ScripTrivia

http://scriptrivia.com/
So, my husband has been having fun making a few websites recently. One he's been working on is ScripTriva.com. It's  kind of an outlet where he can talk about interesting insights or ideas/speculations he's had that somewhat relate to the scriptures. I think it's neat that the web is set up in such a way that pretty much anyone can have a voice. I heard that in some parts of the world (like China) blogger, facebook, and some other websites are blocked. I'm thankful to live in a country where we have access to unrestricted information online.

using media to promote general conference

http://www.ldshta.org/general-conference/invite-others?lang=eng
I ran across this on LDS.org. I think it's great that the church is getting so involved with the new media that is out there and using it to promote general conference. I've been thinking about general conference a lot lately. I think it's wonderful that the prophet is able to literally speak to the world through television and radio. And what a better way to be introduced to the gospel than to be able to hear the prophet himself and feel the spirit that way :)

Cinderella

I watched one of my favorite Cinderella shows: Slipper and the Rose. It's an older movie. I like it because it's super cheesy and also very sweet. But I was also thinking about the general story line of Cinderella and how it might fit into things we are talking about in class. So, it's interesting, because it seems like the whole plot revolves around the idea that outward appearance (pretty dress, higher status, etc.) is what's important in order to have "true love." I almost think that if the prince just fell in love with Cinderella as a peasant, with a rag dress and dirt on her face, it could be even more romantic and cute :) Just a thought.

Susan Boyle :)

I was watching a few videos on youtube this morning, and after watching Susan Boyle's audition, I just had to post it. I know we've all already seen this, but I just love it. It's really inspiring, and it kind of puts us all in our place and makes us realize that we shouldn't judge others because we never know what could be lying beneath the outward appearance.

Sitcoms :(

So, I have to admit, I am not a big fan of sitcoms. I never watch them, but whenever I overhear or see clips of some of the more popular ones, it surprises me how much profanity and sexual innuendos there are in them. I can't even sit through 5 minutes without cringing in my seat at something. It's interesting to see how far media has come, in both good ways and bad, over the last few years. It seems like TV and the few Hollywood actors/producers are trying to define for all of us what kind of behavior is and is not okay, and they are getting away with it. If we don't start speaking up about it, who knows how out-of-hand things could get in the next few years. Obviously a few voices protesting against the moral permissiveness in TV is not going to bring us back to the "Brady Bunch" days, but I think it could still make at least some small difference and slow down the downward spiral of the media.

Scary Movies

After the lecture on scary movies, I thought I'd do a little post on my own feelings about them. I hate scary movies! When I was younger I used to like them, but now I guess I'm a lot more sensitive, and I just cringe at the thought of intentionally trying to freak myself out. I was talking to my best friend the other day about scary movies, and we talked about the difference between faith and fear. Faith is the absence of fear. You can't have faith with fear, and you can't have fear when faith is present. One will crowd out the other. So if scary movies really do have some long-term effect, does that mean that they can little by little fill us with more fear and crowd out our faith? I don't know. I just thought it was interesting food for though :)

Clearing out the clutter

Today I went to a Relief Society meeting where they talked about being guardians of the hearth and taking care of our families and homes. One of the speakers talked about how we should get rid of all the clutter in our lives that takes up room or time that we don't have. We should also get rid of all the media and other materials in our homes that drive away the spirit. She likened it to the steps of the creation, and how we need to follow those same steps in organizing our own homes. First, we need to organize every needful thing, then beautify, then provide light (which includes getting rid of stuff that doesn't bring the spirit) and then it can be a home where the spirit can dwell and where everyone can feel comforatable and fulfill their potential. It was a great lesson. It made me think about myself and the types of media that I have, and whether or not it all invites the spirit. I decided that I'm going to clear out some of the "clutter" in my itunes and movies in order to bring more light into my home.

Facebook: Connecting us or not?

You know, facebook is supposed to be for "connecting" with people, but sometimes I wonder if it really is effective in doing that. Sometimes I feel like it is actually more effective "disconnecting" us from each other than connecting us. It seems like the very nature of facebook encourages "me-ness" (isolating oneself in one's own little me-bubble world, updating personal statuses, uploading photos, creating the perfect profile, all with the hopes that online friends will see our profile and up our popularity score).  But in all honesty, all that "updating" has the potential to make us less prone to reach out to others in meaningful ways. And because of the digital nature of facebook, we might be more inclined to think it's ok to "ignore" someone's message because it is less confronting and doesn't seem as "real" of an interaction. This can disconnect us from others even further. I'm not saying that facebook is destroying the world, but it's definitely influencing the way we interact with others, which can be in a negative way I think, if we let it.

One of my favorite children's book is “Daughter of a King.” It is a simple picture book from Deseret Book that tells the story of a girl named Katie, whose parents always told her that she was a princess, and that her father the King had sent her to live with them until she was ready to return to the palace. Katie always tried to act like a princess, but sometimes she made mistakes. It was a challenge for her to always remember who she was and why she must always choose the right. Eventually, she married someone who also remembered that he was a prince, and they raised a family and prepared to make the journey back to the palace. In their old age, the time finally came. They make a long journey over rough terrain and finally made it to the palace, where they were warmly received by the King.
            The reason I love this story is because it just gives me a warm/fuzzy feeling whenever I read it. I love the beautiful pictures. Especially the very last one, where Katie is looking up at the King with tearful eyes. It’s very touching to me. It’s just a very tender story that I love. The whole plot parallels the plan of salvation and reminds me that even though I can’t see my Heavenly Father, He is there waiting for me to come home. It also reminds me that as long as I am trying my best, even though I may not feel like a princess, that’s my divine nature, and this life is just a place where I need to learn and grow and try to become more “princess-like.”

When I was growing up, my favorite book was “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” In this book, it starts out with a grandfather talking to his grandson at breakfast and then the grandson comments that the sunrise on the mountain looks like mashed potatoes with butter on the top. Then the grandpa proceeds to tell the boy about a faraway island where it rained food. It used to be just a normal town, but one day something happened, and food started falling from the sky. The people loved it at first. The weatherman would forecast the upcoming day’s menu. However, it didn’t take long until it got out of hand. Sometimes it would rain weird combinations like brussel sprouts and mayonnaise. If it was someone’s birthday, he/she wouldn’t always get what he/she wanted. Then the food started getting bigger and bigger until it caused major calamities and danger to the lives of the people. Eventually, the people realized that the only way to survive was to build boats out of giant peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and sail away from the island looking for another place to live.
            I liked this book as a child because it stirred up my imagination. It was different and silly in its ideas and plot, and that made me happy. The pictures were funny also. What impact did this book have on my life? Well, that’s an interesting question. I’m not sure. But I think that, if nothing else, it sparked my creativity and unique sense of humor. When the movie, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” came out, I was excited. It turned out to be a good movie, but not quite as playful and innocent and happy as the book. It seems like in the movie, the plot very quickly moves from the blissfulness of the raining food to the calamity/trajedy. Whereas in the book, it seems like it dwells on the happy parts longer. I guess that’s why I liked the book as a child. I liked thinking of life in an optimistic way, and imagining a perfect place where everything was exactly how you’ve always wanted it. So, this book probably impacted me in a similar way, by fostering this sort of “idealism.”

messages of music

I’ve also been thinking about the power of music to influence the way that we think about our relationships. A lot of popular love songs out there are catchy, but when I really stop to analyze the subliminal messages in them, I realize that it isn’t really promoting true love, but glorifying selfishness and personal gratification. Because it’s not blatant, it’s really good at making us think that this kind of attitude is linked to perfectly successful relationships. I think this can be harmful. For example, some of the Backstreet Boys songs could be classified under this, if you really look close at the lyrics (i.e. “I want way”) – not that they are bad or anything, but I just think that it’s interesting. whereas “Be That Friend,” or “Aint no Mountain High” are both very altruistic and promotes a feeling of commitment without selfish motives.

music :)

Since we’ve been talking so much about music this week, I’ve been thinking about some of my favorite songs. And I have to say that “Forward With Faith” (an EFY song) is up there at the top of my list. I remember being introduced to this song on my mission in the Philippines, at a time that I was very discouraged, and it lifted me up so much! I still listen to this song whenever I’m feeling down, and it never fails to brighten up my mood. I love music that does that to you.

Tree of Life

Along with my last post, I read 1 Nephi 8 this morning (because the Elder Packer's talk made me want to go back and read it again, more closely). Some interesting new insights I found:

- The river/pit separates the wicked from the Tree of Life

- The reason it was so close to the straight and narrow path is because it was digged by the wicked for the righteous. But as long as we are on the path, we are safe. The pit will be filled by those who digged it.

- We can be on the path without holding onto the rod, but as soon as the mists of darkness come, we'll be sorry we weren't holding on.

Turns out Lehi's vision has more meaning than it seems on the surface :)

"Finding ourselves in Lehi's Dream"

 I was reading Elder Packer's CES Fireside address from several years ago, entitled, "Finding
ourselves in Lehi's Dream." It was so good! I recomend it!

Here are some of my favorite quotes pulled from that talk:

1. “You may think that Lehi’s dream or vision has no special meaning for you, but it does. You are in it; all of us are in it.”
2. “Lehi’s dream has in it everything a Latter-day Saint needs to understand the test of life.”
3. “Read the dream or vision carefully; then read it again.”

4. “Largely because of television, instead of looking over into that spacious building, we are, in effect, living inside of it. That is your fate in this generation. You are living in that great and spacious building.”
5. “All of the mocking does not come from outside of the Church. Let me say that again: all of the mocking does not come from outside of the Church. Be careful that you do not fall into the category of mocking.”

I just really liked how he talked about the Tree of Life story in a way that was directly applicable to us. I also thought it was way interesting what he said about TV and the great and spacious building--that definitely caught my attention, since I'm in this media class right now. I think the main message I got out of the talk is this: We are way too complacent. We live in a time of war. We need to get out of the great and spacious building, separate ourselves from the ways of the world, and "hold to the rod, and don't let go." Loved this talk!

Brain development

In my Cognitive Development class, we watched a video about brain development (I can’t remember its title). It was pretty fascinating to realize how the brain works. One thing that I learned is that it is possible to still function if your corpus collosum is cut (severing the connection between the left and right hemisphere so that they can’t communicate with each other). They did a few studies about a man who had his hemispheres separated because of severe seizures. Although he could still function almost like normal, he sometimes had to draw a picture in order for his left brain to be able to identify something his right brain was thinking about. Way interesting!

"The Business of Being Born"

This week I found out that I am expecting, so it’s been a crazy exciting last few days. I watched a documentary on Netflix called, “The Business of Being Born.” I thought it was very interesting – it definitely gave me insight into a perspective I had never considered or even thought of before (natural childbirth). However, I did notice that it was extremely biased (obviously it was produced and inspired by midwives and those in favor of natural birth). So I’m grateful that it exposed me to some new ideas and opened my mind. I think it’s great that we have so much access to so much information that is out there about alternate practices that go against widespread cultural trends that we would otherwise just blindly accept. However, I still would like to see a documentary that argues for the other side (hospital births), just so I could have a balanced view and make a more informed decision. 

"What are Words"

I was recently introduced to the song, “What are words” sung by Chris Medina. Wow, I love this song! It has such a powerful message, especially considering the story behind it. He and his girlfriend had agreed to get married, but then she had horrible accident that left her extremely verbally and physically disabled. But Chris took by her, showing what true love really is. It’s not about fleeting infatuation; it’s not about perfect bodies or ideal situations. It’s about sacrificing for someone you deeply care about. Watching the music video to this song was very touching. It had a really good effect on me—it inspired me to want to be more committed and to rise to a higher level of caring and service. It also made me think about how Americans glorify so many sensationalized love songs that promse undying loyalty, but when you look at the divorce rates, it's easy to see that few of those "promises" actually are fulfilled. Maybe we're just used to saying things we don't mean. How sad. 

I love how the message of music can transcend the music itself, and this song is a perfect example of that. Every song has a message, for good or for bad. Some are obvious, like this one, but others have messages that are much more subtle. Either way, when we listen to any song, we are absorbing its message, whether we think we are or not.

"I'll Make a Man Out of You"

The other day I was listening to “I’ll make a man out of you” from Mulan. So for my first media post, I thought I would do a slightly cheesy analysis of this well-known Disney song. I thought it was interesting because the song is basically making some underlying assumptions about what it takes to “be a man.” The chorus outlines some supposed requirements: 

"You must be swift as the coursing river, with all the force of the great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire, mysterious as the dark side of the moon.”

These are very stereotypical views on manhood.  To me, "swift as a coursing river" suggests individualism and dominance (a strong current of a river does not wait for others, but tramples them in insisting the right of way). "With all the force of the great typhoon" suggests that men must use "force" to maintain their power, and "typhoon" makes me think of anger/rage as does "raging fire." The last part of the chorus seems to suggest that men need to guard against vulnerability and self-disclosure (they must not be understood). All of these things may be fine when talking about soldiers going to war, but these characteristics do NOT work when it comes to relationships. It's not consistent with the gospel perspective in D&C 121 that tells priesthood holders that "force" not only does not contribute to one's manhood, but it actually subtracts from it. Whenever we "exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon" people, we lose our presiding power, and are left to ourselves. Gentleness, meekness, long-suffering, patience and love is the source of true power. How interesting is that? This view stands in stark contrast to the messages that popular culture and media are sending to men about what it really takes to be a man. So ya, I guess Disney's Mulan doesn't exactly hold true to this, but still, I love the song!