Category: Cornucopia

The blog party at D’s was a great success. It was quite interesting to put faces to names. (Kristine’s reaction when Steve Evans introduced himself: “No you’re not!”). We had a lot of people there: D, Kristine, Steve and Sumer, Mat and Gigi Parke, Logan and Amy Bobo, Bob Caswell, Christina Taber-Kewene & Manahi, Chris…

This afternoon, renowned historian (and former T & S guest-blogger) Richard Bushman was the speaker at a meeting of the J Reuben Clark society in New York. The event was held at a reputable law firm in midtown. Brother Bushman discussed Joseph Smith and how politics was viewed in the early church. He suggested that…

Last night on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer there was a segment with Tom Frank, the author of What’s the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. Frank argues that conservatives have successfully used cultural issues to con the lower and middle classes into voting against what Frank believes to be their…

NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUSTIN, Texas – October 28, 2004 – Smith Industries LLC today proudly announces the release of their latest product, Child 3.0. Also known as “Truman Michael Smith,� Child 3.0 has been under development for nine months and arrives just in time for the holiday season.

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…

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 given an assignment in a Hebrew class years ago to write an essay about the topic of nostalgia. Feeling slightly rebellious I decided to bend the rules a little and write a poem instead. I don’t have the Hebrew original in my possession anymore but from memory and with a little bit of…

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…

I will handle this topic as gently as I can. In this post I wonder whether Mormons who choose to leave the church are disproportionately likely to lean left politically. As most of you know, I’m a political conservative, so I’m afraid this topic will make some readers defensive. That is not my intention. It…

Tonight is a lunar eclipse. Don’t miss it. Next up in the series: Is Nate Oman really a space alien? New evidence and panel discussion, followed by a grape-juice and cheese reception.

Recent posts at Wump and Birds Eye discuss the blog party which took place last week in Salt Lake. (Are there any more reports I’ve missed?). The consensus seems to be, in Monsonian terms: Blogging was discussed; cheese was eaten; fun was had. And in case anyone has missed the uber-thread (now available without abortion…

Over at We Win, They Lose, Brent argues that Amendment 3 opponents are being disingenuous to suggest that the amendment could have a negative effect on unmarried couples. Brent suggests that this is not the case, writing that “I can draft a will leaving property to whomever I like. . . . Furthermore, the Amendment…

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…

Though I have never been on a formal mission, my first five years in the Church were closely tied to missionaries. I was their age, I worked intensely with them.

As readers of this blog already know, I have a tendency to whine a great deal about the quality Mormon discussions. I have even been accused of being boring on the subject, which is no doubt a fair enough criticism.

I was surfing around some of my favorite blogs for something to post about, and there were a couple of interesting posts, none of which I am going to link to. Rather, I am going to muse for a few minutes about the pernicious effect of democracy on blogging.

It’s completely off-topic, but we can use a few excursions to the off-topic every now and then, in between our discussions of abortion, gay marriage, and the evils of Sunstone. Besides, it’s a fun mental exercise, and it’s also fun to see other people’s musical tastes. So here are the rules: You have a CD…

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness. (Proverbs 14:13)

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…

Recently, I’ve noticed a bit of bloggernacle discussion over a question of burning importance: How to pronounce “Kaimi.” Here’s the short answer: Ka-EE-mee. It has three syllables, you stress the middle one, and Hawaiian pronounces its vowels more-or-less identical to Spanish.

A new week brings with it a new guest blogger. We’re very happy to have as a guest someone whose name most regular T & S readers will recognize: bloggernacker and frequent comment participator Daniel H. Bartholomew, aka Danithew.

To continue with the international perspective I was asked to give, here is one post that opens the door to some political debate… I hope it will not deviate too much from the questions asked at the end! Two items to set the perspective: 1) First, the vast majority of Mormon pioneers who came from…

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Primary programs all around. I have mixed feelings on these. Some of them are clearly disastrous. But some can be a fun experience for kids, and not too awful for adults either.

Our former guest-blogger, the intrepid Claudia Bushman, has alerted me to the party of the year. It is (of course) the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the New York, New York stake. (What, didn’t you all know?) She writes: A special commemorative meeting of music, talks, and film will celebrate the organization of the…

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).…

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…

For some, it was a modern-day miracle. For others, it was one of the disasters foretold for the last days. And whatever one’s religious affiliation, it is almost certainly a sign of the Apocalypse.