The Christmas Spirit

Music and images can be very powerful mediums that can touch the soul. Today I watched this short video about Christ, with music done by The Piano Guys. It really touched my heart and reminded me of the love I have for the Savior and how grateful I am for his life, works, atonement, and personal care for me.

Here's the link to the video. It brought the Christmas spirit into my heart, and I hope it may do the same for you.

Green Movies

The other day I watched the movie Furngully. I had not seen that movie since I was a little girl. And then a few days later we rented a movie called Big Miracle. Then I got to thinking about some other kids movies I've seen that are similar in a way...The Lorax (by Dr. Suess) and Pocahontas. What do these movies have in common? Well, they all have messages about being animal and environmentally friendly. I wont lie, watching these movies do influence me to be kind to animals, the environment and living things. I do feel these are good messages for children to learn so I'm glad that there are movies with these themes.

Furngully is about these fairies that live in a beautiful forest, but then human come to chop down the trees and pollution (the main enemy) begins taking over to destroy everything. I the message that everyone has the ability to make things grow. Big Miracle is about 3 grey whales that are trapped in the ice in Alaska and the efforts to free them (although most efforts by various people/organizations are doing it for PR and ultimately money). Some of the peoples hearts change as they begin to realize the helping others (including the whales) isn't about fame and money, but about helping those in need. The Lorax sends the message that we need to be wise about natural resources and that if we just use and take without giving back, that we'll destroy the environment and resources. We need to be wise stewards of the earth, take care of the resources we've been given, and give back after we take so that the environment can be sustainable.

So what is the point of this blog post? Movies, even kid movies, can help us think about important values and issues. Lets be nice to the animals and the environment!

Little Shop of Horrors

The other week my husband and I went to see a musical at BYU called Little Shop of Horrors. I had never seen the movie and quite frankly had no idea what to expect. The BYU production was actually really good, and the actors did a fabulous job. Basically the play was about a strange plant (Audrey II) in a flower shop that brings a lot of popularity to the store and brings people fortune...but the twist is the plant is a man eating plant. The character, Seymour, who nurtures the plant, get's swayed into feeding the plant (committing murders) because the plant helps Seymour to become famous, get the girl, etc, but in the end Seymour loses everything. This musical got me thinking about what messages are being portrayed. Although I can't say there are any good role models in the play, I feel the overall message is an important one to consider. Basically, if you give in to greed, pride, appetite of never satisfying wants, etc (everything Audrey II represents), then you will get gain at first, but ultimately these addictions and need for gain will end up hurting those you love and ultimately destroying yourself.

I think when considering media you need to think no only about the content of what is being portrayed but also the messages. At first I didn't like Little Shop of Horrors because there were no good role models and no positive moral values. But after I thought about the underlying message, I began to see why this play is good because it makes you think about human nature, warns about giving into temptations, and shows the true consequences of your actions. It's too bad BYU is done presenting this musical, because I would recommend it.

Black Friday

Thanksgiving is coming up and I'm pretty excited for the break from school! Now I must say that I'm not from the US, and so there a number of holidays and such that I didn't grow up with. One of those is Black Friday. Last year I was kind of curious about this whole Black Friday deal, and I saw an add for a fake Christmas tree for $20 that I really wanted. So I decided to venture out that day to get my Christmas tree. Wow, was it crazy at the store! It took hours at the store even though I only bought ONE thing. Today my husband was telling me about Cyber Monday and I really think it's such a brilliant idea. I guess if I decide I really want to get some Christmas ornaments this year for really cheap, then I'll just stay in the comfort of my home and order them online, haha.

Wedding reception live stream

A good friend of mine got married the other week. Unfortunately, he got married in Canada and I was not able to attend...in person. For the past 6 months, my friend sent invites through facebook, had continual wedding plan updates posted, and informed everyone who wouldn't be able to make it that they could watch a live stream of the reception. So when the day of the wedding arrived, I decided to be supportive and I watched a little bit of the live streaming of the reception. Oddly enough, I saw my brother at the reception and he caught the garter. It was kind of fun to virtually be there when I couldn't be there in person, but at the same time it was sad that I couldn't interact with anyone in person.

Facebook does not want you to leave

Ok, so I deactivated my facebook account the other day and I'm please to say I don't miss it! It's actually kind of a relief to not have the temptation to waste time on there, especially when I have homework to do. 

However, I found it really interested the process of deactivating facebook. First off, it's impossible to delete facebook for good (as far as I can tell), you can only deactivate it. Second, when you finally find where to deactivate your account, facebook provides all these means to try to convince you not deactivate your account. Let me elaborate. 

When you click on "deactivate my account", a number of your facebook friends appears with this above their pictures "David will miss you" "Ann will miss you" "Cody will miss you"...."are you sure you want to deactivate you account?" If that doesn't dissuade you, then you continue on to click a reason of why you want to deactivate your account. When you click on one of the reasons, a little response appears to give you a solution. Here are just a few examples: 

Reason:"I get too many emails, invitations, and requests from Facebook"

Response: "You can control what email you receive from us here".

Reason: "I don't find Facebook useful."

Response: "You may find Facebook more useful by connecting with more of your friends. Check out our Friend Finder to see who you know on the site. Also, check out the Help Center to get an overview and tips on using Facebook."

Reason: "I spend too much time using Facebook."

Response: "One way to control your interaction with Facebook is to limit the number of emails you receive from us. You can control what emails you receive here"

So this is the conclusion I have come to: Facebook does not want you to leave!!!

 

Facebook

As fun as facebook is and as much as I like to keep up with what's going on in friends' lives, it also very distracting! Every time I go on the computer, I check my email, then I look around on facebook. I've recently been very overwhelmed with school, and so I decided to deactivate my facebook account for a month or so to insure I don't get distracted as much. This will be a nice little experiment for myself to if it'll feel relief to not have facebook, or if I'll feel withdrawals (as if it were an addiction). I guess I'll find out!

Children's Books

I've been wanting for quite some time to start collecting children's book. I don't have kids yet, but I would love to have a nice collection of books for them. It was interesting to learn in a class that a study showed a predictor of reading achievement was the number of books in the home (not just the amount of time parents read to their children). The only reason why I have not bought a whole bunch of children's books is the price! Especially the classic, really amazing children's book and kind of pricy. So...does anyone out there have any good suggestions on where to get children's books for cheap? They by all means do not need to be in new condition.

Childhood Movies

Today I randomly had the "following the leader" song from Peter Pan stuck in my head. I couldn't quite remember how it went so I decided to watch a video of it on youtube. What struck me was that while watching it, it brought back feelings/memories from my childhood of watching Peter Pan. I have noticed that when I see a little bit of a movie that I haven't watched since I was really young, that I somehow remember the feelings I had while I was originally watching it as a child.
Do you experience the same thing while watching a movie from your childhood?

Peter Pan: Following The Leader

Things As They Really Are

I love the talk titled "Things As They Really Are" given by Elder David A. Bednar! It really puts media in perspective for me, and also helps me appreciate this life more. If you have never read this talk, I highly recommend it (it is well worth your time, I promise). If you have read it before, I recommend re-reading it. If you wont do either, at least watch this short video segment that highlights a few things that were mentioned in his talk.

Here's the link for the short 3 minute video segment of the talk:

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/things-as-they-really-are?lang=eng 

Here's the link if you'd like to read the talk:

http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,538-1-4830-1,00.html 

Here's the link if you'd like to watch/listen to his whole talk:

http://www.lds.org/broadcast/ces/0,7341,538-1-61-1681,00.html 

Choosing Good Media

I really do like the youth.lds.org website! It has such great resources for the youth. Under media, I found an article that gave some great suggestions for choosing good media.  Below I have copied and pasted these suggestions (you can find the original here: https://www.lds.org/youth/article/idea-list-choose-the-right-media?lang=eng).

• Always let the Spirit guide you as you make decisions about what to watch, play, or read. Follow the promptings you receive.
• Get software that blocks pornography and pop-ups on your Internet service.
• With your parents’ permission, place the computer in an open place in your home where others usually walk by.
• Check book reviews, and read book covers before buying books. Avoid books that are obviously inappropriate.
• When you go to the pictures or rent a movie, make sure you know the rating, and read the reviews ahead of time. That way you will be able to make an informed decision about whether to watch the film.
• Don’t look at inappropriate magazine covers in shops. Focus on something else so your eyes won’t stray to the section where they are displayed.
• Be aware of the words in the songs you listen to or sing along with. Think about whether the words, message, volume, or beat of the music would be offensive to the Spirit.
• Check ratings on CDs before you buy them.
• Be careful watching television at night when programming tends to be less family oriented.
• If you have seen or heard something you didn’t want to see or hear, sing a hymn to yourself and say a prayer to invite the Spirit.
• Have your parents block channels you do not want to accidentally switch to on your television.
• Avoid gossip stories even if they are in what seems to be a reputable magazine or newspaper.
• Stay away from video games that are violent, immoral, or use bad language. Check the ratings of the games you buy or play.
• If you realize you have made a bad media choice, turn it off, put it down, or walk out.

Media

Here's a 2 and a half minute segment from a conference talk given a year ago about the topic of Media. I like this quote from the talk : "let us be as quick to kneel as we are to text".

 https://www.lds.org/youth/video/tune-in-to-the-lord?lang=eng

Free Lunch

In recent years I haven’t read very many books besides ones that are required for my school classes. I did however read (actually listened to it on CD as my husband and I drove to Canada) at book by Hugh Nibley. The book is called “Approaching Zion”. It certainly came across as “different” when I first was listening to it because he basically takes how you already think of things, flips everything upside down, and that has you look at everything from new angles. I think that’s one of the reasons why I really enjoyed this book is because it made me think about things in ways I have never done so before and come up with personal determinations to be a better person.

In the book Approaching Zion, Hugh Nibley mentions in his opinion what Zion should be like, how we a people should be, and gives biblical examples to support his points (such as explaining many parts of the Law of Moses). There is one theme from the book that I’ve thought about quite a bit. It’s the world's idea that there is no such thing as a “free lunch”. In order to obtain the necessities of life (aka “lunch”), one has to work/obtain money, and that’s all there is to it. To the world, free lunch does not exist, so the driving force of the world’s economy is to obtain lunch. This goes against what the Lord has told his convent people throughout scriptures. Consider for instance, manna from heaven, or the great commission from the Lord to his apostles.   Hugh Nibley sums it up this way, comparing the Lord to an employer:

“So let us go across the road for an interview with the Other Employer. To our surprise, he answers our first question with an emphatic: ‘Forget about lunch! Don't even give it a thought!’ ‘Take no thought of what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink or wherewith ye shall be clothed!’ ‘But what will become of me then?’ you ask. Not to worry, ‘We will preach the gospel to you, and then you will find out that lunch should be the least of your concerns.’”

This idea has made me think about what my driving force is for the various decisions I make. Am I making a choice because I need to work to earn my lunch, or do I try to follow God’s commandments, trusting he will help me throughout mortality? I like how Hugh Nibley put it: “work we must, but the lunch is free”.

Taking Tests

I was riding my bike to the testing center the other night to take my midterm exam for Media, Family and Human Development. As I was riding, I remembered learning in that class that listening to music before taking a test could help you do better (this particular study didn't did look at listening while studying or while taking a test, but just listening before you take the test). Well, I actually hadn't been listening to anything while studying nor before taking the test, so I was a little disappointed that I hadn't taken advantage of something that could possibly help my score. Then I remembered that it didn't matter if it was Mozart you listened to, rhythm sounds, or the sounds of traffic, but that just listen to something was helpful!  So as I rode my bike to the testing center, I focused on listening to the sounds of traffic around me.  And guess what, I scored a whole 10 points better on this test than I did on a similar test (for a different class, but same teacher).  So maybe, just maybe, it actually worked for me.  It was fun to think about none-the-less. 

Roku

I find that I have a tendency to be behind when it comes to technology and what's coming up. So I don't know how long this has been out, but my husband just told me about Roku. I guess it's a streaming media player that uses your wifi connection to stream media onto your TV.  Companies can create an app for the Roku player and users can select what content they want. The Roku is a one time price (not too expensive apparently) and the apps are then free.

I know in the past I have mentioned to my husband my concern of all the junk that is available on cable and that I wasn't sure if I wanted that in our home for our kids to potentially view. I thought it would be great if we could somehow only have the option of just a few channels that are uplifting (such byutv). But now it seems like Roku is the perfect option for that were we really could just pick a few apps of channels or whatever that we felt was good to have in our home.  Perhaps in a few years when we have money we will get Roku.

A Second Birth

On Saturday my husband and I went to see a play called A Second Birth. I actually had no idea what it was about until I stared watching it, but it was actually really good! It was in a small theater downstairs in the HFAC. There were chairs all around the room facing the middle where there was a small circular stage. Only a handful of people were composed of the cast, and when they were no actively performing on the stage, they would sit on the ground and turn the stage so that it would circle around. I just loved how close and intimate the environment was for the play.

The play took place in Afghanistan and was about a girl who was a bacha posh. Bacha posh is girl who's parents dress up as a boy so that they can attend school, work, etc. and bring honor to the family. These girls who are dressed like boys learn how to fight, play soccer, and do things that boys do. The Bacha posh in the play reaches the age where she is starting to develop, and he parents are worried that she will be discovered (which could mean death), so her parents decide to arrange a marriage for her. She quickly has to learn how to cook, sew, and various other skills that a woman is expected to do. She certainly fights against this and feels that her freedoms are being taken away and that her life will confined where she will feel like a slave. There is however a fun twist to the play and how it ends.

I liked the play because it really makes you think about men's roles and women's roles and what really makes us different...or the same. I believe men and women are more the same than they are different, but that by having different roles can bring the potential to accomplishing great things as a couple, if used properly and with wisdom. 

Toilet Phone

So...this is kind of embarrassing. I was walking into the bathroom and the cell phone that was in my back pocket fell out...into the toilet! Yes, it got wet, but in the most awkward way. So naturally I reached my hand into the bowl to get it out. Gross!!! The saddest part of this whole thing is I did the exact same thing almost a year ago where I dropped the exact same phone in a toilet. As of now, my poor little phone is sitting in a bag of rice, in hopes that it will work again. It worked for a whole year after the last toilet plunge, so if it's fine again I will be very impressed (especially seeing how I have one of the cheapest phone you can possibly get).

It's times like this where I get a little reality check on how dependent I am on my cell phone. Without it this evening I couldn't call my husband to tell him the "bad new". Tomorrow, no one will be able to get a hold of me. I think it's the curiosity that kills me, wondering who might be trying to text or call for whatever reason. I think I've decided to just try and enjoy tomorrow as a cell phone free day.

Foldit: video gamers helping scientists

We talked about video games in my Media, Family, and Human Development class yesterday. For a very long time I've been pretty against video games, especially the violent ones. I've seen how they can be addicting and lead to outcomes that I wouldn't consider the most desirable. Also, when it comes to violence, the scriptures talk pretty strongly against murder as a very serious sin, so I personally don't see how pretending to commit that "sin" by shooting and killing on video games is good for our soul. 

But, none-the-less, it was interesting for me to learn in class that those who play video games and become pretty good at 3D navigation, which has shown to be helpful in things such as laposcopic surgeries. Who knew that laposcopic surgeons who previously previously played video games had an advantage.

Well oddly enough, this morning my husband was watching a video about video-gamers helping scientists figure out protein folding. The scientist turned it into a game called foldit, and low and behold, the gamers were better than the scientists at it in figuring out how to do the protein folding. Anyways, it's pretty interesting and not very long, so you should take a look at it! So it appears to not all gaming is bad, but the skills you learn can actually be helpful.

Here's the link: http://youtu.be/axN0xdhznhY

Stress

So, we got a promotion in the mail for a free month of netflix. I'm not a huge media consumer and rarely watch movies. But my husband and I are giving it a try, and we'll cancel after the free month is over (for time and money reasons).

We watched a documentary by national geographic called Stress. I liked the documentary a lot because it talked about real research that has been done on stress and the neuroscience behind the effects of stress. I knew that chronic stress wasn't good for your health and can lead to brain cell death, but that was about all I knew. Chronic stress actually has a lot of impacts. For instance, when we undergo stress, the bodies resources of prioritized and goes to heart, lungs muscles and brain (such as when an animal is running for it's life) and then other body systems shut down. This is ok for short "fight or fight" responses, but long term stress lowers the immune system and health problems can arise (because resources are not being distributed evenly).
I learned that stress is linked to accelerating the rate of shortening the telomeres on the ends of chromosomes. But acts of compassion and helping others increases the levels of telomerase which helps rebuild telomeres. One way I thought of this was that the saying of helping others in need makes us feel better, is actually true at a biological level.

Ok, I am not a science person and I might not have understood all the science behind everything, but that is the basic gist of what I got out of the documentary.

For the Strength of Youth

I recently was looking at the LDS Church’s website for the youth. If you haven’t seen it, check it out at www.youth.lds.org .  It’s been about 8 years since I was in that program, so it was interesting for me to see what has changed in the youth program since I left. It looks like they have a new For the Strength of Youth pamphlet, and obviously now they have this great website for the youth! The youth sure do love technology and media, and I think this website is a great resource for them to use.