With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live. Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father. He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Because He died, all shall live again.
– President Thomas S. Monson, “I Know That My Redeemer Lives!” Liahona and Ensign, May 2007, 24, 25.
This Sunday, this Easter Sunday, I will get up and watch the sun rise. I will watch the world fill with light. And I will be grateful for my Savior, the Son of God, who rose, so that the world, the whole world and my personal corner of it, could be filled with light.
I’ve been listening to the classical radio station almost exclusively in my car for the last several months. No annoying DJs, no over the top commercials. I’m much calmer in my car and the songs don’t get stuck in my head and distract me for the rest of the day. And two things have finally clicked in my mind.
First, listening to an organ piece one day it became crystal clear that the organ is a wind instrument and the piano is not. Something I’ve always known, but I finally heard that difference. An organ sustains notes and a piano does not.
Second, the voice is an instrument! Which, again, is obvious. Growing up singing hymns in church with the organ/piano playing the exact same notes everyone (should be) singing, it used to confuse me that on choir pieces the piano did not play the notes everyone was singing. But I had no problem looking at a director’s symphony score with a different instrument on each line and every instrument playing something different. Listening to a vocal piece (which I generally don’t like in classical), it finally dawned on me that the vocal line is just another line in the score. It’s just another instrument that basically plays notes you can find in a dictionary.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that in classical music it’s just as important who wrote the original as it is who did the cover. It’s Bach’s piece played by this group. On pop type stations, they never tell you who wrote the song, only who performed it. It’s not “Hold On” written by Amy Foster Gillies, Michael Bublé, and Alan Chang, performed by Michael Bublé (and his band). Although I can highly recommend that song.
It’s not “Save the Last Dance for Me” by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, first recorded in 1960 by Ben E. King with The Drifters, …
… covered by Jay and the Americans (1962), Ike & Tina Turner (1966), The Beatles (1969), John Rowles (1969), Harry Nilsson (1974), The DeFranco Family (1974), Ron Shaw (1978), Emmylou Harris (1979), Dolly Parton (1983), Herbie Armstrong (1983), Geno Delafose (1998), Bruce Willis (1989), Daniel O’Donnell (2003), Michael Bublé (2006), Herbie Armstrong (2010), and Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town (2010). I’ll recommend the Michael Bublé version of that one too. (I had no idea there were that many covers of that song.)
And that is what I have learned by listening to classical music.
I go two separate places for work. Last semester, no matter which one I was going to, I had to go through an intersection under construction. Inevitably the traffic would be forced down to one lane that everyone had to squeeze through. And what inevitably happens in that case? Just about 99% of drivers merge over to the designated lane as soon as absolutely possible. And then they get mad and almost hit the 1% of drivers who understand theory of traffic and do not merge until they absolutely have to. Are you the 99%?
What is theory of traffic? Theory of traffic states that the more lanes of traffic available the faster traffic will go. Imagine LA with only two lanes of traffic in each direction on the freeway. How fast would that go? On second thought, we probably shouldn’t imagine that.
Which is quicker, two lanes worth of cars combined into one lane for a mile or for 100 yards? Theory of traffic says the latter. And if you think about it for even half a second, you’ll have to agree.
Theory of traffic says that the 1% of people who are waiting until the last possible moment to merge through a construction zone are helping traffic move along quicker. And if the other 99% of people understood that, construction zones wouldn’t take so long to get through.
Be in the 1%. Merge when traffic laws say you have to, not when the old lady in the straw hat gives you the evil eye. Perhaps we can switch the ratios. Together, we can make a difference.
This weekend was the annual General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I love Conference weekend.
For many years now I’ve spent time before Conference thinking about my life and places I could improve or things I could understand better. I think of three things and pray I will learn about them during Conference. For a while now I’ve had brief topics I’ve wanted to know more about. Patience has come up a lot as I look back through them. Without fail my topics are always addressed in multiple ways and I am uplifted and strengthened when Conference ends.
This time, rather than topics, I had three specific questions that I desperately need the answers to. I pondered them. I prayed about them. And I prepared for them to be answered. And while they were not answered in necessarily the way I would have expected, now that Conference is over I can honestly say they were all answered and I know exactly what I need to do about each of those three questions. I got the answers I needed. And a lot of it includes prayer, fasting, removing distractions, pondering, and yes, patience.
And yet again, the talks I’m already seeing buzzed about on the internet were not the ones that stood out to me. This is a fairly common occurrence, as in it happens every time. Which is why there are 8 hours of general meetings, enough good stuff for everyone.
What talks touched your heart? (Archives, in case you missed it)
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. Exodus 20:17
Call it splitting hairs, but am I still breaking the commandment if what I’m coveting doesn’t technically belong to any specific person? Because I covet bathrooms. And have for a very long time.
Of course there is also this scripture:
But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. 1 Corinthians 12:31
And fancy bathrooms are definitely one of the best gifts.
I love big fancy bathrooms. And the more HGTV I watch, the more my dream bathroom takes shape in my mind and, in some ways, the larger it gets.
I love the big soaker tub we have in our bathroom. It’s wonderful to just lie in there and relax. And I’m perfectly fine that it doesn’t have jets because those can get mildew nasty. In my dream bathroom the only difference with the tub itself – it would be heated. Did you know they make heated tubs? The water never gets cold! How amazing is that.
And if we’re doing a heated tub, I wouldn’t mind a heated toilet seat too, because I can.
Of course having a tankless water heater would mean we’d never run out of hot water in the first place. And let’s put a hand-held shower head in there while we’re at it. And if the tub happened to be an infinity tub so I could soak even deeper, let’s do that.
And under-mounted sinks. Because they’re easier to clean. And put them higher than mid-thigh. And storage. Counter storage. Cabinet storage. And since our closet is connected to the bathroom, closet storage.
And fire. And I’m not talking candles. I’d like a fire place in the bathroom. So I can relax in my deep soaker tub with the water that never gets cold and watch fire. And listen to relaxing music. So music needs to be in there somewhere too.
I already have a big fluffy bathrobe. But a towel warmer, that would be cool.
I kind of like warmth in the bathroom, can you tell?
If I ever find Matt Muenster at a store near us, I’m going to do everything I can to get him to come do our bathroom. Of course I have plans for Josh Temple or Ahmed Hassan too.
Anybody else covet bathrooms like that? What would your dream bathroom have in it?
It’s the first day of Spring, but that’s not why the terrible wind and rain storm that blew in yesterday and today turned into not just wind and rain but also snow (yes, I saw a few flakes) and hail (seems like it hailed every time I had to go outside to go somewhere), is poorly timed.
No, it’s bad timing because the hummingbird from last year, that built a nest in our tree, and then had a major bad storm destroy that nest with the two tiny eggs, is back. She has a brand new nest. We put a new hummingbird feeder in the front yard Friday night for her so she doesn’t have to go far. But all weekend I’ve wanted to go out and throw a blanket out over the whole tree to protect her.
She’s still there this evening. We’ll check in the morning. There’s a freeze warning for tonight. I’ve pulled my lettuce and tomatoes under the patio and against the house to protect them. But I can’t do anything to help the hummingbird but cross my fingers. Could you cross yours too?
Since I stopped working at a fabric store I’ve basically stopped buying fabric. Which isn’t a bad thing because I REALLY stocked up while I did work there. When I do get a creative urge, I make use of what we’ve already got. And the denim I get when Brett wears out his pants is great! Check out some of the things I’ve made with my husband’s pants.
I started small. In 2010 I made some luggage tags for Brett. I should make me a set. (Pattern for sizing.)
Then last spring I made myself a sling bag that’s the perfect little bag for small trips. It can hold my wallet and either a water bottle or my camera without any problem. And two little pockets on the inside hold a hanky, chap stick, and my phone. (again, pattern for sizing) I used two belt loops from the pants to make “belt loops” for the cutest turtle webbing I’d found as a belt for the bag.
My latest project is my new favorite purse that I made in January of this year. I used the same pattern (McCalls 5824) that I used for my book bag and shrunk it down even more. I used the sizing on another bag for the basic dimensions. I’ll probably put up the modified pattern pieces so you could get the McCalls pattern and make your own at some point. I LOVE this bag. It fits a book, water bottle, notebook, camera, anything I’d need for a day out. Although my favorite thing is probably the back pocket I put on the back of the bag and the belt loop I repurposed into a loop to clip my keys to on the inside. And I finally used one of the fat quarters of gorgeous sunflower fabric I’ve had for a while.
I wonder what else I’m going to make with his pants. I think I’m going to patch the pair that are currently wearing out though. I don’t need the denim that badly.
I am an educator and PhD. I quilt, belly dance, run, read, and try to grow things. I am a Mormon. I am infertile. I am a daughter, sister, aunt, grand-daughter, friend, wife, and mom.
more...
I am an educator and PhD. I quilt, belly dance, run, read, and try to grow things. I am a Mormon. I am infertile. I am a daughter, sister, aunt, grand-daughter, friend, wife, and mom.
Brett L. Dennis
Mama g
Giggles
AmandaStretch
