Quin

Sounds like you'd love love love Elmore Leonard's style of writing. He's written something like a gazillion (okay, more like 40 or 50, so not that many) books, although so many of them have been turned into films & tv series it seems like more (Get Shorty, Justified, etc.). He's almost pathological about using as little description as possible. Actors & Directors love him, because his stories create these huge outlines for them to play in. Readers split 50/50. Between those who love/need imagery in a story, and those who hate it and skip over. Q

That's just the thing, though... "It's" only a fundamental difference for some. Be it money, sex, religion, politics, family of origin, etc... Opposites can either repel & create that disharmony you're talking about OR They can accentuate the positive in each, yin to yang, creating perfect harmony. It has far more to do with the individuals involved, than the structure they bring with them. Meaning whether their structures compliment each other, or bash into each other. It's like Prison Chaplain. He's not LDS... But he's an invaluable member of this site. His differing beliefs are neither threatening nor damaging to anyone's here... In fact, usually the opposite. But it's not because our Churches get along. It's because of the man himself, and the members here, and the reaction between the two. Send him to a different LDS site, and he may me treated awfully (instead of loved)... And another Chaplain in his church may come here and sow dissection & ickyness (instead of goodwill & comtemplation). For some couples differing religions may be a point of contention. For others it's a point of strength. Totally depends on the individuals involved. Q

Thread jack! Hallelujah. Not to mention that we NEED sugars in our diet, our brain can only "burn" glucose. Without simple or complex sugars, our brain fries, starts sending out bad orders (organ damage galore & homeostasis completely whacked), and then we go into seizures, coma, and death. No difference between diabetic coma & death & ketoacidosis coma & death. Both caused by there not being enough blood sugar for our brain to function at even basic, much less optimal, levels. I get cranky about this since I was working in the ER during the Atkins craze. People just couldn't seem to realize that carb = nutritional name for sugar. We have lipids, proteins, carbs, vitamins, & minerals... And need all bleeding 5 to be healthy. Cut out ALL carbs (as people were doing) meant for months and months we had diabetic pure glucose candies in our pockets as part of our uniforms. ANYONE who came in disoriented or worse got a candy popped in their mouth as part of the triage procedure., and a sharpie line drawn on their havd (can't do the image, IIII with the little slash meaning 1-5) for each candy given. This was a hospital in a posh part of town, so we had more than our fair share, but sakes alive! You're wealthy, educated, successful... READ. And not just what someone's trying to sell you!! For the cost of this hospital visit, you could have gotten liposuction or a mommy-makeover. And. Breathe. Rant (and thread jack!) over. Q

1) ALMOST good writing. It just makes me want to choke the editor. C'mon! How hard is it to say "Tight this part up a bit, show don't tell here, and THEN I'll buy it." It just kills me when a book could be GREAT with some polish, but instead reads like a first draft. 2) Bad writing. The only example of which I have at hand is "Encalve". It could be the poster-child for "show don't tell, write what you know, research, research, research, & check your math". Show Don't Tell Characters LITERALLY change their entire outlook on life for NO discernible reason. 1 paragraph = running and in love with their way of life / fought hard to get to where they are 2 paragraph = has decided that the entire way of life is a sham Sha-what??? WHY??? No reason. Wait. Except, clearly, in the outline... Character needs to reject their way of life. Face. Palm. Write what you know - On multiple occasions author (I actually cringed typing that) has her characters running -without stopping- for HOURS. 8, 10, 12+ All of which is not only impossible (even for marathon runners) but the character has NEVER run long distance before, and the distances are insane. Sprinter speeds. In pitch dark. With no training. Day in & day out. Gaaaaaaah. Research, research, research. - The diet she has her characters eating would have killed everyone via malnutrition GENERATIONS ago. - Subway glass, previously solid, does not punch out like in the movies when superheroes punch glass - Running without a break, at top speed, for all day, all night, and all the next day (and almost every description of running in the book, period) is impossible for Homo sapiens. - 10,000 other "No. That's wrong." examples... Check your math (the part where you add 1+1 and it equals 47). This is both continuity & premise. Including a bunch of stuff about rape & rape victims, which should be criminally offensive, instead of horrifyingly offensive (premise), as well as # of days or hours doing XYZ coming up wrong (continuity). Q

Cut to the next scene where MDFXDB is married to a stunningly gorgeous, kind, exciting, amazing deaf Jewish girl with ADHD who was raised in the foster care system, ran away at 14, did what she had to to survive until joining Cirque du Soleil, Now owns/operate a rabidly successful circus arts program for kids that foster kids can attend for free. Q

Along with the above... - A necessary thing. Without the fall, the rest of our spirits would not have had the chance to come to this world. No learning, no progression, no choosing the path to God. Just 2 people. Birth is painful & full of risk... Just like the fall... But it's necessary for new life. In order for us to use our agency/free will to CHOOSE the Father, we kinda had to get here, first. - Also a love story. Adam could have rejected Eve, had her fall all on her own. Instead he chose to face the unknown with her. Choosin to face the wrath of God, is no small thing. But be it stepping out into moving traffic for our child, or risking death for those we love in any other circumstance, it's a choice made of love. It's growing up. Accepting the consequences of our actions, whether we know them ahead of time, or not. All good things. Not necessarilly fun, happy, or joyous things. But good things. Q

Does God want apologetics? Why not? Let's even assume that more harm than good is caused. What's the worst case scenario? The absolute WORST thing that can happen? Shrug. It just doesn't stack up against even the best case scenario of hundreds of other evil & borderline things. Much less the worst case scenarios. Ahem. Someone will probably point out that just because murder is worse than theft, it doesn't mean we should ignore theft. That's not my parallel. I'm thinking more along the lines of birthday cake vs strawberries vs poison. Any parent knows (or has been, especially with their first) "that" parent who completely freaks out over their child having cake instead of fruit. The cake means The. End. Of. The. World. Nope. Not really. Arsenic, on the other hand, yeah. We're looking at some serious consequences for having arsenic instead of fruit. There is clearly a spectrum. Healthy Food, Treat Food, Junk Food, Contaminated/Spoiled Food, Poison. Cake-Parent is freaking out over the difference between 2 good things. To me,.. Apologetics lies in the same spectrum in the same place: Perfect Education, Problematic Education, Street Education, No Education, Wrong Education (think "Radiation is Safe: Use your bare hand to carry the rods" or "shaking babies calms them, when colicky, make sure to shake vigorously to quiet them" ) The thief v murder, though, is on a spectrum like this Justice, Lawful, neutral or justified, Misdemeanor, Felony. Healthy Food, Treat Food, Junk Food, Spoiled Food, Poison Perfect Education, Problematic Education , Street Education, No Education, Wrong Education Justice, Lawful Neutral or Justified, Misdemeano, Murder Best, Good, Neutral, Bad, Worst So theft v murder is the wrong parallel / it's on the wrong side of the spectrum. Best & Better are luxuries. When your kid is dying of starvation, you'll feel them cake all day long. When you're well off, and can choose your BEST diet, you won't be choosing cake. (That's the angst parents feel. We want the best for our kids. So we sometimes freak out about things like cake, or anything else that's not "best". Be it schools, friends, food... Wherever our priorities lie.) Are apologetics the "best" education? No. Not usually. But they're still better than having to fight for any scrap of education, no education or wrong education. Q

I hesitate posting on here, because I read a lot (for fun usually one a day & for work I don't count), but it occurred to me that here might be as good a place as any to do a weekly sum up. Because I'll eventually (or immediately) stop... And it's always so depressing to have yet another journal attempt bite the dust! Caveats aside, this week: - Graveyard of Memories...Barry Eisler - A Clean Kill in Tokyo... Barry Eisler - Jerusalem; A cookbook... Yotam Ottolenghi - Spies of Jerusalem... Colin Smih - 6th Grave on the Edge... Darynda Jones - The Graveyard Book... Neil Gaiman Ha. While there are often themes... They're usually not in the title. Apparently this weeks theme was death. In myriad presentation. Q

Not dating friends, because you don't want to ruin the friendship / they're too important to you, is stupid. Your friends will date/marry someone and then you'll see them twice a year. Pura Vida. Just because you earned it, doesn't mean you have to spend it. Get plastic surgery when young. Age a bit, and you'll need orthopedic & other structural surgeries, so the optional ones will be at the bottom of a long list. Unless they're children, don't put other people's wants and needs ahead of your own. You can only abandon kids & pets & casualties. Everyone else can (and SHOULD!) be able to take care of themselves. Keep your resumè current & usable. Boundaries. Q

I'm confused. When I first read what you wrote, I took it to mean that AFTER baptism you'd have to chose to change genders (again) in order to progress. On re-read... Am I understanding correctly that your mission president says you cannot be baptized? And even further... FIRST presidency is saying you cannot be baptized? Purely do to being trans? Because that would be news, big news, if trans people were not allowed to be baptized into the church. Q

Does it contain any of the following: 1 - Rogue ________ Agent (CIA, FBI, FSB, etc.) . Head meet drywall. 2 - Espionage Royalty (previously solid character suddenly finds out they're actually extraordinary because of who their parents were, not anything innate in themselves. Plot advances from this point onward in Quest-For-TRUTH). 3 - The "best of the best". Is both boring & overdone. Seriously. Whatever happened to someone who was simply GOOD at what they did in a sea of people who are also good at what they do, okay, so so, lousy, etc. Making someone the "best" has both ceased to make them in any way exceptional, and is ultimately lazy. Because if theyre better than everyone else, they don't have to work. All the other characters being dumb -except for when the character needs XYZ, then magically expertXYZ is in their back pocket, is a trend in publishing akin to all parents being stupid in cartoons. It's interesting a few times, and then only once in a thousand examples. 3.5 - The "worst of the worst". I'm actually talking SuperAngst rather than "most feared gangster ever" (of which there's no such thing, which -as a cop- thankfully you should know. Bad guys try to outdo each other as much as anyone else / I'm including trying to be the best scary guy, fixer, etc. in the "best" category above). SuperAngst is the character who despises themselves for what they do, or are just so incredibly bad at it that in real life they'd either be dead or working a different job, but instead they continue to torture themselves in martyrdom that would make JC look like an egotistical slacker. All while having these hugely long and self flag gelatins interior monologues that. never. resolve. Character stuck in one emotional gear. It's as egotistical as "best of the best", just the other side of the coin. 4 - Inexplicable/ plot forwarding wealth (like 2 waitresses living in a 6k per month condo in Manhatten, or yummy uber rich girlfriend/boyfriend/benefactor whose only existence in the plot is to fund the exploits of the protagonist. I also loop in a person magically knowing everything/everyone with no reason to. Like the 3rd grade teacher who knocks a hacker, a high ranking diplomat in EXACTLY the position they need them to be, a cop who will search databases & pass on info without pause, a car thief, etc. ). Makes good comics, but not good prose. 5- Hollywood &/or story about a writer. It just feels mastubatory (even, or maybe especially, when done well) or star-eyed (like a virgin writing love scenes). Those are my 5 of my 7 non-starters (the other 2 are female protagonist based). If not, I'll do the first 3 chapters no matter what, and the rest if I like it. If so, you've already got my critique. But I hope not! Cheers Q

X-Men Days of Future Past. I missed the one where they introduced the new "young" cast... So this was really exciting to me :) I wonder if the old cast is sad about passing the torch, or just kind of grateful? Apparently time travel is a theme... Next weekend it's The Edge of Tomorrow (Live, die, repeat... A Groundhog Day style movie with Tom Cruise fighting aliens. Awesome!) Q

While "juding others by yourself" can definitely be taken too far (do observe, adapt, & listen to your audience)... When I started out teaching, I emulated how I liked to be taught. This applies in both the classroom setting, and a 1:1 (whether home teaching for church, or training a new employee). So....Consider your favorite professor or teacher was going to teach you the lesson you're about to teach. How would they structure it? What kind of tone would they adopt? What sort of questions would you like them to ask you / how involved they make you? Et cetera. Look at what MAKES them your favorite teacher, and emulate that. Eventually your own style merges with your applied style, and you've got your own style / it's second nature to set up and organize lessons the way you do. But until then, borrow from your heroes. Q

If you live in a city... You still can! Clearly, you could go back to school, and try to get in on the standard k12 track OR Homeschooling is facing explosive growth... And needs teachers. Because most HS parents only teach SOME of the classes. We farm out the rest. Whether it's academic, physical, etc.. I got my neighbor (Stanford basketball, trying to get into highschool sports for over a decade, but it's practically impossible) involved in the local homeschool network a few years ago... And took her homeschooled varsity team to State (HS'ers in my state have a right to play on or compete against public school teams). It's a market that is only just barely being tapped (or is completely untouched). And HS students have serious time to devote to passions (at the highschool level it only takes about 2-3 months to complete a years worth of academic. So if you want to train your team 5-10 hours a day, you've got students who can actually meet that schedule). Just a thought / something to look into. Q

I've had an Underwood on my wish list for years. Sadly, they cost more than my iPad. So it's still wish listed. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/351069327034 This is what I learned to type on, then I switched to an electric (and switched back!) But I fell in love with the "delete" key on computers. And then touch screens. So, alas, my typewriter dream shall be a valentines day/ Xmas/ birthday wish. As I NEED a delete key. But covet the zwishzwoop-clack! I wish they still made this kind, new. Singer still makes pedal push sewing machines for Africa & Eastern European markets (limited electricity) So it's possible to get a brand spanking new "antique" sewing machine. But I can't find a similar typewriter source. Q

One of my Fav love stories is Seth Adam Smith... Although before I jump to the card with that love story on it, I firmly believe every single person should read THIS before they tie the knot: http://sethadamsmith.com/2013/11/02/marriage-isnt-for-you/ And it's not just me. Millions and millions of people from all over the globe have gone "THIS!" with this posting, because it's one of those rare "Pure Truth" things that bob to the surface every once in awhile. Things that we all (most) of us learn, but is so rarely out into words. Much less put Ito the exact right words. Okay... And now the "Can we end up together?" Part in 2 pieces: 1) http://sethadamsmith.com/2012/02/27/best-wedding-announcement-ever/ This is really typical of MANY of my friends & family, although it's really rare in general. Why rare? Because most people aren't meant to be together. But it's practically tradition in my family to take the "time & distance test" before marriage. My own parents dated for 5 years through 3 continents, only spending about 1 year together in total during that time. One set of aunt/uncle did grad school in the US & UK (7 years!) apart before marriage. It's rare in general because - People change - Absence makes the heart grow fonder OR (more commonly) absence makes the heart forgetful. Out of sight out of mind. That's not real love. It may be lust, liking, curiosity, convienence, desire, or desperation... But it's not love. So MOST people's experience with time off & long distance relationships... Is that they don't work. Because it's not real love. In my family, that's true, too. Yes. Most of their MARRIAGES did the time & distance test, but countless relationships failed that test. ((I didn't, by the way. I did the "Marry in haste, repent at leisure" track. Ignorin promptings to break up, ignoring promoting a to divorce, for more than 10 years. Hence the length of this post. Nobody but nobody wants others to not make the same mistakes they did more than a divorced person. Don't be me. Don't make my mistakes. They hurt too much.)) 2) You've heard the People come into our live for A reason A season Or A lifetime ? You won't know, until much later, if your boyfriend is in your life (and you in his) for a reason, a season, or a lifetime for YEARS to come. If you're meant to be, and you work for it, it will happen. If it isn't? That's not something to mourn. That's something to be grateful to both HF & each other for the season spent, and for NOT ruining both your lives by trying to force a thig which shouldn't happen. If it is? Then it will happen. There is nothing to be afraid of. Q

Actually, my cousin is an exceptional PT.USC for his Doctorate. Residency (I want to say Bethseda, but It may be Baylor) working with mostly combat injuries. Now work primarily in sports med, but does probono work with soldiers whose discharges = no VA help (meaning PTSD discharges & people who fought their medical discharge & lost). In addition to being a highly sought after, phenom PT, he's also one of the sweetest, kindest men you'd ever meet. But, of course, you had him all figured out. Because he's been doing & loving crossfit for years, and is still there every morning But he doesn't think the program he loves best works for everyone... As evidenced by apparently his inability to count or ask pertinent questions. (9 years of college, Suma Cum Laude, but they just never taught him to count. Or take a proper patient history. :roll eyes: Which, of course, you extrapolated HF alone knows where.) So he's some kind of egomaniacal charlatan? 1+1=17? Or.... Wait. Could that possibly be the person who tells the 2 people on this board who actually DO CrossFit, love it, and have for years, idiots. Holy smokes. If this is how you treat people who are on your side, how do you treat people who disagree with you??? Do you GET that? Maybe my comments don't make sense to you, because you're looking for an attack. Instead of 2 people, both my cousin & myself, who SUPPORT CrossFit. As does, apparently, his superior... Who has likened the increase in their practice to the same increase see with Yoga & other sports when they were "new". Sheesh. When all ya have is a hammer... All ya see are nails. I thought you had an honest question / why are PTs up in arms? Esp now that certain studies failed peer review or have been charged, usually the medical community about faces faster than you can blink, but PTs haven't. Which is odd. So here I am, ProCrossFit chick sharing my ProCrossFit cousins' PT explanation... And wow. Just wow. Q

I'd like to know if there is a GoFundMe account (or similar) fund for ApplePansy &/or her family? http://www.gofundme.com/Medical-Illness-Healing/ The govt has changed since the last time I worked down there, but from friends still working down there "fees" (bribes) are still the normal cost of business. While I'm sure that the Church & US State Dept are doing the Lion's share... I'm sure there must also be unanticipated costs (be it paperwork "processing" fees down there, or relocation &/or electricity bills up here, or aftercare that's necessary long after people have forgotten you still need help and you feel bad for asking) ... so I'm sure that there are unexpected costs AP's family is facing or shall be. Similarly... http://www.caringbridge.org is an amaaaaaaazing site that lets one keep friends/family/ward updated without having to deal with one. more. phonecall. Various privacy settings, and the GoFundMe account can be linked on the page, but it doesn't go in reverse. So if one wants to keep the CaringBridge account limited to people they know in real life, and the GoFundMe account available to anyone it works that way to ensure privacy. All my best to ApplePansy & Family, and thank you Pam for making it possible for us to help. Q

I'm actually on a multiway photography excuse to travel : I go to every temple I can & take pictures when I'm nearby for work (or come across an awesome travel deal). I've seen some really cool things (like one, that I'm spacing on the name, actually looks like a Viking funeral at sunset. Which is just kind of crazy awesome. It has these gorgeous bow/stern lines, overlooks the ocean, and when the sun sets it just looks ablaze & rising up out of the water. Sheesh. I'm going to have to find that picture one of these days. Took it a couple years ago. I tried finding it on lds pic site, but it's a totally different angle I took it at from what posted.) San Diego not only looks like a fairy wedding cake (love it, I was totally let down by the Disney Castle afterward), but is also my first experience with LDS Temples... So I'm a bit biased. I've also got a soft spot for the Johannesburg Temple. It's different than most.. The walls are milk chocolate colored, and then these blinding pure white spires. Like the Viking Ship temple, it seems to be in a state of movement, like it's rising up, or the whole thing is JUST about to change to Snow White, or the earth is falling away from it. It's breath taking. But I think my actual favorite is the Big Dipper / star wall on the SLC temple. First time I was there the walls were deep grey, and then the sun came out into blue skies, and it went perfect white, then faded back into smokey grey. Yeah. Can ya tell I'm biased for dynamic visual action superimposed over a still spot in time outside of the world? Q

It gives a whole new meaning to "Starlight Lounge" Hey.... I seem to recall mention of Armies of Heaven! Q

Sticky. I agree with JAG, Kimball really had no choice in his ruling, regardless of his personal politics... And was right to kick it upstairs (or at least leave the door open). Hey all y'all lawyer types... Am I right in thinking this is in part an Ex Post Facto issue? Q

In either/or questions... I usually end up answering "yes". Meaning I suspect both. Our spirits are who they/we are. But it is also my understanding that a big part of why we come "here" is to learn both what we are capable of, enjoy, excel at, etc. Doesn't mean that we always do, or always do to our fullest extent Consider a boy born in 1253 who if he was born today would be the best computer programmer the world had ever seen. Or the girl in rural Africa who will never see a piano but would outshine Beethoven, Bach, & Chopin if she were born in Kansas. Some things, we simply don't have the ability to learn about ourselves in this life. That doesn't mean that they don't exist, or that we won't learn them about ourselves in the next. So for those 2.... They dot simply come here and learn nothing. They learn and develope other parts of themselves, instead. Perhaps that's even WHY they chose to be born in a time or place that is missing their X Factor. So that they could learn & develop other skills & talents, already well aware of their gift in X area, they chose instead to explore other aspects of themselves. Or HF chose. I'm not "in" on those details. So as to whether our talents are innate or acquired? I think, at least in most cases, yes. To both. Q

Zero. Our ward changes things around every quarter (mostly grad student family ward). I am blessedly free at present. Not that I don't value (greatly) teaching... But it's the perfect fit in my life, right now, not to be teaching. Q

There's no way to tell what the consequence may be... As people are all over the map as to their beliefs on this subject. For some it's zero tolerance, for others it's a normal healthy part of life. And all the folk in the middle. There's no way to know where your bishop falls in the spectrum, so no way to guess his reaction. Q

You have single handedly ruined CTR rings for me. Q