Saturday, July 28, 2007

Confession

I love Gilmore Girls. I am obsessed with Gilmore Girls. I could watch it over and over and over. I know, I am 24, and a little old for this kind of obsession, but what can you do.
It all started back in my freshman year. The first time I remember hearing about Gilmore Girls was in a magazine my roommate had. I think they were on the cover of the magazine. I read the article. That was as far as it went. I think I saw a couple episodes here and there over the next couple years. I didn't start seriously watching until season 5.
This last Christmas, I got seasons 1-3 on DVD. Then I bought seasons 4-6 about a month ago (they were on sale). I have watched every episode every week for the last couple years. I just really like the show. The show ended this season. It was very sad, but good. It is time to move on with my life. Or at least my Tuesday nights.
There it is. I have let it out. Although, anyone who knows me in the slightest knows that this is no surprise, at all.
Anyone else have a confession? Something you are addicted to? Do share.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Treasures from RS

Classic Relief Society. One for the history books.
Lesson topic: Divorce.
Yes, I am sure at this point all of you are having the same thoughts as I did: "are you serious?!?", "this is going to spur some interesting conversation," "are we for or against?", "who decided this was going to be a good lesson for a bunch of women to discuss together (especially since some are very very bitter about it)?".
As is always the case in relief society, rather than actually using the lesson material (in this case, Elder Oaks' conference talk) we decided to merely use the topic and go from there. Always a mistake.

Some of my favorites:
  • the "you should always stay married because it is best for the children" comment that was shortly followed by the "I have a friend who..." story about how the kids can get seriously messed up by having a false sense of security.
  • "he is still verbally abusive, but at least now they only talk every week or two"
  • personal anecdote explaining bitter feelings about x-husband and how he "will stand at the judgement bar and will have to explain why he abandoned me and my kids."
  • my comment to my neighbor "wow, this lesson is a real upper."
  • my neighbor's comment in response "yeah, I feel like I can't comment because I am married and have never been divorced." very wise of her.
  • my dad, when I asked him why he chose the topic of Divorce. "no, that is not what I chose, I chose Elder Oaks' talk, it was about communication or something." No dad, it was all about Divorce." He said that he must have been confused because the title was deceiving. He looked up the talk. Title: Divorce. Oops. We need a review committee.
  • the uncomfortable looks of many in the audience.
Moral of the story: #1 be careful when you choose a lesson topic. #2 when approaching a potentially controversial subject, always, and I mean ALWAYS let the scriptures/general authorities do ALL of the talking. I promise, it is much much safer. And the Spirit will be there.

I am still laughing. What a good day at church. Oh, and Sunday School was fun too. It involved me making comments about how we are reading into the story of Peter's denials. Bad plan. Very heated. My comments were immediately shot down. That is why I don't comment. Heaven forbid I give Peter the benefit of the doubt. And, my comments were all related to the 2 week study I had done to prepare for this lesson since I was really excited about it. Apparently it is a better plan to talk in depth about Peter's weaknesses. I strongly encourage everyone to read "Peter, My Brother" by Spencer W. Kimball (pretty reliable source if you ask me). I have a print copy, if you would like a copy. Otherwise, you can listen to it online.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The Evils of Power Point

On the surface, it seems like a useful and practical tool. Turns out, PowerPoint is not good. See, PowerPoint is the only way presentations are given any more.
Problem #1: You have to dim the lights to get good clarity in the slides. With the lights off, it becomes very difficult to stay awake, no matter how charismatic the presenter.
Problem #2: PowerPoint has made people lazy. How many times have you watched a PowerPoint presentation where the presenter reads the presentation verbatim from the slides. Is it just me, or is this a HUGE waste of time. If they are just going to read the slides, they may as well just give us the text and call it a day.
Problem #3: Lets face it, people try to make their slide shows all too "exciting". The sound effects are annoying, the crazy slide transitions waste time and are distracting. I would much rather cover the material in half the time, if it means we get rid of the extra stuff.
Problem #4: Most people are not PowerPoint proficient. If you are going to use it for a presentation, at least know the basics of how to start and end the presentation. The audience tends to lose a lot of confidence in the speaker when they can't even start their own presentation.
That being said, lets take a break from PowerPoint. It makes me tired and cranky just thinking about it.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Nicole Miller


My really great insurance will pay for new frames and lenses every other year, so I got new glasses this year. My prescription hasn't changed, so this means I now have three choices for eyewear. I am really excited about this. I still have my cute brown frames. I just bought a pair of plum colored frames. They have pink, purple and yellow stripes in the sides. They are super super cute. I have found that I love Nicole Miller eyewear. Both my glasses are Nicole Millers. My third choice is my contacts. Aww, the feel of accessorizing on the insurance company's dollar. Next, a new nose. Although, this will be much more difficult to get insurance to cover...

Old frames:New frames:
I'm in love.

Friday, July 06, 2007

5K

So my sister-in-law, Liz, and I "ran" a 5K on the 4th. Neither of us had really trained for it. We weren't exactly racing. Mostly we were just there to finish. This is my 3rd or 4th 5K, and her 1st. We finished, which is the important part. The unfortunate part: the t-shirts are really quite ugly. Oh well. We did have a good time laughing as we ran. She is moving, which is sad. I guess there are no more 5Ks in our future. Shoot.