Notebook list

Thu Jul 02 2009 10:11 Their Love Was Validated By Householding Algorithms: We got a piece of political spam addressed to "The Harihareswara & Richardson Household".

(4) Wed Jul 01 2009 19:24 Lintsagna: Here's a story from when I was in Little Rock working on the Clark campaign. Every night after work I'd go home and have an hour, hour and a half to myself; enough time to do one thing. Like make and eat my own dinner, or read for a while, or do a load of laundry.

There was no laundry in my tiny apartment building, but I had a special "laundry key" which opened the front door of a totally different house. In the foyer of this house was a washer and dryer, and if you lived there you'd have a different key that opened up the house proper. It was an odd system.

The first time I hauled my laundry over to this house someone else was using the washer, so I had to come back the next night. The second time I made it. After drying my clothes, I tugged on the lint trap to clean it out. The trap practically exploded out of its receptacle as the hundreds of loads worth of lint it contained expanded to fill the space outside.

I peeled the lint off the lint trap. It was two inches thick, a lasagna of lint, striated in colors like the geologic column. There was no trash can in the laundry room, so no one had ever emptied the lint trap.

I didn't want the house to burn down, so I took the lintsagna with me and threw it in my building's dumpster. Sometimes I can still hear it calling me. It says, "I'm a pile of compressed lint and incapable of speech, but nonetheless youuuu are responsible for my deaaaaath!" I generally ignore it.

(2) Tue Jun 30 2009 22:25: Edits for "Let Us Now Praise Awesome Dinosaurs" are done. Hopefully you'll be able to read it in July or August.

Another data point I'm not sure what to do with (see Dada Chess weirdness passim) is that both stories I've sold had their origin in weblog entries I posted to NYCB. "Mallory" was the end result of this bizarre entry, and "Awesome Dinosaurs" was the end result of this more-obviously-an-idea entry. I sold both stories to the first market I sent them to, though for both I had to do a revision and resubmit. If a story didn't start in this weblog, I haven't been able to sell it.

(1) Sun Jun 28 2009 21:18 You Will Go To See Moon: You should, anyway. It's a good movie. I'll see pretty much any movie set on the moon (offer not good for other celestial bodies) and this is one of the best. It's got beautiful visuals, the characterization is great, and the callbacks to precursors (2001 and Silent Running) are well-done and often extremely inventive. But I can't leave well enough alone, I have to pick at things.

There's artistic license stuff like sound in space and stars visible from the lunar surface during the daytime. That stuff doesn't really bother me, and Moon at least gave alternate POVs for most of the sound you heard while the camera was in vacuum. There's stuff that would just be too expensive to get right, like filming all the scenes in lunar gravity. Moon did get the exterior scenes right. And then there's... the whole premise of the movie. Which doesn't make any sense.

And the movie knows it. As in many movies, there's a scene where the characters nibble around the fact that the premise doesn't make any sense, and then defuse it with a joke and move on. I call this the "Gremlins 2" solution. I wasn't even happy about it in Gremlins 2, which played it for laughs. I'm sorry but I can't let it go.

It's a good enough movie that I keep thinking of ways to tell similar stories without doing anything nonsensical. While the movie was going on I coped with the situation by deciding I was watching a horror movie. Horror movies work on the logic of nightmares, where something like what happens in Moon can make sense. But it's not satisfying to me as science fiction.

The other thing I was worried about was that this movie would be so similar to a story I wrote that I'd never be able to sell the story, but despite some shared inspirations the stories are pretty different. Not that I'll ever sell that story!

(3) Sat Jun 27 2009 17:07 Dada Chess Addendum: The last time I did some Dada Chess statistics, White checkmated 7.8% of the time and Black checkmated 8.1% of the time. That was with 5787 games played and I thought it wasn't a significant difference. But now with 13308 games played, White checkmates 7.6% of the time and Black checkmates 8.4% of the time. The total percentage of checkmates is pretty much the same (15.86% then, 15.96% now).

The numbers are large and steady enough that I'm starting to wonder if there is some significant advantage in Dada Chess to not moving first. I can't think of what it could be.

Sat May 13 2006 21:59 Obituary: Here is the link to Mom's obituary, printed in the Bakersfield Californian on Tuesday. The death date is wrong, it was actually May 5, 2006

Thu Jul 02 2009 06:52 Really. Long. Hot.. Day.: Yesterday began with a morning walk with a friend. I had to wake Maggie up to go. (She's been sleeping in a lot lately, but apparently that changes starting today). If you ask Maggie about this walk, she won't say that we walked, or visited the horsies, or went past James and Kate's house; she remembers Cody let her play with his toy car.

Immediately after we got home, we rushed off to the grocery store, then dropped off groceries and hurried to the library for storytime. We had goldfish and melty ice cream for lunch, and were very hot and sweaty by the time we got home. Maggie didn't take a nap and was super hyper by the time Erin and Ember came for piano lessons.

In the evening I went to a bridal shower for John's cousin. When I got home, I did a quick clean of the bathrooms and floors, because today we are going to the cabin and hiking! Hurray! Maggie says we are going to the cabin to play balls and beep-beeps, and going hiking to a cave with MaPapa. We are indeed hiking to Timpanogos Cave this afternoon, but Grandma and Grandpa will be joining us on a wheelchair friendly non-hike tomorrow.

Sun Jun 28 2009 15:29 Quick Brag: Someone at church was impressed with Maggie's number-knowing. I think he was visiting and stayed in nursery with his kid. He said hi to Maggie and then said to me "she knows all her numbers! What a smart girl." Yes, she is! We're learning 21-30 right now.

Also, I posted some videos of her singing the ABCs. She let me take lots of videos of her, because she likes to watch them after.

Sat Jun 27 2009 20:58 Staycation: We had a really fun day. This morning we walked from the South Mountain Country Club to the Draper Temple and back. I went to my cousin Julie's baby shower this afternoon. I also got to see my Aunt Sharon and my cousin Jill, which made me happy. We had dinner at Rumbi and took Maggie to the park afterward. Also, we've been working on/buying some birthday presents for Leonard.

We also did some planning of things to do close to home this summer, since we're not doing a vacation we had budgeted for. Next week we're going to visit a spring, and hike/tour Timpanogos Cave on John's work holidays. I also want to take Maggie to the Great Salt Lake, and to the copper mine. All of these things cost a few dollars, but definitely less than taking a trip would be. Maggie and I are also going to get a membership to a nearby water park. It's a better deal than the swimming pool and opens earlier, although it's farther away.

(1) Mon Jun 01 2009 16:03 UTC0UTC mixed bag: Susie and I had a fab weekend, including vacuuming up spiders at the church, and having what I hope will become an annual "downtown day." We hiked Ensign Peak (which was much harder than I remembered, so Kudos to my pregnant wife for completing the hike). We also hit the Planetarium, lunch at CPK with Alyssa, Susie's cousin, and Temple Square. Temple Square included a visit to the Christus, wherein Maggie saw Jesus' owies. I explained that Jesus got those owies so we could be happy. Nothing makes religious stories more fantastical to me than when I explain them to kids (try explaining the Christus to someone that can't understand the Atonement, eternal marriage, etc). Maggie got to ride on the train, which she slowly eased into. Maggie was also the only child that simply watched the kids play in the water at the Gateway Olympic park. She certainly is a timid, rational child ("I can't go in there, my clothes will get wet"). But the highlight of Maggie's day was the U on the mountain. Perhaps next year we will hike to the U (it looks to be a much easier hike that to the Y).

Today I am informed that I am now a major stakeholder in GM, a bankrupt company. This certainly validates my decision to buy a Toyota RAV 4 last March!

(4) Sun May 24 2009 00:34 UTC0UTC mayday: It's been an exciting few days:

1. I ran all the way to the end of the Porter Rockwell Trail! It was a 7-mile run and I did it in about 75 minutes. I wish I could find a good 10K here; it seems like it's 5K to half marathon only. I'm not sure I'm ready for a half yet.

2. We made yesterday a Provo day, including eating Rubio's with Frances and Roy, and gave them flowers and an "It's a Boy!" card that Maggie colored in. We also perused BYU. Maggie enjoyed the Eyering Science Center, the Richards Building, and the Tanner Building most. She was also obsessed with the "Y" on the mountain. We wore her out traversing campus, because she slept the whole way home. Traffic was horrible in UT county, so that explains why this is a yearly pilgrimage only.

3. Today we cleaned the chapel and luckily I had two elders to help me, which is two more than they got last week. Cleaning grubby handprints off so many glass doors apparently takes 90 minutes.

4. We bought some sleeping bags today (which is our mother's and father's day gifts to each other). Maggie thinks they are fab.

5. We settled on a boy's name: Dalton. Everyone heard "dolphin" over the phone, for some reason. We're still working on a middle name, but, needless to say, it won't be James, nor will be it John.

Tomorrow we head to the cabin after church.

Thu May 21 2009 20:41 UTC0UTC baby blue: We're having a boy! Susie & I were both right this time. I really wanted a boy the first go around, and got a girl. This time, I really didn't care, and got a boy. I am glad to even up the gender numbers in the house, but would have been happy either way. Everyone we know that is pregnant right now is having girls, so I guess we get to stand out now. I have a feeling that raising this boy will be substantially different from raising Maggie. I hope I'm up for the challenge.

Now we need to go through all Tyler's baby clothes from 2001 and see what is still usable.

(2) Wed May 20 2009 21:15 UTC0UTC Picture it: Last night we went for a walk in Corner Canyon and Maggie had the time of her life. She sat in her stroller and ate her fav: Teddy Grahams. Then she got to see goats! Then on the way home we had the perfect view of the Draper Temple and Maggie couldn't stop pointing at it and saying "mama daddy temple." Then a woman on horseback joined us on the trail. And then it starting raining on us (one of those wierd storms where it rains but the sun's out) and then came out the most beautiful rainbow! It arched from Lone Peak right next to the temple and was breathtaking. Maggie finally saw it (after much pointing) and now she knows a new word.

But Maggie's favorite part was her shoulder-back ride and looking for bugs. She loves bug hunting, and beetles are in season in Draper. It was a very fun walk.

(2) Wed May 13 2009 17:15 UTC0UTC: This week has not been good to us, but is full of entertainment value for the masses. Firstly, last Friday, our basement flooded. It's from the neighbor's sprinklers, which everyone says means he (his insurance) should pay for it. But he hasn't. My goal today is to go ask him about that, since it's been a money pit getting it fixed. Why our insurance guy didn't tell us he should pay for it is utterly ridiculous. Some people are only interested in a paycheck and not in doing their jobs. All he cared about was telling us that he would cover it, but our deductible would basically throw the entire liability back on us. But on the plus side, I have learned a lot about the carpet laying. Maybe I can qualify as a carpet-bagger now.

Second, yesterday, around 3:30, a coworker tells me that he thinks he saw a homeless person sleeping in my car when he walked by it at lunch time, 3 hours previous. After yelling at him, I went over there and lucky me, no homeless person. He did, however, leave me his coat, shoe, and smell as a calling card. I spent most of last night cleaning my car, including deoderizer into the carpets and upholstery and sanitizing spray over all hard surfaces. I think my carpool buddy didn't lock his door, because it does not appear my car was broken into, nor did he touch or take anything out of my car.

This morning my carpool buddy called to tell me we couldn't carpool today. His basement is flooded. So, now that I am a flood expert, I went over and helped him clean up the disaster.

I'm pretty sure God's mad at me.

(8) Wed Mar 05 2008 15:05 Many Adventures: We've enjoyed great outings the past two weekends. Last weekend we went boating up the St. Marks River into a wildlife preserve area, then up the Wakulla River. Best of all, I piloted our way into the Gulf of Mexico near where these two rivers converge in the Florida panhandle. It was my first experience driving a boat. Very exhilarating. We saw dolphins in the Gulf! And along the St. Marks we spotted many tortoises sunning themselves, but never a crocodile to smile at where I can find him.

Atticus had quite the appetite after our boating day, and very much wanted to eat supper at this great little restaurant on the water (we've eaten there twice before). We weren't up for dining out, but were impressed by his culinary interest--he said he was craving seafood. We were nearly ready to cave, and things might have turned out in his favor. . . but when we asked him what he planned to order, he said "a corndog." Not going for that one.

This past weekend we took our first trip to Orlando (five hours distance). Hoping it will help get us to the LDS Orlando Temple regularly, we dropped a HUGE chunk of cash on Disney World Florida resident annual passes. Neither Dave nor I had ever been to Disney World before (of course neither had the boys). We made our first visit to Magic Kingdom. Everything was dazzling for the boys of course. Dave and I were impressed by how well things are run and maintained. I am looking forward to visiting the Animal Kingdom. I hear the exhibits there are impressive.

(8) Wed Feb 13 2008 20:10 Monsters Under the Bed: Samuel is convinced there are monsters under his bed. He never has had this worry before, so we had an extended conversation about it to clear his mind. I assured him--promised him there was nothing but a few boxes and stuffed toys under his bed. He is not persuaded, however, because he has evidence. "Mom, I know they are there because every night they use my water to make their stew! I only drink half."

And those puddles I often wipe up from his sports bottle lying open on its side? Unrelated.

(15) Thu Jan 10 2008 15:42 They say I should buy pink: I didn't plan to find out the gender of this baby when I went for an ultrasound today. I didn't want to be disappointed about such a silly thing as gender. All the wiggles and kicks are miracle enough to pleased with the entirety of this little package. And I love my boys. I'll take boys any day. But it seems to be a girl.

I'll believe it when I see it.

(1) Thu Jan 10 2008 15:38 Secret Santa: I deleted my most recent blog entry because of inappropriate spamming in my comments section. Argh! There were four comments containing a very long string of links each. I couldn't figure out how to remove the individual comments (they were more stubborn than comments from friends, which deleted away instead), so I removed the entire entry. Maybe I should have waited for my cousin, the administrator of the crummy.com site, to take action but I was too embarrassed by the contents of the spam. It was very annoying.

In other news, Samuel has been full of funnies lately. Right before Christmas he helped me wrap some "secret Santa" presents. He really loved the toys (Polly Pockets are irresistible), and negotiated with me in attempt to keep at least one of the sets. I said no, and explained that if these gifts didn't go to the little girl I'd bought them for, she might not get any presents at all.

Samuel gasped in alarm and asked "Has she been naughty?"

(15) Tue Nov 20 2007 08:49 Expecting News: My life feels like a great run-on sentence. . . We had a chaotic summer, a big move, and right as we were getting settled, I began feeling constantly nauseous and fatigued. Number three baby Matkin is on the way, due to arrive close to Atticus' birthday (june 11th). We are thrilled, but I think I would prefer if I never in my life had to eat another meal or puke it back up.

(1) Wed Jun 10 2009 12:02 Work-a-day London: You may have heard that we are having a tube strike. You might think of me as the type to be in sympathy with strikers, but I say bring it on! Tube drivers already make way more than the average person and they want a 5% raise during a recession when most people consider themselves lucky to find a job. Well, apparently most drivers themselves don't agree, because as I discovered this morning the Northern Line is running with minor delays, so all my careful plans to situate myself in a location where I could walk to the BL were for nought. Also actually walking was quite an enjoyable experience, or at least it would have been if it hadn't been for the rain and complete chaos surrounding king's cross.

(3) Mon Jun 08 2009 18:18 Immigrant/expat, what's the difference?: The big news is the BNP, a crazy rightwing party, has managed to swing two seats in the recent european parliamentary election. I picked up a BNP pamphlet the other day when I got off the overground at Kew, because I was so surprised to see someone had stuck it in with a lot of TFL brochures, and I was curious to see what it says. Then I began to fear what people would think of me if they saw me reading it. The irony is I'm actually an immigrant myself -- could I ever oppose immigration? A lot of it is not so bad -- protecting the environment, etc. Then there is the "We're not racist, but..." yes, actually, you are.

Labour is at an all time low, and while it's very upsetting to think of the idea of a conservative government, especially as they'll likely end up changing immigration laws, part of me feels they should give up the ghost. I don't know who I'd vote for, but the possibilities of a multi-party system (unlike what we have in the US) are appealing and I quite like the idea of more leftist parties, such as the Greens or the Lib Dems, coming into power even if it's part of a coalition with Labour. But then again it doesn't matter how I'd vote -- I'm just an immigrant.

Thu May 21 2009 16:59 Touch and go: I have a bad habit of losing my oyster card. This is a pain because of a number of reasons: you have to call and get a replacement card, which costs £5, and you're stuck without a pass till you get your new one. (They're usually pretty quick about it if it's not the beginning of the school year, though.) You can get your pay as you go refunded pretty quick, but for travel passes you have to wait for them to mail you a check. Last time I lost it I had just bought a monthly pass a few days before, so that's £80 that I have to wait 6 weeks for it to come and then clear in my bank account. Except a 2 months later, I'm still waiting. I called up to see what the haps was (half an hour down the drain) and found out the person dealing with my refund forgot to close the case so my refund was never processed. Niiice. Way to go, TFL.

Fri Jul 03 2009 21:45 Juxtapose this: We went swimming at the neighborhood pool today. It is so fabulous, and free. It comes with the lease, and the owner pays the HOA fees. It is such an awesome neighborhood pool b/c it is so close and they have a baby pool that is pretty large that my kids love. Although, Gunnar who is the biggest nancy boy there is, is starting to actually get in the big pool after seeing that his friends could do it and didn't want to be left out.

So today after we were at the pool for about an hour, it started raining. It got progressively worse until we were forced under the big tarp canopy sitting at the table, eating snacks, waiting for it to calm down. Gunnar sat tentatively in his chair wrapped in his towel. He had a disconcerted look in his eye and said "mama, I scared of the rain. I don't like it". It was raining pretty hard at that point, but like I said...nancy boy. So I devised a plan. To make a first trip to the car carrying Gunnar snug in his towel so he wouldn't be bawling or lagging behind dragging his towel and getting it soaked. As I was cradling Gunnar in my arms like a baby (my kids always ask to be held "like a baby" after we get them out of the bath in the warm dry towel) Gunnar and I made eye contact and he said in a soft voice mama, I wuv you. oh.my.gosh. I adore this little boy so much. So I said "I love you too Gunnar, you are my little baby." And he goes yeah, I your baby. I could have died, he was so precious.

So then I put him in the car all sweetly wrapped up and sit him in his seat, but I don't buckle it b/c I britney spears it down the street b/c we don't live that far. I threw my keys in the passenger side seat because I didn't want them getting all wet and I needed hands to carry the bag of pool toys and the pool bag with snacks, my book, sippy cups, etc.

So Lily and I make a run for it and what do I see in the windshield but Gunnar's little head bobbing around. That little scamp. He had my keys in hand and had locked us out. I stood there in the rain for 5 mins trying to explain which button Gunnar should push. To make matters worse, there's five in an automatic doors minivan, and he pushed every single one of them ten times before he pushed the right one. He got the big button down (the one that locks) and of course the red "panic" one was cool, so he set the alarm off a couple times. So embarrassing. I can just imagine the passerby's seeing me yelling through the window "no, not that one, the one right under that button. Push it!" while the alarm is going off and on. Nice!

What happened to my sweet little baby that so tenderly exchanged voluntary i love you's with me? Here I am frazzled, yelling at him through the window with him giggling and getting kicks at my expense. What a little buster. Folks...that's what we call motherhood.

Tue Jun 30 2009 20:05 When I grow up: I was reading a Dora book to the kids that talked about different jobs grownups have. At the end of the book it asks 'what do you want to be when you grow up?' Of course Gunnar points to all the pictures throughout the book of Boots in a baseball uniform and soccer uniform. We wanted to be all sports player. Lily said she wanted to be an artist and a doctor. Cuties.

UPDATE: In the car Lily said she can't wait for "you and daddy to get married so I can have a baby sister." I told her daddy and I were already married, and she said she can't wait for Jesus to send me a baby in my tummy so she can hold her baby sister. She also said she wanted to be a Dr. so she can deliver babies.

(1) Mon Jun 29 2009 14:57 Husbandless: I dropped Aaron off at the airport this morning. We won't even see his face until Aug 1st! He's at the officer version of boot camp. Can't wait to hear about their first day tomorrow to see if there is any in your face spit screaming going on. Hopefully it won't be too physically taxing. I guess it just depends on each year and what commander is there.

The kids are funny. They don't really get it. When we got home and saw Aaron's truck in the driveway Lily goes "daddy's home". Umm, daddy's on an airplane, remember? I told Aaron to take a good look at Gunnar b/c he won't look the same when he gets back.

So I'm a single mommy, but it's all good. On the agenda-trips to the park and pool, and quesadillas, little pizzas, and Mac and Cheese for dinner. I'm not going to knock myself out. I should be just fine. I'll let you know in 2 weeks if it is going as well as I planned. :)

Fri Jun 26 2009 22:18 Best compliment ever: Today during Gunnar's nap, Lily and I were chilling in her room. I was laying on her bed and we were playing eye-spy. I was trying to get her to cuddle with me b/c I really felt like a nap for some reason. So then I said 'how about you give me a foot massage?' She was like ok, and then goes to touch my feet and said hey, I know what you need, let's buy that thing on the commercial that gets rid of all the white stuff on feet. Wha? lol, she must have been referring to the pedi egg or something like that. How did she know my calloused heals were the thing for that? She wouldn't flat out say no she didn't want to massage my feet anymore, she just said 'why don't you just rub my feet?' So I did. Give me a break, I wear a lot of sandals.

Gunnar was picking his nose at the pool. His finger was up so far and he was digging away. I asked what he was going in there and he replied boo-ghers like it was some French delicacy. I asked what the boogers were for and he goes, dinner. You can't make this stuff up!

Fri Jun 26 2009 11:16 Quacks: Our neighborhood claims a trail around a lake. It's really a glorified duck pond. There are duck ponds everywhere here. Driving along, Gunnar exclaims duck pond! for every single one. And you have to acknowledge him and repeat him or else he screams it over and over again. Just like when we go over the Potomac and he screams the beach!, you have to to say "yes Gunnar, a river" with as much gusto as him and only then does he deem it an acceptable response.

With ponds, there are many ducks and geese and little duck crossings. When we first got here and our A/C was not working, we had the windows open. Around 3AM I was awaken to this wah,wah,wah,rwah,rwah,rwahwah,wah,wah, as you could hear them approach the house, walk by the house, and head away from the house. Cutie things, they are.

Fri Dec 12 19:07:52 Epicurean Delights sans the Jail-time:

We tell our kids to "Just Say No" and yet we allow them to dump cup-fulls of this addictive white powder on their Cheerios.

Favorite quote:

Though difficult to estimate, sweet sensations evoked by sugar-sweetened foods and drinks are probably one of the most precocious, frequent and intense sensory pleasures of modern humans.

Have I been missing something?!?

Thu Dec 11 16:30:49 Ideologyweek: News as Only We Wont to See.:

The mocking introduction “Let's try” of Newsweek’s “Our Mutual Joy” foreshadowed all one needed to know about the incredibly condescending treatment of religion by another ‘general interest’ magazine going through its death throes. In an attempt to shame (the true meaning of which, like ‘tolerance’ and ‘love’ has become unfashionably anachronistic) the vast majority of Americans who are Christian, The “living” Bible is deconstructed and vivisected to reveal the Christian’s folly. The article author asserts her moral authority in calling on Christians to strive toward ‘more just’ ideals over the ‘unserious’ drive towards “chaos, depravity, [and] indifference.”

Newsweek would have us believe that the homosexual activity practiced in days of yore condemned by Paul were nothing like the civilized and enlightened homosexual practices of today, and then insinuates that David and Jonathan were gay lovers. Perhaps things have changed; not the enlightenment of gay sex, but the corruption of true brotherly love that Paul commends to his followers.

The article then goes on to explain that the overarching theme of the Bible is acceptance, citing Jesus reaching out to the woman at the well. Nary a word about Jesus’s constant injunction to sin no more, or the real theme of the Bible which is to totally deny oneself in discipleship; not indulge in ‘needy’ relationships. The doctrine of the Bible is that because of the fall everybody has a predisposition to act contrary to our true nature of Justice and Holiness, but that we are to refuse such impulses; not embrace them.

Newsweek argues:

So the frustrating, semantic question remains: should gay people be married in the same, sacramental sense that straight people are? I would argue that they should. If we are all God's children, made in his likeness and image, then to deny access to any sacrament based on sexuality is exactly the same thing as denying it based on skin color—and no serious (or even semiserious) person would argue that.

Perhaps this last bit is what I find to be the most egregious error and beneath contempt. It blasphemously insinuates that God Himself just might be a homosexual and then equats the sexual impulse to skin color or gender. It is similar to the slave-trader’s assertion (to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson) that there are those who are born with saddles on their backs and others born with boots and spurs; except in this case, those born saddled are humanity and the booted master is the animal impulse. It totally rejects humanity’s agency and responsibility, and is totally antithetical to the Bible’s core message. A person who is born black cannot change that fact. A person who is born female or male will always have that identity etched on every cell of the person’s body regardless of the number of surgeries or hormone therapy. Sexuality, on the other hand, is a learned behavior which every civil society in history has regulated and restricted, and to ignore that basic fact of biology and history is not merely unserious, but dangerously stupid.

This shockingly arrogant treatment of the Bible by an author who probably has about as much knowledge of the Bible as an 18th century grammar student (or less) wends its way through blissfully ignorant aphorisms like:

Jesus does not want people to be lonely and sad,

and then quotes such luminaries like “Miss Manners” and “My friend the priest James Martin.” Of course, if one only wants to obstinately promote one’s own viewpoint, then there’s no need to include people who may not be one’s friends or even have the same opinions as oneself. This is evident in the article which never includes any divergent opinion or even the treats the reasoning behind Christian (or classical pagan for that matter) opposition to homosexual marriage as anything but a silly straw-man.

What is the true reason that the majority of people in over three dozen states have voted in free and fair elections to affirm marriage between a man and a woman? It’s not hatred of Gays, OR EVEN HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH GAYS. It is the fact (one that is lost on the post-modern left) that there are essential differences between men and women. Those differences are profound and reach the whole dynamic range of the human experience. Those differences are etched on every cell in the bodies of Men and Women. To paraphrase Sartre, there is no escape from gender differences between men and women. Men and women are intrinsically, essentially, and absolutely different. Society has an interest in guarding the procreation and sustainability of itself. In so doing, society has every right to ensure that the healthy and diverse influences of both male and female are included in the raising of children. Both genders play essential and important roles in the flourishing and procreation of humanity.

When looked at from this light, homosexual marriage advocates are actually arguing not for inclusion, but for exclusion since it is they who would gloss over the important gender differences that are essential for the raising of properly socialized human beings. Homosexual men simply cannot parent with ‘maternal flair’ no matter how hard they try or how many flower arrangement classes they attend. Furthermore, the homosexual relationship is, by definition, barren. It is wholly impossible for a new human being to be created except from genetic material from one man and one woman. It should be in society’s interest, if society is to persist, to ensure that there is pairing of the right kinds of people (male and female are the only possible option) sustain civilization.

This is why I found Newsweek’s chief editor, John Meacham’s comment so utterly oblivious to reality:

“Religious conservatives will say that the liberal media are once again seeking to impose their “agenda” on a God-fearing nation. Let the letters and e-mails come. History and demographics are on the side of those who favor inclusion over exclusion.”

Excuse me? History and demographics are on the side of those who favor inclusion over exclusion? Has the cavalier John Meacham (of whom I expect better as a historian) seen the fertility rates of San Francisco? Does he know anything about the demographics of the barren Blue Northeast vs. the Red Bible belt south? Quite the contrary to John Meacham’s facile dismissal of the (procreating) majority of Americans, it isn’t gay families who will see the explosion of influence and power in the world. He should look at the statistics: the most common name of babies born in Brussels: Mohammad, Toronto: Mohammad, Amsterdam: Mohammad, Paris: Mohammad, Sweden: Mohammad. What would America look like if it were Muslims instead of the dreaded Catholics controlling the Supreme Court? Does John Meacham really think that the world is demographically moving towards total acceptance of Gay Marriage? Perhaps he should check his statistics and hope it’s the Bible-thumpers or Mormons (who are the only ones approaching Muslims in fertility rates) whom demographics will favor.

And perhaps John Meacham should check on the demographics of Newsweek, which is nose-diving into oblivion.

“Sources say that the magazine is considering slashing up to 1.6 million copies from Newsweek’s current rate base of 2.6 million, which would put the magazine’s rate base at 1 million. Newsweek declined to comment.”

Resources: Natural Law and Homosexual Marriage

A Biblical Understanding of Marriage

National Review: Newsweek Comes out of the Closet

Mon Dec 08 17:31:56 "That Wasn't Quite the Change We Envisioned":

Certainly Obama's recent appointments to his cabinet have been reassuring as I've outlined in my previous post, but some in the Left seem to be getting a little anxious. This story from Politico sheds some light on this subject.

Salient Quote, National Security:

Now Obama’s says that on his first day in office he will begin to “design a plan for a responsible drawdown,” as he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday. Obama has also filled his national security positions with supporters of the Iraq war: Sen. Hillary Clinton, who voted to authorize force in Iraq, as his secretary of state; and President George W. Bush’s defense secretary, Robert Gates, continuing in the same role

Salient Quote, Economic Policy:

It’s that liberal Democrats say they’re hard-pressed to find one of their own on Obama’s team so far – particularly on the economic side, where people like Tim Geithner and Lawrence Summers are hardly viewed as pro-labor.

Good, Labor bosses have driven many of American Manufacturing jobs into the ground and resulted in poorer quality products.

I'll continue to look skepticaly at Obama, but for a Democrat who ran as Obama did during the campaign; so far so good.

Thu Dec 04 13:00:38 Team of Rivals:

Most people know I am not the most enthusiastic supporter of Obama (probably a understatement), but I have to write about Obama's picks for Cabinet which I think are very encouraging for those of us who were voted for McCain and wondered about Obama's experience and past associations.

First the big pick: Robert Gates. For the move-on left who supposedly voted Obama into office to “end the war” this pick must seem like a slap in the face. At least for the first year Robert Gates will continue to help lead the finest and most honorable military in history, and will be a great asset to President Obama.

Along with Robert Gates, Obama has selected James L. Jones as his National Security Advisor. He’s a tough-as-nails retired marine general who will be a strong advisor to Obama and certainly somebody that any red-blooded neoconservative American can be proud of. When compared to Clinton’s peacenik cabinet and Sandy “The Burglar” Burger, Obama has chosen well.

For Health and Human Services: Tom Daschle Probably the worst of the cabinet picks in my opinion by Obama; but what can I say? He certainly isn’t a Mike Leavitt.

Rahm Emanuel is Obama’s choice as Chief of Staff. He’s a very smart and outstanding congressman (and one of the reasons why the Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid wing of the Democratic party hasn’t kamikazied the party into obsolescence). He’s a centrist that will provide some healthy Obama v. Congress tension that will both help to distance Obama from the single digit approval lunacy of congress and help Blue Dog Democrats better their positions. Yes, America is still fundamentally a centrist-right country and Rahm Emanuel is a good reflection of Obama’s recognition of that fact. It should encourage all democrats and also assuage many of the fears republicans had of Obama. If Pelosi-Reid though they were going to have a nice puppet president then the pick of tough-guy Rahm Emanuel is their wake-up call.

Obama could have done worse than to nominate Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security (although, as the Governor of Arizona I am a little concerned about that wide open HOV lane extending from Mexico into the U.S.).

On the Economy

For U.S. Secretary of the Treasury: Timothy F. Geithner. He is a farily free-market guy and a solid choice to head the Treasury (although some conservatives may be less approving). Whatever happens to the economy, It seems that Timothy Geithner is highly competent and understands what will and won’t work. Certainly not the Marxist that some overly-enthusiastic Obama opponents (or supporters) were expecting.

For the White House’s National Economic Council we have Lawrence Summers. He is also very outstanding economist who is not afraid to express his opinion (an important quality in an advisor). Notably, he rocked the boat as Harvard’s president when he dared to note that there really may exist fundamental differences between men and women (GASP!!!), and where he criticized African American Studies department head Cornel West for being unscholarly and his work as “an embarrassment to the University.” Not a bad pick for a Democrat.

Next, Christina Romer will be the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors. She leans supply-side on fiscal policy and seems like a fine addition to Obama’s cabinet.

For Secretary of Commerce: Bill Richardson will serve Obama well. Interestingly, his father is Nicaraguan (I knew I liked him for some reason), and best of all Richardson is a tax cutter who supports global trade (Columbia free trade?). Now that the parasitic Unions are becoming defunct and with Richardson in the Cabinet, NAFTA will likely continue unopposed. Not a bad pick at all, and a nice guy (although I miss El Diablo with the beard).

Another notable economic pick as the Chair of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board was Paul Volcker who served as Reagan’s Secretary of the Treasury and who helped clean up Carter’s mess during the 1980s. He also helped to dissect and bring to light the scandalous ‘Oil for Food’ program at the UN. And last but not least is Hillary Clinton who will serve as Secretary of State. It’s a sign of Obama’s confidence and good will to extend that position to Clinton, and I think she will be a strong advocate for the United States throughout the world. She’s a democrat, but she isn’t Madeline Albright either. Not a bad person to pick up that phone at 3:00 a.m. even if she’s a Democrat.

In Conclusion

One of Bush's biggest mistakes as president may have been the appointment of so many of his Texan friends who proved to be unreliable (e.g. Al Gonzalez). The first impressions of Presiden Obama are very encouraging. He may even turn out to be a great president. Unlike the rabid Bush-hating wing of the left, I love my country enough to hope for the success of even my rivals and perhaps we will see growth and success unlike anything we’ve seen in history. That is the purpose of healthy competition in the marketplace of ideas, and it seems like Obama has filled his cabinet with enough people who disagree with him enough to make positive synergy happen.

I hope Obama is so good a President that I will be salivating to vote for him in 2012, but I’ll still keep a critical eye on him as well as some of my Republican political allies. It looks as if he’s making a good foundation for a solid presidency, and we’ll see what the next four years have in store.

This post was republished to Beyond the Brow of the Hill at 12:58:43 PM 12/4/2008 Team of Rivals

Fri Sep 12 2008 12:51 Funny things: I heard today...

"There are nice ones and naughty ones like 'Hey lets make Icecream sundaes tonight' is nice, while 'Hey babe, I'll bring the nuts and chocolate syrup if you bring the cherry' is naughty."

"Can you believe I'm seventy and still wearing a g-string?"

"I'm going to choke on my ice!" "Don't worry, it should melt before you expire."

(2) Wed Aug 20 2008 01:23 Museum of Ancient Life: Yesterday we went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving point. I don't care what your philosophy is on how or when or why dinosaurs etc, existed they are still cool to learn about. I hadn't been to the museum in years but it still was fascinating to walk around. Of course my favorite was t-Rex and the giant shark. I still remember years ago when all of my cousins were in town and we pretended to throw Lorna in the shark's mouth, I ducked from the caveman skeleton that was throwing a rock, and Frances posed with the archeologists because we were sure to be related!

(14) Wed Aug 20 2008 01:21 Precepting: Newsflash... I get to precept this semester in the ER at Ogden Regional Hospital. I am so excited!!!

(1) Tue Jun 24 2008 00:07 lazy: I have nothing much to report except that I am LAZY. I have always known this, but I realize that I really just pretty much do nothing most of the time. I guess it's becaus I have to be so efficent at work and school, that I can't do it at home. oh well.

Current Projects: -catching up on my scrapbook. Doing ok except I haven't started BB season and I just printed 200 new pics. Yes seriously at least 200. I have an addiction. -Finishing my recipe book. I am frusterated because I can't find my 34th ward RS cookbook and it has recipes I need. Otherwise it is looking awesome. -Cleaning my room. Not doing so well, let's be honest. -Laundry. Hate it, need to desperatly do it. and for the love it's FREE finally, why don't I just do it already!?! -petting the dogs and watching TV....very good at this.

Random thought: I went to the movies (finally saw Indiana Jones) and there was a poster that disturbed me... "No children under 6 allowed in rated-R movies after 6 p.m. Keep your child safe." ummm last time I checked children under 6 shouldn't go to rated-R movies period. Not to mention before 6 anyway...

New favorite quote: "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." -Anatole France

(1) Thu Jun 05 2008 22:41 My new job: I love my new job a lot. It is a lot of fun actually. I am working as a nurse at the new Intermountain Medical (aka the Death Star or Mother ship), on the 12th floor. This building is SO tall, and the view is spectacular. I can't wait until I am a registered nurse and get to play with the IV's here, but I can do everything else as an LPN. Yay for the real world...it rocks!!

(3) Thu Apr 20 2006 10:20 PST School: So I am currently attending UVSC. I have had an ok experience and am ready to move on. Next semester I will be attending Blinn at Bryan, TX. I am very excited because I will be 2 hours away from my house instead of 22 hours!!! I am going to get a degree in early childhood education and am very pleased with my degree. I am currently reading a book that is called A Man's Search for Meaning written by Viktor E. Frankl. If you haven’t read this book, i suggest that you do! It has changed my way of looking at things. Take care Shell

(1) Thu Apr 20 2006 10:20 PST School: So I am currently attending UVSC. I have had an ok experience and am ready to move on. Next semester I will be attending Blinn at Bryan, TX. I am very excited because I will be 2 hours away from my house instead of 22 hours!!! I am going to get a degree in early childhood education and am very pleased with my degree. I am currently ready a book that is called A Man's Search for Meaning written by Viktor E. Frankl. If you haven’t read this book, i suggest that you do! It has changed my way of looking at things. Take care Shell

Thu Feb 07 2008 13:10 (Susanna Chadwick) Cookie Cookie Cookie!: I was going to go to the library after Maggie's nap, but she didn't take a nap, and also it is snowing and really blowy. So, instead I made Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. Cookies! If you have been blessed with one of mom's family recipe boxes, this is in there.

1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
2 T unsweetened cocoa
3/4 t. baking soda
3/4 cup butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
16-ounce package chocolate chips
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped
Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Beat together sugars and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until well-blended. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Let stand on sheets 3 minutes. Remove cookies to racks to cool.

Susie the Chef says: 16 ounces of chocolate chips is a ridiculous waste of money and chocolate chips. I put 1/4-1/3 that much. I also didn't put nuts. Even though the batter was pretty dry, I felt like the cookies had a lot of butter in them so I might use a few tablespoons less next time. Next time: yes, they were very yummy!

Thu Jan 24 2008 18:32 (Susanna Chadwick) Yummy in my Tummy: I've been trying out a lot of new crockpot recipes in an attempt to make feeding my family easier, faster, and yummier. Yesterday I put two chicken breasts and half a jar of spaghetti sauce (Ragu was only $1 at Smith's and I had a coupon - I haven't bought spaghetti sauce in years!) and let it cook on both settings for who-knows-how-long. I served it with whole wheat pasta and parmesan cheese and it was yummy. Probably the easiest meal I've ever made!

I also made an eclair cake at John's request. I made chocolate sauce from scratch because I only use it for eclair cake and I am out of money in my grocery budget this month. It was easy and super yummy. I couldn't find mom's recipe, so I 1/3-ed one I found online:

1/3 c. cocoa
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
Boil for 2-5 minutes.

PS: I uploaded some cute pictures of the bug to our picture blog - click on "Pictures" to the right. And read all my latest articles while you're at it!

Tue Dec 04 2007 22:13 (Susanna Chadwick) Taco Stack: I was a good wife and made dinner tonight. This isn't the recipe I kept the page for, but it was yummy!

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 package taco seasoning
12 corn tortillas
shredded cheese

Brown ground beef with onion in skillet; drain fat. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Place 1/4 c. meat in bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Place two tortillas side by side on meat mixture. Top each tortilla with some meat mixture and shredded cheese. Repeat until each stack contains 6 tortillas layered with meat and cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Cut each stack into quarters. I served it with sour cream and green onions.

Also, Tasha inspired me to make babyfood so I bought a butternut squash, baked it, and pureed it in the blender with a bit of water. It is delicious! Maggie liked it too. I'm not sure it was any cheaper though. I will have to try some other recipes.

Mon Oct 01 2007 23:08 (Susanna Chadwick) Apple-Cheddar Soup: I made this earlier today and it is so yummy. I think I put too many potatoes, because it was kind of chunky.

1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 T. butter
2 med. potatoes, diced
2 c. apple cider
1 t. fresh thyme
1/2 t. salt
dash cayenne pepper
1 med apple, peeled, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. milk
2 T. flour
4 oz (1 cup) shredded cheese
fresh apple slices

Cook onion in butter. Stir in potatoes, cider and seasonings. Boil. Simmer covered 15 minutes. Add apple. Simmer 5 minutes until potatoes are tender. combine milk and flour - stir into soup. Cook and stir until bubbly. Whisk in cheese until melted. Top serving dishes with apple slices and fresh ground pepper.

Fri Aug 03 2007 12:10 (Susanna Chadwick) Fondue for Two: Last night John and I celebrated our anniversary at The Melting Pot. Maggie got babysat by a couple in the ward with two little boys and had the best time.

We enjoyed our yummy fondue meal, but it was very expensive and now that we've done it I don't think we'll go back. We especially enjoyed the dessert fondue. The waiter told us how to make the cookie and/or graham cracker crumb covered marshmallows (just dip the marshmallows in water), so now we can just do that at home. We were thinking what a fun FHE activity that would be to do with young kids.

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(1) Fri Aug 05 2005 08:40 (Pete) The Eagle Has Landed: We made it. I'm writing this now via some neighbor's wireless.

(13) Tue Aug 02 2005 23:06 (Sumana) The Right To Bear Fardels: During a recent summit The Poor Man made some nonsensical remark denying that there's any humor in C.S. Lewis or Shakespeare. One of those half-drunk "contrarian = sophisticated" bits of bollocks.

In refutation, I've found my favorite (so far) joke in the Bard: Act III, Scene 2 of Hamlet, the bit about Guildenstern, Hamlet, and the pipe. Gertrude has sent Tweedlecrantz and Guildendee to check on why Hamlet Jr. is acting so crazay. Our goth protagonist asks Guildenstern to try playing a recorder.

GUILDENSTERN
I know no touch of it, my lord.
HAMLET
It is as easy as lying. Govern these ventages with your fingers and thumbs, give it breath with your mouth, and it will discourse most eloquent music. Look you, these are the stops.
GUILDENSTERN
But these cannot I command to any utt'rance of harmony. I have not the skill.
HAMLET
Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me! You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery; you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass; and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be play'd upon than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me.

In the four-hour Kenneth Branagh version this little rant is especially breathtaking.

Mon Aug 01 2005 12:37 (Riana) Geeks, Fire, and Dangerous Things: Seth and I were at Defcon in Las Vegas this weekend. Seth got our friend Praveen to bring Seth's giant Fresnel lens to the con when Praveen drove out on Saturday. The Fresnel lens is roughly 1 meter in diameter. On Sunday afternoon, as the con was winding down, we took the lens (wrapped in a black sheet for safety) out to a quiet back lot behind the convention hotel and, though the sky was overcast with a thin cloud layer so that we could not focus direct sunlight through the lens, we set some stuff on fire. Seth brought four pairs of welding goggles and two pairs of sunglasses for the group, plus safety gloves for whoever held the lens. It was about 102 degrees out, scorching hot even with the clouds, but before the heat drove me back indoors, I watched Seth and David Weekly burn a brown spot into the side of an aluminum can; turn a piece of wood to charcoal; set aflame and burn through a handful of dry grass; and light an onlooker's cigarette (placed on the ground, not in his mouth!). They also tried unsuccessfully to melt a penny and a quarter. I guess it's not as easy as I thought to burn through your money in Las Vegas.

(1) Sat Jul 30 2005 14:35 (Sumana) She's an ENIAC: From phone conversations today I gather that Leonard and Frances are visiting the American Computer Museum. In contrast, I'll be enjoying Will Franken's comedy shows tonight, whose most computer-related joke is probably his absurdist "voice command for file cabinet" bit. You can get a hint of that style in his "Show!" clip.

Note to local comics I saw in the back room of a pizza place last night: it is possible to do good spam and Match.com jokes. Please try harder.

Sat Jul 30 2005 06:15 (Pete) Mr. Joad's Wild Ride: Today Annalisa and I start our drive out west. On our first trip out, we lost a mirror in the middle of Nebraska at 80 mph, ran over a tumbleweed in Colorado, got our truck towed in LA because it was in 7th Heaven's shot, and almost rented Charles Manson's quaint Topanga getaway... here's hoping for a less exciting trip. Here's also hoping that I will be able to post while I'm on the road. California, here we come!