The Daily Honky Tonk 183rd Edition

The Daily Honky Tonk
183rd Edition
Saturday, April 24, 2010
4:40 AM

Being perfectly honest, I’ve struggled a lot with sleep in my life. As my parents could tell you I stopped taking naps within the first year or so of my life. Tonight I find myself still awake and as I am starting this DHT it is 3:52 AM. Which likely means I will finish between 4:30 and 5:00. Usually my sleep finds me around 1 or 2 when I’m having a really hard time. The funny thing is I don’t even feel really tired right now. I know I’m going to be paying for this for the rest of today but sleep is just not coming. . .so I might as well write.

Moving

To be honest, I’m pretty sure tonight I’m awake because I’m moving. Big changes- they always lead to less sleep . . . Even when I am excited for the change. Starting a new school year, taking a plane somewhere else, at different points in dating, big tests, projects, performances, the night before leaving to be a missionary, before leaving the MTC, before coming home, before going to college. My mind and body tell me a big change is coming and nothing many things are about to change.
I have to admit that my feelings about moving are very bittersweet. I am excited for a change. But I realized that I have come to think of this room and the bed I am sitting on as my own. I’ve come to love all the people who are in my ward. I love them a lot. And it has been sad to see them go, and sad to think of others who I am leaving here. This is life. People move on. But now as I leave, I know that my heart has become attached- something I sometimes fear I don’t actually do with people. My feelings are proving some of my thoughts and assumptions wrong. I still feel for people and yearn for their closeness and the relationships I have with them. And I look ever so much forward to these next few months of adventure.

Big Events

My friend Kjerstine Young (formerly Jackson) just had a little girl, Adelaide. I’m excited for her.
I already mentioned moving.
I know several couples getting married today. Later tonight I’ll go to a wedding reception.
I finished another semester.
The play performances begin in just over a month.
Life is gorgeous in so many ways.

Movie Reviews

So it’s possible that I watch quite a few movies. I love watching movies. I love the music, the acting, the stories, and thought provoking messages.

How to Train Your Dragon
When it comes to thought provoking messages. . .not so much in this movie. When it comes to being good fun entertainment with a nice story “How to Train Your Dragon” is a winner. I’m sure you have seen plenty of dragons- but I bet you haven’t ever thought they looked cute or really wanted to have your own. Wait, I lie. If you read Eragon and the succeeding books you may have wanted a dragon. But you probably never thought of Eragon as cute. Anyway, its a fun movie and appropriate for a family outing.

Julie and Julia
Wow. I don’t think I reviewed The Blind Side- but The Blind Side has become one of my favorite movies of all. Why do I mention this, because I think Julie and Julia was a movie of similar caliber. Granted, I would love to watch The Blind Side over and over again. Julie and Julia, I would probably enjoy watching again in a year or two . ..but if I never got around to it I probably wouldn’t mind. However, it is a beautifully put together film. However, I think the real thing that sells this movie is Meryl Streep. Her acting is incredible in every shape way and form. This is perfect for a date night, or a cooking party with a more mature audience. There is a little bit of language and there are some suggestive scenes but nothing to graphic. Definitely worth a watch :)

The Village
So, tonight I went to a friends birthday party and when I came back I had a few more things that I needed to do to pack and so I put in The Village with the intent of not finishing it. In fact, once I was done packing, I turned it off. After laying in my bed without sleep coming, I decided to finish it. Now, typically I am not a fan of scary movies. They aren’t my thing. The darkness that resides in my heart when I watch one is not something I enjoy in the least bit. But this is actually my second time watching The Village because I love it. Now, the reason I was able to enjoy The Village enough the first time was that somebody explained to me what was happening. Not only was I told the reasons, but there is nothing supernatural in the movie. At the end of the movie there is no unsettling feeling. The only other scary movie that I enjoy is Signs. Interestingly enough, these are both by M. Night Shyalaman.
What intrigues me about Shyalamans films is that he is such a good storyteller. Both Signs and The Village are profound stories. One of the main themes of The Village is dealing with pain and suffering and life. The movie has profound insight to what is good and evil. It considers the extremes at which we might go to protect those that we love. It shows the depths of human care, joy, and sorrow. Shyalamans scripts are genius and beautiful. They discuss topics of faith, doubt, fear, hope, good, evil, and everything that is profound in life. Besides this, it is a movie that continues to unveil meaning upon re-watching.
Like Julie and Julia, this is another movie with incredible acting. The characters are rich. Two of the most interesting characters are a blind girl and a mentally retarded young man. But as a whole, the entirety of the cast does beautifully.
As a final plus, the music from The Village is absolutely gorgeous as it appropriately accompanies a beautiful green 18th Century village. If you are interested in watching and desire not to be scared, I can explain the main parts of the movie. However, it will spoil the movie in some senses. I still enjoyed it even knowing, more so then if I hadn’t. The other part of the movie, which I don’t really like is that there is a stabbing in it. I close my eyes. I don’t recommend this for the young. And I have given you the precautions that I still have.

I think that is all I want to write about tonight. Hope you enjoy. I’ve enjoyed getting responses back from people. Some I may not have responded to but fully meant to. I’ll have to go back and look. Thanks for reading. Or skimming :)

The Editor,
MARK

The Daily Honky Tonk 182nd Edition

The Daily Honky Tonk
182nd Edition
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
4:25 PM

Two weeks turn around on writing another DHT. I like this much better. It could have to do with the fact that I finished all my finals and don’t start spring classes again till Tuesday. I’m also most of the way packed to move and did a lot of cleaning on my apartment. And I don’t even move out until Saturday. So I think I am in pretty good shape.
Mainly in this email I want to share a few quotes that I found recently and to re-share a piece I wrote back in 2006 that I’m pretty proud of.

Quotes

From a Word A Day by Anu Garg- an interesting quote about effecting change. However, I think that in reality everyone needs to be willing to “be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation”.
Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation. -Susan B. Anthony, reformer and suffragist (1820-1906)

From my Book of Mormon class, a letter that our Professor once received that talks about what Faith really is.
“I worry when we sometimes teach our children that if they have enough faith, God will restore a lost dollar, a lost toy, or a lost school paper to them. What will they think when God does not restore a lost parent or sibling? Do we set them up to fail in their faith? We teach them the belief that faith is enough to get what they most want. When in fact, faith is being willing to trust what God wants, whatever that might be.
“I have spent a lot of time wondering why my faith was not enough to change things. What I have come to understand is, that sometimes it takes more faith to accept things as they are, than it does to change them. I have also come to understand that true faith is trusting God, even when it hurts desperately, even when we don’t feel equal to what is asked of us, even when we don’t seem to receive what we live for, even when we feel so alone, even when we don’t understand. With the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we do not give up, give out, or give in. We endure, we trust with faith that we will someday understand. We strive to love God as Christ did, and to trust in His perfect love for us.”

I love the line in this letter “even when it hurts desperately”. I don’t even know that I’ve hurt desperately, but sometimes my heart has ached for a long time as I have tried to understand something. But its not necessary to understand everything. Nobody does and nobody asks us to.

Baby

Fallout boy has a song called “Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner,” (I actually don’t even really know what it sounds like, but Amy said it was her favorite one time) but to say “Nobody” is a big assumption and I am going to prove that assumption as false. I, myself put Baby in the corner all the time. In fact, that is where Baby belongs; in the corner. By putting her in the corner I can find her and pick her up again each morning. It’s nice to see Baby in the corner all quiet and pretty. And when I pick her up, she sings. Or, at least it sounds like music to me.
Baby is my acoustic guitar- a Jasmine model by the guitar company Takamine. I found her in a little guitar shop in Urbana, the kind where the guy running the store probably owns and loves it. He was very nice, very helpful in finding a guitar, and was also very knowledgeable about guitars. It didn’t take long before we found the Takamine; it had just come in. Who knew that you could buy such a great friend for one hundred and twenty dollars?
Baby and I can play for hours and often, we do. Until of course, a couple of people in the house get tired of us repeating the same music to make sure we have just the right words and just the right sounds. So Baby and I take a break, knowing we can pick back up right where we left off. It’s rather pleasant to know your friend will be in the same temper it was the last time you left it- even if you are not.
Sometimes I play Baby because I’m sad. Sometimes because I want to get rid of some anger or stress. But most of the time I play Baby because it makes me happy. With no relevance to whether I am sad, angry, or happy- Baby still sings beautiful and clear, even when I cannot.
Some days I just sit with Baby running through the same old stuff. Making sure it stays in my head so I don’t forget it. But then, Baby and I like to explore; try new chord combinations, write new lyrics, and form beginnings of new songs. When Baby and I can’t figure things out, we just walk away to wait a little while.
While waiting I start listening to music. No, not hearing music- listening to it. Breaking it down into components. The voice fluctuates here, but the guitar doesn’t come in till here. Oh! Did you catch what the drum did right there. Genius. Once you take the component apart to see what you do, you can put them back together. I like that. It makes me feel like a little mechanic.
When I was a little kid, I played with Legos all the time. I loved piecing the colored brick together into spaceships of exploration, armies to fight out civil wars, and space wars and wars where Indians, space guys, cowboys, and revolutionaries all fought on the same battleground? I loved building massive cities with buildings two or three bricks high where Lego people became real, ran businesses, and fell in love. This was great, I loved it. But I often wandered and kind of wished in my little heart that I was like the kids who had to tear things up and figure out how they worked; like for example my cousins Russel and Shelvin. But apparently I must have been afraid of the consequences of tearing things up. Because all I ever did was build. And if I couldn’t make it on my own then it wasn’t that important. Sadly, I lack a mechanical understanding of electricity, cars, home repair, etc.; in short, when I grow up, I’ll read the manual. But it wasn’t the same with music.
Music was something I could grasp. We bought a piano for about seventy-five dollars off our close friends the Walkers. Out of tune, with ruined keys, it should have been on the side of the street (which is where it did eventually end up, soaked by rain, sounding awful and sick). But instead my parents bought it with hopes of getting it tuned and repaired (when we finally called to see what the cost would be to repair and tune the piano, they told us it would be better to buy a new one- repair costs would have been prohibitive). After they bought it, that piano sat there in our house- looking pretty?
At the time it was beautiful to me. I kept asking my parents to let me take lessons. Finally, after a year of me pleading for lessons, they found Kevin Wells, a piano teacher from another ward in Roanoke Virginia. So, in fourth grade, I began to unlock the components of the piano, and, in reality, to all music.
I recall flying through the first couple of lesson books, barely able to contain the excitement. Progress, learn more, progress, get better. I was breaking into a beautiful world that was mine to play with. At the time though, I only knew the parts of the music world that others had created. It didn’t matter though, I loved playing others music. Because I could play others music, in a way it became mine.
It wasn’t till shortly before we moved that I started really listening to music. After we moved, music became my constant companion. My new piano teacher, Brother Nakea, studied piano performance at the University of Illinois, and still meets with a professor before performing sets of work by Chopin, Mozart, and Grieg. With this type of apprenticeship and previous learning, my pinao teacher has been able to extend my understanding of music far beyond anything I imagined. He opened my eyes to writing music, to loving the intricacies that the composers put in. Little did I realize when I started piano that one day I would be able to play a group of notes on the piano and tell what scale they came from. Now, I am running through a piece and I’ll stumble through a section. “play that first chord Mark, and name it.” “G# Major 7?” I ask uncertain. “Yes.” “So the G# Major scale is . . .” “Actually, there is no G# Major scale, it’s used for chords, but you write music in A Flat Major.” “Oooooh.” I feel like a little boy again. I get giddy with excitement when I start to see a composer’s patterns. I get even more giddy when I realize how I can apply it to my own music. That little boy desire to tear things apart and build again is realized. I get to ear music apart and piece it back together.
This destructive and constructive phase been coming together for years. Now, things start to fall in line and I can write music. Baby and Piano are extra appendages for building the music. And when I throw my voice on top, even if not the greatest, then I can add an extra layer of music, and of words. Words and music are two of the most powerful influences I know. The feelings they create are quite evident. Music and words can bring the Holy Ghost into a church meeting. They create National pride when large groups of people sing the National anthem together in unison. Music and words are vital to everything we are. They are vital to me.

The Editor,
Mark

The Daily Honky Tonk 181st Edition

The Daily Honky Tonk
181st Edition
April 6, 2010
12:17 AM

I thought I would take a few minutes to respond to the requests of Taryn and Amy and give an update on my life. I’ve started writing again and again, and then I get tired and go to sleep and don’t come back to writing. Or I just write in my journal instead of sending all my thoughts out through the virtual world to your reality.

My life looks like this:
School, Work, Play Practice, Church, Friends, Dating

School
This will be the completion of my third full semester at BYU. I attended Spring Term last year and will do so again, leaving my summer term open to recover for a month or so before I jump into the next Fall Semester.
Highlights of this year in school have been doing a TMA 101 class in which I wrote a play that was performed in front of our class. In January, I got into the English teaching program. During my free time on Campus I tend to live in the library in the Maps section on the Second Floor. Some classes that I have really enjoyed are my Book of Mormon class, Psychology 111 (Intro to Psychology), TMA 101 (Intro to Theater), and English 292 (British Literature). I have not been a fan of my Biology class, but I’ve almost completed my Science Credits.

Work
I still work for BYU Catering. Which I really enjoy doing. I work as a Captain leading out events by instructing other workers how to set up and serve. I’ve always enjoyed the food business. When I was little I wanted to own a restaurant. I don’t want to now, but I love serving people food. I love the variety in this job. Every event is different and I get to meet new people all the time. During the football season Catering kept me for 12-13 hours on Saturdays to drive trucks delivering food and supplies to different food stations around the football stadium. I enjoy the people I work with and like being able to start and complete something each time I work.

Play Practice
I’m just going to say at this point Theater is my obsession. I watch at least one play a week (luckily it’s a free student production) and about a third of the time I see two plays in a week. If I don’t go to a play I attend International Cinema, Divine Comedy( a comedy sketch group on Campus), and LOL (the improv comedy group on campus). Besides having my play produced by my group in TMA 101, I got to be part of a Student Production “I Love Lysistrada” at the beginning of the Winter Semester. Currently, I am in a main stage production called “Mysteries of Monster Grove” that will be playing May 26- June 12. The play is actually based on the concept of a children’s book author who works at BYU. We’ve been writing the play together as a cast. I am cast as Dad, an accountant who has come to monster grove to solve all the money problems. I am also writing a significant portion of the music for the performance on Piano. I love being a part of this project.
Three or Four days ago I was laying around and realized that I am in love. No, not with a girl. I’m in love with theater. I’m going to take a playwriting class in the fall and an acting class in the Spring. One of my life ambitions has become more firmly that I will write a musical.
Besides acting and drama fun on campus, I’ve done a number of little performances with some friends in my ward. My friend Sam and I performed a Mormonized version of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First” skit called “Who’s in the RSP”. We also did a Monty Python skit called “The Four Yorkshiremen”. And now Sam and I are writing the BYU 194th Ward Year in Review – a comedy skit to perform before everyone leaves for the summer. These are the things I love.

Church
Keeps me busy as always. I continue to grow and learn about the Gospel. I keep learning and trying to understand life. Everyday I learn new things and I am more and more greatful for the Spirit and the Atonement. I still enjoy pondering over Gospel topics and their application. I am not as black and white as I was in my youth. And I think I am more of a realist than an idealist. I consider these to be advances that come with a greater understanding of the gospel. I also find that they have benefited the way I interact with and understand people. I continue to strive everyday to know what the Lord wants me to do. I try and listen for the Spirit and act on it. I still feel I have a long way to go in learning charity, humility, and obedience. . .but I’ve become much more appreciative of Christ’s sacrifice and how it gives me strength to become better, and to not feel guilty for every little thing I do wrong.

Friends
I continue to struggle to understand what it means to have a friendship. When I work on forming my friendships I often feel selfish. I feel like I’m not as good at listening to people. I don’t feel like I’m very good at building trust in individuals. And I even find that I have problems letting myself get close to people. Don’t get me wrong. I have LOTS of friends. And I enjoy them. But, I don’t have many very deep relationships. I’ve kind of accepted that. In fact, I’m excited because my friend Sam and I are going to be roommates for the spring summer in one complex and in the fall we are moving to another one . ..which means in the next four months I’ll meet a lot more people. . .which I like. It’s just different than what I really want. Which segues into . .

Dating
When it comes down to it, I think my favorite quote about dating is still one that hung in Amy’s apartment from one of her old roommates “Dating is like communism, it’s a good idea, but the practical application sucks.” It makes me laugh every time I think of it. I’ve struggled to figure anything about dating out. Sam and Phil like to tease me about my dating life. Who is the new girl this week Mark?(Phil) A date for this week, no, Mark has twelve lined up. (Sam) They tease me about it. I really haven’t dated that much. Because I was thinking about it and trying to figure out what I know about dating, I worked to recall every girl I’ve been on a date with. Since turning 16 I could come up with names for about 35 different girls. About 22 of those dates have been since coming to BYU. I don’t know whether that’s good or bad. I date more than most guys I know. But that’s the only way one can figure out. I think my biggest issue is that this is the one thing that I’ve cared about more than almost anything since I was 11 or 12 years old. It’s a perfectionist issue, I have to get it right as I can or something. Every date I go on I learn a little bit something more. I try as hard as I can to make the date good and comfortable and safe for whoever I am out with. I can’t think of a date I haven’t enjoyed. That makes it hard to figure out what I want. Even when I try things out, I still come off confused.
For now I’ll have to keep praying, going out on dates, and trying my best to serve the girls I go on dates with.


Well, that’s all for now folks. I need sleep.
The Editor,
MARK

The Daily Honky Tonk 180th Edition

The Daily Honky Tonk
180th Edition
Thursday, January 7, 2010
12:18 AM

*Note: My address book seems to pick up email addresses that I don’t ask it to. . .but I don’t know on what pretext it does so. If you feel you have erroneously received the DHT feel free to request your name removed. I will proceed to discover that you are on my list and then remove you as requested. :)

The nature of the DHT has change over the course of the years that I have been writing. From the early days as a ploy to see emails appear in my inbox, to an emotional and thinking outlet for my high school years, and now I think my vision has changed. I still see the DHT as an outlet, especially for what I am thinking. I have become aware, that the DHT when published on a frequent basis, allows me to better sort and organize thoughts logically. As well as improving my writing skills. While these are selfish motives, I recognize that writing can and has had a powerful influence in the course and direction of our world. Speeches, letters, news articles, and many other forms of writing have drastically shaped the course of human events. In desiring to be a teacher, I would hope to be able to express ideas to students that will change the course of their lives and educations for the better. I made a goal, no matter how short, that I would try and write more frequently. And so, today I want to share a number of quotes that I have come to appreciate from the Word a Day emails, classes, and other sources:

It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe. -Thomas Paine, philosopher and writer (1737-1809)

Naive you are / if you believe / life favours those / who aren't naive. -Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996)

“If we start right, it is very easy for us to go right all the time; but if we start wrong, we may go wrong, and it is a hard matter to get right.”- Joseph Smith

“A true principle makes decisions clear even under the most confusing and compelling circumstances.”- Elder Richard G. Scott- Marriage and Family Life class

“How a principle would best apply to one partner might not be the best application of that principles for the other partner.”- Professor Ken Mattheson- from powerpoint in Marriage and Family Life Class

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”- Martin Luther King Jr.- I have a dream speech
(Editorial Comment: I have to wander whether we still value as a society the importance of judging one by their character. If we judged people by the content of their character would we have such corrupt politics? Why do we vote people into office without virtue? The founders believed the people would select those whom are most virtuous. One may ask whether there are virtuous leaders to vote for.)

“ . . .an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”- Martin Luther King Jr. - Letter from Brimingham Jail

Our government doesn’t work anymore, or perhaps more accurately, when it does, it works for special interests and not the American people. Washington consistently stoops to legislate 10,000-page perversions of healthcare, regulatory reform, defense, and budgetary mandates overflowing with earmarks that serve a monied minority as opposed to an all-too-silent majority. You don’t have to be Don Quixote to believe that legislators – and Presidents – often do not work for the benefit of their constituents: A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll reported that over 65% of Americans trust their government to do the right thing “only some of the time” and a stunning 19% said “never.” What most politicians apparently are working for is to perpetuate their power – first via district gerrymandering, and then second by around-the-clock campaigning financed by special interest groups. - Bill Gross “Let’s Get Fisical” fromt the PIMCO Website
http://www.pimco.com/LeftNav/Featured+Market+Commentary/IO/2010/Let%E2%80%99s+Get+Fisical+January+2010.htm

“It is impossible to overestimate the unimportance of most things”- source unknown, quoted to us by our home teacher Brother Steve Smith as a quote he keeps in his office as a professor at the U of I.

That’s all for now folks :)

The Editor,
MARK

The Daily Honk Tonk 179th Edition

The Daily Honky Tonk
179th Edition
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
10:53PM

Last DHT: September 16, 2009 = 3 Months of Life
What’s Changed: A lot of everything :)
Things I’m going to write about in this Edition
Politics: Why Obama and I aren’t Friends
Some specially wrapped memories

Why Obama and I aren’t Friends (besides the fact that we have never met)

When Obama was put in office around a year ago I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to think. I didn’t vote for him (but I wasn’t all that impressed with the person I did vote for) . . . But seeing as he was in office I didn’t what to make too quick of a judgment. I wrote about my frustration with the political system and the difficulty in discerning what was real and fake. I decided to sit back and watch to decide what I thought of Obama. I decided to continually read the news and keep myself updated on what was going on in the world. After a year of President Obama I can definitely say I’m not a fan. Here are my reasons:
-The gargantuan increase of National Debt that causes me to wander when money will lose its value and when the economy will fall apart.
-The appearance of Obama in every part of the news. Obama has appeared in the news more than any President I can remember. I find myself weary to read an article unrelated to Obama that mentions that he is aware of what is going on. Hmmm . . .
-The previous comment tied with extra presence everywhere: Obama went to the World Climate Gathering, he went to make a bid for Chicago in front of the Olympic committee, and he won a Nobel Peace Prize without doing anything other than increasing that American Taxpayers will have to make up to be paid (partly) to those who don’t believe nor practice the principles of self-reliance.
-Finally, the thing that bugs me the most is the way that the laws are being passed. I commented on my discomfort with the Stimulus package flying through congress without people being able to read it. . .but it seems to be a pattern. The most recent Health Care Reform vote in the Senate was ridiculous. States were bribed with individual rewards to cast in their vote to finally get the required sixty votes. The Senate has a part to blame here, but Obama was pushing it and I read headlines announcing his disappointment that it wasn’t just flying through so the changes could start. I think its ridiculous that a bill can get passed on bribes, without the bill being available to be read and studied out. I wouldn’t feel so bad about it if people had seen it and been able to make a decision based on what was contained and how they thought it would effect American citizens. But a bill that is passed by making deals in front of everybody to give favor to a state whose vote they want it disgusting. I suspect the Founders of this nation are turning in their graves.

On a lighter note, a funny look at all the goings on this year was written by Dave Barry. Caleb and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it out loud and laughing at Barry’s quirky reminders of what all has happened. . .you can read the article here http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/dave-barry/story/1397654.html

To the Memory of Christmas

A Summary of The Semester, Break, and Life:

• As of today Amy Bucey is Mrs. Amy Knowlton. This past semester has certainly been one of tying the knot. I’ve never had so many engaged and recently married friends. Chelsea, Laura, and Amy are married now. Three young women who changed and influenced my life in so many ways. I was glad that I had the opportunity to know all of their spouses and I feel confident that they are in good hands. I’m not sure what I would have done if I didn’t like the boys they chose, but I am filled with joy knowing they are well married . . After all they deserve the best.
• Jonathan Brewster lived with me this semester .. .oh this semester will be memorable just through Jonathan- The Ever Running Skype relationship between him and his girlfriend, the all-nighters once or twice a week, and I am now a certified PHD on ADHD :)
• Catering Life has consumed me. I love my job. Wait .. .let me rephrase that .. I really love my job.
• In related news I am dating a girl who is amazing.
• And as for being home:
  
  • Wii Games (MarioKart, Super Smash Brothers, and Skiing)
  • Nerf Gun Battles
  • Dinner Conversations
  • Snow Ball Fights
  • Sledding
  • Early Morning Indoor Soccer
  • Finishing a Dental Implant . . Say goodbye to the flipper (which by the way made for exciting first dates before having a girlfriend :) )
  • Christmas Eve Soup Dinner
  • Watching my siblings on Christmas Morning (Most Original gift was definitely from Nathan (13) who gave me an old wallet prefilled with 3 dollar bills and a fourth in coins :) )
  • Recording music with my new nifty microphone
  • Reading books for fun! - Peter and the Starcatchers, Catching Fire (2nd Hunger Games book), and 3 Cups of Tea
  • Being productive by working to finish my independent study.
  • Watching my 3 year old sister enjoy and dance in her new ballet tutu’s.
  • Having time to write this DHT :)
  • Just wanting to eat my family up in case they decide to take off on a few month world tour :)
  • And enjoying listening to all they read about touring the world (this returns to dinner conversations)
    

Speaking of dinner conversations and closing so I can go to sleep tonight something funny happened at dinner. My mom was talking about a book she was reading written by a peace worker who went to Africa. In the book it talked about how the women would prepare and cook all the food and then the men would come and eat what they wanted. Whatever was left would then be divided between women and children, which apparently wasn’t usually very much. We were talking about how different that would be and how we were glad that wasn’t part of our society. Gideon declared that if he lived there he would divide the food among everyone fairly and he would eat last. Nathan, said that he wouldn’t allow his wife to eat first. He said if he let her eat first she would then get on a throne and start whipping telling him to get her food, to do this and to do that. Nathan is hilarious.

Goodnight friends,
The Editor,
MARK

The Daily Honky Tonk 178th Edition

The Daily Honky Tonk
178th Edition
September 16, 2009
1:20 PM

Table of Contents
Intro
Different ways of ending notes
On the subject of rape
Ugly to Beauty Gap

Song Lyrics

I took a stress test for my independent study course on health recently and got a score of 624. The computer generated response underneath my score: “Almost 80 percent [of people] with this score get sick in the near future.” I’m lucky that I almost never get sick. I also have know for the last couple days that I just need to throw down my thoughts on paper and send it out into the vast enormity of that shared space we call the web. I’ve never figured out why telling people these things is more therapeutic than just writing in my journal. If someone knows a study about that I would be interested to read it. I would be interested if I could do whatever transfer of emotion through the DHT in a journal written to myself instead. Anyway, I just wrote about things I’ve been thinking about. Enjoy.

“Words form the thread on which we string our experience”- Alduous Huxley- Author

Different ways of ending notes,

“Love, so and so” “Your Friend” “Yours Truly” “Thanks”
Love is pretty clear . ..you use that for your parents, family, and usually for a person you are dating. But sometimes you also use it for a really close friend. When not used consistently, it becomes quite confusing as to how the person feels.
“Your Friend” seems like it should be really basic as well. But don’t we use “Your friend” to those we are interested in before we are ready to tell them directly that we are interested. . .and while it might not say more to them, as an individual we hope they will read between the letters of friend. And sometimes we use it as a polite gesture to people we don’t even know and who wouldn’t appear on our life list of friends.
“Yours Truly” is in my opinion the most ridiculous. What does that mean? I’m yours, for real, as well as everyone elses who I finish in the same way. I can’t be just yours, and not even truly yours. What kind of privileges does that entitle to the reader from the sender. Can they rely on you? Can they trust you? And how are is one “truly” somebody elses. Aren’t we just somebody’s and not even truly then because we are somebody to many other somebodies.

On the Subject of Rape

Recently I was reading from my Physical Health Independent Study Course and I read these statistics:
Victims would be 97 percent more willing to report the rape if there were laws protecting confidentiality and disclosure of the rape victim's name.
Source: National Victim Center
Sixty-six percent of rape victims are concerned about being blamed by others.
Source: National Woman's Study
Now, I am writing about this for the moment because I don’t know if these statistics are still true. The course was designed in the 90s and I assume they would update it. . .but it caught my attention. Why would they not have laws protecting confidentiality? That doesn’t make any sense to me. In fact, it really frustrates me. I’ve had people confide in me about being raped and to think that there isn’t a law protecting them makes me very frustrated. It’s something I think worth changing. But I would like to know where I could read the laws on the topic. I tried to find a place where I could read up on the laws and was having trouble. Maybe I should go to the law school and see if they can help me. Anyway, if it is true that they aren’t protected I want to do something about it.
As a funny note, the other day I was voicing my concerns with a girl about what I read and I accidentally started the conversation saying... “I’ve been thinking about rape recently”.

Ugly to Beauty Gap

I was with Amy the other day when she brought up an interesting concept- the Ugly to Beauty Gap. The Ugly to Beautiful Gap is the measurement of the difference between a person just getting out of bed or coming home from a run and getting ready for a date. Amy noted that some people have a really big gap and some don’t have much potential to change between the two.
We talked about how if you a big gap you have the advantage of being able to stun your date. While if your gap is really small it’s going to make little difference if you spend 20 minutes or an hour preparing for your date.
Amy posed the question to me and a friend “What would you prefer; to wake up next to a pretty girl, or to have a girl who turns heads like a movie star when you take her in public.” If I’m talking to Amy the right answer is the girl who turns your head when she get’s dressed up. If I’m not talking to Amy and I’m supposed to give the answer I actually think then I want a girl who I will always think is pretty. I think I lean towards my dad’s preference. I’m not big on makeup or extra fluff, I’d rather see someone as they really are and be attracted to that. Amy was mad because she is determined that her gap is big. I would give her the assessment that she gave me “You have a medium sized gap.” She disagreed and said I hadn’t seen her at the lowest. I reminded her of a couple instances where I saw her when she was sick or had just waken up.
I’ve been reflecting to see if their are any good examples of this in our popular media. Princess Diaries is a prime reflection of the Ugly Gap portrayed correctly. Cinderella Story is a failure. ( I apologize to Amy for including a movie with Hillary Duff). In the Princess Diaries the show a huge gap. Granted they had to do a bit to make Anne Hatheway not look pretty, but we definitely as a viewer are not attracted to her. But then there is a huge turn around and the Gap is closed. Although she doesn’t go through that gap day to day. A fallacy for sure. Cinderella Story fails because they never make Hillary look bad. In fact, her character would be a prime example of she’s not much prettier dressed up for the ball than when she is sitting in her room texting in her pjs. Hmmm. . .granted, it’s a film, and we never really see Hillary Duff not dressed up. But I think it illustrates it well. I need to think of a male example. .. Hmmm .. .having trouble. That’s okay. It would probably be worrisome if I could tell you about male attractiveness differences.
Anyway, it was a fun conversation to have and to think about. The Ugly to Pretty Gap is going into my conversational concepts file with “Wingmans and The D.U.F.F.”, “Awkward Dating Stories”, and “Things you probably shouldn’t tell a girl” :)

Song Lyrics

Title Unknown- Nick Day- “Just because I wanted to I tripped and fell in love with you” Love is a choice.
Hot Air Balloon- Owl City: “We wrote a prelude to our own fairytale”- I love the metaphor here.
For Liz(She)- Parachute “How can the only thing that’s killing me make me feel so alive.” The up’s and downs of dating life anyone? Ha ha. . .I love how the piano is the driving force in this song.
Let’s Go- Cartel “Let’s go; take the world with me”- I do love a good song that reminds people have the power to make change and we can in a sense “take the world”.
Life is a Highway- Rascall Flats: “Life is a Highway, I wanna ride it all night long”- this whole song is about enjoying life and just living it and loving it. I know it isn’t new. .. But I fell in love with it recently.
Both Sides Now- Mindy Gledhill- “Rose and flows of angel hair, and Ice cream castles in the air and feather canyons everywhere, I’ve looked at clouds that way. But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone, so many things I would have done but clouds got in my way. I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down , and still somehow it’s cloud illusions I recall, I really don’t know clouds at all.”
“I’ve looked at love from both sides now, from give and take, and still somehow it’s loves illusions I recall, I really don’t know love at all”- I include the lyrics because they take me to the edge of my imagination and because they speak towards the truth of being able to see opposition in all things, whether it be clouds or love and how in general I would still choose the illusions. . .and maybe not so much as illusions, but what I think of as realistic hope. I try and avoid the idealistic hope I used to preach. . .that only takes a person to extremes.

The Editor,
MARK

The Daily Honk Tonk 177th Edition

The Daily Honky Tonk
177th Edition
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
9:05 PM

This edition I’m just going to title Mark’s Minutes- because they are all just short little random bits.

Written Tonight
Chelsea’s Wedding: There is a stigma as a member of the church that when people go to BYU they get married rather quickly. I remember being sure that I would return and several of my good friends would be married. However, they weren’t married when I got home. However, now having been home nearly a year that statistic is changing. Yesterday, I got to attend Chelsea’s wedding (going out to lunch with Laura, Katie, and Jon, I made the connection afterwards with the fact that she is the youngest). I’ve never had the opportunity to attend a Sealing (the ceremony of marriage in the Temple that allows couples to be together forever). The Spirit and joy in the Temple was overwhelming. I felt so incredibly happy. It made me want to get married!!! (In due time of course). A couple things stuck out that the Sealer said to Chelsea and Justin to me. He reminded them that they have very different talents and that they are to build on them and never compete through them. Then he talked about the Holy Spirit of Promise. His words struck me a lot. I remember while I was studying in the scriptures, I discovered not long before leaving for California about the Holy Spirit of Promise and the important role the Spirit plays in confirmation of individual events and things. The Holy Spirit of Promise comes up when we talk about marriages, baptisms, and other similar ordinances. The Holy Spirit of Promise is what confirms that those actions are recognized and effective in the eyes of God. The Sealer talked about the importance of looking for the Spirit of Promise confirming little things. It made me think about the little instances in which the Holy Spirit of Promise comes in and blesses our lives. As a missionary, there would be times when the Spirit would fall upon me and tell me that my offering was acceptable before the Lord and that I was doing what he wanted. In friendships and relationships with others, I’ve noticed that the Spirit will come into a conversation for several purposes. Sometimes I’ve noticed that the feeling is one that is an increased love and understanding that helps us build relationships. Sometimes, it confirms that the conversation is something you or the other person needed to hear. And sometimes the Spirit comes not in talking but in the way you treat each other (the Sealer mentioned that to Chelsea and Justin).

She Is Love- by Parachute
** This is a recently discovered song that I really like. It’s interesting because this song could be interpreted to be about a girl or it could be a general description of the power of love.

I've been beaten down, I've been kicked around,
But she takes it all for me.
And I lost my faith, in my darkest days,
But she makes me want to believe.

They call her love, love, love, love, love.
They call her love, love, love, love, love.
She is love, and she is all I need.

She's all I need.

Well I had my ways, they were all in vain,
But she waited patiently.
It was all the same, all my pride and shame,
And she put me on my feet.

Chorus

And when that world slows down, dear.
And when those stars burn out, here.
Oh she'll be here, yes she'll be here,
They call her love, love, love, love, love.
They call her love, love, love, love, love.
They call her love, love, love, love. love.

Chorus

Written at the beginning of last week
My brother sent me an email to inform me about a change in his email address. He mentioned that he felt that his old address was juvenile. It kind of made me laugh because I really liked his email address. But then I started to think about moments with my email address. With people I don’t know, I usually don’t get much of a reaction. You know, when some business or school person asks for your email, they hear so many unique ones that they don’t really bother to ask, and they don’t usually show any emotion about it. But sometimes I’m nervous when I catch a look or I can tell they want to ask. Then when friends or new acquaintances ask about it there is always a chuckle when I say Honky Tonk and then an “oh, that’s actually really cool” when I explain what it is. Just a funny little thought pattern I wanted to record.

I saw a blog where a friend said in a list of things she can do that she can “Fall in love”. I haven’t thought about the agency involved in falling in love in quite a while. Can I fall in love? Or do I just have too much fear of letting someone that close?

I’ve always believed that I’m not very photogenic. Every once in a while I’ve seen pictures that I thought looked good. But if I’m going to look at myself, I usually feel better in a mirror than in a picture. I was looking through the pictures that are posted of me on Facebook and I was reminded of a comment a friend made after she met me. She said “The pictures I saw of you before I met you don’t really do you justice” or something to that effect. . .whatever she said it translated to “Wow, pictures of you don’t turn out well, I’m glad you look better than that.” It made me laugh because she’s a friend who is very honest and direct and doesn’t bury her comments in mush and it made me feel better that at least one other person recognizes that when I take pictures they don’t turn out very well.


The Editor,
MARK