Bigelow's Rameumptom

A Little Sunstone Treat This Summer

2008-06-20T18:28:00.003-06:00

I was asked to be a respondent for the following Sunstone symposium session this August:

Is a Rameumptum Just a Rameumptom? A Freudian Approach to The Sugar Beet

Mathew N. Schmalz, Ph.D., director of the honors program and associate professor of religious studies, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts; author of a recent cover story on the diversity of Mormonism and the Sunstone Symposium for the Catholic magazine Commonweal

Latter-day Saints are conventionally and stereotypically portrayed as inhabiting a G-rated culture that valorizes domesticity, obedience, and chastity. It is for this reason, and the fact that many Mormons enthusiastically embrace the stereotypes, that the humor of The Sugar Beet is particularly interesting. In its treatment of issues concerning sexuality, gender, and authority, The Sugar Beet has opened or at least laid bare, another level of Mormon culture that is much more complex than that assumed in the stereotypes. But what makes Mormon humor, humorous? To explore this question, I turn to the work of Sigmund Freud who argues that jokes have two primary functions: aggression and exposure. In analyzing several jokes from The Sugar Beet, I will probe whether Freud’s framework helps us to understand the underlying dynamics of Mormon humor. The presentation will be interactive, with audience members being invited at times to reflect upon what is (and is not) humorous about a particular joke.

Sounds fun!

Mormon Coffee-Table Book Ideas?

2008-06-20T17:41:00.002-06:00

As a freelance writer/editor, I work with a gent named Ken Webb of Worth Press, a publisher in England who puts together high-quality, illustrated, full-color-throughout, coffee-table-type books that he prints cheap in China and then sells through places like Costco and Barnes & Noble. He's sold over 4 million copies of his titles worldwide so far, the key to his success being unique, high-quality, pride-of-ownership books offered at attractive prices.

After Ken read about the Doubleday edition of the Book of Mormon some time ago, he decided to look into doing a Mormon-themed book. He and I were put into contact, and I did a Mormon history timechart with him that has sold well enough for Costco to reprint it several times, and now their distributor has commissioned a revised edition of it.

Based in San Diego, employees of that distributor recently noticed the impressive LDS temple there and have requested that we do a big, illustrated, full-color, coffee-table book on temples, and we're just now finalizing that deal. The title is Latter-Day Houses of the Lord: Images & Details of the First 125 Temples.

So now Ken feels that there's an untapped vein for more Mormon books along these lines, and he wants to do all kinds of Mormon books. We're talking about doing a Mormon history wall calendar and an illustrated Mormon pioneer almanac to bring to life the 1846-1860ish pioneers. Other ideas he's talked about include Mormon-themed "social stationery" (is that a British term?), notebooks, planners, recipe books, all kinds of stuff.

I've sort of become their Utah/Mormon go-to guy, and frankly I need to get some more book ideas to talk about with them. Does anyone have any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, pointers, referrals for potential Mormon-themed coffee-table and other kinds of mass-market books? Ken actually asked me to start brainstorming with other Mormons to see what's wanted, what gaps in the Mormon market exist, what LDS publishers may have already tried but not with enough lavish full-color treatment and low price point, etc.

So what impressive, full-color Mormon-themed books can you envision sitting on your coffee table? Thanks in advance for any input you may have, and please pass on this request to others who may be interested.

Where I Work

2008-06-19T17:23:00.004-06:00

Except for a few general hints, I have exercised considerable self-discipline not to blog about work, mainly because I’ve heard so many stories of people getting in trouble with their employer and even fired. If I were to give myself free reign about work—whew, watch out. So I don’t.

But I thought I would say something about the building where I work. As you can see, it’s quite a piece of work. I actually like the building except for the gaudy logo on top, which looks to me like the gateway to another dimension. Take that off, and I think it would be a nice building.

The interior is quite well appointed, and I enjoy it aesthetically, especially after four years working in a nasty, windowless former carpet warehouse with beat-up gray cubicle walls and carpet and no proper ceiling. I work on the third floor, and since watching Super-Size Me I’ve made an effort to always use the stairs. My only real complaint is that I have a full wall of south-facing windows behind me, so I often get overheated, especially in late spring and early fall when the AC doesn’t come on as often. On the other hand, I love the view of the mountains when I wheel my chair around, especially watching the changing light and clouds over West Mountain.

What’s actually weirdest about this building is how far south in Utah County it’s located. Until I’d worked here for several months, I could never keep straight what towns lay south of Provo, but now I know all too well. I’ve always actively disliked Utah County, and now I’ve worked for almost four years even deeper in the county than I could have ever imagined. There’s really not much around here, certainly nowhere reasonably walkable for lunch (there’s a Cracker Barrel nearby, but that’s mostly just bland, mushy food for old people).

Now that I’ve lived down here for over ten years, Salt Lake is starting to feel like an unfamiliar city when I visit, which only happens 2-3 times a year now, it seems. I used to feel like it was my city, but now I feel like a stranger there and even the tiniest-bit intimidated by it (I pass it once or twice a month when going to visit my parents in Bountiful, but that doesn’t count).

I often wonder: Will I be working in this building and living in this valley for the next thirty years until I retire, or do other adventures lie ahead? The first couple of years after we got married, I tried really hard to get out of not only Utah County but also Utah itself, but now I’ve pretty much given up. After all, life here is comfortable and familiar now, not a terrible place to fade into middle age.

New Book Now Available

2008-06-19T16:55:00.003-06:00

It's always very fun and satisfying to get another new book through the pipeline and ready to print. I really enjoy the book-publishing process at this small scale where I'm involved with all the steps, and I wish I could do it full time as my living.

With that preamble, I wanted to let you know that the newest release from my Zarahemla Books publishing gig is now available: Eugene Woodbury's Angel Falling Softly.

"This tale of two women—one a vampire, the other a bishop's wife—is more than a good read. It is a provocative meditation on life and death that will leave readers both satisfied and unnerved. It kept me reading, and it kept me guessing."
—Angela Hallstrom, author of the novel Bound on Earth

If you order it soon, please allow 3-4 weeks for delivery. The book will be available through stores and other online outlets beginning in a few weeks.

Savoring Each Step Toward Independence

2008-06-11T10:47:00.006-06:00

As my wife is currently chronicling over on her blog, we are potty- training our final child. I am finding that each step toward indepen- dence that my children take makes me inwardly sigh with some relief.

It's a wonderful thing to take down a crib and know we're not going to set it up again for many years and then only in a spare bedroom for possible use by visiting grandbabies. It's a wonderful thing for my wife to announce in Relief Society that she has a big Costco-sized box of disposable diapers available for anyone who needs them and to know that, unless I find myself compelled to provide primary care for an incontinent spouse or parent, I may never change another poopie diaper again in my life.

I love it how our two littlest boys are able to play between themselves for longer and longer periods. In fact, when two-and-a-half-year-old Zach goes down for his nap (which, by the way, is one thing I'll be sad when he grows out of), four-year-old Kimball often becomes higher maintenance because he's lost his playmate for an hour or two.

Even just the other day when Kimball successfully pushed play on the DVD player by himself, it gave me a little thrill. Eleven-year-old Sophie, who is currently living with us full time, is off for a week at camp, and later this summer she's flying by herself to visit her Denver cousins for a week. I love having her live with us because I was really worried about her situation at my ex-wife's, but these little breaks are exquisite!

Perhaps when we reach the empty nest stage, I will experience some loneliness and some regret that I didn't make better use of my time with my children—not that I'm a complete failure at fatherhood. But until then, I'm savoring each step toward that stage. If I didn't have any kids, I'm sure by now I would have wondered what I'm missing or perhaps even felt an uncomfortable void in my life. It's kind of like serving a mission: it sure was a pain in the butt to go, but if I hadn't gone, I would always wonder. Knowing what I know now in retrospect, I don't think I would have opted to go on a mission, but I would have opted for parenthood.

And by the way, neither Ann nor I have ever experienced any moment of regret about my vasectomy two years ago. Even when my wife is holding someone's newborn and I raise my eyebrows to inquire, she says, "No way, honey. We're done." And you know what's weird? I've enjoyed sex quite a bit better since fertility was removed from the equation. And since my wife got an IUD to pretty much cancel out her periods, it's been even nicer for us.

Not that I didn't enjoy sex before, but we had times when my wife was eager to get pregnant and I found that stressful. And even when she was not pushing for conception, there was always that fear still hovering in the background. Frankly, as a somewhat selfish, lazy person, I've never really consciously wanted children—in fact, when I got married the first time, one reason why I went along with it so fast was because the woman couldn't have kids. Of course, she later got the idea to adopt and I didn't stop her, although sometimes I wonder if I should have, since I'm concerned about her parenting approach.

Now I have five kids, and I'm grateful they're healthy and pretty much normal, although I'm sure they have some future surprises in store for us. I'm glad I have these people in my life even if I more often find parenthood draining and frustrating than rewarding. It has its golden moments and there are times when I feel successful at it and quite entertained by the cuteness and intelligence of the kids, but more often I feel stressed and inadequate about parenting, like there's so much more I could be doing for my kids and yet at the same time they're really bugging me and making unreasonable demands for my time and attention.

Even just keeping the household running smoothly with so many people living in it is surprisingly challenging and time- consuming, and it seems like we're never caught up. We're still working on cataloging our food storage so the software will help us manage it better. To my somewhat irrational relief, we've been able to pick up a few tubs of wheat to store, probably only enough for one person for a full year—but hey, as with most other things church-related, making just a partial effort assuages my guilt enough to feel OK. For some reason, we don't have a cleaning lady come anymore, which we used to once or twice a month, and lately I've really been wishing we could afford to have someone regularly clean our carpets and the windows... Maybe when the kids are gone, we can do a good remodel and start fresh.

I Haven't Let Any of My Kids Drown . . . Yet

2008-06-07T21:07:00.003-06:00

Today we went out to Utah Lake for a festival, and while we were waiting in line on a floating dock for a boat tour, my two-year-old Zach suddenly plunked into the water and disappeared. One minute he was sitting on the edge with his feet hanging over, and the next moment he was gone.

If you know Utah Lake, you know that the water is very murky and you can't see down into it much at all. It was fascinating to watch the big, ugly carps rise like ghosts to the surface and eat bread or popcorn before disappearing back down under. You couldn't see their whole bodies even when they came to the surface.

Anyway, when I looked down where Zach had disappeared, all I saw were some bubbles. The water was as thick as the chocolate river in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Zach was as gone as Augustus Gloop. For all I knew, he could have been gobbled up by a gigantic bottom-dwelling carp.

Of course, Zach's oversized brown-haired head surfaced after only 2-3 seconds, and Sophie tried to reach down and grab his hair. Before I could move the 6-8 feet over to him, a guy sitting next to him reached down and pulled him up. He cried for a bit but then calmed down. He didn't cough up any water or anything.

I joked to the people in line that we all needed to agree on a good story to tell my wife when she got back from waiting in the hot dog line . . .

Another time, while watching the kids swim at our Park City condo, I looked up from a magazine and saw Zach floating face down with his hands flailing. He was wearing a floatation shirt, but his large head had toppled him over and he didn't have any leverage against anything. I remember my chest almost exploded as I ran over to him, but he must have only just toppled over because he didn't suck in any water or anything. Still, it scared the crap out of me. It's one of those memories/fears that sometimes swoop into my mind when I awake in the middle of the night.

Another time, Ann and the little boys had gone home from my work party at Seven Peaks, leaving me and the older kids. I was watching the big-screen movie when a staff member came up to me with a clipboard and asked me to sign a waiver or acknowledgement or something that they had just saved Sophie from drowning in some other pool. Sophie says she was just practicing holding her breath and they jumped in and saved her.

My goal is not to let any of my kids drown. I think I would feel bad if that ever really happened on my watch.

Trying Again to Get Sunstoned

2008-06-06T15:20:00.010-06:00

Seven years ago, I was one of three finalists for the position of Sunstone magazine editor. This past month, I was one of four finalists at Sunstone again, but I didn't get the job this time either.

I have to admit that I did feel some moments of really wanting the job, but I also felt an equal number of moments of not wanting it. For one thing, the commute to Salt Lake would have sucked, although perhaps I could have arranged some telecommuting. For another, working at a tiny, understaffed nonprofit would have been quite different from working at large corporations, which I've done continuously for the past 14 years. At Sunstone, I'm sure I would have had to give up most of my extra activities—but then again, maybe that could have been a good thing, as I sometimes feel I'm spread too thin in my life and not focusing on any one thing particularly well.

Sunstone actually advertised two positions this time around, and perhaps one weakness of my application is that I didn't know for sure which job I wanted. Magazine editor would be a natural fit for me in many ways, but on the other hand I might not have enjoyed being tied to a magazine and doing so much reading of submissions, etc. The other position was director of outreach and symposia, which could have been interesting and let me flex some different muscles from the usual writing and editing I'm constantly doing.

I love that Sunstone exists in Mormon culture. I always look forward to the magazine and read most of it, but I don't usually attend the annual symposium because I find the selection overwhelming and I don't like to sit and listen for long, as I tend to sleep or daydream in meetings and lectures. While I sympathize with nearly everything that Sunstone does and stands for, I wouldn't say that Sunstone is a perfect fit for my personality and interests. For one thing, I'm not as academic or intellectual or skeptical as most Sunstoners. Since I consciously accepted the LDS religion at age 19, I haven't had any big crisis of faith that has caused me to seriously doubt one or more of Mormonism's basic claims, but everyone I know who's been deeply involved in Sunstone has serious doubts and reservations about some aspect of Mormonism or has already completely left the church. While I'm culturally quite liberal, I tend to be doctrinally conservative, which I'm sure would have caused friction at times working with Sunstone.

For example, Sunstone seems to be a gay-friendly place, but I am quite homophobic, not toward gay individuals per se but regarding the gay movement itself. I am very opposed to enabling gays through measures like gay marriage or rhetoric that assumes everyone is either gay or straight and gays should feel morally justified to follow their bliss. I believe that gays have allowed themselves to be taken in sin and that nearly all of them could have resisted the temptation better, and I think once they allow homosexuality into their lives it becomes like a spiritual brain tumor that makes them retrospectively believe they've always been gay and had no choice, which I say is a self-deception. I believe that gay politics will be one of the main forces in near-future years that will weed out the goats from the sheep within Mormonism—not just those who allow themselves to become gay, but also those who sympathize with their politics. I also think that the gay issue will push Mormonism even farther out of the worldly mainstream, perhaps to a dangerous, persecution-level degree. To me, it's obviously a sign of the times that this issue has arisen to this degree in our society. Something tells me these ideas and attitudes might not fly very well in the Sunstone crowd, but on the other hand I'm very much committed to the ideal of a balanced, open discussion, as long as all sides are well represented.

Anyway, it would have been cool to get a job that I actually mostly believe in, unlike my current job where I like the people in my department and appreciate my good salary and working conditions but thoroughly loathe the MLM nutritional industry. Working at Sunstone would have taken a lot more time and effort than I'm used to giving to my day job, and maybe it could have ended up being spiritually dangerous for me in some ways. For many participants, I think Sunstone becomes too much of a replacement for the real church, and I could see that happening to me too. I know the guy who got the magazine editor job—we've worked together on Irreantum, The Sugar Beet, and Zarahemla Books—and I find myself not envying him much. He has the potential to do a really good job, but I think it will be very demanding and perhaps all-consuming.

I wonder if I will have the opportunity to compete for any future jobs at Sunstone—probably not, after this little essay. Part of me would like to see if I could rise to the challenge and really get professionally engaged in a communication situation like Sunstone, get ensconced in something I'm personally passionate enough about to lose myself in it and become a no-holds-barred evangelist (which I wasn't able to achieve even on my mission). Maybe another reason I didn't get a job this time was because my corporate salary was too high for them to match. I have offered to help them start a book imprint, if they want to pay me a reasonable professional fee, and they seem interested in that possibility for the future.

Our Trip to Europe

2008-06-06T15:02:00.004-06:00

For our tenth anniversary, my wife and I went to London and Paris for nine days in April. She just finally finished a cool online photo book about it, if you're interested. (It's a little heavy on photos of yours truly, but Ann took most of the photos...)

It really was the best trip I've ever been on in my life, and I'm grateful we got the chance. It was great to just be with my sweetie pie, with no kids. Life has been a bit stressful and busy since we got back, and now I'm hoping we can go on another kid-free vacation next year.

It's Ann's twentieth-anniversary reunion in her Hong Kong mission next year, so I'm hoping we can afford to go there. I love traveling in Asian countries, and I'd love to be shown Hong Kong by someone who really knows it. (My second-best trip in my life was visiting Taiwan for ten days as an Ensign reporter, spending time in five cities and getting to know local people in their homes.)

My Next Book to Publish

2008-06-03T20:16:00.005-06:00

I'm finishing up layout work on the next Zarahemla Books title, Angel Falling Softly by Eugene Woodbury. I think this cover design by my friend Jason Robinson is striking, and the novel is a good read, quite convincing and suggestive of some fascinating questions. I don't think anything else like it has ever been done in Mormon literature. Here's a preliminary description:

Over the past six months, Rachel Forsythe's perfect life has descended from the ideal to the tragic. The younger of her two daughters is dying of cancer. Despite her standing as the wife of a respected Mormon bishop, neither God nor medical science has blessed her with a cure. Or has He?

Milada Daranyi, chief investment officer at Daranyi Enterprises International, has come to Utah to finalize the takeover of a Salt Lake City-based medical technology company. Bored with her downtown hotel accommodations, she rents a house in the Sandy suburbs.

And then the welcome wagon shows up. Her neighbors perceive her to be a beautiful, intelligent, and daunting young woman. But Rachel senses something about Milada that leads her in a completely different—and very dangerous—direction.

Rachel's suspicions are right: Milada is homo lamia. A vampire. Fallen. And possibly the only person in the world who can save Rachel's daughter. As Rachel uncovers Milada's secrets, she becomes convinced that, as Milton writes, "all this good of evil shall produce."

As the two women push against every moral boundary in order to protect their families, the price of redemption will prove higher than either of them could have possibly imagined.

Why Summer Is My Least-Favorite Season

2008-06-03T19:05:00.003-06:00

Yep, dead last, even after winter. I like autumn best, spring second (my main problem with spring is hayfever in April and May), winter third, and summer last. Here's why summer is last:

I loath it when it stays light until 9:00 p.m. My kids stay up way later, and it just feels like I'm being shortchanged some good settling down time.
With the kids home all day, the house and yard seem to always be a wreck, even with my sweet wife trying to keep up with it. We have four kids at home all the time now, and some of them are quite hyperly messy. It seems like the kitchen floor is sticky all summer long with popsicle and watermelon juice.
I hate yardwork. I'd much rather shovel 5-6 times a winter than mow the lawn every week, and we just don't keep up with the flowerbeds. And it always bugs me quite a bit when we get bare or dead patches in our lawn, and ours seems to be getting worse every year.
I hate getting into a hot car. I don't like getting into cold cars either, but hot cars are a little worse. It takes longer for the car to cool off than warm up.
I don't like being outdoors, and in summertime I feel more obligated to be outside with the kids, pushing them on the swing or whatever. I like the idea of camping, but it always takes so much work before, during, and after, and it is always very uncomfortable. Lately I've been having some strange feelings that maybe it would be fun to start barbecuing or boating, but they both have so much of a learning curve that I doubt I'll get around to either one. (Right now I'm editing Powerboating for Dummies for Wiley, and that's made me think about boating... I feel like I do too much editing and writing and need a change-of pace activity or hobby.)

What I do like about summer is that everyone's asleep in the morning at my house, so I have some peaceful time while I'm getting ready for work, although I miss my wife making me boiled eggs on Tuesday and Thursday mornings (on the other days I take cottage cheese with fruit; for some reason, just in the past year I've been starting to eat breakfast after most of my lifetime without it, I think because my bosses started making me get up a little earlier so I could be to work by 8:00).

Also, I dislike wearing socks and shoes and love wearing sandals in summertime, although my boss always gives me so much crap when I wear dress sandals to work that I don't anymore unless he's out of town. And something fantastic this summer is that I did not get assigned a class at UVSC, so I'm very much enjoying the time off from teaching. I think I will now always take summers off, unless we're hurting financially. Not that I had a choice this summer--UVSC said they had only enough classes for the very best teachers, not for middle-of-the-road performers like me. In fact, with this new writing committee in place, I'm worried I won't get a fall class either, which would really put a hole in our household budget.

My favorite month has always been October. I love the fall weather, and I love my kids getting back into the school routine. As a kid, I loved October because I enjoyed it when school got into full swing and because it was my birthday month and also Halloween, but as an adult I no longer like either of those occasions. I like the idea of Halloween but have no interest in putting any effort into any aspect of it. My birthday is just a pain in the butt all around, especially now that I'm dreading every year I get deeper into my forties.

Getting Back into My Own Blog

2008-05-20T14:57:00.003-06:00

OK, my . . . uh, Memorial Day resolution is to get back into my own blog. For the past month or two, I've been putting all my blogging mojo into guest-blogging and commenting on other blogs, but now I think I'll refocus here and get back into more personal blogging.

Why? Because I've received some suicide threats from people who have missed my pithy, occasionally pissy entries. Actually, I'm well aware that I blog more for personal expression than to entertain or edify an audience, but the exhibitionist writer in me gets a kick out of posting it publicly to see if it provokes any response.

My goal is to do a new entry at least weekly, but I'd like to shoot for 2-3 entries per week. I find it therapeutic to do brain-dumps here.

Update: No Wheat After All

2008-05-07T13:34:00.001-06:00

We got our food storage shipment from the LDS Church, and it turns out they don't have wheat available either, so it's back-ordered with shipment date unknown.

So right now, apparently, you can't get raw wheat anywhere. That's a strange feeling...

Finally Scared into Food Storage

2008-05-06T12:37:00.003-06:00

Has anyone else been rattled enough by recent economic developments to start beefing up on home food storage? I've absorbed enough troubling news from the media lately that I finally got spooked enough to be more aggressive about it and start nagging my wife and even helping. Not that we didn't have anything before, but now we're starting to buy more, and we actually bought a food storage software program to help us figure out what we need and how to track it.

(Ironically, six years ago it was a food storage software program that first put me into the mocking-Mormon-culture mode that led directly to the Sugar Beet.)

So I guess I'm not as worried about natural disasters as I am about economic trouble, not so much my own possible personal lack of income but bigger problems like a trucker strike or food shortages due to drought or competition with these third-world countries that are suddenly becoming prosperous and competing with us for wheat, etc. I could even see world wars breaking out over food resources, China taking over Australia to monopolize its grain resources and stuff like that. In short, I'm fearful of situations where even if you have money and your living quarters are still intact, you can't get the food you need. I'm talking about ationwide and worldwide problems, not just a local earthquake or whatever.

As a side note, I personally believe that the United States has already peaked in terms of prosperity and worldwide influence, and I think the current bad economic trends will continue in some form for the long term, hopefully with some plateaus and little upswings but an overall downward trend. Even if we avoid a deep recession this time, I wouldn't be surprised to see a depression as bad or worse than the Great Depression at some point. The twentieth century was America's century, but the twenty-first belongs to these rising Asia powers of China and India.

Another side note, this one about globalism: In former times, you could have one civilization rising on one side of the earth while another faded away on the other side, and the overall earthly balance stayed OK. Now, however, with the fast formation of one unified global civilization connected by electronic media, financial and economic dependencies, jet travel, etc. we're getting closer to the point where we all either rise or fall together. Porn and other evils spreading through the Internet morally corrupt wider swaths of the worldwide population than ever before. Economic troubles spread far and wide faster. Even on a physical level, disease can potentially go global so fast now. It's not hard to see how the world could get itself into enough trouble on a universal global basis that it will eventually usher in the Second Coming, which I see as coming when there's no hope left that humans can carry on any sort of decent civilization by themselves. Hopefully it will take a few more generations, but that's the direction it's going...

So anyway, in my family we've started throwing some money at getting more prepared and have ordered some long-term grains and legumes directly from the LDS Church, because we learned that local food storage companies are out of stock on wheat and some other items for several months. That backlog situation gave me a weird feeling, to think that I could not buy wheat right now even if I wanted to, but then we discovered that the Church sells it too, and their website said it would take only 2-3 weeks to fulfill our order. We are trying to get fully stocked for three months of living without power or grocery stores, and beyond that we are buying some of the long-term stuff that I hope we never have to open. I don't know if we'll reach the full one-year benchmark for our family of seven people, but hopefully we'll keep building up our reserves.

I don't mind the idea of buying some canned veggies and other canned stuff that we don't use and then donating cans to the food bank as they reach their expiration date—and then, of course, restocking with fresh cans. But hopefully we can also rotate more effectively to minimize the expense. Another thing I did this past weekend was put a lock on our food storage room, but that's just because our kids keep sneaking in there and stealing treats (we find the wrappers all over the house). I would also like to store enough propane to cook for at least three months, and I would like to procure some kind of gun that could be used for both self-defense and hunting, although my wife is against it.

Anyway, obviously it has rattled me how quickly conditions can deteriorate, and all of a sudden you really wish you had done more preparing earlier. In the event of a real emergency, I imagine that our ward would get together and pool resources and help each other out. I assume there will be some people in our neighborhood who know how to process raw wheat and make the most of yucky food storage supplies. But I don't want to show up to the banquet without any raw materials to contribute.

Next time the LDS Church cannery volunteer sheet comes around in elders quorum, I will try to sign up so that we can buy some of their canned goods. (While you can buy some wheat and basic foodstuffs directly from the Church without volunteering, in order to purchase most Church-produced food you have to put in some time as well as dollars.)

Some Thoughts After Europe

2008-04-22T16:57:00.003-06:00

Oops, I let nearly a month go by without blogging. Well, I've been out of town for much of that time. To get me back into the rhythm, following is a draft of a guest-post I wrote for another blog:

Is Human Art Merely Relying Upon the Arm of Flesh?

I just got back from my first-ever trip to Europe. Following my wife's capable, experienced itinerary—man, she kept us moving all day, every day—I spent over a week jamming all my senses with the art of the last millennium in the museums of London and Paris, seeing shows in London's West End, and just soaking up the architecture and watching all the people. As we repeatedly crisscrossed these two amazing cities via their subway lines, I felt quite humble and even envious, I admit—our only city that even comes close is New York. More than ever, it's clear to me that the world does not revolve around America, as much as we'd sometimes like to think it does.

As I absorbed all this culture and humanity, some questions started to formulate. (And I'm back only two days, so they're still germinating.) I wonder if human art and culture are in many ways attempted replacements for God, the Holy Spirit, etc. We are lost and lonely on this earth, and it's easier to find solace and justification in each other than to seek out God. In some ways, I wonder if creating and absorbing art is similar to relying upon the arm of flesh.

Yeah, maybe God inspires some forms of art sometimes, but usually it's just our own creativity. Yeah, he gives us talents, but humans mostly use them in mortal, worldly ways that I can't imagine pleasing God much. For many of us, the most compelling art dramatizes human reality more than godly ideals; it highlights the problems of the human condition rather than solves them. Personally, I'm far more often moved by worldly art than by anything I hear repeated for the hundredth time through church channels, and I think art that sets out to affirm the gospel becomes propaganda, not art. By my definition, real art celebrates and commiserates with humanity, not godliness. Art is human, and most of it is probably more carnal and fallen than otherwise—even religious art of the type found in places like Westminster Abbey, where we attended evensong. In my Mormon-centric view, all that great organ music and singing and sculpture and architecture is really just trying to compensate for the lack of the gift of the Holy Ghost. (However, I was still moved by the sheer human effort and accomplishment of it all.)

So I ask myself, why do I even want a "real" Mormon culture, in my case mostly focusing on LDS-themed literature that emulates the best of the humanities? Maybe I'm not spiritual enough to be satisfied on a day-to-day basis through Mormonism's claimed spiritual gifts, yet I believe in Mormonism and want to stay tapped into it, so in my mind if you can combine the best of worldly art with Mormonism, it's win-win. Maybe I think that adding Mormon elements to human stories can make them more worthwhile and uplifting in some way, redeem the fallen, carnal elements. But maybe all this is just wishful thinking? Maybe it would be better to let worldly art be worldly art and let Mormonism be Mormonism, without trying to conflate the two. And maybe the very best Mormons are those who don't need a steady diet of worldly/human art like I do, because they have a steady diet of the gift of the Holy Ghost. I have that gift too, but I don't consciously feel it very often at all. Maybe that's because my mind is always clouded by too much worldly music, literature, etc.? Maybe those of us who want a "real" Mormon culture are guilty of saying, in effect, "Let us do that which has been done in other cultures."

It's similar to friendship. When I didn't have the church/gospel, my friendships seemed so close and powerful because they were the only thing I had. But since I've become a practicing Mormon, friendships don't seem as close because a Mormon's primary friend is Jesus, so we all rely on Jesus rather than each other, except as Jesus helps us through each other. Our relationships with each other are as fellow travelers on the pathway back to god, not as people who are totally looking to each other for support and salvation, as is the case for the irreligious. In a similar way, if a Mormon is properly focused and converted, he or she shouldn't need art the way we more worldly people do. Yeah, that kind of Mormon can certainly enjoy some of the purest, most "appropriate" art, especially music from classical times—but it's just icing on the cake of their spiritual journey, not the cake itself. (An aside: I bet Heavenly Father doesn't think much of a guy like Shakespeare. While old Wm. can certainly tap into our emotions of what it means to be human, I doubt he inspires the workings of the Holy Ghost in our minds, except maybe triggering us to figure out how NOT to fall into the human ways he dramatizes. On the other hand, I guess he portrays some heroes that we would do well to emulate as well...)

I'm sure there are gaping holes of logical fallacies and unwarranted assumptions in what I'm trying to articulate, and perhaps I'm not even making much sense (the jet lag was worse going than returning, but maybe I'm still suffering some residual effects). So challenge me. Help me try to figure this out from a Mormon perspective. Is art mostly a fallen human activity that amounts to a replacement for really living the gospel and getting closer to God, or is it actually an essential part of that process? Think of all the time that creating and absorbing art takes away from home teaching, serving others, reading scriptures, rearing children, etc. Is art a distraction from—or a counterfeit of—the process of learning to become like God, or can it be somehow part of our rehearsal?

My Take on the Joseph Smith Photo

2008-03-25T13:55:00.005-06:00

In case you hadn't heard, the image on the left has recently raised a ruckus as possibly being a photo of the Prophet Joseph Smith. There's plenty of controversy over it, and I've found myself quite interested in it—it's almost as fascinating as seeing a picture of the Savior himself. The idea of a photo like this really makes Joseph Smith seem like a human being to me. Anyway, following are some comments I made to the Provo Daily Herald:

Provo resident Christopher Bigelow, co-author of Mormonism for Dummies, said via e-mail that he finds the photo "much more interesting and human" than the "Disneyfied" Smith most often depicted in paintings and films and would be pleased if it's authentic: "This photo really speaks to my imagination."

On the other hand, Bigelow has his doubts. "If I had to place a bet," he said, "I would wager that it is not an actual photo of Joseph Smith, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised." [. . .]

Bigelow referred to an article printed in the LDS Church's New Era magazine in December 2005 titled, "What Did Joseph Smith Really Look Like?" (The article can be read online at lds.org.) "I'm not sure this photo resembles Joseph enough to remove all doubt," Bigelow said. "The man in the photo seems a bit more thin-chested, large-handed and darker-haired than descriptions of Joseph Smith, although the large, intense eyes could possibly fit Joseph's description."

If you'd like to read the whole Daily Herald article, click here.

Mormon Literature: Carving Out a Middle Niche?

2008-03-24T17:37:00.001-06:00

Here's a draft of a guest blog I'm working on for another site. I like to post things like this here first to my small personal readership, so I can get challenges and feedback that will help me refine the piece.

I'm a big fan of the idea of Mormon literature but not so much of the reality of it—yet. The way I see it, Deseret Book dominates the culture too much on both the practical and philosophical levels, and most of the other Mormon publishers stay within Deseret's safe, sanitized, preachy, low-brow orbit. Except, of course, for Signature Books, which is way over on the other side of the spectrum, publishing occasional Mormon literature—as little as one book per year—that is generally too literary and/or too faith-challenging for the average Mormon reader.

Personally, I'm interested in the middle ground of Mormon literature, which doesn't really exist yet, at least as far as a thriving market niche. I'm talking about stories with considerable Mormon content and sensibility but with more nuance, reality, and earthiness than you get in Deseret-style stories with their gospel certainties, overly sanitized content, and proselytizing agendas. While I don't love the high-falutin' term "literary," I'm talking about writing approaches that are more sophisticated than the low-brow, formulaic romances and thrillers common in the Mormon market, stuff more along the lines of mainstream literary writers in the national market like Margaret Atwood and Alice McDermott. I'm also talking about stuff that isn't so head-in-the-sand about doubt and sex and salty language and other authentic human stuff.

I haven't read Angela Hallstrom's new book Bound on Earth yet, but I've been impressed by the reviews and buzz and it's on my top-tier reading shelf (along with about twenty other books). From what I can tell so far, Hallstrom's publisher Parables is doing just what needs to be done to try to establish this niche I'm talking about. I'm trying too with Zarahemla Books, which has put out six books so far in the mode of what I describe as "provocative, unconventional, yet ultimately faith-affirming stories." So far we've circulated about 2,500 total copies of these six titles, so it's a start. New digital publishing technology makes it doable to publish very small runs, so you can break even selling in the low hundreds of a title. I have to admit, one limitation Zarahemla has is that we're male oriented in a field that is driven by females, but many females have enjoyed our books too. (I'm trying to get Angela to become an editor-at-large for Zarahemla, but she seems to be more interested in writing more of her own stuff...)

Piddling around with Mormon niche markets is okay, as far as it goes (which isn't far). But for me, the real holy grail of Mormon literature would be for a Mormon author to break through nationally with authentic Mormon content. We need a Mormon Saul Bellow, John Updike, etc. If and when that ever happens, I think that's what will crack open the Mormon culture for some real literary treatment. I haven't seen anyone come anywhere near to pulling this off yet, though.

You know, I have to admit that although I'm passionate about Mormon literature and even devote lots of personal time and energy to publishing some, as a reader I really only have time to read 5–10 book-length works of fiction per year in my spare time for pleasure. Deep down, I know that I'm much more likely to get a satisfying ride by choosing one of the national authors rather than anything written by a Mormon author or put out by a Mormon press, even my own press. So I read only 1-2 Mormon novels per year—not counting those I publish myself through Zarahemla—and I'm nearly always disappointed by them. I imagine that most other Mormon readers are like me, feeling the press of so many choices and not feeling confident enough in Mormon-oriented material to spend precious time on that. Again, I think the only way to break through this perception is to have a Mormon make a splash in the big leagues—I'm talking a Pulitzer-caliber achievement that really unpacks the Mormon experience, mindset, world view, inner life, etc.

Perhaps small Mormon presses like Parables and Zarahemla will gradually carve out a more significant audience, especially if we can ever get Deseret and/or Seagull to carry our adventurous offerings. But with current cultural conditions, I doubt we'll ever sell more than 1,000 copies of a book and usually more like 50 to 200 copies. However, perhaps we will help nurture an author who will then go on to make the big national breakthrough and crack this whole Mormon thing wide open. Not to be too pessimistic, but in my experience this kind of writing I'm talking about nearly always turns out to be too worldly for the Mormons and too Mormon for the world, so it will be a miracle if someone can figure out a way to hit the national target with a Mormon torpedo or the Mormon target with a national-literary-quality torpedo.

More Big News for Zarahemla

2008-03-23T21:38:00.003-06:00

Coke Newell's autobiographical novel On the Road to Heaven, which I published through my Zarahemla Books project, is sweeping the Mormon literary awards. Last night he won the grand prize at the brand-new Whitney Awards for Mormon fiction, taking home a beautiful crystal Best Novel of the Year award and a $1,000 prize.

Here's more info about the Whitney Awards, which promise to become the premiere award for Mormon writing--giving the grand prize to a small press's offbeat, earthy publication is an intriguing way to start for them, I reckon.

Of course, you can get Coke's book at ZarahemlaBooks.com, Amazon.com, BYU Bookstore, a handful of other bookstores, and hopefully many more outlets now that he's won both the AML Novel of the Year and the Whitney Novel of the Year. (I've also entered him for a Utah Book of the Year award and a Best of State award--let's go for four, Coke.)

Too Quick to Pry and Judge?

2008-03-21T14:39:00.003-06:00

Here's a letter I sent to the Salt Lake Tribune editorial page today:

I don't necessarily disagree with the points made by BYU law professor Lynn D. Wardle regarding the Elliot affair ("Infidelity by elected officials rightfully is a public issue," March 21). However, I think it's important to step back and acknowledge that it is within the realm of possibility for a political leader to be both a good leader and an immoral person in his private life.

I find justification for this assertion in the Book of Mormon itself, one of the key scriptures held as true by Wardle's sponsoring institution. The book of Ether tells us about a man named Morianton who rose to power. "And after that he had established himself king he did ease the burden of the people, by which he did gain favor in the eyes of the people, and they did anoint him to be their king. And he did do justice unto the people, but not unto himself because of his many whoredoms" (Ether 10:10-11).

So while Wardle is certainly right about the importance of example in public figures, perhaps we are too quick to pry and judge when it comes to politicians' personal lives. I say we should keep the spotlight firmly on their public service and be very slow to make an issue of their personal lives. After all, from today's perspective many of us would agree that Bill Clinton was overall a better leader of this nation than Bush, despite Clinton's whoredoms in his personal life.

Thoughts on President Monson

2008-03-11T15:07:00.002-06:00

I was asked by a local Provo journalist for some observations on the new Mormon prophet, Thomas S. Monson. Here's the questionnaire in full; it will be interesting to see what, if anything, makes it into the article:

1) Have you ever met President Monson and, if so, do you have any lasting impressions from that meeting? What's he like in person?

I've encountered President Monson several times. At a wedding, he was kind and complimentary toward my toddler son, who was just learning to walk. In a business setting, however, he can be more gruff and bossy. When I picked up some photos from him at his office one time, he frowned at me and warned me not to let the rain ruin the photos, without giving me any of the warm fuzzies of his pulpit persona. When I worked at the Ensign magazine, he was probably the highest-maintenance General Authority in terms of approving material, making requests, and so forth.

I find it refreshing how President Monson seems to enjoy pop culture. I once saw him eating junk food at the Disney Ice Capades at the Delta Center. My good friend who is his nephew informed me that President Monson maintains a collection of James Bond movies at his vacation home in Midway, Utah. And he quoted the movies Field of Dreams and Home Alone in his general conference talks, thus making those movies part of Mormon scripture.

On the other hand, he doesn't always take teasing well. At a wedding reception, he and his wife were sitting alone at a table, and my parents decided to sit next to them. "You scared everyone away," my dad quipped, but President Monson just frowned and looked away.

2) When you think back on President Monson as a speaker, what stands out about his style? Are there themes that you associate with him?

President Monson always seems to have a story about helping a widow or some other person in need. He also draws upon a seemingly endless supply of charming, folksy anecdotes from his childhood. I think in recent years he's gotten more loose and funny in his talks, often telling fairly uproarious stories that can be quite entertaining. In fact, sometimes his style is a bit hammy. He's the Hallmark card of general authorities, fairly sentimental and appealing to the lowest common denominator, widely beloved by both young and old but also a little cheesy for some.

3) President Monson is beloved for his stories. Do you have a favorite story that you've heard him tell?

For some reason, the story that stands out most in my mind is the one he told about his son's water snake, because it was such an entertainingly bizarre story that didn't make any apparent gospel point:

"...an event occurred in my life with our youngest son, Clark.

Clark has always liked animals, birds, reptiles—anything that is alive. Sometimes that resulted in a little chaos in our home. One day in his boyhood he came home from Provo Canyon with a water snake, which he named Herman.

Right off the bat Herman got lost. Sister Monson found him in the silverware drawer. Water snakes have a way of being where you least expect them. Well, Clark moved Herman to the bathtub, put a plug in the drain, put a little water in, and had a sign taped to the back of the tub which read, "Don't use this tub. It belongs to Herman." So we had to use the other bathroom while Herman occupied that sequestered place.

But then one day, to our amazement, Herman disappeared. His name should have been Houdini. He was gone! So the next day Sister Monson cleaned up the tub and prepared it for normal use.

Several days went by.

One evening I decided it was time to take a leisurely bath; so I filled the tub with a lot of warm water, and then I peacefully lay down in the tub for a few moments of relaxation. I was lying there just pondering, when the soapy water reached the level of the overflow drain and began to flow through it. Can you imagine my surprise when, with my eyes focused on that drain, Herman came swimming out, right for my face? I yelled out to my wife, "Frances! Here comes Herman!"

Well, Herman was captured again, put in a foolproof box, and we made a little excursion to Vivian Park in Provo Canyon and there released Herman into the beautiful waters of the South Fork Creek. Herman was never again to be seen by us."

Here's the talk link.

4) Do you have a favorite story that you've heard told about him?

Here's a little story I love that shows his practical, frugal side: Someone I know once saw President Monson pull into the driveway of his Midway vacation home, mow the lawn in his white shirtsleeves, and then get back into his car and speed away, presumably back down to Salt Lake.

5) As a leader, what do you expect from President Monson? What things, if any, do you think he'll approach differently than President Hinckley did?

I think that following President Hinckley as prophet must be every bit as challenging as succeeding LaVell Edwards as BYU football coach. I expect that he'll largely stay the course established by President Hinckley—after all, President Monson helped set that course too, as a long-time member of the First Presidency. I remember that in the years right after President Hinckley became prophet, it seemed like he made an exciting announcement at every general conference, such as small temples and the Perpetual Education Fund, but gradually these announcements tapered off. It would be fun if President Monson stirred things up like that again for a few years, but I don't expect any major shakeups.

6) In the same way that President Hinckley emphasized temples and retention of converts, are there church programs that you think President Monson will be focused on?

He's very big on service, so I wouldn't be surprised if he focuses more on welfare and humanitarian assistance. I believe he's also big on building bridges to other faiths and communities, so I expect to see more overtures along those lines.

7) President Hinckley was noted for his openness with the media. What do you think will be some of the defining aspects of President Monson's public persona?

I don't think he's as comfortable or effective speaking directly with the media as President Hinckley was, judging by the simplistic answers he gave to reporters at the press release announcing his presidency. I expect that his public role will be more along the lines of an example than a Hinckley-esque spokesman, with many opportunities to participate in charities and community outreach efforts. I predict he will come across more as a public doer of good works than as a public communicator.

8) President Monson was asked at his initial news conference about whether he had a message for people who are on the outs, so to speak, with the church, and his response was that the church needs those people and would like them to come back. Do you think those people will feel than anything has changed? Will anyone respond to that invitation?

I think disaffected Mormons largely see the Monson presidency as less tolerant of alternative viewpoints than the Hinckley presidency. President Monson has a more conservative, lowbrow persona than President Hinckley did. He's certainly not as polarizing as President Packer would be, but I think he's viewed as less intellectual and culturally enlightened than President Hinckley was. I see President Monson as reaffirming the status quo and the lowest common denominator rather than taking any fresh, frank approach on addressing issues and nuances that alienate people from the Church.

Novel of the Year for Coke Newell

2008-03-10T16:09:00.001-06:00

Two-year-old Mormon publishing upstart Zarahemla Books was present in a big way Saturday night in Provo, when two of its authors won the top awards in Mormon fiction at the 2008 annual meeting of the Association for Mormon Letters (AML).

Todd Petersen's novel Rift took home the Marilyn Brown Award, given to the best book-length piece of unpublished fiction, and Coke Newell's On the Road to Heaven, released by Zarahemla Books in August, was awarded the AML 2007 Novel of the Year.

On the Road to Heaven is Newell's fifth book, but his first to be released by an LDS publisher. The "autobiographical novel," a thinly veiled story of Newell's transition from Colorado mountain hippie in the 1970s to Mormon missionary in cocaine-embattled Colombia three years later, has earned praise from LDS author and scholar Richard L. Bushman (Rough Stone Rolling) as "enthralling … I have never read such a gripping story of conversion and missionary labor" and by Terryl Givens (Viper on the Hearth, People of Paradox) as "an utterly original spiritual tale … think of it as St. Augustine for the Woodstock generation … a exuberant ride."

Newell worked as an LDS Church media spokesman for more than a decade (1993 – 2004), and his previous book, Latter Days: A Guided Tour Through Six Billion Years of Mormonism, earned regional and national notice when it was picked up by New York publisher St. Martin's Press in 2000 for a significant cash advance. Highly regarded by readers and journalists for both its style and content, it is still in print eight years later, phenomenal longevity in New York publishing and even more surprising given its unusual (for New York) topic.

Rift, scheduled to be released this August, is Petersen's second book with Zarahemla. The Southern Utah University English professor's previous book, Long After Dark, was one of Zarahemla's first three titles published, and on Saturday night Petersen praised Zarahemla Books as "the best thing to happen to Mormon letters in decades."

In remarks presented Saturday night at BYU, the Association for Mormon Letters praised On the Road to Heaven's iconic style and story as a "beautiful, valuable addition to Mormon literature." The book is also a finalist in three categories, including Novel of the Year, for a Whitney Award, to be announced March 22 in Salt Lake City. Newell teaches communication at Salt Lake Community College.

Kudos for Brother Brigham

2008-03-01T11:25:00.003-07:00

Congratulations to D. Michael Martindale for getting a very positive review of his novel Brother Brigham in the Mormon scholarly journal Dialogue, spring 2008 issue. I published this novel through my Zarahemla Books enterprise.

Here's one particularly interesting chunk from the review:

Like a Stephen King novel, perhaps, Brother Brigham has no real literary aspirations. Still one does not read a King novel for its prose or rich characterization, but rather for its propulsive, mind-bending plot. Here Martindale succeeds with page-turning gusto. Indeed, though I've never counted myself a fan of the science-fiction or fantasy genre, I found Martindale's enthusiasm for his subject matter infectious. Speculative fiction fans will certainly embrace Brother Brigham as a welcome addition to the growing Mormon SF subgenre.

But non-SF readers need not pass up Brother Brigham, for at its heart Martindale's story is also something of a romance novel, albeit from a decidedly male point of view. In that regard, Brother Brigham is pretty edgy stuff, if a Deseret Book novel is your primary frame of reference. C. H. is "called" upon by Brother Brigham to get his Big Love on, and C. H.'s sexy coworker Sheila, an aggressive, promiscuous, inactive Mormon, is only too eager to be his mistress, or, what the heck, his second wife. If C. H. needs to rationalize extramarital sex with delusions of polygamous grandeur, who is Sheila to argue if the end result is the same? How C. H. convinces his wife Dani to go along with the plan and how C. H. maneuvers to marry Sheila polygamously in the Salt Lake Temple are two of Brother Brigham's more exciting plot threads.

Brother Brigham's handful of descriptive sex scenes (as well as its boundary-pushing speculative theology) seems to be in keeping with Zarahemla Books' stated commitment toward more "frankness and realism, [and] earthier explorations of Mormon culture and experience." In other words, staid The Work and the Glory retreads need not apply. That said, Brother Brigham is never too steamy or too graphic. Anyone who has read Levi Peterson's The Backslider or any number of popular Gentile mystery, crime, spy, science fiction, or romance novels, will not be put off by Martindale's depictions of the "earthier" side of life.

For more information about Brother Brigham, click here. And here's the Amazon link.

Rewriting My "Enduring to the End" Essay

2008-02-28T09:13:00.002-07:00

If you're interested, I considerably rewrote my essay for Mormon Matters that I previewed here a few weeks ago.

The new version is here. I encourage you to comment, here on my personal blog and/or at Mormon Matters.

Review: Mormon Last Days Stories

2008-02-25T16:29:00.004-07:00

I've been doing some Mormon last-days story reading, and I just finished reading The Great Gathering (Standing in Holy Places, Book One) by Chad Daybell.

Bottom line: The book didn't work well for me as literature, but it did work as a teaching tool.

First, the literature side. The book is quite short but still covers a lot of plot and characters. The reason it's short is that it's quite sketchy; it reads more like a summary of a plot that is only just starting to get fleshed out than as a fully developed novel. While quite readable, the style is very plain, and there's just something flat about nearly all the characters, settings, and plot points, with very little sensory detail or exploration of the characters' inner lives to bring the story to life.

The author takes a very low-key approach to emotions, so even when rather amazing things happen, the response of the characters is quite muted and perfunctory. Characters such as Satan and one of the Three Nephites don't come to life in a satisfying way, and the Mormons are all pretty bland and predictable as well. I don't know if the author was too hurried or worried about being too graphic or what.... The one character who gave me some glimmers of interest was Tad, a guy with some real human flaws and angst and the book's only real interesting character arc.

As far as plausibility, this is the last days and so lots of very wild stuff happens, from earthquakes and hailstones to nationwide chip implantations and invasion by a coalition of Russia, China, and Islam. I think the author did a pretty good job with lots of it, but there are places that stretch one's credulity or don't seem fully thought out. Still, I felt that a fair bit of creative imagination went into it, and I found myself reading with interest to see what would happen next, even though much of it comes across in mere summary form instead of being fully dramatized. I believe the author took care to follow actual scriptures and prophecies, and I enjoyed learning about some of those through the form of a reasonably engaging story.

So yes, the book did overall work pretty well for me as a teaching tool that reminded me of possible last days scenarios, alerted me to bad trends in society and bad attitudes among Mormons, and made me question my own level of obedience and conformity. In recent months,
home teaching has been driving me batty because it seems to come so often and feels like a big chore that interrupts a precious day off, but yesterday after finishing Daybell's book I found myself doing my home teaching a little more willingly, because I don't want to turn out like Tad and maintain a mindset that makes me miss getting onto the ark. So if the author had a didactic purpose, which I'm sure he did, he managed to break through my worldly cynicism and have a positive spiritual effect on me as a fellow Mormon, probably much more so than if I'd heard him give a sacrament meeting talk about signs of the times or whatever.

I will definitely pick up the sequel, because I'm curious to see where the author takes it next and because, frankly, for me it's one of those books you read to reassure yourself that you can write something at least as good, if not better in some ways (OK, I admit that one of the reasons I picked up the book is that right now I'm at a point of insecurity and hesitation about my own last-days novel project). However, if lots of other Mormon fiction is like this Daybell novel, I'm not interested. One of the last Deseret/Covenant/Cedar Fort-mode novels I read, Jeff Call's Mormonville, had a lot of the same limitations, and in that case it felt like a waste of my time because it didn't even bother to teach me anything new or interesting, let alone stand as satisfying literature.

Another Mormon last days book I've read is Linda Adams's Prodigal Journey, which I found to be a big overstuffed fruit cake of a book, sort of the opposite problem of Daybell's over-minimized approach but still strangely compelling to keep reading. I read its sequel, Refining Fire, in prepublication manuscript form, and if I remember right it sort of devolves into more of a romance than a last-days story, but I admit it's been a long time since I read it.

And I recently read Orson Scott Card's Folk of the Fringe, which has some good writing and storytelling in it, but it didn't really capture my imagination like I'd hoped as far as the last-days setting, which is really mostly just a backdrop for exploring some characters and situations that could have been treated equally well in any other number of possible settings. The one story with a really interesting premise, in which the boys dive into the submerged Salt Lake Temple, suffered from plausibility problems, I found. I was reading Jessica Draper's novel Hunting Gideon at the same time, and I honestly found that Jessica's book engaged my imagination and came to life better for me than the Card book.

Next I'm going to read Stephanie Black's The Believer and then probably Wendie Edwards's Millennial Glory I: Hidden Light. But I may need to squeeze another Updike in between there to cleanse my literary palette...

Any other Mormon last-days stories I definitely ought to check out?

I Married Well

2008-02-25T11:40:00.003-07:00

Okay, so on Saturday I ate a lot of fatty junk. Chips, cheese, peanut butter, and to top it off my wife closed out the evening with chocolate chip cookies, of which I gobbled 4-5 and also ate another 4-5 cookies' worth of raw dough.

Needless to say, my tummy felt a little weird in the night. I wasn't actually very uncomfortable, but just enough so that I couldn't sleep. When I got up for some Tums and an Excedrin P.M. at 3:30, I told my wife I hadn't been able to sleep yet, and then I turned on my light and read for a while.

Next thing I know, I wake up and pull out the earplugs I sleep with every night. It's 10:00 a.m. and I can hear a kid's video playing very softly on our bedroom T.V. My runny-nosed two-year-old is lying down with his blanket and binky.

My sweet wifey had gotten all the kids ready for 9:00 a.m. church and kept things quiet enough that I could sleep in (true, it would never have worked if I didn't already wear earplugs).

Then, to top it off, when she called from church to check in, I expected that she would let me know that she was coming home after Sunday School and we would switch places for sacrament meeting, which is what we often do when one of us gets to stay home with a sick kid. But no, she let me just stay home for all three meetings. It was great!

I still had to count tithing and go home teaching that afternoon, but I was very grateful for the nice morning to recover my sleep. Thanks, honey!

The Music Cycle Continues...

2008-02-14T18:38:00.003-07:00

Just this very minute, I finished listening to all 5,609 songs on my iTunes, which is 21.34 gigabytes worth of music.

I began the process on October 10th, so apparently it takes me about four months to cycle through my entire collection.

If I listened to it nonstop, iTunes claims I could get through it in just 15.3 days. I assume that would mean listening for 24 hours a day.

Anyway, it's time to go home from work now, and tomorrow I shall begin the process anew.