Memphis

Thursday afternoon, a micro-burst (I can't believe it wasn't a tornado) went through Alexandria and an estimated 7k trees went down. Our power was out, (didn't come back until Saturday morning) major roads and the metro lines were shut down so it took me 2+hours to get home. Needless to say, we were lucky. In our neighborhood, there were trees down in every yard and at least one house on every block of every street had a tree through their roof or down on their car. Well, we were slated to go to Memphis. After packing with the lights out for the trip and getting 2 hours of sleep because my lungs wouldn't settle down and let me sleep---we were off for a 6:40 am flight, I was starting to think Memphis was a great idea. Our power went back on Saturday morning. I already took our trash out, turned off the AC and opened all the windows. When we got back on Monday, our apartment was surprisingly smell-free but I lost several plants and almost everything in our fridge and freezer except for a few condiments and some produce.
All in all, we had a great time in Memphis, but I'm exhausted. I'll blog later about the trip (which was awesome) but I'm trying to live by Elvis's motto:


......That's "Taking Care of Business....In a Flash.." For those unintiated to Graceland, Elvis came up with this in the late sixties/early seventies and it's on his plane, decorated in his television room in Graceland etc.

Learned this Weekend

1) 2 hours at the beach makes up for 7.5 hours in a car.
2) When you remember a restaurant, but can't remember anything else...don't eat there.
3)Tuna Steak should never be the same texture as well-done beef steak.
4) Kelli can sew (as long as I thread the needle for her).
5) Don can push Betty over the edge on "Mad Men."
6) "It's Complicated" isn't bad.
7) Knitting hats is actually pretty easy...with a basic pattern.
8) Bicycle shopping in 90+ heat? Not recommended.

Weekend Update:

1) Four? I'm on antibiotics for strep and what I thought was bronchitis. However, I've been feeling worse and was running a temp. of 100 last night which leads me to think I've got a virus on top of the strep, possible bronchitis, and conjunctivitis.

2) I spent the weekend at our apartment watching movies and taking it easy. I finally watched "Crazy Heart" which actually exceeded my expectations. I 've always loved Jeff Bridges, but I forgot about my crush on his hair. The Dude always has nice hair (except when it's stringy because he's playing a drunk)

3) Forgiveness is good. However, this sign cracked me up.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickdouglas/3828360668/

Round-up: "I'm your Cupcake" Edition

The Weekend: The highlight of the weekend? Spending Saturday afternoon on bikes with 6 friends riding to three cupcake shops in DC and then back home to Alexandria. We didn't get to go to the Alexandria shop due to my blue lips (I was fine-wind and pollen makes my lungs work a little harder) but still a great ride. Out of the three cupcake shops we visited, Georgetown Cupcakes was the winner. There's a reason the line goes around the block there on a Saturday afternoon.

Monday: I ended up attending a Mormons for Social Justice and Equality Family Home . Yes, this group really exists and apparently is thriving. I've read and heard about them, but haven't really paid attention to them much. Despite the somewhat militant name, we had a marvelous time talking about the environment and eating vegetarian nachos.

Random Thoughts:

Work: I still feel a little like Max from Rushmore; you know, the kid who signs up for all those extracurricular activities? Except, I'm not the one who is volunteering myself for projects, teams and new assignments on top of my regular duties. That being said, I'm glad I have a job, and these new assignments are interesting. Plus I'm meeting a bunch of new people. I like that.

Earthquakes: I received the following in a work e-mail today. I thought I'd pass it along:
Earthquake Activity not Abnormal
Source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - April 14, 2010
Scientists for the US Geological Survey indicate that 2010 is not showing signs of unusually high earthquake activity. Since 1900, an average of sixteen (16) magnitude 7 or greater earthquakes — the size that seismologists define as major — have occurred worldwide each year. Some years have had as few as 6, as in 1986 and 1989, while 1943 had 32, with considerable variability from year to year.
With six major earthquakes striking in the first four months of this year, 2010 is well within the normal range. Furthermore, from April 15, 2009, to April 14, 2010, there have been 18 major earthquakes, a number also well within the expected variation.
Aftershocks will continue in the regions around each of this year’s major earthquakes sites. It is unlikely that any of these aftershocks will be larger than the earthquakes experienced so far, but structures damaged in the previous events could be further damaged and should be treated with caution. Beyond the ongoing aftershock sequences, earthquakes in recent months have not raised the likelihood of future major earthquakes; that likelihood has not decreased, either. Large earthquakes will continue to occur just as they have in the past.

Glee: I finally got around to watching the first disc of "Glee" and I liked it okay. The show is fun, doesn't take itself too seriously and I'm a sucker for the covers. I can't say I'll actually follow it on Hulu, but I might netflix the 2nd season. After the episode with Kurt joining the football team, I realized I don't need to hear the song "Single Ladies" for a while though. Yeah, I'm slower than the rest of you, I'm sure. (although the video of the family singing to this song on youtube? Must-see).

Beckett: Last night Kelli and I went to the French Embassy to watch a Samuel Beckett play, "First Love (Premier Amour) " performed by a renowned French actor (with English subtitles). Powerful, disturbing play about a homeless guy who has a sexual relationship with a prostitute. Yes, it's not for everyone, but wow, it was pretty powerful stuff, and I like art that expands my world-view without actually being a prostitute who has an affair with a homeless person.

Weekend Roundup: Vernal Equinox! Vernal Equinox!

1) Last Week
Last week was a bit of a roller coaster. Work has been crazy busy, and this morning I found out that the Secretarial Awards Ceremony I’m in charge of has been moved to the Fall. I’m doing everything I can to let them agree to let me go to Switzerland in September with Steven (see #3).
So, I only really pay attention to College Basketball until Tournament time, and since my other teams were out quickly, I turned my enthusiasm to BYU. BYU Men’s Basketball actually won a game in NCAA Tourney which was a major highlight of the week. Of course they lost on Saturday, but still-they proved that they could win a game at the Big Dance! Plus, Michael Loyd Jr.? He’s going to be fun to watch the next couple of years. The sad news is that a co-worker and close friend of mine passed away from cancer Wednesday evening. I worked closely with this co-worker for 4 years, and it’s always tough losing a friend. My heart goes out to her loved ones. However, the weather in DC has been phenomenal. Mid 60’s-70s with no wind and sunny days? Oh, I’d love to package up the weather over the weekend and save it for a rainy day. The tulip trees are just starting to blossom which means cherry blossoms in about 2 weeks.

2) The weekend?
Friday: I had Friday off and spent the morning at the Doctor’s office getting a Xolair shot. My nurse blew a vein in my leg, but she’s totally forgiven (seriously) for bringing me Cabbage and corned beef while I was waiting in the office afterwards. Food heals all wounds in my world. That evening Kelli and I sheepishly admitted to the other that we really liked “The Hangover” and we both wanted to see “She’s out of my League” but common sense ruled out as we went to buy tickets at the movie theater. Instead of paying $21.50 for a movie, we decided to spend $47.50 on a Dust-Vac. There’s logic to that decision somewhere, I think. Saturday: After Kelli got home from working a few hours, we went up to Eastern Market for Lunch. We didn’t find the pickle guy (my fave) or the Crepe Guy (Kelli’s fave) until as we were leaving, but still had a great time taking in the sun while browsing through the stalls. That afternoon I cleaned and watched my Bracket Picks go down the drain (Thanks Kansas!). After the first half of the BYU game, we went to a house farewell party that evening (friends are getting kicked out of their house as their landlady is moving back in) and talked to a good friend for most of the evening. Sunday: I slept in and didn’t go to Stake Conference. Oops. But there was more cleaning to be had, lungs to be convinced that pollen isn’t out to kill them, a dinner at our neighbors and tentative plans for next weekend made. All in all a great weekend.

3) Trip Plans
March is here and I already have two big trips (Ecuador and Switzerland) planned. Ecuador will include the Galapagos Islands, and Switzerland will be 2 weeks of hiking in the Alps with my baby brother. There’s a smaller trip to Montreal in July that we’re hoping to do, and then there’s Christmas and a trip to Portland to see a baby get blessed. I’m already saving for a house down-payment, but it’ll be good for me to do some further cut-backs on my expenditures.
4) The “I will if you will” Book Club
One of my absolute favorite blogs is “Monkey See” on NPR. The primary writer, Linda Holmes” waxes poetic on pop culture and each post is a gem. A couple of weeks ago after admitting she had never read Twilight, she started the “I will if you will” book club on the blog with Twilight as the first book. Today is their first installment of talking about Twilight and Linda chose to talk about the writing with another Monkey See Contributer. Here’s an excerpt about the book:
It's just this wildly florid prose that's wielded with the subtlety and repetition of a jackhammer, all in the service of a story that's going nowhere being told by a girl who seems to be fighting me for the gold medal in a not-liking-her contest.
Monkey See Blog

5) Health Care Bill
All in all, the Health Care Bill has kind of been an exercise in hilarity. I wasn’t real impressed with anyone during the whole debacle, but they finally passed it. Now that it’s passed, I’m hoping that it actually does more than just line the pockets of the Health Care Industry and actually gives the uninsured a chance to have cheaper, more comprehensive health care and it gives those that are insured better health care. Because really, our Health Care system is broken and unfortunately I don’t see how anyone except the government can fix it. Here’s hoping that the Bill will actually help fix the problem. And if someone could explain to me (in a rational, logical manner) how passing this bill would move us over towards a totalitarianism government, I’m all ears.

6) Everyone’s Favorite Mormon: Glen Beck!
I’ll be honest. I’ve only watched about 2 minutes of Glen Beck before changing the channel, so all I know about him is mini clips here and there, and others verbal repudiation of Beck. However, Beck encouraging listeners to flee churches that had hints of social justice shows of a lack of understanding of basic Christian Doctrine
Roger Ebert wrote an enjoyable piece about Beck and some great points that he learned about Mormonism. A highlight from his blog is here:

Nor, for that matter, could a genuine conservative identify with a flywheel like
Beck. Conservatism is a political and ethical philosophy that exists in another
universe from Beck's shopping cart. Remember that TV show where couples raced up
and down aisles seeing who could jam the most loot into their carts? Beck loads
up from the shelves of the Discount Screwball Supermart. He needs material to
fill his daily hours of air time and fuel his fans with one-liners they can pass
off as thought.

One of my friends, Matt, wrote a thoughtful, sometimes humorous (the kicking puppies line is great) post about Mr. Beck and Beck’s summation of the “religious left.” Definitely food for thought. From his post:

The savagely brilliant religious imaginations that Martin Luther King, or Walter
Rauschenbusch, or Dorothy
Day mobilized behind social reform worked because of their
comprehensiveness. They began with a vision of the world in part inspired by but
not bound to the contexts they found themselves in. And the social reforms they
advocated for were not merely an end in themselves, or to satisfy our basic
human impulse toward charity, or to pursue greater egalitarianism as a
self-contained good. Rather, their calls for social reform were bound inexorably
into the most basic and primal aims of Christianity – to, through the atoning
acts of Christ, attain for humanity salvation. Their theologies of social
transformation were based upon their imagination of the Kingdom of God. They
were radical, then, in the best sense, not merely political. They knew that the
world that Christ calls us to is not the world we live in; that the things
Christ asks of us cannot be fully embodied in the tools of politics. One does
not get that same sense of the incarnation of Christ in the politics of Jim
Wallis. And that, because, like those of Beck, they are simply politics.
So,
I feel an incessant, nagging suspicion that perhaps Beck’s salvo is a justified
one. This is not to endorse his somewhat staggering ignorance, bluster, and
paranoia; indeed, Beck suffers acutely from the same problem he diagnoses; he
believes God is on his side rather than engaging in that constant struggle that
should afflict every Christian – worrying that he is on God’s. It is, though, to
point out that as in every age, idolatry may be the most pervasive sin of our
own.

Weekend Roundup: Hockey Pho Edition

Friday: The Weekend started with an asthma attack from staying up until midnight watching women’s figure skating. Luckily, I was at home working so I could take a couple of hours off and try to calm down my angry lungs. Lungs calmed, I was able to work during the afternoon. Friday night was dinner at TBR (The Burger Joint) with a couple of friends. Fewer things are better than conversing for a couple of hours over great food in a not too crowded restaurant. I begged off the Olympics and went to bed.

Saturday: Woke up to the news that the 7th largest earthquake in recorded history hit Concepcion and affected Santiago Chile. I was a LDS (Mormon) Missionary in Chile about 10-12 years ago and have many friends down there. So far, everyone I’ve heard back from is okay. The afternoon was filled with errands and a trip to the gym!! Saturday night, Kelli and I went to eat Pho with a group of friends to celebrate another friend’s birthday. Except the birthday boy didn’t show up until we were singing karaoke to the Bobsled Finals at another friend’s house. We know how to party. Ended the night watching Apolo Ono's dq (I didn't stay up for the relays)

Sunday: The US/Canada Hockey game? Totally worth switching my church schedule around. Really though, I needed to go to the family ward, catch up with the “other” little brother and his wife, and tie up some loose ends. I tell you, there should be a rule against meeting at 3:00p-6:00p for church. I’m currently a member of the “old” single ward (31-55) which meets at 3:00p and that’s a trying time for me to have church. Give me 8 am or 11:30 any day over that schedule. Sunday night, the “other” roommate had a group of friends over for dinner and I got an invite too. We ate Mexican food, debated the legalization of pot and had a good time all around...drug free.

Weekend Happenings

1) Brenda-Kelli's sister-in-law and frequent commenter on this blog had a heart attack on Friday. She's okay, but her husband has been posting updates on her blog.

2) I must've been a little stressed because I tried 3 new recipes over the weekend: Lemon jelly candies, three ingredient pasta sauce and banana baked oatmeal. The jelly candies never really turned out, the three ingredient sauce was awesome, and the banana baked oatmeal had a nice flavor but not an ideal consistency.

3) I believe I've mentioned Liz Howell here before (plus at least one of her husband's cousins reads this blog) but she's now in Haiti with the LDS medical team. Go Liz!

4) My new ward is a little odd. I've been attending (on a trial basis) the new mid-singles (not a magnet ward) ward that was recently organized in my stake. The bishop actually encouraged people to sit by someone you don't know from the pulpit (ie of the opposite sex) and said that it was okay to sit by someone if you were interested (or weren't interested). Then there was the conversation about dating from the pulpit. Then there was me with a puzzled expression on my face.

5) The polygamy letter last week? The letter really was sent, but it was a practical joke played on the wife. Here's the response.