A dang awesome prank

Man, I wish I'd been there.

Sting Operations

When I was 15 my dad asked me if I wanted to help out with some cigarette stings around Utah. Since you have to be 19 in Utah to buy cigarettes, I could help out local police departments find out which places in their towns were selling packs to underage buyers.
It was easy: I'd go in with a 5 dollar bill and ask for Marlboro Reds, hard pack. I really had no idea what a "red pack" was, but that's what they told me to ask for so that I'd remember. I'd go to the counter, ask for them and wait to see if they'd ask me for ID. If they did, I'd tell them that I'd left it in the car (which I always had). If they didn't ask, I'd give them the $5 and walk out to the unmarked cop car and show the cop that I'd bought the pack. The business could get cited or would get a warning, or whatever based on their past record.
Anyway, after I got more comfortable and accustomed to the whole thing, I liked to mix it up a bit. Sometimes I'd ask for Marlboro Reds, soft pack, or maybe the Golds, hard pack. I never dabbled, however, in Virginia Slims or Camels, they're just not my thing.

I think I bought in about 25% of the stores that I entered--which is ridiculously high if you ask me. Come to find out that the percentage of alcohol sales to underage buyers is even higher. I asked the cops about it and they said that a lot of people think that if you've got the guts to try and buy the liquor, they must be able to handle the drinking, too. Solid logic there. I never got to do alcohol stings b/c they weren't linked to the Health Department where my dad worked. I was bummed b/c I had tons of fun.

Chairs

Some chair entertainment for you all:

A great video of President Hinckley

I've already mentioned this, but now I have the video to show you all. I dropped in some clips from Elder Nelson's talk to that it makes a bit more sense. Have fun watching it. I really miss President Hinckley and his humor, but I love that we have so many videos and recordings of him. Oh, speaking of recordings, you should all go to this web page, it's the BYU-Idaho devotional page. Click to the 2002 listing and find the 22 October, 2002. Gordon B. Hinckley Building Dedication. It's a wonderful talk. Near the end President Hinckley puts aside what he'd prepared and just talks to the youth. It sounds at first like he's chuckling, but he's actually crying when he says, "I love you kids." It's an awesome talk.
Here's the video from October 1997 conference, Saturday morning session:

A good insight that I heard while watching a show on ESPN

On Friday (8 Feb) I was watching the Mike and Mike radio show on ESPN (they do a simulcast of the show on TV). They were interviewing Bob Knight, one of the NCAA's most successful basketball coaches. He's well known for getting his players to not only perform to the best of their ability on the court, but he also graduates his players, which lately has become a rarity in NCAA basketball.
Coach Knight said something really interesting that I've been thinking about for the last day or so. He was talking about the mentality of today's youth, how having fun and doing things their own way gets in the way of real growth from hard work. How coaches and teachers can't help children grow because their not allowed to teach or discipline in a way that should have been initially done in the home. Anyway, here's the quote:

It really isn’t the fault of the kid that grows up without a real determination, without a real desire to succeed; it’s the fault of parents that don’t make sure that a kid is pulling it in that direction. And I’ve said again for years that parents have changed, and it isn’t the kid that’s changed. The two- or three-year-old kid is the same that he was 40 or 50 or 20 years ago. But the eight-year-old kid or the fourteen-year-old kid or the twenty-year-old kid is a lot different because he hasn’t had the same kind of background, the same kind of mentality used in his development that was used back then.
-Coach Bob Knight, 8 Feb, 2008, Mike and Mike in the Morning

How true that quote is. I've noticed this problem around the world. I don't work as hard as I should sometimes--not that I wasn't taught to work by my parents (go Mom and Dad!)--but that I can be pretty lazy when I'm in the mood.
The reason why I thought this quote was such a poignant rejoinder to society's ills is that I've been thinking about this lately (the last 2 or 3 years) and what kind of parent I'd like to be someday.
Haven't you guys seen kids that were never taught basic discipline, and simply have never been disciplined for fear that the parent won't be liked or that the kid could be bummed out by the discipline? I always knew growing up when I was doing something wrong, I'd been taught the basics of not only the Gospel but normal societal etiquette.
I think kids want to know what's right and what's wrong, even though they'll choose to do differently at times, they'll always know what they can do to achieve success and they'll know how to deal with difficulty. The lack of this basic knowledge, I think has left a lot of people from my generation wandering, unable to act because they simply don't know how because their parents wouldn't/couldn't teach them.

Man, I could go on and on about this (as if I haven't already). But I think I'll end here and let the rest of you ruminate on Coach Knight's insight.

The lesson from the Mt. Dew

I have a friend who was raised in a rather sheltered home. She went to a private school until 9th grade, when she started public school so she could be involved in extra-curriculars and stuff. One time in 9th grade she was on a trip with one of the athletic teams, guys and girls, it was a running something or other team.
Anyway, the team was at a Pizza Hut and were ordering their drinks. Now, you've gotta understand that her family is really health nutty, herbally and stuff. They didn't really drink carbonated drinks, so caffeine was a non-starter. She looked down the list of possible drinks (she knew Pepsi and stuff: a no-go) then she saw this thing called Mountain Dew. She thought it sounded springy and pastoral, probably a fruit punch. So she got that.
Well, she got the drink, full of sugar and caffeine, and drank it like a normal person would. Except, she'd never really had caffeine. So by the end of the meal she was laughing giddy like a drunkard and everyone was like, "Uh, (girl) are you alright?" (Girl laughing uncontrollably), "Yeah!!!! I'm great!!!!!"
Then it happened. She fell backward in her chair and the only thing stopping her from crashing backwards onto the floor was her right toe stopped underneath the lip of the table. So there's (girl) teetering dangerously, unable to pull herself up because she's too loopy. A couple of friends helped her right herself.

So, friends, the moral of the story is: Don't drink or eat anything just because it has an innocuous, bucolic name. Always check the label.

Yes We Can! Sí se puede! Sim a gente pode!

Wahoo!

my roommate thinks she's so funny.

Yes, that's a chocolate fish. I wasn't expecting it, so I had a little episode when I first saw it. But I'm obviously doing alright now.

President Monson

I was at institute today with Brock at 11 when they showed the announcement of the new 1st Presidency. It was really great, and I loved hearing the announcement of Elder Uchtdorf. Here's to hoping that we get more "When-I-was-a-747-pilot" stories!
I admit it, though, that it still seems a little bit weird to me to not have President Hinckley there. Remember during the memorial service when they showed the chairs for the 1st Presidency and President Hinckley's was empty? Man, talk about sad.

But I'm really excited for more stories in conference. It's going to be interesting to see where he leads the church. There's been a lot of talk lately focusing on his work with overcoming poverty. And how about that question today about only having leaders who are "Native Americans?" Ummm, okay. But I liked his answer about missionaries serving around the world and this adding to our comprehension as a people. And how about his favorite color being yellow?

Did you know that he loves brownies? My friend Tseegii served in the area where he lives and he would always invite her over to have some brownies.
I was talking with some senior missionaries once at Temple Square and they told me about this time that this tall man dressed casually was walking thru the square and the sisters stopped and talked to him, answered his questions and committed him to something (can't remember). As he was walking away the senior elder walked over to the sisters and told them that they'd just contacted President Monson. They were, of course, surprised. President Monson then stopped his walk, turned around and waved. He thanked them for doing their job so well.
This begs the question, would you recognize a member of the 12 in casual clothes?

Well, if this just doesn't seal the deal

Garrison Keillor endorsed Barack Obama for president.

Adiós libido

So, since my life has been nothing but frustrating as of late, I've decided to post something that makes me laugh. A few years ago I used to listen to a CD all the time, but the first song always confused me. I could never figure out why the singer was saying goodbye to his libido, especially when in the next two lines he was talking about his madre and then his padre. I found this discussion of libido and parents very disturbing.
Ahhhh, but a while later I discovered the truth. Juanes wasn't singing about his libido at all, no he was saying that he was asking God for things like for his mom to stay alive, his father to remember him, then a whole lot of lovey-dovey type stuff: A Dios le pido.
But can I tell just how *relieved* I was to find out that he wasn't saying adiós libido? Talk about awkward. Nope, A Dios le pido (to God him I ask).

Here's the video clip of the song:



And today my mom gets the trophy for rescuing me from a totally bummer of a day and taking me to dinner. She's great for conversation and for making me happy when I'm down.