a halloween preview...

So...could I pass for a blonde?

Good news/crazy Maggie

You know "mail room chatter?" As in, "cute boots," "whoa, that's a lot of mail today," or "Did you have a nice weekend?"

Today I was delivering a lot of mail and my boss came in to make a copy. He thanked me for something I had worked on last week and I updated him on the outcome of a small issue that had come up. Never one for small talk, he said, "we're going to extend your contract another 6 months. So your contract will be for a year now." 

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

What was my reaction? None other than the 3rd-grade/Napoleon Dynamite fisted hand pull from the sky with the requisite, "yesssssssssssssssss!"

Why am I so weird? And completely unprofessional? But yay! I'm employed now till at least October 2010!

Sometimes being grown up is fun

3 quick thoughts...

#1 I don't know what it is about October, but it's a friendly month for artists. Last year around this time I went to BYU's Vending Machine Art Fair which supported the Provo Food Coalition. Read about my acquisitions from that night here. Today I went to a similar event which was maybe cooler because it involved lunch. It was in Washington's Penn Quarter, which is where I work. At this event, local potters and ceramicists created bowls and donated them to be purchased. All the proceeds went to food banks in Washington. I walked into the room and was overwhelmed at all the beautiful bowls. I never thought I could decide, but I finally did, paid for it ($25) and was invited into the next room for all you can eat gourmet soups from Penn Quarter restaurants. Some of my favorites were there. I had 5 bowls of soup!! There was delicious bread, cookies, and drinks too. So here's the list of soups I tried...

#1 Tomato Coconut from Cafe Atlantico. This table was so cute. There were two chefs there. One ladled the soup and the other painstakingly tweezed tiny blades of cilantro, scooped tiny spoonfuls of pico de gallo and a tiny dollop of sour cream. It was so cute. And the soup was AMazing. Never tasted anything like it.

#2 Pumpkin and Lentil. It was good at the time, but it's not standing out to me looking back.

#3 Chili from Clyde's, a popular restaurant in DC. The chili was so good. Kind of sweet.

#4 Chicken Noodle. It was good. Not really standing out to me though.

#5 Chestnut soup with cranberry beans. This one was delicious. My friend tasted it and said, "This tastes like fall." It was true. If anyone has ever eaten a roasted chestnut, you can agree, that this soup would be delicious. A rich dark soup with some kind of green leaf cooked in, maybe spinach, and beans. It was great.

The winner was the Tomato Coconut, 2nd place was the Chili, and 3rd was the Chestnut soup. That's how I rated them. There were other soups too, but I didn't have room for all of them!

 

Here's my bowl! It's beautiful.

Thought #2 In downtown DC, right where I work (around the Verizon Center) the busy city has been converted into stables and HUGE beautiful horses are being kept there. They are in town for the International Horse Show. Tonight I walked past them and admired the horses, saw their ribbons hanging outside their stalls, and envied the cute outfits of the riders. The streets were scattered with hay. It really looked like a farm yard. It was so funny to think that this was the middle of the city.

Thought #3 This week has been busy getting ready for a big night out. Tomorrow night I'm attending a big event at my work. It's an exhibition opening and the awards ceremony of the portrait competition that only happens about every three years. I'm excited for it. Stay tuned.

Potomac Fever

unless it were true...

What is one thing Jeffery Holland and Ira Glass have in common?

It may be difficult to find many commonalities between a middle-aged leader in the Mormon church, based in Salt Lake City, and a Jewish radio talk show host, who works in Chicago.

But over the past weekend, both men delivered heart-felt thoughts about a book that changes lives. And both of them sent their message out for all the world to hear. I find the timing significant. I don't think it was providence, but I also don't think it was a coincidence.

While attending my 5th and final session of General Conference, I was struck by Elder Holland's powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. This was the most powerful testimony of the book I have ever witnessed besides my own undeniable witness that the Book of Mormon is true, which I worked to achieve many years ago.

Tears streamed down my face as he laid out the consequences experienced by Joseph and Hyrum Smith because of their testimony of the Book of Mormon. In powerful emotion, Elder Holland spoke of widowed women, fatherless children, displaced people, and, ultimately, death. "They were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon." Special Witnesses of the record may have been hostile to Joseph for a time, but they never denied their testimony of the Book of Mormon. Elder Holland explained that for 179 years this book has been "examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history- perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands."

That's the power of the Word of God. No man can explain away the Book of Mormon. If a personal testimony is gained through reading, studying, and prayer, it becomes all the more powerful. It becomes physical evidence- something you can feel. I can feel it. If that personal testimony has not yet been obtained, rely on the testimony of an Apostle of the Lord. Elder Holland decreed his testimony to be recorded by men on earth and angels in heaven and he is not lying. Why would he lie before God and all the world? Watch the talk here -- better yet-- read the book here.

Only one day before, the world heard quite a different presentation about "The Book that Changed your Life." That was the title of Ira Glass' Saturday episode on the popular radio show "This American Life." On Monday, I was still in awe over Elder Holland's talk when I checked in to the new show that aired over the weekend. What did I find? More talk about a life-changing book. To each person interviewed, the life-changing book was unique. Phrases were said such as, "...speaks to you...I felt understood...the world seemed less lonely..."

Ira asks the question, "Can a life be changed by a book you've never even read?" I thought about that. I think the answer is no. One's life may be influenced by a book...such as the life of a child born into a family who believes in the power of the Book of Mormon, but until he actually works- picks up the book, reads it, and prays to know of its truthfulness- his life cannot be changed by it.

The last segment featured a young professional woman who, because of a book, actually picked up and moved across the plains to the west. Sound familiar? She didn't head too far west- just to Nebraska- but she said this book helped her "make it through the long winter and still see beauty in the snow." What book was that? The Laura Ingalls Wilder series, Little House on the Prairie. Good books? Yes. Life changing? Sure. But imagine the changes brought on by a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon.

That's right. I'm calling Ira's bluff. He tried to get the message across that a book can change lives, but that's the difference between a book written by man and a book inspired by God. Jeffrey Holland saw your "Little House in the Big Woods" and raised you to an infinite degree in the form of the Book of Mormon.