February Favorites

1. Product: Spray shampoo for cats

Waterless. Delicious scents. Easy application (once the cat gets over the fear of being sprayed with liquid).

2. Clothes: Downeast blouses

Beautiful, affordable, comfortable, modest, and at the BYUStore, no less. Easy easy access for me.

3. Art: James Christensen's "Faith, Hope, and Charity"

A little whimsy, a lot of gospel feelings.

4. Film: Kiki's Delivery Service

Not a new discovery, but a much beloved recent discovery. Also, I want to do a Kiki cosplay for FanX. I love the idea of Kiki's happy, simple, working life.

Honorable Mention: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, because Mr. Darcy in black leather.

5. TV: DC's Legends of Tomorrow

I'm loving the DC TV CW-verse. There's probably a more eloquent way of wording that. But at any rate, their newest addition is a fun treat with characters I love and time-traveling that I love even more.

Honorable Mention: Agent Carter, always beloved and a smashing good time. Plus musical numbers!

6. Binge-watch: Fuller House

Nostalgia? Check. Female friendships? Check. Feel-good TV? CHECK.

Sabbath Study

"Waiting" by Connie Chadwell

"He [God] knows what we need, what we can wait for, and what we can do without."

- Lynn Muir, "Simple Lessons from a Few Cans of Soup"

Anger Management Problems

The Flame by Jackson Pollock

My mother has a bookshelf of villains.
Tiny, plastic hands and hooks and tentacles
Extending from wily reds and angry purples,
        And billowing blacks,
The primary colors of being the bad guy.

I suppose that is why I came to her,
Flushed and bruised and screaming,
Just in time for lunch on a Wednesday,
In the middle of the story of that week,
And I raised my head right there in the hospital
To see if the world had heroes to pick on.

College of Humanities - Feast!

The College of Humanities at BYU turned 50 years old this past year, and in typical academic fashion, we celebrated with a fine feast and a book release. The college was founded in 1965, so we were encouraged to dress in 60s fashion--and if there's anything I enjoy, it's dressing up outside of my time and reality. The previous dean published a collection of his writings, and we all got a free copy. It's gorgeous and full of spiritual insights. Oh, and also I won an orchid. It matched my dress.

My evening in one image.

The best part of the evening was being introduced to the newest department in the college: Art History. Each faculty member chose a piece of art that represented their work and somehow commemorated the number 50. They only spoke briefly, but I tasted that sweet nectar of an art history lecture and I wanted more.

The newest faculty member taught us about depictions of the Veil of Veronica, a Catholic legend of a woman who wiped Christ's sweaty, bloodstained face on his way to Calvary. The cloth she used retained the image of Christ's face, just as we are to retain Christ's image in our countenances, his example in our hearts. 

Creepy, yet inspirational?

So, happy birthday, College of Humanities! I enjoyed both the physical and intellectual food at your party, and I am so proud to be a (teeny tiny) part of your legacy.

Howard W. Hunter: Help from on High

I spent most of Sunday School today hastily preparing a lesson for Relief Society after receiving an assignment from the Relief Society president. Luckily, I had already read the chapter and fallen in love with it. President Hunter really knew his scriptures and had a sense of the poetry of the gospel. In no deliberate order, here are some insights I got from him about receiving help from on high:

• 1 Corinthians 2 is a chapter about spiritual knowledge, or "the mind of Christ." It teaches us that spiritual knowledge is spiritually discerned and is not gained through our physical senses alone. 
• To gain spiritual knowledge, you need to prepare by meditating and pondering. As you suppress the sensations and distractions of the physical plane, as you consciously shed worldly thoughts from your mind, you can more easily step onto the spiritual plane. You hone your spiritual senses and expand your soul so it can receive more light and truth. You conquer the natural man.
• As you meditate and ponder before prayer, think about the things you need help with. Generate a list so you don't forget what to pray about--this list will come in handy when the Lord provides revelation and answers and promptings.
• Spiritual knowledge and guidance then comes through prayer and action. If you inquire, the Lord will inspire.
• Pray for everything, the good and the bad. Praying for others, especially your enemy, will teach you about them. You will come to know that everyone has a divine identity, that everyone needs help, that everyone needs your love and respect.

My big takeaway: Gain "the mind of Christ" 

by pondering, praying, and then acting. 

Engage in prayerwork.

Book Haul

So pretty and colorful, no? I love the art of books. Indulge me for a moment as I drool over my most recent acquisitions.

1. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

I received this book as a gift for Galentine's Day.

2. Princess Academy (UK cover) by Shannon Hale

This book was a gift from a friend who attend Life, the Universe, and Everything when I could not.

3. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

I loved the first two books in this series, mostly because I love the characters and the elegantly quirky writing style. Also because I met Stephanie a few years ago and she was bomb.

4. Anne of Green Gables, 5. Anne of Avonlea, and 6. Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery

I could not resist these covers when I was walking through the university bookstore the other day. Besides, I have only read the first book but I WANT MORE.

8. Museum of Distance by Ashley Seitz-Kramer

I attended her reading last week, and I was enchanted by the subjects of her poetry. She made me want to write better.

9. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

I love Ruta's books. This one makes me cry the most of all of them. She shares stories from the ignored outskirts of history, and she makes them feel so immediate and tangible. I shed so many tears over this book that I was certain that was what the title was referring to. I was adding salt to the sea.

Peer Review and the Gospel

In my writing classes, I teach the peer review process. A lot of students are hesitant to get feedback from their peers because the peers are not experts, the peers are not the teacher, the peers are not the ones giving the grade, etc. At the same time, the students are also hesitant to give feedback to their peers for comparable reasons. Regardless of those hesitations, I require peer review.

Why am I so evil?

Peer review is necessary for all writers. Here are a few of the reasons:

1. Peer review fulfills the purpose of writing

We never write into the void; we always write to an audience, and peer review provides an opportunity to test our product on an audience. If we have no audience, why bother to write? Therefore, peer review helps make writing purposeful.

2. Peer review is collaborative and we are dumb

I should clarify: we are dumb individually but smart together. Every writer has strengths and weaknesses. Every writer notices different things. For example, I am good at spotting errors punctuation but I need help spotting inconsistencies in my writing style. Another writer can help me make up the difference. Together, we improve.

3. Peer review is a teacher

Peer review requires humility, trust, and effort. Having someone read and critique your writing is terrifying and sometimes humiliating. We can remove that sting and fear through humility. Peer review teaches us to accept correction and maybe even to be inspired by someone else. Since peer review is usually reciprocal, it also teaches us to work to help someone else be corrected and inspired.

4. Peer review is a gospel principle

We have peer review in the gospel, too. The Lord critiques and corrects and inspires those he loves. Such correction fulfills the purpose of life. We need to improve. Repentance (improvement) allows us to collaborate with the Lord because we can't do it on our own. It teaches us to be humble, to trust the Lord, and to work and serve.

My favorite thing about this comparison is that repentance truly is peer review. The Lord is our partner, our equal, when we engage in the process. He becomes our friend and peer. Let's not be so afraid of peer review. Let's improve with the help of our peer.

Music and Anxiety

I listen to and create music for many reasons, but recently I realized that I often play music to relieve my anxiety. Sometimes, even, to prevent anxiety.

When I'm on my own, I prefer loud, jarring, dark music. I love to play the themes of movie villains on the piano. I like to sing eerie songs. I write stories to the tune of horror movie soundtracks. The emotions and the darkness help me to process my feelings of fear and anger, and I don't usually stop playing until those feelings are completed and tucked into a memory file.

A personal favorite to play loud and hard.

But I have the most anxiety right as I am falling asleep. I don't want to be processing emotions late at night; I want to make sure they are all put away. I want to tuck them into bed at night so they don't rage and bother me. So I listen to gentle, cheerful music. Disney songs. Religious music. Mindy Gledhill. You know, bedtime songs.

I love love love singing about poetry.

My iPod is ready to switch from one extreme to the other: I built in a playlist called Light Heart and another called Dark Heart. It's all about the anxiety.

Actually, this whole light heart/dark heart thing describes my storytelling pretty accurately, too. Maybe it's not all about anxiety. ;)

The Doors Along the Path

"When one door shuts, another opens, even for a prophet in prison. We are not always wise enough or experienced enough to judge adequately all of the possible entries and exits. The mansion that God prepares for each of his beloved children may have only certain hallways and banisters, special carpets and curtains that he would have us pass on our way to possess it."

- President Howard W. Hunter, "The Opening and Closing of Doors"

These photos are of the Provo City Center Temple, and they remind me so much of the descriptions of the mansions God prepares for us. There are many hallways and doors and stairs and some ways are shut and some are open, but the path that God provides will always lead us to the same place: into His arms. And who am I to question that path?

A House of Learning - January

I did a lot of things in January to establish my home as "a house of learning." Most of these things were super free.

1. Ice skating

I don't do a lot of physical learning, but when the opportunity presents itself, I'm all game. Though I have ice skated before, I always struggle to get started again. Usually, I spend all my time thinking through the laws of physics and how I can speed up and slow down and turn and not fall over. My friends giggled at me because every time they skated past I was bending my knees, hunkering down, and whispering, "Physics, physics, physics."

2. International cinema

I attended a showing of a 1925 silent Danish film called Master of the House. It was a great picture about a man learning compassion for his wife and sharing the chores. But Mads, his former nanny, was by the far the best character. See her here, overlooking the love that she has encouraged.

The literal translation of the title is Thou Shalt Honor Thy Wife.

Go, 1925!

3. Organization workshop

I went to an organization workshop at my library one Thursday night, and while I was definitely the youngest and most single person in the room, I learned a lot about managing my things, including such tips as only keep collectible items that you can easily display (minimally) and collect containers to put things in. This education was an important part of my 2016 resolution to establish a house of order! And, of course, it was totally free.

4. Weekly devotional/forum

Every Tuesday, I watched the campus devotional. I learned about building divine relationships by being both a learner and a lifter, about seeking to know truth by study and faith and context, and about using my fears as opportunities to exercise faith and good works. In the forum by Liz Wiseman, I learned about being a multiplier, or someone who increases the intelligence of those around them by providing chances to learn and try and grow. And I learned to give myself such chances, too. I'm also including President and Sister Nelson's worldwide devotional here, too, where I learned about the true definition of being a millennial and preparing the kingdom of God for Christ's return.

Ghost helped me take notes.

5. Weekly reading series

Every Friday, I attended a reading on campus. I go to readings to hear the beautiful sounds of words and to collect trinkets of inspiration and motivation for my own writing. The first reading was performed by Brent Newsom, a poet who did wonderful things with narrative as the poems shared glimpses of a small town. The second reading came from Joni Tevis, a delightful essayist whose attention to detail and unusual settings ignited ideas in my mind. Seriously, all my notes from her reading are notes for my own stories. The third reading was the most radical: Craig Dworkin read a poem that made me fall in love with my language all over again. He read through dictionary definitions of words, and then dictionary definitions of the words in those definitions, and so on and so on, several layers in. The perfect language would not be so complicated. A single word would be its own definition. But the imperfection of English makes it so rich and beautiful.

5. BOOKS

This year, I set a 25-book goal for my Goodreads challenge. I've read 13 books so far. Whoops! Perhaps I should have set my sights higher. Regardless, I have loved every book.

All books appear here except one: the audiobook I listened to.

I read one picture book, two graphic novels, four novels, four memoirs, and one book of essays, and then I listened to a Charles Dickens audiobook.

Nancy Drew, 1938

While searching for the 2007 Nancy Drew movie, I inadvertently stumbled across a quartet of Nancy Drew movies filmed in 1938. The original teenage detective solving mysteries in the era in which she was first written? I was sold.

Doesn't she look fabulous? Also, I'm in love with his hair.

Now, I have read most of the original Nancy Drew books. Thanks to the enthusiasm of my sisters, I have also played nearly all of the Nancy Drew computer games. I have fond memories of being haunted by ghosts and startled by eerie rituals, getting locked out of a mansion during a blizzard and stepping on a creaky stair, solving puzzle after puzzle and interviewing the grumpiest suspects. I always played with my girls: first, my sisters, and later, my roommates. We would play in the dark and scream at the jump scares and throw out our accusations of whodunnit. From Nancy, I learned to wait for people to leave their rooms so I can snoop around. From Nancy, I learned not to follow red herrings. From Nancy, I learned that mistakes early on can lead to genius solutions later on. Needless to say, Nancy has been an important part of my life. She has been a symbol to me of a smart and adventurous and do-gooding woman, like I want to be.

I want people to tell me to stop meddling.

As I popped in the first part of this 1938 series, I was hopeful. I wanted to experience the original Nancy Drew adventures with all the pre-war fashion and feminism. I wanted to fall in love with Nancy all over again. I was looking for a hero.

The very first lines of the movie passed the Bechdel-Wallace test as Nancy led a committee meeting at school. I was thrilled. 

Through the four episodes, Nancy Drew was a leader, a scholar, and a fiercely curious snoop. Her beau (Ned in the books but Ted in the movies for some reason) is the Watson to her Holmes: he doesn't understand her methods, and sometimes he outright does not want to get involved, but she always convinces him to do the dirty work. The only things I wanted more from the 1938 series were her best friends George and Bess. I kinda grew attached to them in the books and in the games, especially when I got to call them for hints, but they were MIA in the films. Maybe I will take their place. After all, I was looking for a hero, and I found a friend.

Nancy, 

I don't think I'm done writing about you. This blog post barely dips below the surface. You have an interesting publication history fraught with ghostwriters and syndication and crossovers with the swoon-worthy Hardy Boys, and you have baffled feminist scholars for years. But more than that, you reminded me of the energetic person that I used to be, that I still want to be. Thank you for being you. I hope we meet again. 

Until then,
Your Faithful Blogger