Traci Turns 15

Traci and I recently went shopping and she bought a new shirt. A few days later she wore said shirt. When I went to a Young Men/Young Women activity that night, I noticed that one of the young women wearing the exact same shirt and capris. I thought it was funny. I took a picture with my phone. I don't know if Traci thought it was funny.

A week or so later we went to Traci's parent's for dinner. Her 13-year-old sister Makell answered the door and said, "My friend Whitney has that same shirt." Traci promptly gave the shirt to Makell.

[I expect Traci to be posting comments on this immediately.]

Lots of Americans

We've been looking at house owned by a Vietnamese family. When we asked about the neighborhood, the owner woman said excitedly, "there are a lot of Americans. Americans, next door, Americans across the street." It sounds like we'll fit right in.

Wax On?

I am giving up on creativity. I had to teach a church lesson on obedience last week. While I was preparing, I tried to come up with an interesting way to present the topic, so the kids wouldn't fall asleep. I could think of anything when zapppp! inspiration struck. I would show a clip from the Karate Kid.

After fastforwarding through all the swears (that Danielsan sure was an angry kid), I showed the clip of Daniel waxing the car, sanding the floor, painting the face, and painting the house while Mr. Myagi threw punches and kicks at him.

Now, if you were a 16-year-old boy, wouldn't you love to watch the Karate Kid at church? Of course. Not these kids. None of them had even seen the movie. Who hasn't seen the Karate Kid? This is what's wrong with America.

Apostle Night at Pioneer Memorial Theatre

Traci went to Les Miserables last night at the U. Apparently it was the place to be for super religious folk like us.

We were standing in the lobby before the play when we saw Elder Nelson walk by with his wife. Huh, we said. Well, even apostles gotsta go to plays sometimes. Then we noticed that Elder Oaks was standing on the other side of the lobby. And then, as were going to our seats, Elder Ballard walked by.

During the play, I kept wondering what they were thinking about all of the phallus jokes.

Paige vs. Dashboard Confessional

Somehow I feel that this picture would be the cover if Paige were to release a baby emo album.

New Bad Religion

I have been debating ending my 10-year relationship with Bad Religion (based on philosophical and musical reasons) for some time now. But I will be postponing any rash decisions until the new record comes out in July. Here's the first single from New Maps from Hell. It sounds like Bad Religion playing a Weezer song. I haven't decided if I like it or not.

Honest Goodbye [link]

It's Electrifying?!

I can't help it. I have come down with some serious Jazz fever. But I'll tell you what, I don't know who's working in the Jazz's marketing department. The team makes it to the playoffs for the first time since 2003 and the best tagline they can come up with is "It's Electrifying" set to the "Electric Slide?" (The song says "It's electric," not "It's electrifying." Duh.) And the best commercial idea is to have man-dwarf Larry Miller humming along to the song...wearing headphones...and dancing? While the Cavs have the Nike-backed "Witness" t-shirts and the Warriors have the "Believe" shirts, we're stuck with paper "It's Electrifying" inserts in the Desert Morning News.

I don't know why this comes as surprise, especially since the Jazz's marketing campaign at the start of the season was "We're Making it Better." Or in other words, "Hey, we really sucked last year, but the odds are good that we won't suck quite as bad this year."

In the end, it doesn't really matter, as long as Memo keeps wanting to fight everybody. Believe me, you don't want to make a Turk angry.

Three Hour Block

Going to church with an 18-month-old is a struggle at best. Though the three hours couldn't be longer for Traci and I, for Paige, the church building is like Jungle Jim's. She loves running up and down the hallways, through the gym, up the stairs to the stage, and pounding on the many pianos.

Her latest discovery has been the water fountains. Two weeks ago she realized that if she smacked it, water would come out. Last week she would smack the button and then quickly try to touch the water as it shot out, but wasn't fast enough to make it work. Fortunately, she found an accomplice. Another little boy about her age came over and held down the button so she could splash her hands in the water. In return, she held out her wet hands and he licked her fingers.

Today she was being very courteous and holding down the button for anyone who came to get a drink. However, she decided how much water they needed. In her most creative move, she learned that she could give her hands a break by pushing the button with her forehead. I am afraid we have a genius on our hands.

Dance, Dance

If there's one thing that Paige likes to do, it's dance. After watching Traci's little sister Makell play Dance Dance Revolution, Paige quickly got her boogie on as well. Sweet moves, Napoleon.

Go Betty Go

I haven't had much time to blog lately, hence this incredibly backdated post. We played a show with touring girl punks GoBettyGo a few weeks ago. It was nice to play a show with some punk bands for a change and Solid Ground Cafe was nice as well.

The highlight of the evening was seeing how four girls from L.A. handle living in a van. The first thing I noticed was that hanging on the back door of their equipment trailer was a linen shoe rack. (Even girl punks need to have shoe choices on the road, apparently.) They were also traveling with two little dogs. Talk about cramped quarters. As far as I could tell, they were sleeping in the van each night and they said that they had been showering at the 24 Hour Fitness whenever they got a chance. You go, girls!

Though I don't love their style of music, they rocked pretty hard and put on a good show. The real props of the night go out to our bass player, Aaron, who despite becoming a father just six days earlier, still made it to the show.

Boyd K. Packer, the Mormon Pope?

For some reason, Stephen Colbert recently referred to Boyd K. Packer as the President of the LDS Church. After realizing the mistake, he came up with his own plan - Mormons should rise up and make it so.

Mormons UNITE!