Tell You [a] Little Story

I'm so proud of BYU for choosing to go independent in football, and proud of our friends who were intimately involved in making it happen! You know something exciting is happening in sports when Steve and I are is spending a lot of time talking about it. BYU as a rule doesn't like to rock the boat, but they rocked it, baby!  I couldn't be happier.

If I were still on Facebook, I'd post a link to the $38 quadrillion lawsuit  because that's just rad. And I'd also link to the Utah Prader-Willi charity winning the APX money  on the Facebook contest. Congratulations, Purcell family! I'm thrilled for you and your friends. I'd also link to this article about my near-relative Jason Bagley  winning an Emmy for his Old Spice commercial. Seriously very cool. But since I'm not on Facebook, I'm going to stop snooping around on my mom's account that she left signed in on my computer, stop thinking about Austin's Logitech contest and how I want to suggest that I don't think it's guaranteed that the top three in each city will be finalists but I am confident he will be one regardless, stop thinking about Facebook altogether, and get ready to welcome my children home from their first day of school. Thank you, that is all.

Something about Steve is that he is brilliant. He reads things, he studies things, he ponders things, and -- this is the kicker -- he retains everything . Maybe he wasn't brilliant when he was four (but me? I'm pretty sure I was a brilliant four-year-old), but he's 34 now and has all those years of knowledge and wisdom and insight swirling around in his head (me? I'm pretty sure I still know at least as much as I did when I was four). Seventh grade science class? He remembers every last property of a nucleus and could regurgitate it with finesse. An obscure Old Testament story he read on his mission? He could name the reference, give or take 5 chapters. A quote from the documentary about U2's Joshua Tree album he watched last night? Rest assured he will be quoting from it in some conversation 17 years hence, because he will never forget it. He just really will not. That is something about Steve. I love that guy. I married him thirteen years ago today, and it w

Some good deals to pass on: Macey's Provo has discontinued (but very good) bags of pasta for $.25 each, back by the milk and eggs. Also lots of Mexican crackers and cookies for $.79 per package. We have especially enjoyed the vanilla wafer cookies. Today's Groupon is two hours of bowling for 6 people at Fat Cats, including shoe rental, breadsticks, soda, and pizza or tacos or enchiladas, for  $25. I bought two and am going to use them together for a birthday party, which they said was totally legit.  Click here.

are my very favorite. Thank you to my anonymous, thoughtful friend, whomever you are*. You truly know me, and you made my day. *Until I hear otherwise, I will operate under the assumption that it was Cerise the beautiful because she is generous and well-read and the reason I read Mountains Beyond Mountains and I love her so.

We went for a walk this afternoon to deliver some cookies to neighbors, and ended up with some new artwork, our first J. Kirk Richards original. It's tiny and beautifully framed and we are really excited.

Steve says: "Emily, your problem is that you are friends with all different kinds of people: stoners, skaters, Republicans, Mormons" [everyone falls into one of the above categories, don't they?] "and that worked for you in high school, but that isn't working for you anymore. You get it from all sides. You're too conservative. You're too liberal. You're too Mormon. You're too whatever. You can't win." Elliot says: "I think Facebook is, like, pulling people apart, not bringing people together!" I say: Amen, to all of it, except the part that suggests I shouldn't have diverse friends anymore. I'm taking a pretty major Facebook sabbatical because I've been in the enemy-making business too much lately. I honestly do not try to say offensive things to people, but the written word is so much harder to interpret for meaning and nuance than is the verbal word, and I tend toward abruptness, so I end up irritat

I like that my blog is boring. I'm sick of the Provo scene. I am a misanthrope who loves people, or is it a philanthrope who hates people? Our backyard situation is very demoralizing. I like the word demoralizing. I need a hobby and a talent. Probably the most likely option for a talent to develop is playing Scrabble. But I'm not going to spend time to get good at Scrabble. So I shall remain talentless. My children are good at reporting the problems. What I need are solutions. (What I need is solutions?) I could make grammar a talent, but it would take some work. I should probably do that. My basement smells like human pee and rat poop. I'd like to receive an anonymous package containing a miniature tollbooth and a map of The Lands Beyond.