Elections and Weddings

It's election time...again. I'm working the polls and I'm getting paid so it works fine for me, but it's costing Canada a fortune.

Our set up is quite different from the States even though we're both a democracy. To be honest, I think the states has a better system. There are three changes I would like to see to our democratic process, things that the States does.

1. Have an election every four years. The way it is now they have an election anytime they want to. It becomes a game, especially when there's a minority government (minority means that they have less seats than the combination of other governments). You can see the other parties gang up on the elected party. You can see the elected party doing things to force a vote in hopes of getting more seats. If they all knew that there was only a vote once every four years then they could spend more time actually working instead of playing the game "when shall we have another election."

2. Limit an individual from being the prime minister to two terms. Remember Trudeau? He was in power for like a hundred years. It was like having a king that wouldn't die. He's responsible for the metric system, French being on everything (even though English isn't), and Margaret.

3. Allow us to actually vote for our prime minister. Put his/her name on the ballot and let us put an x there. Right now the prime minister is determined by how many seats his/her party wins. I remember one year I wanted one guy from a party to represent me, but I didn't want his party leader to be prime minister. You can have a great representative be in the wrong party. So make it two separate votes. One for your local rep and one for the prime minister.

4. Yes I know I said three but I just thought of a fourth. Allow our representatives to represent us. When King Mulrooney was in power he kicked out people who didn't agree with him. There should be room for dissention and our reps should be able to vote according to how they think the people they represent want them to vote, not according to what the prime minister tells them.

So there we go.

By the way, did anyone watch the wedding? Yes, I did stay up. It's history in the making. The dress was beautiful and she was glowing. I remember the other wedding - yes I am that old. The dress was overwhelming and Diana didn't look very happy. As it turns out she wanted to run and she should have but then we wouldn't have had this wedding. Let's hope that William and Katherine's (could you get any more regal sounding names?) marriage is a long and happy one. Will seems like a much better man than his father and might actually take those vows he made today seriously - unlike his lying, cheating dad(can you tell that all my sympathy went to Di?), and Kate seems far better prepared than Diana.

Cross Stitch, Quilting, Knitting, Sewing, Craft, UFO Rotation = Procrastination

I am supposed to be studying for my Art History exam. Instead I'm blogging about something I did last week when I was supposed to be writing essays and my take home exams. Because that's what I do, anything except what I'm supposed to.

See my title. Designed to appeal to the masses. Some of you may ask "what the heck is that?" So for the uninformed let me explain.

Cross Stitch - a needleart that entails putting little x's on fabric to make a picture. You wouldn't think something so basic, so simple, would be so fascinating, but it's like painting with thread.

UFO - this has nothing to do with little green men, ET, being beamed up by Scottie, or a call for medication. It means Unfinished Object.

Rotation - a system for finishing UFO's.

So now we have that clear I have a confession to make. I have 15 of those cross stitch UFO's. What's more, some of them are older than some of my children, and my youngest is 11.

So after doing a google search I've designed a UFO that I think might work. And for those of you with your own stash of UFO's you can give this a try. No, this is not going to solve the world's problems, this is so I don't have to study.

1. Find all your UFO's and works in progress. This might mean looking under the bed, in closets, in your wheat barrels, in abandoned purses and under the kitchen sink.

2. Look them all over. Do you want to finish that cross stitch picture of an all black puppy for great aunt Mabel even though Great Aunt Mabel is gone now and your eyes go buggy with all those shades of black and you never were a dog person? Is that jacket with peacocks all over it and humongous shoulder pads still something you're going to want to wear when you do finish it? How many crocheted washcloths do you still need? Weed out the stuff you don't like anymore. Give it away, throw it away or take it apart and reuse the materials. It's okay. It's no longer worth your time. You are not a failure. Let it go. We all have projects we were initially excited about but grew to dread.

3. Make sure all your projects are in bags with the materials.

4. Make a list of all your projects. Try to organize your list according to what you want (or need) to finish first. If you have an extra big project you might want to put it near the bottom of your list. You'll see why in a minute. Try to vary your list so you don't have the same type of thing all in a row.

5. Here's where the rotation part comes in. The number one item on your list is your focus piece. Work 10 hours on your number one and then work 10 hours on your number 2 piece. Then go back and work another 10 hours on your number one piece, then work 10 hours on your number three piece. Do you see where I'm going on this? Work down your list in 10 hour increments alternating with your focus piece.

6. Eventually you will get the number 1 piece finished (because you are working on it more than on anything else). You might even get another piece on your list finished. That's great. When number one piece is finished then your number two piece is your focus piece and you continue through your rotation alternating with your new focus piece. If you happen to finish one of your other pieces you can then go back to your focus piece for 10 hours and then continue with your rotation.

7. Now here comes the fun part. Once you go through your rotation - you can start something new. What! I know, you're trying to get things finished, not start new things, but lets face it, the reason we have UFO's is because we're starters not finishers and if we can't look forward to starting something new we just might suddenly go crazy and start a whole whack of new things as a form of rebellion. Besides this is supposed to be enjoyable. I bet you have a huge stack of things you've been wanting to start. So, you get to start a new one - but only at the end of your rotation.

8. When you've rotated through everything and added a new project (if you wish), then start over again from the top.

You can see why I suggested that big projects be put at the end of your list. You need to have some finishes and you won't if you get bogged down at the beginning with a big piece. Eventually it will be your focus piece but you'll already have put in a lot of hours on it.

So that's what I did with precious time last week. And now I'm blogging about it when I could blog about all the answers for world peace, saving the planet, and answering the great unanswerable question "Why do people like Charlie Sheen get to make millions doing fun stuff and I (who has never yet served time in prison, an addiction facility, spent time with prostitute) don't?"

My New Baby is Acers

I had every intention of being good and blogging and writing.

My computer had other ideas.

First it moved slow. Like, lets read a book while I wait for things slow.

Then it crashed.

When I got it back after half of it had been amputated, it moved slow as in, let's get a sandwich, wash the dishes and sweep the floor while I wait slow.

I made sure I got all my valuable stuff, like my writing and my grandkids pictures onto my external hard drive.

Then it got slow like, lets watch an episode of Smallville while I eat that sandwich, do some laundry, run some errands, bake cookies, and organize my filing system while I wait slow.

Last year everyone popped up at school with those little netbooks that had all the same memory and capabilities of my 900 pound laptop. I wanted one. I craved one. Yes, I coveted one. But I couldn't justify getting one when I had a perfectly fine laptop.

I think a computer crash and a laptop so slow that I have to shave my legs in between wait times justifies getting a netbook. Especially since I'm a student and a supposed writer.

So now I have a little netbook. It doesn't require a bag the size of a microwave, it weighs less than the fillings in my teeth, it has all the capabilities and more that my laptop had at it's coming out party, and it's purple. Yes purple. The geniuses that created computers were like Ford who said that people could have any color car they wanted as long as it was black. Computer companies were like that too, although they went with grey and beige. But now we can have computers in all kinds of colors and some even come with designs.

I loved my laptop when I first got it. It promised mobility that I didn't have with my previous desktop, and I did take it places as long as I didn't have to carry it too far, and it was better and faster than my desk top, but computers don't have a long life and their tickers slow and down and stop working and by then new computers come along that offer so much more for half the price.

Yeah, the netbook is less than half the price that I paid for my laptop. Computer prices have dropped dramatically in the past three years.

By next year I'm sure my little netbook will be obsolete. But I'm happy now.

One change, I would make it so that I could rotate the programs on the screen so I could read it like an ebook sometimes.

General Conference Online Bookclub: You Are My Hands - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Take a moment to read the following and then come back here.

You Are My Hands

There is so much in this beautiful talk that I don't know where to begin. I'd like to cut and paste the whole thing but there might be copyright issues with that.

I've always loved the story of the Christ statue without hands and the one President U. told of the two brothers was touching.

We are Christ's hands. People ask, especially atheists; How can there possibly be a god when so many bad things happen in the world? People are starving, why doesn't God fix it? People are oppressed, if He can do anything and loves us why doesn't He stop it?

But if God did fix it, if He came down each time and rescued the poor and destitute, the oppressed and suffering, then we wouldn't. We simply wouldn't help if we knew that He was going to just come along and fix everything. We would not learn how to care for others, how to sacrifice, how to work and solve problems and think for ourselves. And is that the kind of people that God wants to create? We are His hands, for if we always expected him to use His hands, we would cease to use ours.

I loved the following quote in this talk:

One woman who had been through years of trial and sorrow said through her tears, “I have come to realize that I am like an old 20-dollar bill—crumpled, torn, dirty, abused, and scarred. But I am still a 20-dollar bill. I am worth something. Even though I may not look like much and even though I have been battered and used, I am still worth the full 20 dollars.”

We are all battered and bruised, some more so than others. It irks me to no end when I hear "they are blessed because they follow the gospel" or something similar. It insinuates that those who struggle, who face hardships, often continual hardships are not righteous. That they create their own mess. And yes, some people do create their own mess. But many, try to live righteous lives and still face one difficulty after another. You can exercise and eat right and follow the word of wisdom and the law of chastity, and still get seriously sick. You can get an education and still not find a job. You can love your spouse with all your heart and treat them the right way, and they can still walk away from you. You can teach your children in righteousness and they can still go down wrong paths making unwise choices. You can take care of your home and earthly goods and have it all taken away in a moment by a fire or tornado. You can walk in safe places and be a victim of a crime. You can manage your finances wisely and a disaster can leave you bankrupt. You can even read your scriptures and pray every day and not hear God sometimes.

There's the story of how Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus died. I've often wondered why he wept when he knew that Lazarus was fine even if he did stay dead. But by example Christ taught: and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, - Mosiah 18:9. Christ wept not only because he had an earthly body and would miss his friend, but also because his friends mourned.

I read on someone's blog that they learn more from people who have struggled and suffered, and maybe that is why some seem to have the lives of Job. They struggle and suffer so that others may be His hands.

We don't know.

I know I don't know. But then God never promised that following Him would be easy. I can only cling to what I know. That He lives, that Jesus died for our sins and paid the price, all I have to do is accept.

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General Conference Talks Bookclub was started by Diapers and Divinity. You can read and comment about what she says about this talk here. To join you can click the button on my sidebar or go here.

Bill Rancic Wants My Son

It came in the mail. An invitation to my son to attend a seminar that will teach him to buy bankrupted properties for pennies on the dollar. And just for attending he gets a free digital camera too. Plus Bill Rancic, the winner of the first "The Apprentice" with Donald Trump will be there or at least his picture will be there with appropriate quotes.

Does Bill Rancic know that my son is is 12 years old?

"Have you been running an entrepreneurial business that I know nothing about?" I asked him, trying to picture this. His idea of hard work is taking out the garbage.

"Not that I know of. But we should go. We get a free camera."

"It's not that I don't want to learn how to get a half million dollar house for 20,ooo bucks, but I don't have the 20,000 bucks either."

"Yeah, but we get a free camera. A free digital camera."

"Honey, it's not what it promises to be."

"But Mom, it's a free camera, just for showing up."

Yeah, like I'm going to trust a free camera from a group of people that thinks my 12 year old is a multi-millionaire.

Boy, working for Trump has rubbed off on Bill. And that can't be good.

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Check out my latest book review. Beastly by Alex Flinn.

Not Writing

I now have time to write.

Instead I blog, I discover new blogger backgrounds, I think about doing my family history, I think about that book of poetry I want to put together, I find a really cool Jane Austen book in Chapters that looks like a scrapbook and wonder how I can get my journal or poetry book to look like that, I think about those blog backgrounds and I end up looking up digital scrapbooking.

Big mistake.

Because now I want to play with that instead of writing something that might sell.

I love writing once I get into the "zone", but getting to that zone becomes something I put off. It's like a journey I know I want to go on but the packing is overwhelming, so instead I clean, organize, surf the net, exercise, surf the net, oh who knows what I end up doing instead of real writing.

I only have myself to blame.

I have a guest post on Blog Segullah. Chasing Rainbows

I also discovered that an article that I wrote for my college newspaper is on the net. An Old Dog Learns New Tricks

And to read about what I said about Phyllis A. Whitney and a review of two of her books, go to Views from Hobbit Hole.

If I type in my name to a search engine I get me, which can be disconcerting because it also brings up everything I ever said on other people's blogs.

And for those of you who remember momsense from Anita Renfroe, here's another. This woman is brilliant. I showed it to my 10 year old daughter who's a Tayor Swift fan and she was horrified. "Bad Mom!" she exclaimed. "That's just wrong."

Motorcycles, Vampires and Spike and Snarl

Okay, folks, she's back. Aunt Madge is back offering her advice. Sigh.

"Sigh, you sigh? Like it's a bad thing? I give great advice. I knew I should have stayed and run your blog while you were off at school, but no, I had to go travel the world..."

"You did not travel the world."

"You don't know what I did. You were too busy not learning Spanish."

"Can we not talk about the Spanish please?"

"We'll talk about motorcycles instead. Just go over to my blog at Ask Aunt Madge.

"Motorcycles? You're giving advice on motorcycles? Have you ever been on a motorcycle?"

"I had one."

"A motor scooter that you have to pedal to get going is not the same thing."

"Just go read the post."
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Things that make you go hmmm.

First time novelist Elizabeth Kostova received an advance of 2 million dollars for her 2005 book, "The Historian", a novel about Vlad the Impaler.

Where can I get that deal? Because I can't think of anyone who needs it more than me.

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A story of mine will be featured at Blog Segullah on Sunday.

Cindy Beck mentions me in her blog post about Spike and Snarl. Thanks Cindy!