Books!

I love reading! It makes me so happy. Recently, I checked out a book from the Library, something I have not done consistently since early high school if not middle school. Despite having very little free time (especially in the last week or so), I am reading again for pleasure! Hooray! It's amazing how captivating a book can be and how fast time passes when you read something you enjoy. Best part of all is that I have something else to do besides watch t.v. or surf the web. I just hope I can finish it before it's due.

P.S. I'm reading Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, in case anyone was curious

Ah cell phones...

I think that cell phones are an amazing invention. It is great to be able to get in contact with people miles away, almost anytime of the day, and be able to communicate quickly and feel safer. But sometimes I just feel like cell phones intrude on life. For example, about a year ago, I had a friend get mad at me for not answering my phone whenever they called and for not returning calls right away. I thought to myself, "I don't have to answer my phone all the time. Sometimes I don't want to talk on the phone." Or other times, I will be talking to people in person and their phone will ring or someone will text them, and they stop our conversation to answer. For whatever reason, this wasn't okay with regular phones but is okay now. And then sometimes cell phones are a source of hilariousness. Like today, I actually brought my cell phone to church because my parents were in town and I didn't want them to get lost trying to find our building. At the beginning of the Sacrament I remembered I had it, leaned down, and silenced it, just in case. Not five minutes later, my mom's cell phone rings right in the middle of the Sacrament. To add to this hilarity, it took my parents until this March to get cell phones, and my mom doesn't completely know how to use her's, so she had to give it to my dad to turn off. Ironically enough, it was my sister, who hardly ever goes out her way to call anyone. All in all, it was amusing. It's funny how something unknown just a few years ago, it's such a norm now.

Groove to the music

Sad to say, I don't really listen to music anymore. I'm not sure if it's because I just never think to turn it on, or because I'm so busy with schoolwork (and I can't study with music on) but I just don't. But there is an exception to this. I'm taking a bowling class (I know, awesome), and they play music while we bowl. They play things from my middle school, high school, and college years and it just makes me happy. I find myself dancing with my bowling ball in my lane as I go up to bowl. So people I barely know get to see me shake it. Isn't amazing the kind of power music has?

Australia

Last night, my husband and I watched "Australia". First of all, very long movie. But despite its length, overall, we enjoyed it. It's kinda of weird in the sense that it is like a story being told from the perspective of a child with interesting English. It was fun to see that bad guys get their come upance and the good guys have a happy ending; but sadly, many people died and the two main characters never get married but just live together (which was completely unnecessary). Like I told my husband, I don't know that I would want to own it, but I don't regret watching it.

Media Overload

So my husband and I have come to the conclusion that we spend WAY too much time on various forms of the media. We spend hours a day on the internet, watching tv, and playing video games (he plays, I watch). After class on Thursday, I decided that this is not good. I think what really hit me was talking about how we use media to fill certain needs, and talking about how a lot of us use facebook to stalk people we don't even really know anymore. I definitely do this, and I think it's kinda creepy. So I'm thinking that we need to have a plan of action. I'm thinking that I should only check my facebook once a day, purge all of my "friends" who I don't ever talk to and probably never will, and ration tv and video game exposure. Not drastically, like none at all, but more like having an hour to three a day of total media exposure. Rather than waste hours of time, we could do dishes, laundry, clean the apartment, finally get our wedding pictures developed and displayed, get some exercise, and enjoy some time together. The sad thing is that while I'm typing this, I'm looking at facebook and watching supernanny. :( Baby steps I guess, right?

Shafty Internet

So for the last month or so, the internet in our apartment has been terrible. It cuts in and out, and takes forever to load anything. We are not sure why this is, and we hope it gets fixed soon (it's through our complex so they have to fix it). Meanwhile, I have become increasing aware of just how much time I spend on the internet. I literally spend hours a day surfing the web. While it is true that I use it a lot for schoolwork, errands, and things at work; I also waste hours looking at facebook and searching for random things.

Today I was hanging out with one of my friends and we were talking about media use, and I realized that I really need to watch myself more carefully and to probably cut back on my t.v. and internet time. There are so many other things I could be doing with my time (just think about what people did before t.v. and internet). I'm not saying that I should stop altogether or that the internet is evil, but I just think that moderation in all things is probably the best policy.

My "Favorite" Books

Even as a child, I believe it was difficult for me to choose a favorite book. I love books and I love reading, and have for pretty much as long as I can remember. However, for the purposes of this assignment, I will pick one of my favorite books from adolescence, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Now perhaps you are thinking that I am like one of the many who follow the Harry Potter fad; but you are wrong. I was introduced to Harry when he and I were the same age, and he was not known to millions. My sixth grade teacher, Ms. Greenstein, read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone out loud to my class for reading time. From the very first chapter, I fell in love with the mystery, magic, fun, and humanity of J.K. Rowling's book.

For those who may not have read it, it follows the events of a young boy's life from his parents' untimely death and his adoption by his terrible aunt and uncle, to the discovery that he is a wizard, and through the experiences of his first year at wizardry school; including his introduction to a wonderful game called Quidditch, a three-headed dog named Fluffy, and his two best friends for life, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Oh yes, as soon as my teacher had finished reading it to the class, I asked to borrow it to read it again for myself. Unfortunately, my friend Amanda had beaten me to it, so I had to wait. In the mean time, Ms. Greenstein began to read the unedited edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Thus began my love of the magical world of Harry Potter. Since that time, I have been to the midnight Potter parties for books four, five, and seven (I missed six as I was on trek, a great sacrifice on my part), read and re-read the books more than you can possibly imagine, read the supplementary readings numerous times, and been amazed that my literary love has become a fad. I believe it changed my life in how I occupied my time, what my friends and I discussed, and what I looked forward to every few years. I also felt that Harry and I were friends that had grown up together, and I was sad to see the end of the series.

While nothing to date has quite captured my love and attention the way Harry did, as an “adult” (I still do not feel that I am such a thing), I find that I enjoy Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. While it lacks the fun and wonder of Harry Potter, this book is still magical and fascinating in its own way. It follows the lives of three influential individuals in the fictitious kingdom of Arelon, on the verge of war: Raoden, Sarene, and Hrathen.

Within the city of Elantris, the former capital of Arelon, everything is dead and decaying—even the people. They are not dead in the typical sense, having not experienced death, but neither are they alive. Their hearts cease to beat, they do not bleed, and food cannot satisfy their hunger. But they were not always this way. Ten years earlier, Elantris and its people were bright, shining, and fully of magic and power. Then something happened and everything changed. Raoden, prince of Arelon wakes up one morning to realize that he has become an Elantrian. At about the same time he is being banished into Elantris, his “bride” Sarene arrives in the new capital city of Kae, only to be informed that Raoden has died. As part of her marriage contract, she is considered to be his widow and their marriage, legally binding. Thrown into the mix is Hrathen, a high priest of the Derethi religion of the neighboring country of Fjorden to convert the people of Arelon, before are destroyed by the Fjordell armies. The story follows Raoden trying to live in Elantris and discover why things have changed, Sarene trying to save Arelon from military destruction and to discover what really happened to Raoden, and Hrathen trying to convert an entire country while dealing with his own trial of faith.

I would not say that Elantris changed my life in any significant way; but it did open my eyes to a new type of magic and fantasy. It also allowed me a break from the monotony of school work and television. I believe Elantris was a reminder of my love and passion for reading for pleasure.

LDS General Conference

I love watching conference. Even though it lacks the fast paced music, lights, and special effects, it has the ability to move and touch people in ways that those things can't. It's wonderful to see that media, is not inherently bad; it can be used for great purposes. I think it's wonderful that through all the different forms of media, Conference is able to reach millions around the world, in their own language.

Toddlers & Tiaras

Okay, so I know that when I was a little girl, people approached my parents about putting me in pageants. They said no, and for awhile I was kind upset about this fact. Then I saw TLC's "Toddlers & Tiaras." It's a show about beauty pageants for girls usually about 7 and younger. It's disgusting and creepy.

I'm not saying that anyone who participates in beauty pageants is disgusting or creepy, but the way the parents highlighted on this show push & exploit their children is. These little girls are spray tanned, wear fake eyelashes, prance around in swimsuits, and dance in sexual ways. Their parents spend thousands of dollars on dresses, coaches, and things like fake teeth. Many of these little girls are so spoiled and have terrible attitudes. One mother of twins, showed open favoring of her twin who won more pageants, looked more like her, and who was "prettier." The biggest problem with all this is how some of the parents react to their child losing. Moms will start lecturing and telling their daughters how disappointed they are, and how the daughter should have done better. Dads will rage and storm out of the pageant hall and yell at their wife and children.

I think the ideas to have children in pageants to help them earn scholarship money, develop social skills, and make friendships are great. I think the problem comes when parents take things too far and get lost in the glitz and winning.