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Your Cause is Just

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On November 29, 1839 Joseph Smith went to the White House to meet with President Martin Van Buren. It had been a terrible stretch of years for the members of the new church in Missouri. They had been denied the right to vote, beaten in the streets, dragged out of their homes and killed despite surrendering. Certainly mobs were a problem, but even more egregious were abuses from the state militia, and from the police, because those were the people who should have protected the saints. Joseph Smith and several other church leaders had been wrongfully imprisoned for months on end. He met with the president with hope for relief but was sent home empty-handed. The saints tried to get justice through the court system and were denied. Joseph appealed to Van Buren a second time who rebuffed him with the words, "Your cause is just, but I cannot help you." ( historyisnow ) Five years later Joseph Smith was dead, murdered in police custody. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of La...
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Treasure This Time

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Handsome Bryce goes to work at an office, I stay home with our three kids. The main difference between our day jobs is the sympathy we get from others. Imagine you were talking to Bryce and he described his workplace like this: "Wow, today a guy at work just started screaming and crying because 'the milk is too cold.' When I suggested he should calm down he roared at me, like a bear. Later he peed all over the bathroom and clogged the toilet. When I was unclogging the toilet, for him, he laughed at me and told me my bum is big. I said, 'That's not very nice' and he yelled that I hurt his feelings and ran off to get in a slap fight with another coworker." If Bryce said this you would fall out of your chair in horror. You would say, "Holy Jalapenos! How do you survive working with such crazy people?" You would feel pretty much obligated to give him some kind of baked goods to try and salve the abuse he has to endure daily. But what do I get? "...
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Abandoned at Wal Mart

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Our town recently got a shiny new Super Wal Mart, a much bigger, newer version of the dank dystopia that was our old Un-super Wal Mart. One thing you can always count on though, people abandoning random groceries in the check-out line . I think we have all been there. You are standing in the check-out line and you remember that you don't have unlimited money, metabolism, or space, and you can't buy everything. Decisions must be made. Here's how I imagine some of those decisions going down: Mom: "Where did these frogs come from?" Kid: "IWANNIT!" Mom: "No. Also are you done looking at that book? Because we aren't buying that either." I've been there. I figure letting my kid peruse a book I have no intention of buying is how the store purchases some peace for the general customer population. (Plus payback for strategically putting all the gum and candy where kids can grab it and I can't stop them.) "Oh look, they make chips out of...
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Family Picture Rejects

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Some time in college I realized that I was skilled enough at Photoshop that there is no reason for an unflattering picture of me to ever exist. I am a big fan of having family pictures but not a big fan of posing for family pictures. It's painful. I just want one blasted picture with everyone in the family looking as skinny and happy as possible, also PUT YOUR HANDS DOWN AND LOOK AT THE CAMERA RUFFIANS! Is that so much to ask? Yes. It. Is. The only way I get the picture I want is through Photoshop witchery, including but not limited to: Head-transplants Lighting adjustments Color adjustments Body swapping Just straight-up painting on people's facial features from scratch However, over time, and after many perfect family picture prints, I have realized that I am depriving the world of how things really are during our family pictures. Behold, the family picture rejects: McBoy McGirly McBaby He's a baby, so even the rejected pictures are actually pretty cute. Handsome Bryce ...
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McBoy to the New McBaby

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"Hey little baby, you are in a good family, we are nice.  Sometimes me and my sister fight, but you don't have to mind that,  because we will always love you and take care of you."
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You Might Be Reading A Straw Man Argument If:

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Tis the season for elections and gorilla assasinations. People are suddenly vocal about feelings, mostly on Facebook and blogs. It is also a time of sharing articles that describe how you feel about issues. I love that Facebook and blogs let people connect, debate, and share ideas. I don't love that those same tools can alienate and insult your loved ones. So before you click "Share" and type, "YESSS THIS!!!!" or "I'm just going to leave this here..." ask yourself: Is this a straw man argument? A simple definition of a straw man comes from Wikipedia : "A straw man is a common form of argument and is an informal fallacy based on giving the impression of refuting an opponent's argument, while actually refuting an argument that was not advanced by that opponent." A simpler definition comes from me: "A straw man is an argument that attacks ideas that you claim your opponent has, but actually...they don't think those things at all...
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Hong Kong

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We went to Hong Kong for Trent's wedding! I felt like a little kid there, in the fun sense where everything is new and interesting, but also in the terrifying sense where I couldn't read anything, didn't know how anything worked or where anything was, no one could understand me clearly, and all the food was strange to me. For example, a giant bowl of corn at McDonald's: Luckily two of Bryce's brothers are very familiar with Hong Kong and they shepherded us around, argued with taxi drivers, and explained how to eat things, like good babysitters do. Here's a chicken foot which (somehow surprisingly) tasted like chicken: Of course my favorite part was being with family in the temple, and seeing Trent and Britt get married. But my second favorite part was taking pictures of random funny things: Surface Air Duct: So cute! But sometimes... As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced: ... I'm pretty sure Style No. 228 isn't ...
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