Kate and Neil’s Awesome Website

If you give me $1,266 I will go to an EZLN community in Chiapas, Mexico and send you a genuine, handmade rebel doll (don’t worry, I’ve been there before, I know where to go). I will send it from there.

Thank you Jason for alerting us of this genius.

So, I left my job at the IRC. The demands on my time, family life, and sanity were too much for the pay I was receiving. Although I will truly miss working with refugees, this Monday was the first in months I’ve enjoyed. Yesterday I had an interview with Friends of Great Salt Lake, an environmental organization trying to preserve the ecosystems around the Great Salt Lake. I think it went well, although I did sweat for the first few minutes of the interview because I was so nervous. They said they would let me know by the end of the week.

 Anyway the point of my post is that I am still working for the ESL Center running the refugee computer lab, and yesterday one of our favorite clients came to the lab to learn Microsoft Office. He is so cute that when we shut down the computer lab yesterday, he said goodbye, left the building before us, and then waited across the street for about 10 minutes while we closed up the building so he could wave goodbye again. He was riding his 10 year-old niece’s pink bike. After that Kate decide she was going to adopt him, even though he is 21 years old and still has a family. 

We drove to L.A. this past weekend in a 15 passenger van. Here’s a shot of the glorious vessel. This vehicle brings new meaning to the phrase “unsafe at any speed.”

We drove down with my Disneyland-bound family… but ended up skipping out on the “happiest place on earth” for the beach. We rented beach cruisers & rode from Newport beach to Huntington. It was a delightful way to spend a winter’s day. Californians are smart.

Yes, those are sunglasses over eye glasses. Classy!

We also got the chance to check out the University of San Diego law school. The campus was gorgeous, the students friendly & I found out that they have a study-abroad in Barcelona. USD has moved up to a major contender.

The whole gang went to La Jolla to check out the tide pools & seals. Now my entire family is lobbying for USD so that they can get season passes to Sea World and come visit. Luckily I’ve heard law school is a breeze, so I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time for theme-park visits & hosting.

So I just heard that Fidel Castro has stepped down from the Cuban presidency and parliament is in the processes of electing a new president. That came out of left field, I was 100% sure he would stay in power until the day he died. I think he is doing the right thing and I hope the new president will institute some reforms. On the other hand, I think America is going to miss having Castro in power. Now, who is going to be our commie scape goat? How are we going to teach our children the evils of communism if we don’t have Castro as an example? And, I expect his silhouette will soon be hijacked by pop-culture and turned into shirts, belt buckles, and stenciled graffiti and the youth will just accept him as another god of cool. The world will never be the same. Until we meet face to silhouette, Castro, peace be with you!

So Kate and I are going to California in a 15 passenger van bound for Disneyland. We pray we will be able to jump van before we hit the Disneyland parking lot. You may think we are over zealous consumers taking the most inefficient vehicle we can find, but the truth of the matter is the van is full. 5 generations of Kate’s extended family are coming on the trip and it turns out it will be cheaper to fit all 13 of us into a bus-van then to drive two separate cars. As one who firmly believes one should never travel in groups lager than 5, I am fear this road trip may be more adventurous than I have packed for!

Why do I feel like these products would sell well at the BYU bookstore?

Michael Pollan’s newest book, In Defense of Food, looks like it is quite amazing. I am barely getting started on it. His main premise is that nutritional advice can be summed up into the 7 words of the title. Americans (myself included) fret and freak about what we should and shouldn’t eat. We agonize over our, often, poor decisions that are contrary to our common sense. Should I eat steamed asparagus or should I east cheese fries? This was my actual dilemma last night. Guess which delicious option I chose? The fries + a milkshake. Guess how I feel this morning? Awful physically, and quite lethargic.

I didn’t need any professional advice to arrive at a choice that would have left me a little less… uneasy… intestinally speaking. All I needed was common sense I learned from Captain Vegetable as a child watching Sesame Street.

It is I, Captain Vegetable, with my carrot & my celery.

Eating crunchy vegetables is good for me.

And they’re good for you, so eat them too!

For teeth so strong your whole life long,

eat celery & carrots by the bunch.

Three cheers for me, Captain Vegetable.

CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH!

In a stroke of luck when I showed up at the polling place today, which smelled a little too much like adult diapers, they had my record all wrong. My birthday was listed at 1955. My party was listed as “unaffiliated” so I was able to vote in the Democratic primary. I voted for Mike Gravel. It’s hard to know whether to vote FOR someone or AGAINST someone else… but, this time I chose for Gravel and not against Clinton.

In some ways it feels good to be one of 152 (total Utah votes for Gravel) instead of one of 70,000+.

We have just achieved the ultimate internet triumph. When you Google “Ice Cream for Breakfast” our site is number 6! To celebrate this moment in cyber history, I ate some ice cream for breakfast. MMmmmmmmm. Ice cream for breakfast is the way to go & not just in Idaho.

Let’s keep in mind, that this means that people, many people,  do search the phrase “ice cream for breakfast.” What exactly are they looking for, pray tell?

In my darker, younger, conservative days I did an uber-conservative internship/study program at Georgetown University in DC. Among other activities, we had a testimonial meeting about how college campuses were too “liberal” and that conservatives were oppressed. (Yes, I did participate.) I also met Ann Coulter. She is an evil rhetorician. Even in my clouded nazi-youth boot camp mentality, I was thouroughly creeped out by her & her spin.

Now she has said that she would rather vote for Hillary than John McCain. Nothing could make me want to vote for a Republican more. As I am still a registered Republican in Utah, I will be voting for John McCain on Super Tuesday.