Les Mis

The trailer for the Les Miserables film adaption is out and it looks.....pretty cool. Even to someone who was turned off of Les Mis (and Phantom) because of the theater kids at school who sang the songs excessively. But I also have a mother who loves Les Miserables who acted out the whole play to me on our back porch after she saw it for the first time so I'll probably see this with her. As far as the casting goes? Overall, it's a pretty safe cast. Hathaway has turned into a solid actress and Crowe is almost always great. Jackman? Meh, but I'm sure he'll be fine.

Back

I've spent the last 5 weeks in Utah with my parents.

While there I:
worked;
held (my niece);
kept a secret from my mom;*
attended two graveside services;
regretted I didn't let my brother show me how to knife (an oyster);
teach the other niece how to eat berries obnoxiously;
caught up with a friend from high school;
rode bikes;
was invited to Nicaragua next year;
rode 2k miles in a car;
presented;
ate at the Ranchhand for the 3rd time in 6th months;
realized that my parents watch at least one sport every night (many nights two);
played Ligretto with old friends;
introduced a dog to a little boy who kept saying, "meow";
teased my other brother;
had one-on one time with my sister-in-law; and

many other now memories.

The secret? After work I wandered outside to help my dad with the garden.  While I prepared soil for his greenhouse he came over to me saying, "I don't have the seeds."  He set them down in a plastic bag and couldn't find them.  We looked for them for several minutes but because it was so windy we thought they could easily be halfway across the valley. I was then sworn to secrecy.  Well, he found them a few days ago in the window well and the seeds are now seedlings in the greenhouse.

Steven Knifing Oysters at Hood Canal

The Ten Commandments of Teaching

1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.

2. Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9. Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.
- Bertrand Russell

Via Swiss Miss

There's some food for thought in these rules.  I would change the word argument in #4 with discussion, but I more or less agree with these.     

Today....

Ah, Miss Congeniality.  

Better.

A few weeks ago another Gay LDS man took his life.  He was given the choice of living the gay lifestyle or his family and faith.  After his suicide his family put up a blog that honored his life, but none of the posts mentioned that he was gay which saddened many people.  However, in contrast, BYU sanctioned a panel consisting of four openly gay students who talked about their experience at BYU.  The panel was so popular that BYU students were turned away.  A summary of the panel can be found here.  
Last week a BYU "It Gets Better" video was released quietly and has been making the rounds.  Here it is below:

My hope is that because of the panel and the organization behind the video above, more gay LDS students will reach out and create their own support groups.  

Presenting

About 2.5 years ago, I read an op-ed by Jerry Johnston that stated that there will never be great Mormon Literature written by an active Latter Day Saint and subsequently blogged about it here.  About the same time I attended my first Sunstone Conference and started reading more LDS essays etc.  Anyway, as I feel like I'm stagnating intellectually, I've thought about tackling a large project. When Margaret Young announced a Call for Papers for the Association for Mormon Letters Annual Meeting, I thought about submitting a proposal for a paper.  Well, I submitted the proposal below which was accepted.
Here's the Abstract:

Title: The “Great LDS Novel,” Pipedream or Future Reality?

Author: Joy Buhler

In 2009, Jerry Johnston, a columnist for the “Mormon Times,” stated that the “Great American Novel” would never be written by an active Latter Day Saint because of the demands the religion makes on the devout member.  A “Great American Novel” is often defined as a work that captures the essence of being American during that time period that is written by an American Author.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee or Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain are two examples of novels that are considered great American works.  Current critics agree that most novels exploring LDS themes written by active Latter Day Saints have not qualified as “Great American Novels.”

This paper analyzes the reasons Mr. Johnston gave when contending that there will never be “great” Mormon literature written by active Latter Day Saints.  Mr. Johnston is correct that active LDS members tend to promote their religion and gloss over controversial topics.  However, there’s a growing community of devout LDS people who are more willing to write, read and explore the “gray spaces” of the LDS religion with intent to illuminate rather than destroy the Church.   Great literature comes from the minds of inquisitive thinkers who delve into topics that have no clear answer.  Could the first great Mormon novel come from this community of LDS people who are examining the LDS faith, including the nebulous areas, with the intent to better understand who we are as a religion?  

I've been doing a lot of reading for the paper (yes, I even read "The Gospel According to Twilight" which is written by a Methodist, not a Mormon)and asked Jerry Johnston a series of questions.  He replied back to me today so his response will be incorporated in the paper.

Anyway, this is the "personal" project that I'm tackling and will be presenting my findings to individuals who know much more than I do about the subject next month.

Itching

I woke up yesterday with a rash on my leg.  I checked the bite when I arrived to work and noticed that it was oozing but didn't think much of it.  However, a little later I examined the leg a little more closely and marked the leg and went up to CVS to get a bottle of Benadryl Cream because the rash itched and burned.  Anyway, yesterday evening, I asked Kelli for some Benadryl and she asked to see the rash.  I showed her and found myself at Urgent Care a few minutes later.  Urgent Care had closed but the PA there told us to go to the 24 hour clinic or the ER last night.  We ended up at Kelli's ER and luckily left after about a hour with an antibiotic and outpatient instructions.  Turns out I the rash is actually infected and it's cellulitis.  The leg looks much better today, but it's even more sore, achy and hurts to walk on today so I stayed home from work.  I'm sure I'll be to work tomorrow.