And while we're on the subject of Mormon women...

... Have you seen the new guidelines for sister missionary dress?

Bright colors!

Patterns!

Accessories!

Fashions of the day!

Shocking!

It's a good thing these weren't the standards 10 years ago because I would have had a hard time putting together a qualifying wardrobe.

Here, for example, is one of my many brown jumpers.

Long.

Drab.

Shapeless.

And worn with T-shirts and Doc Martens Mary Janes.

Even in 2002, these were not the "fashions of the day." 

There is worse evidence, but I don't have digital pictures from the mission; this one was pulled off of a Brazilian Elder's facebook.

Since my mission, I have done my best to try to not look like a sister missionary.

(Although I think I only gave away those Doc Martens last year.) 

Now it will be a challenge to be as cute as one.

Reevaluating Polygamy

My book club just read A Mormon Mother, the autobiography of Annie Clark Tanner - a Mormon woman who married into polygamy at the end of the 19th Century.

It was hard to read. She believed so strongly in the divinity of the practice that brought her so much pain and disappointment. She was the daughter of a "second wife" and eagerly became the second wife of a professor who would show up to impregnate her, and then offered little in the way of emotional, spiritual or financial support. She was, for all intents and purposes, a single mother of 9. 

Her positive attitude and her lack of bitterness were inspiring. Throughout her account, she never blamed God nor did she harshly criticize her husband. She accepted her life and threw herself into raising her children. Despite living a life devoid of companionship, support and romantic affection, she wrote:

...It is the little things that bring the joy of living -- work well done; the visit of a friend; leisure to read and to write; a book review; a ride in the country; some little improvement in the surroundings; something new; or a trip occasionally. To be able to accomplish and enjoy the common things are the greatest source of happiness.

During her lifetime, her view of women evolved from a belief that they are inferior and subordinate to men, to a belief that they are just as wise and capable as them. Her perception of God changed from one of a justice-driven-task-master, to that of a kind and merciful Being. Her approach to religion became less dogmatic and more open-minded and flexible. She began to see the fallacies of polygamy, and although she never doubted its initial inspiration, she expressed gratitude and relief for its revocation.

We read her book in conjunction with an article by Mormon scholar Eugene England called On Fidelity, Polygamy, and Celestial Marriage. It brought so much clarity and closure to the difficult story we had just read by arguing that, contrary to the popular belief of many Mormons, polygamy is not an eternal principle and will not be practiced in the afterlife.

I highly recommend reading the article in its entirety, but some of his most compelling arguments are:

• inadequate scriptural evidence (two verses in D&C 132 that could have various interpretations);
• prophetic statements that can be called into question after the Manifesto because they were used as justification for the Manifesto (in the same way that "doctrine" rationalizing why Blacks could not hold the Priesthood became irrelevant after the 1978 revelation on the Priesthood); 
• the idea that there are eternally more righteous women than men is demeaning to both genders and statistically untrue based on worldwide birth and childhood death rates; 
• if polygamous marriage were the highest celestial order than God would want His people to practice it as often as possible, but he tells Jacob that it is an exception rather than a rule in order to "raise up seed unto me" (Jacob 2:30) (Interestingly, half the members of our book club are descendents of polygamists);
• it implies an inherent inequality between men and women that "insults and devalues" women and is inconsistent with the idea of forming a whole, equal, complementary and unified partnership that is necessary for exaltation.  

I felt so relieved after reading this article. I also felt an even greater sense of admiration and gratitude for Annie Clark Tanner and those like her who sacrificed so much in order to be obedient.

Girls on the run and in the news

I had my 2 minutes of fame on the Seattle local news!

And by 2 minutes, I mean a spit-second: at minute 3:47 in the video.*

In December, I volunteered to run in a 5K "race" with a 10-year-old girl in a program called Girls on the Run.

Each girl in the program is assigned an adult volunteer "running buddy" who runs with her for one dress rehearsal race and for the race day itself. I was able to get involved because one of the elementary schools that hosts the program is near where I work.

I loved being a "running buddy" because my girl was awesome. Running - and lots of walking - with her was a blast because she is so precocious and chatty.

For the race day, I got us matching hot pink earmuffs to wear, and they were quite the crowd-pleaser.  I am pretty sure that is what got us the cameo in the news.

The goal of the program is to build confidence in young girls by helping them to achieve a challenging goal, and I was so glad to be a part of it.

I think my girl and I will team up again for another Girls on the Run race in the spring. I'm already plotting a good earmuff substitute. 

*Don't be deterred by the length of the video; the segment about Girls on the Run is only the first half of the news story.

Take a Stand Against Super PACs

Super PACs make me so mad.

Regardless of party affiliation, I think that everyone can agree that Super PACs are seriously undermining our democracy. Allowing individuals and corporations to make unlimited and undisclosed contributions is a sure way to buy politicians and thwart the democratic process.

Please watch this excellent two-minute NYTimes Cast that gives a very clear and succinct explanation of how Super PACs work.

For a more light-hearted and entertaining explanation, watch this clip from The Colbert Report that shows Colbert transferring control of his Super PAC over to Jon Stewart, whom he can not "coordinate with." It gives me chills of horror when he concludes with: "And God bless Citizens United!"

Here are three simple ways you can take action:

1. Sign this petition started by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to reverse the Citizen's United Decision.

2. Sign this petition to President Obama started by the League of Women Voters to put appoint new commissioners to the FEC.

I am a long-time member of the League of Women Voters, a non-partisan group that seeks to promote democracy by educating and registering voters and suppporting voting rights. They argue that one way to keep money out of politics is to improve the Federal Election Commission: "The FEC is supposed to be the government agency that enforces campaign finance laws, but it isn’t working and hasn’t for a long time. Of the six commissioners at the agency, three of them simply refuse to enforce the law, and five of the six are serving despite the fact that their terms expired some time ago."

3. Find ways to get involved with your local community through the organization Move to Amend whose stated mission is to "get the money out of politics." They recently called for protests at federal courthouses all across the US on the second anniversary of the Citizens United decision.  

First World Problems

The title of this blog comes from a hilarious website by the same name that chronicles the inane and ridiculous things "privileged citizens of a developed nation complain about".

SEWAGE EXPLOSION

When I walked through the front door last Friday night, I heard Becca yell from the bathroom,
"JEN!! Did you shower at the gym? Cause if you didn't, you're gonna want to!"
"Oh crap," I said.
"Crap is right!" she responded.

I walked into the bathroom to find Becca up on the ledge of the tub, straddling a bathtub full of sewage. While she was showering, brown water spurted up from the drain and filled the tub with multi-colored floaties.  Between laughing sobs, she was still able to rinse the conditioner out of her hair.

In the mean time, the toilet had also filled up with back-washed sewage. Our landlord sent over his plumber the next morning, but not before I had already left for the day, which meant that I may have had to use some of my camping skills in the yard when I woke up.

Featured here is a picture of our cleaned, scoured, and bleached bathroom, post sewage explosion. Funny that this is the second time I have posted a picture of a bathroom on my blog.

ELECTRICITY: FAIL 

Our electricity went out Sunday afternoon with the first onset of snow. Unsure of how long it would last, my roommates, Becca and Marissa, and I conglomerated all our available light sources: bike lights, flashlights from 72-hour kits, head lamps, candles and matches. Becca used our gas-burning stove to make us delicious soup, then we layered up, turned off our phones to preserve battery power, and took naps. When we woke up, light and heat were back on. The outage lasted for about four hours, but we were raring to go for much longer.

SNOWPOCALYPSE 2012

Three out of my four winters in Seattle have involved a major snow storm, and each year, it is called The Snowpocalypse. Snowpocalypse 2012 has been decidedly less dramatic than Snowpocalypse 2011 because last year it hit during rush hour. I was one of the many who got caught in the snow coming home from work and had to park my car at the top of a hill a few miles from my house. I was just wearing some little ballet flats, but fortunately I had an old pair of Doc Martens in the DI bag in my trunk. Those babies saved my feet all the way home, and I still haven't donated them yet.

There was car carnage up and down the Seattle streets last year, and my parked car did not escape unscathed: someone foolishly tried to go up the hill and slid back into it. But they did leave a note and paid for the damage.

This year, our biggest trauma came at 4:30 in the morning when a horrible, horrible noise woke us all up. My first thought was that Becca's bunk bed had collapsed and that she was dead in a pile of cheap Ikea metal. We went outside to investigate and found that our neighbor's tree had fallen over and slid down our roof. Miraculously, it did not cause any damage ... that we know of. (See top photo.)

Our local postman, however, did not fare as well in his encounter with a tree. Don't worry: he popped out of his car and delivered the rest of the mail by foot.

Today is my third snow day in a row; I worked a total of 4 hours this week - on Tuesday - when they told us to come in late and leave early. I am proud to say that I have gotten dressed and out of the house every day - walking miles to meet friends for lunch or dinner, walking over to the gym for some lap swimming, and mingling with the sledders on the hill in front of our house. I have also cleaned out my sock drawer, shredded a bunch of old papers, put away the Christmas decorations and cleaned out the inside of the microwave. I will never complain about a Snowpocalypse.

Christmas Rainbows

Christmas 2011 featured two unique rainbow creations:

1. My brothers Steven and Jeffrey made this fantastic piece of rainbow art for me by gluing crayons along the top of foam board and then melting them with a blow drier. The white space is the outline of a picture of our family (see above) that they had photo-copied and taped down to the board during the melting process. Isn't it beautiful? And rad?! I feel cooler when I look at it. Who knew my bros were such creative little artists. My other brother, Ryan, and my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Swantje, discovered the idea from pinterest and passed on their inspiration from their Hawaii home. I took down a different poster in my room in order to give it a well-deserved prominent spot on the wall. Such an original, personal, thoughtful gift!

2. Weeks before Christmas, I decided that this was going to be the year that I tried my hand at Rainbow Jello. I don't even like jello - the fake flavor and the gelatinous texture gross me out - but I had this creation once when I was 16, and the experience seared my little heart. Making it by myself seemed like both a challenge and a tribute to my Mormon roots. Plus, it is just so pretty - in a fake-processed-food-sort-of-way. An old family friend shared with me her recipe which consisted of taking six boxes of different colored jello, and splitting them in two. I left one part plain and added plain yogurt to the second part, so there were 12 total layers: a bright layer and a creamy layer of each color. Allowing each individual layer to set took all day. The end result both delighted and amused me.

It's good even when it's bad

I went to a girls JV high school basketball game yesterday.
The basketball was horrible.
When the girls weren't in a melee in the middle of the court, they were mostly just standing around.
Most of the passes were lobs.
Most of the free throws were air balls.
Dribbling was universally shoulder high.
One girl got mad and dramatically stomped off the court.

I loved it so much.

First of all, I just love the sport of basketball: it is good and true.
I remember walking into a college basketball game for the first time after my mission, and the smells and the sounds - like rubber soles squeaking on hardwood floors - made me well up.
I think this love is partly genetic (my dad played a year of college ball), partly because I spent time growing up in Indiana where basketball is like religion, and partly because I've seen the movie Hoosiers too many times.
Plus March Madness happens every year right around my birthday - there were actually Sweet 16 games on my 16th birthday.

Secondly, watching these girls brought back all sorts of memories of my fun and failed basketball career.
My dad always said that if we could dribble on the uneven stones in our backyard in France, we could dribble anywhere.
Then we moved to Indiana for my Sophomore year, and I was a bench-warmer for the 10th grade team.
I'll never forget the game that I finally got in, and then promptly missed three jump shots from the low block in a row - with my varsity-playing-crush looking on.
Then we moved to St. Louis where I transitioned to church ball, and became a rising star in the stake.
This was mostly due to my elbowing skills, which seemed to really entertain the Young Men.
I was heart-broken when we barely lost the stake championship game.
Many years later when I taught school in Harlem, I helped start a 6th and 7th grade girls team. It was a blast even though we lost every game. 

Generally, people tend to love what they are good at, but my love for watching and participating in basketball transcends any lack of skill - the sport is just that compelling. So last night I stayed and watched the JV boys, the Varsity girls and the Varsity boys. Six hours of bball. A great night.

Occupy Seattle

A few weeks ago, I participated in Occupy Seattle. 

Here is an audio clip from the General Assembly, a collection of my favorite pictures from the evening, and some of my favorite quotes about the movement in general.

Even though I was not hard core enough to brave the rain and cold to sleep out with the protestors, I am thrilled about this movement and was proud to be a part of it for a day.

 

While I love the man, I do not think that he is immune to corporate interest.

Notice the sign on the bottom right that reads "Bank of Screw America." I am impressed by how many people have left national banks in favor of local credit unions.

This is my favorite. It says: "I'll believe that corporations are people when Texas executes one." 

I previously expressed my disgust with the Citizens United decision here.

Of course there was live music.

One of the tents had "Feminist Camp" written on it.

I got to help fold blankets for people who were camping out.

Nancy Pelosi: People say, "Oh they don't have a message." They don't need a message. They're making a statement.

Al Gore referred to the Occupy Wall Street movement as "the primal scream of democracy." 

Nichola Kristof: "Inequality is ... a cancer on our national well-being." 

Paul Krugman: "The way to understand all of this is to realize that it’s part of a broader syndrome, in which wealthy Americans who benefit hugely from a system rigged in their favor react with hysteria to anyone who points out just how rigged the system is."*

*I fully acknowledge that I have been a beneficiary of this system.

I Mourn Thee, Summer

Click on this picture to see a video that encapsulates The Great Spirit Of Summer.

I am resisting Fall.
I turned my head when I walked past the mound of pumpkins at the grocery store.
I am still wearing sandals even though my toes are cold.
I went swimming in a cold Lake Washington on September 24 out of spite.
I refuse to participate in conversations that involve Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I just really love summer.
I like peaches and berries, 10pm sunsets, BBQs, weddings, hiking, swimming, boating, sweating, 4th of July, laying in grass, family reunions, mowing the lawn, farmer's markets, sunscreen, outdoor concerts, CAMPING.
Cardigans and pumpkin muffins - no matter how cozy or delicious - really can not compete with that.

Summer 2011 was particularly summery. I backpacked in the Sierras, white-water-rafted on the Kern River, tubed on Lake Washington, paddle-boarded on Lake Union, ran a half marathon, biked from Seattle to Portland, hiked Mt. Timp, and made a blackberry pie from blackberries I picked.

I know that when my dad reads this post he is going to tell me to move to San Diego where I can experience summer weather all year long.
But summer isn't just about the weather - it's a state of being.
It's feeling uninhibited and unencumbered. Busy and relaxed at the same time.
It's light. 

Ultimately fall is just a portal to winter, and death.
I guess I need to go buy myself some new cardigans.
And find a really killer recipe for pumpkin muffins.