I am not a "Conservative"

I am a bit of a political junky. Sometimes I grow weary of it all and leave on the backshelf for a few days.

Yesterday a friend forwarded an email which is part of an attack campaign on Obama. He forwarded it to give me an idea of what kind of crazy things are being said. Many people we know from church are conservative (the friend in question is a bit more of a libertarian than anything) - and many times there are emails flying all over the place back and forth regarding such things that we never get (usually, people know better than to send them to us). Sometimes one slips past because a well meaning church member didn't get the memo. Mostly, I am glad I do not see these emails.

The emails themselves are disheartening - usually they are such thinly hobbled together pieces of nonesense it is difficult to understand why people would outright believe them. But the more disheartening aspect of it for me is to see that long list of people who are forwarding and being forwarded these emails. People I respect and like sometimes.

I grew up in a conservative home. I understand the positions very well. I understand and agree with the idea that everyone has a right to ponder the the big political questions and make their own decisions. It's one of the things I like about this country.

Do you know how many negative emails I get from fellow democrats/liberals which attack conservatives?

Zero.

I am on all kinds of email lists with liberal organizations that I think are important. I have friends and relatives who are also Democrat. We simply do not waste time on such things.

I'm not saying they don't exist...maybe they do...but I've never seen them.

By all means let's examine the issues on both sides, let's follow some sort of logic, let's find out the facts.

But I really hope that people do not make choices based on fear and misrepresentation. I really hope that is not what the political debate in this country has evolved into. If you get an email claiming all kinds of outrageous things, please check it out at www.factcheck.org They do a really good job of examining chain emails as well as television ads for the "facts".

Happy Birthday To Me...

Happy














Birthday




To Me!



We ended up getting the tickets and going to Eddie Izzard at the Orpheum last night.

It was Awesome!

I adore him, it was the perfect birthday present.

Share the Fantasy of Chanel No. 5

Shannon and I just returned from a quick trip to Disneyland with our youngest children. It was kind of spur of the moment and just a two night - one day at Disney and a few hours at the beach kind of trip. It was fun and the kids had a good time. Here is a photo of the three of them in line for the Haunted Mansion:


(I'm having some problems with these photos, they look fine on one monitor but not on the other)

But the surprising aspect of the trip for me was the time spent at the pool in the middle of the Disneyland day. We ended up going on all the big rides several times before 2 pm and had time to go back to the hotel across the street and relax for a little bit. I ended up taking the kids out to the pool for awhile.

Remember a while ago I posted that old Chanel no. 5 commercial on here? That's what my time at the pool felt like. Perfect Sun. Perfect Pool Temperature. Perfect Clear Blue Water.

I'm such a sucker for those Chanel no. 5 commercial "I am made of blue sky and golden light, and I will feel this way forever...Share the Fantasy." When I was a kid a would come running from the other room when I heard that commercial start. Possibly because I lived in the frozen tundra of Idaho and the idea of sunbathing was so very appealing.

I loved the silly St. Tropez Ban De Soliel commercials. That idea of being dark, dark, tan. I know it's wrong and all but I still have a hard time letting go of that idea. Because the sun just feels so darn good on my skin and I like being tan dang it.

Anyway - it was just a fabulous day by the pool. I almost had more fun being at the pool than going to Disneyland - I mean, you can't really compare those two things but the pool was awesome. Even though I have a pool, I can't just go out there and sit by it whenever I feel reading my Vogue magazine like I was in California. Because I end up feeling lazy and I end up worrying about other stuff that's not getting done.

So that's my idea of a perfect day - at the pool, perfect weather, just hot enough to want to get in the water, but not too hot, Hawaiian Tropic suntan lotion, and a Diet coke with a magazine.

This & That

Silly internet quizes are fun to take sometimes - iamboymom had one our her blog asking what type of coffee you are - sorta hard to take when you don't drink coffee (though I just inserted my ideas about good hot chocolate in there instead in order to take the quiz). Apparently I am Capuccino

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

Also....

apparently I'm also a brownie cheesecake (which sounds delicious)...but apparently means I'm hedonistic....

You Are a Brownie Cheesecake

A little chunky and a little gooey, you pretty much run on sugar! You take hedonism to the extreme.. And people love you for it.

What Kind of Cheesecake Are You?

And as long as we're on the subject of food and cakes, here's this quiz

You Are a Red Velvet Cake

Rich, decadent, and sensual. You have a deep appeal that transcends all trends. You are the definition of passion: intense, adventurous, and seductive.

What Kind of Cake Are You?

I did not take the quiz that asked "are you a good cook?" I mean, let's don't be silly, either you are or your aren't but a quiz isn't going to be able to tell you.

I do however, take this quiz very, very seriously:

You Are More Like Angelina Jolie

Bad girl with a heart of gold. You are smart, sexy, and strong willed. You aren't against stealing another girl's man... If he's better off with you!

Are You More Like Jennifer or Angelina?

[in all fairness to Angelina and to me, I think the quiz is a little unfair and makes Angelina sound like a jerk...I won't go around stealing anyone's husband but I would rather look like Ms. Jolie]

Also:

Shando updated her blog and you can find out about her past 20 or so years HERE

And, thank you to the nice comments from unknown internet users (and the girl I found accidentally) I really am planning on getting back to you but I'm a bit distracted lately with multiple things (this is just me wasting time while I should be working!)

Factoids

I'm calling it factoids but I recently found out 'factoid' means a false 'fact' and not a tid bit of information like I thought it was...

Nevertheless (I totally saw this on someone else's blog and thought it might make a good blog):

My life, in a nutshell

20 years ago I was:
1. 21 years old, and a biscuit away from being engaged (aug of that year)
2. Going to school at BYU and writing to my missionary who was coming home in July
3. Miraculously, not working and managing to survive nonethess (thanks mom & dad)

10 years ago I was:
1. 31 years old with a bunch of kids (8 yr old, 3 yr old & 1 yr old)
2. A biscuit away from buying our house (October)
3. I met Shannon around this time (well, met her sooner than this but became good friends)

5 years ago I was:
1. Had a 13 year old boy and that was NOT fun.
2. Kirk was still the Bishop
3. The rest is a blur

3 years ago I was:
1. All our home remodeling was finally finished!
2. We went to Scotland with Holden which was soooooo great. So glad we did that.
3. Again, a bit blurry

1 year ago I was:
1. Going crazy flying back and forth to Provo every week to go to my classes at BYU.
2. Worrying a lot.
3. I think I had a hang-nail somewhere in there too.

This year so far I have:
1. Lost 60+lbs
2. Taken more classes towards my degree
3. Really enjoyed my kids

Yesterday I:
1. Lost 1/2 a pound
2. Missed Kirk while he is in Florida, but enjoyed not worrying about making dinner
3. Drove my kids around all day as per usual

Today I will:
1. Go to the swim meet and help run the concessions with Shan
2. Drive my kids around as per usual
3. Drink a lot of liquid

Tomorrow I will:
1. Go to Salon Sandoval and get my hair cut & colored (my favorite thing in the world)
2. Eat lunch afterwards with Shannon maybe at Pita Jungle where I will have the salmon
3. Go to Last Chance

In the next year I will:
1. Be a lot thinner
2. Finish more classes at BYU
3. Try to be happy for my 18 year old rather than sad that he is leaving home for college (I'm going to miss him like crazy but I am trying to be POSITIVE)

So I'm tagging Suzanne, Cynthia (otherwise known as Ms. Hale), Shando (hmmm...wonder who will write that?), Geri and anyone else who wants to give a whirl.

Birthday Wishes...Eddie Izzard

I totally love Eddie Izzard. I told Kirk I wanted tickets for my birthday. So Kirk said "go ahead and get them". Then I sort of balked at the price. They are between $180-400 per ticket. And I'm not saying they aren't worth it. But I have never paid those kind of prices for tickets to anything. The most I've ever paid is $215 for baseball tickets. But that's the thing - I like Eddie Izzard way, way more than baseball. Thoughts?

(if you're unfamiliar with this brilliant man, here are some clips to enjoy)










And finally a tribute: Love this:




warning, might be a tad bit of *language* in the above clips

Announcing A Fabulous Sale

Most of you know that Kirk and I collect art. We started collecting at Art One in Scottsdale because they are new and emerging artist's and there are great deals to be had. One of the things I love about discovering an artist there is that you can fall in love with something that's probably cheaper than a poster you could get framed at Michaels - and it will be far more meaningful to you and have a creative energy about it that will never exist in any reproduction or print you would buy in a store.


(our latest painting by Melanie Corradi, titled "girl" which we absolutely adore at top)


We've made some pretty decent choices over the years too - one of our favorite Artists is Brian Boner and Brian has now moved on to being represented by the Wilde Meyer Gallery (which also resulted in almost doubling the price of his work, and thereby, the value of some of our paintings). We've had some other similar good luck with some of the other artist's we've chosen. Even Brennan bought a painting for around $75 (on sale) one day and now that artist has moved on to another gallery, at triple her old prices.

So if any of you are even thinking of beginning a collection now is the time. Kraig at Art One is struggling a bit right now. During the booming economic times people had money to spare and they were spending it on art. Right now is a down time for the gallery. And summer is the worst - because often the people with money to spend go away for the summer. Kraig has pulled all his old inventory from the back rooms and in addition, has a lot of donated pieces from his artists. Some of his former artists have moved on to expensive Santa Fe galleries as well as museums, but they have still donated a few peices to keep him afloat this summer. We picked up a new painting yesterday for an absolute song because it was a donated piece. We paid about 1/4 of it's actual worth. He has things there right now for
as cheap as $30! Brennan decided to add to his collection yesterday and picked up a cool encaustic for $30. So if you've ever thought about it, go check it out, the gallery is full to the brim with cool stuff and most of it is not on the website. On a lot of the stuff you can just make him an offer. Last week you could have picked up a Steve Yazzie painting for 1/10 of the cost (though of course that was snatched up immediately)!

Here's an idea of some of the great things at the gallery, and these are not even the bargains! (though still a GREAT price).




By an artist we adore - Aaron Dunham, a totally nice guy and local artist - he did the two metal pieces in front of our house, as well as the benches - these are steel and enamel. Very cool between $300 and $1000.


















Lydell Palermo has all these great bold candy colors right now - she has these hot pink panels I love (though I might have a hard time talking Kirk into them) - great abstracts for around $300










Erik Lyon is a super talented artist who spent a lot of time in South America sketching people on public transportation with amazing precision and feeling. This is a great sketch of downtown Phoenix. Almost all of his work is between $100 and $300.







Anthony Zeh has been with Art One for quite a while and only recently began doing these high energy abstraktions (his spelling). They really are so fun - I have two of them and I love the depth of color and complexity. Such a bargain too between $300 and $100 for most of them.
















Tom Stephenson is one of the best airbrush artist's around. He does a lot of work on motorcycle airbrushing. His amazing paintings are all done free hand with no stencils or pre-sketching. This great piece on glass is only $300.


















Kirk and I have not managed to get anything by this artist yet but we both really like her. Her name is Stephanie Bucholz she does both landscape and people with these interesting dark colors she somehow manages to keep the mood light in her paintings, which is very hard to do. Someday we will buy one of hers - this one called "personal Las Vegas" is $600. I guarantee Stephanie's prices will go up, up in the future.














Also I'll put in a little plug for Holden, Kraig is letting him have a little show of some of his artwork this month. He's been working in spray paint and has some pretty cool stencil work as well as free hand paintings and sculpture. He has about 6 pieces in a show.

Art One is located on Marshall Way just North of Indian School in Old Town Scottsdale.

Happy 4th

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend.

There was a fascinating discussion today on NPR as to what consitutes patriotism or how to define oneself as a patriot.

The simple Websters definition of a patriot is: "one who loves or defends his own country".

Of course life is more nuanced sometimes than a simple defintion, as the discussion on Diane Rheem's show expressed.

I know for me, it's very nuanced. But I can definitely say that I fit under that definition of a Patriot.

I believe in the principles the country was founded on. Living in Virginia for 3 years in Thomas Jefferson's home town gave me a massive appreciation of so many things that happened at the genesis of our country. Plus I learned to greatly admire Jefferson. What a truly fascinating man.

So anyway - Happy 4th! And let's hope for good things for our country's future.

ps - Shando wants me to mention her blog has been updated by Pat: HERE

pss - to read about my encounter with a jerky 20 year old kid read: HERE