Homecoming Queen Shocked at Honor

A True Test

I've been asked to represent the "YES on Prop 8" stance in a sort of "debate" regarding the proposed amendment to the state constitution. The debate will take place at a prominent private University and will happen in a "pluralism" course (a class about diversity and tolerance). I'll be going up against someone who, by the very definition of their lifestyle, is against prop 8. I have used the word debate, but it's actually more of a presentation. I'll take 15 minutes to present the affirmative position on the prop after which the other gentleman will present for an equal amount of time against prop 8. I have been reassured by the instructor, a friend of mine, that everything will be tasteful and so forth, but I can't help but feel a little bit of trepidation. I don't want to go into great detail, but the other presenter is someone whom I know well and see regularly and I love the guy, he's a wonderful person, so I don't want our relationship to be strained since we've known each other for years but have never expressly stated our vastly divergent views on such issues as same-sex marriage, etc.

The more I think about this issue, and after getting the OK from the instructor, I have decided to bring philosophical and spiritual elements into my presentation, despite the brevity of the issue. I know a lot of people might disagree with this approach, but to me a solely intellectual approach does not fully support Prop 8; inevitably it comes down to the vital nature of marriage as a means whereby physical bodies are created for spirits. This may not be "popular" and accepted by everyone, but it's the truth and I believe that it rings true to people regardless of their specific faith. I happen to know that my audience is roughly 25% decided for Prop 8, 25% decided against, and 50% undecided or unwilling to share their thoughts (the tyranny of tolerance stops many from sharing their true stance in most academic settings).

Anyhow, this won't be happening until the 28th, so I'll make sure to post a follow up to the event and let you know how it all goes. If you get the chance, let me know one or two things you would say about Prop 8 if you had to boil it down to the very essence of the argument.

Here are some of the things I may bring up:

1. The inherent subjectivity of individual perception
1A- The increasing divergence between modern secularism and religion
2. My personal faith and the intolerance my religious group has faced in the past
3. The "rational" and legal issues surrounding prop 8
4. The vital nature of the family
5. The importance of loving all people and standing up for what one believes is right
6. My personal testimony of the family and of the existence of God

The other way I could present this is the very basic, straight forward way without bringing in so much of my own experience.

I'd say "wish me luck" but I don't believe in luck!

The Funky Head Mystery is Solved!

Carter came home the other day from preschool and announced to Sarah that one of the kids at the school had "a funky lookin' head."

Sarah said gently, "Well Carter, that's not such a nice thing to say about someone. What do you mean, does his head have a strange shape?"

"Well, it's just really funky!"

"Ok, Carter, well please don't say that to him because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings."

He agreed but then, earlier today while I was at work, Sarah took Carter, Claire, Ryan (our nephew) and a little girl Sarah was watching to give her mommy a break, to the Moreno Valley Mall to play in the kids area because it was too windy to go to the park. Right before leaving, Carter pointed to a cute little girl and, in front of the girl's mother, announced loudly and clearly, "Hey look, that little girl's got a funky lookin' head!"

"Carter! We don't say that to people. Besides, she is a very pretty little girl." She smiled at the woman who didn't seem to mind the outburst. Who knows what she was thinking. The little girl, Sarah told me, was honestly quite cute, which made the situation a bit less awkward. I can only imagine if she had hydrocephalus or something and the woman had burst into tears.

A few minutes later Sarah asked, "Why did you think she has a 'funky' head?"

"Well, it's like an oval!"

The mystery was solved. Carter has been referring to face shape and, specifically, to people with oblong shaped faces. In my opinion, he's likely reached the age in which he is paying closer attention to others, including their physical appearance and, as we all do, is beginning to attach meaning and judgments to physical features.

When asked what kind of head Carter has he stated flatly that he has an oval head too because of his chin and head. Later, in the evening, we talked about different shaped heads and bodies and explained that we should try to avoid certain words when describing others. Sarah even found a little article in the friend that dealt with the issue which we used to supplement our Family Home Evening lesson.

This was also a great time to reiterate that we avoid using the term "fat" in public, even when it is an accurate term to describe people. Carter has often pointed to people and exclaimed, "Look at that really fat guy!" He's also interrupted Sarah and pointed to a friend or acquaintance and asked innocently, "Why are you kinda fat?" This is to be expected and only the truly ignorant person, or he or she who lives in total denial, ever gets upset. Indeed, the brutal honesty of children is often a great way to snap out of our delusions and realize that our vertically striped shirt or black blouse ain't hiding the truth. Carter's pointed out my gut on a number of occassions as well as his grandpas' bellys and we always just laugh and say, "Yep, I eat too much sometimes."

In fact, in Italy people don't hold back like we Americans do when it comes to pointing out weight gain. I watched on numerous ocassions when a member would say to a new missionary, sometimes a sister missionary, "Hey, you obviusly like to eat! We can tell!" The look on the victim's face often illicited both pity and humor as they tried in vain to come up with a response.

So, if Carter says you have a "funky lookin' head," consider it a compliment that you have a nicely shaped, probably "oval," head/face shape.

What face shape do you and your significant other or children have?

I think Sarah has a heart shaped face due to her high cheek bones and I probably have a square/round (depends on how much extra there is to love). As we reviewed this illustration, we realize that there are obviously degrees to which one falls into a particular category so it's hard to say, "Oh yeah dude, I'm totally like a chiseled rectangle and you, me lady, are a Romanesque Triangular goddess!" <--that was supposed to be in a ridiculous surfer "brah" voice.

Click to enlarge the images:

Try to think of yourself as a cartoon (which is probably more the way children view people):

Must.......not.....kick....

Click to enlarge

Claire Loves Preschool Too

Of all the things I should be doing while Carter is preschool, I must post something to get Danny's last post from being the first thing you see when you open our blog! Danny does have the natural ability to find all sorts of interesting things in on the web, and it truly is one of the things I love about him. Although, when he found that video last night (it was a youtube suggestion after we watched a homemade prop 8 video call The Best Gift*) I did walk out of the room before it finished and said "that is disgusting" while he was laughing hysterically.

Speaking of Carter's preschool, he is not the only one that loves it, Claire does too. As soon as we walk through the gate, she kicks her legs to be let down and finds the first "baa" (ball) she can grab. Last week she climbed in to the wagon and Carter took her for a ride. He was so gentle and sweet about it too. I didn't have my camera so I brought it Tuesday to have him do it again. Claire was more stoic about her ride this time but she still did not want to leave.

Carter now selectively dresses himself. When I say selectively, I mean that when I say "go get dressed, Carter" he suddenly "can't", but when I am trying to get him dressed he then has lots of opinions. In the preschool photos he dressed himself that morning and the following are from two weeks ago at church. I asked Carter which tie he wanted to wear, he responded adamantly, both ties. I agreed since he normally will not keep his tie on at all. He kept them both on all through church and here are his funny faces from when we took his picture after church!

*Even if you don't live in California, check out the Church's website for Prop 8 (and the other similar propositions in other states) at preservingmarriage.org. I love how technologically savvy the Church is. At the bottom of the site are icons to "digg", post to Facebook and a variety of other options. At the broadcast last night, they discussed having righteousness go "viral". Let's do it!

Reconnect with Your Mother

Generation X vs. Generation Y

Sarah and I used to argue about Gen X vs. Gen Y because I always said I was a Gen-Xer but she thought that I had missed out on that. Obviously there's no hard rule about this since people mature differently and because there are many factors that influence the "cultural persuasion" one fits into such as geographical and socioeconomics have a lot to do with things. I mean, take Northern Utah for example, when I visit a Walmart there I see a very different set of folks than I do at my Walmart down here...did I just reveal that I use Walmart to make sociological observations?

While I hope that I don't let society influence me too much, there's no denying that while we're young and in school, for better or for worse--generally the latter--society has a strong influence on us, and according to many, Gen-Xers can be characterized by the following attributes: the forgotten generation, more concerned about all the of the problems the baby boomers are going to leave in their wake and a strong sense of cynicism. Hmmm...I can definitely see some of those undertones in my life, but by in large I tend to be a very creative, optimistic person, although I do tend to be cynical about politics and the future state of society at times. For example, I drive my friends and family on both sides of the political spectrum a little crazy because I can't stand McCain/Palin (especially Palin) or Obama/what's his name (ha!).

Time Magazine recently published an article titled, " Generation X: The Ignored Generation." The whole article is great as it discusses Jeff Gordinier's "X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft But Can Still Keep Everything From Sucking." Here's an excerpt:

"EXILE IN NICHEVILLE

Sandwiched between 80 million baby boomers and 78 million millennials, Generation X — roughly defined as anyone born between 1965 and 1980 — has just 46 million members, making it a dark-horse demographic "condemned by numbers alone to nicheville," as Gordinier puts it in the book. "I don't really understand the tyranny of the boomer moment," Gordinier says. "Great, you had a party in Haight-Ashbury in 1967, I'm thrilled for you. Can we hear about the flappers in the 1920s instead? How about the Great Depression? There's other times in history that are interesting."

**"Gordinier is no more entranced with today's teens and twenty-somethings: "They just love stuff. They love celebrities. They love technology. They love brand names. . . . They're happy to do whatever advertising tells them to do. So what if they can't manage to read anything longer than an instant message?"

Well, if you're wondering where you fall in:

- The Silent generation, people born before 1946.

- The Baby Boomers, people born between 1946 and
1959.

- Generation X , people argue about this, but it's generally considered people born (roughly) between 1960 and 1980.

- Generation Y, people born between 1980 and 1995.


Why do we call the last one generation Y? I did not know, but a caricaturist explains it eloquently below...Learned something new!

Generation Y represents some scary trends. Scroll down and read "Trends Among Members" here in the Wikipedia article.

Earth From Above

In the midst of all of the anguished voices crying out about our economy there is one thing we can do: be still and know that God is. We can also remember that being HERE, on Earth, is "pretty cool," as Carter might say.