Sunburn update..

Still blistering and still popping. My legs are the worst right now, swollen and icky.

My sunburn..

Yes, I know I was stupid. Yes, I'm aware of the dangers of sun damage. These pictures were a couple of days ago and just of my arms. I'm still blistering and now my legs are nasty looking too. No sign of infection. It just hurts.

My holiday weekend...

The 24th of July is pioneer day. The anniversary of the day that Brigham Young and the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley, in 1847 and declared it the place to build. So it's a state holiday. I had a rough start on the morning of the 23rd because I felt so sick in the morning. A migraine on top of the relentless creature that lives in my skull.
We went tubing down the river and it was SOOOOO fun but traumatic. My daughter fell off of her tube in the worst part of the rapids and I went into hysterics, everyone was telling me that she was okay but I need to hear it from her and it took about 10 minutes to catch up . She was okay but it's always been my worst nightmare.
I have to say the best part of the day was hanging out with my sister. I kept getting severely injured, hitting branches and rocks and there could be piranhas because there was something in my shorts biting me. But the worst part was that I couldn't deal with the obstacales because my sister kept squawking and I was laughing so hard that I couldn't contain myself. If I could, I'd push her tube to send her in the right direction until I discovered that she was shoving ME to save herself.. yeah.. It was so much fun and I haven't laughed that hard in years. I would say I laughed so hard that I peed my pants, but what happens in the river, stays in the river :P
I'll post pictures of my sunburn as soon as I can. It's so gross. The wprst i've ever had.

I just found a cool site!!!

I like the Modern Renaissance galleries best and there are definitely some that are better than others. They are photoshopped and some still look too photo-ish.
*WARNING* Renaissance artists did appreciate the nude form*

Check it out!

Here's some of my faves:







The main site is www.worth1000.com

President Monson and President Obama

WASHINGTON 20 July 2009 President Barack Obama was presented with five large leather-bound volumes today by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that detail his family history going back multiple generations covering hundreds of years. The presentation was made by Church President Thomas S. Monson and Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. They were accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who is also a member of the Church. President Monson said: “President Obama’s heritage is rich with examples of leadership, sacrifice and service. We were very pleased to research his family history and are honored to present it to him today.”

Elder Oaks, who oversees the Church’s family history program, said, “The Church has great resources and experience in genealogy work, and we are proud to have researched such a unique and impressive family history.”

“I thank President Monson and Elder Oaks for sharing our religion’s tradition of genealogical research with the president and his family,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “I am also glad that President Obama and Elder Oaks had an opportunity to discuss their shared passion of the law. Recognizing the president and first lady's deep regard for family, I am honored that our church can have any part in documenting their family history.”

The Church has also presented personal histories to other U.S. presidents, including Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

LDS.org


Statement from the President after meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and leaders of the LDS Church

The President issued the following statement after meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and leaders of the LDS Church at the White House today:

"I enjoyed my meeting with President Monson and Elder Oaks. I'm grateful for the genealogical records that they brought with them and am looking forward to reading through the materials with my daughters. It's something our family will treasure for years to come."
WhiteHouse.gov

Poor Alaska... And I mean that in BOTH senses of the word.

So in the event that a Governor doesn't fulfill their term for whatever reason (gets pulled into the Obama Administration, runs off with a chick from Argentina, falls out of a plane and get's eaten by the wolves that she was shooting at, or just up and quits) the Lt. Governor steps up to finish the term. In Alaska that man is Sean Parnell. There's a chain of command that moves into place after that, but Palin has (of course) disrupted that.

Palin announced she will turn power over to Lt. Gov Sean Parnell July 26, then unexpectedly offered a new name to take on the second-in-command job.

She said Lt. Gen. Craig Campbell, commissioner of military and veterans affairs, will fill the lieutenant governor’s job — but Campbell is subject to legislative confirmation, something that may not happen before the change of command later this month.

Meanwhile, the current successor, Corrections Commissioner Joe Schmidt, said he doesn’t want to be lieutenant governor, and has asked the governor for approval to resign as her designee.

-Renee Delbridge

So what the heck?? Everyone just quits?? Did it not occur to people that this could happen?? (BTW keep in mind what will happen if anything happens to President Obama, God forbid. Yikes.)

This is seriously messed up and to have this special session to patch up this mess is going to cost the Alaskan taxpayers... how much??? What a nightmare. When will she step down as Drama Queen?
Don't bother blaming her. Here's all the reasons why: It's Not Sarah's Fault...Just Ask Her. By Shannyn Moore (who happens to be a proud Alaskan native)

OHHHHH This is going to be cool!!!!

Obama to Meet With Mormon Leader
By Michael A. Fletcher

President Obama is scheduled to hold an Oval Office meeting Monday with Thomas S. Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Monson, who has headed the church since last year, will be joined at the afternoon meeting by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), himself a Mormon.

The LDS Church does NOT hate people who are gay. The fact is that some of these people who were kissing on church property is private property, not public which is trespassing. For example, people who advocate eating Pork and munching BBQ pork sandwiches on the grounds of a Jewish Tabernacle is considered trespassing, but they are free to voice their beliefs on any public property or places adjoining with the Tabernacle's property. Respect people and religious boundaries. Furthermore, the Church is not against gays working in the workplace, housing, restaurants because of their sexual orientation. We even teach bashing against gays is a sin. We acknowledge some members who are gay but if they live the worthy standards of the church, they can go forth or progress like any other member as long as anyone does not participate in homosexual behavior in word, thought and deed. I have good friends who smoke, and I don't, and don't reject them because they smoke. I have some gay friends and they know my beliefs but we don't make a great deal of it, just like a Democrat and Republican thing.

It seems you may not be aware there are very many minorities in the church, you're invited to visit a local congregation. Keep in mind large cities mostly have congregations who are minorities but you will surely still find a couple of minorities in some areas that may have larger homogeneous populations. I remember a great ward who had a wonderful bishop who was black and the only black member in a white congregation. We all loved him because he was a compassionate man and leadership, nothing about the color of his skin.

From the beginning of the restoration of our church our Prophets from Joseph Smith on down to the present time and we are not looking for a hand out. We want to help. No matter how tight things are in the world and in our church, the President of our Country can always count on our church to be involved in any humanitarian effort no matter where it is. We are always prepared to help.

Ummm..

My mom hurts me. I don't know if she doesn't realize she's insensitive sometimes or not, but it hurts.

Okay Snarky Mc SnarkSnark is back..

Mark Sanford SHUT UP!

When Governors are voted into office that implies that the people in their state trusts them, in good times and bad, sickness and health, until death or electing someone better do us part.

Now Mark Sanford broke that trust with his state and his wife. He should step down. He refuses. Here's a sample of his latest verbal diarrhea:

"(W)hile none of us has the chance to attend our own funeral, in many ways I feel like I was at my own in the past weeks, and surprisingly I am thankful for the perspective it has afforded..."

Not really in the best of taste considering the high funeral toll of genuine American icons recently, but since he went there, can we trade and get one of them back?
Then he did the blah blah blah thing and played the God card, which we learned early on that he's clearly not been listening in Sunday School (he probably just pretended devotion as he read and reread the Song of Solomon).
In my opinion he should step down and shut up. He owes quiet and genuine amends to his family and probably should find a new state.
Meanwhile while all seems quiet on The Last Frontier as we wait to hear why their quit, version 5.0.
Can't complain about living in Utah. Our Governor seems to have gotten a brain transplant when no one was looking...

And that's the way it was...

Yesterday "America's Most Trusted Man" died at age 92. I've been searching the internet far and wide to find the name of the news break that came on in the middle of Saturday morning cartoons. I remember the sound and the little spinning globe and I will never forget Walter Cronkite. He interrupted my cartoon watching!!! But I eventually began to pay attention to what he said and how he said it. It never occurred to me that he could be wrong. As I look back at his amazing career he rarely was.

A decade after he retired he kept the crown of America's Most Trusted Man, maybe even beyond. His career as a news anchor spanned some of the most historic events our nation has ever seen. His written news career began in 1939, but in 1944 he TAKES part in the Normandy assaults with the allied troops in South Africa. Post WWII he works to establish posts for the United Press in various places overseas. 1950 he came onboard CBS broadcasting company to help establish the television news department in Washington D.C and eventually made his mark on the CBS Evening News.

He saw Presidents of the US and other countries come and go. He covers political conventions and missions to space. He lost composure enough to exclaim "Whew, boy!" as he reported on the moon landing and again as words fail him and tears take over as he announced the death of John F. Kennedy (and it was real, Glenn Beck, no need for Mentholatum to summon tears). He later apologized for the show of emotion as unbecoming a news anchorman. In '65 he went into Vietnam as a war correspondent. His report of what he saw was personal and profound:

"We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds," he said, and concluded, "We are mired in stalemate."
After the broadcast, President Lyndon B. Johnson reportedly said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America."

He reported on the death of Martin Luther King and race riots and war riots. Spiro Agnew called him biased and Archie Bunker called him a "pinko" (which was probably among the best praise a man could get considering the sources!) He never lost his childlike fascination with space and the missions he reported to us. He reported on Watergate and Reganomics. He came back after retirement to anchor John Glenn's second space flight in '98 (he reported the first in '62) He won numerous awards but one that had to be dear to him was NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award in 2006. The first non-astronaut to win the award.
In 2004 he offered a commentary in the movie OUTFOXED on the overtly political and alleged unethical practices of Fox news (that we still SOOOOOO enjoy *sarcasm*)
In 2005 he lost his wife of nearly 65 years but he lived to see the historic day that America elected it's first black President into office. President Barack Obama who had this to say about his passing:

For decades, Walter Cronkite was the most trusted voice in America. His rich baritone reached millions of living rooms every night, and in an industry of icons, Walter set the standard by which all others have been judged.

He was there through wars and riots, marches and milestones, calmly telling us what we needed to know. And through it all, he never lost the integrity he gained growing up in the heartland.

But Walter was always more than just an anchor. He was someone we could trust to guide us through the most important issues of the day; a voice of certainty in an uncertain world. He was family. He invited us to believe in him, and he never let us down.

This country has lost an icon and a dear friend, and he will be truly missed.

In a world of 24 hour news, where people the likes of Perez Hilton, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh can make or break people and be paid millions of dollars to do so. Where tears come cheap and news is reported from a lazy boy recliner. We've lost sight of the integrity of the press. It's freedom abused and twisted into a mockery. Racism and hatred is manipulated and it's victims are often self serving. Never having fought for their rights as a soldier of our country. We have so few Rosa Parks, Bobby Kennedys, Martin Luther Kings. We are spoiled, indulged and lazy.
No, the news didn't die yesterday. The news died when the anchor on the screen no longer could say "And that's the way it is".
Walter Cronkite ended each report with those words and we knew we could trust him because he'd been there. The greatest newsman of all time died yesterday, and those who remember him mourn. The newsman that can be trusted died a long time ago.
Rest in Peace Walter Cronkite.


For a complete time line of his career visit: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/walter-cronkite/career-timeline/562/

*I found the PBS show he created called 'Why In The World?' but I don't remember if that is what the Saturday morning news breaks were called. It doesn't sound right, though.

Hehe.. The gift that keeps on giving!

You know, our church can help you with the fact that you are a RAGING PSYCHO!!!!

The always inspirational, embarrassment to the Mormon faith, Glenn Beck, went postal on a caller on his show. I wish he'd do some research and stop wigging out. This is especially effective if you watched the interview in my previous post with Kathleen Sebelius.
Can we start telling people he's in the religion that is MISTAKEN for the LDS church that Warren Jeffs is the loony leader of?

Why don't the people on TV ever listen when I scream at them???

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?????
Why didn't President Obama listen to me when I told him to pick Kathleen Sebelius? I ♥ her. We all know my love for Jon Stewart but he was clearly no match. Kansas has to be in mourning STILL over her departure. (Call Alaska, they'll cheer you up ☺ )

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Kathleen Sebelius Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Joke of the Day

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Kathleen Sebelius Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Joke of the Day

Do dreams come true?

Today at the library I stopped and read one of my favorite speeches of all time. "I Have a Dream, by Martin Luther King.

This is a short portion of it:

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I read this today, as well:

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), seeking to discredit Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy, cited her 2001 “wise Latina” speech, and contrasted the view that ethnicity and sex influence judging with that of Judge Miriam Cedarbaum, who “believes that judges must transcend their personal sympathies and prejudices.”

“So I would just say to you, I believe in Judge Cedarbaum’s formulation,” Sessions told Sotomayor.

“My friend Judge Cedarbaum is here,” Sotomayor riposted, to Sessions’ apparent surprise. “We are good friends, and I believe that we both approach judging in the same way, which is looking at the facts of each individual case and applying the law to those facts.”

Cedarbaum agreed.

“I don’t believe for a minute that there are any differences in our approach to judging, and her personal predilections have no effect on her approach to judging,” she told Washington Wire. “We’d both like to see more women on the courts,” she added.

Cedarbaum, a pioneering woman lawyer who graduated from Columbia Law School in 1953, goes way back with both participants in the colloquy. Cedarbaum mentored Sotomayor after she joined the federal district court in Manhattan in 1992, and they have been close friends ever since.

In 1986, Cedarbaum and Sessions were both nominated to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan, and were members of the same orientation class for future judges. Their paths then diverged, however. Cedarbaum was confirmed, but Sessions nomination floundered over a controversy surrounding comments he made involving the Ku Klux Klan and the NAACP.

Link: Sotomayor Surprises Sessions (The sentence in bold was done so by me.)

I read this comment from Michael Steel:

Yes, that's right. To lure African-Americans into the GOP, Steele is offering "fried chicken and potato salad."

(Bil Browning.
LGBT blogger and new media consultant)

Back to Martin Luther King:

And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.

The case, Alan Keyes, et al. v Barack H. Obama, et al. was filed on Inauguration Day and is one of a raft of suits alleging Obama is ineligible to be president because he is not a "natural born citizen.”

Link

Enough with enhanced interrogation over every loving decision our President makes. Why is every thing he does, every appointment he makes, challenged? The nominees raked over the coals??? Let him do his job without the deliberate stonewalling. We may never know how and how quickly he could have instituted a solution. The GOP will continue halt his ideas and water down the plans that may have worked. But the majority want him to fail. All at the expense of the people of the U.S.

*Edited because one of my quotes disappeared and it looked like I was blogging under the influence.*

Traitors.

Alan Keyes get some skin bleach and a life. Apply to be Michael Steele's gofer or bootlicker.

And isn't this treason??

Clickity click.

I think this may be old news, but new to me.

Oscar G. Mayer died at age 95. There's been a few generations of Oscar Mayers, but this is the one that was (retired)the chairman of the Wisconsin based meat company that bears his name. It sent me into a retrospective of old commercials. Some I remember, some are way older:

This one I remember:

This I don't remember but how alarming is it???

These I remember:

Gay Couple Detained After Kissing On Plaza Owned By Mormon Church

SALT LAKE CITY — A gay couple say they were detained by security guards on a plaza owned by the Mormon church and later cited by police, claiming it stemmed from a kiss on the cheek.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said that the men became argumentative and refused to leave after being asked to stop their "inappropriate behavior." The men say they were targeted because they are gay.

Matt Aune said he and his partner, Derek Jones, were walking home from a concert nearby on Thursday night, cutting through the plaza near the Salt Lake City Mormon temple.

Aune, 28, said he gave Jones, 25, a hug and kiss and that the two were then approached by a security guard, who asked them to leave, telling them they were being inappropriate and that public displays of affection aren't allowed on the property. He said other guards arrived and the men were handcuffed.

"We asked what we were doing wrong," Aune told The Associated Press.

Church spokeswoman Kim Farah said in a statement Friday that the men were "politely asked to stop engaging in inappropriate behavior _ just as any other couple would have been."

"They became argumentative and used profanity and refused to leave the property," she said. The church did not immediately respond to a request for more comment.

Police later arrived and both men were cited with misdemeanor trespassing, Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Robin Snyder said.

"It doesn't matter what they were asked to leave for," Snyder said. "If they are asked to leave and don't they are ... trespassing."

The church has been the target of protests over its support of a ban on gay marriage in California.

HuffPo

I gotta agree with Snyder, Trespassing is trespassing not to mention the matter of respect (or lack thereof). Would you have a pig pickin' on the lawn of a synagogue?? Ummm, no. In all reality it's pretty widely known that faithful members of the Mormon church abide by the Word of Wisdom but I often see people on the lawn of my church building having a smoke. I wouldn't do that. That's just me, I s'pose.

Michael Jackson's children

My oldest daughter and I was talking about adoption and the legal hoops that people have to jump through to adopt. The fear that you will be attached and in love with your new child and one of the parents change their minds. Placing a child in a loving stable home is the ultimate act of love and unselfishness.
The death of Michael Jackson has brought out the ugliness and greed in people that should be mourning. It happens a lot, when people die. All too often, in fact and it's never a pretty site.
I mentioned my earlier disgust of Debbie Rowe, the mother of Michael's 2 oldest children, when she said she didn't want them and that Michael wasn't really the father. Now she wants them and will even "take the youngest one too". What a giver. Just what these children need to hear when they've just lost their father. Michael has been very cautious with them. Covering their faces and sometimes making them more of a spectacle than necessary. I haven't watched the entire memorial, but I saw his daughter, Paris, speak at the end (heartbreaking) and pictures of them from the memorial. They seem genuinely devastated at the loss of their father. They are beautiful children. What may seem like freaky existence on the outside looking in, he loved them. They are about to be thrust into the real world which is completely sick and twisted in comparison. They will watch everything he ever did to himself and what he was accused of doing by others. They will see the physical transformation he underwent for reasons we'll never know or understand. They will hear all about the drug abuse that was intended to kill a pain that no doctor can explain. They will learn that in an effort to escape his own personal demons he went too far. They will watch people fight like animals for a piece of him and they will never understand it. They will never know if the person who is raising them is doing it out of love or for the compensation. They look sad and terrified, just like any child that lost the parent they love. In a perfect world everyone would make this an easy, peaceful transition, for their sake. Our world is far from perfect...

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. -Hunter S. Thompson

I wish Hunter S. Thompson had lived to see this.

As Hunter said, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Sarah Palin makes Mark Foley, the congressman who sent filthy emails to pages look almost normal. She makes David Vitter, the senator who was hanging out with hookers, look almost boring. She makes Larry Craig, caught hitting on a cop in a men's room, look almost stable. She makes John Ensign, the senator who was having an affair with a staffer, look almost humdrum (and compared to the rest of the GOP whack-jobs, he is). And she makes Mark Sanford, the governor with the Latin lover, look positively predictable.

It was an almost impossible mission, but in resigning from office with 17 months to go in her first term, Sarah Palin has made herself the bull goose loony of the GOP.

Let's stipulate that if there is some heretofore unknown personal, medical or family crisis, this was the right move. But Gov. Palin didn't say anything like that. Her statement was incoherent, bizarre and juvenile. The text, as posted on Gov. Palin's official website (here), uses 2,549 words and 18 exclamation points. Lincoln freed the slaves with 719 words and nary an exclamation; Mr. Jefferson declared our independence in 1,322 words and, again, no exclamation points. Nixon resigned the presidency in 1,796 words -- still no exclamation points. Gov. Palin capitalized words at random - whole words, like "TO," "HELP," and "AND," and the first letter of "Troops."

Gov. Palin's official announcement that she is resigning as chief executive of the great state of Alaska had all the depth and gravitas of a 13-year-old's review of the Jonas Brothers' album on Facebook. She even quoted her parents' refrigerator magnet. (Note to self: if one of my kids becomes governor, throw away the refrigerator magnet that says: "Murray's Oyster Bar: We Shuck Em, You Suck Em!") She put her son's name in quotations marks. Why? Who knows. She writes, "I promised efficiencies and effectiveness!?" Was she exclaiming or questioning? I get it: both! And I don't even know what to make of a sentence that reads:

*((Gotta put First Things First))*

Ponder the fact that Rupert Murdoch's Harper Collins publishing house is paying this, umm, writer $11 million for a book. Ponder that and say a prayer for Ms. Palin's editor.

I'm no latter-day Strunk & White, just a guy who was struck by Palin's spectacularly rambling and infantile prose. It bespeaks a rambling and infantile mind. But perhaps not. Perhaps this is all a ruse. Perhaps Gov. Palin wants us to believe she's an intellectual featherweight who is slightly shallower than an actor on High School Musical. Maybe she's trying to throw us off the trail.

Naah. A lot of people thought that about George W. Bush. He couldn't be so block-headed, they said. He couldn't be as childish and churlish as he came off. Oh yes he could. And so, too, might Ms. Palin be as vapid and puerile as her inane statement suggests.

We will know. In the fullness of time (and I predict, not much time) we will know. Again and again in her statement, Gov. Palin returned to the nettlesome ethics inquiries that have been visited upon her since she signed on to be John McCain's running mate. No doubt they are annoying. But does anyone believe that's why she's resigning? No, there's more to this story. And Ms. Palin's resignation only increases the chances that we will all know the rest of the story soon. Or, as she might put it:

We will all KNOW the "rest of the Story" *((SOON!))*

Paul Begala

CNN political commentator
Posted: July 3, 2009 10:35 PM

Link

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sarah Palin stepped down as Governor??? Maybe she DOES care about Alaska's people. Listen up Sanford. Think of the people you've betrayed.

Oooooo I found a new project for one of my fans!!!

I was watching Jon Stewart and found something of interest. It starts at the 4:30 mark:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Rippy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Obitutainment
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

A MAP!!!!!!!!! They need a map!!!!