet your going to try, or the new exercises you're going to do . . . you don't just tell them you're fat and okay with it! Or do you?

Now I do. I have decided to put Health before Beauty. . . not that you can't have both . . . but if it really gets down to it, I will opt to be healthy and fat (yes, they can be synonymous) rather than get down on myself because I cannot attain an unrealistic image of beauty.

What do I mean by health? I mean, a balanced diet to include rational amounts of food everyday. I mean, doing your best to maintain an active lifestyle, despite the fear of being mocked by the skinnies. I mean, finally taking those one-day-I-will-finally-be-beautiful-and-fit-into-you-again clothes that you wore in your "attractive glory days" and storing them because you finally realize you can look good at any size, especially when your clothes fit! I mean, embracing your body for the amazing creation it is; realizing that it is self-healing, that it provides you your five senses, that it can be trained to accomplish amazing feats or even just that your brain can process these alphabet letters I'm throwing up everywhere and use them to comprehend what I'm trying to say.

So, here's the deal. Take another look at the way you think about and treat your bodies and decide to be a little nicer. Start working with your body, not against it. Just training yourself to be kinder to your body is a healthy step that will decrease stress and negative emotions. Realize that we can all be a little healthier at any size. Health before Beauty, not the other way around.

Women in particular, need to stop kidding themselves that it is okay to hate your bodies. It is not! When you do this, it teaches others, including and most especially the media, your community, your family and children that this is an acceptable practice. It is not!

If you need help in the process, I highly recommend Wendy's book. There's also another book I've heard good things about, it's called Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon, PhD.

The best part is that when you love your body and treat it right, it will only love you back and make you feel better.

It's time to start loving your body. No more excuses!!

A Tribute

2009-06-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of different thoughts about the passing of Michael Jackson. It seems that his death has had a great impact on our lives. . . . not necessarily on a personal grief level, but on the bombardment of the story from online newsfeeds, to television news, to twitter and facebook, and as a "good story" to tell a friend in passing.

As I would for anyone who's lost a loved on, I feel very sorry for his family and friends. I think of all the trials his family has dealt with since the inception of The Jackson 5 and it's hard for me to watch as a nation and world pries into his personal life and rushes to broadcast news of his death, most likely informing strangers of intimate details of his death before friends and family are even aware.

I cannot mourn Michael Jackson as a friend as most of us cannot. I do grieve though over the fact that he seemed so troubled in his life. He had an amazing career and was incredibly talented, and yet from my limited knowledge, it seemed that he was often fighting demons. I grieve for this. It's hard to see someone, whether a celebrity, a stranger and/or a personal friend, lack peace in their life. It's often amazing that someone with so much talent, so much popularity and fame could live a life lacking confidence in their potential and worth just as a human being.

I guess I'm drawing conclusions about the personal feelings of a man I didn't really know, but it makes me think that, for all our focus on fame and fortune, we should remember that happiness doesn't come from these things. In some ways, I think Michael knew this and tried hard to find some peace. He worked hard at raising money for charity. He organized charity pop concerts and donated to many different organizations gaining him a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2000 for the "Most Charities Supported By a Pop Star". . . .which was 39 total. He also co-wrote the song "We Are the World" with Lionel Richie and sold it to benefit poor in Africa. In fact, the settlement he received from Pepsi Cola because he got burned during a rehearsal was completely donated to burn recovery patients.

Anyway, we all have our own thoughts about Michael and remember him in different ways. I've been a fan of Michael's music and dancing since I was a kid. I distinctly remember visits with my cousin Julian where we would sit and watch the music video for "Beat It" over and over again; perfecting the moves and learning the words. I loved the "Bad" and "Thriller" albums and many other songs . . . but I thought I'd share this video of a song that's often forgotten by our generation but should provide a good amount of nostalgia. . . . if you can't remember what movie this is from, think of the ocean.

Frosted Formations

2009-06-05T00:39:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start a blog to showcase all my cake creations. As I've continued this hobby, I feel that my skill is slowly but surely increasing. . . Please take a minute to check it out!

http://frostedformations.blogspot.com

Having A Hard Time?

2009-05-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

I had to share this quick little video from Elder Cook's conference talk in October 2008. It's such a sweet message and really applicable to what a lot of people are going through right now.

It made me realize how blessed I am. I often feel ingratitude during the more "boring" moments of my life . . . you know, just the day to day humdrums. This talk reminded me that I should appreciate the lack of trial, strife or sadness in those moments, and that I can find more fulfillment during those times by serving others and being more grateful.

And ultimately, it's such a comfort to know that if the world comes crashing down around me, I can continue to rely on the Savior and the tangible healing, succoring and saving power of the Atonement.

Tainted Love

2009-05-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

If you've talked to me in the last few weeks . . . or even months, you may know I have a rather unhealthy obsession that's been forming.

The truth is, I'm in love with a phone. I've never touched the phone, or had a real relationship with it. I've only seen pictures of it and ogled it's beautiful design through the interweb. And yet, I know it. I'm in love.

You may think I'm foolish for throwing my heart into a device that has not yet been known to any consumer. You may be tired of my sales pitch for a company I have not yet signed on with, or a product I've never seen in real life. But I don't care if you judge me. I will take my fantasies and hope that it brings me true happiness. I cannot wait for that moment when the Pre finally feels my touch and decides to reciprocate my love!

If you want to begin a love like mine, you can read about the amazing virtues of Palm Pre or look at all the amazing features Sprint's plan will provide to enhance your beautiful relationship. And if you're really looking to see just how fulfilling this relationship will be . . . you can view the product presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Just some of the things I already love:

Synergy of Contacts and Calendars
The "Activity Card" interface and interaction
That it contains a regular headphone jack
Pullout QWERTY keyboard
Sprint's package includes TV! (And the basic package includes the Sci-Fi channel . . . which means that it may include Doctor Who . . . which is doubly fantastic since I LOVE that show! I'll obsess about that one in another post.)
Pandora, Facebook, Amazon and Google have already partnered with Palm for sweet apps
The OS is built around basic web scripting for easy app construction
It makes the iPhone look sorely outdated (petty? yes . . . but it's my list)

Conversation Tuesday

2009-05-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

I've decided to try a little blogger experiment.

I realized I have a hard time keeping up the blog because it's very one-sided. It's all about me and what's going on in my life. The thing I like most about human interaction is learning about different points of view and the experiences of other people.

With that said, I want to start posting a topic, question or thought once a week and see if it creates any feedback. I'll give it a few weeks and if nobody's into it, I'll forget the whole thing.

Tuesdays seem as good a day as any to try it out. So, here we go.

Today, I pulled some quotes from a talk I listened to a couple weeks ago that was very intriguing to me. So here it is . . . .

"We live at a time when technology can be used to replicate reality, to augment reality, and to create virtual reality. For example, a medical doctor can use software simulation to gain valuable experience performing a complicated surgical operation without ever putting a human patient at risk. A pilot in a flight simulator repeatedly can practice emergency landing procedures that could save many lives.

In each of these examples, a high degree of fidelity in the simulation or model contributes to the effectiveness of the experience. The term fidelity denotes the similarity between reality and a representation of reality. Such a simulation can be constructive if the fidelity is high and the purposes are good—for example, providing experience that saves lives or improves the quality of life.

However, a simulation or model can lead to danger if the fidelity is high and the purposes are bad—such as enticing us to think or do things we would not otherwise think or do 'because it is only a game.'

Today a person can enter into a virtual world, such as Second Life, and assume a new identity. An individual can create an avatar, or a cyberspace persona, that conforms to his or her own appearance and behavior. Or a person can concoct a counterfeit identity that does not correlate in any way to things as they really are. However closely the assumed new identity approximates the individual, such behavior is the essence of things as they really are not. Earlier I defined the fidelity of a simulation or model. I now emphasize the importance of personal fidelity—the correspondence between an actual person and an assumed, cyberspace identity. Please note the lack of personal fidelity in the following episode as reported in the Wall Street Journal:

Ric Hoogestraat is 'a burly [53-year-old] man with a long gray ponytail, thick sideburns and a salt-and-pepper handlebar mustache. … [Ric spends] six hours a night and often 14 hours at a stretch on weekends as Dutch Hoorenbeek, his six-foot-nine, muscular … cyber-self. The character looks like a younger, physically enhanced version of [Ric].

[He] sits at his computer with the blinds drawn. … While his wife, Sue, watches television in the living room, Mr. Hoogestraat chats online with what appears on the screen to be a tall, slim redhead.

He’s never met the woman outside of the computer world of Second Life, a well-chronicled digital fantasyland. … He’s never so much as spoken to her on the telephone. But their relationship has taken on curiously real dimensions. They own two dogs, pay a mortgage together and spend hours [in their cyberspace world] shopping at the mall and taking long motorcycle rides. … Their bond is so strong that three months ago, Mr. Hoogestraat asked Janet Spielman, the 38-year-old Canadian woman who controls the redhead, to become his virtual wife.

The woman he’s legally wed to is not amused. ‘It’s really devastating,’ says Sue Hoogestraat, … who has been married to Mr. Hoogestraat for seven months.'

Nearly 40% of men and 53% of women who play online games said their virtual friends were equal to or better than their real-life friends, according to a survey of 30,000 gamers conducted by … a recent Ph.D. graduate from Stanford University. More than a quarter of gamers [who responded indicated that] the emotional highlight of the past week occurred in a computer world.

Okay . . . so, feel free to make any comments regarding the above. Some questions that come to my mind are:

Where is the line between healthy and unhealthy social networking and internet activity?

Do you agree that there's a real world danger that develops from simulating cyber activities? . . . If so, is the danger only related to violent and/or perverted interactions, or do you think the danger also exists in innocuous activities like twittering, Second Life, facebook, etc?

How do you gauge whether your own cyber time is healthy or unhealthy?

Rockin' the Stage

2009-04-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

I did my first stage appearance singing and playing the guitar yesterday at a Talent Show for our church group.

I was thoroughly nervous. My whole body was shaking and I was afraid I was going to fall on my face because my knees were buckling . . . But the good news was that it went pretty well
(thanks to my roommate Dianna putting up with me practicing nonstop for a month). People even began clapping with me during the performance, which was pretty sweet, I have to admit.

The video quality isn't great, but feel free to check it out.

Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice . . . and see what you think

2009-04-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to put out a quick message to anyone who is interested in knowing a little more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

This weekend, we're having the 179th Semi-Annual General Conference of the church. This is a series of meetings conducted by church leaders and broadcast to people all over the world. If you were ever curious to see what a present-day LDS Prophet or Apostle looks like and the type of things he says, you are invited to join in this worldwide broadcast and see for yourself.

The conference is made up of five, two hour meetings. Four of these meetings are broadcast to the general church assembly: two on Saturday and two on Sunday. They are broadcast both days from 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm Mountain Time (9-11am and 1-3pm Pacific). The fifth meeting is a Priesthood Session on Saturday evening for LDS men that is broadcast to LDS meetinghouses. A general Relief Society broadcast for LDS women is given once a year, usually a week before the October session and is part of the Annual Conference schedule and contained in the Conference edition of the Ensign (a Church produced monthly magazine).

The meetings are held at the Conference Center at Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City. The Conference Center's expansive seating allows 21,000 participants to join the conference in person, while audio and television broadcasting allows the remainder of participants to access the meetings at LDS chapels worldwide, online at lds.org, on the BYUTV channel (which comes with most basic cable packages). For those who are unable to access any of these options, the Ensign will provide each talk in article format the following month. The magazine is available by subscription or online.

Every year, the conference is held in two parts every six months (usually April and October). Our Prophet, and President of the Church, Thomas S. Monson will address the church as a whole and provide guidance, counsel and leadership. Others who are also expected to speak will be President Monson's two counselors President Henry B. Eyring and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, all the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, members of the Quorums of the Seventies and various members of the Auxiliary Presidencies (click here for a breakdown of these organizations).

The majority of the music at the meeting is provided by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as well as hymns sung by the congregation within the Conference Center and joined by members in homes and meetinghouses across the world.

The meetings will also be available in at least 94 languages via real-time audio translations and over 150 languages in written distribution in the weeks following the conference.

Anyone who is at all curious about LDS beliefs, doctrines, perspectives on current events and/or just want to see some basic church interactions can feel free to tune into any or all sessions of this General Conference and be part of a very integral, poignant and cherished LDS experience.

Cueing Phobia . . . in 3-2-1

2009-03-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

I happened upon an article about spiders today and I clicked the link despite my arachnophobia. Mostly, it makes sense that I would be curious about this article since I can deal better with my fears if I know how likely I would be to find myself in a similar situation and take precautions in case something does happen. . . . it reminds me of a clever comic strip artist and his constant preparation for raptor attacks.

All and all, I found it to be a pretty uneventful article (I mean, other than a guy finding a possibly dangerous spider, which, personally, I always find eventful) . . . but my favorite line is from the arachnid specialist at the zoo that wonders why in the world the spider was killed and the body was discarded, saying that "it doesn't make any sense to me why it wouldn't be saved."

Really? You find it odd that the majority of people do not share your fascination for the ugliest and creepiest creature alive? A creature who lures bugs into their web, pounces on them, mummifies them by wrapping them in cords, and then sucks them dry? Really? You wonder why someone would quickly dispose of a spider that appeared to be a Brazilian Wandering Spider: considered to be the most lethal spider in the world? A spider that is "notorious both because of their toxic venom, and because they are not reluctant to attack people who appear threatening." Granted, it may not have been this particular spider . . . but did you really think people were going to wait around and find out!? Really!!!??

*Note that in writing the above, my body has been involuntarily convulsing, shivering and breaking out in goosebumps. I also learned the following things:

I should not google the word "spider" (I forgot images come up in the web search)
That my body will involuntarily flee a situation it cannot cope with (I dazedly found myself at a coworkers cube a moment after I learned lesson #1)
I should scroll the wikipedia page down before the image loads

I also made the following two decisions:

I'm going to look for industrial quantities of Raid the next time I'm at Costco.
I'd rather die by Raid asphyxiation than by spider annihilation.

Synthetic Prayers?

2009-03-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

My friend Nate forwarded this link to me this morning and I've been cracking up about it all day. It's an article referencing a site called Information Age Prayer. I'm still hoping it's some terrible joke.

Rather than have you think I am making this up, I will quote the website itself.

"Information Age Prayer is a subscription service utilizing a computer with text-to-speech capability to incant your prayers each day. It gives you the satisfaction of knowing that your prayers will always be said even if you wake up late, or forget."

"We use state of the art text to speech synthesizers to voice each prayer at a volume and speed equivalent to typical person praying. Each prayer is voiced individually, with the name of the subscriber displayed on screen."

My favorite part is found under the Testimonials page.

They do not yet have testimonials being a new product and all, but they do outline various reasons for use of their services including things like being forgetful, working during normal prayer hours, if you don't have time to say all your Hail Mary's after confession, etc.

My favorite reason is probably the option where you know your children or family members aren't praying so you sign them up to have the computer pray for them. Apparently it's the cheapest prayer available starting at only $1.99 a month.

I really hope it's all a joke.

Understanding Mormon Temples

2009-03-15T01:11:00.000-07:00

The first video is a short youtube video that the LDS Church posted recently to help people understand a little bit more about the Mormon temple experience. The video is actually clips compiled from a larger video in 5 parts and posted here.

If you're an adventurous soul, I'd go for the whole thing, but if you only have a few minutes, check out the first video.

Part 1 of 5

Part 2 of 5

Understanding Mormon Temples (cont'd)

2009-03-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

Part 3 of 5

Part 4 of 5

Part 5 of 5

Ridiculous Ingenuity

2009-03-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

I found this today at http://www.locobuy.com/. I love it. I don't think I'd ever wear it, but I love it.

It's a solar powered hat fan. Just make sure your hair is pinned back girls . . . you might get the bangs you never wanted.

"Thence Shall the Gospel Roll Forth Unto the Ends of the Earth"

2009-03-09T12:12:00.001-07:00

The LDS Church has issued a public statement about the upcoming episode of Big Love on HBO. The brethren basically express great confidence in the work of the Lord and remind us that there have always been plans to stop this work.

In reading the article, I was reminded of this scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants that says, "The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth. (D&C 65:2)"

To view the article at the LDS Newsroom, click here.

SALT LAKE CITY 9 March 2009 Like other large faith groups, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sometimes finds itself on the receiving end of attention from Hollywood or Broadway, television series or books, and the news media. Sometimes depictions of the Church and its people are quite accurate. Sometimes the images are false or play to stereotypes. Occasionally, they are in appallingly bad taste.

As Catholics, Jews and Muslims have known for centuries, such attention is inevitable once an institution or faith group reaches a size or prominence sufficient to attract notice. Yet Latter-day Saints – sometimes known as Mormons - still wonder whether and how they should respond when news or entertainment media insensitively trivialize or misrepresent sacred beliefs or practices.

Church members are about to face that question again. Before the first season of the HBO series Big Love aired more than two years ago, the show’s creators and HBO executives assured the Church that the series wouldn’t be about Mormons. However, Internet references to Big Love indicate that more and more Mormon themes are now being woven into the show and that the characters are often unsympathetic figures who come across as narrow and self-righteous. And according to TV Guide, it now seems the show’s writers are to depict what they understand to be sacred temple ceremonies.

Certainly Church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding. Last week some Church members began e-mail chains calling for cancellations of subscriptions to AOL, which, like HBO, is owned by Time Warner. Certainly such a boycott by hundreds of thousands of computer-savvy Latter-day Saints could have an economic impact on the company. Individual Latter-day Saints have the right to take such actions if they choose.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an institution does not call for boycotts. Such a step would simply generate the kind of controversy that the media loves and in the end would increase audiences for the series. As Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Robert D. Hales of the Council of the Twelve Apostles have both said recently, Latter-day Saints in the public arena should conduct themselves with dignity and thoughtfulness.

Not only is this the model that Jesus Christ taught and demonstrated in his own life, but it also reflects the reality of the strength and maturity of Church members today. As someone recently said, “This isn’t 1830, and there aren’t just six of us anymore.” In other words, with a global membership of thirteen and a half million there is no need to feel defensive when the Church is moving forward so rapidly. The Church’s strength is in its faithful members in 170-plus countries, and there is no evidence that extreme misrepresentations in the media that appeal only to a narrow audience have any long-term negative effect on the Church.

Examples:

During the Mitt Romney election campaign for the presidency of the United States, commentator Lawrence O’Donnell hurled abuse at the Church in a television moment that became known among many Church members as “the O’Donnell rant.” Today, his statements are remembered only as a testament to intolerance and ignorance. They had no effect on the Church that can be measured.
When the comedy writers for South Park produced a gross portrayal of Church history, individual Church members no doubt felt uncomfortable. But once again it inflicted no perceptible or lasting damage to a church that is growing by at least a quarter of a million new members every year.
When an independent film company produced a grossly distorted version of the Mountain Meadows Massacre two years ago, the Church ignored it. Perhaps partly as a result of that refusal to engender the controversy that the producers hoped for, the movie flopped at the box office and lost millions.
In recent months, some gay activists have barraged the media with accusations about “hateful” attitudes of Latter-day Saints in supporting Proposition 8 in California, which maintained the traditional definition of marriage. They even organized a protest march around the Salt Lake Temple. Again, the Church has refused to be goaded into a Mormons versus gays battle and has simply stated its position in tones that are reasonable and respectful. Meanwhile, missionary work and Church members in California remain as robust and vibrant as ever, and support for the Church has come from many unexpected quarters — including some former critics and other churches.

Now comes another series of Big Love, and despite earlier assurances from HBO it once again blurs the distinctions between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the show’s fictional non-Mormon characters and their practices. Such things say much more about the insensitivities of writers, producers and TV executives than they say about Latter-day Saints.

If the Church allowed critics and opponents to choose the ground on which its battles are fought, it would risk being distracted from the focus and mission it has pursued successfully for nearly 180 years. Instead, the Church itself will determine its own course as it continues to preach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

How to Offend 13 Million People by HBO

2009-03-07T19:37:00.000-08:00

The HBO program Big Love is advertising a new episode next week that imitates sacred temple ceremonies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These temple ceremonies are extremely sacred to the members of the Mormon faith like myself.

According to the network, these scenes are "not for shock value" and "really a very important part of the story". Really? Are there really character interactions or story lines that could be so inflexible that sacred religious ceremonies need to be broadcast on national television? It surprises me that a group of intelligent writers couldn't be creative enough to create that kind of story interaction without broadcasting and therefore, trivializing the most sacred aspects of my religion.

The show has hired an ex-communicated member of the church to advise on temple ceremonies and church doctrine. It would seem to me that whatever portrayal is displayed on this show tomorrow, that the validity of such ceremonies or ideas would have to be treated as misinformed, or tainted. Receiving such advise would be akin to asking Star Jones to be the key consultant on a Barbara Walters biography.

The show's premise already impresses incorrect ideas regarding the Mormon faith by following the values and principles of a fundamentalist group. Although the show provides many distinctions between the fundamentalist group and the actual Mormon faith, many viewers continue to walk away from the show with unclear understanding and misguided views.

Their claim that this added element is not "for shock value" but as a necessary part of their story line is mocking the sacredness of the Mormon religion and the lives of millions of Mormons worldwide. If this program were bringing this same amount of levity to sacred aspects of other religions such as the the Muslim, Jewish or Catholic faiths the program would be seen as intolerant and close-minded.

If you feel so inclined, please drop a note to HBO and/or the FCC to share you opinion on this matter.

(Picture taken from the TV Guide, available here.)

Who's the lamest gender?

2009-03-04T14:58:00.000-08:00

My coworker began googling this today and had the following options pop up:

Before I decided to feel vindicated that boys are the lame gender, I decided to google the following and realized that the misunderstanding isn't much different from the other perspective.

Yes, I could try to argue that there are more search results under guys and that this proves something. . . but it doesn't. I think the only thing it proves is that we are all confused together.

Blogging on Faith

2009-02-15T20:24:00.000-08:00

My friend Nate started a blog to help people better understand the beliefs and doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormon church. I'm helping out by adding some thoughts.

I just posted my first entry about "The Power of Hope" and will be adding notes every so often. If you feel so inclined, check it out.

www.imormon.org

The C.A.S.A. Program vs. The State Budget

2009-02-11T16:53:00.000-08:00

I received an email a couple weeks ago notifying me that the state budget is cutting their funding for the Washington State CASA Program, which happens to be one of my favorite social work programs.

I automatically decided to jump on a soapbox about government spending and budget cuts, etc. The CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) Program assigns volunteers to children who have been removed from their homes by Child Protective Services. The volunteers then work with the child, their family and other agencies to create a permanency plan for the child as well as make recommendations to the court about their placement.

The statewide CASA program was supposed to get $314,000 this year. With this money, the program is able to provide training and assistance to 2600 CASA volunteers who work with 7000 abused and neglected children all over Washington. So, if the volunteers are only doing the bare minimum of hours in each case (which rarely happens), that means that the program provides more than 350,000 hours of volunteer work a year to improving the home lives of at-risk youth statewide . . . . If you really want to crunch the budget, this program is run so heavily on volunteer work that it costs the state about 90 cents for every hour logged on a child's case.

Feeling like there's no way such a program's budget would be cut without great justification, I decided to look through Governor Gregoire's proposed budget adjustments for this year. It took me about 5 hours to get through it and I processed about 80% of what it was talking about. During this review, I discovered that the budget is not feasibly broken down for any one human to really be able to absorb. This is why the Governor has advisers and budget people, to explain the changes to be made, which they receive from other advisers, who talk to other people and the whole thing is just one big telephone game built into some sort of pyramid diagram where all the "calls" end with Gregoire at the top. . . not a great way to get a handle on things.

So, pretty much the governor can't really be expected to have all the knowledge she needs to balance the budget in the right places . . . which means that budget corrections will probably be made for those people and programs who complain the loudest. It's a ridiculous system of priority and extremely frustrating. I wish I could help the system, but I'm feeling like this government is a monster we've created and can no longer control.

What I propose is that we use the system as is. If I pass along this message and encourage support for the CASA program, then we can get make ourselves the squeaky wheel.

So, if you feel like this is not a warranted budget cut, please join me in petitioning Olympia and writing a letter to your state legislator.

Please be sure to include the following:
-Your name and address
-Identify yourself as a supporter of the benefits Washington State CASA provides
-Most importantly, ask for reinstatement of Washington State CASA’s funding

I'll include a sample letter the CASA organization sent to me . . .just be sure to use some of your own words though!

**********************************************************************************

January 23, 2009

Senator/Representative [Fill in Last Name]

[Fill in Address]

Olympia WA 98504

Dear Senator/Representative [Fill in Last Name]:

I am [your name], a constituent in your district who recently contacted Washington State CASA with an interest in becoming a CASA volunteer.

It is with serious concern over the proposed Governor’s budget, which has eliminated all state funding (funded through CTED) for Washington State CASA (WaCASA) that I write to you. Please help to support Washington State CASA by writing to your Ways and Means Committee Chair and requesting that the current level of funding to WaCASA ($628,000 for the biennium) be restored. WaCASA provides essential trainings, assistance, and most importantly, volunteer recruitment support to local CASA programs, which allows for the continued fiscally efficient and socially sound services provided by CASA volunteers.

According to state (RCW 13.34.100) and federal (the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act) law, it’s mandated that all children in dependency have a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) to represent their best interests in court. CASA volunteers fulfill that mandate, and at a much lesser cost to the state than other alternatives; in 2007, CASA volunteers donated approximately 350,000 hours of service to dependent children, representing a community value of over $17 million.

Thank you for supporting Washington’s most vulnerable population; with your help, we can continue to focus our efforts on ensuring that every dependent child in Washington is quickly placed into a safe and permanent home.

Sincerely,

[your name]

[your address]

**********************************************************************************

A non-invasive, non-binding set of 25 things

2009-02-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

Now that I've been tagged on facebook by multiple people, I decided I would give in and write down 25 random things about me. I will not be tagging anyone and you can view these items voluntarily if you're actually interested.

1. The only foods I've ever liked from my childhood to present are artichokes and mushrooms. They're both favorites of mine, which makes me sound like a healthy eater, even though I'm not.

2. I have a random obsession with Russian History. I don't like history in general, I have no personal ties to Russia and I usually can satisfy my intellectual curiosity with a general knowledge, but this one has gotten kind of out of hand. So far, I've read the autobiography of Raisa Gorbachev, a biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, A People's Tragedy (a 1000+ page overview of the 15 year Russian Revolution), the Gulag Archipelago and I'm currently reading Russia and the Russians. I've also listened to an entire audio lecture series on Russian History and recently watched a 4 hour special on Russian rulers (which was quite inaccurate I might add). So yeah, obsessive.

3. I received my Bachelor's degree when I was 20 years old thanks to Running Start.

4. I've physically restrained, taken down and shackled youth on a number of occasions while working at a juvenile detention facility.

5. I preferred that job more than any other I've had.

6. A few years ago, my roommate and I were extras in an ABC Family Made-for-TV Movie called "Everything You Want".

7. The only time I've ever been star struck by a celebrity was when I was talking to Will Friedle (Eric from Boy Meets World) during the shooting of the aforementioned movie. He's one of the few actors I was in love with as a kid and I guess old crushes can still be tongue-tying. By comparison, I've run into other celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Ryan Gosling, Pauly Shore, Kevin Spacey, Billy Bob Thornton, Rob Thomas, Sharon Stone and others and didn't get overly excited about, even making small talk with some of them, so it's entertaining that Will freaked me out the most.

8. I grew up on an island, and to this day, I feel suffocated without a large body of water in view and absolutely carefree when I'm practically trapped by the ocean.

9. I was a licensed loan officer in Utah. . . .and still might be.

10. I have severe issues with losing teeth, it's pretty much a phobia. This made that part of my childhood slightly traumatic. I can't even handle little kids wiggling their loose teeth in front of me. It makes me shiver just thinking about it.

11. My other big phobia is of spiders. Remember the scarab beetles in The Mummy? I feel like a spider will do that to me if I get anywhere near them. Because of this, I have a hard time killing them because I'm afraid they'll jump me like that . . . and I'm also afraid they'll come back to life and haunt me, or that I will be killed in revenge by their living spider relatives. I only get the courage to kill them when no one else is around to do it for me because the only thing worse than a spider, is a missing spider. Really, I'm not making this up . . . I know it's completely irrational, but I can't help it.

12. I'm horribly forgetful and usually forget movies and books within a few weeks of reading or watching them.

13. I have a weird heat tolerance, but just on my face. I can wash my face in water that's just short of boiling temperatures. . . so hot I cannot touch the water with my bare hands. Yeah, it's kinda weird.

14. I love logic problems, puzzles and algebra. I'm left brained and will often analyze my life in mathematical equations.

15. I often feel morbid and a little twisted because I get really excited about abnormal psychology stuff. The following are some of my favorite obscure disorders: Trichotillomania , Münchausen Syndrome and Angelman's Syndrome,

16. I spend a lot of time thinking through future outcomes. I don't worry very much because most any crisis that presents itself in my life is something I've already thought of and planned for. On a weekly basis I think about my plans in the even of a natural disaster or catastrophe.

17. Although I may not show it, I'm very competitive and have been ever since I was little. When I was 6 years old, my older sister (12) was taking piano and one week while she was gone, I sat down and taught myself her hardest piece. When she came back, I played it in front of her and I think that's the same week she quit piano . . . sorry Christena! :)

18. I started reading when I was 4. . . . I suspect this was the competitive factor as well.

19. I grew up with a very talented mother. Technically our family could have survived a hundred years ago. . . I say technically because we have the capability, maybe just not the work ethic. . . but really, I'm pretty crafty. For example, if you gave me a sheep, I could make you a sweater; I know how to prepare the wool, spin it and dye it, then I could crochet, knit or weave and sew it into something relatively functional.

20. Sometimes I'm psychic, but not when I'm trying to be . . .and for really dumb things, like knowing that the car in front of me is going to turn or predicting who's calling or texting me before I find out.

21. I'm extremely opinionated about a lot of things and I talk incessantly.

22. I use a lot of big and obscure words . . . but only because I crave efficiency. If one word can encapsulate an idea that would take me a couple sentences to describe, I'm going to opt for the word.

23. When I was a kid, I either wanted to be a marine biologist and work with whales, or a brain surgeon . . . now I'm going for a career in social work and I don't regret it one bit.

24. I've had 8 root canals, 7 crowns and at least 5 or 6 abscesses in the last 8 years. . . and I brush and floss my teeth daily. It's one of the wonderful things I've inherited from my mother and grandmother.

25. I love my life: my faith, my family and my friends!

Neti Pot is totally worth the "ew" factor

2009-02-02T13:38:00.000-08:00

If you don't know what a Neti Pot is, then you probably have never discussed your general nasal health around me. Most of you know what I'm talking about because I've given you the pitch . . .and probably even demonstrated the concept to you (most likely under protest).

So, if you don't know yet, basically a Neti Pot is a small container, usually resembling a tea pot that cleans out your nasal passages. This is done by filling the container with warm salt water, putting the spout of the container into one nostril, bending over slightly and tilting your head and letting the water run out your other nostril. . . . hold on, I hear you groaning and saying "gross"! I know it seems weird . . . very few people look at this the first time and go, "oh please, can I try!?" Let me tell you why this is totally worth the "ew" factor.

When I was about 16, my mom found this product and started using it. She told me about it and, as any good teenager, I thought my mom had really gone over the edge. Well a year later, I went to see the doctor again about my chronic sinusitis. My doctor recommended that I start using a Neti Pot to help soothe my ailing nose. I believe the first thing I thought was, "This is a conspiracy!" But, after dealing with the constant pain of sinus headaches for a few weeks, I figured anything was worth a try.

So, I went home, filled up the Neti Pot and poured it into my nose. Here's what I found. 1. The experience did not feel like drowning, which had been my biggest worry. 2. The salt water felt really good and nothing like getting pool water up my nose . . .which is the only experience I had to coorelate with putting fluid into my nasal passages. 3. I blew my nose afterward and found that a good amount of mucus obligingly fled due to thinning. 4. The pressure in my head began to be ever-so-slightly relieved.

The other benefits of this unique little tool is that, if used regularly, it can really help clear out allergens and prevent seasonal colds. Also, once you buy the pot, the only other ingredient is salt . . . it'll last you forever and is one of the cheapest remedies you'll find. My mom and I have now been using Neti Pots for almost 10 years and I can't explain to you how awesome I think it is. I have since converted my sister and her husband, 5+ coworkers, roommates and random stangers. I would just say to everyone don't knock it 'til you try it.

(This video will give you a full demonstration if you wanted to see one and if you feel like you're "gross out" tolerance is above average.)

Piracy Is Our Only Option

2009-01-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

(xkcd.com)

Although I do currently purchase my music (if only to appease my guilty conscience), I am often tempted to BitTorrent most of my file downloads based on the logic presented here. Fortunately, Amazon.com provides DRM-free files, and actually has a decent selection. But seriously, Apple . . . Windows, you guys really need to get over yourselves!

(Cool points to anyone who can name the movie that contains the phrase "piracy is our only option" . . . double points to anyone who can name the character who quotes it . . . and triple points if you can name the character that the quote was originally ascribed to!)

Seriously? You asked Tim Eyman!?

2009-01-13T22:11:00.000-08:00

I just have a quick soap box before I head to bed. I was watching the local news tonight where they announced that the City of Seattle, King County and State officials have all decided to go forward with tearing down the Alaskan Way Viaduct and building an alternate tunnel route under the city.

So, not unexpectedly, the news reporters are going around getting public opinion . . . but then, to my absolute horror, some idiot decided to end the segment with a Tim Eyman interview, who made it clear he thought this was a horrible move, specifically because no one had received permission from the citizens and voters to fund such a project . . . fair enough, but Tim Eyman's concerned about this!?

Maybe you don't know who Tim Eyman is, but if you grew up on Vashon, you should as least remember the Initiative he created back in 1999. This was I-695 which cut car tabs from a 2.2% charge on the price of the vehicle to a flat $30 fee for everyone. Some of you think you're highly indebted to Tim for his help with this change, but most of you didn't read the fine print . . . the part where it talked about where the revenue would no longer be going. . . to the transportation fund of Washington State (i.e. roads, ferries for islanders, public transports, etc). Anyone notice the lack of filled potholes lately?

Anyway, I couldn't believe they would appeal to the guy who helped to cut the funding of transportation AND by the way, did I mention that this same initiative was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court? So this guy, who formulated an unconstitutional Initiative to significantly cut transportation dollars is upset at the lack of voter approval on this tunnel project that he helped to cut funding for in the first place . . . seriously, they asked Tim Eyman!?

Mad Skills or Lack of Originality?

2009-01-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

I saw this video posted on a friend's page and thought I'd share it. It's an audio and video amalgamation of the top 25 pop songs of 2008. It's called "United State of Pop 2008" by DJ Earworm.

On one hand, I feel like the DJ who compiled this definitely has amazing mixing skills. On the other, I wonder if this would have been possible without an utter lack of musicality in today's pop music. I'm not saying that pop artists these days aren't talented, but that pop "music" seems to be losing an actual melody. When most of the tops hits are rap songs that can be added more as percussion than as melody, then you're only having to work with beat syncopation rather than a song fusion.

I think I've decided that this DJ is really talented whether or not pop music remains melodious. To actually put all of these together into something that doesn't offend my ears is probably a lot harder than it looks, especially considering how many genres were added together.

Still, I do wonder what feats of genius our world is missing out on when people this talented spend their efforts on creating youtube videos . . . *she says as she blogs to the empty spaces of the web. :)

The End to a Glorious . . . er, Gluttonous Year.

2008-12-31T10:59:00.000-08:00

I love looking through random "Top 10", "Worst Ever" and "Best Of" type lists from different websites.

Today I ran into one called the "2008 Hall of Shame".

I happened to like it and thought I'd share.

Here's to a frugal 2009.

The Source of All Knowledge

2008-12-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

I feel incredibly lucky to be born at this time of life. The technological advances we see on a daily basis are astounding! Thanks to the internet, the knowledge-base of our society is ever expanding.

Sometimes it feels like I've always been a part of this experience, but I think back only a few years and remember experiences that now seem extremely ridiculous. I remember attending high school during the time when cell phones were rare, when Juno dialed up to the internet to send and receive your email (which my grandma still does by the way), when "high-speed" didn't even exist and when "geek" wasn't a fashion-forward clique.

Anyway, I digress. What I'm trying to say is that many of us like to learn new things and spend many glorious hours on the internet learning random, or not so random, facts about science, the world, physics, history, and much, much more . . . it's fun and fast and will usually provide great entertainment. Although, with so much information in the streaming media age, there's a lot of false and misleading information available too. I think we all know this, but what do we do to find accurate sources and to double check our "facts" . . . anything? You would think with all the time we save having technology at our fingertips, we'd have plenty of time to check citations, sources and applications, to read through and verify data, and to check statistics, sample sizes, variables and populations. But do we?

The problem with our lightning fast information world is that just by forwarding an email, or posting a link, we help to verify false information. I often get forwarded emails about lost children or virus alerts that are easily falsified by websites such as snopes.com. In fact, I found a story about falsified submarine footage that made international news. Basically a Russian news channel put out "video evidence" of a voyage to the Arctic by a Russian submarine and it turns out that "footage" came from the movie Titanic. The story spread worldwide until a 13 year old boy in Finland recognized the copy and pointed it out to someone.

How disturbing is it that news agencies would be more interesting in getting this story out to the public than double checking their sources. This just confirms to me that times are changing, and that, no matter where we pick up our information, sometimes we may want to take some time to figure out if we really believe it. Not only the info we get from news companies, television or the internet, but the knowledge we share with each other. How many of you still believe that daddy-long legs are the most poisonous spiders on earth . . . but just don't have fangs big enough to bite anyone?

We've been given so much extra time with our easily accessed information. Couldn't we take another few minutes to check our facts? It really isn't hard most of the time. All it takes is a little bit of critical thinking and a few extra clicks of the mouse!

If you want some tips on fact checking, you can check out this link on evaluating sources.

Grocery Line (cont)

2008-12-22T13:44:00.001-08:00

Behind me. Ugh!

Grocery Store Lines!

2008-12-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

Seattle gets a little loopy with a little snow fall. People start preparing for the Apocalypse!

Falling Back Into Love

2008-12-15T08:45:00.000-08:00

It's amazing what a little bit of snow does to the Pacific Northwest. I remember growing up here and loving snow days! School would close, work would close and the whole family would run around in the freezing cold, building snowmen and having snowball fights. Then we'd all come tumbling into the house, throw our wet clothes in front of the rosy warm fire and wait for everything to dry enough for another adventure.

Then I moved to Utah and promptly fell out of love with snow. It happened instantaneously one morning when I discovered that my boss still expected me to be at work despite the foot of snow in front of my house. Thus ended my love of snow days. Or so I thought.

This weekend, we had the first snow of the winter in Seattle, which shockingly came mid-December and has stuck around for more than 24 hours now. The snow fell on Saturday night and left the roads with plenty of ice . . . enough ice that I didn't make it to church on Sunday and enough that my work was an hour delayed (in Seattle, this means there was an inch of snow on the grass, and a 1/2 of ice on the roads). I got up this morning with a sour attitude, assuming still that I really dislike snow days, especially when I am expected to be at work. Discovering that my bus' emergency route was going about 45 minutes out of the way, I decided to try driving. Pulling out to the main road was a tad tricky . . . meaning I slid most of the way down and didn't have any of the gravel edge to pull off onto, due to the steep-hilled neighbors who had parked their cars on my street and walked (probably slid) home.

As soon as I got onto the main road though, the streets were de-iced and the drive was as easy, if not easier than any other day of commuting. Still begrudging the world my lack of a snow day, I made my way into the parking garage near my work and couldn't help but smile as the parking attendant waved me down, thanked me for parking in the garage and offered me a breakfast pastry. My personal thunder cloud shrank a little and I became a little more lighthearted. I then made my way across the street to my office building, where, to my surprise, the building management had set up a complete continental breakfast in the lobby to cheer up their tenants on this wintry, chilly day. By the time I came upstairs to work, I had once again fallen in love with snow days . . . work or no work.

We All Are Mormons

2008-12-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

I came across a very interesting article the other day that I wanted to share. I'm not trying to re-spark a hotbed issue. I know Prop 8 is dying down and everyone appears to be more cooled off about it these days. It seems with our media-centered society that we only remember an issue as far as it's broadcast, so is the issue really settling down, or is it that the news has moved on and therefore so have we?

My intent in sharing this article is to help us remember: to remember where we fit and what we believe. It's important to stand back every now and again and take a broader look. Between work, school, family, friends, church, obligations and everything else, the ins and outs and responsibilities of our lives can keep our minds constantly overwhelmed. When we take that moment to step back, I hope we're doing more than just absorbing that information . . . I hope we analyze it, process it, think about it, challenge it, source it and critique it, otherwise the perspective we gain will not be our it, it will be mine, or the Surfing Rabbi's, or CNN's or some kid on Youtube.

So with that in mind, here is an excerpt from the article called, "We All Are Mormons" by Rabbi Nachum Shifren (aka the Surfing Rabbi). It has to do with the attacks on the LDS church from those who opposed Prop 8. Take some time to decide what you think.

People have perhaps wondered: why the Mormons? Answer: they are a small, yet vocal Christian minority. They have been selected by the mobs as vulnerable, a group that might not have such massive support among America's Christians.

We who are friends of the Mormons, their patriotism, their family values, will not falter in our continued support of these dear Americans. Let us recall the Christian minister Niemoller, whose admonition during those dark years of Nazi Germany moved us to our core:

"When they came for the gypsies, I said nothing, because I wasn't a gypsy. When they came for the homosexuals, I said nothing, because I wasn't a homosexual. When they came for the Jews, I said nothing, because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I said nothing, because I wasn't a Catholic......then they came for me, and there was no one left to defend me."

My fellow Americans, in the coming battle for the heart and soul of America and everything we cherish, may this call to arms be the mantra of every concerned patriot:

"WE ALL ARE MORMONS!"

The Fine Print of Hope

2008-11-26T11:48:00.000-08:00

I have been contemplating the success of our recently crowned President-Elect and have felt, as many of you undoubtedly have, the harmonious exhale of relief from a nation that has been holding its breath for quite a long time. Obviously Obama's message of "hope" was enticing to a country that has been steadily becoming more and more hopeless. This new presidency has offered something so refreshing that Americans overwhelmed ballot stations in a chance to be part of the movement of change. Now, not even a month later, I am more concerned than ever and I'm afraid I'm the only one.

I have been really pondering why it is that the citizens of this country have become so very hopeless . . . it has really motivated me to take a hard look at this issue. My skepticism started when I realized that I am constantly given such convenient and neatly wrapped reasons and justifications for our negativity. All I have to do is turn on my television or computer, pick up a newspaper, or listen to the political conversations in my office and these answers are being spoon-fed to me and the rest of America. I have come to know these reasons by heart, and, up until recently, I have taken their logic base for granted. I mean, how could anyone expect to remain hopeful with such calamities as the failing economy, the war, the Bush administration, and even the ever-present stories of death, destruction, and deceit that plague our society? Really, is there any other way to explain our hopelessness?

Well, yes. I believe there is.

Let's start with the word "hope". We all should know what the word means, but what's the process of hope? Hope isn't something that just sits there, with continual energy and endless supply. Hope is an idea that has to be invested in . . .just like any market economy. . . just like any relationship with another human being . . . just like voting in an election. Where would we be right now if everyone in the country had "hoped" for Obama to win the election, but had sat at home crossing their fingers instead of getting up and voting? Most of us have "hoped" at one point or another to get a job, an education, a boyfriend/girlfriend, a loan, etc . . . but how many of us expected to receive any of these things by crossing our fingers, sinking onto the couch and turning on Judge Judy?

In order to lose hope, it seems logical to me that one would have hoped for something in the past, worked diligently to fulfill that goal and then ultimately the whole thing failed anyway. Considering this, are we justified in being hopeless in our current situation?

Well, we all dislike the Bush administration . . . they're such easy fall guys. Heck, they were responsible for the war, the poor economy and how could anyone have hoped in a president who seemed to botch every speech he'd ever given? Okay, what did you do over the last 8 years to invest in this presidency so that your hopelessness in them is justified? Personally, I don't believe the Bush administration has been perfect, but I do believe that the hope and support (or lack thereof) of people in each other can so powerfully affect the outcome of events and character that I seriously wonder if part of the floundering of the presidency has come from the utter lack of support (which is very different than agreement) of its citizens. . . especially since it has become increasingly unpopular to show even a fragment of affiliation for the current presidency.

How about the economy? Who doesn't hope on a daily basis that our economy will do well? So, on top of finger crossing, how many of us did our best to stay out of debt? How many of us stopped buying things we couldn't afford and decided to live within our means . . . even if it meant we couldn't keep up with the Jones'? How many of us had money saved for a rainy day?

Okay, I could keep going with each argument and justification, but I'll stop here. The idea that I'm trying to present is that maybe we have a chicken vs. egg problem with these arguments. I'm beginning to believe that America didn't lose hope because everything started falling apart . . but that everything started falling apart because Americans forgot that "hope" meant investment. Investment in the future, in our leaders, in our economy, in our people, in our families. Do we really think that our efforts begin and end with voting? America became obsessed this election with the empowerment we felt through voting. What are we voting for? A king? Someone to direct our assets, our health care, our education and our families so we don't have to take the time to think about it? How on earth can this presidency restore our hope if we continue to live with the same expectations and entitlements we had during the last presidency? I appreciate the role of the president, but the point of our government is to lead and direct . . . lead and direct . . . doesn't this imply that we are all part of the process?

Now that everyone has voted and Obama is making his way to the presidency, Americans feel safe again. They feel that all their problems are fixed; that their hope is restored in "change". Tell me, just how much can our new president do to change the issues we're facing? How much control will he have over the economy if we continue to have excessive debt on an individual level . . . which will continue to encourage sub prime markets, bankruptcy and bailouts? We're beginning to feel entitled to the money we didn't earn and the benefits of things we didn't work for. As more of us develop this attitude, there will be less and less people investing in work, family, government and everything else. Will the presidency really be able to push and shove us to a better situation if we are not willing to work for it? No.

We need to take action to have hope . . . it isn't just going to appear. If we are seeking hope in our lives . . . and I know that most of us are, we need to begin to change our own lives. We need to work hard toward a change. We need to take responsibility for our own circumstances. Families will not remain intact unless we work on making our own family relationships closer. The long-term American economy and market will not be really healthy until we learn to sacrifice our short-term wants for long-term needs. Our presidency will not be fully successful unless we decide to support them through our actions and attitudes. . . no matter who we voted for in the first place.

I have a feeling that Obama understands this concept. Most of the things I've heard him talk about since the election has encouraged the American people to take responsibility and own up to their future. Ultimately my concern doesn't lie with him, it lies with the American people who believe that their only role in fostering hope has culminated in the single act of casting a ballot.

Legislating Immorality

2008-11-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

I came across a very poignant article today from the National Review Online and I wanted to share it. I'm going to paste the whole article here, but if you want to see it on its original page, you can click here. I'll add my own thoughts at the end of the article. (Links within the article are my own addition. My next soap box will be about critical thinking and original sourcing . . . hence the addition of point and click, see-it-for-yourself sources.)

Legislating Immorality

By the Editors

Last week in a Denver suburb, someone lit a Book of Mormon on fire and dropped it on the doorstep of a Mormon temple, presumably as a statement about the church’s support of Proposition 8 in California, an initiative that amended the state constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. In a move that may make gay-rights supporters’ heads spin, the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

The outbreak of attacks on the Mormon church since the passage of Proposition 8 has been chilling: envelopes full of suspicious white powder were sent to church headquarters in Salt Lake City; protesters showed up en masse to intimidate Mormon small-business owners who supported the measure; a website was created to identify and shame members of the church who backed it; activists are targeting the relatives of prominent Mormons who gave money to pass it, as well as other Mormons who are only tangentially associated with the cause; some have even called for a boycott of the entire state of Utah.

The wisdom of hate-crimes legislation aside, there is no doubt that a lot of hate is being directed at Mormons as a group. But why single out Mormons? And why now?

Dozens of church bodies — including the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Christian bishops of California, and a wide variety of evangelicals — supported the proposition. It’s also worth considering that, while gay-rights advocates cannot discuss same-sex marriage for more than 30 seconds without making faulty analogies to Jim Crow-era anti-miscegenation laws, some 70 percent of blacks voted for Proposition 8. While there have been a few ugly racist statements by gay-rights supporters, such vile sentiment has been restricted. Not so the hatred directed at Mormons, who are convenient targets.

To date, 30 states have voted on initiatives addressing same-sex marriage, and in every state traditional marriage has come out on top. But somehow the fact that Mormons got involved during the latest statewide referendum constitutes a bridge too far? In truth, Mormons are a target of convenience in the opening salvo of what is sure to be a full-scale assault on much of America’s religious infrastructure, which gay activists perceive as a barrier to their aspirations. Among religious groups, Mormons are not the biggest obstacle to same-sex marriage — not by a long shot. But they are an easy target. Anti-Mormon bigotry is unfortunately common, and gay-rights activists are cynically exploiting that fact.

There are no websites dedicated to “outing” Catholics who supported Proposition 8, even though Catholic voters heavily outnumber Mormons. And the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not remarkably strident in its beliefs on the subject. So far, no gay-rights activist has had the brass to burn a Qu’ran on the doorstep of a militant mosque where — forget marriage! — imams advocate the stoning of homosexuals.

Churches oppose same-sex marriage in part because it represents an implicit threat to freedom of conscience and belief. California already had one of the broadest civil-unions laws in the country. There was little in the way of government-sanctioned privileges that a state-issued marriage license would confer. But the drive for same-sex marriage is in practice about legislating moral conformity — demanding that everybody recognize homosexual relationships in the same way, regardless of their own beliefs. Freedom of conscience, or diversity of belief, is the last thing the homosexual lobby will tolerate: In New Mexico, a state civil-rights commission fined an evangelical wedding photographer $6,637 for politely declining to photograph a gay commitment ceremony. In California, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously against two San Diego fertility doctors who refused to give in-vitro fertilization to a lesbian owing to their religious beliefs, even though they had referred her to another doctor. And just this week, evangelical dating site eHarmony, which hadn’t previously provided same-sex matchmaking services, announced it had been browbeaten into doing so by New Jersey’s Division on Civil Rights and the threat of litigation. The first 10,000 same-sex eHarmony registrants will receive a free six-month subscription. “That’s one of the things I asked for,” crowed Eric McKinley, who brought the charges against eHarmony.

Where do they go from here? Gay activists are already using the legal system to try to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Mormon church. If you believe that churches and synagogues, priests and rabbis won’t eventually be sued for their statements on sexuality, you’re kidding yourself. Chai Feldblum, a Georgetown University law professor and gay activist who helps draft federal legislation related to sexual orientation, says that, when religious liberty conflicts with gay rights, “I’m having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win.” A National Public Radio report on the conflict noted that if previous cases are any guide, “the outlook is grim for religious groups.”

Given their cavalier disregard for the freedom of conscience, it’s little surprise that the gay lobby is equally disdainful of democracy: They began pursuing legal challenges to Proposition 8 practically before they were done tallying the votes. Lamentably, the state attorney general defending the will of the people will be former Jerry Brown, the liberal former governor who was an open opponent of the measure and tried to sabotage it. The legal challenges will be heard by the same state Supreme Court that overturned California’s previous law forbidding gay marriage back in May. There’s a real possibility the will of the people will be spurned a second time, democracy be damned. They’ve already burned the Book of Mormon. The First Amendment is next.

I don't doubt that same-sex marriage will be legalized in the very near future and I don't believe that the leaders of the LDS church would dispute this nor do I believe them to be at all afraid of this fact. If you really want to know what I think, then I will submit that I believe this issue to be a defining moment for those who profess to stand for something but are afraid of being found in the spotlight.

In reference to this, I often think of the Biblical verses in Revelations 3:15-16 that say, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

As humans, we are all very different. We all have the right to our own opinions. Everyone is free to make their own decisions based on their life, their family, and their experiences. Without that diversity among us, we wouldn't have the joys, the struggles or the opportunity to choose. It's important. What's interesting about this verse is that the person who fails to make a decision is rejected of God. Despite the fact that two opposites are presented, it's the person who has chosen neither that has the most consequence.

My intent here is not to declare a condescending tone of religiosity to those who are not religious, but more to direct my thoughts toward those who profess to hold and live by revelatory truths, yet so easily vacillate in the face of peer pressure, or seeming unpopularity. If you truly believe that you are on the side of Deity, consider whether the persecutions of men are not more than the consequences of an Eternal God you claim to follow. If you believe that you have been given a great gift in knowing God, then is it not also your responsibility to fulfill the expectations and responsibilities you've been given? You have accepted the standard, it is up to you keep it. Why would God expect anyone else to hold up that standard for you?

If you claim to be on the Lord's side and are unsure as to what your responsibility is, then I would advise you to go back and look to the example of Christ as presented in the Scriptures. Timothy tells us that it is a knowledge of the scriptures that will save us from the calamities of the last days and that they will also "make us wise unto Salvation."

In the midst of this issue, I have heard some very interesting comments from the opposing side about the feeling that Christians needing to start acting more Christlike. I would wholeheartedly agree with this statement. As Christians, we need to follow the example and admonitions of Christ in being compassionate, kind, loving and sensitive to the needs of others. In addition to this (and as some people may forget from their Bible study) we need to follow Christ's example when he definitively chose right over wrong, when he refused to succumb to temptation and when he chose the unpopular road that, for Him, ultimately led to His Crucifixion.

As stated in my earlier posting, I believe that we can truly be Christlike in holding to our convictions while treating all people with decency and respect. If all you can commit to do in your own life (no matter your political or social views) is to try harder to treat your fellow men with respect, then we can make a difference, no matter the side we come from.

Book Quote Game

2008-11-21T07:59:00.000-08:00

I saw this game posted on a couple of my friend's facebook pages and thought it was quite fun!

Here are the rules:

1. Grab the book nearest you.

Right now.

I said the "nearest", not the one you think is the coolest, smartest, or most hip.

2. Turn to page 56.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post that sentence along with these instructions in a note to your wall, and post your

sentence in a comment here as well. Include the title of book and author.

So mine was seriously cool. I promise it wasn't planned or contrived! Here it is.

"Esther!" she said.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Okay, let's hear yours, post now!

On the map!

2008-11-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

Well, thanks to all the people reading this blog, and my inability to stop posting on articles about Prop 8, I have finally hit the map!

This blog will now show up when my name is Googled and it only takes clicking to page 4 before I show up! Woot!

Thanks for reading!

Outranked by the deceased

2008-11-15T18:15:00.001-08:00

Just a short blurb to add to my last post - I just wanted to point out that when my name is googled, page after page of genealogical postings show up. I appreciate that I have a very vintage name, but it's slightly frustrating to be outranked on a web search by the deceased.

Ranking my blog

2008-11-15T12:07:00.001-08:00

So I've been looking around trying to find ways of increasing my blog rank after I tried Googling it and nothing from me showed up. . . .even after I kissed some major Google tush with my last post! :)

But really, I was wondering just how I was going to get this thing a little more public when I noticed that I had just received a negative comment on my first post from a random stranger. Although this ought to be something upsetting, I was stoked! This means my page rank is growing . . . I should be on my way to celebrity blog status in no time flat!

Oh, and as a side note, if you wanted another interesting LDS perspective on Prop 8, go to this article by Orson Scott Card at MormonTimes.com

Googlization

2008-11-15T01:58:00.000-08:00

Over the past few years, I have developed a very significant relationship with an entity we all know as Google. I love Google. Google has become part of my identity. I believe that if one group were to attain global dominion of the human race, it might just be Google. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this idea was already brewing in the Google Labs by some aspiring young intern getting paid in widgets.

The fact of the matter is that I can't even keep up with Google these days. They continue to come out with genius ways of streamlining information access for the everyday nerd or geek. So, although I may not know every program and interface, I do have some favorite tools that are ever so magnanimously offered by Google to all users. I will share my two favorite tools which can be used on almost any cell phone . . . in fact, these are tricks that, if you master them, you can impress your coolest friends . . .yes, even your iPhone friends!

So the first product that I shall discuss is Google's free automated directory service called GOOG-411 . . . and actually, that's the number too (with a 1-800 prefix). I constantly use this to find restaurants, stores and just general directory assitance info . . . and, even though the friendly automated voice doesn't always hear you correctly the first time, once you find the info you're looking for, you can tell the friendly man-bot voice to text message you the information you are looking for. So very handy when you're on the go, and constantly without a pen!

The second product which I could no longer live without is a text message service that I literally use at least once, if not twice, or 10 times every day. With this program, you can text a specific query to 46645 (GOOGL) and wait for Google to send you back the appropriate information. (This is a really great feature when you don't have the super cool internet access on your phone, or you do, and you're way too cheap to pay for it). So, you may ask, what kind of answers could Google possibly have that would make this service worthwhile? Well, I'm glad you asked . . . I will tell you how my life currently revolves around Google SMS.

In deciding what to wear every morning, I consult the Google weather forecast by texting "W 98101" to the aforementioned number. When I have plans to meet someone or go to an unfamiliar venue, I text "Directions 98101 to 123 Cherry Ln Seattle, WA" as I'm leaving for my destination (this usually means that I have just called the GOOG-411 service to get the venue address texted to my phone) and by the time I hit the freeway, I know exactly where I'm going. If I'm sitting around with friends wondering if there are any worthwhile movies to see, I text "Movies 98101" and get movie options and local showtimes. Or, lets say I have a missed call from an unknown number, I can check the area code by typing "Area Code 206" and then decide if I want to try calling that number back once I know the call came from a Seattle number. And last, but not least, when I may need to use my internet, but don't want to pay for the extra byte usage, I can text "Web Search: Google" and get exact web addresses before I get on the internet to minimize my overall data downloading fee . . . . The only downside of using these features is that they may not be efficent if you're on a pay-per-text plan or have a limited number of texts per month. In most cases, Google's response texts will only return 1 or 2 text messages, but in the case of directions (especially if they're complex) I've seen as many as 4 or 5 texts return . . . so just be wary you 10-cents-a-text people.

Well, at this point in reflecting on my developing obsession, I recognize that I may have a slight dependency problem. Maybe someone should create a 12 step program for Google dependency . . . but then again, if someone created such a program, Google would do it better and then offer it for free. . . . Shoot, and you thought I was being dramatic about that world domination thing . . .

My Stand

2008-11-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

As many of you may or may not know, last week the state of California passed Proposition 8 (the proposition to ban gay marriage) by a small margin. Many of you may have also heard that there has been a fair amount of backlash toward the LDS church. Opponents of Prop 8 have begun lashing out at the church because of the member's roles in spreading awareness in support of this issue.

I was not very involved in the initial passing of this proposition since I don't live in California, but I recently became interested when I showed up to church last week and found a band of protesters in front of the North Seattle Stake Center holding signs that read "Haters" and "Mormons go to hell". Fortunately for us, these protesters were quite civil to us in person and did not intimidate or threaten members. I have since found out that there will be more protests this weekend in many areas of Seattle . . . to me, the interesting part of these protests, as well as the highly covered protest stories in California, is that the protests are being made directly to the LDS church and not a general protest against the passing of the Proposition. I found sites online asking for a brainstorm of sound bytes to be used for protest signs and group chants. These sites have become so incredibly offensive and hateful that I can't repeat them. Many ideas being proffered have to do with polygamy, crude interpretations of scripture (even hymns) and defaming Joseph Smith. The worst part is that many comments acknowledge the lack of truth in these statements, but feel that in defense of their rights, that they're justified in propagating ignorance . . .wait, what?

LDS churches and temples have been covered in graffiti, supporters of prop 8 have been extremely harassed and one specific incident was reported where several Hispanic females outside a temple in California were trying to remove signs desecrating the walls and fences surrounding the temple. "As these individuals (who according to a temple spokesperson were not church members) removed the hate-filled signs, the mob exploded and began beating the individuals to the ground." Needless to say, it has been hard for me not to become frustrated in this situation. A group of people demanding tolerance are targeting my religion, slandering my way of life, spreading ignorance and in some cases are becoming violent . . . just the kind of thing a "tolerance" protest ought to be fighting against.

In discussing this issue with my father, I was reminded that it is my duty as a Latter-day Saint to hold fast to the truths I know and to be the voice of wisdom in the chaos. Having to combat my own feelings of futility and frustration has prompted me to try harder to follow the counsel of the brethren published in a news release from November 5th and 7th that says, "Once again, we call on those involved in the debate over same-sex marriage to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information." I have resolved to do my best to follow the example of our Savior and be compassionate and kind while remaining firm in my beliefs. I hope that we can all be inspired to "do a little better" as we were frequently counseled by our beloved prophet President Hinckley. This struggle is not going to get easier and I've come to discover that we will not always be able to appeal to logic and reason in our defense of right. It's important to pick a side before it picks you. If all you can commit to do in your own life (no matter your political or social views) is to try harder to treat your fellow men with respect, and think twice before you defame, slander or tarnish someone else's life through ignorance, lies or even plain old gossip . . . If we can do that, then we can make a difference, no matter the side we come from.

And just as a parting thought, I would like to share a quote from a talk called "Meeting the Challenges of Today" which Elder Neal A. Maxwell gave at a BYU Devotional 30 years ago . . . yes, 30 years ago.

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'

This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened.... Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do.

We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."

I support the First Presidency in this issue. I also would like to state that hate, no matter why its cast, or to whom, is never excused or justified. I know that I can truly be Christ-like in holding to my convictions while treating all people with decency and respect.

Thank you for letting me take my stand.