Oh it’s been so good to be home. Last night I went and visited Mary at work, and then this morning she, her nephew Jonathan, James, Dana, and I went to breakfast at Walker Brothers.

For dinner my grandparents brought Dragon Inn (best kung pao chicken in the world) home. I have now met my needs for Chicago Pizza, Pancakes, and Chinese Food. After dinner we went into the family room where Megan and Jonathan had started to swing dance to the Big Bad Voodoo Daddies.

I was amazed at how well they can dance.

Soon James and Margot joined in.

And then I cut in.

James and I started to bust out the moves.


And then, Oh my, Grandma wanted to show us how to really dance, so she and Grandpa join in.

And the funny thing is, they are better than everyone else. Grandpa sure knows how to bust out those moves. I wish I could dance like him! Boy did it light them up too, they looked twenty years younger.

It wasn’t long before the whole family was swing dancing in the family room.
(The full album here) It was so much fun! I can’t remember the last time we had so much fun.

And then we sat around the fire and watched “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and you know what? I cried at the end. That’s right. I wish every night could be like that.

I won! I won Monopoly!!! You don’t understand how big this is- I never win. I loose at ping pong, I loose at cards, I loose at frisbee, I loose at catch phrase, I loose at football, I loose at Halo 2, I loose at every little thing I ever try to do, but tonight, I won at Monopoly. I was a horrible winner, but it was because it felt so good. I just am not used to this winning thing.

So I had a nice thanksgiving at home today . . . nothing too exciting. Went to the Theater with James, Karen, Andrew, and Auntie- we ran into The Janna Leah.

(warning, some of you may not want to read the rest of the entry. I think you know who you are.)

I saw Finding Neverland. I liked it, though I am exremely biased. And extremely hypocrytical in my bias*. Though the movie was a little slow, it was charming. Though clearly fictionalized, it raised an internal debate that I have reflected oft on lately. Genius. Masterpiece. Family. Church. How do they all fit together?

Peter Pan is, I think, a masterpiece created with genius. Thousands like myself have been inspired by its themes and characters. However, as I was watching this movie, the words of the prophet David O. McKay rang in my ears: “No success can compensate for failure in the home.”

J.M. Barrie created one of the most brilliant, timeless plays of all time. He was an imaginative, creative, inspired genius, but can “Peter Pan” compensate for his failure in his home? Can his love for the Davis’s boys compensate for the lack of love for his wife? Can his charity compensate for any other peculiarities that may have plagued his life (which at this point I don’t want to get in to)? No.

But. But does it require so much time and inspiration to create such a masterpiece that one cannot suceed in the home and in the creation of genius? This begs some thought. I recently did a research paper on art in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I quoted John Taylor, who prophesied that we, as Latter-day Saints, would one day be far ahead of the outside world in art, scholarship, and every field. I believe that we have not seen that day, and in fact are failing miserably at fulfilling his prophesy. In my paper I addressed several reasons why (and how to fix the problem). There was one reason, however, that I did not include because I am so conflicted on it. It is this idea that family takes too much time away from genius.

If we put family first, are we limiting ourselves in the arts, and if so, is that wrong?

I think it is interesting that the greatest geniuses did not have great family life. Carravagio was the best painter, in my opinion, ever to grace the earth. If only he didn’t have a thing for little boys. Michalangelo is one of the best scultpures, but note his homosexual lover. J.M. Barrie lost his wife and followed instead little boys. Beethoven died a lonely bachelor. Leanardo DaVinci (who was himself an illigitimate child) never married. Heck, even Alexander the Great was a horrid husband and father. I can think of very few people who created great masterpieces and great families.

Both raising a family and raising masterpieces require a great deal of time and inspiration, so the question is, do they require so much that you can’t raise both? And if you can’t, then are masterpieces good? They must be good. I know they are good. *sigh* but still I am conflicted. I don’t know the answer. I don’t know what I want to believe. I don’t know what I can believe- should believe.

I remember seeing Walter Rane’s lecture. Through his paintings of his wife, you could see a love that influenced and enhanced all of his artwork in a way that these other artists never saw. Clearly his success in his home made his work better. I consider him the best LDS artists ever, and one of the best artists alive in the world. So why doesn’t history show a pattern of happily married artists?

I wonder. All the great artists seem to be perverts. Despite their perversion, they create this great work. How much greater would their work be if they were not perverted? How much greater would Barrie’s Neverland be if his wife had been involved in it’s inspiration?

* (note my extreme hatred of Michael Jackson despite his musical achievements and my love of JM Barrie for his achievements)

P.S. I loved the park bench motif through out the movie. I have a thing for park benches . . . and I don’t know why.

(Where I am it is after one AM, because I am in Chicago . . . )

I intentionally did not post all weekend because I wanted to have untold stories for when I got home. Now that I am home, however, and have been talking to people here, I realize that the stories that I thought were big in Utah are really boring and I would have embarrassed myself by telling high school friends what happened this past weekend. Take my Friday run in with the cops, for example.

Friday: To begin with, I went to the ward Thanksgiving dinner at 5:15 with everyone. It was tons of fun hanging out with Jenna and everyone else. () After that, Eric, Mike, Lindsay, Lindsay’s friend, Mark, and walked from the Motion Picture Studio where the dinner was held to the dollar theater. There we saw cellular, and then we clown carred it back to DT. Well Eric, Mark, Lindsay, and I decided we were bored.

Now, I have explained the movie situation before. The movie industry hates Mormons and so they want to sue us whenever they can. Since girls aren’t allowed in boy’s rooms (and visa versa) we have to watch movies in public places, and that is a violation of movie copyright, which is an excuse for the movie industry to sue us, which makes BYU strictly enforce a no movie in public places rule, which leaves us with no safe (convenient) place to watch movies on campus.

So we went to the stake center (church) across the street (off campus), plugged the TV into the outlet, and started to watch Bruce Almighty. About a half hour through it a Provo cop pulls up. Long story short, he asks for the owner of the TV, and then procedes to take her lisence (sorta) and write her up with a warning for “theft of services.”

All before midnight.

And that was my Friday. I speant every other wakeful hour of the weekend studying for my Art History test, working on my flashcards, and writing a research paper. Speaking of that research paper, I had to present it to my class along with everyone else at my teachers house Monday night from 7 to 10. Which meant that I could not go to the Yellowcard concert (without just not turning in the research paper) despite having four opportunities to go. All my friends went. It’s not fair.

Today and last night have been so wonderful I should really give them a post of their own, but then you would only read that one and not this one, so, alas, you get one super long post. (my english teacher told me that no one reads the things between parenthesis)

It feels wonderful to be home- even more wonderful to be with my family, but I have to summarize a huge chunk of my emotions like this: Last night I kept walking into James’s room, because it used to be mine. I no longer have a room. In fact, I had to sleep in Megan’s bed, and she slept with Margot. Then, when I went to do my nightly e-mail, xanga, facebook routine, I couldn’t get onto the wireless network. The internet was password protected. I spent a half hour trying to hack into my own network at my own home in my sister’s bed. I gave up unsuccessful and went to bed, still on Utah time. I am a stranger in my own house.

Today was great. I went to Seminary- which has changed enourmously. Then I tried to go back to bed, but was woken by children every 10 seconds, so I gave up and made (yes I made) pancakes. I met Gina, Mary, Dana, Dowd, and others at Potbelly for lunch, and then I spent my afternoon chatting away with Ms. Heckle-Oliver, Ms. Ackerman, Mr. Meyers, Ms. Smith, and Mr. DePinto.

By 4:30 it was snowing so hard and so sticky and so heavy and so fast I didn’t get home until 5:15 (granted, I made three stops). I didn’t mind, because I drove safely and because I miss moisture and driving and . . . you know.

I ordered Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish and watched a Walk to Remember on TV with my family, and then at 10 I went to Heather’s house where I hung out until 1 (which is only 12 my time, although I am tired because I did wake up at 4:45 my time . . . AM) And now I am rambling, so I will listen to this song once more before calling it a night.

If she’s out there somewhere-somewhere
I would give everything to know.
Just to hold and to finally have her,
Take me to sunrise from indigo

. . . But if it’s to be
That there is anyone for me
Our hearts will shine
So everyone will see
I’ve got some time,
So maybe if you’re free
I could use a friend
Just to talk to me

-Sister Hazel, Out There

So I just got from Elementary School . . . I definately went back to third grade! Lisa’s mom teaches third grade at Foothill Elementary, and today was art day so Lisa asked me and another friend to help them out. It was so much fun. I love kids.

Seriously, that was such a big self-esteem builder. They just love you simply because you’re new. They don’t care what you look like or talk like or draw like or throw like or act like. They just accept you no questions asked. It’s awesome. Actually I take that back. They do ask you questions- a billion questions, but no matter how you answer them, your answer makes you look cooler. Kid: “Do you go to college?” Me: “Yeah” Kid: “You do? That’s so cool. I wish I went to college.” Another Kid: “Do you go to BYU” Different Kid: “BYU is college, duh” hehehehe.

I showed them how to make crayon drawings and then water color over them. It was so cool to walk around and see the different things they drew- robots and dragons and rainbows and octopi and volcanoes. They faught over the couple pieces I made, and then Kate, David (who wants to be an “art major” when he grows up), and Jake each gave me a picture that they had made.

Then it was recess time. I felt like a white scientists studying indigenous cultures and being inducted by the natives of some foreign island. They showed me this thing called four square. I had forgotten completely how to play. Every one of them wanted to share with me some secret as to how to win. They also wanted someone to knock Jake out. Apparently he’s the four square king. He was not happy when Lisa got him out.

After Recess we cleaned up the room and played kick ball as a class. It’s not often, not often at all, that I am fought over when it comes to picking teams. It felt pretty good.

Anyway . . . that was that. Seriously I wish I could go back and be eight again. Knowing what I know now . . . I wonder how differently I would do things. One thing I know, it is a foreign world they live in. It’s a shame that we old people have forgotten what it’s like to be innocent, trusting, creative, accepting, loving, care free, and confident.

It’s also a shame that my Fridays are speant writing research papers, as I am about to do now. What ever happened to “art day” with crayons, four square, and kickball. I wish I had a big kid to throw my arms around and look up to. Instead all I have to look up to are old people. That’s a scary thought.

I got some Halloween pictures from home. It makes Thanksgiving seem that much further away. Megan’s hair has gotten so long. Jonathan and Margot look older. They are having so much fun with out me!

Well maybe they’re having fun. They look a little disgusted to me.

But can you blame them? Ewwww. Gross.

*sigh* I wish that I could be with them. Some times, no matter how much I love this school and the people here, some times I just feel lonely. It’s hard not having the friends I’ve had for years. I take solace in new friends, but still.

Ahh, one of Megan’s “looks.” She should be a model.

“Will I ever make it home
To the place I recognize
Far from here and where I’ve been
And all the places that I’ve been shown
Will I ever make it home
Can they keep me here for good
Where I hardly know a soul
And my fear keeps going on

My weariness keeps growing inside
My patience is starting to subside
And I hope I’ll be there soon
It can’t be long or I’ll fall through

Will I ever make it home
Will I ever leave the ground
Leave this place so far behind
Till there is no turning back
Will I ever make it home? . . .”

-Ingram Hill

Hey . . . so I am ripping some pictures off Naomi’s Photo Album so that you can see what I look like as a college student . . . lol. Tomorrow I get my own pictures back. Hopefully I will be able to find a scanner so you can see more. Until then . . .

That’s us at one of the football games. (Backrow: Jen (I think), Kaylynn, Rachel, Kali; 2nd Row: Jessica, Judi, Britney, Me; Front row: Lindsay, Allison . . . Oh, and that’s Rob in the way back)

That’s us at Homecoming. (Back Row: Jordan, Me, Lisa, Ryan, James, Judi, Johny, Johny’s date, Jacob [Woo], Jacob’s date; Front Row: Brent, Nicola, Naomi, Rachel, Chantelle, Gordy, Britney, Rodney, Kyler, Amy)

Preference Pictures are also on Naomi’s site.

Edit:

OHHHH! AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE MOST IRONIC THING IS EVER? France went to war yesterday!!! And not with Iraq, but with Africa, for a reason that I think is horrid, if anyone really knows the reason. They are attacking the Ivory Coast because people there don’t like them. Will they attack me next for the same reason?

News report here.

I just completed this cool online scavenger hunt for National Treasure, the new movie with Nicolas Cage. Solving these puzzles and posting about this sweepstakes makes me eligible for free Xanga Premium, $100, a signed movie poster, DVDs, and a t-shirt… Check it out!

Naomi put up some pictures from preference here

Note: Friday’s post about Thursday has been written.

So . . . where to begin.

I had a lot of fun at Preference yesterday. I had forgotten how much I loved ice skating! But maybe I should start from the beginning. We had a huge group- almost all in our ward. I went with Allison (she’s so nice). The girls picked us up and we went to the tunnel singing tunnel where they had set up a gourmet dinner of Wendy’s “kids meals” It was awesome! The toys were little monster trucks that provided lots of fun with races, etc. After that us guys went in a group to the bathroom in the Marriot Center near by

Then we went over to seven peaks ice rink. We watched some comedy sports (not quite as good as the one in Chicago, but always funny), and the we danced for a while. Dancing was, as always, a blast.

After that we went ice skating. I haven’t been ice skating in so long, so I had forgotten how much fun it is. I definately will have to go back

At 11:30 preference was over, but we were not done! The girls huddled together, and they decided to go to a movie, so we did. James Brown decided that we were going to see Hillary Duff in “Raise Your Voice.” This may have been the funniest part of the date ! I think I laughed- all of us laughed- during the whole movie. It was that bad. (I’m biased though- I hate Hillary Duff with a Passion). Hehehehe. If any of you have seen it and know Jeff Prows- Hillary’s brother Paul in the movie reminded me of him a lot.

Well that was preference. Today I did so much Art History homework I want to shoot myself, but it’s over. And I went to the game, which was a really good game. We creamed them with some really exciting plays in the 3rd quarter especially.

* all smilies correlate to a note in a protected post that supplements this post.

For you, the bubbles prove you’re deep in thought. Without even realizing it, you treat your bubbles as works of art, built slowly, then destroyed in a bang. There’s something intimidating about someone so focused that a loud popping sound doesn’t break his or her concentration. Keep messing with their minds!

Take the “How Do You Chew” Quiz to enter a sweepstakes for free Xanga Premium for you and ten of your friends!

Amazing night . . . so much to tell. I met Walter Rane!!! (will update tomorrow)

Update:
My uncle and Holly found out about the lecture Walter Rane was giving Thursday, and since he is my favorite living artist, they told me about it. Thus, I went to see Walter Rane with Holly and one her friends, David. David drove us, which was really nice since we killed his car in the process. It’s kind of a funny story. On the way home (thank goodness in Provo) the car died on the highway exit ramp. A nice girl behind us jump started the car and offered to follow us, which was great because it died again at a stop light. Another jump start had us on our way, until it died at the bell tower. We pushed it into the parking lot from there. What is kind of interesting was that before we left, Holly offered a prayer. I had never thought of offering a prayer before going into the city before, but in her prayer she asked for a safe journey home, one that I think was accomplished. It is in the small things like that that I am reminded why I love the Gospel so much.

Hearing Walter Rane speak really inspired me. He said that he had always wanted to be an artist, and he expressed gratitude to parents who encouraged it. He made his first painting when he was 10. He does and has always used his family- siblings, spouse, and kids- as his models. Hearing him talk about all of that really touched me because I followed that same course- my first painting being in 4th grade under the direction of Peggy Goldman who taught me how to stretch canvas, create a composition, and paint, and then had me do so by myself.

It’s amazing to see some of the paintings of his wife. You could tell through the gestures how much he loved her. It’s refreshing to see that when so many other artists lacked that kind of family bond. I could see how the family enhanced his work in ways the masters never achieved.

As he listed the artists that inspired him- the barouque artists, Rembrant, Da Vinci, and most of all Caravaggio I got really excited because those are the artist that particularly have shaped my work. Recently I have really grown to love Caravaggio’s work. I can see the way Walter Rane uses light like those old masters- like in Rane’s piece “Five of Them Were Wise”:

In terms of texture, composition, light, color, gesture, and emotion, I am convinced Walter Rane is one of, if not the, best artists alive. So much of his work is really new. He showed us a painting he had finished a week or two ago of Joseph Smith’s first vision (in Utah you can see the Church preparing for his 200th birthday next year). It is absolutely amazing. This painting to me is the most accurate portrayal of the first vision I have ever seen– not because it looks like Joseph or is doctrinally explanitive, but because you look at it and you feel like you are in the woods during a cold spring morning. You see Joseph Smith, and his posture makes him look like a fourteen year old boy. The mood of the whole piece is one of mixed apprehension, anxiety, and excitement. It isn’t just a warm fuzzy experience- it is a daunting, exhausting, and beautiful experience. You don’t see God or Christ in this painting, but you look at it and know that Joseph Smith did see God and Christ.

Walter Rane is a genius of posture. The gestures and body language of his figures show so much. In many of his paintings of Christ he only shows Christs hands or somehow gets you to focus on the hands partly because he is daunted by the task of painting Christ, but also because the gestures say more. I think part of his mastery of the gesture and the human figure comes from his experience in illistration.

I love the way, too, that Rane paints angels. I love the way he portrays them . . . ahh I could go on and on. You’re probably sick of me going on and on about Walter Rane, but I was really excited to see him. I actually introduced myself after the lecture and he gave me his address. It was a really cool experience.

Christ Visits the New World:

He Anointed the Eyes of the Blind Man:

Seeing his work on this computer screen just cannot compare to seeing his work in person.

A protected entry will suplement this post.

Friday:
Friday was awesome. After English I was in an especially good mood, I can’t remember why. I ate lunch with Chantelle, and then Charlie and I hopped on a bus to find a costume shop. We got on the wrong direction and took a 45 min. detour, but eventually we found the Tailor Maid Cosume Rental Shop. There I paid an arm and a leg for a spiderman costume.

I had been looking all over for a spiderman costume. I really really really wanted to be spiderman even though I knew it wasn’t original this year. I was so happy to find a place that wasn’t sold out.

So then I watched Spiderman the movie- had to get in the mood and all. Then I put on my super sexy spidy suit and was off to the dance. The dance was a ton of fun.

Saturday:
I got dressed up as Spiderman again, this time for tricker treating. The kids came through the dorms- it was cute. I missed home though, and wasn’t feeling that chipper.

Sunday:
My Sunday School lesson went really well.

I ate dinner at Julie’s house, which was nice. I enjoyed eating some homemade food and being with family. After that I got asked to preference. I came home to find a note on my door asking me to preference annonymously. That person’s name who was asking me was in the day room. So were 15 other names. Apparently a bunch of us guys were asked and we had to guess by who. We didn’t like that so much so we negotiated and got them to tell us that night.

Monday: Happy Birthday to Andrew.

Tuesday:
As my roommate and floormates will attest, I knew that the election wouldn’t be nearly as close as last year, and that Bush would clearly win. I was pleased to find out that I was right.

I think it’s clear that the demacrats will have to stop isolating the moral majority. I also think that it’s clear that the Republican’s are trusted more with the military because they are stronger with the military. So many people thought that after having all three branches dominated by the Right we would surely see the Demacrats take more seats and even the presidency, but they didn’t. The Right gained more! Again, I think it’s because the Demacrats just don’t appeal to most of America. (Sonarbison said it well)

So today I am happy that we have Bush for four more years, sad that I can’t go to the yellowcard concert because of my English class, happy that I am going to see Walter Rane tomorrow, and sad about a few other things.

Later. Facebook me!