Bunnies and things that make you fat

We went to Vegas/California President's day weekend so Andrew could compete. It was also Andrew's birthday, but poor thing had to spend most of the day at the dentist's or on the road. We'll party harder next year. We did go to cheesecake factory however, which was divine of course.

How lovely. And utterly fattening. But it was so worth it :)

Also, while Andrew was off in California, I got to spend some time with his parents. As usual, I had homework, but apart from that we did some shopping (I found some awesome fabric for a new pair of pants--when I find a spare minute to sew them in!) and went to an outdoors shop where we saw these very very cute bunnies.

Gah! Look at that little one in the food bowl! They were giving them away free because they mutliplied like, well, rabbits, and I was sorely tempted. Then I remembered rabbits stink, have cages you need to clean and die easily.

Oh well.

I also got a head start on my American history. To be completely honest I never learned much about early American history, growing up mostly in France and all... I'm doing my best to rectify that now.We played an awesome USA trivia game which also forced me to learn the names of US states (which I until then mostly couldn't place on a map. I know, shameful. At least I have an excuse...) That's also why Jen woke up to Andrew reciting Presidents and Vice presidents in the car. (He's pretty dang good, let me tell you!)

Later I sat down to catch up on some reading:

and this image made me kind of giggle. Does this make me a republican?

Still more papers to write

Isn't that why I became a broadcast major?

I'm the type of person that loves to write... and typically hates to write if told to.

This may or may not give you some insight into my toddler self.

On another note: actually being allowed to cite sources like "The Blaze," blogs and "Patriot Action Network" is one of the really fun perks of being a comms student :)

More of my papa

So I know y'all are sick of hearing about my papa, but he just sent me some photos and I couldn't resist! It may or may not have to do with something that I will be able to tell you all about very soon :)


Playing an Italian shipwrecked in 19th-century Algeria

Bet you didn't know my dad had long hair! (ok, it may or may not be a wig. Although he does grow a beard when required.)

And the best for last:

My papa as a little boy.

Also, these are my grandparents, in case you wanted to meet them.

Can you see the family resemblance?

Ok, all done. That was fun.

I hate school right now

I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school I hate school.

Look at the little clumps of hate so neatly in a row.

Home decoration...

Advice given to my mother-in-law in her home-ec classes at BYU:

You can make your master bedroom as feminine as you want, in fact it's a good thing because "men want to feel like they're sneaking into a woman's boudoir"

Ha ha ha. In that case can I justify getting this bedding?

My papa

Check out my dad's opera chorus flashmob of various parts of Bordeaux :)

Women in Egypt

Very interesting article about sexual harassment in Egypt.


"What is being done to raise awareness and combat such behavior? A law regarding sexual harassment will have to wait. The country has greater concerns now -- forming a new government; writing a new constitution; getting Egypt's economy going again and dealing massive unemployment, among other things.The military is in charge now, and who knows when Egypt will get a new president, or parliament."


Maybe that's precisely the problem.


I'm going to say something here, even though I try to stay neutral in most of my writing because I'm training to be a reporter and that's what I'm supposed to do: 


A law regarding sexual harassment should be a first priority. It should be one of the first things on their list. I maintain and always will maintain that unless women are treated as human beings, societies do and will continue to suffer. If Egypt wants to reinvent itself and make their country a better, more prosperous place, they HAVE to make women a priority. If they fail to get this, this revolution will have done nothing to improve their lives. 


And this is not based on my opinions alone. There is a plethora of studies that show when women are treated better, the country fares better. Socially, economically, in terms of safety and war. It's that simple. Just look at Valerie Hudson's work.


As a friend pointed out, this isn't a feminist issue, it's a human issue.

Sylvia

Turns out my one sister actually has been doing some modeling :)

You can check out more on the photographer's Facebook album

Goals

Well I'm happy to say that I'm doing relatively well on some of my goals.
I finally buckled down and imposed a limit on myself (using an awesome--and free--website). And so far, I'm feeling pretty good. Let me tell you that I HATE not eating when I want to. I have the most embarrassing lack of self-control in matters of the flesh. Wait, that sounds bad.

Anyway.

I lost one pound! Woot!

And Andrew has been very, very helpful in all of this. I actually rather enjoy going to the gym, and I'm feeling pretty good, so this time I'm planning on keeping it up. I think I can do this.

Ha ha

I'm in love

Now all I need is a few thousand dollars. Sigh.

I wonder if I could make this.

This could be a good place to start. This lady tried to copy it and is selling her version, but I'm not a fan. All I can think is "cafeteria lady."

Customer service...

An excerpt from customer surveys I'm currently translating for a company that I will not name:

"Let's start with the basic: your account manager's response time is slower than a turtle with arthritis and the customer service is abysmal."

ha ha

Phew

Well, it's official: we have a place to stay in Paris. One of my uncles has the space and offered to let us go stay with him--I'm excited! We're still waiting to hear back from another couple whose elderly mother is living with them and has an entire apartment just sitting there with nobody living in it... which would be nice because a) it's closer than my uncle's and b) we'd have a whole place to ourselves which of course is AWESOME!
But either way it works out, we have place to stay and for that I can be nothing but very, very grateful.

Aah! I can't wait for the end of this semester!

Trying to make something of yourself

Got several uninterrupted hours with my husband today and yesterday, which is something that doesn't tend to happen on days that aren't Sunday. That was wonderful of course. (That's also why I just barely finished writing my stupid PR paper. I really shouldn't complain actually, because at least the professor is very clear about what he expects and all I have to do is write section by section and it's done. But it still takes time.)

And we have a four-day weekend coming up, complete with a trip to see the family Las Vegas, so that too is great.

So really, I shouldn't be saying depressing things right now, but...

Do you ever feel like you're a bum? I do, all the time. I'm pretty lazy actually. That's probably why I dislike homework so much, why it's taken me well over 4 years to graduate, why I need to lose 15 pounds, why I still haven't had a single internship... the list could go on forever.

I have my moments, but they tend to be when I'm forced to do something, and then I kick myself into gear and get it done, but apart from those moments, well, I'm a bum. I once heard that to see what a person is truly made of, you should look at what they do when they have down time or don't have any obligations. I must really be a bum.

We're reading Faust in my English class right now, and in the professor's words, Mephistopheles' main goal is to get Faust to the point where he is so saturated with worldly pleasures and distractions that he becomes content, or idle. Once he becomes satisfied, he will no longer have the desire to act, and we all know what idle hands do... I'm sure this is what we're talking about when we speak of slowly being lulled into a false sense of security.

But who'd have thought it would be this hard to move yourself to action, every minute of every hour of every day? How much time can I humanly waste?

Yummy

I'm really craving this right now....

Just FYI

I'm writing my midterm paper on the Fairness Doctrine.

It will be awesome.

Also, I'd love to hear your opinions on it. Do you think it should be brought back or killed for good? Or neither?

Changes

Well, things seem to be moving along. We have a few leads for places to stay in Paris (still just leads... I feel like we've had "leads" for a month--although these ones are closer to coming through than at first). If you have a free spot in your prayers we wouldn't mind if you'd mention us! I know it's hard to find housing to begin with, but a married couple? forget about it. But I feel like things are working well, and I can't help but be grateful that we even have this wonderful opportunity. We're spending the summer in Paris!

Also, in other news, my mom and two younger sisters are moving to Las Vegas. (I don't know if I've even mentioned it on here before, but my mom is going back to school in the U.S. It's an online program, but she got a scholarship that requires her to be a US resident... I don't completely understand the whole why and how but that's the deal essentially. And my two younger sisters are with her here. Since this last summer they were in Maryland with family. My dad and other sister are still in Bordeaux)

Anyway. They'll be a whole lot closer now, which is pretty neat. I'm especially glad for my youngest sister who never got to come to the wedding or to visit--I haven't even seen her since three years ago--so she's excited to come party with her old married sister :) The other day she asked me when she'd be an aunt....

Did I mention my little sisters were models?

Well, not professionally, but... they could be!

Ok, I'll stop bragging.

Creativity... or lack thereof

I haven't touched the sewing machine since... Christmas break. And even then, it was to fix Andrew's shirts (that look fantastic by the way). I have simply got no inspiration right now. But do you want to know why I really don't sew anymore?

School.

It sucks the life right out of you. Seriously, it does. Sometimes I feel like I'm growing and sometimes, it just feels like a long, long to-do list that has serious consequences when you ignore it. (All things considered, it's probably a good thing I'm not sewing because then I wouldn't have time for school).

I'd call it senioritis, but I've had it since kindergarten.

I like certain things about school. I thoroughly enjoy learning, I love to read (interesting things), and I feel very motivated when I'm given a chance to push myself and achieve things I've never done before.

However, the moments where I'm actually learning and being pushed seem few and far between. School tends to just plain bore me, and it's getting to a point where, outside of my broadcast classes, I feel like my time would be better put to use job-shadowing, interning, and generally getting myself out of Provo and into the job. Unfortunately, I still have two semesters left and a slightly mind-numbing job.

But in the end, I really can't complain, because I am getting an excellent education in a program that is reputed for students that come out of the program with real experience and skills that they already know how to apply. And I have a job that pays the bills, and my colleagues really are the best. Sigh.

But it's so BOOOOOOOOOORING sometimes!



Disclaimer: this post may or may not be prompted by the fact that I am procrastinating doing pointless homework... although I suppose it doesn't count as pointless since it's worth quite a few of those.

Sympathy

My grandfather writes regularly and it's always a treat to get his letters. It's especially fun to hear his stories, like this one:

"I saw a show on the tele (that's what we called the TV when it first came out) that brought back to me the memory of when I found a large manta ray. It had washed up on the beach and could not get back into the water. We hired a rickshaw driver ..."

At this point I'm thinking "aw, how sweet! They got it back into the water and it lived happily ever after," and then I read the next line:

"...to fit it into his vehicle and take it to the local restaurant where they would put it on the menu."

Always a practical mind!

Slacktivism

"Slacktivism" is an apt term to describe feel-good online activism that has zero political or social impact. It gives those who participate in "slacktivist" campaigns an illusion of having a meaningful impact on the world without demanding anything more than joining a Facebook group." 

(from this article -- head on over and read the whole thing) 

I read that article a few days ago, and gosh did it ring true. We are all guilty of this in some way or another : don't tell me you've never joined Facebook groups that didn't actually do anything real for a cause.

And it really is starting to get to me. For example, I call myself a feminist, but what am I really doing about it? What is my purpose as a feminist?


Well, for one, I attempt to write about it, and that can help create awareness. But I've never been to a rally or petitioned authorities. I do try to educate myself about the issues and participate in discussion forums such as Feminist Mormon Housewives. But I'm really not all that vocal. (well, I do speak up a lot in Sunday school... he he, just keeping everyone on their toes :) 

There are plenty of things that make my blood boil, but I think I keep it in for various reasons. One is that I haven't sufficiently developed my opinions on some topics. I don't want to publicly say things I could regret later after having matured in my worldviews. Another is my worry that if I am too virulent, my effectiveness to influence opinions and make a difference, however small it may be, will be reduced because I would automatically get myself branded as a man-hating bra-burning embittered activist for matriarchy. And that's not really what I want. 
I want to be a rational voice for women, and if keeping my temper is the price to pay, I'm more than willing. 

And of course, I want to teach my daughters to value their womanhood and my sons to respect women as their equals, to develop a close relationship with God and to learn to make the Spirit their companion in their quest for truth.

But in the end, do I really accomplish much?


Anyway, back to slacktivism... 

I ran across this project recently, and it got its little spotlight in the Daily Universe today: it's called "I am equal" (never mind the linguistic issues with that name... equal AS COMPARED TO WHAT!) and guess what it does: well, it's a bunch of people that decided to tour and take photos of people "taking a stand for equality" by... getting photographed with the nifty logo stamped on them. Whooptee do! You can donate money too, yay! To what? It's a big mix of advocating gay rights, no more racism, women's rights... holy mash-up of vastly different issues, so... where does your money actually go? Good question. The money goes to a foundation for education, which is great, but... how exactly does that aid the cause the project is based on? Anyway. 

I thought it was a perfect example of slacktivism: a fancy-sounding cause, no tangible goals, and it's really trendy because they take your picture and you can make it your Facebook profile pic and... Make a difference! Yeah!

Do forgive my sarcasm...

Censorship

Well, you've probably guessed how I feel about censorship, being an aspiring journalist and all...

But wow, this is fascinating. Some of these aren't all that surprising--a book for kids about having two mommies would understandably upset quite a few people--but Harry Potter? I thought only my parents had beef with that one (in my american literature class in 6th grade we were assigned the philosopher's stone and my parents wrote the teacher to pull me out of it, so I spent the semester reading Rudyard Kipling (which, in retrospect, was probably of greater literary value). Not that that prevented me from reading the entire series. Anyway...)

Here's the list for this past decade:

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling 
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier 
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell 
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck 
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou 
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz 
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman 
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Myracle, Lauren 
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky 
11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers 
12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris 
13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey 
14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain 
15. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison 
16. Forever, by Judy Blume 
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker 
18. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous 
19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger 
20. King and King, by Linda de Haan 
21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee 
22. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar 
23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry 
24. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak 
25. Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan 
26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison 
27. My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier 
28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson 
29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney 
30. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier 
31. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones 
32. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya 
33. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson 
34. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler 
35. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison 
36. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley 
37. It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris 
38. Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles 
39. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane 
40. Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank 
41. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher 
42. The Fighting Ground, by Avi 
43. Blubber, by Judy Blume 
44. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher 
45. Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly 
46. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut 
47. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, by George Beard 
48. Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez 
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey 
50. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini 
51. Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan 
52. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson 
53. You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco 
54. The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole 
55. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green 
56. When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester 
57. Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause 
58. Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going 
59. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes 
60. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson 
61. Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle 
62. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard 
63. The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney 
64. Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park 
65. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien 
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor 
67. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham 
68. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez 
69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury 
70. Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen 
71. Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park 
72. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison 
73. What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras 
74. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold 
75. Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry 
76. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving 
77. Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert 
78. The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein 
79. The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss 
80. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck 
81. Black Boy, by Richard Wright 
82. Deal With It!, by Esther Drill 
83. Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds 
84. So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins 
85. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher 
86. Cut, by Patricia McCormick 
87. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume 
88. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood 
89. Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger 
90. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle 
91. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George 
92. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar 
93. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard 
94. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine 
95. Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix 
96. Grendel, by John Gardner 
97. The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende 
98. I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte 
99. Are You There, God?  It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume 
100. America: A Novel, by E.R. Frank

Impressions? I've read several of these (chances are you have too) and I'm just wondering... Why do we bother to censor books? If anything, controversy only gives the work more prominence, gives the author more spotlight, and just proves how intolerant we are. I think perhaps censorship in schools could make some sense, at least for very graphic/violent/crude/sexually explicit books. It makes sense to protect young (and impressionable) minds from harm--although we really don't give teens much credit in this regard.

In the church we believe that we should seek for that which is uplifting and avoid polluting our minds with unnecessary filth. I don't think however that means we are supposed to shelter ourselves completely from the world. I read the Bluest Eye in high school, and yes it was pretty intense and delved into some very "uncomfortable" themes, but it gave me a glimpse of a world that I, as a very white girl growing up in France, could never have begun to understand otherwise.

Captain Underpants is just plain funny.

And why The Giver??

I read the His Dark Materials series as a teen and loved it. It's written by a virulent atheist and has very openly atheistic themes, but at the same time I thought it was fascinating because of its exploration of souls, angels, divinity, and especially the Fall. (Ok, actually, I need to be honest: I was a teenage girl, so really what I liked was the independent female protagonist, and the romance. Then, there was the other stuff.) In fact, I didn't think Pullman was off-base all that often. It seemed to me that his biggest issue with religion (which he seems to personify in the trilogy as the catholic church) was that it views the fall of Adam and Eve as bad, when in reality he sees it (metaphorically of course) as the beginning of humanity and a statement of independence. I don't think that's so far-fetched in relation to LDS doctrine... Anyway, I digress. My point is it didn't shake my faith, if anything it made me stronger because it made me think about what I believe.

To be honest, I just don't think censorship gets anything accomplished, and if anything it does quite the opposite of shutting up the targeted author.

Also, Toni Morrison has quite the track record. Three of her books are in that list! Racism must really freak people out.

Thoughts?