Maybe It's Emily

Today has been great for a couple different reasons. 1) I felt like my hair looked good *score* 2) I made apple pie for ward lunch, and I was afraid that it turned out bad (the juices in the pie were less syruppy than I wanted), but instead was given many a compliment that it looked like a very handsome pie, that it was delicious, and then THE John Major, cooking extraordinaire, told me that it was good. Now, Bro.Major is a most excellent chef himself, and not one to sugar-coat things, so the fact that he complimented my pie in all sincerity just made me feel like winner of the day. Not quite unlike this: 3) While at the MTC, before they headed out to their missions, Hna.Harris, Hna.Squires and I were able to receive blessings from our MTC teacher. It was a very spiritual experience for all four of us. It was truly a testimony of priesthood power, and a testimony that the Lord was very mindful of us. In that blessing I was told many wonderful things, including that throug...

I'm going to school in Hawaii, and I love the aloha spirit, broken English, pigeon local style brah. I was tagged in a post with this Youtube video, and I gotta say that it was one of the best commencement speeches I've ever heard. He highlights the importance of working hard, despite what test results and GPAs have told you in the past. Don't buy it. Nothing creates such a great difference in your life than pushing yourself and sacrificing to make your dreams come true.  Hey, it worked for me.   

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” — Rachel L. Carson What an interesting woman she was. I've never heard of her before, but I like her already. She seems like a great pioneer for nature conservation, and as a byproduct, for women as well. If you click on the picture it takes you to a Washington Post article (as well as here) about her. Enjoy the nature around you, and I hope you have a great day.

Tonight I went to my friend's senior vocal recital. I've been to other senior recitals, but this one was different. Whereas the others exhibited vocals in the style of opera, jazz and Broadway, my friend did his in the style of his people- the Hawaiians. He opened with a Hawaiian chant (a very important form of song), next with a chant of hula kahiko. His songs ranged from ones composed by the Ali'i to more modern songs of the WWII era, many of which were accompanied by hula dancers. Some were fast and fun, some were slow and nostalgic. All in all it was a great performance, and it carried me away to another time, another place. It made me feel, and it made me think. As I was watching and listening, I was reminded of this video:   That theme: culture is prevention. That's the model of intervention for many Native American tribes. It's the idea that connecting with your past, your ancestors and your culture act as a type of preventative measure against b...

I want to talk about this Facebook conversation I got involved in this week. It's about this woman, Shelley. She hunted a giraffe and the Facebook group Political Loudmouth reposted the pic of her with her prize and said this: "In this photo, a female trophy hunter sits smirking on top of the giraffe she blasted to death with a rifle as it ate from a tree. With these kinds of "hunts," wealthy individuals are usually driven to the spot by guides who know where the animals are. The clients then shoot and kill the animals, often while sitting in the Land Rover that brought them. ... Even more unconscionable, some safaris are "canned hunts," in which captive animals raised this purpose, are placed inside a fenced-in enclosure for the "hunter" to shoot." Giraffes are one of my most favorite animals, they're tied for the number one spot with elephants. The screen saver of my tablet is a smoochy giraffe.   I have giraffe stat...

http://news.msn.com/in-depth/we-are-creating-walmarts-of-higher-education The previous link is tied to an online news story that begins thus: "Universities in South Dakota, Nebraska, and other states have cut the number of credits students need to graduate. A proposal in Florida would let online courses forgo the usual higher-education accreditation process. A California legislator introduced a measure that would have substituted online courses for some of the brick-and-mortar kind at public universities. "Some campuses of the University of North Carolina system are mulling getting rid of history, political science, and various others of more than 20 “low productive” programs. The University of Southern Maine may drop physics. And governors in Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin have questioned whether taxpayers should continue subsidizing public universities for teaching the humanities. "Under pressure to turn out more students, more quickly and for less money,...