Kristi's Sealing

Finally, some proof that my sister actually did have a sealing/reception back in April. Isn't she pretty?

I'm going to the beach tomorrow. Food. Sun. Books. Sand. Family. Waves. More books.

=

The Perfect Week.

Chess Titans

Lately T-rav and I have been trying to find things to do that don't include spending a lot of money, driving really far, or watching movies. Normally we would just read, but since I already finished or read all the books we (or the neighbors) brought with us, spent too many dollars at the local "Books-a-Million" store, can't get a library card for lack of proof of residence (I should have had someone write me a letter weeks ago), and am waiting for a large amazon.com purchase to arrive, we've been forced to think of other ways to entertain ourselves. And so we discovered chess.

Now neither of us have ever really played chess before, though I do vaguely remember playing with my dad's very strange friend named Tom when I was about 6. We don't have a chess board, so we've been using our computer chess game (called "Chess Titans"--it also has "Mahjong Titans," but surprisingly no Solitaire Titans. Solitaire is just called Solitaire.) For the first few days, we just played each other. Since we're both about the same degree of dreadfullness, there was no pressure on either side. But then we decided to try our luck against the computer, and promptly lost. And we lost again. And again...on level ONE. I can't even begin to imagine what it's like on level ten. I'm not really sure what we're doing wrong. I just know that I'm instantly furious when the computer's dirty rotten rook sneaks up from behind and kills my queen! (thank heaven for ctrl-z) Do any of you chess pros have any tips for me? Or rather, are any of you chess pros?

Along the same lines as my previous post....

Here's an article about one of the major Islamist groups that preys on impressionable youth looking for an identity. And somehow they're managing to sneak their way into American cities. I'm so flustered I can barely type. Read the article. Or check out the link to the right: Combating Extremist Islamism and see what some Muslims are doing to try to save their religion from fundamentalist freaks.

does multiculturalism fail?

The other day, T-rav found a goldmine of a book: The Islamist by Ed Husain. He said the caption was what caught his eye: "Why I became an Islamic Fundamentalist, What I saw inside, and Why I left." I just finished it and reading that makes me want to read it again! This was a great book, the kind that I think everyone should read because it's well written and interesting and a fascinating insight into someone's life and culture.

Husain became involved with Islamic Fundamentalism when he was a young teenager, something he partially blames on the lack of cultural identity he felt in Britain. Was he Bangladeshi? Muslim? British? British-Muslim? British-Bangladeshi? And if the latter two, what did that entail? He says that during his childhood (and still today) most immigrants developed confused identities because they grew up in a multicultural society where they were not forced to integrate with the dominant culture develop confused identities, making them an easy target for extremist groups.

I think this part deserves quoting: "In its attempt to support and recognize all cultures as equal, multiculturalism fails to empower minorities. How can the children of immigrants secure jobs in the workplace and advance economically and socially when they aren't even expected to learn English...A nation bonds through its language and shared culture; separate these two things and you have the vital precursors to self-destruction."

Is this happening in America? Are we, like Britain, in trying to be nice to all our minority groups, by embracing our liberal, open-minded multiculturalism, actually damaging our culture, creating a division among people instead of bridging cultural gaps? Maybe. Our government is ever eager to appease the social and cultural (and linguistic) demands of all minorities (be it women, Hispanics, Lesbians, Native Americans, etc). But do we go too far in accepting everything? Would it be better for immigrants to simply adopt American culture and start speaking only English? Does that mean they should also abandon their own culture and langauge?

In the final pages of The Islamist, Husain implores the reader to prevent future fundamentalists (or any kind of cultural extremism) by helping our immigrants find a place in society. I thought of it like an "adopt an immigrant" plan...find the nearest non-native English speaking person on your street and become their friend, let them see American culture, help them learn how to vote and have a voice in society. In this way, an immigrant's acculturation becomes our responsibility: if we want to keep America safe and peaceful, it is our job, as American citizens, to ensure that those living in our country don't find the wrong people in their search for an identity.

things to see in the south

What I've been up to lately...

This sign should have said "No bicycles allowed on trail because the mosquitos are large enough to put dents in your nice metal frame." After 20 minutes on the trail we decided to turn around because, if we dared stop walking, we were literally swarmed by huge vicious bugs. Maybe that's why there wasn't anyone else on the trail.

Now what would a slide show of the south be without a bit of road kill? Here's a smashed armadillo, one which Lindsey and I had to step over everyday on our way to Walgreens (I wonder if it's still there...).*

And this is where they keep the animals that they want to prevent from becoming road kill (that's an owl):

And this is how I usually look these days...not angry. Just wet. Either it's raining or I'm fresh out of the pool or...very sweaty.


*I'm sure you'll all be pleased to know that the armadillo remains have been removed from the side of the road. It now smells considerably better when we pass that bit of ground.

Dear Mr. President and dubiously efficient Congress/Senate:

Don't you think 1 TRILLION dollars might be a good time to stop the spending spree?!

Regards,
a citizen who spends less than she makes (what a concept)

The end of books?

A few months ago, M, her husband and I were discussing the future of the book. M's husband, being quite involved with the graphic design world, has a slightly bleak idea of the future of print books. He has already seen the decline of cd cases due to dowloadable music; people just aren't buying as many cds as they used to. He seemed to think that books are going to head in the same direction.

By the end of our conversation, my doomsday nature envisioned the end of all printed books. I could see my future children walking into my personal library and being amazed to see so many real books on the shelves "grandma, what are these?" Kind of how we might feel when someone has hundreds of vinyl records. I swore to myself that I would never be a traitor to books, I would never own a Kindle or any other wretched print-book-killing-device!

But then some time passed...and I listened to other friends discuss the merits/demerits of the Kindle...and amazon had that rotten Kindle advertisement on their main page for so long...and I finally got around to actually reading about it...and I've been converted! I desperately want one! Let me show you why:

• It holds over 1500 books and gives you free book samples- you can download a chapter of a book and read it to decide if you actual want it.
• Books are so cheap! Most are less than $10.
• It has wireless built into it so you can download books anytime, anywhere, even if there isn't a wireless network in the area.
  
• It can read to you.
• You can adjust the size of the text and the shade of the screen. And there's no glare on the screen if you read outside.
  
• Wireless access to wikipedia (T-rav was really happy about that one).
• There's a search feature where you can type in a word or phrase and it will search through all of your books until it finds a match.
  
• This is what finally convinced me that I want one: it has a built in New Oxford American Dictionary! If you don't know what a word is, you simply move the cursor over the word and voila- you get a definition.
  

Aside from all of these wonderful features, the a Kindle is also very small. And lightweight. Which I would really benefit from when traveling (did I mention that I intended to bring about 8 books with me to Memphis, but had to remove them because their total weight was about 20 pounds). The only downside to a Kindle is that they're kind of expensive- $299 (yes, that is a reduction from the $369 or so that they were a few weeks ago). But the benefits are so many!

And let me also mention that if I were lucky enough to own a Kindle, it would not mean that I would stop buying or reading print books. I would just add a Kindle to my library.

What do you think? Would you buy a kindle? Do you think it will be The End of the printed book?

vices

Sometimes I find myself doing things that I know are rotten, things that I hate about myself. And yet I do them anyway. I know that once I say/do whatever it is, I'll instantly feel like a brute. Yet regardless of the consequences, I often find myself spewing forth things that I don't really want to be saying.

For example, at some point in high school I decided that to be cool, I had to despise everything and everyone around me. My friends were the one exception. But I kind of became a hater. I was always negative and critical. I would find myself saying things I didn't really mean just to be critical. And then one day, my dear friend Jay, after listening to me spout off for a while, turned and said "You know, being negative doesn't make you cool. It's actually really annoying. You should stop." I was so shocked that I don't think I even had time to be offended. No one had ever said anything like that to me (well, I'm sure my parents did, but none of my peers had) and I knew she was right- it was totally and completely irritating.

Since then I've tried to be less negative and critical. I think I've done well with the negative part of things...and not so well with the criticizing. My excuse: I think it's in my blood to be critical. No really, it's imbedded in my genes. We Hills have a need to be critical (not just you Faut, it's the whole fam). But that's not really a legitimate reason. I think deep down (ok, maybe not so deep) I kind of like criticizing. It kind of makes me feel good. For a little while, at least. Oh, I always feel bad later, but by then (I hope) people have forgotten what I've said about such and such a celebrity or political idea or popular book.

I think everyone has their own "pet" vices, things they know they should stop doing, maybe even things they want to stop doing, but for whatever reason, they don't or can't. I suppose this is one of mine. My other favorite sin I find less offensive than this, but that's a story for another day. What's yours?

A misplaced Yankee

I've always been quite proud of the fact that I'm from New York (state, not city!). Overly proud, perhaps. But although I may be partial to life in the east, I feel like I've either traveled to or lived in enough places to make me fairly well rounded. This is, however, my very first time spending more than 1 week at a time in The South. Sure, I've been to Florida and driven through Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, and even spent several weeks of my life at the beach in North Carolina. But there's just something different about living in the "dirty south." And Memphis, Tennessee is definitely a prime example of dirty south.

For example, I've never seen so much road kill. And it's interesting road kill. Like armadillos and 'possums (pictures of these are soon to come! I'm sure you can't wait). I've seen more than 1 person throw used bottles out of their car windows onto the street. And then there are the McDonald's bags resting on the curbs. Pardon me for being rude, but I've never seen so many fat people in one place in my life. And not just round people, we're talking very, very large people (Mississippi was just named the fattest state in the nation for the 3rd year in a row). And to no one's surprise, they're often hanging around Popeye's Chicken. That's another thing- I didn't realize that southern people really do eat so much fried chicken. You can smell it everywhere. I don't think I've ever seen so many people who smoke. And New York is no stranger to cigarettes. And the people aren't afraid to light up and blow smoke right in your face.

Now this sounds like I hate the south and the people in it. Quite to the contrary- I'm really enjoying living in a new and completely different part of the country, even if I do sometimes feel like I'm in a foreign land. Or at least very obviously a Yankee, because here people still refer to northerners as Yanks. But I love listening to the charming southern drawl (which definitely deserves its own post). They have the tastiest smoked/barbecued meats. The women wear hats! We have a spunky 78 year old woman in our ward who wore a flaming blue hat to church last week. When I complimented it, she gave me tips on how to choose and wear a hat myself. The countryside here is beautiful and there are fantastic thunderstorms. Sometimes the power even goes out. And most importantly, the people are friendly and polite.

So as long as we don't get robbed while driving through the ghetto or get lung cancer from the secondhand smoke, I'm sure life in the south will be lovely.