A Status Report

I haven’t been feeling all that fantastic (that word was amazingly hard to spell. Fantastastatic?) today. In other words, I think I’m getting sick. But don’t panic! I’m all arrayed in comfortable clothes, and I have a mug of delish tomato soup, Kleenexes, and a blanket to accompany me and my textbooks. Recipe for wellness if you ask me. I’m reading about the value and uses of primary sources. I’m also having a hard time getting excited about it. I mean, writing about not getting excited about it is much more exciting. Wouldn’t you agree? Anyway. I intend to snap out of this whole feeling sick thing.

Okay. Snapping. :)

The was-going-to-be Guest Post

As a consequence of her much nagging to post something new on this el blog, I proposed that Tessa post something for me. She said,

"Give me a topic."

"Your wonderful sister."

"Well, I would if I had one."

"A topic?"

"No, a wonderful sister."

I didn't know what to say. So I didn't say anything. I'll cry later. And she laughs! Still is. Do you think that's funny? I don't think that's funny.

Okay. It was funny. Kind of. Not really.

Lingo

You know those quotes that just stick around forever? A typical quoting opportunity:

Stasia: “I can’t find my keys!”

Lexi: “That’s weird isn’t it.”

And then there’s a pause and some smiles. Everyone in earshot assumes their best Australian accent. All together now.

“My earliest memory of Australia... is the funny thing is I can’t actually remember it. That’s weird isn’t it.”

And then the key-looking can continue.

It becomes part of the lingo I guess.

Maria Zadori

I just wanted to say that if Mr. Mozart lived and died only so that Maria Zadori could sing Laudaute Dominum from ‘Versparae soleness de confessore’ with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, then his life would still have been completely worthwhile. Is worthwhile the right word? Anyway, thank goodness he did live, did write it, and thank goodness she lived, and did sing it. Because it’s beautiful. If beauty had a definition, this would be it. You gotta listen to it. Everyone should – classical guru or no (and I’m a no, so there’s proof.) Mind you nobody can sing it like Maria. In fact, I'm not sure this piece of Mozart’s was actually complete until she came along.

Hail Maria Zadori.

Carrots

“All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience." -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Something like what Goethe was saying – this definitely is not an original thought. But why not add to the “thousands of times” it’s been thought about.

People don’t get addicted to reading the scriptures. When was the last time you heard someone say to you, “I just can’t stop myself from going to the temple?” Does a bishop ever help people control a compulsive desire to pray too much? I know that’s ridiculous, but hear me out. To illustrate, let’s say… carrots. You decide to start eating lots of carrots. Maybe you’re a rabbit – none of my business. But after weeks of eating lots of carrots everyday would you find it hard to stop? No! You might miss eating carrots, but you wouldn’t find yourself having to exercise a lot of self-control to keep yourself from the fridge. It’s the same with good habits. Why is that?

In the simplest terms – the very simplest terms – it seems to me that good things make you free. They make you free to choose more good and to stop doing good if you wanted. Not only does it keep you free to make choices, doing the good strengthens your desire to keep doing the good. The bad on the other hand, keeps you in bondage - as we like to put it. The deeper you find yourself in destructive habits the less free you become. It’s just harder to stop.

The Gospel is all about freedom – freedom to choose good from evil. But when we choose the “evil,” we lose our freedom to choose the good. When we choose the Gospel, not only have we chosen the good, we’re free to keep choosing the good. In other words, we’re free.

Isn’t that COOL?!

Keep eating your carrots.

“And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.” Mosiah 5:8

"He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you." Helaman 14:31

Bowls and Babblements

Guess what I learned today. Babblement is a word. Did you know that? Babblement. Which means ‘Precious Babblings’ is actually technically and positively grammatically incorrect. Boo!

Meanwhile I’ve been neglecting el Blog. But that’s because I haven’t written anything lately I care to share. Except for this one. I care to share this one. Last night I had some of this really… well you read it.

So the first bowl of this extremely rich coconut cream/black rice/mango blissful deliciousness that I ate a couple minutes ago was so delicious. Now how was the second bite of the second bowl. Ehhh. It was ‘Wow-it’s-not-very-good-anymore-hurry-and-eat-it-fast-because-it's-the-sickeningest-stuff-I-ever-had-but-hurry-before-you're-tempted-to-waste-it-and-can't-do-that-because-there-are-starving-wide-eyed-kids-in ethopia-who-would-kill-for-a-bowl-of-this-ehh-this-sickening-bowl-of--hurry-gross-okay-last bite-there-done-phew.’

You can have too much of a good thing. But really. The first bowl was delicious. :)

And that is my babblement.

Lizzy

So, I just want to write about my Lizzy.

A few days ago I found a staple-bound book entitled How to Be a Little Girl. Since she is quite the little girl and knows exactly how being a little girl is to be done, Lizzy decided to write a book on the subject. Isn't that cute? (Actually, though, I'm a little afraid of its contents. Today she bluntly stated to me that her favorite thing to do is burp.)

Since her next-older sister prefers reading and other “boring stuff” over Barbies and writing how-to books, Lizzy finds creative things to do on her own. Like building houses for ants out of popsicle sticks and making parachutes for her Barbies. (Unfortunately, the ants never abode in her house of sticks, despite the tempting crumbs leading to the door. The Barbies did enjoy some thrilling skydiving however. Just… without a working parachute.) She also finds time to fulfill her duty as the self-appointed “light-turner-offer police.” In case you didn’t know, the light-turner-offer police turn off lights when careless room-users leave it on when they shouldn’t. She’s a busy one, that girl.

What else. She has a contagious laugh, she likes to give hardy hugs as often as possible, and she calls people “dude.” Oh, and she talks a lot. A lot.

So, Peter knows this. The other night he had one of those small bags of chips… fritos or something. Anyway, you have to understand, junk food is kind of a treat for a growing boy like Peter. Not only that, but he wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to do a little bragging and bribing to his little sister who probably wouldn’t have cared much about chips if he hadn’t gotten it into her little head that she did. So after lots of keep-away and the like, Peter announced the final verdict. He would share if she didn’t talk for 24 hours. Undaunted, Lizzy stopped talking.

I think it might have been ten minutes. Ten minutes of intense concentration, painful silence, and I think a tinge of humiliation for submitting to her brother’s rule before she came to herself and decided she didn’t want chips anyway.

I think Peter thought she deserved some kudos for at least trying, so she got some chips after all.