deltar's delirious dominion

DUCK

2011-04-28T13:16:00.002-04:00

please give us all the money you have.

ga ga ooh la la

2010-04-09T08:52:00.001-04:00

please ignore the strange way of filming and enjoy this wonder:

new phone pictures

2009-07-17T18:01:00.003-04:00

brooklyn

food truck

george washington bridge

the basement

phone frills

2009-07-13T17:49:00.005-04:00

pictures. from my phone. for you.

view from my window

my street

subway

fire island

post lunch

rockaway

subway tunnel

sister hannah

wallpaper

webster hall

a bike and a president

lafe

subway gangster lafe

yes please. i want to go there.

2009-02-23T16:11:00.000-05:00

test one two

2009-02-18T16:00:00.001-05:00

this is just a test.

good eats & good views, part I

2009-01-05T22:02:00.005-05:00

hello people. over the past month, too much political play has filled this web log. so, tonight i begin my newest venture: an experiment in both the culinary arts and the visual ones. a disclaimer: i am no chef and no skilled critic of television or movies. but, just the same, i guess that is what this whole web 2.0 thing is all about: a bunch of amateurs giving their unwanted opinions. and also people trying to use as many colons as possible. for example: i have already used four colons.

i was thinking, what if the end of the world came along, and the only place i had to turn was my local, organic-only, high-end grocery store? what would i do if i didn't know how to make delicious food from organic and locally-grown products? so, to turn a new leaf (this is NOT a new years resolution, which i hate) i decided to go grocery shopping on saturday and then cook my food for the entire week. i spent $70, and i'm hope it lasts me until next saturday, or even beyond. the only rules i have for this week are these: (fifth colon) first, the use of recipes is strictly disallowed, although i am allowed a lifeline per day (or week, i haven't yet decided), but I'm not allowed to write anything down on such telephone calls; second, actually, i only have one rule, and I already wrote it.

so, my first experiment? well that actually happened on Saturday night, but I made it again tonight. I will tell you what it was. I named my creation, "Popeye's Special." As you all know, Popeye was a cartoon strip character (who later made his way into cartoons and even movies) who was both a sailor man and a connoisseur of spinach. So, naturally, this salad is made a spinach, a basic ingredient of any delicious salad. i also carmelized (or candied--i don't know the correct verb for what I did) a handful of cashews that I bought at Whole Foods. Second, I boiled an egg. Third, I sliced an entire apple into thin slices. I placed the above ingredients in a bowl with the spinach. I shook it all together. Then, i got some mozzarella cheese, which obviously pairs well with spinach, and sprinkled it over the green goodness. Lastly, i dusted my concoction with Chillmark's Original Toasted Sesame Dressing. I'd imagine this dressing wouldn't be that hard to make, although I bought it from Whole Foods. The ingredients are: (6th colon) Canola Oil, Lemon Juice, Soy Sauce, Toasted Sesame Seeds, Water, and Xanthan Gum (I have no idea what Xantham Gum is). Anyway, the result was a delicious, fresh, crispy bowl of vegetarian delight.

To compliment my salad, i poured a cup or two of soy milk in the blender, added a whole bannanna, a tray of ice, and a spoon or two of sugar. I then blended it all together for a frothy cup of dreamy soy creamy beverage. i heated two pieces of bread, buttered them, and my meal was complete.

So there it is, the first half of my first entry of good eats & good views.

As I sat down to consume this deliciousness, I turned on Paranoid Park. If you haven't yet discovered the IFC channel on your local cable network, you must quickly. The movie is directed and written by Gus Van Sant (director of Good Will Hunting and the new movie, Milk). It's a good, short viewing perfect to compliment a small, scrumptious meal. The movie is an hour and a half and tells the story of a 16-17 year old Portland kid who gets mixed up in some bad happenings at a local skate park. the highlight of the movie is two fold: first, the portrayal of the way kids speak and act is pretty spot on; second, the sequences of skating are some of the most beautiful things that i've seen for a while. oh, also, the editing is pretty wild. so, if you like good movies, go see this one. or don't. whatever. i'm going to the kitchen now to cook a chicken concoction over night in the slow cooker.

now, just realize that i used 7 colons in this web log post, and i'm about to use 8: be amazed.

a confederacy of novels

2009-01-03T14:34:00.002-05:00

please find for me a better starting paragraph for any novel than the following:

"A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once. Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chips crumbs. In the shadow under the green visor of the cap Ignatius J. Reilly's supercilious blue and yellow eyes looked down upon the other people waiting under the clock at the D.H. Homes department store, studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste in dress. Several of the outfits, Ignatius noticed, were new enough and expensive enough to be properly considered offenses against taste and decency. Possession of anything new or expensive only reflected a person's lack of theology and geometry; it could even cast doubts upon one soul."

now, please, as quickly as possible, go and find this book and read it.

puffington host

2008-12-12T15:39:00.003-05:00

found this video on the huffington post. a little national airtime for BYU and YAs.

If they don't get Wicked, I say it's no big loss. it does seem like the gay ex-mormon is being pretty spiteful, though. but hey, who am i to judge?

little ones

2008-12-08T18:36:00.002-05:00

excuse me, but i have the cutest little nieces and nephews in the whole world.

Dustin Lance Black

2008-11-20T15:34:00.002-05:00

anyone see the new movie "Milk" yet? dustin lance black wrote it. turns out he is mormon. who knew? he was the only mormon writer on the first two seasons of 'big love,' which is one of the greatest tv shows of our time.

this interview is a pretty interesting listen. it is a pretty good take on mormonism, prop 8, and writing for film and screen. please listen to it now. it's essential for understanding this issue, imho.

is that you, mitt?

2008-11-19T10:17:00.003-05:00

where was this this mitt during the republican primary? this op-ed shows a mitt romney that knows what he is doing. nothing like the blubbering, pandering mitt that showed up for the republican primaries. while i still don't like most everything about his policies or the way he presents himself, this idea is good.

oh and btw, peter and emily are getting married in like three days. wild.

538

2008-11-19T00:58:00.003-05:00

everything nate silver touches turns to gold. but this is particularly great. all i can say is i wish i were nate silver...please be warned that the transcript is not safe for work due to some language content...

prop 8

2008-11-17T12:23:00.002-05:00

This is a very good look at why a pro-prop 8 vote doesn't necessarily equal bigotry. the article doesn't, however, justify such a vote. give it a look see.

amazing

2008-11-06T12:48:00.001-05:00

look at this. even faux news is calling sarah palin out:

gotv in pa

2008-11-03T20:19:00.002-05:00

consider this my postcard from pittsburgh, pa. ima drive a van tomorrow getting people out to vote in oakland, pittsburgh. i predict a 5% win in pennslylvania, and a 6% spread nationally. electoral votes will top 320 for obama. what do you say?

2008-10-28T18:48:00.000-04:00

the mac attack

2008-10-28T08:45:00.003-04:00

looks like i'm an uncle again. way to go libby and the deej. very proud.

i stole these pics from paul and amy's blog. i will drive to pittsburgh this weekend to see the newest addition. also i will stay until election day so i can help mr. obama with getting out the vote activities. anyone interested in joining me? although, dj did say if i volunteered for barack, I wasn't welcome to stay at his house....so, i guess if you come with me we can split a hotel room...

in loving memory

2008-10-27T14:56:00.004-04:00

my tears dry slowly due to the passing of the second season of mad men.

pete campbell: you are almost likable!

don draper: you have emotions!

betty: i love you!

peggy: you are absolved!

joan: don't marry the rapist!

so until july, i will wait patiently and hopefully to find out what pete eventually did with the gun.

really? 77%?

2008-10-23T12:56:00.000-04:00

i'm a little embarrassed about this.

russians for palin

2008-10-23T09:19:00.000-04:00

paul's blog

2008-10-15T20:56:00.001-04:00

go to paul's blog for the d-bate live blogging.

homophobic?

2008-10-14T15:05:00.006-04:00

watch this video that was forwarded on to me by pablo escobar. today another friend sent it along to me.

i have a few things i would like to say. first, i consider this video, and the main guy depicted in it, extremely homophobic. second, i think it is naive to think that young students should not be taught about homosexuality. obviously you don't have to explain to the kids the technicalities of gay sex; however, explaining that sometimes two men or two women can find happiness together...? what's wrong with that.

an example. i taught second grade. i had to teach about homosexuality for two different reasons. first, two different students approached me to tell me their moms were lesbians. they wanted to keep it a secret because they felt they would be mocked. i sat the kids down with prepared lessons about homosexuality. i did explain that sometimes two women or two men found that they could fall in love with each other and even be happier that way. i don't see anything wrong with that. i also said that if your parents were like that, then there is nothing wrong with you. i also said that it was wrong to make fun of anyone who happens to be gay.

second, my students regularly employed homophobic slurs: gay, fag, lesbo, etc, etc. sometimes the terms were even applied to me (except for the lesbo one). at that point, you must sit down with the students and tell them why it is wrong to use those kinds of slurs. its not like you're telling the kids about something they don't know when you talk about homosexuality. they are all aware. being able to talk about it in a respectful way that protects the feelings and beliefs of all involved is a mark of a good teacher.

this video, then, i feel is extremely hurtful. if just for the fact that we can work to change some of these attitudes, i hope prop 8 does not pass in california. what is wrong with legalizing gay marriage and thereby removing some of the stigma gays experience? no one is saying that teachers have to teach it is 'moral.' however, they are saying teachers must teach it is legal. drinking is legal, but mormons still believe it is immoral. teachers in the public school system definitely teach that, when you are of age, there is nothing wrong with drinking in moderation. however, we are still able to believe however we want. why are we so threatened by the fact that gay marriage will be taught as legally acceptable in school? do we really believe our children's attitudes are shaped that strongly by our teachers? surely we can teach them what we feel is right at home, and they can be exposed to different ideas at school. how is that any different than what we believe currently about premarital sex, the word of wisdom, etc.?

in ten years, when we look back at this video, i really think most of us will be appalled at the prejudiced attitudes taken by many of its views. what do you think?

lastly, one other thing that is bothering me is the media that is coming out of protectmarriage.com, the website run by a coalition of christian churches. the mormons are one of the chief contributors to this site. i'm afraid it takes quite a partisan look at gay marriage and its advertising borders on fear mongering and misinformation. what do you think? do you agree? disagree?

oh, and one other thing. tomorrow is peter's birthday. we are getting together for a debate watching party, so i'm not sure we will be live blogging. but maybe. stay tuned....

nashville nastiness

2008-10-07T14:25:00.002-04:00

here it is: the live blog thread for tonight. 9:00 PM eastern time. please come. feel free to post thoughts, reactions, etc.

the boom

2008-10-06T14:38:00.001-04:00

here it is: in response to palin donning her heels and taking off her gloves, it looks like obama is now lowering the boom on mccain's record. enjoy this as you prepare for tomorrow night's debate. we will be live blogging it here, so prepare yourself...

missouri madness

2008-10-02T16:02:00.002-04:00

Here it is. The live blog thread for tonight's debate at 9:00 Eastern Time. Be here.

Thursday Night Thunder

2008-10-01T16:34:00.003-04:00

All right people. Prepare yourselves. Thursday night brings Sarah Palin's arizona-prepped, expectation-lowered debate versus Joe Biden. We will be live blogging the whole thing right here. So, do what you need to do to find yourself in front of a computer and a television by 9:00 PM eastern time, Thursday night.

One thing that is bothering me about the upcoming debate is the media's insistence on replaying the jonah mcpalin camp's messaging. They have been lowering the expectations for sarah palin, thus making any performance by sarah palin in which she doesn't fall on her face and expose herself for a complete fraud translate into a 'win.' Also, after her horrible appearances on CBS and ABC over the past couple of weeks, her handlers are now saying she won't appear anywhere other than right wing talk shows and the like. I'm sorry, but I can't help agree with campbell brown; this approach to palin by mccain and co. stinks of sexism. Yesterday, when Palin and McCain were interviewed by Katie Couric, McCain jumped in to answer questions and defend palin. It definitely looked like an over-protective father keeping watch over his daughter. They need to unleash Palin and hope that her folksy life story will be enough to over shadow her complete lack of preparation for the vice presidency or possibly the presidency.

So, prepare your thoughts. Ready your typing fingers. Tell your friends. Tomorrow night we shall blog the trash out of the debate. Also, it would be nice to get some palin supporters to join the dialog. So, Gabrielle, Russ, Dad, Grandpa, Libby and DJ (?), etc. please join us as we thrash about in pure, debate-inspired bliss.

oh, and enjoy this sweet performance by the gov at the miss alaska competition:

friday night lights: open thread for the debate

2008-09-26T15:52:00.001-04:00

prepare yourself to post your comments here as we discuss the debate in real time....

jonah mcpalin

2008-09-25T16:31:00.002-04:00

please forgive the following rant. i realize that political web logs are extremely tedious, and a lot of text hurts the brains of those of us who like to look at either pictures or bottles of adderall. but seriously, how can anyone even think about supporting mcain/palin after this last week? i understand (sort of) if you are not completely sold on b.rock obama. okay i take that back, i don't completely understand how you may not be sold on b.rock, but i at least can fathom it. but to still be supporting john and sarah? seriously? so, i'm going to list some of the reasons why (although i really think it's pretty obvious) one should vote barack over mccain.

1. the economy. obviously this is currently the leading factor in the election. so why go for obama over mccain? in my humble estimation, there are very few of us (politicians, layman, professionals) who actually understand what has happened with the economy or how to make it better. in fact, so much of what will happen with the stock market over the next while is based solely on perception. to have a president, then, that appears to be cool, calm, and collected is of great importance. we need someone we can trust to stay calm, not do anything rash (i.e. draft palin, suspend a campaign, cancel debates, make rash accusations ('let's fire cox!), or make false claims (the fundamentals of economy is strong)), and figure out a solution in a concentrated way. it's not so much whether that solution will be perfectly correct; rather, it's more important that we have a perception that our leader is going to do as much as he/she can to make the right choice and equally weigh all options.

2. temperament. mccain is crazy. isn't it obvious? he's so focused on the white house, that he has lost all semblance of identity. he blames the tenor of the campaign (his sleazy, lying ads) on the fact that obama turned down town hall meetings. then, yesterday, he ambushed obama with a press conference announcing he was suspending his campaign (today he has been running ads all across the country, and many, if not all, of his campaign offices are open ) to 'rush back to washington' to figure out a solution to the economic 'crisis' (something he denied was even happening at the beginning of the week).

3. do we really want another maverick in the white house? wasn't his pick of palin enough of a sign of his incompetence? please watch her performance on charlie gibson and katie couric to see that his lack of vetting made for a horrible choice for someone so close to the presidency.

4. i would keep writing, but it's time for me to leave this computer. maybe i'll add more later. maybe not.

politico full of portent

2008-09-20T10:06:00.002-04:00

look at this latest portentous article from politico.com.

attack of the....robots?

2008-09-18T16:24:00.002-04:00

why is everyone talking about wall street and the presidential election? i guess maybe they've forgotten there are more important threats to our well being. that's right: robots.

making america stupid

2008-09-15T09:34:00.001-04:00

if you haven't read it yet, here's thomas friedman's latest article.

Imagine for a minute that attending the Republican convention in St. Paul, sitting in a skybox overlooking the convention floor, were observers from Russia, Iran and Venezuela. And imagine for a minute what these observers would have been doing when Rudy Giuliani led the delegates in a chant of “drill, baby, drill!”

I’ll tell you what they would have been doing: the Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan observers would have been up out of their seats, exchanging high-fives and joining in the chant louder than anyone in the hall — “Yes! Yes! Drill, America, drill!” — because an America that is focused first and foremost on drilling for oil is an America more focused on feeding its oil habit than kicking it.

Why would Republicans, the party of business, want to focus our country on breathing life into a 19th-century technology — fossil fuels — rather than giving birth to a 21st-century technology — renewable energy? As I have argued before, it reminds me of someone who, on the eve of the I.T. revolution — on the eve of PCs and the Internet — is pounding the table for America to make more I.B.M. typewriters and carbon paper. “Typewriters, baby, typewriters.”

Of course, we’re going to need oil for many years, but instead of exalting that — with “drill, baby, drill” — why not throw all our energy into innovating a whole new industry of clean power with the mantra “invent, baby, invent?” That is what a party committed to “change” would really be doing. As they say in Texas: “If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you ever got.”

I dwell on this issue because it is symbolic of the campaign that John McCain has decided to run. It’s a campaign now built on turning everything possible into a cultural wedge issue — including even energy policy, no matter how stupid it makes the voters and no matter how much it might weaken America.

I respected McCain’s willingness to support the troop surge in Iraq, even if it was going to cost him the Republican nomination. Now the same guy, who would not sell his soul to win his party’s nomination, is ready to sell every piece of his soul to win the presidency.

In order to disguise the fact that the core of his campaign is to continue the same Bush policies that have led 80 percent of the country to conclude we’re on the wrong track, McCain has decided to play the culture-war card. Obama may be a bit professorial, but at least he is trying to unite the country to face the real issues rather than divide us over cultural differences.

A Washington Post editorial on Thursday put it well: “On a day when the Congressional Budget Office warned of looming deficits and a grim economic outlook, when the stock market faltered even in the wake of the government’s rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, when President Bush discussed the road ahead in Iraq and Afghanistan, on what did the campaign of Senator John McCain spend its energy? A conference call to denounce Senator Barack Obama for using the phrase ‘lipstick on a pig’ and a new television ad accusing the Democrat of wanting to teach kindergartners about sex before they learn to read.”

Some McCain supporters criticize Obama for not having the steel in his belly to use force in the dangerous world we live in today. Well I know this: In order to use force, you have to have force. In order to exercise leverage, you have to have leverage.

I don’t know how much steel is in Obama’s belly, but I do know that the issues he is focusing on in this campaign — improving education and health care, dealing with the deficit and forging a real energy policy based on building a whole new energy infrastructure — are the only way we can put steel back into America’s spine. McCain, alas, has abandoned those issues for the culture-war strategy.

Who cares how much steel John McCain has in his gut when the steel that today holds up our bridges, railroads, nuclear reactors and other infrastructure is rusting? McCain talks about how he would build dozens of nuclear power plants. Oh, really? They go for $10 billion a pop. Where is the money going to come from? From lowering taxes? From banning abortions? From borrowing more from China? From having Sarah Palin “reform” Washington — as if she has any more clue how to do that than the first 100 names in the D.C. phonebook?

Sorry, but there is no sustainable political/military power without economic power, and talking about one without the other is nonsense. Unless we make America the country most able to innovate, compete and win in the age of globalization, our leverage in the world will continue to slowly erode. Those are the issues this election needs to be about, because that is what the next four years need to be about.

There is no strong leader without a strong country. And posing as one, to use the current vernacular, is nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig.

dear dad

2008-09-06T11:41:00.002-04:00

dear dad,

please watch this for thoughts on the rnc:

any questions?

2008-09-02T22:26:00.005-04:00

i think this should clear up any lingering questions or concerns any of you may still have.

in other news, i'm completely, head over heels in love with campbell brown of cnn.

signs signs everywhere there's signs

2008-08-28T13:47:00.004-04:00

my spam inbox from yesterday. creepy, right?

secondly, love him or hate him, john kerry gave a pretty good speech at the convention yesterday. take 13 minutes and watch it, if you dare.

kucinich: one crazy [insert word here]

2008-08-27T11:05:00.003-04:00

if you missed this from the denver convention, then you must watch it right now. kucinich is crazy and i think i might be in love with him. i'm not quite sure how to define what i'm feeling all over my body when he speaks like this. see if you feel it too and you can tell me if it's normal or not.

exculpate

2008-08-24T19:12:00.004-04:00

several important things to note:

first, i was up at the time barack texted me to let me know about joe biden. i think that most likely makes me one of the first in america to get the big news. hooray. although i have to say that the texts and emails they keep sending me are getting cheesier and cheesier, which is a problem.

second, this new tattoo proves that my life is nearly complete. one thing about three fours that is particularly auspicious is that they sometimes look like three crosses. coney Island was the place of tattoo application. I don't believe there is a better place on earth than coney island. we attended the coney island circus sideshow and saw a nail driven into a nasal cavity, a lady walk on glass, another lady swallow swords, and the ganja queen (my personal name for her) breathe fire.

maybe you want a closer look? Fine, fine.

lastly, i don't know why, but i went to six flags great adventure on saturday. i believe this place is the downfall of america. although we did ride the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world. but was it worth the wait?

extermi-bots

2008-08-15T13:53:00.002-04:00

ever since james kearl showed me this, I can't stop thinking that it won't be long until hal and his associates take over.

elect this guy, please

2008-08-11T11:13:00.001-04:00

square-jawed electrodes

2008-08-06T01:03:00.002-04:00

our man mitt romney tells lies. Not only that, but the way he lies reminds me of my little brother lafe claiming he wasn't scared by the not-scary movie signs and then spending three weeks straight sleeping with his door open, the light on, and his room strewn with cups half full of water.

of films and encapsulations

2008-08-03T23:35:00.002-04:00

the best movie i have seen in recent history. please watch it if possible.

like a rolling stone

2008-07-29T23:39:00.003-04:00

the album cover that proves mr. olson knew the meaning of those visions of johanna.

it's all over now, baby blue.

2008-07-22T22:21:00.004-04:00

it turns out this web log has somehow found its way onto a list of blogs authored by my fellow 1999 graduates of spanish fork high school, which is weird. something else triggered my memory of high school last week. my junior year, i was privileged to be a part of the 'golden dawn,' a group headed by mr. michael olson, whose only aim, it seemed, was the downfall of tony johns (this was in retaliation to his constant assailing of Nathan Rees, or NR, in Mr. Clark's 7th (or was it sixth?) grade class). mr. olson was obsessed with the number 44. were he to ever encounter triple fours, it would be as if the oracle at delphi (a constant theme in his classroom) were calling down to give guidance and blessing. obviously then, it would make sense that almost all of mr. olson's essays were 444 words long. to be different, and to show my dedication to jesus, i would write essays 333 words in length. but, when a member of the g.d. showed me the fourth verse of this fourth chapter, i wrote all subsequent essays 444 words long. my high school email address quickly became landslide44@webtv.com. landslide in honor of the smashing pumpkins' cover of fleetwood mac, and the 44 in honor of the naturally-occurring portentousness of the golden number. i think the only person i ever emailed from that account was the pig steve forsey.

what does this all matter? i came to understand the deepness of the universe, and my small, electron-like nature within it, when i saw this sign on broome street last week. mind you, i walked by this place every day for the past year. but it wasn't until last week, until the class of sfhs1999 came back to haunt me, that i realized the address was the only thing that really mattered anymore. and what was $10 to know what the rest of my life would bring me? tell me please, oracle of broome street, am i a pair of ragged claws? do i have a bald spot in the middle of my hair?

it's funny. get over it.

2008-07-15T14:57:00.001-04:00

a classy volume concerning class

2008-07-10T00:11:00.003-04:00

required reading to further comment on this web log concerning healthcare, education, poverty, welfare reform, etc.

in other news, peter emily and i went to boston over the weekend. peter, the master blogger that he is, posted on his family's password-protected web log concerning our adventures. my favorite part was tea-bagging boston harbor. hope petey doesn't mind, but ima plagiarize his web-logging skills and include it here. enjoy:

what better place than the birth of a revolution than bean town (which nick told me is now referred to as title town) to memorialize our freedoms? emily hadn't been to Boston since she was little and stevey and i haven't been in awhile. so thanks to the meticulously organized fung wah bussing business, we made a weekend out of our freedoms.

we took the morning bus up there on friday and had most of the day left to explore a little bit. we walked through the boston common, where stephen spotted a pond that reminded him of ducks from some children’s book that landed there or something. i was chastised for being the son of a elementary school teacher and not know the name of the book.

after some putzing around newbury street for shopping and dinner, we followed the crowds to the charles river. we found a spot on mass. ave bridge and listened to the worst public program ever for a couple of hours before the fireworks started. it was pretty sweet, cause people could take their boats (motor, canoes, or row) right out to the barge from where they launched the fireworks. it was a pretty rad show.

the next day, we endulged emily and walked the freedom trail. stephen was jealous of the dude with the tights and the three-cornered hats everywhere. but we didn’t need them. with a few keystokes on the (almost obsolete) iPhone, we pulled up a wikipedia fountain of knowledge on any/every building or site that piqued our collective curiosities. along the way, we even commemorated our despision of king george III by throwing our own british tea bags in the boston harbor. all in all it a was a pretty good day, capped off with maybe the best ice cream i have ever had in my life at this place in cambridge that one of stevey’s photo friends took us.

if you look closely, those are actually english tea bags we're about to cast into the sea for taxation without representation...

this morning we went to church at Park Street Church right between the boston common and the cemetery that graves benjamin franklin, paul revere, samuel adams, and the more important john adams, where we sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” 177 years and 2 days after the public debut in the very chapel of said debut. on the program insert, it was written that 24 year old samuel F. smith, an Harvard (of course) alumnus, wrote this “unofficial national anthem” on a scrap of paper in less than 30 minutes and debuted on July 4, 1831 in Park Street Church.

the sermon was pretty interesting (at least for the first 25 or so minutes). he talked about how old testament prophets had to be counter-culture and against the grain to prevailing opinions that were contrary to their beliefs just like us today in an increasingly secularizing society. at the end he gave some “witnessing” (protestant talk for testifying or missionary work) take-home tips, not too unfamiliar to what you might hear in sacrament meeting or sunday school on missionary work.

1) keep a bible on your desk at work, as a symbol/reminder of God’s work and also as a conversation starter.

2) when you write cards (sympathy or whatever) to coworkers, add a verse of scripture and mention that this verse helped you during a hard time.

3) when people are having a difficult time, ask permission to pray for help for them with your friends at your church.

simple enough.

all in all in was a pretty good independent weekend.

oh yeah. and did i mention that i can hold emily in the palm of my hand... err. i mean, the top of my thumb.

revelations of officialdom

2008-07-06T22:29:00.003-04:00

peter, emily, and i took a trip to boston this weekend to celebrate the birth of our now-imperialistic country. we found this:

a general hooker exit may be somewhat more advantageous?

it also turns out we make pretty good evangelical christians.

amazing

2008-07-03T13:38:00.004-04:00

i really don't know what to say. see more here, where the subtitle is "Hillary Voters for McCain, not Hussein."

mormons. mormons. mormons.

2008-07-01T16:06:00.008-04:00

um...haven't you ever heard of the mormons? apparently, a little organization called The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has. they just completed a little survey of the u.s. religious landscape and they have some tasty little delights about the mormons. so, with no further introuduction, ima give you my favorite sections.

the first section shows how ridiculously conservative mormons are. we aren't even close to any other religious group when it comes to how conservative we are.

the second section, i guess, also has to do with the mormons' conservative principles: views on homosexuality and abortion. the one thing that is troubling for me, is that the question had to do with society accepting homosexuality, not just gay marriage. only 24% of mormons think that we should accept homosexuality? i could (almost) understand that point of view when it comes to gay marriage, but just accepting homosexuality? not very tolerant of us, i think.

the next section shows that the mormons are, next to the JWs only, the most dogmatic about their religion. i was somewhat surprised that only 58% of mormons thought that their religion was not the only way to eternal life.

and lastly, we see that besides hindus, the mormons are the group with the highest percentage married. no wonder so many singles in the church feel marginalized.

so...your thoughts? surprised by anything? happy about anything? saddened by anything?

and, if you made it to the end of this post, then i leave you with a photograph of petey and me keeping it real at the pride parade in the village this past sunday....

exponential is her name

2008-06-23T23:19:00.007-04:00

*update* barbara ehrenreich, the author of nickel and dimed, has a new book out and was on wnyc today. listen to the show, and then join me as we finally get libby in on the debate...

i guess since all the cool kids are doing it, i too will give you a little something something about the latest book i read. back when i taught for america, i worked with this person named liz vandlick. i guess she won't care about me using her name, seeing as how she never reads web logs, and every time we talk, she makes fun of me for updating mine. whatever.

she suggested that i read this book called Nickel and Dimed. so, i did it. the author went under cover in florida, maine, and minnesota as a homemaker re-entering the workforce. her goal was to see if it is possible to live on wages from places like wal-mart, nursing homes, and restaurants while searching out a housing, etc.

i'd write more about it, but to tell you the truth, i don't really have much to say. the book was eye-opening, but her style of writing was annoying and she spent half the time telling how she had to find a way to flush the marijuana out of her system in order to pass the multiple drug tests that were requisite to get a low-wage job in minnesota.

the main thing i found interesting was the outdated method the government uses to define the poverty level. they haven't changed the system since 1955, and it's based on the price of food tripled (assuming, then, that 1/3 of all expenditures goes toward food). this isn't the case anymore, and really doesn't make any sense. there's a bunch of other stuff too, but why don't you just go read it? mostly i'm just putting up a web log post because uncle ron requested it via peter.

i guess, though, i do have one thing to say. paul called me last nite and asked me my thoughts about barack dropping public financing. i do have to say i'm disappointed. this does hurt barack's brand that he is different than your regular politician. i, of course, saw it coming and knew he would do it--he would be stupid not to with the amount of money he is raising from small donors. but still, in the back of my mind, i was holding out hope barack would come through.

this is not to say i am disillusioned about barack. he is still the best-qualified for the job, etc. he is still far better than john mccain in many (if not all) ways. and his fund-raising apparatus is impressive and (perhaps) represents a sort of public financing hitherto unattainable by conventional politicians. perhaps this is excuse enough for him to drop the public financing? i know peter would say it is.

so there you go, paul. now you know that while barack is still the one, i will not defend his every move regardless. now i turn the ball to you to list some of john mccain's many faults....

i previsioned it

2008-06-11T09:38:00.001-04:00

remember this? it looks like my man thomas friedman (who is never wrong about anything) is backing me up.

bekah the niece

2008-06-06T10:33:00.003-04:00

obamania

2008-05-13T23:30:00.003-04:00

Spoiler alert: this entry will be quite boring if you don’t like playing the politics game; if you do like playing the politics game, this entry will probably also be quite boring. I would like to address this entry to people like my mother—people who are still unsure their choice of candidate come November. This is not directed toward those who have already made up their mind and are antagonistic toward one candidate or the other (I guess by definition, this post is not for me). In other words, Gabrielle, Matt, and Paul I am not trying to convince you to vote for my candidate; rather, I’m trying to sway those swing voters (Madre, Jonny, Libby (?), Melinda, etc.) into joining my ranks. I guess for those who have already made up their mind, this will serve as my justification and rationalization for my vote come November.

As I see it, America has one big problem: a damaged brand name, both at home and abroad. Many, if not most of our problems stem from this badly wounded image. I hold that if we are able to repair our brand at home, our economy will right itself, Americans will find a restored faith in their country and this will help us find answers to tough problems. I of course don’t envision this happening over night; however, I do see it reversing a trend of disappointment in our own country’s actions. When we are able to again restore our faith in our leaders, then many of our problems will be surmountable.

Abroad, the current administrations’ actions have badly imaged our international brand. Immediately following 9/11 we had the support of the world. However, following a badly botched invasion, secret prisons, Abu Ghraib, cowboy diplomacy, and general disregard for the international communities’ opinions, many abroad see America as a broken country. The value of the dollar is in free-fall. Foreign countries will soon come to collect their debt. We are seen as a dangerous occupying force throughout much of the Middle East. The Bush administration has greatly reduced our stature and standing on the international playing field.

How then do we repair our damaged brand? How do we restore faith in America, both at home and abroad? In my mind, this is the overlying issue come November. Everything else is almost moot; at the same time, everything else also helps build our brand as a compassionate, fair, intelligent, complex, democratic, free and tolerant country.

Barack Obama will fix our brand. He will repair our image domestically and internationally. He will do this in three ways.

First, as a person of a mixed-race background, he gives hope to all of us who, for one reason or the other, have felt the oppression of odds stacked against them. 50 years ago, about the time when Barack was born, it was unimaginable that a black man (Barack is really biracial, and it seems strange that he is automatically labeled by so many as black, when he is as much white as he is black, but that’s another issue) would be a viable candidate for president. By overcoming such odds, Barack will repair the image of America to millions of Americans who have been, are currently, or ever will be oppressed because of their identity, be it religious, racial, sexual, or otherwise. Of course, I realize his mixed racial background, in and of itself, is not sufficient enough reason to vote him into office. It is, however, a contributing factor.

Second, Barack represents a person who is, in my mind, not a conventional politician. I know Paul will disagree with this and argue that he is playing the game just as much as any other candidate. I do agree that Barack has run a savvy campaign. I disagree, however, that he is a conventional candidate. His way of looking at issues, dissecting the components, debating the policies, and arriving at a position is impressive. He sees change as something that will happen over time. He thrives on policy debates. It is true that I do not agree with him on all the issues; however, I respect the way in which he arrives at his positions. This kind of deliberate and open evaluation is refreshing. He approaches issues not based on political expediency (obviously there will be exceptions to this, and I’m sure through this campaign he has occasionally done things out of expediency), but on principle. To illustrate, I look at two things that both Hillary and the right-wing attack machine have continually harped on: the flag lapel pin and Reverend Wright. I respect that Barack decided a long time ago to not flaunt his patriotism on his sleeve. The silly antics of Washington that dictate a flag pin somehow equals patriotism are insulting to the intelligence of Americans. As for Reverend Wright, I think this has been a very personal thing for Barack, and he has shown great compassion and sympathy as he has dealt with the an issue that would have sunk any lesser candidate.

From the very beginning, I have expressed my own dismay that I personally so ardently support a politician. While in Utah, Paul also expressed dismay that I am following the ‘trend’ as usually I am one to react to the ‘in’ thing. He’s right. I usually do. You would think that the second I saw that silly will.i.am Yes we Can video, I would have run for cover. For some reason, however, I find the hype surrounding Barack believable. As cliché as it sounds, he speaks to me as someone who is real, as someone who truly believes what he says, and as someone who wants to do good things and make a difference for those who are hurting. Does that mean I agree with every thing he says? No. Does that mean I think he’s never wrong? No. But it does mean I like the way he says what he says. It does mean I like the way he arrives at his positions. It does mean I like his thought process. For all of the above reasons, Barack is not a conventional politician.

Third, Barack will repair our brand in international circles. He represents to the rest of the world someone who is both cosmopolitan and distinctly American. He represents the true strength of America: its diversity. Aside from his identity, his policies are a complete reversal from the failures of cowboy diplomacy. He will wield a large microphone instead of a big stick. Under his guidance, we will begin to remove troops as quickly and as safely as possible, giving responsibility back to the Iraqis (where it belongs) and freeing our troops to focus on Afghanistan. His decisions are not rash; rather, he is deliberate in determining foreign policy.

A restored faith in America will help the dollar. It will help our allies. It will help the economy. His leadership will be a large contributing factor to repairing out standing in the international community. Does that mean I think all his foreign policies are perfect? No. But I do know that upon his election, the value of America in the eyes of the rest of the world will dramatically rise.

In this manifesto of support for Barack, I did not defend him against specific attacks. I did not defend his every policy position. This election is less about specific policies, although these are extremely important, and more about the general direction in which America is heading and how Barack’s presidency will make this much better. My support for him has nothing to do with Republican or Democrat. It has nothing to do with liberal/conservative. My support is based on the need to repair our brand both at home and abroad. Barack is the candidate to do this. His election will signal a turn in America politics and will give millions of American and non-American people (I know it’s cheesy to say it, but I can’t resist…) hope.

(oh, and this is peter being money--much like barack will be money come next january)

genius electron nieces: abigail and bekah

2008-05-13T21:35:00.004-04:00

if you don't think these two are the cutest things ever made, then i don't know what to tell you.

genius video electrons: a democratic update

2008-05-01T12:19:00.000-04:00

for those of you who don't know what has happened in the democratic race, here's a deep, complex, and in-depth look.

military industrial

2008-04-29T09:57:00.000-04:00

in honor of pediatrics

2008-04-28T14:21:00.003-04:00

cousin: this is for you; now you know hillary's chance of winning the nomination.

thing for thing for thing

2008-04-24T16:34:00.002-04:00

i have two things today.

first, will hillary clinton never give up? although i don't particularly like slate, this article wasn't so bad. maybe this will make your day go somewhat better.

second, for those of you that don't live in new york city, this may not apply to you; however, you may be interested to learn car etiquette as it applies in manhattan. as you may or may not know, a majority of kids my age do not own cars. i did it for the first two years in the city, but what with my recent move downtown, i had to rid myself of the my beloved ride. because the subway is slow, hot, and sometimes not pleasant to the nasal section, people always warm to the idea of hitching a ride with someone who does own a vehicle. i would just like to post a few rules for would-be carpoolers. first, a car is expensive in nyc. if you're hitching a ride, pay up. one subway ride is $2. you should pay at least that for a ride in a car. second, never assume you are welcome in a car. always 1) ask permission or 2) wait until invited (preferably wait until invited). third, no talking on your cell phone while in the car (marc fehlberg). i will think of more soon and keep you updated. i have to leave work now.

my fifteen (anonymous) seconds

2008-04-09T14:01:00.002-04:00

as some of you may know, I have a slight obsession with brian lehrer, the wnyc public radio host. today i had my fifteen seconds of fame as he read my post to kick off his open phones section of his show. i know you may not think it's that big of deal, but it's enough to keep me going for the next couple of weeks (sad, I know). listen to the show and read the post here.

to breed lilacs out of the dead ground

2008-04-03T00:20:00.004-04:00

why is it we like april so much? who told us so? once, when i was eighteen years old or so, a friend and i would lock our doors and walk away, letting thomas stearns do our talking for us. he knew everything there was to know about april.

to tell you the truth, i'm not quite sure what I should even say on the web log. there is just a wealth of incredible information surrounding this world wide web, and i'm not sure i can keep up. there are just so many worthwhile and important things going on, that i'm not sure i can find time to give my thoughts a voice. i don't even think my thoughts matter, considering all the deeply charitable and kind people that are making our world the great place it is. so for now, just remember that winter kept us warm, covering earth in forgetful snow.

the one

2008-03-18T11:12:00.000-04:00

read this then let's talk.

i am the heisenberg principle

2008-03-03T16:09:00.004-05:00

if you haven't already, stop watching whatever you are watching on television and watch this show. it is almost enough to compensate for the ending of the greatest show ever beamed across the wires of televised goodness.

campaign genius

2008-02-29T15:41:00.002-05:00

this is the most amazing ad i've seen in a long time. watch it. memorize it. live by it.

this next one is not bad either. please enjoy.

movies galore

2008-02-23T23:55:00.004-05:00

today I went to this movie, and followed that up with a trip to this gallery. this is my report, and i'm sticking to it. sometimes i realize that i enjoy living in this city and this is one of those times. for now, please take a look at this deer head:

and this one:

if you have any questions, please call me.

the midwest diva

2008-02-15T15:35:00.002-05:00

this will solve all your life woes.

yes we can?

2008-02-13T14:52:00.003-05:00

please go here to do the right thing. you know you want to. you know you should. just do it already.

don't need a weather man

2008-02-07T00:03:00.000-05:00

i guess it's time: visit here to see what i've been doing over the past couple of months.

this is our problem

2008-02-06T00:20:00.001-05:00

not the gender breakdown, but the age breakdown (this is california's info, but stil)...

scotch mist

2008-01-11T09:46:00.000-05:00

if you haven't yet, spend some good solid time with this video.

all my love,

emilio

it was then i noticed two sets of footprints....

2008-01-02T23:43:00.000-05:00

no big deal.

2007-12-13T11:41:00.001-05:00

this is the view from my hotel room. wish you were all here...

full circle

2007-12-04T12:30:00.001-05:00

anyone remember this? Well, it's happened again, although this time Petey wasn't there. As you all know, the WGA is on strike, thus forcing our beloved Stephen Colbert and John Stewart off the air. What to do? How can we possibly get our news without their nightly reviews?

Luckily, UCB hosted the favorite son of South Carolina last nite and Brian (liz's brian) got us tickets. Just think, out of the three hundred million people in America, we were four out of 225 who were able to see Stephen. The show was perfect; in fact, even better with the school play aspect of the performance. For the word, the writers came out with posters to show the words that usually appear on screen. I won't say more, as you can find reports other places. But just know that I missed Peter not being by my side as well...

Also, if you are still reading this, you should check out this New York Public Radio interview. Brian Lehrer interviews Jan Shipps and does a pretty good job. I made some comments during the interview, but I'm afraid I did not represent very well...

hire this

2007-11-28T23:48:00.000-05:00

So, this is what I do on a Wednesday nite.

mitt the mormon

2007-11-15T11:22:00.001-05:00

i think paul will especially like this article about his favorite person ever.

ephinanies

2007-11-14T12:47:00.001-05:00

sister beck must have been thinking of graco's slogan when she gave this talk. so, i guess graco wants the world to ask mormon women about their products. am i right?

get ready for utah

2007-11-12T12:25:00.001-05:00

i know i can't wait. i hope you can't wait too.

ions bonding

2007-11-08T13:59:00.000-05:00

so what if i like salt?

theo the dicy

2007-11-05T23:01:00.000-05:00

check this out in the new york times. it's an article on how a practicing christian lost his faith because he couldn't answer the question of theodicy. the problem being that god, perfectly good, cannot create something evil or flawed. yet, on the earth, so much suffering and evil occurs. how did he create something so bad? it seems like most people (like 3 out of the 4 people who actually ever look at this) who read this web log probably believe in God. so, how do we reconcile it? how do we deal with the problem of evil? let's hear your thoughts. and no fair using vague quotes, etc. i'd rather we stick to what we believe and try to back it up with scripture, logic, or hard facts from pertinent sources. or we don't have to. we could just get ready for our big trip to chuck-a-rama over christmas time.....

photo fare

2007-10-28T21:45:00.000-04:00

i've lately had a thing for very old photographs. i came across this collection of photographs. i think it may have something to do with all of the books i'm reading right now by this guy. maybe not all the books by him, but especially these three. the books are almost perfectly written and coincided nicely with my discovery of these photographs.

there is nothing more american than photographs of the western usa during the 19th century. the photographic processes they used were tedious and required much time of both the photographer and the subject. all involved were serious about preserving memories. the camera, however, was not as commonplace as it is today, and represented something new and advanced. these cameras and processes created more beautiful documents than can any modern-day megapixel or software-advanced photoshop.

i found the above collection of photographs made by george edward anderson, a photographer based out of spanish fork and springville. i found many scanned negatives of my direct ancestors, as you can see below. at christmas time, anyone who is in utah should plan on a trip to the library with me to find the hard copies of these photos. then we can go to the d.i. and shop for cameras. and after that, we can maybe go to chuck-a-rama, another thing that represents the essence of america.

this picture is of my great great grandfather's family. he has a goatee. and he has a wooden leg, but you can't see it here.

this is thomas david and priscilla merriman evans. They are my great great grandparents on my mom's side.

this is my great aunt, maggie evans.

The old guy is david thomas davis, my great great grandpa. he went to wales with thomas david evans (see above) on a mission for the mormons.

This is spanish fork at a 24th of july parade.

this is a house called the peter frandsen house.

my britney barometer

2007-09-20T09:38:00.000-04:00

isn't it strange that no matter what company you are keeping, if you bring up britney spears, it will spark at least a 10 minute conversation? i thought that i used to be immune to it. unfortunately, last week someone turned on the tv and i saw her dancing at the mtv music awards, and now i can think of nothing else. seriously, i spend my days obsessed over britney. did you realize that she is just 5 months younger than me? which is totally wild because she is the only female artist in history to have her first four studio albums debut at no. 1 on the charts. and, in 2002, Forbes ranked her as the world's most powerful celebrity. but who needs money and power when you live in a room that measures 8 x 10?

a link

2007-09-17T13:07:00.000-04:00

please read this

another mormon thing

2007-09-13T12:16:00.000-04:00

saw this on mormon stories. take a look at our official stance on the mountain meadows massacre.

i just finished re-reading Juanita Brooks book on the subject, and I still know little about what actually happened. this new book that is coming out seems interesting. Elder Eyring claims Brigham Young is completely absolved of responsibility with this new research. sister brooks definitely didn't come to such a powerful conclusion, although she claims he probably wasn't to blame. however, she certainly does hold that he was responsible for some kind of cover up.

was there press on the movie september dawn in Utah? nothing much out here. the movie definitely places all the blame on Brigham Young, and almost none on local leaders, something that is not at all supported by the historical documents (at least probably, anyway).

opus no. mormon

2007-08-30T11:33:00.000-04:00

remember when i spent an entire year playing 'music' for a certain byu performing group? remember when i sold myself for a year just to get a free trip to china? the experience there, and other places, has led me to ask some questions regarding the state of mormon music, and more broadly, mormon art.

first, what, exactly defines mormon pop music? which part of that style of music makes it fit into that genre? is it even possible to create quality mormon pop? there is plenty of quality popular music in the 'secular' music world. however, i have yet to encounter creative, innovative, original mormon pop music (with one exception being ryan shupe's 'walk the walk'). more often than not, talent, virtuosity, and creativity are traded for trite, cliche, and cookie-cutter formulas that are easy-pleasing and even easy-listening. the mormon popular music genre does nothing to challenge its listeners; it does nothing to truly express--it seems--deep and complex emotions that truly reflect the faith required to stay strong in a complicated, rich religion during a complicated time. what is needed to create quality in mormon pop music?

second, the state of serious music is perhaps in a slightly better state in the mormon art world, but not much. it seems in the church as a whole, mormon pop music is overtaking serious mormon music. exceptions include mack wilberg, barlow bradford, robert cundick, and murray boren. but it also seems that few people in the church as a whole even know mos of those names, except for mack wilberg. his music is good, published by oxford university press, but still has a populist pull and steers clear of serious modern music in its orchestration and arrangement.

why is it that in the mormon world, or even in salt lake city, serious music has yet to really catch on? is it the price? are mormons too cheap? certainly the utah symphony has problems selling out, but everyone flocks to the free concerts given by the orchestra at temple square. are we too cheap? or is it that we simply don't understand music? we don't understand everything that goes in to creating serious, modern music? is the solution a series of educational programs?

even the orchestra from temple square is sufffering from this populist turn. if you ask members of the orchestra at temple square, they will tell you that their work is more of accompiament to the choir than creating serious music. they are dissatisfied with this musically, but support it in the missionary sense of the mormon tabernacle choir.

last, i wonder why serious mormon musicans do not really participate in the mormon music scene. if you are a serious classical or jazz musician, you are most likely not involved in mormon music; rather, you are busy in the wider classical music world trying to make a living. the same goes for pop musicians who are creating original work. see, for example, my brother's favorite musician, brandon flowers. how do we make it possible for these types of people to be a part of the mormon music world, perhaps not exclusively, but at least peripherally.

great expectations, you ever heard of it?

2007-08-21T18:46:00.000-04:00

i hope you can name this person.

tiny masters of today

2007-08-10T09:53:00.000-04:00

hi. hi. hi.

i don't like to do this (give a report of a concert i attended), but this time i just can't resist. i mean, the yeah yeah yeahs were great and everything when i saw them at webster hall on tuesday. i love them, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. yes, it was great, and yes karen o did scream into the mic while she was pretending to eat it.

but i want to talk about the tiny masters of today. i could write a bunch of stuff and pretend to be witty and cool. i could also pretend i know so much about rock and roll and the ny music scene, but i really don't. so just check out this little band--they aren't the most talented in the world, but they were great and everybody loved them at the show. the kids twelve and the girl is 10. and they are punk rock in its most innocent (is that possible?) and pure form.

teacher training

2007-07-24T01:04:00.000-04:00

despite my fervent warnings, it seems lafe has found his calling in life.

modernity

2007-07-05T19:49:00.000-04:00

watch this if you dare.

hey. don't worry about it.

2007-06-11T22:36:00.001-04:00

a goochoo goochooo goonison

2007-05-13T19:29:00.000-04:00

gunnison, utah. in these pictures. enjoy.

in the palm

2007-04-21T21:03:00.000-04:00

its just been so long, hasn't it? thats because april is the cruelest month.

engaged, underage, bridezilla

2007-03-19T20:25:00.000-04:00

a couple of weeks ago a coworker mentioned the mtv, engaged and underage reality show. she talked of a mormon couple. today i found it on the mormon stories site, and everyone must watch it.

To watch the episode, click here and then click on the “Engaged and Underage: Episode 6" view all.

why don't we just let these kids get married civily and then later that day seal the deal in the temple?

Utah Family Offended at Son´s Absence from Family Blog

2007-02-24T23:37:00.000-05:00

Sources confirmed Saturday that a Utah family was incredibly offended at son´s and brother´s refusal to comment on family blog. "It feels like Stephen doesn´t love us anymore," commented the mother. "It´s been an entire week and he hasn`t posted a single thing." Patricia Frandsen, a local homemaker and child rearer, interviewed just after she rechecked the blog, claims that her son´s refusal to post is a slight not only to her, but to the entire family. Frandsen also said, "It´s his passive-aggressive way of telling us he doesn´t like the comments we are leaving. Or is it that he doesn´t like us? Does he like us? Oh...I just wish he would get married."

"Ever since stephen moved to New York he has become aloof, liberal, and above doing anything with his family," commented Libby Frandsen-Jones, Stephen´s sister and frequent commenter on the blog. Tracy Frandsen, the blog´s author, agreed and added, "At first he stopped calling daily, then he stopped coming home for the weekly sunday dinner, and now he stops commenting on the family blog. What`s next? Join the aclu, leave the church and vote for hillary clinton?"

Jonathan, Stephen´s younger brother, who recently started his own blog, added "When i first came home from my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Stephen was listening to Rage Against the Machine. Now he is 25, unmarried, and he refuses to comment on the family blog."

The family blog, started just over three weeks ago, has attracted a large amount of attention from the Frandsen Family. The blog has taken the virtual place of once-weekly-held ´heritage nights,´ and is a forum where Tracy Frandsen can post his weekly letter, and the rest of the family can comment, correct, or cajole at will.

A success by any standard, the web log fetched 104 comments from its first post. The second week, when the second post only attracted 76 comments, Frandsen complained to his friend, Madison Sowell, that perhaps he should stop posting on his blog, because of waining support from its readership. The Frandsen Family responded fiercely with 79 comments, giving Frandsen capital to spend, eventually resulting in a post, two weeks later, that was written from the point of view of the family dog, an annoying, ugly little mut. The week previous to that, when Stephen Frandsen failed to comment, the blog only received 52 comments.

"I think its pretty obvious that two weeks ago, the small number of comments on the blog was due to Stephen´s neglect," said Paul Frandsen, caught just before mountain biking down a steep and dangerous hill with his daughter strapped to his somach, and his other daughter and son in a trailer behind his $2500 bike. "But I´m not mad or anything. I called him to have him confirm or deny some news that leaked out in the comments. He denied (I knew he would) and he let me know that he hadn´t had time to formulate any comments."

Stephen Frandsen was out of the country and could not be reached to comment; however, it is clear that the declining number of comments warrants some serious soul searching on the part of both the blog´s readership, and its author.

the lamb

2007-01-07T09:53:00.000-05:00

so while i was home in utah, i found my old journal. inside i found this picture and this description. now you know i wasn't lying about the lamb.

ozzie the lamb

2006-12-04T23:26:00.000-05:00

i went to church on sunday (can you believe it?) and garret hill gave another great lesson. however, something always strikes me wrong when people at church talk about sheep. i have never been able to pin down the problem--until garret shared a story about a young man who raised a bummer lamb, and was grief-stricken when his little lamb died in a storm due to the neglect and selfishness.

i raised bummer lambs once--and sadly it destroyed my ability to ever connect with the 'feed my sheep' metaphor. in high school and college i occasionally told people i participated in 4-h. inevtably, people like my cousin peter would mock and scorn. but i told them that it was more than working on the farm--we learned photography, public speaking, participated in talent shows, and cooked dough boys for the state fair (i guess my mom figured there had to be some way to boost her children's self esteem--and a blue ribbon at the state fair for expertly cooked snickerdoodles or dough boys was as good a way as any (a dough boy, by the way, is a delectable treat cooked by spreading dough around a thick stick and roasting it over an open fire, then smothering the cooked dough in butter and brown sugar.)). i spent a good part of my young adulthood arguing to others that just because i am from Spanish Fork does not necessarily make me a hick. the following story, however, proves that i was indeed part of the 4-h (the h's stand for head, heart, hands, and hicks, i think).

i was quite young when this happened and almost the only things i remember are severely traumatic. for a genius-idea of a 4-h project, our family decided to raise bummer lambs. one of the lambs was named ozzie (in honor of the great shortstop ozzie smith, of course, but that part is not traumatic). i can't remember the second lamb's name but i'm sure paul remembers. i think he had a special connection with these little lambs. we were pretty excited about the bummer lambs, so we put up chicken fencing around a small part of the pasture that stood in front of our old house (because that's what we usually do when we get excited).

as part of our 4-h duty, every day we had to feed the bummer lambs. so the kids of the house filled large, tall glass sprite bottles with milk, attached a bottle-top pacifier thing on top, and held the bottles through the chicken fencing while ozzie and the unnamed bummer lamb drank to their content. the best part of the feeding, however, came after the lambs sucked the bottles dry. these glass bottles were incredibly durable and could easily withstand the duress that comes from high-speed contact with grass and other dirt-packed ground. paul, jonny, and i liked nothing more than throwing the bottles against the grass to see who could make them bounce farther and more. libby, who was still in diapers, decided to join the festivities from time to time (paul, am i telling this story correctly?) anyway, libby got in the way of one of our contests, and the bottle ended up in between her eyes. screaming, blood, and black eyes were parts that made up my first traumatic experience with bummer lambs.

eventually ozzie and the unnamed one were full-grown. i don't remember if anyone came with me, but i think i was with my dad when we took the lambs to the auction. little did i know we were selling the sheep to their death. i remember sitting in the stands, watching ozzie walk on the auction block; as he came out, ozzie struggled with the auctioneer as the bidding started. i watched, delighted as the farmers and ranchers in the crowd bid on his ripe and fertile meat. the bidding nearly reached $125, and i was ecstatic that our hard work paid off. it was great...i spent an entire summer making a friend named ozzie, and then, in the fall, i was able to sell him off for over $100. i didn't understand why we didn't get more bummer lambs and get ourselves a bummer lamb industry started.

i hadn't though about this macabre scene until garret told the story on sunday about a man that accidentally killed his own bummer lamb through neglect and selfishness. later, when he was called to home teach, he was set on compensating his former bad behavior by fulfilling his responsibility. what about me, though? i purposely sent my lamb to his death. it wasn't through neglect and laziness. i raised this lamb for the direct purpose of profit and death. i can imagine ozzie saying to the unnamed one, 'i am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but i'm calm as a summer's morning. if you see stephen, tell him i forgive him, because he doesn't know what he's doing'. for that reason, i'm scared every time i get a home teaching assignment. look out home teachees, soon you'll be at a spanish fork auction, sold for $125 and made into tasty lamb chops. and the entire time my dad (my original home teaching companion) will be at my side, proud of his son's 4-h handiwork.

the trauma doesn't stop there. once, we were in gunnison, utah, on my grandpa's farm hunting pheasants. every year we tromp up the main ditch and usually we actually see some roosters. then a few of us make a futile trip to the now-waterless ponds. for some reason, we always think there will be pheasants, but there never are. although i do remember brian, my cousin, shooting a pheasant at the pond, but i think that only happened because he bought 30 pheasants and planted a few at the usually-unsuccessful spot. my dad and i were hunting the perimeter and we heard bleating coming from the west bank of the pond. we found a lamb sick and lying on its side, unable to move. my dad the farmer/doctor somehow determined the lamb was beyond recovery and decided we needed to put it out of its misery. so he shot it with his 12 gauge in the head. as he turned i saw him wipe a tear out of his eye. i wasn't so much traumatized by seeing my dad cry (he cried at the end of cars, akeelah and the bee, and the fast and the furious (probably)), but by the fact that every time i came in contact with sheep, they died. and most of the time i am with my dad. so when i hear the call, 'feed my sheep' i grow extremely worried for the sheep.

the crux

2006-11-21T15:31:00.000-05:00

geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is delar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is delar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is delar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar. geronimo p. ashbar is deltar and deltar is geronimo p. ashbar.

oh deer

2006-11-07T01:13:00.000-05:00

the other week i went to utah and went up a mountain to camp out, be manly, and kill things. i accomplished the first.

but my cousin cutler mastered all three objectives. i knew it was going to happen when we started out on friday afternoon. we were discussing the finer points of life when he told me about his 'hot manti girls.' when i asked him to back up such an oxymoronic statement, he produced this picture from his wallet:

he asked me if i could guess what grade she was in. i said fifth. he said, you wish. then he told me she is in 8th grade (he is in 9th). I asked if it matters what grade she is in. he said, no--she's hot though. and i guess he sort of had a point. so at that time i realized that stopping cutler from killing a deer was impossible: the deer had as much chance as did this hot manti girl. so at the very end of the next day, i was not surprised to see cutler riding an atv with a deer tied to the front. and here he is:

while we were driving up to our hunting spot, grandpa's car exploded. and here is a picture of that.

grandpa is something like 87 years old and he can fix anything with his hands and some chicken wire. so i decided i should take some pictures of that:

it was a pretty good trip to utah. i didn't meet any hot LA people or do any great mountain biking, but i did manage to get home at 4:00 in the morning because my flight back to new york was stupid.

and that is all for now. goodbye.

alphius: where are you?

2006-10-17T00:14:00.000-04:00

i think this might be the best thing i have ever seen. you may have heard it was peter's birthday the other day. well, he came home last week with a present for me. you'd think i would be getting him presents, but that lovely brought me home a book. i found this picture in it and i haven't been this happy since i found out the niels bohr model was not the latest atomic theory. if this doesn't make you happy, then maybe you should check out this out. enjoy this picture of the best thing in the entire world

marriage?

2006-10-15T21:25:00.000-04:00

today we went to church and our stake president was there and he told us we had to get married. and marc was visiting and he didn't even feel guilty at all because he was there with his fiance and they are getting married in two weeks and six days. then, after church, they came over to our house because it is peter's birthday today (happy birthday peter) and marc started beat boxing (he's real good, you know) and i threw down some fat rhymes--i was old schoolin' it and not even caring--not even a little bit. after, we went up to scarsdale to eat with peter's aunt, uncle and his parents (all of whom are great and i think we should get together with all of them more often) and on the way home marc started beat boxin' again and i couldn't help but throwin' it down yet again. it was a good day and it made for a good birthday--at least it was a good birthday celebration for me, even though it wasn't my birthday (it was peter's--he hit the big 25). so here is the happy couple. and i'm going to sleep.

a somewhat sort of news flash

2006-10-06T16:18:00.000-04:00

from now on, i would like everyone to refer to me as geronimo p. ashbar. this name cancels out any previous nomenclature that you or any other person may have used to refer to me.

p.s. my friend andrew just returned from spreading freedom in iraq; i think i'm glad he's home.

pandemonium

2006-10-03T18:59:00.000-04:00

someone asked me the other day what i like. i couldn't answer very well. here is an attempt. the following 44 items are things (in no particular order) i've liked in the past couple of weeks.

1.

10.medeski martin and wood
11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

the love song of j. alfred prufrock

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

axe (phoenix) deodorant

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

marc and kaedi fehlberg

36.

upright citizen’s brigade theater

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

the second movement of the 7th Beethoven symphony

42.

bach cello suites

43.

inwood 3rd ward

44.

the people’s republic of china

the new radical

2006-09-24T16:45:00.000-04:00

drawing pictures during church is the new radical.

so. people have been bothering me about posting peru pictures. guess what? i am not your slave. i will not be used. you will not be a parasite off my life.

so i will post some pictures that i drew during church today. it helped me get through. i am not an artist, nor do i claim to be. and no, i am not prince hamlet, nor was i meant to be. but i think i did do peter justice. please see below.

above iss a picture of some girl looking out the window. she is scared because she doesn't want to face the alien robot that is attacking the city.

This is Peter as he prepares to give a talk in church. he is thinking a lot about atp. in fact, he can't get the krebs cycle out of his mind.

becca and i were talking and we decided to illustrate a short history of mullet. my favorite one is the one about the apostles.

so i hope everyone is having a good time. i am thinking about posting peru pictures, but i will do it on my own timeline.

thank you.