Youth Conference

Heather and I have been asked to participate in our Stake's youth conference this year as "parents" (i.e., we'd be assigned to shepherd 12 kids through the experience). Yesterday we had a meeting about the whole affair, complete with to-the-minute itinerary and a long list of rules and regulations. Afterwards we both had headaches (mine ended up as a migraine), and while talking realized that neither of us would have attended anything like this when we were "youth" (the target age group here is 14-17). I spent a good part of my summers hiding from overzealous youth leaders and friends who tried to cajole me into attending these sorts of things. Here's why I ran away; from the looks of this one it's similarly threatening:

1.) Way too many rules, none of which actually have to do with developing or maintaining spirituality. For instance, the girls can't wear two-piece swimsuits, and the leaders are so bent on this that they're planning on taking a bunch of one-piece suits so those who violate the rule will have an option to wear something else. Heather doesn't even own a one-piece suit, and aside from the creepiness of having male adult leaders determining whether or not your swimsuit is appropriate, a person's spiritual well-being (and that of their neighbors) has little to do with what sort of swimwear you like. I can see it already; some poor recent convert girl (or someone who's been a member but has enlightened parents) is going to show up with a two-piece (even tankinis aren't allowed, btw) and then have to go through the humiliation of having some adult leader tell them it's not "appropriate", as if they're less of a person for bringing it along in the first place. Multiply that by 100 and you've got the same sort of environment they create at BYU. Some people go for that, but I certainly didn't as a kid and I don't feel comfortable enforcing those sorts of artificial standards.

2.) Some poor kid in the Stake (maybe even right now) is being pressured by their parents and/or youth leaders to attend, despite the fact that said kid really doesn't dig these sorts of group events and has better things to do. I know the leaders are trying to put on a good event, but parents and some leaders take it a bit far. They judge the "righteousness" of kids by their willingness to participate. Of all the things that really gets me about the situation, this one is the worst of the worst. I guess I grew up in a different era, but my parents let me decide whether or not I wanted to go and then helped me stand by that decision. I know parents can freak out about their kids, but forcing them to attend something like this is far more likely to damage (or kill) their developing spirituality than help it.

3.) Waaaaayyyyy overprogrammed. It's beach camping, for goodness' sakes, not an Amway seminar. We called my parents last night to talk about it and my dad said something that's too true -- the management gene runs strong in the Church. I think we've all experienced this; someone wants to plan every detail or they impose grandiose expectations on others who volunteer their time to help. I know I'm guilty of this on occasion (when our elder's quorum has a move I can be a bit of a task master), and I've tried to avoid over-managing like the plague. Because it is a plague -- it's the part of organized religion that, I think, people dislike the most. It's the idea that you can "manage" outcomes; if everything goes exactly according to plan then you'll get the expected result. Serendipity is a wonderful teacher -- there are all sorts of great opportunities in everyday life to experience things that the scriptures talk about. And, more importantly, is remembering that God's ways are higher than our ways. That often means the results don't align with what we expected. Rather, they're much better than we could have possibly achieved if we planned everything to death.

Anyways, I had to vent so there it is. We have some great people in our Stake who give a lot of time and effort to put these things on, and I don't want to lessen their contributions. But at the same time I think it's important for people to realize that we don't all experience spirituality in the same way, and that events like this aren't for everybody. We're still deciding if we want to go, but if going means strictly adhering to the rules and program then it's probably not our gig. I would never impose my will like that on my (coming sometime in the future) kids, and I definitely don't want to do it to someone else's kid.

CLARIFICATION-We are not saying that there is no need for a youth conference or that it is useless. Youth conference is probably a blast for some kids no doubt. We are however stating that neither of us did (as children) or do (as adults) prefer to attend events like this. Everyone is different.

Shameless Sibling Promotion

A few things going down instigated by various members of the fam:

That Night (book)

Face Off (art event)

Camerabag (iPhone app) and Silo (3d modelling app)

Way to go, y'all.

Interesting

Does anyone else notice that when a new couple moves into the ward, the first two questions directed at the wife are usually 1) How many children do you have? and 2) What does your husband do? And when a couple is meeting with Stake/High council/ward leaders why do they seem to be incredible interested in how Andrew is doing with his calling and the stresses of his job but don't even ask how my calling is going or inquire how my schooling/job is? Why are they only concerned with how Andrew's schedule fits with the calling but don't even inquire if I have a schedule conflict? I would just chalk it up to the ignorance of one or two individuals but these practices seem pretty consistent over the years. It's like people don't even stop to think that women might be doing things besides having children or being a housewife.
It reminds me of the best quote I have ever heard in sacrament meeting,"Im just glad that the women of this ward all know that the best place for them is in the home".

Tip of the hat to....

ME!

Fast food (and eating out in general) is somewhat addicting. I think it boils down to the convenience of it all. Since I got my braces put on I made a pact that I would try to not eat out for a whole month. At first thought it didn't seem that hard but as the days passed and I was having to cook for myself more frequently the challenge became ridiculously hard. My soul longed for Taco Bell and for Chanos and for just a quick stop at Fosselman's for some ice cream (just to name a few...). I've never really thought about how many times in a month (or even a week) I routinely stop to pick something up. I refuse to be a slave to ALL my cravings so I think I will continue not eating out with a few exceptions: Chanos (my soul will never stop craving this so I figure why fight it), Fosselman's (we all need an ice cream excursion), and fine dining (that is more of a reward for Andrew). I think I will limit myself to 2 excursions a month.

It's cost effective and good for your health! Try it!

ANTM

If you don't know what the acronym "ANTM" stands for then carry on your way because this will not be interesting. I am a huge fan of the show since cycle 1. I love the fashion, the creative photo shoots and most of all the fact that they bring together 13 girls that are all completely different. Some are your typical looking models while others are plus size, have asperger syndrome, are quirky and unique.

Each season I put all my energy into the "different" girl(s) hoping that they will make it to the top. Last night's season finale was no different. From the beginning I pegged Allison to be the last one standing. She was hilariously confident (mostly in the end) and had some of the funniest commentary of the whole show. She totally rocked the final runway walk and covergirl photoshoot but alas Teyona was deemed the winner. I just don't understand.....

Happy Earth Day!

May we all try to consume a little less and be more efficient in our daily routines so as to preserve the beauty around us.

Daily astronomy pic from APOD

Explanation: As midnight approached, a spectacular sky appeared. Such was the case last month from the shore of Lake Salda in southwestern Turkey. In the above night sky panorama, rocky sand covers the foreground, while building lights are visible across the lake. Looking up, the stars of Orion lie just ahead, while Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, appears to Orion's left. To Orion's right, just above the horizon, lies the Pleiades open star cluster. Arching across the sky is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. High in the center, the stars Castor and Pollux are visible. Lake Salda is famous partly for its blue color that is slightly discernable even in the above image.

What's up with your grill yo?

Before

After

Indeed, I am every 12 year olds worst nightmare...braces AND glasses. And just to substantiate how cool I really am, here's a picture of a wicked sweet bruise I got from snowboarding.The best-looking bruises never hurt.

P and his darn links again

This time, it's the near-perfect mix:



How do I rate something as a near-perfect mix? Here are some criteria:

1.) Great music. Obviously, gotta be number 1.

2.) Great music I haven't heard before. Like the first four tracks, had me googling like a crazyperson trying to track down who, exactly, these people were (results: gotta get a clean mix of "Jack", but I'd take any of these home today).

3.) Great music I have heard but don't hear often enough. "Windowlicker (Acid Edit)" by Aphex Twin fits the profile.

4.) Guest spots by DJs who rock. Morgan Geist fits the bill, being one-half of arrangement deity Metro Area. If you ever want a master class in how to arrange stuff for maximum vibe/dance effect, listen to a local Metro Area track near you. As you'd expect, hid DJ set here is particularly nice. And when he's acting in half-capacity (i.e., solo) he still rocks.

5.) Truth spoken by the DJ -- I have to agree about Prodigy (I presume he's talking about "Invaders Must Die"), it's too "rave" in a bad sort of way.

Those last two parts are optional, but done correctly they do up the quotient of niceness.

Being an aspiring good DJ myself (if nothing more than a selector), I give you a most excellent track by Juan MacLean (man I gotta score this on vinyl) "By The Time I Get To Venus":

My conversion to the juice box

I don't really remember eating too many fruits and to a lesser degree, vegetables while growing up (except for oranges at soccer games). This is probably due to any number of reasons including, 1) I have blocked painful memories 2)I really never ate fruits or vegetables. Hence, I don't like juice drinks, or the fruits where they originate from or most vegetables.

About a year ago I decided to eat healthier, exercise regularly and try to drink enough water during the day to see if my migraines would decrease. This means eating 2 servings of fruits and 3 servings of vegetables. The veggie part was kind of easy because ranch dressing makes salads taste better and Andrew does a fabulous job of coating all the other veggies in butter.

Fruit was a whole other issue. I really don't like most fruits. Little by little I started to eat an apple in the car (so I would be plenty distracted) or after a long bike ride (when I am super exhausted).

This past week I made a quick dash to the store to get "kid food" for my nephews. By the time my nephews left i still had 8 apple juice boxes left. That night I grabbed one (merely to confirm that I still don't like juice) and I sucked down the whole thing- it was pretty tasty! So I drank the 7 others within a day and a half and having been craving them ever since. So I think I finally like juice! Well, apple juice.

Unfortunately my migraines have not decreased-but at least I am a bit healthier.

The rest of my Spring Break
There were a ton of wind surfers out.



An impromptu day with my nephews
Daniel

Spencer

Ping naturally wanted to investigate her new friends


A new edition to the garden!

St. Patrick's Day!

When I was growing up my mom would always dye everything green. The best St patrick's Day was when she decided to dye the mashed potatoes and gravy. A little food coloring isn't going to stop me from eating tons of mashed potatoes but no one in the family touched the gravy because it was chunky and green.(If I remember correctly, my brothers ended up putting it in a plastic bag and attempted to throw it into the neighbors yard...)
Anyways-I decided to carry on the tradition so I made Andrew a green breakfast including green pancakes, milk, orange juice, and eggs. I think he was mostly excited because I fixed him breakfast for a change.

Spring Break: Day 1

Snowboarding with Andrew: Pretty nice conditions in the mountains, an almost vacant slope and a 4 hour pass.
I thought I'd challenge myself by conquering some jumps.

Andrew had a hard time capturing all the air I caught so here's the before and after.

Jumps are definitely what I have been missing in my snowboarding experience-they're so much fun!

Concrete Gardening

Andrew and I have been wanting to grow our own veggies for quite some time. This week we made a goal to get started. Andrew and I have been battling over the location. We have a "backyard" space but it gets little to no sunlight. We get plenty of sunshine on the front patio though. Andrew is afraid that we will get in trouble with the HOA for putting plants out there. I'm willing to risk it. So here's what we accomplished!



We're trying out 2 types of tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and a variety of already-grown herbs.


We haven't quite figured out what we are going to do in the backyard. We looked at some stellar low growing plants at Armstrong Garden that might mesh well with the chi of our backyard. Here's what we're working with.

P sez -- Happy Birthday Mr. Caterpillar

Even Google is in on the act (confession -- that's how I found out about it). Read more here. I figure I've eaten enough in my life to become a beautiful butterfly -- what happened?

Linkage

So, there's this composer named Galt McDermot. He wrote the music for "Hair", among other things. He also happened to record some of the funkiest music of the 70's. It turns out that he's still around, and if you're so inclined you can stream all of his albums online:

Go Galt

Right on -- more artists should take advantage of the free radio that is the Internet.

Funding for Stem Cell Research!

"This order is an important step in advancing the cause of science in America. But let's be clear: promoting science isn't just about providing resources — it is also about protecting free and open inquiry," said the president. "It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it's inconvenient — especially when it's inconvenient."

"Medical miracles do not happen simply by accident," said Obama. "They result from painstaking and costly research — from years of lonely trial and error, much of which never bears fruit — and from a government willing to support that work."

A President who acknowledges science-now that is a change.

Breakin'

Anyone else in the fam remember that? We had the soundtrack on vinyl, I think I was eight or nine at the time.

And some Kraftwerk, just 'cause it's cool and I really like the visuals:



Modern design and electronic music work so well together.

Instant Music Video

Step 1: Go here -- Ikea demo site

Step 2: Upload any song

Step 3: Thanks, Ikea!

P goes hunting...

...and look what he found:



See, B, I'm not afraid of pink.

The Kitties & Us

The Fluff

The Muscle

luvs

cuddles



incognito

puzzle action

And now for an update: Since Andrew didn't take any time off during the Christmas holiday he decided that he would take this past week off to relax. This has mainly consisted of internet surfing, lusting after electronic devices, music making, and snowboarding. The conditions were perfect in the mountains after the last storm hit so cal. I had trouble at first because I'm not used to boarding on POWDER here in southern california but Andrew took to it and was off on his own after that. We were super sore after our trip but it was beyond worth it!
I didn't have any classes this past quarter so as to focus on getting my thesis research started. It's been fun to figure out everything pretty much on my own. That's about it! How has everyone else been?!