Monday, March 31, 2008

DID YOUR GRANDMA EVER EAT PLANKTON?

LMBO...... I'm still laughing from the question Konrad asked Jenn tonight, "did your grandma ever eat plankton?".

I think he was just curious to know the answer but I think I'm going to add that to my "yo mamma" joke repertoire. I'm wondering how he even knows what plankton is. He's a clever boy. He can correctly pronounce most words that he attempts to read already. I keep waiting for his teacher to tell us he's brilliant but it never happens. I guess I'm just a proud parent who thinks they have gifted children like every other parent out there.

Speaking of reading, I've been getting into it lately. I've never really taken the time to read. I know that I fit the stereotype of a non-reader but I never really felt exclusively jock. I've always enjoyed reading articles and non fiction biographies. However, I picked up a few novels for our trip to Morocco and I've been going ever since.

I started with " the Alchemist" It helped pass the time on the flight to England but I felt it was a little elementary. I was intregued by the use of Melchizedek and the Urim and Thumim but over all I thought it he wasn't a very captivating writer.

Next I read "Under a thousand Splendid Suns" and " The Kite Runner" by Kaled Hosseini. They were both wonderful books. They fed my hunger for learning about unfamiliar settings (Afghanistan) and were culturally insightful. The stories invoke a full range of emotions aswell.

Then I read "Blood River". I thought it was incredible to learn of the untold Congo. I was captivated to the point I thought I was watching a movie. I can remember flipping through the channels one night unsatisfied because I couldn't find the channel that would continue my story. Then I realized it was my book I was craving and I shut the tv off to go read.



Most recently, I picked a book up off the shelf called " Kipewa River Chronicles". This one was written by a good friend from Utah who has a lodge in Quebec. Wow what a good read. It was as good as any of the other books I've mentioned. He is a decent writer and his stories are out of this world. A few years ago Jenn and I and Derek and Rachelle went up to the lodge for some r and r and Derek started into this book. He read it in 2 days and I though he was missing out on what the area had to offer with his nose buried in that book. Last week when I saw the book on the shelf I felt a little disrespectful for taking a gift copy 5 years ago and having still not read it. So I read it and I am glad I did.

Hey Derek do you remember the whistler of the north? and the Dog chasing the dynamite? Anyway, I emailed him to thank him for the book and he told me he has another one on the way.

I guess what is left to see is whether I stick with this reading kick or whether I get board of it and let it fizzle out after a while like everything else I seem to half finish (this blog included). For now I'm averaging a book a week. Thats not bad for someone who........how did Jenn put it?........"married someone smarter than himself". Ouch! It sounds brash and perhaps it should have hurt more when I heard it but I guess there is some substance to it and I am consoled by the fact that I also married someone self confident. And I do love her!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

RELEASED!

Ya D....Its done! I feel like I've been set out to pasture. I'm too young to be set out to pasture, I'm still a stallion.


I am already thinking about how I will re-arrange my week. Spencer Collins has been called as the new young mens president. Inspired! I'm envious of the program now. I wish he were in it while I was there. He is so interesting. The boys are going to love him.