Every Mormon should read David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. It was extraordinarily interesting. I learned a great deal about the modern history of the Church and even more about the administration of the Church.
The book is divided topically, not chronologically. This makes the stories much easier to follow, but it does lead to some chapters being really fascinating (like Chapter 4 "Blacks, Civil Rights, and the Priesthood") and some chapters being a less fascinating (like Chapter 6 "Radio and Television Broadcasting").
This book will blow your mind. You must read it. Hop to it!
28 April 2009
The Quiz Doesn't Lie
I convinced Eric to take this quiz-ish thing about relationships. At the end you pay some money and you get a very detailed report showing how you each view different aspects of your relationship. It is good ground for discussions about concerns, strengths and weaknesses. I didn't actually pay for the quiz until tonight, and Eric is at work, so I've been reviewing the results by myself. After getting through the first few pages I called him and had a discussion with him about the first few graphs. (The report is like 30 pages, so I was nowhere near finished). I had a fun chat with him about the tendencies of the graph and how I couldn't wait for him to get home to discuss with me.
Then I saw this little chart:
Naturally I called Eric and shouted into the phone, "YOU THINK I'M VOLATILE! I'LL SHOW YOU VOLATILE!"
Naturally, Eric said he couldn't talk right then and we'd have to discuss this "later."
(No, I'm kidding. I joked with him about how he is clearly avoidant and I am probably somewhere between volatile and validating. But the first story is obviously better).
Then I saw this little chart:
Naturally I called Eric and shouted into the phone, "YOU THINK I'M VOLATILE! I'LL SHOW YOU VOLATILE!"
Naturally, Eric said he couldn't talk right then and we'd have to discuss this "later."
(No, I'm kidding. I joked with him about how he is clearly avoidant and I am probably somewhere between volatile and validating. But the first story is obviously better).
25 April 2009
Food, Glorious Food!
I mentioned a while ago that I had joined the Utah Food Co-op. I know you've been waiting with baited breath to find out how it went. Here's what we got:
- 1 4-lb. chicken
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1 lb. lean pork
- 1 lb. salisbury steaks (not too thrilled about that one, but we'll make do)
- 7 bananas
- 5 oranges
- 3 cucumbers
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 head red leaf lettuce
- 1 bunch broccoli
- 1 lb. strawberries
- 5 lb. bag of red potatoes
- 1 loaf of whole wheat bread
- 1 lb. rice
21 April 2009
Review: ClearPlay DVD Player
Eric and I bought a ClearPlay DVD player in January.
It's a DVD player that allows you to filter content from any DVD without altering the DVD itself. It works with a USB memory stick (also called a jump drive, thumb drive, flash drive, etc.). You pay for a membership to the website which allows you to download filters, which you put on your memory stick. Then you plug the memory stick into your player, set the filters to your preference levels and enjoy your film without the objectionable content.
You can filter a variety of content including language, violence, nudity, sexuality, blasphemy, and even silly things like mushiness, dishonor parent, and dishonor flag. Seriously. I could never make those up. I don't even know what mushiness is. We have that filter turned off. In addition to choosing what content to filter you can also choose the level of filtering that you want. Maybe a little swearing is okay. Maybe you don't want to hear even the slightest hint of a swear word. You decide.
It's a great idea, really. Only, it just doesn't work very well.
Our player constantly skips, and despite multiple calls to the help line, we frequently get the same results. Usually the movie plays fine up to a certain point, then the skipping begins. At that point we have to eject the disc, press a few buttons, put in a magical code, wait a few moments and then try the DVD again. Usually this works, but sometimes it doesn't. Even when it does work we still end up frustrated that our movie has been interrupted, the lights have been switched on, and our movie-watching environment is shattered.
The help line is only open until about 10 at night, which is fine for people who only use their players to that point. We, however, use our player generally later than that. I wonder how it goes for folks on the East Coast. Do they have to watch their movies before the sun goes down? When I have talked to people on the help line, they have usually been pretty knowledgeable. One time, though, Eric talked to a person who was really a salesperson, and not a tech person. What he should have done was redirected Eric to a technical support fellow. Instead, he gave Eric this gem of advice, "If the player is skipping, try turning some of your filter levels down or off." Excuse me? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the player? I bought the player BECAUSE OF THE ABILITY TO FILTER objectionable content.
One time I called to tell them that the memory stick that came with the player was defective. In fact, I called about the middle of March on that. Today Eric got an email that said our new memory stick is in the mail. Over a month? Seriously?
Also, the phone number printed on the box is incorrect. Two of the digits are inverted. Luckily the website has it right.
In conclusion, I say that ClearPlay is a great idea, but it doesn't pay to be an early adopter. It's still very buggy and is more of an irritation than it is a Godsend.
It's a DVD player that allows you to filter content from any DVD without altering the DVD itself. It works with a USB memory stick (also called a jump drive, thumb drive, flash drive, etc.). You pay for a membership to the website which allows you to download filters, which you put on your memory stick. Then you plug the memory stick into your player, set the filters to your preference levels and enjoy your film without the objectionable content.
You can filter a variety of content including language, violence, nudity, sexuality, blasphemy, and even silly things like mushiness, dishonor parent, and dishonor flag. Seriously. I could never make those up. I don't even know what mushiness is. We have that filter turned off. In addition to choosing what content to filter you can also choose the level of filtering that you want. Maybe a little swearing is okay. Maybe you don't want to hear even the slightest hint of a swear word. You decide.
It's a great idea, really. Only, it just doesn't work very well.
Our player constantly skips, and despite multiple calls to the help line, we frequently get the same results. Usually the movie plays fine up to a certain point, then the skipping begins. At that point we have to eject the disc, press a few buttons, put in a magical code, wait a few moments and then try the DVD again. Usually this works, but sometimes it doesn't. Even when it does work we still end up frustrated that our movie has been interrupted, the lights have been switched on, and our movie-watching environment is shattered.
The help line is only open until about 10 at night, which is fine for people who only use their players to that point. We, however, use our player generally later than that. I wonder how it goes for folks on the East Coast. Do they have to watch their movies before the sun goes down? When I have talked to people on the help line, they have usually been pretty knowledgeable. One time, though, Eric talked to a person who was really a salesperson, and not a tech person. What he should have done was redirected Eric to a technical support fellow. Instead, he gave Eric this gem of advice, "If the player is skipping, try turning some of your filter levels down or off." Excuse me? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the player? I bought the player BECAUSE OF THE ABILITY TO FILTER objectionable content.
One time I called to tell them that the memory stick that came with the player was defective. In fact, I called about the middle of March on that. Today Eric got an email that said our new memory stick is in the mail. Over a month? Seriously?
Also, the phone number printed on the box is incorrect. Two of the digits are inverted. Luckily the website has it right.
In conclusion, I say that ClearPlay is a great idea, but it doesn't pay to be an early adopter. It's still very buggy and is more of an irritation than it is a Godsend.
20 April 2009
And then I got eaten by a plant growing out of a sewage pipe.
I never feel like I'm in a video game, but I did a few weeks ago when Eric and I were at the Latino supermarket. Some of their produce was abnormally large.
Some was abnormally small.
I felt like I was in one of the Mario games where he is constantly changing sizes.
(And yes, I have so much school spirit that I own a BYU apron. Okay, no, really. I took a cooking class, and it came with my class fee).
Some was abnormally small.
I felt like I was in one of the Mario games where he is constantly changing sizes.
(And yes, I have so much school spirit that I own a BYU apron. Okay, no, really. I took a cooking class, and it came with my class fee).
19 April 2009
It's Pat, a girl!
Regarding the post the other day about gender-specific names, here are my opinions:
Editor's Note: I meant to post-date this post, but I blew it and it posted right after the first. I post-dated it after I had already received several comments. This is why the comments are dated before the post date.
- Taylor- Boy. Although, it's one that can go either way.
- Reagan- Girl, but just barely.
- Leslie- Girl.
- Jamie- Boy, even though I've know more girls named Jamie than boys.
- Tye- Boy. Undoubtedly. (I worked with a woman named Tye, and when I mentioned to somebody else that I think Ty(e) is boy's name, she was very surprised).
- Kennedy- Girl, but I think it is a decidedly masculine name.
- Renee- Girl. Girl. Girl.
- Payton- Boy. Maybe because it makes me think of Patton.
- Riley- Boy.
- Alexis- Girl.
- Sydney- Boy. Thank you, Sidney Rigdon.
- Ashley- Girl, even though I know it was a boy's name first.
- Kelly- Girl. And I always think of Saved By the Bell.
- Pat- Girl, because I had a female boss named Pat.
Editor's Note: I meant to post-date this post, but I blew it and it posted right after the first. I post-dated it after I had already received several comments. This is why the comments are dated before the post date.
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