Articles July-August

Even with a move that took over my life the past two months, I still managed to read a lot! I don't always save what I read, but there's still plenty to peruse here.

Politics/News

MoTab on Red Square -- these are some interesting (and depressing) essays by a friend of mine about new laws in Russia prohibiting missionary work.

How the haters made Trump -- strong language warning at the beginning, but it's a really interesting article. Perhaps the most interesting part to me is

 But no matter how vigilant Nunberg was, he told me, Trump would never let him forget that he’d been the one who let the most embarrassing story about him happen. Eventually, he said, he began using those opportunities to encourage his boss to finally pull the trigger on a presidential campaign.

“That story was bad,” Trump said one day while the two met at Trump Tower.

“Yeah,” Nunberg conceded, “but think about how bad McKay is gonna look when you run.”

Trump appeared to dwell on that for a moment, and then nodded. “That’s true.”

Over 30,000 Muslims in the UK marched against ISIS -- just in case you thought they all supported the Caliphate.

Welcome To America -- This was a great video about what some people have done for refugees.

Missionaries save dozens from carbon monoxide -- I love this story, and I love that I know one of the missionaries involved!

Religion

Review of "Future Mormon" -- I picked up Adam Miller's Future Mormon in June at my parents' house, and the sections I read were really interesting. Every now and then, there was something that bothered me that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and I think this article articulates my feelings well.

We Aren't God's Only People -- I liked this blog post because it seemed to catch the essence of the 13th article of faith. I think that if we truly have the gift of the Holy Ghost, we will be able to glean truth from every source.

Reflecting on the Marks of Jesus -- lots of beautiful ideas in this.

The Nature of Wisdom -- this is a lengthy quote from a man named William Arkle. I need to go back and reread it. Incidentally, ever since I read a few articles about a year ago about Wisdom in the Old Testament, I often replace with word "Wisdom" with "feminine divine" when I read to see what other insights could come from that. (Sometimes that works better than other times.)

Daughters in Christ -- I liked a lot of Fair Mormon addresses, and this one had a really good historical overview of how the priesthood/womanhood divide came to be. I feel like these are exciting times as we learn more about the priesthood and how women are involved in it.

More Effective Apologetics -- I thought this was interesting. Maybe not quite fair to past apologetics, but good points notwithstanding.

Faith-Centered Dialectics -- I really liked the idea of seeing people, rather than just lists of attributes of people. (And actually, it's discussion of dialogue like this that helps me understand the concept of safe spaces, even though I think they can be used inappropriately.)

Marriage/Family

Conception -- I really liked this article my mom sent me. It's been interesting seeing how Kevin and I have adopted different roles. I think if I had married a musician or more absent-minded engineer, I would take on certain responsibilities in our marriage. But he's taken over a lot of those responsibilites, so I've realized that my main job is to conceive ways to make things fun and beautiful. I get to be the one to plan vacations, to make decisions about preschool, to invite people over, to look for recipes. It's not hard work, but I think we notice if it doesn't happen. This article helped me feel some stewardship over these responsibilities, so I was grateful to read it.

Making a Marriage Work with a Traveling Spouse -- I don't have a traveling spouse per se, but Kevin has traveled a lot for conferences, so I've had some experience with it, and I liked her advice. I think it would also apply for anyone with a busy spouse (man, those of you with a husband in medical school, I salute you!).

Why do we judge parents for putting kids at perceived but unreal risk? -- This is why every time I remembered, I left a suggestion in the box at the library to have a drop off drive through so I didn't have to leave the car to return books (you never know who might judge you for leaving your kids in a locked car with the windows rolled down for 90 seconds). Well, and because I didn't like having to walk to return the books.

Screen time is bad -- some kids really like screens way too much. So have them play with real legos, not minecraft or touchpads. (I actually didn't care for this article too much, but it helps me remember to be careful with screen time.)

Social

Small Talk -- ugh. Guys. This is the worst part of moving (besides the actual physical moving part and trying to find a good grocery store). People have been really friendly, but I get tired of asking them the same boring questions and giving the same boring answers. If it were up to me I'd hand them a business card with the answer to all the basic questions and then just talk about Harry Potter. But I guess it's important to go through these motions.

15 tips for making friends after a move -- This move has gone pretty well, and I think a lot of that is thanks to advice like this. I'm sure there will be times where I feel so painfully lonely I can hardly bear it, but so far it's been fine.

Actually, the hardest part has been group settings of any kind. I can strike up conversation with any friendly stranger and jump into a pretty good chat, but being in a group is (and, frankly, always has been) torture. I sit there fretting while they're talking about stuff I have nothing to contribute to. Do I ask what they're talking about? Do I ask them questions about themselves? Do I just sit there? Today, the answer was follow Joseph around at the playground at his insistence. But when it comes to groups, I think there's a lot of merit to this quote from The Secret Life of Amanda K. Woods:

Groups of people are like herds of horses, or cows. They sniff the wind. They are alert for danger. They keep out strangers. They don't know why, they just do. And they all think as one. If one of them didn't, he or she would turn into a stranger....She has to pretend she has been at your school forever. She must stand around with all the girls who stand around, and listen to the conversation but not say one word. She should just look interested and friendly—that is very important—and look like she knows about everything that is going on.

She should do this for weeks. Months, maybe. Finally, one day, someone in the group will make a mistake and talk to her....Then she can answer. She should just respond to what is said. The important thing isn't what she says back. It's the way she acts. This is crucial. She shouldn't act surprised, or startled, or anything like that....After that she can say a few things....She should ask the other girls about themselves....But what she asks shouldn't be too personal....Then in about a month, she can invite the person who is the friendliest to do something with her.

I think you should talk before that, for sure! But I think the key is to be where the people are, and act like you belong there. But not be overbearing about it.

Speaking of all this,

New Research on Overcoming Loneliness -- with very few exceptions, the times I've overcome loneliness have been when I've reached out (often repeatedly) rather than been reached out. And it's worth the little bit of embarrassment.

Let Your Friends Be Friends -- This struck a chord. I've wondered if I did what I needed to to make friends like this the past few years, friends that I can still count on, and them on me. I don't know if I'll ever completely depend on friends the way I do on siblings, but I'm grateful for the glimpses I've had of what that feels like.

Other

Preston residents still like Napoleon Dynamite way too much -- I recently was talking with a guy from Scotland, and as we were running out of small talk, I asked, "Are people from Scotland so proud of Harry Potter?" I was thinking about this article when I asked that, but I decided to not bring it up.

How to Get Through Chemo -- My favorite line in this is "I may not have been stronger than my symptoms that day, but I was sillier. And that, it turns out, was enough."


Books: I have not been good about finishing books this summer. I didn't even get enough for the adult Summer Reading Program (though I amassed thousands upon thousands of points from kids' books). New Seeds of Contemplation took a lot out of me, I guess, so I really only skimmed books (even All the Light We Cannot See, which I have been planning to read for 2 years). Right now, I am finally reading All Creatures Great and Small, which my aunt gave me 6 years ago at a bridal shower. I confess I never made it past the first chapter where he helped birth a calf. But after giving birth a few times and changing lots of diapers I have a stronger stomach, and I think it's a delightful book. And very British.

Recipes:

I should be better about saving recipes, but I'm not. So here's what I can remember (just from this last week, haha).

Mel's Kitchen Cafe E-Book -- I have had so much fun looking through this! If you ever have a stick of butter lying around that needs to fill the measure of its creation, I recommend her Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits. Best food I've ever made (Kevin agreed).

This was pretty good pasta salad. I think I like the balsamic taste better than the red wine taste, and I switched out a few vegetables here and there and added parmesan, but it's always nice to at least have a recipe on hand. Just in case the other 3 at the potluck don't suit your fancy. (As I always say, the church is only as true as its pasta salads.)

I made my first quinoa dish tonight, and it was pretty good! I don't know why I called it jaguar meat, but Joseph tried some partially due to that name.

How to pick the best watermelon -- I don't know how much longer they will be in season, but hopefully this will help one last time!



And in closing, the Onion sums up my life perfectly. As usual.

Man Looks on Helplessly as Friend Tells Him Story He's Already Heard -- I reread books way more than I read new books. I rewatch movies way more than I watch new movies. And yet there is nothing more frustrating to me than hearing the same story twice. So I had a good laugh over this.