Death to New Moon

This post is probably not going to score me any points with the female population at BYU.

But I watched New Moon last week and was NOT impressed!

Firstly, this is a LONG movie. After I left the theatre, I was convinced that like 5 hours of my life had passed before my eyes. Every conversation is the exact same. And the exact same length of way too long!



Secondly, for those of you who don't know this series, there is this werewolf, Jacob, who takes off his shirt in the movie. All the time. Approximately every 5.4 seconds. Well every time this happened (remember this was a lot!) every female in the theatre under the age of probably 70 giggled like a love sick teenager. It got a little old. (The giggling, not the chest :)

Finally, at the end of the movie Bella still goes with Edward. I knew this happened, as I've read the books. But Edward is such a tool (this is where 98% of girls at BYU start to send me death threats). His big part in the movie is to leave Bella, try to kill himself, she saves him, and then she has to save him again at another part in the film. Yay Edward. Why are we obsessed? Plus there was a part in the movie when Edward took his shirt off. The only thing I could think of was "cold dead fish". What is Bella thinking?

I think I am probably so anti-Twilight because I was a Buffy/Angel fan before.

Which I know is lame in it's own right. I'm fully aware. But here is the general premise: Buffy is a human who falls in love with vampire with a soul, Angel who has committed to never kill a human again. Their love is doomed and they don't know if they can ever live together. They even have a werewolf for a friend. Sound familiar???? Except for that Angel is not said whiny tool like Edward.

And bring on the death threats....!

Pinkalicious!

Hannah's favorite book is called "Pinkalicious". It's about a little girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and then turns pink! Hannah LOVES IT! She now calls everything pinkalicious. "Mommy, can I wear my pinkalicious coat? Mommy can I wear my pinkalicious pants?" And her favorite color of course is "pink, pink, pink, pink, pink!" Hooray for little girls!!!

Super Readers to the Rescue!

This is really late, but it shows you how quickly I download my pictures from my camera!

Take one SuperWhy...


And one Princess Presto...


And together you have the two cutest SUPER READERS ever!


Both my kids love the PBS show, SuperWhy! So, much that they wanted to be SuperReaders for Halloween. Hooray for GREAT media! Happy (late) Halloween!!!

Catching Fire!

So...I finished another two books this week! I told you I love to read! It's how I relax. This first one was "Catching Fire", which was the sequal to the Hunger Games. (Thanks to Sarah Gilbertson for letting me borrow this!!) Similar to the Hunger Games, I couldn't put it down! And similar to the Hunger Games, I can't believe it ended where it did! Now, I have to wait for the next one.



And here is what I really need to analyze about myself: The Hunger Games themselves (which take up a good portion of the book) are all about killing others so you can survive. You'd think I'd be a bit more uneasy about this book as I study media aggression!! Maybe I'm a bit more accepting because the Hunger games themselves are so controversial and portrayed as such a negative thing for society.

I also read "The Help", a novel about black women who worked as maids for white women during the 1960s.

VERY interesting! We actually read it for my book club and are going to discuss it tonight, so I'll let you know how it goes!

Nineteen minutes

I love books!

I especially love it when I get so caught up in the story that I read the book every spare second of my entire day. I can't put it down: I have to know what happens next!

Nineteen minutes, by Jodi Picoult was that kind of a book for me. A GREAT book, and I would definitely recommend it. I should note that there is a bit profanity, so be wary if you know this offends you.

This book is about a school shooting. Now, most of you know that I lecture for two days on school shootings so am quite interested in the topic.



The book starts out with the school shooting and then jumps back into time to follow the shooter (Peter) throughout his entire life. It also randomly jumps into the present to show his trial progresses.

The book also was from the perspective of Peter's mother for a lot of the book. You just felt SO bad for her. She was a good mother, and loved her son SO MUCH, and everyone else thought he was a monster. They didn't have these memories of him when he took his first step, or said his first word. No memories of snuggling in bed reading books, or birthday parties. I really empathized with this mother.

This really changed the way I think about school shootings. Honestly, a part of me wanted Peter to get off in the end. The book shows how he is bullied MERCILESSLY from his first day of kindergarten. I cried when I read that part, cause my little boy goes to kindergarten next year and it scares me that he might have these things happen to him.

The bullying never stops for Peter in the book, all the way up to high school. Peter targets his bullies, and part of me felt that he was just a little bit justified for shooting them. Now, before you think I've gone all apostate, obviously, I think murder is BAD. Don't do it! But this book REALLY made me think; about how we judge others, about revenge, and about the way we treat others.

And that's honestly the only thing I can think of to STOP these school shootings. I can teach my children to be a good friend, even to those who are a bit weird, or ugly, or whatever. And to defend others when they are being bullied. Maybe that one good friend is enough to prevent school shootings from occurring in the first place.

A lot to think about.

SLIDE!

I've been feeling really nostalgic lately.

So, I planned a roommate reunion up at USU for last week.

SO MUCH FUN! Here is a picture of all the original roommates at our reunion.


Anyway...why is this about the media? Well, the night before the reunion I was driving home in my car from book club. The song, "Slide" by the Goo Goo Dolls came on the radio. I was already in roommate mode, as I was thinking of the reunion the next day. Immediately I was transported almost 10 years back in time to my freshman year at college. Well, me and one of my roommates Lesley stayed up ALL night talking. Around 3:00 in the morning we thought it would be really cool to make up a dance to you guessed it...Slide. We called it the "Happy Dance", and taught it to all our roommates the next morning.

Please don't judge. You all did very random and stupid things when you were freshmen too. Oh, you gotta love freshmen!

Anyway, as the song came on, I realized that I could recall almost the entire "happy dance", even though I haven't thought about it for YEARS. Isn't it amazing how a song has the power to transport you back in time? I think music has a unique effect in bringing strong memories to the surface.

And no... I know you want to see, but I'm afraid I won't be performing the happy dance in class this year. I know you are disappointed, but somehow you'll survive! :)

Thank you facebook...

I had this friend, who I was friends with from elementary school through high school. Great guy, went on a mission, I even had a little crush on him during middle school.

Well, thanks to facebook, I found out that my good friend Ben, recently had a sex change and is now called Brianna!!! CRAZY! And the super weird thing, is that he was married before, with two kids: and his wife stayed with him! They are now in a lesbian relationship!

This ranks right up there with the boy I went on my first date with. He sang Celine Dion in my ear and I pretty much wanted to kill myself. Anyway, facebook informs me that he is now married to his boyfriend and lives in California! Score another one for me! And facebook of course, for always keeping me updated with this important information! :)

How did you gain your testimony of Joseph Smith?

This was the question posed to our Sunday School class yesterday.

As I was pondering this question, I realized that the media has had a pivitol role in my testimony.

The first time I remember really KNOWING, was when I was asked to play a piano number for sacrament meeting. I was around 11 years old. I chose an arrangement of one of my favorite hymns, Praise to the Man. I remember as I was playing during sacrament meeting, I was thinking the lyrics in my mind. And it hit me: I really did believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet.

Time two: I was a Beehive, and the film Legacy came out at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. As I watched, the Spirit witnessed to me that Joseph was a prophet and that he DID see God. I couldn't stop crying as this thought resonated through me.

Time three: At age 18, I was reading the Work and the Glory. A fictional book, I know, but it really captured me. I thought a lot about Joseph Smith and his story, and how fantastical it must sound to those who hear it for the first time. I went back and read Joseph's own account of the First Vision. And again, I realized that I believed, no matter how fantastical it sounds.



I do believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that HE did see God the Father and Jesus Christ. He went through so much to help restore the gospel on the earth, and I can't wait to meet him someday. The Spirit can and does speak to us through the media and I am so grateful for these early experiences that helped cement my testimony of this prophet of the Lord.

The day...the music died.

The music in our ward is seriously lacking. We rarely have musical items and our ward choir at today's count was about 5 (including all three bishopric members who came!!) The ward music director pleaded for someone to sing a solo in the next few weeks. Silence. Crickets chirping. You get the idea.

I love to sing, and I love music, but I have what I would call a "choir voice". I was in the top choir in high school and can definitely hold my part, but singing a solo terrifies me. I've sang duets by the dozens, trios by the trillions (okay, not really, but the alliteration was just so nice there). I don't bat an eyelid at the thought of lecturing to a class of 400 students about sex according to Freud (sick!), but the thought of singing a solo leaves me paralyzed with fear. I've always wanted to, but am just way too scared.




But the silence (and the guilt) was driving me crazy. Plus those stupid crickets wouldn't stop chirping. So I volunteered.

But should I do it? I just lectured on the power of music, right?? Music can bring in the spirit, lift our emotions, change lives, yadda yadda yadda. But when it's me I'm talking about, I'm like, "let's just sing another intermediate hymn". I don't know....what do you guys think? Do I put myself out there, and get over this fear? Or do I back down, even though my pet peeve is people backing out of something once they've committed?

Media...you are not my friend this week! :(

THANK GOODNESS...

...it is Thursday night and Grey's Anatomy is on. After a looong day at work, sometimes you just need a night in with the TV and one large bowl of popcorn. SO SAD, but so true! Bring on my weekly fix starting in 30 minutes and counting!

Baby Mine

I just put Nathan to bed. We read the book, "I love you forever". This book describes the mother/son relationship as the little boy grows up. In the book, the mom always rocks the son and sings the song
"I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always
As long as I'm living
My baby you'll be"



After we finished the book, Nathan looked up at me with his big blue eyes, and said "Mom, can you pick me up and rock me back and forth and sing to me?" Of course I'm saying yes to that!

So, I pick him up (he's getting really heavy) and rock him back and forth and sing him "Baby Mine", the lullaby from Dumbo.



This is the first song I sang to him when he was born and it's kind of "our song". As I held my son, and looked into his serene, sweet face, I couldn't help but be thankful for good media that bring on perfect moments like this.

Pester power!

I posted the below on my personal blog a few weeks ago. I thought it was pretty relevant to today's lecture, so thought I'd share!

Does anyone else despise going shopping with children? I used to LOVE to go food shopping before I had children! I'd wander the aisles and take my time picking out all the lovely things I like to eat. Now I race up and down the aisles just throwing in anything I can get my hands on, going as fast as I can because I know that my children have about a 2 minute threshold before they go ballistic. And when this happens, I have about a 1.5 minute threshold before I do the same.

What is it about kids in a grocery store? First, they want EVERYTHING they see. In the psychology world, we call this "pester power". Translation: the amazing and mysterious power that children have to maintain a constant whine while asking for at least 1500 random items while simultaneously driving their parents insane. "Mo-om! Can we get ice cream?" No, we've got some at home. "Mo-om, can we get a giant 20 pound bag of lollipops" I don't think so. "Mo-om can we get some dog food" We don't even have a dog! ARGGGGG!



Secondly, they won't stay in the cart. Yes, I strap them in, but eventually I can't stand the screaming/crying/whining/fighting/death stares from other grocery patrons so I let them out. BIG mistake. Now they can get their hands on the ice cream/lollipops/dog food so I end up spending more time taking things out of the cart than putting things in! Plus, they now have a great need to hang all over the cart. Climb in, climb out, climb in, climb out, fall on head, cry, climb in, climb out, and on and on! Right! Strap the kids back in, and bring on the screaming/crying/whining/death threats from other patrons.

We've tried it all: sitting in the "fun" car shopping cart, bringing toys, giving snacks, letting the kids help pick things out. Nothing seems to work!

Finally, we make it to the finish line....er...check out line and pay. Both kids want to push the buttons to enter my pin, so I end up putting it in 3 separate times. Finally, get all my bags, run out to the parking lot and throw the bags in the car. Phew! One giant sigh of relief.

But here's the kicker. Through this fiasco we call "grocery shopping" I've managed to forget the milk/bread/eggs that I originally went to the store to buy. So we have to do it all again tomorrow!

Though I do have a 40 pound bag of dog food if anyone needs it.

Up....lifting?

Me and Nate went to see the movie, "Up" at the dollar theatre this week. Side note: We snuck in our own popcorn. Devilish, I know, but I can't stomach paying $7.00 for popcorn when it costs me approximately $0.32 to pop it myself! So, I've been looking forward to this movie for MONTHS. I've really enjoyed most of the Disney/Pixar movies to date, and thought this was such a clever idea!

As typical, the movie was GORGEOUS! When the balloons came out for the first time, I just felt happy! :) I really loved watching the relationship between the old man and the little boyscout kid change over time. Definitely a very touching film, with a wonderful message about living life to the fullest!




The only problem was that my son got really scared! There are these really MEAN dogs who chase the main characters throughout the movie, and they are scary! (especially to a 4 year old!!) Also, there is a point where the main bad guy grabs a shotgun and starts shooting at the old man and little kid! ACK! So, as much as I love Disney/Pixar I wasn't super impressed when my son was hiding his face and crying because of the mean man and dogs!



In sum: a very uplifting movie: I certainly enjoyed it, but not sure if my son did so much!! In fact, as we left he said, "Mom, can we watch a NOT scary movie next time?" hmmmm...I guess this officially takes me out of the running for the "Mother of the year award"!

Primary Presentation

Best Sacrament meeting of the whole year in my opinion!

Today was my little Nathan's (age 4 1/2) primary presentation. We live in a newer area with a TON of young families, so we have nearly 200 kids in the primary! Crazy! Our primary president is a genius. She asked the kids to complete the saying: "The thing I love most about the temple is...." and that's their part in the program. So, Nathan is really shy, but he stood up at the microphone and proudly announced, "The thing I love most about the temple is that it gets our family together again." Tear! :)

A picture of me and Nate


So, why is this post about media? Well, the kids sang a song I hadn't heard, called "The Family is of God". It was BEAUTIFUL! I totally cried, and I don't really cry that easily. But, it really was just gorgeous. I was trying to remember the words, but couldn't, so I googled it, and of course found it in like 3 seconds. Hooray for the Internet! And for beautiful music. And mostly for sweet, innocent children singing their little hearts out about how much they love their family. Here is a link to the Friend website where you can download the song: http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,8218-1,00.html.

Student Blog Addresses

Hey guys! Here are the names of all the blogs that have been created for the class. Happy reading!

Sarah Andseron: whatsinmedianyway.blogspot.com
Sara Olsen: sarasmediablog.blogspot.com
Allison Merrill: almmedia.blogspot.com
Caitlin Adamz: themediasponge.blogspot.com
Alicia Roddin: aliciaraemfhd.blogspot.com
Kelsey Hansen: cowypotter.blogspot.com
Krista Emrich: kristaandthemedia.blogspot.com
Kassandra Larson: kassandrea.blogspot.com
Christian Hong: disneyfanchristianjames.blogspot.com
Kimberlee McCubbins: kimbermedia.blogspot.com
Aimee Katschke: aimee-media.blogspot.com
Sarah Gilberston: mymediaexposure.blogspot.com
Ashley Stewart: ashleystewartmediablog.blogspot.com
Rebecca Mathews: sfl395r.blogspot.com
Yumi Bankhead: yblamarr.blogspot.com
Lisa Hiatt: themediaviewedbylisa.blogspot.com
Christina Nixdorf: cnixdorfmadness.blogspot.com
Sarah Western: sarahwestern.blogspot.com
Jeff Crane: jeffcranesays.blogspot.com
Jeff Bentley: mediadoesnteffectme.blogspot.com
Kaitlin McAlister: kaitlinmcalister.blogspot.com
Meagan Bunnell: meagansmediamusings.blogspot.com
Cicily Oblad: cicilytheoblad.blogspot.com
Adam Rogers: adam-elflaite.blogspot.com
Becca Summers: summersbloggirl.blogspot.com
Sarah Haslam: reactionstomedia.blogspot.com
Colette Dalton: colettesmedia.blogspot.com
Danielle LeFerre: whatthenellisthis.blogspot.com
Sally Boyle: sazuzer.blogspot.com
Tonya Whipple: mediafan09.blogspot.com
Kim Whatcott: turnitaround@blogspot.com

Numb3rs

So, my mom recently told me to start watching this show. At first I was kinda anti it, simply because it had a number in the title. And that just annoyed me. But, my mom gave me the DVDs of season 1 and I just started watching. So far so good. Essentially, this show is about a math professor who uses math to help his FBI brother solve crimes. The math geek in me is loving it. Plus I think the main guy was in the movie, 10 things I hate about you (though I could be wrong). I made my husband watch for 10 minutes, and his comment was "this is by far the stupidest show in the entire universe. Let me write an algorithm for this...yep...0.0% chance of anyone else ever liking it." But it makes me think...which is always a good thing for a television show! I feel like it's a little less "mindless" that way!

Welcome!

To the Media, Family, and Human Development blog! Here you can find a list of all other blogs in the class (will be up shortly), and will find my random ramblings about the media I experience! Feel free to drop a comment when you visit. Enjoy!