Update on VACATION

Hello to all you people who probably won' t read this. Just a quick word on how things are going in Utah:

Great.

Kat and I have gone down to a couple of BYU Basketball games. Last night was Kat's birthday so we went down to Provo again for dinner and a movie. We ate at the Legend's Grill and watched I am Legend. I'll write about that shortly. It was fun. Lily's been a big hit among the family. Mostly because of her stunning array of sound effects. Studios are already calling her to sign contracts to work in their sound booths. Hope your holiday seasons are merry and bright, or at least merry.

HUGE HUGE STEP FOR ROMNEY

This just in for those of you who support Romney for President. The National Review, a biweekly conservative magazine, has seen the light and thrown in their support for Mitt. I can't even begin to say what a huge endorsement this is before the Iowa caucus rapidly approaching. And with the scourge-of-all-governors Huckabee rising in the polls, it helps a ton. Hopefully, more people, especially those voting in primaries and caucuses nation-wide will show some similar measurement of intelligence by following suit.

Check out the great article here.

Romney Gives The Speech

And I won't say anything about it except that if you haven't watched it yet, you're missing out. It's a little over 23 minutes long, and you can watch it here:

http://www.mittromney.com/

If you don't vote for Mitt, you'd better know something I don't.

Some movies we watched this week:

1. If you're a member of Generation Y, you've probably never seen Driving Miss Daisy. Well, you'd better rectify that because there's probably some things about it you don't know:

a.It won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1989. Other Oscars were Best Actress (Jessica Tandy), Best Makeup, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
b.It is the last PG rated film to win this award, and Jessica Tandy is the oldest actress to win her award. It was nominated for a bunch of other awards.
c.It's funny and touching. You're hard pressed to find a film so well carried by such a small core of relatively unknown actors at the time: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Akroyd (not so unknown, but he's not funny in this one), and Esther Rolle.

2. Millions, an indie film directed by Danny Boyle. It's the best film about charity I've ever seen. The message is overt, but the way it's presented is so fresh and interesting, that one cannot help but enjoy it. Ebert rated it as one of the best films of 2005. It's charming and delightful, and the two boys in it deliver performances just as good, if not better, than the adults. Forget Feature Films For Families which shove messages down your throat, try Millions.

3. Third is Ghost Rider. The one good thing I say about it is that it never takes itself too seriously because the script is so campy. Unfortunately, the script is so campy that the movies never takes itself seriously. YAWWNNN! A guy who sells his soul to the devil for the life of his father is forced to wander the streets at night avenging innocents and damning criminals while battling evil demons bent on destroying earth. Pretty funny, right?

4. The last is Remember the Titans. Before you decide to skip this because you already know how much you love it, there's something you may want to consider. Originally, it was supposed to be an R rated film, but the director wanted to cut out the unnecessary language. For the first time in the five or so times I've watched this film, I realized that it endorses homosexuality in a very sneaky way. How's that, you ask? Watch the film for yourself one more time, and you figure it out. But mark my words, it does. And the football scenes? For the most part... phoney. Try Friday Night Lights or Rudy for a superior football film, Glory Road or Driving Miss Daisy for a superior film about race.

BYU "getserdun"

What a thrill! What a game! What a show!

BYU topped Utah again for the second straight season. For the last twelve months, everyone has been talking about John Beck to Johnny Harline. "Harline is still open."

Now it will be Hall to Collie. "4th and 18."

I wish I had more to post on this than what I currently do, but this will have to do. Here are the heroes of the game:

Max Hall, the sophomore QB from AZ. Not his best game, but the poise he showed... yeah, he's for real.

Harvey Unga, the Freshman running back.

BYU defense. Tough stuff. The held Utah to half our yards.

BYU is on its way to a second straight undefeated walk though the conference. GO COUGS!

What are we thankful for?

Kat: My family.

Jacob: Our home.

Kat: Games, especially sorry.

Jacob: Lily. Even though technically she's part of our family.

Kat: Friends.

Jacob: Everyone who's helped us get through this semester.

Kat: Our heaters.

Jacob: My Parents. Even though they're also part of our family.

Kat: The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jacob: The Atonement.

Kat: Anything related to our religion.

Jacob: Music.

Kat: Me, too.

Jacob: Books.

Kat: Food Stamps.

Jacob: that we get to go home for Christmas.

Kat: The colors of fall in Cleveland, Ohio.

Jacob: good movies, and bad ones that make them look good.

Kat: Ice cream.

Jacob: modern technology that lets us live in luxury.

Kat: electricity.

Jacob: soap.

Kat: Our bed.

Jacob: hot baths.

Kat: for holidays.

Jacob: that Mitt Romney is running for President.

Kat: a husband who's interested in politics.

Jacob: that I don't have to put up Christmas lights.

Kat: the parts of my body that work.

Jacob: Kat's body.

Kat: Grape juice.

Jacob: tomato juice, the superior juice.

Kat: doctors.

Jacob: this rug I'm laying on.

Kat: binkies.

Jacob: pizzas.

Kat: blankets.

Jacob: Blogs.

Kat: Warm pajamas.

Jacob: BYU Football winning the MWC championship again.

Kat: Hot Chocolate.

Romney's Platform

Every candidate has his (or her) platform; what they think about certain issues, what they want to accomplish in office, social views, etc. Since I support Romney, I think it's important to know his platform. I found and read and commented on a WONDERFUL article/interview by Human Events detailing Mitt's views on almost every major issue. You should- no- you must check it out if you have any whims about supporting him. It will give you a clear idea of not only what he thinks, but how clearly he can articulate his ideas, how intelligent and straightforward he is, and how he absolutely SHOULD be the next president. Here's the link.
Remember friends and family, our nation is at an extraordinarily critical time. I believe it's our responsibility to make the country the best it can be. And I sincerely believe that by electing Mitt Romney as President, we can do so. But PLEASE don't cast your vote blindly. Find out the issues and be smart.

More updates

This is what I hear all day long. Everybody laughs when they hear it. I try and imitate it but I get a soar throat. I don't know how she does it so long. Maybe I am just doing it wrong.This is here:

Lily updates

This is Lily's favorite toy that our neighbor, Sara, let us borrow. My favorite part about it is that it plays the same songs over and over again all day long. Click here for the link.




Lately Lily has been standing up holding on to things. She is a little nervous in this picture because the toy was not very steady and she didn't quite know what to do.

My haircut

I know this isn't the greatest picture of me but I just wanted to show what my hair looked liked before the disaster. All the pictures of me are taken by me. Jacob is gone all day and I have not taught Lily how to do it yet.


























This is the finished product. I don't have an in between picture. The lady who cut it destroyed it and I didn't waste any time going to somebody
else and getting it fixed. It had
to be cut really short in order to fix it. I expect many comments on my new look.

Clinton, "worried about global warming," plants more than trees...

She plants questions. If you haven't heard, Hillary Clinton and her campaign staff have been in Iowa ruining their chances to win the nomination. Not only are they not tipping waitresses, they're also planting questions in the audiences she speaks to. The one she was caught on was from a college student who asked what Hillary Clinton planned to do about global warming.
Rather than doing the smart thing and admitting that global warming is an enormous farce, she answered the question just as she had planned. What she didn't plan for, was the college student coming forth admitting to the press that she had been directed to ask that question.
I always questioned Hillary's merits in staying with her husband, Bill, after all of the numerous sex scandals during his terms in office. Now I no longer question it. Both are equally untrustworthy. Both are equally oily and power-driven. They are perfect for each other.
Here's a nice bit about Hillary by Peggy Noonan. To see the full article, which I highly recommend, click here. It compares Margaret Thatcher with Hillary Clinton, and leaves HC wanting.

"A word on toughness. Mrs. Clinton is certainly tough, to the point of hard. But toughness should have a purpose. In Mrs. Thatcher's case, its purpose was to push through a program she thought would make life better in her country. Mrs. Clinton's toughness seems to have no purpose beyond the personal accrual of power. What will she do with the power? Still unclear. It happens to be unclear in the case of several candidates, but with Mrs. Clinton there is a unique chasm between the ferocity and the purpose of the ferocity. There is something deeply unattractive in this, and it would be equally so if she were a man. "

More on Romney

That's right. This blog just got political. As I said before, I'm excited about Romney's chances to win the GOP nomination, and yes, the presidency. I not only think it's possible, I think he has a good chance. Apparently, I'm not alone in this assumption, because the New York Times is now leveling their crosshairs at him. If you don't know it already, the New York Times is the wasteland for leftist reporters and their liberal communist agendas. Here's today's headline on Romney:
"On Campaign Stump, Romney Preaches the Importance of Optimism"
Notice the word preaches. Not an accident because they want to tie Romney to his religion and make him sound like a preacher. The Times is so worried about Romney gaining support for his conservatism and wholesome background, essentially being the next Ronald Reagan. So what do they do? Say he is not Ronald Reagan:

"There are limits, of course, to Mr. Romney’s emulation of Reagan. Political observers note that Mr. Romney, who built his vast personal fortune as a corporate takeover specialist, lacks Reagan’s common touch and neighborly charm."
Who are these people they are quoting? They don't have any quotes because their opinions are nothing short of garbage. Then they go on to almost paint him as an idiot using excessive optimism to the point of near delusion:
"Each of the leading Republican contenders has sought to channel in some way the shiny optimism that helped make Ronald Reagan, who famously campaigned on the slogan that it was “morning again in America,” so popular. But it is Mr. Romney who has most thoroughly incorporated such sunbeamy phrases and anecdotes into his repertory on the stump."

I'm glad Romney is doing so well that he is now receiving the attention of the Evil Times. Way to go! Keep up the great work! I hope there are people out there smart enough to see through the crap pumped out by people afraid to have a good man in office.

If you want to swim in the rest of the garbage, you can read the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/us/politics/08romney.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1194534054-9s+/TBRUBVrinJmBKw/HYQ

Hilarious Jokes about Romney

I am a HUGE supporter of Mitt Romney. If I weren't in dental school, and had lots of money to give, I would donate to him for all my family and extended family. I'm really excited that he is doing so well in the polls, as I always believed he could. Anywho, I just have to put up this hilarious list up. It comes from a blog by Dr. David Alvord, a big Romney supporter. Here's his link: http://docviews.blogspot.com/

But more importantly, here's the list:

Top Ten reasons I hope to have a Mormon President:

By David Alvord

10. So that the "National Cathedral" can be renamed the "National Tabernacle"

9. So NASA will comission a satellite to hie to Kolob

8. The Secret Service will be changed to the Sacred Service

7. All official government prayers to include the phrase: "that we all get home safely"

6. So that Napoleon Dynamite's endorsement does more that get Pedro elected

5. To have a President who can not only explain things in Layman's terms but also in Lemuel's terms

4. An exchange of presidential pardons for 100% home teaching

3. Finally a President who can not only pronounce the word "nuclear", but can also say "mahonri-moriancumr" and "maher-shalal-hash-baz"

2. At inauguration he will place his hand on the bible "as far as it is translated correctly"

1. To have a first family large enough to occupy all the rooms of the White House

Some things I've noticed:

1. You never hear the moms or dads in commercials for baby formula say: "It's so good that we drink it, too!"





2. When you see a lottery billboard, it's always of someone winning, but the odds of that are like a million to one, the same as the odds of getting eaten by a shark will swimming in the ocean, but no one puts sharks on the billboards for ocean beaches.




3. Phantom of the Opera has a very superficial message: If you're ugly, wear a mask.





4. Laws require people to pick up their dog's droppings, but they don't say anything about fertilizers.

5. People pay lots of money to have their skin darkened and their teeth whitened... which is it, folks?

6. Everyone wants to have more than two arms so they can do more things, but as soon as a baby is born with extra appendages, we cut them off.

7. The lyrics to the song Come Thou Fount don't always make a lot of sense.

8. If everyone hates winter, why is global warming so bad?

9. Jack and Sally would never have made a good couple.

10. Pam and Jim do.

Every time Lily gets a blanket or a piece of cloth in her hand she holds it next to her face and sucks her thumb. I don't know why but it makes bedtime real easy.

I am sorry to all those who think this is gross but I told my mom I would let her see how infected my toe got . So here you go mom. Enjoy.

We finally have a little bit of food storage. It isn't much but it's a start. I was proud of it. Jacob gets mad because I keep eating it.

It is impossible to fold the laundry while Lily is awake. She crawls all over the clothes and unfolds everything that I fold.

We have started feeding her solids. So far so good. There are not many things that she doesn't like. It is always easy to tell if she didn't like the meal because she ends up looking like this.

This is how she looks at bedtime when she has way too much energy. We had to lower her bed down because she flips around and practically does handstands up against the sides.

Turkey is not one of her favorite foods. I don't blame her. It smells like cat food. This reaction is not nearly as bad as my nephew Sam's but I still thought it was funny. Just to let everybody know I don't usually do her hair like that. I was just getting it out of her face while she ate.

I am upset because our camera is broken and it shuts off all the time in the middle of filming. This video would be a lot better if it was longer but oh well. This is just a little bit of what she can do with her spitting skills. If the camera didn't shut off you would see how red and intense her face gets. Spitting is serious business to her. Hopefully we can get a better camera soon so you can see it. It's pretty funny.

Tales for the Melancholy Child and other....

I am REALLY excited. A lot of you may know that I'm a writer. If you don't, I'm still a writer. I'm trying to get published, and have some good leads that I'm working on, but until then, I'm also a dentist, and I hope you're flossing daily. To the left you'll see our family links, and if you're interested in keeping up with my publishing updates and some short stories I have in my head, then keep an eye on the site. One of the ideas I have floating around my brain is a book of Tales for Melancholy Children. What is it? Besides the obvious, I promise to give you a taste before a week from today. Hopefully I'll be updating it regularly. Here's the catch: if you want to read them, you have to leave me a comment with your email so I can allow you access to it. Unfortunately, you will have to sign up for blogger if you've not already. Since it's my own writing, I don't want any hippie-ho-ha-nanny coming along and stealing it.
Also a note. I made a promise to myself and my family that I would never swear in my writing if I could help it. In some of my short stories there is some language, some four letter words. I would never put them in if I didn't feel they belong. I'd love to hear your feedback as long as it's not chastisement for swearing because I believe I have very conservative views on this. I'll be posting some of the ones I wrote for a class shortly. Thanks!

Who Am I to Judge: A rant? Not quite.

I'd like to thank everyone who replied to the "Dumbledore" post, whether it was positive or negative. We all have important views to share, and we should be leaving more comments about important issues. What issues are important? Whatever we think is important.

One comment I would like to draw on is from someone I have never met. This person said, "Who am I to judge?"

An interesting statement.

Who am I to judge? Let me tell you who I am to judge. First of all, I am a human being with 25 years of experience in trying to relate to other human beings. 25 years experience of being helped, hurt, picked up, let down, cursed, blessed, loved, and hated. In order to choose my own friends, casual acquaintenances, employees or employers, baby-sitters, professors, mechanics, grocers, hairstylists, accountants, plumbers, etc, I will judge. And in most cases, the prinicpal factor will be ethics and morals.

Second, I am a husband. That means I went through years of judging girls and being judged by girls during 20$ meals and late night walks based on our appearance, behavior, smell and hygiene, education, personality, tastes, beliefs, and yes again, morals (and I don't know how I got the one as good as I did...). Courting is essentially judging.

Third, I am a father. This means I can judge the people who my children spend time with, let drive them, let court them, and to some extent, marry. I will be handing down my judgments with agonizing scrutinization because that is what I am supposed to do. I will judge the way they dress, speak, spend their free time, treat my family, treat their family, and dozens of other factors that are unnameable because I do it automatically because I am built to judge.

Judging is something we all do, which is why I am glad for the Biblical clause "Judge ye not unrighteously" because I know it is perfectly okay to judge, and I am very qualified to judge.

It's Okay to Say It's Not Okay

After reading a well-written article about why there is no reason to be upset about JK Rowling’s announcement of the homosexuality of Albus Dumbledore, I thought it was important to give a voice to the rational opposition of homosexuality, and why to people like us, the ramifications of JK Rowling’s announcement are rather large. To begin, I think I should further clarify what I mean as rational opposition.
Rational opposition does not mean hate, intolerance, mistreatment, or discrimination. It means a belief that homosexuality is morally wrong based on laws set by God and unchangeable by society or scriptural interpretation. It also means an opposition to teaching children and youth that homosexuality is an appropriate alternate lifestyle. And last, it may go as far as to feel that many forms of media expose viewers and readers to homosexual characters or situations in order to gradually introduce the lifestyle into mainstream and gain acceptance by those who are unsure of its veracity in morals and in society.
One of the popular arguments against religious opposition to homosexuality was used by the author, and I would like to point out the way the Bible’s meaning was distorted. The author spoke about certain sins and their punishments during Moses's time, and how in our society we no longer punish people for those acts nor do we use such severe punishments for any small crimes such as those listed. If we no longer punish people for lighting a fire on the Sabbath, God no longer punishes people for homosexuality.
However, according to this logic, adultery (a crime punished just as severely as homosexuality) is also no longer wrong because a different society’s punishments have changed. God never said, “Homosexuality is now an approved action, and so is adultery, spouse abuse, and drunkenness.” We have no record of that in the scriptures, only a change in consequences as societies rose, fell, and became more civilized.
I do not want to spend any more time on this because not everyone will be persuaded for or against homosexuality. The main point is this: for those who believe homosexuality to be not only a sin, but a sin as serious as adultery, bestiality, and other similar acts, Dumbledore is no longer the person he was. He no longer has any of that wholesome or pure quality that we suspected of him. He is the same as an adulterer, a spouse-abuser, a pedophile. The symbol that he represented for the first six books, that of a sort of Christ-figure, now cannot be.
Many of you will say, there is a huge difference between someone who loves a member of the same sex and someone who breaks a commitment of love either through infidelity or physical violence, but others disagree. Those who see the family unit to be the fabric of society, and marriage between a man and woman an institution ordained by God, to be something sacred-- we see homosexuality as a direct threat to that which God created. And therefore, it is just as dangerous as other sins that are glamorized in media.
Does that mean we love homosexuals less? No.
Do we support what they do? No.
So why would we throw our hands together and applaud JKR’s decision to make such an important, wise, and powerful character a homosexual? Especially since she waited until weeks after the final book had had plenty of time to sell millions of copies to people who had no idea they were supporting her views. It was cowardly and under-handed. It tears apart the validity of the things we try to teach our children. I wanted my children to read the books I have cherished for the last eight years, and now I have to hope my child will never have to wonder, “if homosexuality is wrong, why is Dumbledore gay?”
Dumbledore, over the course of the series, grew into a role model of purity and wisdom, and part of that has been lost. He is not a role model for those who believe a part of his life was very wrong. I hope that this has provided an answer to those of you who wonder why we react strongly (and yes, sometimes too strongly) to announcements such as the one this week. I want to reiterate the fact that we do not hate gays, nor do we discriminate against them. But please do not call us intolerant, homophobic, or prejudiced for believing what we want to peaceably believe. There is nothing bad about thinking homosexuality is morally wrong, just like lying, stealing, pedophilia, bestiality, adultery, and murder, because we believe, yes, it does hurt people. It hurts our children who we are trying to teach that God wants one kind of family: a wife and husband who love each other and children.
(I submitted this to mugglenet.com and since I doubt it will be published, I still want my voice to be heard!)

A Good One and A Bad One

Let's start with the bad. Spider-man 3. I have some ideas for Sam Raimi, the director, after making two strong superhero films, building up interesting characters and cool villians with decent storylines, on how to trash it all in one film amazingly filled with bad ideas and writing: First, turn the hero into an utter goon in order to have a character arc. Next, Rewrite the story line from the first film by changing who killed Uncle Ben (this will also help make the new villian more interesting since your writers couldn't come up with anything good). Third, fill your movie with other characters and don't develop them AT ALL, especially characters cherished and beloved in Spider-man fandom. Fourth, stuff the dialogue full of cliches and borophyll, a paraphrase for example: "Harry, I've never told you for the last several years while you've been self-destructing in agony over your father's death that he killed himself and not Spider-man."

"Thank you , Butler," Harry replies, "now I can go be a good guy."

Last, ruin the series so that anyone who knows quality film making will never want to see one of your films.... ever again, and please, if there is a film god, DO NOT let this man anywhere near The Hobbit.

If I were to swear in our blog, this sentence would be ideal: Who on earth let this script be made into a movie? If you thought this film was good, you may want to NOT consider yourself a potential screenwriter, even during the strike. I should be in film business....

Now onto the good. Everything is Illuminated. A Warner Brothers Independent film which is why you may not have heard of it. Solid acting, very moving storyline, hilarious sequences (I laughed for almost the entire first 15 minutes), and some things that will make you wonder if some people can even be called human. Don't watch this while you are doing something else, the WELL-WRITTEN dialogue will require your attention. Much of this film, I believe, was shot in Ukraine, and I have to wonder if some of the actors were people straight from the streets of Odessa. The performances were so natural that it left me feeling as though a part of Ukraine had stayed with me. I imagine this will be found in the comedy section of your local movie rental, but it isn't. The film touches on disturbing stories of the Holocaust and there is a suicide. Leave the younger children out of this one. This is Liev Schrieber's first film, and wow, let's hope he does more. Maybe Spider-man 4. I HIGHLY recommend this film.

Halloween = Identity Theft

Of course this isn't a warning post! Why should anyone be worried about identity theft? After all, as Dwight says, "Identity theft is not a joke, Jim! Millions of people are affected every year!" So, yes, this is a warning post.

Halloween is approaching. The time of the year when everyone worships the devil by debasing themselves and asking neighbors and strangers alike for dentistry-endorsing sweets. You probably just stood up and said, "Wait a minute! Halloween isn't really a satanic holiday." Without asking the Jehovah's Witnesses their opinions ( no offense to my JW readers ;) ), it's really not hard to see that, as usual, I'm right.

Q: Who is the devil?

A: The father of lies.

Q: What do we do for Halloween?

A: Dress up as something we're not (lie about ourselves).

For instance, my nephews are going as a pirate and a horse. Are they actually those things? No. The only thing my "pirate" nephew has ever plundered is a bowl of cookie dough. And the other is no more a horse than I am published (for now). Lies? YES!

Now consider the implications. I could dress up as anyone and pretend to be anything for Halloween. If I dressed up as YOU everyone would think I (you) was (were) a junk-eating glutton. But it's okay.... Because on Halloween it's okay to steal someone's identity. Yoda, Spider-man, Dracula, and every U.S. President are among the victims in this rationale. Personally, I don't think it's right. Either Halloween should be banned or costumes should be limited to fictional characters. And don't tell me Spider-man isn't real. I saw him on TV.

Chicago and Red Dawn

Those are the titles of the two movies Kat and I watched this weekend, and both are worth telling you about. First I'll talk about Chicago:

The thing that will surprise you most is the story is based around actual events that happened in the 20's. A reporter who interviewed the killers wrote a play which was turned into a musical in 1976 by Bob Fosse, one of the greatest choreographers of all time. That being said, the dancing in this film is INCREDIBLE, as is the singing. Probably part of why it won the Best Picture award for 2002. You find a let down here that you may have in the wanna-be director Joel Schumacher's Phantom of the Opera that came out in 05. Here's a warning, though: One of Fosse's signiature style's was a cynical view of sexuality. In other words, he put it in to satirize the sexuality so common in musicals and theatre. Now, that being said, if you want to watch the film you're going to find brilliant performances by Renee Zellwegger, Catherine Zeta Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, and my personal favorite song: Mister Cellophane by John C. Reilly which I thought stole the show. It was very moving. The film satirizes the criminal justice system and exposes the need for "no-talent celebrities" like Paris, Britney, and Lindsay to be constantly one-uping each other in order to keep the spotlight on themselves. Again, the film is risque but beautiful.

The second film, Red Dawn, was made in..... 1984 and features the infamous 80's stars: Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, and Lea Thompson. It's about the Soviet invasion of America resulting in World War III, and about a band of teenagers, named the Wolverines after their high school mascot, lead a resistance against the Soviet forces from the mountains. The film has not only some great action sequences but also exposes the psychological trauma kids go through when thrust into violent terrifying situations. Look for strong performances from both Swayze and Sheen here.

Lily Updates

How's Lily doing these days? Well, let's see... she's crawling, spitting, chasing toys, and experimenting with new hairstyles. This is one of her latest. It's kind of a rebel/mohawk mixture. She wanted it dyed, but we talked her out of it. One step at time, Lily. One step at a time. I don't know why she looks so scared here, probably something Kat did. As you can see in the corner, this one's a little old. We'll try and get some newer one's up soon.


Poor Lily.... as intense as she is, she often becomes too wrapped up in whatever she's doing. We're anticipating that she'll grow up to become a fruit roll-up... maybe a burrito. You'll also notice that she has a diamond studded lip piercing. Kind of going back to the rebel stage thing again. At least the hair is back to normal. Let me see if we kind find a picture of her new tatoo......


Unfortunately, she's also obsessed with her weight. We've tried to tell her it's just baby fat, but she refuses to listen and constantly checks the scale. Still, better to start now than when obesity sets in, right John Candy?

And she's sitting up on her own! She's still trying to work out exactly where her center of gravity is, but as soon as she does, we're certain her posture will improve.




Yes. It's true. Lily has gone the way of the mullet. With the mohawk, the rat tail, the lip piercing, and the anorexia, we hope you'll keep her in your prayers. In the meantime, we'll keep you updated.








Here are three videos of Lily:


Lily Chases a Treat


Tiger Lily's Growl

Lily's New Dress

Scary Movies

Keeping with the new tradition of regular posts even if it's just to say hello, I thought I'd make a small mention of my favoritest scary movies. I'll include both recent and old. If you haven't seen them and you like scariness. Check these out:

Definitely one of the most intense American films ever made. I saw this as a freshman in college, and it is the only time in my life that I have literally jumped out of my seat in fright. This is not a movie to watch alone. The performances by Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin are incredible. Wait Until Dark is not just a film, it's an experience. Only problem: it's never as good the second time. I watched it again five or six years later, and I couldn't feel that same sense of anxiety that I had the first time. Though I won't post a separate blog for it, if you like this film I'd highly recommend the French film: Le Boucher. It has a very similar feel to it, and is quite intense.

I have not seen all of Alfred Hitchcock's films, but this one is the best. James Stewart and Grace Kelly have great chemistry, and the mosaic stories of the apartments complex make this film one of the most interesting portrayals of a community I've ever seen. I recently rewatched this film with my wife, and I'd forgotten how it constantly keeps you guessing. Very smart, very psychologically intense. Best Hitchcock film ever made.

Do I even need to say anything after showing the poster? I used to be afraid to swim in my swimming pool after I watched these films. If my siblings and I so much as hummed the infamous tune, my brother would start screaming. Ah... good times. Anyways, if you have never seen it, see it.

The reason why I list this among the others is more because of its overall eeriness. To that I credit the amazing directing of David Koepp and the performances of Johnny Depp and John Turturo. This is as much psychological and is it suspenseful, and its ending will chill you to the core.

Last one. What a brilliant performance by John Cusack. I can't wait to see this one again! I hadn't planned on seeing it until a friend invited me to the theater with him, and I'm very glad I went. Awesome! I haven't been so scared at a film since watching Rear Window for the first time. Anyone who loves jumping and starting in films needs to see this.

A movie recommendation

I know we've been total slackers about posting lately, mostly because we can't connect our cam card into our compy, so I thought I'd post a little snippet about a good movie Kat and I watched. I really liked it, Kat thought it was pretty good too, I think. Anyways, it's called Benny and Joon, and if you haven't seen it, I'd highly recommend it. It's very touching and funny. Johnny Depp's performance is, as it almost always is, incredible, and he's backed by solid performances by Mary Stuart Masterson and Aidan Quinn. You'll also find Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, and Oliver Platt in it. If you've never seen it, check it out. It holds an 80% on the rotten tomatoe meter. Also, if anyone is interested in knowing, I recently tried to read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, and couldn't finish it. Too much babbling on about how perfect Edward was.... I don't recommend it. However, if you're looking for an excellent read, try Psion Beta, hitting bookstores in 08! Hopefully......

Another funny oops

Some of you probably already know this, but Kat has gotten addicted to another TV show called Alias. I admit that I was the catalyst in her initial exposure, but even after I became disenchanted with the show's formulaic monotany, Kat continues to be enthralled with the love drama between Sydney Bristowe and Michael Vaughn. So, Wednesday she got season 2 in from the library and was so eager to watch it that she did not bother to look to see what DVD she was putting into the player. In fact, she was so enthralled with it that even the lack of continuity didn't phase her from watching discs two and six before finally realizing that the storyline no longer made sense... however, she did catch on after disc six, and is now excited to find out how the season will begin.

A couple of interesting things:

First of all, Kat took some pictures of my white coat ceremony, so you can see those. It was as hot as.... (think of a good noun... don't screw this up...) as hot as Julia Stiles' two year acting career. And we had to stand in front of the old library as a class wearing these extraordinarily well-ventilated white coats in the baking sun for over half an hour. It was wonderful. Just wonderful. In between shots the photographer asked us to wipe the sweat off of our brows to avoid glares in the shots.

Last is a funny story about Kat. Most of you probably know that I have an addiction to her homemade mac and cheese, and since we were low on cheddar I advised her to use half cheddar and half mozerrella (which we have in abundance). I thought she would mix them together on the top, but Kat, as you will see, took me quite literally... (Ever read Amelia Bedelia?)

Lily Update

Since most of you probably just want to know more about Lily, and the first rule of media is to keep the people happy, we figured we'd better give you the latest on her. Lily is growing fine and has recently learned trigonometry, and by trig I mean she put her binky in her mouth by herself for the first time. Kat is obsessed with Lily's butt and its shape. I don't know why... she's never been too intrigued with mine.... She weighs about so many pounds and is about inches tall. I'm very well informed. Anywho, here's the pictures and a video of her rolling over:

In case the video doesn't work, it's been uploaded onto Google Video. Here's the link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-582152616998911435

Posting From Ohio

Hello! We're in Ohio and trying to live life as best as we can. We've had a computer since the beginning of August, but have been unable to post since our Kodak memory card can't be read by our HP computer. Weird, huh? So, we've finally extracted all our pictures from the camera, and that is why the next few posts will be so close together. This post will show you around the house. I'm afraid it's not much, but it'll give you a general idea. This is living room. Kat bought the rug and the couch cushions were made by her and her mother while in Salt Lake City. The A/C window unit is in the background. It keeps the living room and kitchen pretty cool even on the hottest days.And here is the dining room. It's the only yellow room in the house, and it will eventually be white. The china cabinets are built in, one of which is as crooked as Larry Craig, but the chandler hanging over the table is very nice. This is the kitchen in all of its gas stove, half dishwashing glory. It's usually cleaner, but it's not bad here either. We're happy with it, and Kat has gotten very good at preparing meals on less counter space. And last is a pretty pathetic shot of the bathroom. But at least you can see Kat's backside and the shower curtain. I have no idea how much flipper is making off of each picture, but I doubt it's not much more than tuna and the occasional salmon.