The Best Summer Project You've Ever Heard Of

I started off this summer with the goal to read as many works of Shakespeare as I possibly could. I made a list, grabbed my roommate's anthology, and went at it. I did truck through Comedy of Errors, Hamlet, The Tempest, and Much Ado About Nothing in less than two weeks.

Oddly, I enjoyed it. Not so oddly, the project fell through the cracks in behalf of another, more amazing project--watching all of Disney's full-length, animated features. I figured out the order of the movies from the first one made and on and have now watched the first thirteen (don't worry, the old ones didn't last much more than an hour).

Note: Fantasia never happened. Also, I didn't include the collections Disney did during the World War II era.

My mom and occasionally another sibling join me, with an additional shout out to Amy who sat through Sleeping Beauty. Here are some thoughts on those classics you loved but never watch anymore:

• I was intrigued by how many movies portrayed smoking and drinking. Pinocchio was loaded with it. Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Dumbo, 101 Dalmatians all had some (I'm blanking on whether Sleeping Beauty and Aristocats had any). Of course, the Elephants on Parade in Dumbo comes about because Dumbo and the Mouse get dead drunk (by the way, that's my least favorite part of any Disney movie ever. Don't talk to me about pioneering in animation. It's stupid). They've changed their tune nowadays, but I thought it was interesting. I'm also proud that I thwarted established research by being subjected to all these "influences" during my childhood and not ending up chain-smoker/drunk. But if I did, I'd definitely do it like this.
• Briar Rose/Aurora from Sleeping Beauty is the prettiest Disney female ever. I will not argue about this.
• The Jungle Book is highly underrated. I may have enjoyed it the most (Cinderella, a long-time favorite of mine, was also just as bomb as ever.) You'll really can't deny King Louie. Watch it. You'll like it.
  
  
  
• I was a little bothered when, right after Jungle Book, I watched Aristocats and found that the main cat, Thomas O'Malley, had the same voice as Baloo. Now, early on in Disney voices were recycled all the time, but to have two main characters in back-to-back movies was a little much. Apparently it's still not over, either--the voice actor for them all, Phil Harris, is also in my next movie to watch, Robin Hood, as Little John.
• Did you know the guy who voiced the Magic Mirror in Snow White is named Moroni? Yes, he was LDS.
• I still think Ursula is the best villian in Disney history, but Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty is freaking crazy.
• Bambi is still a horribly dumb movie, in case you were wondering. If you don't agree, remind me to offer you some of my jerky after the hunt this fall.
• After Bambi, Alice in Wonderland was my least favorite. I know it's supposed to be nonsense...but it was still a little much for me. That said, I am all about Tim Burton's upcoming edition.
• The fact that the cat in Cinderella is named "Lucifer"....wow.
• Did you know Tinker Bell is actually a whiny and murderous little thing? She's all smiley in the Disney ads and such, but in Peter Pan she is best described using a word I don't use. Also, between her, the mermaids and Tiger Lily, there was a lot of girlish figures to go around in that movie. Just making an observation.
• Aristocats, also fun. The kittens are actually quite cute and I never use that word. The villain in the movie has exactly zero scare appeal, however, though his fate (getting shut in a cramped trunk to be sent to Timbuktu) is the total shaft. Solidly entertaining though.

Finally, here are my Top Lists from the first 13.

Favorite Characters
1. King Louie (Jungle Book)
2. Jaq (Cinderella)
3. Marie (Aristocats)
4. The Crocodile (Peter Pan)
5. Mr. Smee (Peter Pan)
6. Gus Gus (Cinderella)
7. Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio)
8. Thumper (Bambi)
9. Lucky (101 Dalmatians)
10. Roger Radcliffe (101 Dalmatians)

Best Villains
1. Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmatians)
2. Captain Hook (Peter Pan)
3. Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty)
4. Madame Mim (Sword in the Stone)
5. Share Khan (Jungle Book)
6. Kaa (Jungle Book)
7. The Queen (Snow White)
8. Stepmother (Cinderella)
9. The Mouse (Lady and the Tramp)
10. Jasper (101 Dalmatians)

Favorite Movies
1. Cinderella
2. Jungle Book
3. Aristocats
4. 101 Dalmatians
5. Peter Pan
6. Lady and the Tramp
7. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
8. Sleeping Beauty
9. Pinocchio
10. Sword in the Stone
11. Dumbo
12. Alice in Wonderland
13. Bambi

The People Who Made Chicago Great

Today is one of those days I'll remember for a long time. After two months at working at Ruder Finn in Chicago, I fly home to Utah on Saturday. With people taking summer hours tomorrow, I took my camera to work to capture the memories, shall we say. I cannot say enough how much I LOVE and enjoy the people in the photos below. They were so good to me, good at their jobs, and always happy and hilarious.
The going away pizza party they threw for me and my fellow intern, Julie. Of course, my supervisor Zach (summer hours), Michael (ummm...) and Lauren (call) did not make an appearance.

Three of the happiest people you'll meet. My cubicle was on the other side of the hallway that had their offices lined up in a row, which was always entertaining and allowed me to know when everyone was going out to lunch!

This is the building our offices were in up on the 16th floor.

Switching gears...my other favorite people, the other BYU interns (and our buddy Patrick from Carnegie Mellon). This was from one of many of our good times and Uno nights.

Before watching the midnight opening of Harry Potter 6. Worst idea EVER...but also my favorite picture.

Because I love books

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up? The ones I have read are in bold:

THE ALCHEMIST • Paulo Coelho (Read it in one day on a plane flight from the U.S. to South Korea...should probably read it again)
ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND • Lewis Carroll
ANIMAL FARM • George Orwell
ANNA KARENINA • Leo Tolstoy
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES • L M Montgomery
ARTEMIS FOWL • Eoin Colfer
THE BFG • Roald Dahl
BIRDSONG • Sebastian Faulks
BLACK BEAUTY • Anna Sewell
BLEAK HOUSE • Charles Dickens
BRAVE NEW WORLD • Aldous Huxley
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED • Evelyn Waugh
BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY • Helen Fielding
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN • Louis de Bernières
CATCH 22 • Joseph Heller
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE • J D Salinger (Stupid, stupid book. And don't tell me I don't catch the themes and symbolism.)
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY • Roald Dahl
A CHRISTMAS CAROL • Charles Dickens (Now this is a book with great themes and symbolism. Cited by President Monson as "inspired.")
THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR • Jean M Auel
COLD COMFORT FARM • Stella Gibbons
THE COLOUR OF MAGIC • Terry Pratchett
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO • Alexandre Dumas (One of my favorites)
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT • Fyodor Dostoyevsky
DAVID COPPERFIELD • Charles Dickens (My favorite book of all-time)
DOUBLE ACT • Jacqueline Wilson
DUNE • Frank Herbert
EMMA • Jane Austen
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD • Thomas Hardy
GIRLS IN LOVE • Jacqueline Wilson
THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS • Arundhati Roy
THE GODFATHER • Mario Puzo
GONE WITH THE WIND • Margaret Mitchell
GOOD OMENS • Terry Pratchett
GOODNIGHT MISTER TOM • Michelle Magorian
GORMENGHAST • Mervyn Peake
THE GRAPES OF WRATH • John Steinbeck (I HATE STEINBECK)
GREAT EXPECTATIONS • Charles Dickens (Solid read)
THE GREAT GATSBY • F Scott Fitzgerald
GUARDS! GUARDS! • Terry Pratchett
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS • J K Rowling (Just classic)
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE • J K Rowling
HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE • J K Rowling
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN • J K Rowling
HIS DARK MATERIALS • Philip Pullman
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY • Douglas Adams
THE HOBBIT • J R R Tolkien (Can't remember much, it's been too long)
HOLES • Louis Sachar (So-so book, but Shia is the man)
I CAPTURE THE CASTLE • Dodie Smith
JANE EYRE • Charlotte Brontë
KANE AND ABEL • Jeffrey Archer
KATHERINE • Anya Seton
THE LION,THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE • C S Lewis (Another great read both for the story and for the themes. Remember when I got to go to a movie theater on my mission?)
LITTLE WOMEN • Louisa May Alcott
LORD OF THE FLIES • William Golding (Read this book a few months ago. Somewhat interesting, but I'll never read it again)
THE LORD OF THE RINGS • J R R Tolkien (Fun stories but I wouldn't necessarily recommend them)
LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA • Gabriel García Márquez
THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE • Enid Blyton
MAGICIAN • Raymond E Feist
THE MAGUS • John Fowles
MATILDA • Roald Dahl (Good times...good times...)
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA • Arthur Golden
MIDDLEMARCH • George Eliot
MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN • Salman Rushdie
MORT • Terry Pratchett
NIGHT WATCH • Terry Pratchett
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR • George Orwell
NOUGHTS AND CROSSES • Malorie Blackman
OF MICE AND MEN • John Steinbeck (I HATE HATE STEINBECK)
ON THE ROAD • Jack Kerouac
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE • Gabriel García Márquez
PERFUME • Patrick Suskind
PERSUASION • Jane Austen
THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH • Ken Follett
A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY • John Irving
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE • Jane Austen (A really good book)
THE PRINCESS DIARIES • Meg Cabot
THE RAGGED TROUSERED PHILANTHROPISTS • Robert Tressell
REBECCA • Daphne du Maurier
THE SECRET GARDEN • Frances Hodgson Burnett (The musical is one of my favorites, too.)
THE SECRET HISTORY • Donna Tartt
THE SHELL SEEKERS • Rosamunde Pilcher
THE STAND • Stephen King
THE STORY OF TRACY BEAKER • Jacqueline Wilson
A SUITABLE BOY • Vikram Seth
SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS • Arthur Ransome
A TALE OF TWO CITIES • Charles Dickens (Famous for its ending and its beginning quotes)
TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES • Thomas Hardy
THE THORN BIRDS • Colleen McCullough
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD • Harper Lee (Need to read this again)
A TOWN LIKE ALICE • Nevil Shute
TREASURE ISLAND • Robert Louis Stevenson (If you're looking for 1800s entertainment, this is good)
THE TWITS • Roald Dahl
ULYSSES • James Joyce
VICKY ANGEL • Jacqueline Wilson
WAR AND PEACE • Leo Tolstoy
WATERSHIP DOWN • Richard Adams (Probably the most underrated great book I have ever read. I love it but never hear anyone mention it)
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS • Kenneth Grahame
WINNIE THE POOH • A A Milne
THE WOMAN IN WHITE • Wilkie Collins
WUTHERING HEIGHTS • Emily Brontë

Total I have read on this list: 25. Obvously slants British which is bad in some ways. On the other hand, my boy Charles Dickens is represented well. This time next year I'll hopefully have at least six more of these marked off.

I Think It Was the Fourth of July

Have you ever heard the song Saturday in the Park? There first lines say "Saturday, in the park, I think it was the Fourth of July." The thought struck me two days ago that it was a 4th on a Saturday and to top it all off, guess who sang that song? The band Chicago! A little spooky...



Because it has taken me three weeks to finally post what I've been doing in Chicago, I have been forced to give only a summary taken largely from my journal. I apologize that I haven't spiced it up more for you, besides a few links and such, but I promise that from now on I will include more anecdotes that are a lot more entertaining. After reading, if you have any questions let me know and I will address them next posting. Enjoy and thanks for caring about me. :)

I’ve only flown alone one other time in my life when I went to New Jersey to visit Tyler a while back. I had a seat on the aisle and in the middle and window seats were two men in the army reserves in full regalia. However, before we left, one of the soldiers in my aisle went to another row where no one was sitting, giving me and the other guy more room. After that, a stewardess asked a few of the men if they would like to enjoy first class. As they walked up front, the captain made an announcement that they were on board and everyone clapped for them. I then had a whole row completely to myself which was amazing. I sat in the middle and stretched out, even lying down at one point during the flight.

I had contemplated taking a taxi to my apartment, but I’m cheap and had mapped out taking the subway and then walking. Well, the subway trip went without a hitch. However, the walk was a little longer than I expected with three suitcases. Plus, with a quarter of a mile left, a wheel on my biggest suitcase gimped off and wouldn’t spin, making my walk a ton worse. I was sweating like a dog. I finally got to my apartment. It’s at Thomas Beckham Hall, dorm 479. I hadn’t eaten lunch or dinner, so I took a trek to a grocery store a couple blocks away. Bought the necessities: peanut butter, jelly, bread, milk, and cereal. Preston actually drove a car here, so hopefully next time I go he can hook me up. As I was walking, I crossed over some freeway and had a great view of downtown at night with the Sears Tower dominating. It’ll be a great learning experience living somewhere outside of Utah County for a while. South Korea was so different and the same and nice. Here there are so many different cultures, levels of prosperity…it’s interesting. I’ll learn a lot.

My first two days of work were really slow; it was like they didn’t know how to incorporate me into anything. Plus, the other intern, a girl named Julie from Ohio State, wasn’t going to start until Tuesday. So the first day I just learned the basics of the phone, the office, met everyone, learned about the various media databases we use to compile lists of contacts for clients, website statistics, etc. Wednesday and Thursday went by much more quickly because people started giving me stuff to do. Yesterday I did everything from research honey and the art of Japanese “basho” (in preparation to submit two proposals to two prospective clients) to preparing a media list of Los Angeles area newspapers, radio stations and TV stations to buying a subscription to a magazine and attempting to find how to buy a back order of some issue one of the employees wanted. Of course, those are little things, but the spontaneity and wide variety of tasks in public relations are two of the aspects that drew me to it.

The office is full of people who do work hard to do a good job, but they are also chill and fun at the same time which is great. My cubicle is on the other side of a small hallway from their back-to-back offices. I have a computer and a phone with some desk space. The cubicle walls are so high that if someone wants to talk over them they look like Wilson on Home Improvement.



Food here is going to wipe me out. I have a decent amount of money in the bank right now, but I had to pay $836 for summer tuition (Now the things I hate about BYU go to four: the ticket office, lack of parking, the fact that campus is on a huge hill and their irrational scholarship policies) and then tuition again around a thousand dollars for the fall. Every lunch costs me between six and eight dollars until recently when I get the Subway sub of the day for $3.11. Kills me because I am such a tightwad. At least the places I have eaten at have been really good. I hit up Chipotle my first day and on Thursday I was treated to lunch at Big Bowl, an Oriental restaurant whose Kung Pao Chicken was awesome. At the end of Friday they had a belated party for Michael’s birthday. I didn’t have to go through the “decline the alcohol” scenario because they’ve already had interns and have Joseph. But they all drank a lot of Coke and vodka, though I really didn’t notice anyone’s behavior change. I ate tortilla chips, haha. We played a game called the DMA game. DMAs are geographical regions for the media, organized according to which is largest. For example, DMA 1 is New York City and its surrounding environs, so if you hit up the New York City DMA you are contacting all the media outlets within that region. The game consisted of Emily announcing a DMA and everyone else trying to guess where number it was. I got two (Toledo and Erie, Penn.) the closest.

I’m really tired and sleepy even when I get home every evening. I think it’s because I am sitting and looking at a computer for eight hours a day because I am getting plenty of sleep at night. To get to work, I used to take the 12 bus east on Roosevelt to Michigan, then take the 3 or 4 bus up Michigan to Ontario Street where my building is. Now I take the 12 to the Roosevelt subway station and take the red line up to Grand, then walk a few blocks east to the building. This new route has shaved off a lot of time, helped me not be quite so frustrated having to wait for buses, and allowed me to ride the subway. I’ve always loved subways. I guess it’s because it seems almost magical how you go down into the ground, race along in the dark, then come up again at a new place. I even like the smell!

Many nights the eight interns, including me, usually gather in some quantity and play either Uno or Sorry!. Simple games, but it’s been so much fun. This past week we did a lot more out on the town. The Taste of Chicago was going on, a week where around 50 restaurants offer a few samples of their fare for a certain number of tickets you can buy. Thousands of people converge on Grant Park and eat their hearts out. There is also a big stage with free concerts. In three straight nights I saw Counting Crows (I like Big Yellow Taxi), Barenaked Ladies (saw them in my first concert with Mom during the Olympics...my favorite of the three) and Ne-Yo (Didn't know any of his songs but like a few now; the one below isn't my favorite, but his most popular).










We managed to get up to the seats close to the stage and had a pretty good time.

Another night I hyperventilated myself into paying $11 to see Transformers 2. Awful, awful movie. I liked the first one okay, but this one was terrible. No plot, the action was lame, the humor was crude and unoriginal and so on. Hopefully Harry Potter 6 will be a lot better when it comes out soon.

My roommate Preston and I are getting along great. I like him. He likes to play the guitar and sing and he’s really pretty good. His favorite phrase is, “Now you be sweet to me.” He likes to chew on ice cubes. A lot of the time he is hanging out with Chris, another intern, but he keeps me in the loop.

This past weekend Stella came over with some of her friends from Cincinnati. She joined us in watching the fireworks which the city mysteriously had on Friday, July 3, at Grant Park right on the shore of Lake Michigan. I was pretty disappointed at the show. It was still light when they started, there were a bunch of streetlights they left on that were in the way, the show was short and the fireworks didn’t get very high up nor were they very varied or big. I honestly like my Richfield fireworks way better. Not to mention it was on July 3...whatever.

We finished off the night by talking to a kid named Patrick. He is a roommate of a BYU intern living in our same building. Good guy interning with US Soccer so we get along well. He came with us to the fireworks and then stayed around. We got on the subject of religion and I asked him to tell me about Catholicism and its services. He then started asking about Mormon beliefs, church services and so on. Stella and I told him about it for a two hours and he seemed to be listening pretty intently. I did my best at being clear and bearing my testimony of the Church and the Book of Mormon. I’m going to get one and give it to him at some point before I leave and hopefully it’ll do some good. He’s actually is a practicing Catholic and enjoys his services each month, but he also expressed interest in what we believe. I came into this trip hoping to do some missionary work, so this makes me happy.

On the actual Fourth, Stella and I went to the Federal Reserve Building here and looked around a Money Museum they have. We saw a million dollars in one-dollar bills and read about the history of money in the U.S. In the evening, Stella and I went to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Harry Potter exhibit. We went through and saw tons of props direct from the movies. I’m not a fanatical Harry Potter fan, but I do really like the books and movies so it was pretty fun to see the actual stuff. I was amazed at how intricate and detailed every prop was, from the books to the clothing to the wands. They really do create another world. My favorite part was throwing a quaffle through various hoops.

I haven’t consciously been homesick but when I think about my friends and family at home I do miss them very much. I miss being able to just talk about nothing with or play ball with the boys. I miss getting hugged by my Mom and seeing what Dad is up to, talking about world events. I want to play with my siblings and see how Mickelle is now that she’s married. That said, time has flown by and I am grateful I still have time left here. Work is still interesting and I have things such as a trip with everyone to Nauvoo this weekend and Cubs games to look forward to after hours.

In my spare time I work on a puzzle book I bought from Target or read the scriptures. I like the quiet time I have to myself when Preston goes to hang out with Chris or takes his bike for a ride.

Well, that is more than enough to get you caught up. Next time I'll touch on my new favorite food, downtown, Saturday Night Live, and updates on everything else. Love you!

A Little of This and That

I'm living at my parents' house in Orem for another week until I leave for Chicago a week from tomorrow. Some thoughts:

My sister is going through the temple for the first time tomorrow in preperation for her wedding a week from today. Wahoo! This is a picture of me and her from the 4th of July last year.

I miss my PR friends. It's fun getting into a major and having classes with the same people because I like them so much...but this summer I have barely heard from them, much less done anything with them. Kevin has been good, but too bad he has to go to NYC (alone, but still...it's NYC). Jill got married and is working up north at Church Headquarters. Susan is realizing she loves her Utah friends. Christine didn't even answer a simple text I sent her. :p Abby is gimping around Provo. Stacy is in Puerto Rico??? That's all I'm getting from my facebook stalking. Hope everyone is great!

Speaking of friends, I swear mine in high school were not as loud as my sister's friends. Almost every night she has had anywhere from 8 to 298 friends over to watch TV or something. Can somebody tell me what it is about girls and shrieking?

I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey last night for the first time in my roommate's amazing blue-ray, 7.2 surround system home theater. I was a tad restless at first but liked it overall. Doesn't mean Kubrick isn't a psycho, but it was interesting. I actually liked the monkeys and the music the most.

I visited my mission president who has recently been called to the First Quorum of the Seventy. It's been interesting to have someone I've been so close to get called to such an important position. Sometimes whether it be in sports, movies or higher church callings we think people are more than just regular Joes. Now, of course they have some skill or knowledge that does put them on a different plane at times, but there was my President in his jean shorts, looking a little tired, talking to me like old times. He is a very special, amazing man, but he is learning as he goes just like the rest of us, still has to clean the garage like the guy next door. I love him very much.

I have this ginormous TV sitting in the middle of my already pretty small bedroom. And I can't even hook it up or anything. Dang.

I have Skype now if anyone wants to sign up. It'll be especially useful for when I am in Chicago. Let me know!

Interview on Media with Grandma

Here is an interview I did with my Grandma about her experiences through the years with various media mediums. My professor also wanted us to post the transcript on our blogs, so here it is.

Jordan: This is the Janet Kane Christiansen Media History Oral History Project, session number one with my grandmother, Janet Kane Christiansen on April 7, 2009. It is being recorded as I interview her via telephone; I am in Provo, Utah, while she is at her home in Lehi, Utah. The interviewer is her grandson, Jordan D. Christiansen, a current public relations student at Brigham Young University.

Jordan: Grandma, when and where were you born?

Janet: That’s easy. Salina, Utah, October 26, 1938.

Jordan: Though you lived in a small town, did you have easy access to different types of media as they became available? Let's first start with the radio.

Janet: You know, we moved away when I was five to California. I was just little. First time we had a radio was when in California we had a big tall radio.

Jordan: Can you tell me more about it?

Janet: It was quite tall. Have you seen those old radios? It had big things down where the speakers came out, sort of square. Plain old radio, no fancy things like AM, FM, no record player. I don’t remember listening to it in California, but it was impressed on me when they were talking about WWII because everyone was so depressed. Oh, and we hid money on the top of the radio; it’s where we put our money.

Jordan: How did you do that?

Janet: There was a silver dog, two feet high and we stuffed the money in it. One time I told my babysitter that’s where we hid our money.

Jordan: Why did you stick the money there?

Janet: That’s where mother and dad put the money. I guess it was better than the drawer. When I was older, we moved back to Salina when I was six and Dad went in the army. I remember rushing home from school and going to the basement to watch different shows like The Shadow Knows, Sky King, Roy Rogers and Trigger.

Jordan: Sounds fun
Janet: On Saturday we would always listen to Let’s Pretend. That’s the program where I would hear “Cream of Wheat is so good to eat and we’d eat it every day…” Let’s Pretend was a program where they’d tell Fairy Tales, then advertise. There was another ad for Skippy peanut butter. I heard it and it sounded so good I went in and got a sandwich.

Jordan: Effective advertising! So there were just programs?

Janet: Yes. We didn’t listen to music, we’d just listen to programs.

Jordan: Okay, let’s switch gears a little now and talk about TV.

Janet: Let’s see, when I was in the eighth grade we moved to Gunnison. I was 13 maybe. My dad owned a car dealership and I just remember that we were the first ones to get television in Gunnison. Before that, we’d go to Dad’s brothers. We all thought it was wonderful. It was an old thing with rabbit ears, the snowy stuff. I looked through it and could see Ed Sullivan and just thought it was so wonderful.

Jordan: So how and why did your Dad get your first TV?

Janet: We sold them as part of the car dealership so we got one of the first ones.

Jordan: What else did you watch, do you remember watching?

Janet: I don’t remember sitting and watching a lot; it’s not like being glued to the TV. We’d watch the Ed Sullivan Show with singing and different acts. Movies were never on. It was all black and white; when your dad was a little kid television was still in black and white. Only later did they get to be all color. But television wasn’t a big part of my life.

Jordan: So you stuck to the radio for music?

Janet: We did have a radio with a record player. Oh yeah, we had records because when I was in high school we’d do these 45s. We listened to a lot of records.

Jordan: Do you remember the first time your car had a radio or tape player?

Janet: I don’t. I didn’t even know whether cars had radios in them. When I got to high school, it wasn’t a big thing to turn up your radio and go down the street like young people do today.

Jordan: Hmmm….okay, let me see if I had some more questions. Well, let’s take a big step forward and ask about the Internet. When was the first time you remember using it?

Janet: Oh my gosh, school, I taught school. I am trying to think…I kept records and things but I don’t think they let us get on the Internet. We did e-mail, but the school didn’t let us get on the Internet. It’s taken a long time to get Internet. When you were sleeping upstairs in Grandpa’s room we had it really slow. I’m sure we had it at least by then because Grandpa looked up church talks and things. I don’t know the computer like you guys do. I can look up things and do church work.

Jordan: There have been a lot of changes over the years. You’ve seen a lot from the time of the radio to the Internet. What are some of your feelings on that?

Janet: It’s really something; it’s changed a lot. Your dad can remember when we didn’t have computers. We got your dad and Mike three or four hundred dollar calculators once, and that was a big deal. We had typewriters at home.

Jordan: Has the change been more gradual or really amazing every time?

Janet: It’s been gradual because you learn things a bit at a time. I thought it was wonderful when we could get rid of typewriters. You couldn’t make mistakes, you had to have these white erasers to make corrections. We evern had to make carbon copies because we didn’t have copy machines. I don’t know, I guess I’m pretty old, things have changed a lot.

Jordan: Let’s see, I think I had one more question. Oh, do you remember hearing about or watching any big events?

Janet: Well, we had a young marrieds party and we watched the men land on the moon. That was a big event. Of course, everybody saw 9/11. When JFK died, we saw all that. I remember exactly where I was when he died. I had two boys and was feeding them lunch. Your dad had just put a pea up his nose and I was trying to help and they announced that. Still remember I was making dinner, hot dogs, and they announced that.

Jordan: So you heard about it through the TV?

Janet: I must’ve because we had this little TV on a stand. It was black and white until after your dad was older.

Jordan: What has been your favorite parts about the media?

Janet: The television. It keeps me company. I enjoy movies and things on the television. The internet is fine and I do genealogy, but the TV keeps me company. I don’t know what I’d do without it.

Jordan: Do you listen to the radio much anymore?

Janet: No, but I do some. Sunday morning I listen to Manti’s station. A little bit but not a lot. Of course, when I get in the car I turn it on because they have some old-fashioned song channels and things.

Jordan: Well, Grandma, I think that’s it. This has been great; we’ll have to talk again more.

Janet: Well, I don’t think I said much, but hopefully you can write up a nice report.

Tabernacle Choir Tidbit

My boss is a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and told me a sweet story today. The secretary for the choir was contacted by a Relief Society president with a song request. A man in her ward was just diagnosed with stage four terminal cancer and was slated to die in just a few short weeks. Since his trial, this man has found the most comfort in the song, Consider the Lilies, and this sister was wondering if there was a chance the Choir could sing it.

Only problem is that the song list is submitted months in advance to be reviewed by the First Presidency and so the Choir can begin practicing. The secretary checked the list and didn't see Consider the Lilies and told the woman the news. However, a little bit later she reviewed an updated list and that song was listed. Apparently after director Mack Wilberg had submitted his original list, he felt impressed to substitute another song with Consider the Lilies, something he had never done before. The sister was called again and the small miracle was told.

Isn't it interesting how God works in small ways? I sometimes wish very much that I could understand how, with "worlds....innumberable unto man" God can say that "all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them" (Moses 3:35). Yet I bear my testimony that despite not being able to understand, I have felt and experienced so many of His very personal answers to me that I know He does care. As small and as sinful as I am, He still loves me and wants to help me, and that gives me the power to go on.

My boss showed me the other music the choir will be singing, including one of my favorites, O My Father. Don't forget to enjoy the wonderful music as we listen to some wonderful talks this weekend!