“Are you pregnant?” In the past two weeks, for some reason I have had four people ask me this question and variations on it: “Are you and Kristen expecting another?” “Are you going to have another baby?” “When is the next baby coming?”
Author: Bryce Inouye
X-Files
I’m sure many of you have wondered how things work here at Times and Seasons. The crack legal minds here have managed to thwart all attempts by independent journalists to obtain documents via the Freedom of Information Act, but for some reason they’ve allowed a relative unknown in their midst without performing a thorough and complete background check. So to repay them for their kindness, I’m turning Paul O’Neill on them and giving the inside story they’re so desperate to keep from you.
Coming out at BYU
I grew up in a home where politics were never discussed. It’s not as though we didn’t have fascinating and stimulating dinnertime conversations (the most heated ones were always about English usage). We just never talked about the issues of the day. Consequently, I had little understanding of the political landscape of our country. When I was a freshman in high school, the first assignment I had in my social studies class was to compare and contrast the terms “liberal” and “conservative.” To complete the assignment, I had to look in the encyclopedia, as I had no idea what the assignment was talking about.
A public service announcement
A previous post may have led you to believe that Julie Smith would be parading around on Halloween as the old lady who swallowed a fly, or the whale who swallowed Jonah, but a recent inquiry reveals that she’s decided on going as a proud new mother. In other words, her scheduled delivery date was moved from November 3rd to today. I don’t know what the custom is around here, but I thought everyone would like to know. A Times and Seasons prayer roll, of sorts.
A missed opportunity?
A couple of months ago I got a call from a member of the bishopric in which he asked me if I would consider being the early-morning seminary teacher for our ward. My wife and I had just made the decision to sign our oldest daughter up for a swim team that would require her to practice early in the morning three days a week, so I had to reluctantly decline. I offered my services as a potential substitute on the days when I didn’t have to take my daughter to the pool.
Mourning with those who mourn
I write this as a room full of nursery-aged children jump and dance to The Wiggles. The reason is that for Family Home Evening tonight, a group of our friends has gathered at the home of another friend whose mother died in an accident this weekend. While the family is away at the funeral, our group is cleaning the house and taking care of any other needs there. I’m in charge of the child care at our house so that the parents can go clean without the kids making a mess behind them.
Sharing the gospel of homeschooling
Some of you know by reading my posts here that my wife and I homeschool our children. Actually, my wife Kristen does most of the teaching, although I like to be as involved as I can. I really like talking about homeschooling. Jaymie, our oldest daughter, is 6, followed by Julia (3) and Stanley (1). Jaymie is the only child actively being taught, but Julia gets to participate as well, and Stanley participates whether we want him to or not. We’ve been doing it for a year and a few months now, and the results have been encouraging.
On the record
One of the more amusing things about this campaign season has been the struggle of politicians and the mainstream media to come to grips with the blogosphere. They try to define it, contain it, co-opt it, manipulate it, yet despite their best efforts, it keeps slipping away. I laughed out loud when I heard a commentary by Mickey Kaus of Slate magazine on NPR’s Day to Day introduced as a “radio blog�. Don’t blogs by definition live on the Internet? Kaus’ piece sounded just like any other radio dispatch, except that it happened to be done by a well-known blogger over the telephone.
Lawful marriage
No one else has commented on the recent First Presidency statement on Same-Gender marriage, so I’ll venture something. Forgive me if this has been hashed out before — I haven’t read all of the gargantuan threads in the archives.
Technical problem solved?
This should be a blog administrator post, but I’m not blog administrator. Anyway, I tracked down the bug in the comment code. Please let me know if you have any unexpected problems posting now by replying to this comment. Of course, if you are having problems posting, you might not be able to reply, but I don’t think this was that kind of bug — comments were still getting through before the fix.
Worlds collide
Seinfeld fans will remember this memorable speech by George Costanza, contemplating the impending meeting of his fiancee Susan and his friend Elaine: George: You have no idea of the magnitude of this thing. If she is allowed to infiltrate this world then George Costanza as you know him ceases to exist. You see, right now I have Relationship George. But there is also Independent George. That’s the George you know, the George you grew up with… Movie George, Coffee Shop George, Liar George, Bawdy George. Jerry: I love that George. George: Me too, and he’s dying. If Relationship George walks through this door, he will kill Independent George. A George divided against itself cannot stand! Well, there’s Internet Bryce and Real-Life Bryce, and I’m pretty sure they’re different people. Will one kill off the other if they meet? We won’t know soon, since I won’t be in New York until Thanksgiving.
Differences in kind vs. differences in degree
Rusty at Nine Moons has recently offered a tri-partite model of nudity: P0rnography: nudity with the intent to arouse (Playb0y, p0rn sites, p0rn movies, etc.). Nudity: lack-of-clothing with the intent to display beauty, non-beauty, or nature (Manet, Rodin, fine art photography, etc.). Lack-of-clothing: no clothing with no intent except utilitarian purposes (breast feeding, showering, sex, etc.).
Gathering at the temple
I had occasion to reflect upon 3 Ne. 11 recently in preparation for a Gospel Doctrine lesson. As I tried to imagine what it would have been like to have lived through the calamities that were a part of the sign of Christ’s death in the Americas, I was struck again by the fact that the Nephites gathered at the temple spontaneously.
Alooooha!
(awkward pause) (waits expectantly)