I think my 6-year-old is going to be a salesman. Here's the transcript of a conversation he had with my wife while they were doing their daily "10-minute-clean-up" :
( this is amusing to me )

I did it.

After literally years of looking, I finally found a recording of "Russian Christmas Music." (this is the piece I arranged and wrote lyrics to for my church choir to sing this past christmas).

You need Flash Player to listen, but Flash player is free.

Oh, and be warned it's 15 minutes long. But, oh my will that 15 minutes be worth it.

Here's the song

I hope you enjoy. I sure did.

shanra recently did a review of Diary of a Young Girl (a.k.a. The Diary of Anne Frank). In it she mentioned that it is a book that everyone ought to read. And that got me thinking about what books I think everyone ought to read.

And that has led to this list:

( the list of books )

I hate going to WalMart.

And as much as I'd like to say it's because I don't approve of the company's business practices (which I don't, at least some of the time), that isn't the real reason. Sadly, the truth is much less idealistic.

I hate shopping at WalMart because, from the moment I step in the store, I feel like white trash. Mostly because I feel like I'm surrounded by white trash. And honestly, I hate even admitting this. Talk about being judgemental (I know, and I'm appalled by myself - really, I am), but the truth is I feel how I feel.

( Musings on a parallel universe )

There was a sad article in my local newspaper today. It was about a boy, 14 years old, who got a headache. At first neither he nor his parents thought anything of it, but it wouldn't go away. When the pain medicine stopped working, the worried boy asked his parents if he was going to die.

His dad reassured him that he would be okay.

The boy died.

Only after he died did the doctors find out what had happened: a rare amoeba had gotten into the boy's head and eaten his brain. The boy got the amoeba in him, it seems, while swimming in a lake by his home.

What a horrible thing. Horrible for the parents to witness. Horrible for the poor boy, terrified that he would die only to do so.

( But this makes everything worse. )

Well, I've read a bit from taram_42 and shanra talking about the ALA's Annual Banned Books List, and I decided, at the risk of everyone deciding that I'm some crazy nutcase, to put in my two cents. I thought about replying, but decided I just have too much to say for a reply here and there.

First of all: many of my favorite books are or have been on the "Banned Books List." Harry Potter, To Kill a Mockingbird (in my opinion the second greatest book about childhood ever written, just behind Ender's Game), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Giver, Bridge to Terabithia, Farenheit 451, and on and on and on. Let's be honest - if you love to read and love good stories, a lot of your favorites are going to be on the list.

Second of all: I'm all for open-mindedness, public access to a variety of books and viewpoints. When I was 2 years old my mom took me to a rally at the Davis County Library, when a librarian was fired because she refused to remove an "offensive" book. (Actually, the better adjective for the book would be "poorly written," but the fact is it wasn't being challenged because of its mediocre writing - it was sexuality, language, "anti-Americanism," yada, yada, yada).

( But here )

Just for the heck of it, I posted some pictures up here. They're all friend-locked, but since pretty much everyone that looks at this journal is a friend, anyone who feels so inclined can look at them.

I friend-locked them because the idea of some unknown weirdo gaping over my kids really creeps me out.

The pictures are:

A bunch from my family's trip to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks last spring.
Some random family pictures.
A bunch of my favorite pictures of my kids.
A few pictures from Adams Canyon, which is about 2 miles from my house.
A few pictures from a trip to Nauvoo, Illinois a couple years ago.

I think that's all.

P.S. My favorite one of me is the one where Patch and I are playing the bongo drums. Or conga drums. I can never remember which is which.

Well, annarti and ladylight had so much fun with it, I thought I'd give it a go:

10 random childhood memories ...

( Hidden here lay the tales of an exploding mailbox, a near-deadly pillow fight, and several inicidents involving trampolines )

This was awesome, and it perfectly illustrates why my wife is convinced that she married a perfect dweeb.

Sunday was a long day of church for me. At least it was supposed to be. But then ... well, read on. I'm not going give away the comical ending here at the beginning of the entry. ^_^

( In which Jon gets to accidentally look like a dufus again and somehow get out of going to church )

It's so dorky to be excited about something like this, but I can't help it. For a wannabe composer kicked out of the U of U's music program, I take what I can get.

The church choirs for two local congregations are going to combine together and perform one of my pieces for a concert in early December. The piece is an arrangement of "Russian Christmas Music," by Alfred Reed. It's going to be a lot of fun.

( And if you're curious about Russian Christmas Music, click here!!!! )

A wildfire has been burning about 5 miles from my house - blazing the slopes of Farmington canyon. This is the same spot that burned in a fire 3 years ago. The new grass and baby trees wiped out instantly. Like the one 3 years ago, it appears the fire today was started by people.

Sunday, as I walked to church, all I could look at was the smoke pouring out of the canyon and the flames, creeping west across the mountain with the wind. It was awful. It seemed so hopeless - my hometown mountains being destroyed by fires started by people (I know I wrote about the Yellowstone fire and what it all looks like now, almost 20 years later, but it's hard to think so intellectually when you're watching the fires burning).

( But it's so good to know that not all is hopeless )

Well, it's been a crazy week. I was sick most of the time, feeling absolutely awful on Thursday and Friday morninig. By Friday evening I finally felt mostly better, and it was a good thing because my wife's water broke at about 8:30 p.m.

So, my baby girl was born 4:05 a.m. on Saturday, July 28th. Kid #4 (I have to call her #4 because my oldest boy, Patch, always insists that he can't be kid #1 because I'm the real kid #1). So though she's really the third child, the baby is labelled kid #4.

And if you're curious, when asked what kid # my wife is, Patch rolled his eyes at me: "Mom's not a kid. She's a real person." So there you have it.

The girl's name is Kimber Ioma Midget. The middle name, Ioma, is already causing great controversy on my side of the family (my mom despises it), but it's my wife's grandmother's name, and my wife REALLY wanted to use it. I figure that it's just a middle name.

And Kimber ... well, it's just a name my wife liked. Me? It was actually the original name of Alicia Ghundie, from my novel Resurrecting the Scarlet Avenger. I changed that character's name (obviously), for my daughter's sake, but I'll always be able to tell her "that's who you're named after."

And this is about all the time I have. I've got to get the house cleaned up before everyone comes back from the hospital.

P.S. The title is from Bill Cosby, himself, which is a standup routine Bill Cosby did in Toronto sometime around 1980 (I think). In part of it, he talks about the birth of his first child. Once it finally pops out, he goes to his wife and tells her: "Congratulations. You just gave birth to a lizard, because it already changed color three times." I never really understood that until my first child was born, and I realize that baby's come out purple. Weird, but true.

When I first graduated from high school and scuttled on to the amazing world of college, I declared myself a Chemical Engineering major. That lasted one week.

I realized rather quickly that, though I was decent at math, I didn't share my fellow majors' fetish with cosines and integrals. Nor was I really keen on the idea of spending 5 years in school so that I could get a job for a petroleum company ( o_O!!!!!).

No blooping way!

So I changed to what I was really interested in: creative writing and music composition. That lasted two years, before I was unceremoniously booted from the music program (a long story for another time). But my love for music never died. I just put up a little website for my little music compositions. And since - who knows! - some of you may be interested in my dabbles into the world of music, here's a couple of songs I've recorded:

( My friendly LJ-cut to prevent your friend page from loading two multi-MB mp3 files every stinking time you are browsing through )

Religion's just about one of the hardest topics for me to discuss. On one hand, I get so tired of how negatively it is often viewed today: if you trust just the soundbites and blog-rants, then it appears Christianitiy is fundamentally about being a bigot (which happens to be just about the most evil word in the English language, but that's a topic for another time), Islam is fundamentally about blowing people (including yourself) up, Judaism is fundamentally about squishing Muslims that want to squish them, and on and on and on. But having been a religious fellow living in a very religious community my whole life, I know that these caricatures are grossly inaccurate. As my mom likes to say, just because someone's loud doesn't mean he or she represents the majority.

( the difficulty of religion and beliefs, in general )

Not that my opinion actually matters that much, but if any of my international friends decided to take a trip to the United States and asked what I recommend they spend time seeing, I could answer without a moment of hesitation: Yellowstone and Zions National Parks. Trust me, you would never regret it - but for Smee's sake, don't go on a tour!

This post is more about Yellowstone, but I'll briefly say that Zions is for those who REALLY like a good adrenaline rush. And anyone who writes a story that takes place in a fantasy world desert ought to be required by law to at least look through a gaggle of Zions photos (this guy's gallery rocks - seriously, spend some time browsing around).

Angel's Landing: The hike climbs 2000 feet in 2.5 miles, and the final half mile is over a small neck of rock 2 feet wide, a 2000 foot drop-off on one side and a 1500 foot dropoff on the other (chains are provided for your convenience ^_^).

The Subway: My favorite hike ever. 10 miles, easy rapelling, wading (and swimming) through hypothermia inducing water, and a canyon that narrows to just 3-feet wide at one point. This video shows what the hike is really like - and note that they are on the "trail" the entire time - even when riding down the waterslide.

Orderville Canyon: A subway-like hike for those who prefer a gentle stroll into the park rather than a drive. My favorite point is the boulder stuck in a slot canyon 15 feet off the ground with trees growing on it.

But anyway, on to the real meat of my entry: The Yellowstone Fire of 1988. saltnester, you made me think of this. Thanks.

( 1988, the year of the Yellowstone Phoenix )

rosiphelee, you're a peach. You know why. Let's all hear it for level-headedness (a quality I, unfortunately, haven't mastered nearly as much as I wish).

And here's another story from my Mormon mission. Not a very happy one at all, but one that I don't think I'll ever forget.

( Read on to see why (sorry Shanra) )

Now I'm really back to my old EW browsing, LJ-participating, Aldora-building self. Because now I have my computer again.

You see, once I returned home from Bear Lake (I'll post some pics soon), although I wanted to get back to my fantasy, fiction-loving self, I couldn't. My brother had stolen my laptop and taken it to San Diego. Oh he cited all sorts of crazy excuses ("We only have one laptop between the two of us, and I needed it more"), but nothing could change the fact that he had my computer and I was rendered a bit helpless for the past 5 days.

But now I have it back, and I'm able to do work again (in a 95 degree office since the damn air conditioner busted and the landlord's being unbelievably slow in fixing it).

( Want to hear a funny story about a 2-year-old? )

You know how it is when you're on vacation - you totally get out of the loop of everything that's going on in the world (or even in your home state).

So imagine my shock to look at my paper this afternoon and see that the Jazz have just released Derek Fisher. It's unbelievable. I don't even know what to say. But read on, my friends, for the greatest, most heartbreaking, unbelievable sports story I've ever heard in my life. I don't know if Lou Gehrig's goodbye speech can even match this:

( If this was a movie, you'd say it's totally contrived and unbelievable )

There's this part in My Big Fat Greek Wedding that really cracks me up. It's when Toula is talking to Ian about her family. She asks him if he has any cousins, and he says he has two in Wisconsin. Then she exclaims: "I have 23 first cousins. First cousins alone!"

Well, how about this: My wife has 68 first cousins. 68 First Cousins Alone! (for reference, I have 17 first cousins, and I consider my family to be fairly small - maybe this is just another example about how Hollywood may be *gasp* out of touch with ordinary people's lives).

( what a trip )

Just for the fun of it, I decided to write up short descriptions of all the major novels that I have in my head and hope to, one day, finish. The first two listed, Legend of the Whisper Wood and Resurrecting the Scarlet Avenger are the ones I am actively working on right now. I hope to have Whisper Wood finished right around the new year (since it's rather short), and then I'll look at moving on.

Since I have no idea what I'll work on next, if you have any preferences, you can let me know. I may not do it (I never know where my muse is going to lead me next), but you never know: I may. Anyway, I hope the short blurbs for these are moderately interesting.

( The novels )

So there they are: the Opi of Jon Midget. Hopefully I'll get to them all someday.