I was just logged onto gmail when I saw an ad for this site come up:

DatingAWife.com is a sophisticated dating site geared more towards interaction with a male companion where it is lacking at home. These girls don’t want to lose their families and most of them are looking for a good friend. We respect the privacy of our profiles and ask that you do the same.

Seems kinda sketchy, not to mention the idea that women seek intimacy through adultery instead of working on their relationships. YEAH! Thumbs up!

The real reason I was checking my gmail was to look at this which my friend Hanvnah sent me:

One of the main characters on “The Young and the Restless” for a Yom Kippur episode on September 21st is going to do tshuvah.

But wait its gets better and even, more random:

But last year the soap dropped a bombshell: The upwardly mobile stud was actually a Hebrew hunk. It turns out that Brad had been hiding his Jewish identity to protect himself and his mother, who had drawn the ire of Nazis because of her work as a Holocaust art restitution investigator.

I’ve never heard of the term “Holocaust art restitution investigator.” If you google it with quotation marks, its just links about the particular soap opera but if you google it without quotations, this page about Holocaust era assets comes up.

OK look out for the random post…

Some things I wanted to mention:

(1) I’m taking a memoir writing class at the Gotham Writer’s Workshop. It’s an online class. Its the first online class I’ve ever taken. I like it so far because its giving me a chance to write memoir, something that I think is beneficial for every writer to be able to do. And by writer I mean journalist, novelist, short storiest (I know not a word), and so forth.

My only problem with it is that I keep forgetting about and I have to assign myself a dozen google reminders to turn in assignments. There is nothing like going to a physical classroom that makes me get my work DONE.

(2) Perhaps this is here nor there. But it simultaneously appalls and amuses me that this exists

From the Coronado Naval base near San Diego, CA.

Full LATimes article about the shenanigans.

(3) This February, I am going with my mom and some of her friends to Patagonia. Yes, its more than a clothing company.

Its the Southern most tip of Argentina and Chile. We’re going for two whole weeks and I’m very, very excited. This means (a) two new countries (b) a new continent (c) an excuse to beef up on my Spanish (d) a chance to learn more about South America in a historical light.

Last weekend, I was in the middle of the Midwest on a business trip when my husband joined me for the weekend. He had a novel idea that I wish I would have thought of. However, the idea is even better coming from him, as there is nothing like hearing the person you love want to do something he or she knew you would love to do.

He suggested visting an AMISH SETTLEMENT!

What more would I love then going to visit a community that adheres to what we modern folk commonly consider crazy religious principles!!?!? Um nothing!

So, we decided to drive to Arthur, IL. After a few hours, we arrived and were soon both gawking at the buggys and horses.

But then I decided to stop gawking and start examining all of the cultural implications of these different, religious societies side by side.

Whenever, I go back to my hometown, I notice all the churches that have popped up over the years. I have always struggled to know the fundemental difference between each of these churches. I’ve asked family and friends who are and are not members of these religious institutions but there is no one answer that I have found satisfying enough.

Going into the Amish communities, I assumed that all I’d be seeing are Amish places of worship. I was wrong. I forgot all about the Mennonite settlements. The Mennonite churches were much more prominent than Amish ones. And there were books about Mennonite people in all of the little shops.

Prairie Mennonite Church

In addition to the Mennonite Church, we also saw a Southern Baptist Church and a Zion United Church of Christ.

Zion United Church of Christ

I couldn’t help but wonder what it is like for Amish and Mennonite people to live aside people who wear their religion on their sleeve. One could argue that the Amish and Mennonite communities do make everyone aware of their religious status through their style of clothing, family roles, ways of practicing religious customs and shunning certain aspects of modernity. But these are people who strive to live life simply not ostentatiously.

This sign from the Southern Baptist Church felt out of place amongst all the friendly men and women who greeted my husband and I wherever we went in Arthur.

No one can say that some church signs don’t attempt to be creative with wording. I wondered if the language offended the Amish and Mennonites but assumed if most of the people riding in the buggys and in their yard would wave at my husband and me in our our rented Jeep Liberty, that they didn’t really care about the Southern Baptists.

Our day trip also got me thinking about a research project: a historical look at religion in Illinois. There is a lot going on there religious wise from the Amish and Mennonites to Joseph Smith and Mormons in Nauvoo.

From the wikipedia page for Illinois:

With a mixture of factory and farm, urban and rural, Illinois is a microcosm of the United States; an Associated Press analysis of 21 demographic factors determined Illinois was the “most average state.”^[6]

I wonder what the religious experience is for the average citizen in the “most average state.” After Saturday’s trip, I know there is a lot of stories and research to sink my teeth into.

(On a side note, I found the perfect gift for my mother. I cannot name the sort of shop we went to for it would give the gift away. But the lovely Mennonite (I think) woman named Wilma who rang me up didn’t blink twice when I asked if they took debit cards. She also asked for me to input my pin number with the slightest ease. Several of my preconceived notions were put to bed that day!)

The Church condones same-sex love but not the acting on it.

Don’t call ‘em six-pack abs unless you’re talking about Sprite…huh?

Hot document from Slate about polygamy and fundemental mormonism.

Number one “Stone Cold Sober” school is….BYU! Shocking…NOT!

$105,000 big ones spent.

Australian Torah Bright is a world champion snowboarder and Olympic competitor, avoiding the wild lifestyle.

The church owes more than $1.2 million to two sisters.

Mormon Lore: Mormons repeatedly pass along stories, often in hushed tones, about mysterious visits by three strangers who offer assistance, then disappear.

Catholic students of The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. are reading a book titled Brother Brigham for their Modern Religious Movements course.

These days Mormonism really does speak foreign languages and has transcended the “American community.”

Husband in breakaway Mormon case felt “really bad”

A fundamentalist Mormon who married his 14-year-old cousin cried on Wednesday and said he felt “really bad” about the end of their relationship at the center of a trial highlighting a breakaway sect that practices polygamy.

Research reason enough for excommunication?

Lamborn served a two-year Mormon mission in 1977-79 in Belgium, was elders quorum president four times and led a Mormon Boy Scout troop. Most recently, he said he was assigned to teach older men in his ward and held other roles.
…

“Well, I had no knowledge of multiple wives, so I did some research, including using the church’s own genealogical Web site, familysearch.org,” Lamborn said.

* Totally borrowing from Feministing.

Canadian National Tower
Toronto, Ontario

They got mormons in New Zealand too.

To have the community embrace both parts of my identity as a Brookline resident and also part of the Mormon faith … is important to me,” he said.

First edition of 1830 book of Mormon found in Palmyra, NY.

A very straightforward article about what it means to be Mormon.

The Mormon church has no connection to the Romney campaign.

Book details women’s missionary experiences…at gunpoint!

HOTT MORMON MISSIONARIES:

The hot Mormon 2008 ‘Men on a Mission’ Calendar is available now for $14.99.

Mormon Hunks — Yes, Mormon Hunks!

In the Romney Corner:

Romney’s dad brainwashed into Vietnam war.

And the Warren Jeffs Shows….BEGINS!

Dress fitting was like ‘getting ready for death,’ teen bride testifies

Through tears, with her head down, Doe said ‘I do.’ She tried to refuse a kiss from her cousin, but Jeffs insisted they seal the vows with a kiss. Jeffs instructed them, “Go forth and multiply and replenish the Earth with priesthood children,” and Doe said she ran out of the room and locked herself in the bathroom.

I’ll admit it…I have long been intrigued by The Hills on MTV. The other morning I watched two episodes online. I’m not sure what it is about this show that makes me want to watch it. The soft lighting. The beautiful people with money and no real problems. They don’t do much of anything except sit and drink alcohol, sit and drink coffee, sit and eat and just SIT. They do go to work where they get to talk about their problems.

However, there is this interesting notion at play here, platonic friendship as serious (and perhaps romantic) relationship. On one of the clips I watched, one of the main characters, Heidi, decides against moving in with her boyfriend because she has hit a rough patch with her female best friend and roomate Lauren and wants to work things out with her.

On one of the leadin’s for the show, the voice over says that a guy “broke up” with his best friend after having a fight. Hmmm.

And even wikipedia joins in. A snippet from their page about the character Heidi:

Season two of The Hills (which aired from January through April of 2007) focused on Montag’s relationship with Pratt and its effect on her friendships with Conrad and their friend Audrina Patridge.^[8] On The Hills’ season two finale, Montag moved out of her apartment with steady roommate Conrad to live with Pratt .

I’ve never heard of the term “steady roommate” even in reference to shows like Laverne & Shirley and Friends, where the idea of steady roommate existed. The Hills is an example of how pop culture affects reality. Reality tv is the perfect hybrid of real meets fake, where personality stars thrive.

I know of plenty of friends who live together and then one moves out due to a new relationship, relocation or just because they needed to move on. It’s certainly interesting that The Hills is playing with same gendered friendships as relationships and almost applies a bit of 19th century romantic love ideology to it.

I recently rewatched this season’s first episode. As the big confrontation between ex best friends Lauren and Heidi came up, it seemed as though Lauren was looking at Heidi as a jealous ex lover, not a friendship gone awry. No, I’m not saying they’re in love, but I am saying in this tv show, platonic same sex friendships are the ideal, not having a boyfriend.

So this AM, the husband turned on CNN.  We usually watch this or NY1.  Well, the good ole folks there were discussing Britney’s performance at the VMAs.  The headline question was “Is she fat?” Um hmm what? Seriously???

Well, they interviewed all sorts of people about their opinions on Britney’s BMI and then Tony Harris said something like “get that butt cheese off TV.” He was obviously very embarrassed at himself after saying that.  And so was the whole new room sitting there behind him.

It was an “oops” moment. Hopefully, he won’t do it again.

Oh yes I did!

In anticipation of the light to nonexistent blogging I’ll be doing next week, here is yet another long over due post. And it also has to do with that other September 11th.

My review of September Dawn:

The Mountain Meadow Massacre happened on September 11, 1857. Since 9-11-01, there have been many comparisons between the two tragedies. If you want to read about the Massacre, please go here, here or just go to google and put the term in.

So the big drama is over whether the LDS church was responsible, and in turn Brigham Young, for what occurred or not. The LDS church maintains Young was NOT involved but rather evasively state that the Massacre was a blot on the regions history. Read full statement here.

Its just not the 150th anniversary of this event that is stirring up media but so is the film, September Dawn, starring John Voight. The film places the blame squarely on the shoulders of Young and the Mormons.

Let me get this out of the way, the film is pretty much lame. There is no real character development, shotty acting and dialogue, a cutesy romance story thrown in for the ladies(?) and bunch of historical inaccuracies. When the film opens, we meet the nice traveling wagons of immigrants from Arkansas and Missouri. They’re good Christians even though they support gambling. In come the scary Mormons in their dark clothing and on their inadequate horses. Our protagonist, Jonathan, is the son of a fictional LDS leader. Jonathan falls in love with one of the traveling women and vows to abandon his religion for her and join her on her trip West.

Umm what! OK, first of all, if Jonathan is a true Mormon believer, he believes that he has to marry another Mormon (and a few more) to get into Heaven. I felt like the dialogue could have been straight of the 21st century show Big Love, not the 19th century. Sure, Jonathan is doubting his religion but it would have been more believable if his lady love decided to become a Mormon, abandoned her family and then real drama ensues. But thats just me.

The biggest problem I had was when Jonathan starts yelling at his father and fellow Mormons that Utah is in the United States. Now if anyone did their homework, they would have realized that the Mormons fled to Utah to AVOID the United States. AND even if Utah was technically a part of the States, no Mormon was going to treat that as any sort of authority over their prophet and their heavenly father. (Side note, the infamous Utah War occurred during 1857-8 when federal government and Mormons fought for control of Utah.)

But I did enjoy going to see the movie because I do love anything to do with Mormonism particularly pop culture portrayals.

Central Montana LDS leaders urger church members to pray and fast for rain.

Mormon missionary gives up on converting to focus on food.

University of Utah incorporates and tolerates more religious studies program.

Romney Ancestor Mormon History: exactly 150 years ago, an ancestor of Mitt Romney deserted from U.S. Army troops sent to put down a purported Mormon rebellion in Utah.

Tabernacle Choir sings some Simon & Gafunkel.

Arizona Mormons in a huff over Missionaries baring too much.

Bountiful, B.C. polygamists face the heat…possibly.

Some politics:

Are Mormons Christians? Fort Wayne thinks it over after Romney visits.

And September 11th brings up reason to remember that other “Terrorist” event, Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Did Brigham do it?
And my favorite, The Iraq war and the Utah War: Sobering similarities:

In 2007 the Iraq war looks like an unparalleled fiasco, but we went through something similar 150 years ago. In this sesquicentennial year of the 1857 Utah War, it’s worth comparing “Buchanan’s Blunder” to the current conflict, which many now call “Bush’s Blunder.”