Rant about Putting Kids to Bed

Kids need their sleep. If you've ever watched Supernanny, you've seen examples of parents who don't put their kids to bed at a reasonable hour and how cranky and grouchy the kids are. Sure, the kids think they want to stay up and that they'd be happier if they could watch TV till all hours and such, but as their parent, you need to decide a reasonable time to put them to bed and keep them on a schedule. They may resist, but in the long run they'll be happier and more well rested.

Babies who hate cribs

So I frequent the ads on KSL.com because I've gotten some great deals on used stuff. One section is for cribs. And basically, I'm sick of people who put on their ad that they are selling their crib because their child hates cribs or won't sleep in their crib. Okay, well, maybe I don't know their situation and their child really won't sleep in a crib, but an ad I saw today really got to me. It says, "i bought this brand new a couple months ago but i came to realise that my son hates cribs so im selling it, it has only been used once for 10 minutes tops." Now, besides the fact that this person has lived long enough to have a child, but to not realize that I is capitalized, and doesn't seem to have grasped grammar, I can't believe that putting her son in a crib for 10 minutes "tops" is long enough to realize that he "hates" cribs. I mean who is the parent here? Apparently not this woman.

I have to wonder how she discovered this. Did she put her baby in the crib and, like all babies (at times), he cried because he didn't want to be put down to sleep. I mean seriously. And where does the baby sleep now? Probably in bed with mom where he has slept since he was born and has not been taught to sleep anywhere else. If that's the case, you just need to give the baby time to get used to the crib. This is why I stopped having my son sleep with me once he was about 2 months because by 3 or 4 months they start to understand and realize, "Hey, I like it here with mom. I'm going to cry if she doesn't let me sleep with her." Since I stopped it before then, he didn't have a problem transitioning to a crib and has slept in one since we got it for him--no problem.

I just don't get some people.

President Hinckley—He Will Be Missed

So last night I was watching TV when the local news broke through with news announcing that President Gordon B. Hinckley, the president and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had passed away. This really wasn't too surprising because he was 97 years old, but it was still sad. When I realized what had happened, I started crying. I didn't realize it would hit me that hard. Even now as I write this, 12 hours later, I start to tear up when I think about it. Really, I know I should be happy for him, and I am. His wife passed a few years ago and after being married on this earth for about 70 years, it was obvious to everyone that he missed her deeply. I actually thought after she passed that he would soon follow her because of how much his heart obviously ached for her. So now they are together again and that is wonderful. And I am glad that he is free from pain and can be in a happier place.

Still, I will miss him very much. President Hinckley became the prophet when I was 14 years old. Previously there had been only three other prophets in my lifetime—President Kimball, President Benson, and President Hunter. Living in Washington, I never really connected with the previous prophets.  It was just a kindly old man who led the church. This was especially true with President Hunter, who was the prophet for only 9 months before his passing. On the other hand, I really connected with President Hinckley. When I was a teenager, we had a regional conference in Tacoma, Washington and President Hinckley came to speak. It was the first time I'd ever been in the presence of a prophet. I was very excited and could really feel the Spirit there. 

Then when I graduated high school, I went to BYU. During my time there, I was able to be in his presence, as well as many of the Apostles, many times. One time I even had the opportunity to shake his hand. That experience will always stay with me. He was walking in with his wife, Marjorie, and he shook the hands of those he could reach. It was in the Marriott Center, where BYU plays basketball as well as other events, and so the seats went upward from the floor. Once he had shook the hands of those he could reach, he stepped back and said, "No, no. You're going to get a hernia." Everyone wanted to shake his hand so badly that they were straining to reach. I was lucky enough that I was able to shake his hand.

With President Hinckley, you never doubted that he loved you and everyone else in the whole world. It doesn't seem possible to, but somehow he did it. It was amazing. And he had the best humor; it was funny, never crude, humble, self-deprecating (but never in a way that diminished who he was as a child of God and a prophet), and lightened any situation. He had so much energy for someone in his 90s and really drove the Church to do more and be more, and inspired each of the members to be better people. You could tell that he really relished life. Even though he missed his wife, he never longed to be gone from this life either. He made the most of each moment and found joy in each day. He was truly inspirational. 

Because of all this, I truly felt connected to President Hinckley and I love him very much. I will miss him, but I'm happy for him as well. I know I can't be selfish and expect him to stay on earth forever. He deserves to rest and be with his family on the other side of the veil. And I'm sure that our next President will be just as wonderful, just as loving, and I will love him too. But for now, I miss President Hinckley, and I am sad I will never be in his presence again (at least not while on this earth). Rest in peace, President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Vouchers vs. No Vouchers in Utah

Okay, so I'm really, really sick of hearing about people who don't want vouchers for schools here in Utah. I believe that it comes down to parents who listen to teachers and the public school system rather than learning about it for themselves. I had a class at BYU where we discussed the voucher system and how it would change the school system, and so I feel I have better grasp on what would change if Utah adopted this system, and seeing as I will have a child who will be starting school in Utah beginning Fall 2013, I feel I should get to have an opinion about this.  

 

1. The US has just about the best University system out of the world. Why? Because the system is competitive. Schools know that to get the student's money, they have to have the best teachers, the best programs, and the best system for educating the students. It makes the students work harder so that they can get into the best schools in the country as well. So basically it makes the schools and the students better.
   
   On the other hand, the US has one of the poorest public school systems compared to other countries of equal status. Why? Because there is no competition. Let me ask you, Who gets into Harvard, Yale, and other Ivy League schools? Are the majority of accepted students poor? Did they go to public schools or private schools?
   
   Our public schools aren't preparing students to go to Ivy League universities, unless maybe they live in a rich area where a lot of tax money roes to schools. I, on the other hand, went to a poor high school. We had one AP class offered, no real high tech classes, and the community was so apathetic to the school that every year the levy had to be voted on twice to get it to pass. If it hadn't, we would have had to pay $200+ just to play a sport or participate in activities, which, in my opinion, would have probably led to there not being sports because not enough students would have been able to pay for it.  Not only that, but the whole attitude of the school and the majority of the teachers was, "We don't expect you to go to college, so we'll try to teach you something you can use when you graduate." In that vein, we were offered auto mechanic classes, forestry classes, and classes at a local vocational school. Additionally, 90 out of 290 students of my graduating class did not graduate. This is what you get when you live in a poor community with not much money from taxes.
   
   On the other hand, if we had vouchers, elementary and secondary schools would have the same competitiveness as our universities. Since the voucher system is based on income, it wouldn't prejudice those with less money, but would actually give them a leg up. These vouchers would be between $500 and $3000. This school year, taxpayers will pay over $7500 per student (information from (http://www.votefor1.org/whyvotefor1.asp). Assuming the average voucher would be for $2000, that would mean an average of $5500 less money would be spent per student who used a voucher, and at least $4500 less.
   
   The result would be less crowding in schools, less students per teacher, and, according to Utah State University, $1 billion more for public schools over the next 13 years. For a good article about this from a BYU professor, see http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/64522.
2. Parents would have more control over where they send their kids. What if your child was interested in the arts. There could be a private school devoted to art education in addition to general education. They would get teachers that were more specialized in teaching art and they would complete the school knowing more about their interest. What if your child was interested in dancing, sports, math, bilingual education, etc.? There could be schools that cater to these specialties. Just as you go to colleges and universities whose programs are the best in the country in your specific field, these schools could specialize in these various specialties as well. Of course, all would teach the basics of math, social studies, English, science, and so on, but they would have these other special interests that would be geared towards their students' interests.
   
   Not only that, but if you didn't like how they ran the school, or how your teacher treated your child, you could threaten to take your child out and the tax money with him/her. If they still didn't want to help, you could enroll your child in a different school. Can you do that now? Most parents feel powerless if their child is not getting the education they deserve. Now there is hope.
3. What public school systems are the best in the country? The majority of them are in areas with rich residents. In these areas, a larger amount of tax money is apportioned for schools. With the more money, the schools have better programs, facilities, teachers, activities, etc. Basically, the rich are getting better educated because of their money. With vouchers, students who would not have the opportunity to go to a better school, or who not have a choice of schools to go to, would now have the ability to go to a school that they would like better.
4. Teachers would have to sharpen their skills and become better teachers to stay teaching. Have you ever had teachers that were just horrid? My sister's third grade teacher dumped her notebook in front of her class for the purpose of humiliation. And you know what? She was there 4 years later to do the exact same thing to my brother his third grade year. How did she stay employed after teaching like that? Because that is how theschool system works. Teachers aren't fired, they're "transferred" to another school where they can continue to be horrid teachers.
   
   If schools had to be competitive, schools couldn't afford to have a teacher that no students want. They would have to get rid of that teacher. I'm not saying all the teachers would be wonderful, and I had my share of bad teachers even while in college, but it would raise the level of teachers overall. Plus, the teachers would get paid more, so they would have more incentive to get better as teachers, and more good teachers would stay in Utah rather than moving to other areas where they get more pay.
5. Look at the results of private schools. Why would a parent pay for a child to go to a private school when they're already paying for public schools through taxes if they didn't think that the education received there was better? The results of private schools speak for themselves.
6. If you can't afford a private school even with the voucher, you still have the choice of sending your child to public school at no cost (although a lot of schools' tuition falls under the amount of the voucher in Utah, depending on the amount you receive).

But don't just trust my opinion, there is evidence out there including this study done at Harvard, which can be found at http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/hoxby/papers/hoxby_2.pdf. 

Other links can be found here: http://www.votefor1.org/research.asp. 

Another place to go for a balanced opinion pro and con can be found here: http://www.balancedpolitics.org/school_vouchers.htm 

Go to http://www.kcpw.org/article/4339 to listen to a debate about the issue between Richard Eyre, pro, and Carol Spackman Moss, con.

Those opposed to this are the public school system and teachers because it threatens their monopoly. To this point they had complete control over the education of children and how it all works, and they don't want to lose that control. But at what expense?

Whether you agree with me or not, please take the time to get educated on the issue and vote on November 6, 2007 on whether Utah should adopt a school voucher system or not.

Also, if you do agree with my viewpoints here, please spread the word. Either write your own blog or link to this one so that more people in Utah can get educated about the issue. I'm not sure how many people even know it's up for vote, let alone understand the issue. So use the power of the Internet to get the word out.

If you need to register to vote, you can mail in a registration form found at http://elections.utah.gov/VoterRegistrationForm.pdf up to 30 days befor election day or present it at the County Clerk's office up to 15 days before election. 

And don't forget to vote!!

Just Finished HP7

Don't read the cut if you don't want spoilers!!! And no, I did not read all night. I slept for 5 hours. I did!

Wow . . . Wow. I don't think that the series could have ended any better. It was great. The big war at Hogwarts was perfect. Neville getting Gryffindor's sword and killing Nagini was awesome (he really blossomed in this book. Ron really did too--stepped up and gained confidence in himself). I have to say I was really worried when Harry "died", but wasn't it great how he pretended to be dead for awhile and then came back? Awesome. And how it all worked out for Harry to be the true owner of the wand. And the redemption of Snape. And of course it was so great to see him in the future.

I was a little surprised. I saw a Daniel Radcliffe say in an interview that JK Rowling would never let Harry have a happy ending because he would be too affected by everything he'd gone through, but she did just that, didn't she? I kind of agreed with Daniel when I heard that, and really was expecting Harry to be a tortured soul, but I guess he redeemed himself of it all by defeating Voldemort. Yes, people died, but it was not in vain. He was able to protect them all by be willing to die, and then defeat him and his followers. Maybe that, and no longer having a piece of Voldemort's soul, helped him to heal.

It really was such a fantastic ending. There were just some wonderful parts to it. I have to say though, now seeing it from the parents' perspective, it was a pretty sad scene when Harry and Ginny saw their children off, knowing they would not see them much over the school year. It was good for Harry to have a place to go, but it must be sad for the parents to be away from their kids so much.

The character development overall, in this book and in the series, was just fantastic though. I wish Snape hadn't been so mean to Harry all that time, but it was cool how it all played out. I think this series will seriously be a classic like Lord of the Rings and the like.

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

Update: Brandon posted the first two chapters to this book on his Web site here. Check it out.

A friend of mine is publishing a series of YA fantasy through Scholastic. The first one comes out this year. Since I have connections, I got to read the book already (as well as giving feedback on the second one). I have to say, I really enjoyed it. Although it's for YA readers, this series will be enjoyed by readers of all ages. It's a really fun book full of humor, suspense, creativity, an awesome and original magic system, and . . . well . . . Evil Librarians. Where can you go wrong?

Here is a mockup of what the cover is likely to look like.



It's scheduled to be released October 1, 2007. If you want to keep updated on what Brandon is up to, check out his Web site www.brandonsanderson.com.

Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End

So I saw this movie on Saturday. My company rented out like four theaters inside a movie complex. It was fun to see a movie in a regular theater (stadium seating) rather than the dollar movie theater. We only do so about once a year. We were almost late because I turned off the freeway in the wrong direction. We were walking in as they were showing the previews.

Overall, I really liked this movie. I don't understand why some people didn't like it. It was a fun creative story that somewhat tied up the storyline (esp. with the scene after the credits). Some feel that the storyline is covoluted and hard to follow, but I really didn't have much trouble at all knowing what was going on. And I felt it made sense inside the Pirates universe. Meh.

Although some people are speculating that there is a way for Will to leave the ship alive (I really don't know how. If you know, please explain). Also, the fountain of youth thing points to a fourth. If that's the case, then why is it they filmed the second and third together, but haven't started on a fourth? Maybe they want to see how At World's End does first. And if they can get the actors to do another.  Hmmm . . .

Overall, I think it's a movie worth seeing in the theaters. I didn't realize how long it was. I think after the previews, the movie started around 9:15 a.m. and ended at noon. But it didn't feel too long—I had no idea how late it was.

And, well, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner is just hot. So what can I say. I really don't understand those who think Jack Sparrow is hot. How can you think a guy is hot who acts drunk and crazy all the time (although I admit, Johnny Depp is hot and him in the Jack-Sparrow getup is pretty hot. The character isn't, though. If that makes sense). I was watching the first Pirates movie last night during commercials, and it's interesting how Will and Elizabeth have changed since that first movie, where Will was so against the idea of his father being a pirate, and now he's a pirate. Jack's prophecy of, "You're of pirate's blood and you'll have to deal with that one day" certainly came true (and that's a paraphrase. I can't remember exactly what he said). 

I've heard some say that you should just forget that the second movie exists and just skip right from the first to the third (understanding the couple of key points from the second movie). I don't know. It's been so long since I've seen the second to remember why I did or didn't like it. 

Well, anyway. Yay, Pirates of the Carribean.

Don't Give Up, You Are Loved

This song from Josh Groban is really awesome. Don't give up because you are loved!!!!

Newspaper Article about Author Friend

Brandon Sanderson, the friend I mentioned who is a published author, had an article written about him in the daily paper. I thought I would link to it and copy the contents: http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660202512,00.html

Wee-hour musings paying off for author

By Rosalie Westenskow
Deseret Morning News

      PROVO — For five years, Brandon Sanderson spent the quiet midnight hours weaving tales of fantastical worlds filled with magic, intrigue and secrecy.

Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News

Brandon Sanderson recently received a six-figure advance for a children's fantasy series about a boy named Alcatraz.

      A graveyard shift at Provo's Best Western CottonTree Inn yielded a total of nine books for the budding writer, a student at the time, who pounded out page after page until 5 a.m. each morning while working at the hotel desk.
      Two published novels and 12 book deals later, the 31-year-old author can afford to devote daylight hours to his work — although his wife, Emily, tells stories of late-night writing binges.
      Sanderson recently received a six-figure advance from Scholastic, the "Harry Potter"-series publisher, for a children's fantasy series about a boy named Alcatraz who does battle with a cult of evil librarians.
      These recent writing successes, though, resulted from years of hard work — a fact Sanderson likes to point out to students in his class, Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, at Brigham Young University.
      "A lot of people say my 'debut' novel doesn't feel like a first novel," Sanderson said. "Well, that's because it's not. It's my sixth novel."
      The day Sanderson received an offer for "Elantris" from an editor at Tor Books, a publisher of science fiction and fantasy, made all the late hours worth it, he said.
      "I just about fainted when I got this news," Sanderson said. "Finally somebody bought one."
      "Elantris," which hit bookshelves in May 2005, was one of 13 "practice" novels he wrote while attending undergraduate and graduate school at BYU.
      "A lot of people give up after writing a book and not selling it," Sanderson said. "My opinion is, just keep at it."
      And keep at it he has. Sanderson currently has 80,000 copies of his books in print. The first of a trilogy called "Mistborn" appeared in bookstores in July 2006, and the second is slated for publication on Aug. 21.

      The first of the Alcatraz series, "Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians," will come out Oct. 1 and other books are planned for May 2008 and early 2009.
      Unique plots characterize much of Sanderson's writing, said his literary agent, Joshua Bilmes.
      "It was clear looking at his work that Brandon had more ideas in one book than a lot of fantasy writers have in their entire career," said Bilmes, of JABberwocky Literary Agency. "This was just stunning to me because it was so beyond what other writers I was reading were capable of doing."
      Both of Sanderson's published novels include maps to help readers orient themselves in the kingdoms he has created, and "Mistborn" even has its own alphabet, designed by Isaac Stewart, who also drew each of the maps.
      Stewart, a close friend of Sanderson's and a prolific fantasy reader, said he likes Sanderson's fresh take on the genre.
      "My favorite thing about them is that they haven't been done before," he said. "Brandon's books aren't the derivative Tolkien."
      The complex magical systems and mysterious characters of "Elantris" and "Mistborn" seem worlds away from Sanderson's neat townhome in south Provo, his casual jeans or innocuous hairstyle.
      But fantasy appears to take up a large chunk of Sanderson's mind, and random thoughts often lead to the next project, he said. The entire "Alcatraz" series, for example, resulted from a line that just popped into his mind one day.
      "And that line was: 'So there I was, tied to an altar made from outdated encyclopedias about to be sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil librarians,"' Sanderson said.
     After a mere 16 days of writing, that line turned into a 50,000-word novel — that's about 300 pages.

Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News

"Allomantic Table of Elements" is one of many illustrations by Isaac Stewart in Sanderson's books.

      The series, Sanderson's first attempt at children's fiction, tells the story of a boy who discovers he's part of a secret group of freedom fighters who battle librarians, an evil cult that controls the world by restricting information. Each of the freedom fighters has an unusual but surprisingly powerful magical skill, such as the ability to arrive late to appointments.
      By focusing on less-obvious talents, Sanderson said he hopes young readers will realize their hidden abilities.
      "I think everybody has talents that don't immediately come out ... and sometimes those can be more important," he said. "One of my talents was daydreaming, and I've turned that into a career."

Cell Phone Rant

Can I say that I would really like a cell phone! This is pretty much a tangent rant, but there have been so many times lately that I thought, "Man, if I just had a cell phone right now." It's starting to get really annoying. If I were just hired at my job already (and for at least the amount I was told I'd get), then I could finally afford cell phones for Aaron and me. That would be so nice! I asked my boss today what was going on and he said that they're stilling trying figure out a title for the position, a job description, and a salary that fits that job description. Hopefully the wait will be worth it and they'll decide that for what I do, I need to be paid more than what he had originally told me it would pay. Wouldn't that be great! Here's hoping. I just really hope it's soon. It's been 3.5 months since he wanted me to be officially hired. He's making it a goal to get done by the end of the month, but that doesn't mean much to me since he's made many goals in the last few months about getting me hired that haven't happened. But we'll see. I'm trying to be optimistic about it. At least I know that they want to hire me for the position when it does open!

The Wonderful U S A!

Well, it's coming around to the 4th of July once again, and I have to say I'm grateful to live in the US! It really is a land of opportunity with the chance to complete your dreams. I'm not saying the US is perfect, or that our government always makes the right decisions, but I think overall it's a pretty great place to live.

I'm so appreciative of our Founding Fathers. What vision they must have had to create the government we enjoy today. Not many governments could have lasted this long, largely unchanged! It truly is amazing. I'm excited for the 4th of July, to celebrate our nation and its founding. I just hope everyone remembers why this holiday exists and why it's so important. There were a lot of men and women who have put their lives on the line to build this country (and many who have died) to have a country with our freedoms.

Thank you to all service men and women! What we do without these brave people who are willing to fight for us!

Protein Shakes

I got into having protein shakes for dinner lately. It's really great because I don't have to plan something for dinner, it fills me up so I'm not hungry, and it's only 220 calories. The protein in the milk I mix it with combined with the powdered mix is 36 grams, so I'm finally get close to the daily recommended amount of calories. It's whey protein, so it's totally healthy. And it's fast and easy, so when I'm in a hurry, I still get something to fill my stomach. Yea!

My Views on Weight Loss

Lately I've been thinking a lot about weight loss and such because I've been wanting to lose a few pounds, or at the very least not gain anything. So I thought I'd share my thoughts with whomever is interested in knowing it.

You can probably tell by my picture I'm not really fat by any means, but even so, I found my body mass index online, and according to it, I'm slightly overweight. Since I'm only 25, I thought I'd better do something about it now (especially before I have children) or it will a lot harder when I'm older. So I started exercising three days a week and paying more attention to what I eat. My goal is to eat 1500 calories every day, figuring that that is probably less than how many calories I should eat (but this is totally an estimate). I admit it's been hard because it requires me to eat less than I'm used to and I feel hungry a lot, but I also realize that this is mostly mental and as long as I keep it up, I'll be a lot healthier for. I'm not a dietitian or an expert on this subject, so don't take my views as such, but I have learned a lot through the internet, health classes, magazines, and television about the subject and this is what I've learned that has helped me. Click on the cut to read more.