Rough Stone Rolling

A favorite quote of mine– attributed to a few different people, but I preferred hearing it from Woody Allen– goes, “I’d never belong to a club that would have me for a member.” This is what I think of when I think of Mormons and Christianity. Not the LDS Church in respect to the hierarchy […]

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This year I threw myself into the most unlikely of places for our ward’s Christmas celebration– the choir. Unlikely because I never took up an instrument (I like to say I play the stereo), can’t read music and only recently have been able to sing the melody without embarrassing myself. I decided to join this […]

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One of the popular subjects on Mormon blogs these days is the whole Church-on-the-defense hoohah– jousting questions like, are we Christian, are we racist, does Romney’s faith disqualify him as a viable candidate. Sometimes these sites offer links to editorials written by reasonable news columnists and pundits who say it shouldn’t matter what Romney believes, […]

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I loved this quote and had to share it. This is John Durham Peters, a renowned communication theorist and Mormon, in a recent interview in Dialogue:
“I basically suspect intellectuals. I distrust our motives. I don’t think intellectuals always know what’s good, and we like to think we know what’s good. To use the Book of […]

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I’m a big fan of Barry Levinson films. Diner…Rain Man…Bugsy…Wag the Dog… The man can tell a story. In one of his lesser known classics, Tin Men, Bruno Kirby (may he rest in peace) is in a bar teaching an old Mexican the words to “La Bamba.” Bruno clearly doesn’t speak Spanish and as he […]

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One of the benefits of being an HPGL is getting to pick who you want to teach a particular lesson (that is, if they don’t beg off, as is often the case). This week the lesson was out of the manual, Lesson 23: The Shepherds of the Flock, which covered the sustaining of Church leaders. […]

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I’m reading an engaging memoir/biography of Hugh Nibley entitled Sergeant Nibley, Ph.D: Memoir of an Unlikely Screaming Eagle, covering his years in the service during WWII. One of the personal pleasures for me is, it’s co-written by his son, Alex, whom I home taught when I was in college. When I knew Alex he would, […]

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Earlier I had commented on the book, No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy. I entertained the idea of finding $2.4 million as a character in the story did, and wondered if I would actually turn it in or keep it.
Last night I went with a friend to watch the movie of the same […]

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Thank you, Mr. President, for your kind introduction.
It is an honor to be here today. This is an inspiring place because of you and the First Lady and because of the film exhibited across the way in the Presidential library. For those who have not seen it, it shows the President as a young pilot, […]

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My birthday’s coming up again. I wasn’t thinking much about it until my sister (Our Lady of Perpetual Ingratitude) called this afternoon. She warned that when I got my present from her, I wasn’t to think it was weird or anything–just call her and she’ll tell me what it was for.
“It’ll look like a keychain…”
“Is […]

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Much to my frustration, I find that I am perceived differently by different people. Based on my presence, mood or behavior, people have decided that I’m a clown, a friendly guy, a stand-offish guy, a spiritual man, an irreverent dolt, comfortable to be around, uncomfortable to be around, intelligent, immature, engaged, apathetic, smug and humble. […]

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A friend and his wife used to belong to a popular singing group that toured locally for various events. One Christmas Eve they had two scheduled engagements. One was a holiday party thrown by Steven Spielberg. For the occasion, the singers dressed to the nines– The men in tuxes, women in red velvet dresses. They […]

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I recently went to my doctor for a physical and learned my cholesterol was through the roof. He sent me to a local renowned cardiologist who confirmed this. The superstar specialist added that it was largely due to my genetics as well as my diet, and prescribed Vytorin. But the prescription didn’t stop there.
“No more […]

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