Monthly Archives: November 2014

November 28, 2014 · 11:38 am

A positive conclusion to being disillusioned? (A Poem)

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There’s a caveat
to everything good I’ve got
Every angle of light
has a dangerous blind spot
…
There’s a downside
to every ride
try to take it in stride
now that my idealism has died
…
There’s a con to every pro
a stop to every go
an end to every show
…
The memories give company, but then they disappear
And I wake up from the past and find myself alone here
…
The world is disappointing because of Adam’s fall
But Dieter Uchtdorf says “mortal endings aren’t true endings at all”
…
So maybe there’s a positive conclusion to my being disillusioned 🙂

…

PS: Only one John Mayer quote in this poem. Did you find it?

PPS: I’m proud of this one, ya’ll! 

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November 23, 2014 · 10:37 pm

Playing on a Word: Lady

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“I speak unto you, Emma Smith, my daughter; for verily I say unto you…. behold thou art an elect lady, whom I have called.”
-Doctrine & Covenants 25:1-3
…
“Pretty lady on my mind, she’s got me gone again.”
-Kalai
…
“The lady protests too much, me thinks.”
-Gertrude in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”
…
“Your clothes should be tight enough to show you’re a woman, but loose enough to show you’re a lady.”
-Marilyn Monroe
..

Lady

I love words…

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November 23, 2014 · 4:42 pm

Offer one bit of testimony of the gospel…

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“After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the gospel.”
                                                      -Joseph Smith Jr.

When it comes to missionary work, sometimes people aren’t always interested in the whole story (Plan of Salvation, The Atonement, The Restoration, temple ordinances, etc.). But if we who have the gospel can share one bit of truth, give one piece of testimony, offer one idea/ quote of inspiration, or clarify one aspect of doctrine, then that counts as a victory, whether or not someone progresses in the Church down the road.
…


How do YOU ‪#‎sharegoodness‬?

(that’s the first time I’ve used that hashtag!)

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November 20, 2014 · 12:02 pm

Playing on a Word: Beauty

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“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
…
“Hello beauty, hello strange.”
-John Mayer
…
“She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;”
-Lord Byron
…
“There is beauty all around when there’s love at home.”
-Hymn #294
…

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Beauty

🙂

Where do YOU find beauty?

…

 

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November 19, 2014 · 1:32 pm

I get depressed if I’m not creative.

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“Truth be told, if I go through a long period of time without being creative, I start to get depressed.”
            -Ben Shapiro (my favorite Jew) AMEN TO THIS QUOTE!
…

“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul.”
-Dieter Uchtdorf (2nd counselor in the First Presidency of TCOJCOLDS)
…
“A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.”
-Frank Capra
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“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

-Genesis 1:1 (the first verse in the first scripture ever!)

How are YOU creative?
..

Like Mr. Shapiro, I too get depressed if I haven’t been creative for a while.

Thankfully, that doesn’t happen too often.

🙂

PS: Excuse the bare shoulders, please! I was in high school

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November 15, 2014 · 2:10 pm

Playing on a Word: Sunshine

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“Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”
-JM Barry
…
“There is Sunshine in my Soul Today.”
-Hymn # 227
…
“I gotta pocket, got a pocket full of sunshine.”
-my girl Natasha Bedingfield
…
“Love comforteth like sunshine after rain.”
-William Shakespeare (in “Venus and Adonis”)
…

Sunshine

🙂

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November 11, 2014 · 1:13 am

Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”: Why is angry sexy? Why is violent cute?

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Why do we think it’s funny when girls get irrationally angry? Why do we find it comedic when women become violent? Why do we glorify a female lashing out in rage or jealousy? Why do we think it’s sexy? Or cute? Why do we keep reenacting it?
…
I’m not one to play the sexism card often (ever?), but I think it might apply here a bit.
There are certainly worse videos in the world (this one doesn’t make me fume), and I respect Taylor a lot, but this video is problematic, I think.
…
She’s reinforcing the stereotype of a crazy woman for laughs. It’s insulting, it’s overdone, and it’s a complete double standard. This kind of criminal behavior (smashing a car with a golf club? seriously?) would be rightfully classified as dangerous and psychotic if it were Screen shot 2014-11-11 at 12.11.15 AMfrom a man, but for whatever reason, it’s seen as acceptable, but even entertaining when it comes from a femme fatale. But it’s so very degrading! It makes us look silly and irrational. It makes us look crazy. And this dangerous archetype of a woman is what ultimately makes us easier to be objectified, and even victimized.
…
Watch and tell me what you think (although it’s a bit offensive, this video is safe for all eyes and ears)

PS: There’s nothing sexy or attractive about running mascara. Time to retire that trope.

Screen shot 2014-11-11 at 12.07.40 AM Screen shot 2014-11-11 at 12.09.14 AM

PPS: I still like Taylor a lot

🙂

 

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November 10, 2014 · 2:58 pm

Sunbeams, Roald Dahl, The Yellow Wallpaper, and Natasha Bedingfield!

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“If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you’ll always look lovely!”
-Roald Dahl
…

PS: I definitely don’t always have good, positive thoughts, but I just wanted a chance to show off my sunflower pumpkin!

Screen shot 2014-12-10 at 1.57.19 PM Pocket of Sunshine

 

🙂

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November 7, 2014 · 5:03 pm

We Need People

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“Oh, how we need each other. Those of us who are old need you who are young. And, hopefully, you who are young need some of us who are old. We need deep and satisfying and loyal friendships with each other.”
-Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley
…
“In the beginning of life, when we are infants, we need each other to survive, right? And at the end of life, when you get like me, you need others to survive, right? But here’s the secret: in between, we need others as well.”
-Professor Morrie Schwartz (the subject of Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays with Morrie”)
…

We need other people. In the immortal words of John Mayer, “[we] were never meant to feel alone.”

Who do YOU need?

Who needs you?

This post is a little cheesy…

The Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich 800 1581

🙂

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November 6, 2014 · 12:06 am

What are you doing for someone else?

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“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
..
“Have I do any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need?”
-Hymn #223
…
‘Service to others is the rent you pay for living on the earth.”
-Muhammed Ali
…
“Where much is given, much is required.”
-Doctrine & Covenants 82:3 (Uncle Ben totally ripped this off!)
…

How are YOU giving back?
What are you doing for others?

(we were born to serve…)
…

PS: For my friends who may not know, the man on the top left is Gail Halvorsen, aka the Candy Bomber. He helped boost morale by dropping candy for children in West Berlin, Germany, using small parachutes. This occurred during the massive conveyance of food and supplies into war-torn West Berlin, known as the Berlin Airlift. Gail is featured on “Meet the Mormons,” and you better believe I bawled during his segment!
…
PPS: Please don’t think I’m self-serving by including that picture of me getting my shovel on. Also, I know that not every act of service is a tangible project; sometimes it’s just lending a listening ear or helping someone in your family.

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November 4, 2014 · 11:15 pm

Still trying to figure out how to be happy in a world that continually lets down a tender girl (A Poem)

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Still trying to figure out how to be happy in a world
that continually lets down a tender girl
Things start to look up, I rediscover hope, and then
Someone (or something) breaks my fragile heart again

 I know I’m not a victim here, I’m not a helpless pawn
But someone can still hurt you even if you’re strong
Can’t keep looking to the past to try to fulfill me
Don’t wanna turn to salt, might emotionally kill me

“Reach out!” they always say, but what if no one reaches back?
Then the nostalgia surges and the loneliness attacks.
 If you’re not careful, good memories ensnare you
So go try and make new ones, I double dog dare you

So what’s the next step? Where should I go from here?
(draw upon that reservoir of faith, and don’t take counsel from your fear!)
Guess I’ll look to the future! (hesitantly, but with hope)
Cuz girl, there’s not much else that you can do to cope!

🙂

 

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November 1, 2014 · 2:47 pm

Lonely for Heaven: “I wanna get off and go home again.”

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“I wanna get off and go home again.”
-JM
…
‘Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. I must never mistake my earthly blessings for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find until after death.”
-CS Lewis, “Mere Christianity”
…
“More longing for home.”
-More Holiness Give Me (Hymn #131)
..
“Yet ofttimes a secret something
Whispered, “You’re a stranger here,”
And I felt that I had wandered
From a more exalted sphere.”
-O My Father (Hymn # 292)
…


1) Do you ever feel lonely for home (real home, I mean)?

2) Do you miss it?

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