Book Review: Possession: A Romance

I'm not the first one to say this, but Possession: A Romance is a brilliant book. I would highly recommend it to anyone with a serious interest in literature. I started the book expecting an intellectually engaging experience (which I got, and then some), but I wasn't expecting the narrative to turn out to be as compelling as it was. It is a story, essentially, about a pair of English scholars who make an important discovery that a pair of Victorian poets (one famous and one lesser-known) had a relationship that no modern scholar had discovered. A story around the two scholars develops as they discover the story behind the relationship between the two poets. Both stories are fascinating and compelling, and Byatt proved that she has a real talent for story-telling on top of her talent for creating an intellectually-stimulating book. You wouldn't expect a book about a pair of English scholars researching a pair of Victorian poets to keep you up late at night because you can't put it down, but it did.

That's not to say that it doesn't have its lulls. The book is brimming with references to and uses of British literature and literary theory, as well as long, complicated poems and long letters and journal entries. I'm sure I only picked up on and understood a small fraction of the literary allusions in the book, and because of my poor poetry-reading skills, I skipped some of the longer poems embedded in the book. I also skimmed over some of the unearthed letters and journals when they went long. Still, trying to catch some of the many literary allusions was part of the fun (at least for me), and if I didn't have the patience for something, I had no problem skipping or skimming. As my recommendation implies, this book is not for everyone. Byatt is brilliant and erudite and she expects a lot of her readers. But underneath it all there is a truly compelling story with one of the most perfect endings that I have ever read.

Sounds of the Season

We just got back from the annual Christmas tradition of attending the Utah Chamber Artists Christmas Concert. The Utah Chamber Artists is a fantastic chamber choir and orchestra directed by Barlow Bradford, and they do several concerts a year, including a Christmas one the week after Thanksgiving. My parents get us tickets every year, and it always does a great job of kicking off the Christmas season. There's something about Christmas music that gets you in the mood for Christmas (for both the secular and spiritual aspects of it). The concert was great again this year, and I came right home and put on some Christmas music. I'm excited to break out my favorite Christmas albums: the Niel Diamond Christmas album (great Christmas music with a Jewish flare) and the John Denver and The Muppets Christmas album (brings back great memories; my parents had this on a record when I was very little). What are some of your favorite Christmas albums?

Book Review: Rouhg Stone Rollnig

I finally made it through Richrad Bushman's Biography of J Smith (I am intentionally misspelling or abbreviating names/words because I don't want a bunch of anti posts on my blog). It took me a while, but I really enjoyed it. I thought Bushman did a nice job of managing all the information out there about J Smith. Its a cultural biography, so Bushman spends some time giving some historical background to J Smith's story. Bushman's historical biography approach was a mixed blessing. Sometimes, I thought Bushman's historical background was mere apologism (I'm not sure that's a word, but you know what I mean), which I didn't especially like (i.e., talking about how many males of J Smith's time had hot tempers to explain away some of J Smith's less-than-model outbursts at people questioning his methodologies). But sometimes, I thought Bushman used the historical background to make some really interesting observations. For example, when discussing the BOM, Bushman talked about how much patriotism and pride in the United States' form of government there was at the time the BOM was being translated, especially in the northeastern states, where many residents, including J Smith, had ancestors who had fought in the Revolutionary War. Then Bushman pointed out how the governmental structures that the BOM singles out as ideal are monarchies and systems of judges, which were models following the Old Testament, and which were a far cry from the secular, republican democracy established in the United States. If the BOM were a product of J Smith's cultural heritage, instead of translation, one would expect to find, Bushman argues, more favorable discussion of democracies.

The other point I wanted to make was that, while I really enjoyed this book, it was not always easy to read. I say this as a credit to Bushman. I don't refer to the fact that it was long and dense, but rather, that Bushman does not shy away from some of the things about J Smith that are more difficult to swallow, particularly the stuff about polygmy. This book is ultimately faith-promoting, but to say it wasn't also faith-challenging at times would be, at least for me, untrue. Bushman faces these challenges head on, and ends on a very positive and uplifting note. I'm glad I read the book, and I feel that I have a fuller testimony of J Smith, the BOM, and the church for having read it. It was especially cool to be able to read a large chunk of it while I was back in Missouri and Nauvoo at the church history sites with family this past summer.

Celebrity Sightings: Looking for Lindsay Lohan

Who cares if one of the newest Nobel Lauretes lives in Utah. Our beloved State's most famous new resident is none other than Lindsay Lohan! That's right, celebrity fantasy leaguers beware, Lindsay is returning to her good girl ways, and her first step in that process is becoming a resident of Utah. She's trying to stay away from the L.A. party scene that keeps dragging her down into the depths of addiction. Here she is in her own words: "I'm staying in Utah until it's time to shoot 'Dare to Love Me,' and then I plan on returning to Utah so I can stay focused, and avoid other distractions." (see http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7127670). Musingian welcomes Lindsay to Utah and hopes she finds peace. Look for Lindsay Lohan at the next multi-stake regional dance!

Facebook Superstar

In my ongoing quest to expand my online presence, I have started a facebook account. Blogging is a great way to stay connected with people, but I have a lot of friends who facebook and don't blog, so I decided to expand my horizons too. Plus, its so hot right now. I'm still trying to figure out how to do it, but it seems pretty cool. Any tips from you experienced facebookers out there?

Mesa Falls Marathon

Many of you know that I have spent much of the summer training for a marathon. I can't say its been the funnest thing to train for--way too much running. I think its much better on you body if you mix your exercises up a bit. But the day finally came to run the marathon, and I did it. I can't imagine a more beautiful place to run a marathon. The marathon started at 6:30 am in the middle of Targhee National Forest. It was about 40 degrees outside, but it didn't feel too cold because the adrenaline was pumping. We got started, and the first nine miles of the race was on a national forest service dirt road through the forest. It was so beautiful. You would be running through thick trees and would round a corner to find a stunning mountain meadow. And to the East, the sun was rising over the Tetons. Just seeing the red sunrise over the Tetons was worth the price of admission. You would also occasionally hear a moose or wolves greeting the morning.

After the nine miles in the forest, we ran down a paved road past Lower Mesa Falls, which was also quite pretty. Just after mile 13, I was Grace and Katie, who were there cheering me on. Their cheers were needed because we then dropped down into an old railroad trail that ran along the Warm river. The views were spectacular again, but my lack of training on trails caught up to me, and my IT band flared up. My knee just killed. I quickly downed the advil that I had in my pocket, and I had to stop and walk a lot of the trail (which I didn't mind because it was so beautiful).

After the trial, we had a three mile long climb out of Bear Gulch, which was killer. My knee was still killing, so I had to alternate walking and running every five minutes or so. But after climbing out of the gulch, it was only six miles of rolling farmland to the finish. I had to stop and rest my knee fairly often, but I kept plugging away, and Katie, Grace, and my parents were there cheering me along.

We ran through the booming metropolis of Ashton, Idaho for the last mile of the race. I was feeling good, and I thought I was there. But at mile 26, with .2 miles left to go, I encountered an unexpected obstacle--a train crossing with a train beginning to cross. I was shocked. The train was being pulled along very slowly by a tractor. I looked down to see how long the trail was, and I didn't see an end to the train. At the slow speed that it was moving, I was going to have to sit and wait for five minutes for the train to pass--unless I could beat the train. I summoned all of my strength and began to sprint (not an easy feat after 26 miles. I had to veer left to make sure I had plenty of clearance, but I made it. After that, it was an easy .1 mile to the finish. What a great feeling! It was fun being cheered by family and friends.

I made a little video montage commemorating the event. Enjoy:

Nauvoo

Katie's parents were generous enough to bring us along on their trip to Nauvoo. It was so much fun. We flew into Kansas City, Missouri and saw the sites in Missouri (Independence, Liberty, Far West, and Adam Ondi Aman). Then we drove to Nauvoo and spent a few days there. My favorite part by far was the temple. It is so beautiful, both inside and out. Its such a great tribute to the early saints who built the first one. It was fun seeing all the other historic sites as well.

We also got to see plenty of musical theater, which Grace loved. She would just sit and stare at the stage, amazed, while the actors sang and danced. I've never seen her sit still for so long. It was a great trip and a great testimony builder. We took a ton of cool pictures, so I put them together in a little montage. I hope you enjoy it.

Fun in the Sun Valley

Last week, Katie, Grace, and I made our first trek up to the Utah State Bar convention in Sun Valley, Idaho. We love Sun Valley, and I got the firm to pay for enough of the trip to make it worth it to go. We had a great time. I spent the mornings in classes that were mostly boring, but I need to attend a certain number of continuing education classes to stay licensed. While I was in classes, Katie and Grace got to lounge around the hotel. When I got back from classes, we walked around town, went on some runs, ate good food, and bought some ice cream. The weather was great, and we had a great time. We had to come home a little early so that we could go to Nuavoo with Katie's family (watch for a forthcoming post on that), but we had such a fun time, we'll have to go back.

First Fruits

We planted a little vegetable garden this year, and it has really done well. I didn't expect much because I just dug up some irises that were being overgrown by grass to make the garden. I thought it would take a while to bring the soil along. I just worked in a few bags of fertilizer at the beginning of the year and have been watering with miracle grow regularly, and the vegetables have really taken off. The tomatoes are going crazy, and the zucchini is huge. The pepper plants are still a little small, but they're starting to bear fruit. We picked the first ripe cherry tomatoes yesterday, and they taste great. Can't wait to eat all the fresh summer vegetables picked fresh from our garden.

Odes to Chuck

One of the highlights of Youth Conference was hiking around the Double Arch and telling Chuck Norris facts. I heard some that I hadn't heard before, and we were all laughing pretty hard. I am guessing that you all have been enlightened by at least a few Chuck Norris fact, but just in case you haven't, I decided to dedicate a post to it. Chuck Norris facts have become an online rage and are pretty pervasive now. There are thousands and thousands of "facts" about Chuck Norris all over the internet, but I think this is the main site for them. Here are some of my favorites:

There is no chin under Chuck Norris' beard. There is only another fist.
Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.
Ninjas want to grow up to be just like Chuck Norris. But usually they grow up just to be killed by Chuck Norris.
Most people have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Chuck Norris has 72... and they're all poisonous.
Someone once tried to tell Chuck Norris that roundhouse kicks aren't the best way to kick someone. This has been recorded by historians as the worst mistake anyone has ever made.
Chuck Norris is the only human being to display the Heisenberg uncertainty principle -- you can never know both exactly where and how quickly he will roundhouse-kick you in the face.
When Chuck Norris falls in water, Chuck Norris doesn't get wet. Water gets Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris ordered a Big Mac at Burger King, and got one.
Hellen Keller's favorite color is Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris eats beef jerky and craps gunpowder. Then, he uses that gunpowder to make a bullet, which he uses to kill a cow and make more beef jerky. Some people refer to this as the "Circle of Life."
Along with his black belt, Chuck Norris often chooses to wear brown shoes. No one has DARED call him on it. Ever.
Chuck Norris can set ants on fire with a magnifying glass. At night.

And my favorite: Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice.

There are tons of them and most are pretty entertaining. What are your favorites?

The Strength of Youth

I spent last weekend in south eastern Utah with the youth in our ward for Youth Conference (I am the secretary of our ward's Young Mens organization). We camped in Green River State Park, which is right on the Green River in Green River, UT. It was a nice campground. We spend one day rafting the Green (the rapids were pretty wimpy, but its always fun to spend a day on the river). And on Saturday, we drove down to Arches National Park and did an early morning hike to Delicate Arch, followed by quick hikes to Double Arch and Devils Playground.

Everyone had a great time, and I was yet again amazed at how good these kids are. All the kids got along really well with each other, they stuck together, they were grateful and helpful, and they happily did everything we asked them to do. We never had to get on them for staying up too late, for being too loud, for texting or listening to iPods while we were talking, for straying too far from the group, etc. Basically, they made it really easy on us leaders. One night, some Young Women leaders from another camp came up to us and said that they had found out that their girls were planning a midnight rendevous with some boys from another camp. We didn't even sweat it because we knew our boys wouldn't do that. And they didn't. I love being in Young Mens because I am consistently blown away by how good these kids are. They're smart, they work hard, they are kind, and they are very sensitive to spiritual things. I love it. They're great examples for me.

Catching Up on Movies

I don't know why the flu is going around in the middle of June, but it is, and I got it. It was miserable, but it did offer me an opportinity to catch up on some movies that I have been meaning to see. I sent Katie to the nearest Redbox to pick me up some movies, and we got Rocky Balboa, Casino Royale, and Stranger Than Fiction. I had heard good things about all of these movies and was excited to watch them.

I started with Rocky Balboa. I have been excited to see this one for a long time, and it didn't dissapoint. Even Katie enjoyed it. I got the sense that Stalone was trying to channel the first Rocky a little more (bringing back "little Marie," spending most of the screen time on exploring characters rather than fights, having Rocky flash back to all the good times from the first movie, having Rocky lose the bout but win the battle). I have to admit, as good as the first Rocky was, I missed the formulaic but exilerating plot where Rocky overcomes incredible odds to beat the bad guy. I didn't especially like that Rocky lost the fight in a split decision. I wanted him to knock Mason "the Line" Dixon out. I also didn't like how they tried to make Mason "the Line" Dixon a good guy. Make him a cocky, arrogant punk who needs Rocky to teach him a lesson.

Then I watched Stranger Than Fiction. I thought it was entertaining and fun. I thought Will Ferrel did a nice job making his character so likeable, which had to happen for the story to work.

Finally, I watched Casino Royal. I thought it rocked. It had great action sequences, but you didn't feel like there were so many action sequences that there wasn't any time to develop a plot (or that they were trying mask the lack of a plot). I thought Daniel Craid was an awesome James Bond, way better than Pierce Brosnan. He was everything James Bond should be: tough, cool, simmering, smart-alleckey, etc. I had a hard time believing that he actually let his guard down and fell in love with the accountant, probably because we've seen so many James Bond movies where he gets the girl but he doesn't let his guard down. Still, it was a good flick.

New Camera

Since Grace was born, our picture-taking output has increased exponentially, and I have been dying to get a new camera. We have a great little point-and-shoot camera that does a great job--and I have no room to complain when there are starving children in Africa--but it would kill me when we would miss a great picture because our camera was so slow. We would get Grace to smile for a moment, but by the time the flash geared up and the camera warmed up, the smile was long gone and Grace was looking off elsewhere. It doesn't take the clearest, most colorful pictures either. So, after much longing, much research, and much saving, I finally said goodbye to shutter lag. I bought myself a new digital SLR. I opted for the Nikon d40. And now that I have a nice camera, I imagine I will channel my inner photographer more, which means that I will probably be posting pictures more often on my blog. I hope that will be an improvement. We've tried the camera out a little over the weekend. Here are some of the results.

Curse Bush

I'm posting a link to this great article that appeared in Time magazine last week. It is really interesting and really well-written. It talks about a recent decision by a federal court of appeals (one step below the US Supreme Court). In the case, the FCC had fined a number of stations that aired a live awards show that featured Nichole Richie, among others, using profanity. But the court said that that the fines were unreasonable. In making its decision, the court looked at societal norms and determined that profanity wasn't such an uncommon thing as to warrant these large fines. But the interesting part of the decision was that, in saying that profanity wasn't such a big deal, the court cited to recent profane gaffes by President Bush and Vice President Cheney (hence my clever title to this post). Basically, the court said that if Cheney can drop the F-bomb on the Senate floor, then Nichole Richie can do so on an awards show. The article riffs on the irony of the court's decision to use this administration as an example of profanity and how we can now curse Bush, who won two elections by playing strongly to the morality/family values card, for making it possible for Nichole Richie to drop the F-bomb with impunity.

Real, China, the First Amendment, and International Diplomacy

The other day, I went with my dad to a Real Salt Lake soccer game where they played the Chinese national team. It was a fun game. The weather was a little cool but not too bad. We sat in front of a couple of really funny guys, who kept cracking jokes. Real won on a pretty cool goal (assisted by our friend Chris Brown). But what made the game really interesting was that some of the officials from the Chinese national team stopped the game midway through the second half because some hecklers were waving Tibetan and Taiwanese flags. The Chinese officials threatened to stop the game if the hecklers didn't put away their flags. The hecklers also had Chairman Mao masks and signs that read "Defect Here," but what really made the Chinese officials mad was the flags. Eventually, Real's event staff made it over and made the hecklers put away their flags, but the hecklers weren't happy about it.

It got me thinking about the interrelation between free speech, political protest, and hospitality. I think these guys were just hecklers and weren't necessarily serious about making a political statement, but lets pretend that they were protesting in earnest. Do they have a right to be protesting here? I think they might; its a private sporting event, but its on the campus of a state school (which means the First Amendment might have some teeth). But is this the appropriate forum for them to be protesting in? The Chinese national team was here as our guests. Is it part of our duty as hosts to put aside political protest while they are our guests? I get the sense that its probably bad form to invite guests and to then allow them to be berated. I can see the argument that developing strong relationships with China will allow us to gently advocate, as a friend, for causes that we feel are important and that allowing protests might disrupt that agenda. At the same time, I'm sympathetic to the political causes of Tibet and Taiwan, and I think its a legitimate cause to be protesting. If you were the philosopher-king, and someone came to you and said that some people were going to be at the Real vs. China soccer game waving Tibetan and Taiwanese flags in protest, what would you do? I don't know what I would do. I would be interested to hear from any of you that are interested. It may turn on your diplomatic philosophy.

Anyway, sorry for the stream of consciousness post, but I think this is a pretty interesting question.

Saturday Morning

I took this picture yesterday morning while we were waiting for Katie to get back from her long run (I ran Friday night). When it was about time for Katie to get home, Grace and I went out front to wait for her. Grace played on her blanket while I weeded our front garden and our lawn. Then, we just sat on the blanket and waited for Katie. It was a great morning, and Grace was excited to see Katie running home.

The Best Pizza in Salt Lake?

Thanks to the small business financing power of Keler and Mountain West Small Business Finance, we have a great new pizza shop here in Salt Lake. Word is starting to spread, and word on the street is that it is the best pizza in the city. Better than The Pie, better than Pizza Factory, better than Little Caesars. I had to try it out myself, and, as Katie is a pizza lover as well, we decided to go there for our anneversary. Its called Settebello, and it specializes in authentic Italian pizza. This review by the Salt Lake Tribune's food critic probably says it best. This is real Italian pizza. They cook the pizzas in a wood fire pizza oven that was made in Naples and cooks the pizzas in a minute or two because temperatures hover around 900 degrees. The flour used to make the pizza dough is imported from a famous Italian mill, and many of the ingredients are also imported from Italy and Europe. The dough is covered in crushed tomatoes and olive oil (not tomato sauce) and large chunks of motzarella. Don't come expecting lots of sauce and processed cheese covering every inch of the crust. If you're importing special pizza flour to make the dough, you want people to be able to taste it. I loved my Settebello pizza. It was full of flavor and quality ingredients. Katie doesn't like this kind of pizza as much and would stick with Pizza Factory. My biggest qualm with the restaurant: there's no desert menu.

So, is this the best pizza in Salt Lake? I would say that it is. But I will have to qualify that and say that if you don't like a more authentic Italian style of pizza, then you won't think this is the best. Juddy and I (and whoever else wants to come) are going to try it again on Saturday before the Jazz game, and then he will be able to lend his discerning palatte to the question of whether this is the best pizza Salt Lake has to offer. Stay tuned.

Wheeler Farm

Grandpa would be proud. With Spencer, Allison, and Owen in town, my mom had the great idea of going to Wheeler Farm on Monday night for family night, complete with picnic dinner and frozen twinkies. It was a lot of fun. The farm is a lot smaller than I remember. Grace liked most of the animals (except for the sheep) and even pet a horse. Being there brought back a lot of great memories. Here are a few pictures.

1) Having fun with dad
2) Playing with Grandpa (notice the Aggie headband)
3) Surrounded!
4) Grace loved playing in the chicken coop/playhouse.
5) Grace did not like the sheep.

Marathon Update

Marathon training is in full swing in the Davis household. We ran 10 miles yesterday. That was our first venture into double digits. I don't know how I'm going to do 16 more miles. Katie's dad dropped us off 10 miles up Immigration Canyon, and we ran down. I'm not used to running down hills, so my legs are really sore today, but it feels good. We're right on schedule. Next Saturday: 11 miles.

St. George

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Its been a little crazy around here. One of the things that's kept us so busy was a trip to St. George. It was nice and sunny and a great vacation. We borrowed my dad's camera so that we could get some good pictures, and I think we succeeded.