Excuse

Excuse the short post. I am much too excited from the return of Gossip Girl tonight. It wasn't quite as eventful as I expected, but it certainly set up for some pretty interesting episodes.

And why have I never been informed of the Monsters of Folk before? Anything involving Connor Oberst must be made known to me!! Don't you forget it!

And the Oscar goes to . . .

So I watched (well technically I am watching) The 82nd Annual Academy Awards tonight.

First of all Cinnamon Toast Crunch makes an excellent substitute for popcorn.

Second of all, I really need to go to the movies more often. It's so expensive out here, but I need to suck it up and put it in the weekly budget. There are just so many I want to see. The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Bastards, Precious, Crazy Heart, Up in the Air, Up, District 9, Invictus, The Lovely Bones, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Young Victoria, Bright Star, Coco Before Chanel . . . Whew I'm just exhausted thinking of how far behind I am.

At least I have seen Avatar.

Does anyone else think it's funny that everyone is the Twilight series are better actors than Kristen Stewart?

Anna Kendrick i.e. Jessica (a very minor character) from Twilight was nominated for an Oscar for goodness sakes.

And K-Stew got to present one award. She got only twoish lines and managed to scratch her nose, mess with her hair and cough in that short time. Not to mention the fact she mumbled the whole time. Why is she famous again?

Where is the love?

I am very saddened to say I do not think I can any longer be a fan of one of my most favorite time wasters Perez Hilton.

He posted a summary of a rather rude, unkind and generally false blog that used Marie Osmond's sons death as yet another anti-Mormon platform. First of all, this was in extremely bad tasting using the death of someone's child as an excuse to drag them and their religion through the mud. I could not even begin to imagine losing someone who I loved to suicide, and I certainly cannot possibly imagine being heartless enough to use this happening to someone as a way to promote my own agenda no matter what it was. However, this was used as an excuse to rant on and on about how Mormons are evil. It's nothing us members of the LDS church haven't heard before really.

However, just because it is not the first time it does not make it less disconcerting.

The blame game has never really got anyone anywhere. Saying that a Whopper has more calories that a Big Mac has never made me want to buy a Big Mac and hearing a political candidate rip into their opponent and lay to bare every mistake they have ever made only makes me wonder what skeletons are hiding in their closet that makes them feel the only way they can win is to belittle their rival.

Saying the Mormon Church is evil, a cult, hypocritical, homophobic, brainwashing, of the devil, etc. etc. will NEVER actually help further pro gay rights movements. It just won't do any good. The statement "If the Mormon church is false then gays should be allowed to get married" is not a logically sound if and then statement. That's not how it works.

So instead of proving a point or trying to find something beneficial out of a tragedy, someone has only propagated falsehoods, hate and contention.

Since this was posted on Perez Hilton today, 301(this is not counting how many people read and didn't comment and how many people read it on the original blog it was posted on) people have commented on the post. 301 people who may have never known anything about the Church may have had their first impression not of love, family, faith, Jesus Christ, salvation, scripture, righteousness, blessings, power of prayer, testimony, or any other of the countless wonderful aspects of my church. Sadly, their first impression of the Church was one of hate, evil, homophobia and suicide. All of the wonderful things my church does, all the lives it touches and changes, families it brings together, and people it helps are completely overlooked because someone who has little to no actual facts makes a public tirade about our church.

And surely enough many people will hold this impression their entire lives. Further antagonistic, hateful and fearful attitudes is the last thing we need in this world right now, and most likely this is just what has happened as a result of one person.

I don't expect my church leader to be able to tell me what it's like to be Jewish, or Hindu, or Baptist. I would certainly hope you wouldn't expect yours to be able to tell you about what it's really like to be a Mormon.

So on the off chance you don't know anyone else here's my first hand experience:

Being a member of the LDS Church has made my life better . . . without a shadow of a doubt. I have stayed alcohol, drug and smoke free. I have never woken up and not been able to remember what I did the night before. I am not encumbered by any physical or emotional addictions. I have not had a child out of wedlock.

I am a college graduate, and I plan to continue my education.

I have a love for myself, my family, my friends, and my fellowman that has come from the knowledge that we are all brothers and sisters of our Heavenly Father. We are all here for the same reason, working towards the same goal, and are all fellow travelers to the grave.

I have learned that even the smallest acts of kindness can lift another's spirit, and truly have an impact on both their lives and your own.

I have learned that prayer is real and powerful. God will and does answer every prayer (if not in the way you expect). You might miss it because most of the time our prayers are answered through another person. Don't doubt that God doesn't listen just because he doesn't personally answer you. He uses us as his ministering angels most of the time. Be perceptive and listen to the Spirit and He will use you, too.

I know that everyone's particular situation in life, no matter how terrible it may seem, is that way for a reason. We all knew beforehand what we were getting ourselves into when we came into this life and we willingly and cheerfully agreed because we knew the reward would far outweigh the cost. Our situations, friends, family, location, co-workers--all of it is there for a specific reason.

Because of my religion, I am able to see beyond my daily struggles, disappointments and heartbreaks and know that someday, if not in this life then in the next, they will have been for my own good and progression.

I have learned that I can be with my family and those that I love and care for forever. Really, what more could one want than to be always with your loved ones?

I know my Saviour Jesus Christ, I know what he did for us all, and I know I am loved.

I know I have a divine potential.

I know there is a purpose to my life.

I can and do find joy in my life.

I gladly donate 10% of my earnings to my Church because I know every cent of it is used for a good purpose.

I think even the most spiritually devoid atheist would be impressed with the conversion stories and drastic life changes of the people I go to church with each and every Sunday.

I know that we lived before this earth and we will after. The potential each one of us has is more than we could possibly hope to imagine.

True story.

If you really want to know more, I suggest trying here:

LDS.org

Mormon.org

Chat Live with a Missionary (yeah this is for real)

Mormon Messages (you better believe Mormons have a youtube channel!)

And let us not forget what the great Charles Dickens said about ignorance:

`They are Man's,'' said the Spirit, looking down upon them. ``And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!'' cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. ``Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse! And bide the end!'' ``Have they no refuge or resource?'' cried Scrooge. ``Are there no prisons?'' said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. ``Are there no workhouses?'' Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, 1843



I'm done being serious now.

Here's a picture from Christmas I love, and I don't think I've posted yet:

A Suspicion

So about midday today (I think it was while I was having lunch in the car) I had an itch on my neck. In the process of getting it sorted out, I realized I had my shirt on backwards. The funny thing was, you certainly couldn't tell. I probably just looked just as fashionable regardless of my unintentional wardrobe malfunction.

This leads me to my thought for the day. I was reading Perez Hilton the other day (as I do most days) and there was some post or other about Lady GaGa and her fashion choices. I have to say I am rather impressed by the fact she constantly keeps up her out-there wardrobe all of the time in front of the paparazzi. But I must say I suspect as soon as she is away from the beautiful dirty rich lifestyle and the fame she likes to just dance around in her hotel room (brown eyes free from her gratuitous amount of makeup) in a t-shirt and basketball shorts.

I just know it.

With all the extreme fashion she is usually seen in it's almost hard to picture her dressed in clothes that seem normal for the rest of us but for her are just eh eh boring. Here's a rendering of what she might look like. Of course it's impossible to find a picture without makeup or accessories of some sort because of the aforementioned reasons.

I don't really know, but I really like to think so.

P.S. -

How many Lady Gaga song titles did I sneak in up there?

What do you call . . .

a blog with no identifiable subject?

I don't know.

But here's one thing I do know . . . I hate traffic. There is no excuse for it ever taking nearly two hours to drive 20 miles for any reason short of death, destruction, natural disasters or a zombie apocalypse. I suppose the ridiculously long drive gives some people time to contemplate deep thoughts about the true purpose of their life, or perhaps to de stress after a long day of closing extremely important business deals, or perhaps some people just enjoy the time to rock out to their favorite tune or listen to a book on tape. Who's to say?

I, however, did not contemplate any purpose to my life as I drove home today. I was sleepy, hungry and a little hot. Not to mention tired of being in the car. It's the worst when you're driving in the car tired, slow, and warm. Why can't we all just aparate? WHY?!

A little before 4 today we took a trip to the beach somewhere in the Venice area to write out some letters for work since we were so close, and believe you me it certainly beat sitting in the car to write them.

Living in Beverly Hills (That's where I want to be)

So I don't live there. As we all know, I live in Glendale. However, I did drive through Beverly Hills today  . . . and Santa Monica too.

It says play in Beverly Hills if you can't see it!

It took us way over an hour to drive home. Since we had the choice to be stuck on the freeway or take the scenic route, we went with the scenic way. And look what we ran right into (well almost):

The L.A. temple is beautiful, and it was a nice surprise to drive by it.

So walking from my apartment to the car, especially on rainy days is somewhat of a don't step in the hot lava kind of experience.

Except the hot lava in this case is snails. Yes, snails. They are everywhere.

It starts to rain, and they just creep their slimy way all over the pavement. I'm talking a mine field of snails here.

 As soon as I get to the bottom of my steps I automatically go up to my tiptoes and scan the pavement looking for the best possible route. Of course, the best possible route is the one that involves me not stepping on a squishy yet crunchy gastropod.

I suppose I look rather sillyto random passers (and drivers) by bouncing and leaping about , but it's much better than the alternative. (Nobody would call someone silly for leaping and bounding across a mine field, mind you.)

I think I prefer worms . . .

and believe you me that's saying something.

Oh, and for all you people who may have watched Parenthood tonight please do not hold your child's (or your own) head back when they get a bloody nose. From a veteran nose bleeder, it is not the right way to do it and is thoroughly gross too. I'll spare the gory details. Just remember to lean that head forward!

Just My Luck

Wouldn't it just so happen that it was rainy yet again on Saturday? Really? Those five bathing suits are sitting in the top of my closet mocking me every morning when I go choose the day's ensemble.

"It's going to be nice today but you have to work until it gets cold, Rachel," they say. "Guess what? It's going to be raining on Saturday. You know, you're day off!"

At which point they start to snicker and then subsequently laugh at me.

Laughing I tell you . . . laughing at me because they find it funny that I cannot go to the beach. They must have teamed up with the weather to thwart any plans that involve me, the weekend, sunshine and the beach.

But isn't life so unfair sometimes?

Luckily life isn't always completely unfair. I discovered Super King Markets where you can find delicious produce and reasonable prices. They even had one of my personal favorites: Parsnips!!!

and sweet potatoes, grape tomatoes, mango, and gala apples too!

 I was also suggested by the RS President (thank you for that btw Rachel Mag!) to try jimaca. It made for a pretty delicious salad topper and lunchtime snack today.

You have to peel it first of course. 

Cross your fingers for me . . . if all goes according to plan I have a date with a hot tub tomorrow night! 

Take that you evil, conspiring bathing suits!