Kate and Neil’s Awesome Website

We had a very merry Christmas indeed.

That, I presume, is evident from this picture of the cabbage patch ear muffs I received from my father for Christmas.

We had the great fortune of visiting with both of our families for Christmas. (Thanks to a wedding. Shout Out to Jesse & Laura!) Neil was quite festive on Christmas Eve jangling his jingle bell wristbands at my parent’s house. My parents always do an exceptional job of making things very festive. We opened approximately 1 trillion presents, including, but not limited to: a Spanish bull & matador set, an easter snow globe (which was then re-gifted to Neil’s granny), a squirt gun, 2 JC Pennys gift cards, 2 oversize DC sweatshirts, a sushi DVD set, and….look out internet users…. a digital camcorder. I suspect that the evidence of this gift will soon be posted since Neil has been video taping me at close range 24 hours per day since we got said gift.

 It was quite the haul, filled with hilarity. Upon receiving a strange woolen vest with leaves sewn on it from my dad I said, “well, if I ever decided to be a kindergarten teacher, I’ve got an outfit to wear.” And, when Neil’s mother handed me a hand-made stocking she wants me to give our firstborn I dashed her hopes with, “well, we’ll be putting that one in storage for a while.” Approximately 45% of gifts we received were re-gifted during the selfsame season– to spread the holiday love.

Overall we had a (very) white and wonderful Christmas. The highlight of the season was when we visited one of Neil’s aunts in Idaho for “breakfast” and were presented with sherbet over canned fruit at 10am. Apparently in Idaho ice cream for breakfast is not just an unrealistic childhood dream, it’s a reality. Ice cream is a legitimate way to start the day in the Gem State.

Hello all friends, family and internet wanderers. Feliz Navidad to all.

2007 has been filled with happiness & wonderful adventures for the Kelly/Ransom family. We started off 2007 being married, which was a first for both of us. So far, so good. We worked and lived in Provo, Utah until April. We then headed off to Guatemala & Southern Mexico for a belated honeymoon tour. We lived on an archeology compound, which looks pretty much exactly what you imagine in your mind when you hear the two words “archeology” and “compound” together. It was AMAZINGLY, INDESCRIBABLY, INCREDIBLY FUN. The foundation was located in San Cristobal de Las Casas in the Central highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. Neil got to organize artifacts, help digitize them and practice his Spanish. Kate got to work very intensively with the young Mormon girls in the area as a youth leader & volunteer with different agencies, including Habitat for Humanity. We made it to several surrounding indigenous villages, and up to Mexico City. We tasted delicious food, met wonderful people & bought a lot of tacky Mexican handicrafts.

Upon returning to the U.S. we crossed the border in Tijuana by foot & met up with Kate’s family in San Diego. It was a fun trip that involved Sea World.

Since September we have been living in Salt Lake City, smack-dab in the middle of downtown. We are a few blocks from the Temple & from the City library. Neil is working for the International Rescue Committee as a refugee caseworker. Last year 950 refugees were relocated to Salt Lake from nations like Burma, Somalia, Iraq, Burundi, Eritrea etc. He helps them transition to life in America from the airport to getting a new job to enrolling their children in school. While it has been interesting & rewarding, case work has made him realize that he wants to continue his schooling. He plans on going to grad school in the Fall, possibly in sustainable development & conservation biology.

Kate works with refugees & also immigrants at the English Skills Learning Center, a non-profit that trains volunteer tutors to help people learn English. She is in a 10 month Americorps position developing a program where elementary schools provide English classes to the parents at the schools. So far she has got 5 Salt Lake schools up and running and the program is very popular with the parents, who so desperately need English skills. She is applying to law schools to enter in September of 2008 (please cross your fingers).

We love living in Salt Lake & are learning all of the interesting & unique places to shop, eat and visit in the valley. We find that most of them are on the west side where all of the refugees live.

We are so grateful to all who have supported us in our endeavors. We have learned much & have much yet to learn. We hope 2008 brings challenges, blessings & new adventures.

May the best times you’ve ever had be the worst you’ll every see!

Love,

Kate and Neil

1. My submission to present at the Utah Conference of Undergraduate Research was accepted and so now I get to present my senior thesis research the 29th of February at UVSC. I am very excited.
2. The Rocky Mountain Institute is a great organization started by Amory B. Lovins (I am sure you have never heard of him). Anyway this organization is a giant think tank that focuses on solving environmental problems through advising car manufacturers, businesses, and the government organizations into adopting ultra efficient methods that save them money and the world pollution.
3. The passing of the new energy bill by congress that requires car manufacturers to maintain a fleet wide MPG average of 35 MPG (the first increase in national fuel economy in 32 years), make the 100 watt incandescent light bulb illegal, and increases the efficiency of household appliances.
4. Perceptive Pixel is an awesome new technology that allows full touch interaction with a computer. Very cool product and as you will see in #5 is already being used in consume products this winter.
5. Today Kate and I ate free Red Iguana leftovers from the Youth Link’s lunch-in (a NGO housed in the same building as Kate’s NGO, the ESLCenter.
6. Although I dislike Microsoft because they are a monopoly, their new product, Surface, is awesome awesome awesome. It will revolutionize computer use and is finally a product that can even turn Apple’s eye.
7. I found my lost cellphone today. By lost, I mean it fell out of my pocket into my boss’s car when I got a ride with her to a meeting on Tuesday and she found it this morning when someone from the office tried to call me. At least I have it back and can now participate in conference calls with my brother and his finance (which did happen today).
8. Fab@Home is a 3D printer; that’s right, a 3D printer. So just like a regular printer you plug it into your computer, prepare your document, and then click print. Except this time the Fab@Home is going to print your 3D object out of the hundreds of materials it is able to use. You will be able to print circuit boards, cellphone covers, even batteries and eventually, they say, you will be able to design your very own cellphone and then print the entire product out in your own home. Amazing!
9. The Humdinger Windbelt is a new, inexpensive, very customizable wind mill that may make wind energy even more affordable and viable. You better just look at the site for an explanation how it works, I’m not going to do it justice.
10. Some MIT students have created an amazing solar system out of regular old car parts that will create electricity, heat water or air, and refrigerate. What this means is that one simple inexpensive easily repaired setup can create and manage all the utility needs of a small dwelling or home, carbon free and off the grid. This article is really great, I recommend it.
11. After a week without toiletpaper, Kate and I have finally purchased some.
12. In passing my boss said something about a Christmas present of bonus. I’m not keeping my hopes up, but here’s to dreaming.
13. NASA’s Chandra x-ray telescope captured the most interesting of celestial phenomenon. Recent data collected by said telescope shows cosmic radiation being shot from a black hole into a neighboring galaxy.
14. Kate and I had Ethiopian food with Jesse, my brother, and his finance, Laura. Man I love Ethiopian food…and the African Restaurant and Mini Mart.
15. A new giant rat was discovered in Indonesia.
16. Most exciting Firefox is testing a new 3.0 release. I want to take my hat off to Firefox to really implementing some great tools that have made internet browsing fun, creative, and easy. You can download the beta version here.
17. Wal-Mart, via Sam’s Club, is selling an all electric versions of the Mini Cooper converted by the company, Hybrid Technologies.
18. Kate and I were given traditional Karen (a Burmese ethnic group) shirts from three of my refugee clients today. They are awesome and we will post a picture soon.
19. I am done with this blog entry and can now go to bed.

It seems that every time Kate and I go into a movie rental store we end up with the strangest of DVD titles. For example we went to Hollywood Video last night to rent an Indian Jones flick because the Salt Lake City Library’s copy was checked out. We found a copy of the Temple of Doom and Raiders of the Lost Ark, one of which I had in my hand as I walked toward the register. Yet again, I let my eyes wander. Wander right to a shelf with a copy of Ten Canoes peacefully waiting for someone to pick it up. Well I did, decided it looked interesting, swapped it with Indian Jones, and rented it.

In only tell you this story because it happens every time Kate and I rent a movie. We never get what we intended to rent and always end up renting an ultra strange or ultra depressing movie either about naked aborigines or street kids in Romania. I don’t think to date we have ever taken home the intended film we went to the store to rent.

Last night’s film, Ten Canoes, was fun. I liked it a lot. But it was strange and included more than enough aboriginal nudity to satisfy even the most demanding of connoisseurs. Let’s just say it’s a film any anthologist would love (and if you are taking antho 101 you will probably see it soon). I think Kate and I are going to sign up for Netflix that way we won’t ever have to walk through another wall of screaming DVDs that all seem to say “rent me!”

BEFORE YOU WATCH THIS TRAILER I JUST WANTED TO WARN YOU EVERYONE IS NAKED 100% OF THE FILM.

Saturday night Kate, Kate’s brother and father, and I went to see a movie called What Would Jesus Buy, an entertaining documentary about Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir. Reverend Billy believes the US has lost its soul to consumerism and he and his rag-tag choir are hitting the streets to get Americans to stop shopping during the holiday season. The movie is absolutely amazing, fun, and inspiring. At one point Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir commandeer a stage in Minnesota’s Mall of America and sign anti-consumerist tunes until the mall police expel them. Now that’s entertainment.

This holiday season everyone should see What Would Jesus Buy.

Lyrics to one of their songs Shopocalyps
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Neil was born today, in 1980. I, for one, sure am glad.

This is his first passport picture, the beginning of his many adventures.

Here’s to many more. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEIL!

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The Latino Comedy Project has tons of extra-funny videos on their site. This is a parody of the movie 300. No matter what side of the immigration debate, or border, you stand on… this is hilarious.

You read that right. It really does exist, the Musical Uncle Santa Snowglobe was won fair and square by Neil and I at a Christmas Curry party we went to this weekend. As you can see from the picture, it is much like your average Santa snowglobe, with the glaring irregularity that this Santa clearly favors kiddies born in the US of A. From the picture you cannot however, see that the globe produces the tune “God Bless America.”

This item is not a gag. It is a legitimately marketed product that was purchased, donated to a charity auction, and brought to us by fate’s loving delivery. While it presents many conundrums, the principal one for us is whether to put it up at Christmastime or for Independence Day.

And, that’s right folks, just as you might expect it’s Made in China.