Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places

I am SOO SOO SOO ready for Christmas because I am SO SO SO ready to get away from my work. I expected to be driving through North Carolina right now. Instead I'm still sitting at work waiting for files to download to make a proof for the printer. What I expected to take twenty minutes has turned into four hours. I've never felt so sorry for Bob Cratchit. I've never felt so much like Bob Cratchit.
I can't wait to get out of here and down to SC. I like my Christmas warm, humid and outdoorsy and SC is the perfect place for that. Going down South for Christmas is wonderful. Not only do you get a vacation from work you get a vacation from winter, the WORST, most deadly time of the year. Woo-hoo.
Oh, the file just came in. So long and Merry Christmas!

Free Rice

Here is another addictive little way to waste time on the internet. Play the Free Rice Game. It's a very simple game. A word appears and you pick the correct definition out of a multiple choice of four. If you get the answer right you get a harder word and move up a level, if you miss the word you get an easier question and move down.

The best part is you can justify your mindless game playing because each word you get right provides 20 grains of rice to feed the hungry. So far 9,481,828,970 grains of rice have been donated. An Indiana computer programmer created the game when his son began to study for the SAT.

I accidently spent about two hours playing tonight with friends. We donated over 3,000 grains of rice and as a bonus I learned the word "pettifogger" which is a dishonest lawyer. I'm looking forward to employing that word in my daily speech. Aaron, Jared, Sarah H, Jess and I got to level 46. I can hover comfortably around 41. How well can you do?

After Great Pain

After great pain a formal feeling comes--
The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs;
The stiff Heart questions--was it He that bore?
And yesterday--or centuries before?

The feet, mechanical, go round
A wooden way
Of ground, or air, or ought,
Regardless grown,
A quartz contentment, like a stone.

This is the hour of lead
Remembered if outlived,
As freezing persons recollect the snow--
First chill, then stupor, then the letting go.

-Emily Dickinson

Good Luck Aaron in your finals!

Makes Sense to Me

Sometimes when I get bored, I like to read candidate web pages. I think it's interesting to try to go straight to the source. I like comparing their design, their tone, their policies. It's much better than playing solitaire or minesweeper. The other day I was reading through Barack Obama's page and I found this:

Improve Transportation Access to Jobs: Three quarters of welfare recipients live in areas that are poorly served by public transportation and low-income workers spend up to 36 percent (!!!) of their incomes on transportation. As president, Barack Obama will work to eliminate transportation disparities. Obama will double the federal Jobs Access and Reverse Commute program to ensure that additional federal public transportation dollars flow to the highest-need communities and that urban planning initiatives take this aspect of transportation policy into account.

I thought what a great idea! It seems like such a simple, practical solution to a very large problem. Decrease poverty by making an easy, reliable way for people get to work. This solution came to mind again when I read the story "Exiled to A War Zone, for His Own Safety" in the New York Times. From the article "his manager called from the mall to fire him, saying he had had too many late arrivals and absences. Augustus tried to protest that his commute from Park Hill depended on two capricious bus lines, but it was no use."

Back In The Saddle Again...

So I got a "new" assignment today at church. I'm back in Nursery. Woo-hoo. Me and the two year olds got some crazy connection going on. That or I'm in purgatory until I have kids of my own, because there's really only three ways out of nursery: move, die or become pregnant.

Okay, I'm joking about the purgatory part. Sort of...But I really do enjoy nursery. It's a very egalitarian and accepting place to be. I get hungry, they get hungry so we all have a snack. I like blowing bubbles and drawing, most of the two year olds do too. I enjoy the lessons topics like I am grateful for fish and my hands so I can teach with some real passion. It's a great place to be.

PU-239

Aaron's says this post should be called "Learned My Lesson" I went out for a run in the woods this morning, tripped and now have a very swollen twisted ankle. I had so many plans for today and now I'm barely able to hobble from the couch to the bed. Big thanks to Sarah H for helping me get back to my apartment. She found me a stick to use as a crutch so I didn't have to crawl and escorted me the long cold way back.

But I won't call the post "Learned My Lesson" because I haven't. I sprain my ankle every year running in the winter woods (slippery leaves, slick mud and stiff muscles all contribute to my downfall) BUT it's still so worth it. I much rather enjoy the freedom and scenery of the woods than suck car exhaust by running by the road or always run in endless circles on the track.

Anyway, I'm wasting my day away on the couch. I read a while then turned the tv on and watched the movie PU-239. I haven't seen a film so powerful in a long time. The movie tells the story of Timofey Berezin, a Russian worker who receives a lethal dose of radiation when he prevents a disaster at a deteriorating nuclear facility. The authorities at the facility make him the scapegoat for the very disaster he prevents, abandoning him to his eminent death. Knowing that his wife and young son face starvation without him he decides to steal a small amount of weapons grade plutonium in hopes of selling it in the Moscow underground. It's a testament of a parent's love in the darkest places and times. The movie made it much easier for me to stay in one place.

A Warning: The movie is not rated, HBO made it, but it is for mature audiences.

The Golden Compass

I've been enjoying the coverage of the movie the Golden Compass. I've listened to several reports about concerned parents, upset religious groups, opinionated theologians, pleased moviegoers and critics. In all the debate I'm becoming convinced that I may be the only person who has actually read all three books of Philip Pullman's Dark Material Series. And Aaron, because I made him read it too.

In 1995 I came across The Golden Compass in Lexington SC's trailer of a public library at the tender age of 12. I saw a blue-ish book with a girl riding a polar bear and I thought this is going to be good!

It was. I immediately became a hard core atheist. Just kidding! The book was fantastic. Lyra, the girl on the cover, is one of the strongest, most resourceful, and empowering heroines you could hope for. The story was mysterious, imaginative and beautiful. In Lyra's world every person's soul is manifest in the form of a "daemon" which takes the form on an animal mirroring their personality. Children's daemon's shape shift until their identities become more certain.

In Book One, Lyra and her daemon Pan find out that children are being kidnapped and taken into the north for gruesome experiments. When her best friend Roger is snatched, she sets off in an attempt to save him. Meanwhile, the authorities realize Lyra fits some prophesies and possesses a very special tool, so they pursue her. The book follows Lyra through adventure and intrigue to the very edge of the world.

Reading it, I laughed, I cried, I gripped the pages so tightly my knuckles turned white. The book's ending left me sobbing. SOBBING. I cried harder than I had ever cried for a book. SPOILER SPOILER: The authorities experiments provide a way to destroy someone's soul, so not only kill them physically but completely annihilate them. Destroying a soul releases a massive amount of power which they use to break into a higher spiritual dimension. After witnessing the killing Lyra is determined the death will be avenged. End of book one.

With that kind of ending I snatched up The Subtle Knife as soon as it came out which was 1997 (age 14). Turns out the bad guys who did the soul destroying have a plan to climb higher and higher through the spiritual dimensions to do battle with god who they call The Authority. They're creating a kind of Tower of Babel to topple a god they believe is oppressive and damning. They want to restart things, reorganize, recreate the mortal existence with Lyra as Eve.

The mortals and heavenly hosts assemble to different sides and war begins. An earth kid, Will comes along. With a powerful knife he assists Lyra to continue to break through dimensions. A pair of gay angels appear to assist the kids along.

The Amber Spyglass 2000 (age 17) continues the adventure. Lyra and Will go into the world of the dead to try to help free the souls trapped there by The Authority.
Lyra is pursued by a murderous monk who has already been pardoned by the church for murdering Lyra, the plan being if Lyra is killed, no new Eve, no new world. Everyone runs around, battles are fought, The Authority is killed but instead of choosing to begin things again, Lyra declines the role of Eve, seals the dimensions and everyone lives happily ever after. Whew.

It's kind of a hard series to summarize. I had to leave out dust which is a the particulate matter of sin, soul sucking zombies, the air balloonist, gypsies, witches and the rabbits on wheels. I liked the books. I think they give a great opportunity to really consider spiritual and mortal existence. I obviously disagree with the author's representation of God's character but it's a book which gives a good hard look at what it means to have a soul, to live under the authority of God, to exist immortally. How many books have enough faith in teens to let them grapple with such wonderful questions?

Sadly Pullman's questioning is quickly overwhelmed by his own assetions. In the last two books he gets preachy, really preachy, knocking out questions with quick sometimes tacky answers about the impossibility or evil of an omniscient deity.

So shield your eyes or go see the movie. I don't really care. But it is about killing god. And the nature of our souls. And riding Polar Bears.

Make A Flake

So a day or so ago, thanks to Maren, I came across this really awesome snowflake making application called Make A Flake. My coworkers and I promptly had a snowflake making competition which became surprisingly intense. After a lot of nit picky snipping and designing we came up with some pretty amazing flakes. I judged myself the winner but that was contested. Oh well, you can never make everyone happy.

I've gone back several times since because snow flake making is so much fun! And doing it on the computer means there's no need to worry about sweeping up afterwards. If you only have a minute or an hour, it's worth trying out. Above is one of the many flakes I have since produced. Can you see my name in it?

Favourite Book

I knew it was serious when Aaron told me he thought he might like me more than his books. We were sitting in his basement apartment packing a roomful of his books into boxes, so arguably his books were being more trouble than they usually are. Still, Aaron holds his books close to his heart, so it was, in its way, how Aaron first told me he loved me.

Since then, I know I've tested that declaration. After our fifth move and a lot of book carrying, I made him sort and give away a good number. The experience left him shaken and sulking. But does anyone really need fifteen copies of Candide? We now have only three copies.

Anyway, books have always been a big part of our relationship, which is one of the reasons I really like the song "My Favourite Book" by Stars. (They're Canadian so they spell wrong.) You can listen to it here.

Here are some of the lyrics:

And to this day, when everything breaks, you are the anchor that holds me

And that is why we'll always make it

How I know your face, all the ways you move, you come in, I can read you
You're my favourite book
All the things you say, the way you shift your eyes
I never knew there was someone, to make me come alive

Mushrooms

This is one of my favorite poems. It reminds me of the power of life. And I just really like mushrooms, especially to paint. I painted the one above.

Mushrooms

Overnight, very
Whitely, discreetly,
Very quietly

Our toes, our noses
Take hold on the loam,
Acquire the air.

Nobody sees us,
Stops us, betrays us;
The small grains make room.

Soft fists insist on
Heaving the needles,
The leafy bedding,

Even the paving.
Our hammers, our rams,
Earless and eyeless,

Perfectly voiceless,
Widen the crannies,
Shoulder through holes. We

Diet on water,
On crumbs of shadow,
Bland-mannered, asking

Little or nothing.
So many of us!
So many of us!

We are shelves, we are
Tables, we are meek,
We are edible,

Nudgers and shovers
In spite of ourselves.
Our kind multiplies:

We shall by morning
Inherit the earth.
Our foot's in the door.

Sylvia Plath

Nellie McKay - Mother of Pearl

I really like Nellie Mckay's music. She's quirky and smart and plays a mean piano with the elegant air of days gone by. This is a new song "Mother of Pearl" off her new album Obligatory Villagers. Please recognize the tongue in cheek nature of her work. Here are the lyrics:

Feminists don't have a sense of humor
Feminists just want to be alone (boo-hoo)
Feminists spread vicious lies and rumor
They have a tumor on their funny bone

They say child molestation isn't funny
Rape and degradation's just a crime (lighten up, ladies)
Rampant prostitution, sex for money (what's wrong with that)
Can't these chicks do anything but whine

Dance break
Woo-hoo
(Take it off)

They say cheap objectification isn't witty, it's hot
Equal work and wages worth the fight (sing us a new one)
On demand abortion, every city (okay, but no gun control)
Won't these women ever get a life

Feminists don't have a sense of humor (poor Hilary)
Feminists and vegetarians
Feminists spread vicious lies and rumor
They're far too sensitive to ever be a ham
That's why these feminists just need to find a man

I'm Dennis Kucinich, and I approve this message

Best Salad in the World

I have serious thing against salad. It comes from being a kid vegetarian. Everyone else gets good food and then you get a whimpy bowl of iceburg lettuce. YUCK. So on principle I tend to turn salads down in hopes of better fare, but I make an exception to the rule with this WONDERFUL salad.
It is my absolute favorite. It is so fresh and healthy that I can never fit enough in my mouth. Just look at it, every bowl is a party! It's one of those rare blends of healthy and Delicious. My Aunt Joan used her amazing food scientist powers and recreated the recipe after enjoying it in a San Fran. And all you need to make it is a knife. Here's the recipe.

3 cups red cabbage shredded
1 cup jicama peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 grapefruit peeled and skinned of it's white waxy layer
1 carrot grated, this is really just for color
13 sprigs cilantro
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp splenda or sugar

Citi - Norway

This is probably my current favorite commercial. Maybe if Aaron's family would do a little more research they could be Swedish too!

JUNO Trailer

I can't wait to see this movie. I think it looks HILARIOUS. It comes out this week. Aaron's in finals so I might get to watch it alone but that's ok because time with Michael Cera is a lot like time with Aaron.

Running In A Winter Wonderland

This is me when I came back from my run last night. That's because it is COLD outside. I hate breathing the cold air so I tie a bandana around my mouth and nose. Then I put my hat on to keep my head warm. So I'm nice and toasty and as a bonus I have this great bank robber look going on. I get a lot of strange looks but that's ok.

Creating A Monster

Lately I've been feeling frustrated about how boring my life is. I wake up, go to work, come home, work out, eat dinner, clean up a little, do something (this is the part I really can't figure out) then go to bed and it starts all over again.

The strangest part is I feel like I have tons of really cool projects I want to work on but NEVER get around to. I have half finished paintings everywhere. I really want the painting to be my priority but I don't know what to cut out. Eating, working out, sleeping?

Last night, by accident I tried not sleeping. I got home, cleaned up, made dinner and promptly fell asleep on the couch after eight. I woke wide awake around midnight and spent the next couple hours doing whatever I wanted. I drew a little, painted a little, listened to about two hundred pages of a really great book (The Free Life) and felt like I got to enjoy some real "creative" time. I almost felt like I was back at college. It was wonderful, really wonderful...until the alarm went off at 6:30AM and I had to get ready for work.

Pick Your Candidate

We all know elections are coming up. While many of you may not believe this, I really try hard to be open minded to every candidate (democrat and republican) and give my support to the person whose policy I most agree with. That's why I absolutely LOVE these Candidate quizzes. You can take the Washington Post's here.

You read a question and select the response that you most agree with. At the end of the quiz you find out who you support. It's a great way to go through and examine your own feelings on the issues and recognize candidates that you may have overlooked or dismissed too early. Sometimes it can be a bit of a wake up. I have to admit I cringed a little every time I realized I agreed with Giuliani. But don't worry, that only happened once or twice out of the twenty five questions.

Let It Snow!

It's snowing in Charlottesville right now. They say it might get up to 3 inches. I wish it had started earlier because then I could be safe and snug at home. (My work has a rather lenient snow policy.) Sadly the snow waited to start at 10 so now I'm stuck at work dreading the drive home. I do NOT know how to drive in the snow. The only time I lived where it snowed I was either too young to drive (Maryland) or didn't own a car (Utah).
Still, I like the snow. It feels magical. When it starts to snow I get this irrational hope that I've been transported to the land of Narnia, and I'll be able to spend my afternoon talking to beavers and drinking tea with a faun. That's probably because the BBC Narnia movies were the most snow I got to see growing up in SC.

Lefse

Katy created this blog with the thought that I would be a frequent contributor. For better or worse, this has pretty much been her endeavor (probably better if you come here often--I think she writes a great blog). Still, Katy tries to get me to contribute. Today, at her request, I acquiesced.

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is the day after Thanksgiving. Many people arise early and use that day to do their patriotic duty to keep the American economy, or at least American credit card companies, afloat. Traditionally my family would go over to my Grandparent's house. My grandmother would make a turkey while we played football in the backyard and we would have Thanksgiving dinner all over again--with one wonderful addition--LEFSE!

For the uninitiated, Lefse (lef-suh) is of Norwegian origin. It's kind of a potato tortilla. The vikings use to eat something like it on long sea voyages. Norwegians today often roll up fish paste or lutefisk in it. Generations ago, my Norwegian ancestors Americanized it. We put Thanksgiving leftovers in it--turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, maybe even some gravy, mayonnaise if you're into that. It's sort of like a Thanksgiving burrito and it is delicious. Last night, our friends the Scotts invited us over to a Turkey dinner. Katy prevailed upon me to make Lefse. It went over pretty well. I at least am always happy to eat one of my favorite holiday foods.

I actually haven't used this recipe but it looks good. Usually what I do is mash potatoes with some butter and milk, then I add enough flour to be able to roll out the dough--usually takes quite a bit. After that you basically roll it out thin and cook it over med-hi in a frying pan. You don't really need any oil because to roll it out you use tons of flour. That seems to work just fine but you might want to try this recipe out.

4 cups riced potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Teenage Wasteland

So Aaron and I drove and hour to stake conference this weekend and ended up arriving a little late. This left us sitting in the overflow. Since our stake conference is held in a high school auditorium we got to hang out in the school cafeteria along with a few shrieking toddlers, their parents AND a pack of unsupervised adolescents.

Watching people about ten years younger than me tends to be exceedingly painful AND incredibly entertaining. There was a pair of young lovebirds, they both looked a very young sixteen. The guy had oversized glasses and acne and the girl was in the throes of growing pains. They had their folding chairs pressed much closer than a Book of Mormon's width apart. They spent the WHOLE conference holding hands and blissfully staring straight into each other's eyes. Nothing could break their adoring trance, not screaming babies, not the intermediate hymn, not the disapproving glances from all around them. They were SOLID. They looked like they were having so much fun Aaron and I decided to try it out to see how long we could rapturously stare into one another's eyes. I think we got about twenty seconds. We just aren't what we used to be.

The experience left me thinking about the many things I left behind in my adolescence. A beloved green army jacket, a generous helping of angst, a couple lousy boyfriends, a string of TERRIBLE school portraits, about two feet of hair, and a lot of humiliation. I guess growing up is a good thing.