Good-Bye, Chair

When the BYU Law Building got some new furniture in 1996, they left the old furniture outside. Glenn picked up this chair and took it home to his dorm, and it transferred into our married home. It was our only sit-on furniture for quite a while. Now, its purpose is fulfilled and it’s going to the trash.

O Law Chair, you were an integral yet sinister part of our family. You were an office chair and a dining chair. You traveled with us through all our moves. You were always present in the scenery. The way your back legs stuck out farther than the back, lying in wait for unsuspecting toes, will not be missed.

Meanwhile in California

We stayed in California for a few days after the wedding. Friday Glenn’s mom had planned a tour of the Jelly Belly factory. Glenn and I weren’t excited about that. We’d already been, and the drive back had been a nightmare. Plus I don’t like Jelly Bellies that much. The older teens wanted to stay at Grandma’s and do nothing, but their moms didn’t want them to. 

Glenn and I settled on a guided tour of the Bourn Cottage at the Empire Mine. Sara, Jaelyn, a 17-year-old niece and an 18-year-old nephew joined us. Our niece called us “Team Non-Jelly-Belly.” Caelan and Corin went to the factory with Grandma.

We’d been to the mine before but not the the guided tour. The weather was perfect, and the grounds were gorgeous. The tour let us see the entire main floor of the cottage, which has been restored. I had to stop and look at all the old books. That was really cool. 

There was a guided tour of the mine immediately after. The kids weren’t as interested in that, so they mostly waited outside on the grass. We got to see one of the stamp machines in action and then they used lights to simulate riding down into the mine. We got back by 2:30. We learned there was a huge accident just west of Colfax, so the Jelly Belly group didn’t make it back until 5:30 or so. Team Non-Jelly-Belly was very happy to not be sitting on the road all afternoon.

Saturday the remaining visiting family members visited the Folsom Zoo. It was toasty in the sun but nice in the shade. It’s a little zoo, more of a sanctuary for former illegal exotic pets and seriously injured animals. We saw it all in about an hour. There were peacocks roaming around, and there were a bunch of baby peacocks wandering around, and they were so cute.

mine entrance

Miners would ride this to go into the mine.

baby peacocks with mama peacocks

June Books

 Red Dots: Deep Space One by Ray Jay Perreault
I’ve read a lot of books lately that throw a ton of terms and names at you, and it takes most of the book to figure out what anything means or what’s going on. This novelette went to the other extreme by clearly explaining the entire situation (all telling) before getting into the story. It was a nice change, but it felt long even though it was just ten pages.

The science bits dealing with space travel and communication were really cool; it’s a solid sci fi story. The captain was a good character, fully developed. There were a couple good twists at the end.

I don’t know if this will be edited before final publication, but if not, it really, really needs it. There are tons of errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation as well as some typos and awkward constructions. This is a sample paragraph. (Extra spaces are in the original.)

She looked  at  the  message, and she was shocked; it fits in perfectly  with the  concerns that  Robert had passed to her  early. ... When  encrypting  a  file  was  a  pain  in  the  butt,  people tended  not  to  use  it or  forgot.

I received a free copy from the author.

* * *

Democracy in America by Alexis de Toqueville
This classic is a must for students of political science and American studies. With its highly academic writing style, it’s like reading the Federalist Papers. I could only read a little at a time. I ended up with the abridged version, which is just as well. The abridger says Toqueville was often repetitive, so I don’t think I missed anything important.

He wrote two volumes some years apart, which are now usually combined into one. Each volume is divided into several sections. Toqueville was a Frenchman who traveled throughout the United States while France was still in upheaval. He wanted to see how democracy worked (though it’s really a representative democracy).

He tries to remain completely disinteresed and nonpartisan but condemns slavery. When he discusses American democracy, he is ignoring the South because he doesn’t consider it a democracy.

It was interesting to see some of my ideas challenged. To me, all people are created equal by Natural Law, and that’s an absolute truth. Toqueville seems to find it a charming notion. He comes across as snooty sometimes; he really believes (it seems) aristocrats are inherently better than other people and deserve to sit around all day thinking up Big Ideas.

Anyway, these are the things I highlighted:

Poverty with misfortune is the best-known guarantee of equality among men.

Slavery ... dishonors labor; it introduces idleness into society and therewith ignorance and pride, poverty and luxury.

In America it is religion which leads to enlightenment and the observance of divine laws which leads men to liberty.

Though mental endowments remain unequal as the Creator intended, the means of exercising them are equal.

Each man is the best judge of his own interest and the best able to satisfy his private needs.

In America, the people are enlightened, awake to their own interests, and accustomed to take thought for them.

The citizens will always be better able to achieve social prosperity than the authority of the government.

What good is it to me, after all, if there is an authority always busy to see to the tranquil enjoyment of my pleasures and going ahead to brush all dangers away from my path without giving me even the trouble to think about it, if that authority, which protects me from the smallest thorns on my journey, is also the absolute master of my liberty and of my life?

Look where you will, you will never find true power among men except in the free concurrence of their wills.

Often to a European a public official stands for force; to an American he stands for right. It is therefore fair to say that a man never obeys another man, but justice, or the law.

[An American] thinks of some enterprise, and it does not come into his head to appeal to public authority for its help. ... No doubt he is often less successful than the state would have been in his place, but in the long run the sum of all private undertakings far surpasses anything the government might have done.

Men appeal to force when they do not have right on their side.

What does comfort or freedom profit a nation if it is in danger of being conquered? What good are its industries and trade if another rules the seas and lays down the law in all markets?

There is therefore at the bottom of democratic instituions some hidden tendency which often makes men promote the general prosperity, in spite of their vices and their mistakes, whereas in aristocratic institutions there is sometimes a secret bias which, in spite of talents and virtues, leads men to contribute to the afflictions of their fellows.

No man can be great without virtue, nor any nation great without respect for rights.

Democratic government makes the idea of political rights penetrate right down to the least of citizens.

Despotism often presents itself as the defender of the oppressed and founder of order. Peoples are lulled to sleep by the temporary prosperity it engenders, and when they do wake up, they are wretched. But liberty is generally born in stormy weather, growing with difficulty amid civil discords, and only when it is already old does one see the blessings it has brought.

In America the people obey the law not only because it is their work but also because they can change it if by any chance it does injure them; they submit to it primarily as a self-imposed evil, and secondly as a passing one.

An American does not know how to converse, but he argues; if an American should be reduced to occupying himself with his own affairs alone, at that moment half his existence would be snatched from him; he would feel it as a vast void in his life and would become incredibly unhappy.

If ever freedom is lost in America, that will be due to the omnipotence of the majority driving the minorities to desperation and forcing them to appeal to physical force.

It is certainly not the elected magistrate who makes the American democracy prosper, but the fact that the magistrates are elected.

There is only one effective remedy against the evils which equality may cause, and that is political liberty.

A government could take the place of some of the largest association in America, but what political power could ever carry on the vast multitude of lesser undertakings which associations daily enable American citizens to control? The more government takes the place of associations, the more will individuals lose the idea of forming associations and need the government to come to their help. That is a vicious cycle of cause and effect. The morals and intelligence of a democratic people would be in as much danger as its commerce and industry if ever a government wholly usurped the place of private associations.

No matter how a people strives for it, all the conditions of life can never be perfectly equal. Even if, by misfortune, such an absolute dead level were attained, there would still be inequalities of intelligence which, coming directly from God, will ever escape the laws of man.

Americans do not feel degraded because they work, for everyone around them is working. There is nothing humiliating about the idea of receiving a salary, for the president of the United States works for a salary. He is paid for giving orders, as they are for obeying them. In the United States professions are more or less unpleasant, more or less lucrative, but they are never high or low. Every honest profession is honorable.

If anyone asks me what I think the chief cause of the extraordinary prosperity and growing power of this nation, I should answer that it is due to the superiority of their women.

* * *

The Annotated Alice by Lewis Carroll; notes by Martin Gardner
I read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass many times as a child to where I had them nearly memorized. At an age where suspension of disbelief is very high, it was easy to take all the nonsense and scenes dissolving into other scenes at face value and accept them as perfectly reasonable. It felt very similar to common dreams I had. Adults reading for the first time may find it too weird.

I caught a lot more puns and satire this time around. I read the definitive annotated version, which gave a lot of insights into the math puzzles, inside jokes, and the slang that was in style at the time. It includes the originals of all the poems, most of which are satires. It also includes a cut scene from Through the Looking-Glass. I recommend it for hard-core Lewis Carroll fans.

(It seems a little outdated; I’m pretty sure everyone knows the basics of VR, and I don’t think “Muslim” is a language.)

* * *

Skulduggery Pleasant (Skulduggery Pleasant #1) by Derek Landy
This Middle Grade story has the perfect blend of action, magic, and humor. Skulduggery is a great character with a darkly dry wit. The plot itself is a tad predictable for adults, but it’s a story you’ll enjoy reading to children, who will also love it. The audio narrator did a good job, but sometimes his voice got so low, it was hard to hear.

* * *

A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab
The premise is really fascinating – four Londons in parallel worlds that are otherwise very different. Kel, native to Red London, is one of the few people who can travel between them. He eventually gets stuck with Lilah Bard of Grey London.

The plot is quite simple, though: A bunch of people search for/fight over a MacGuffin. There are no subplots, no side plots. I think this was the reason the story never really gripped me. I liked it fine but was never excited about continuing it.

I enjoyed the characters of Kel and Ry. Lilah was annoying pretty often. She’s supposed to be a stealthy thief, but she kept talking really loudly when it should have been obvious that silence and stealth were needed. I guess she pulls through at the end, but there were too many times I wanted to slap her.

Audio narration was pretty good, though I think the narrator made Lilah extra annoying on purpose.

* * *

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculée Ilibagiza
This is a personal account of a survivor of the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s, not so much a history of the entire genocide. It’s deeply personal and uplifting despite all the atrocities. It’s very much a companion to The Hiding Place.

Immaculée grew up in a wonderful family and excelled in STEM subjects in school despite encountering extreme racism. She went home from college for Easter when the genocide started in earnest. She survived by hiding in a pastor’s house in a tiny bathroom for three months. There were six women and then eight. Being unable to move or make any noise for that whole time, Immaculée immersed herself in meditation and prayer, using the time to strengthen her faith and character.

Immaculée’s efforts to forgive and stop the cycle of hatred and violence is really inspiring; her determination and hard work are great examples; all can learn from it. People of all faiths will be inspired by all the miracles she witnessed, but I think Catholics especially will be moved by this account. (Atheists will be just be amazed at all the lucky coincidences.)

It was a case of the oppressed becoming the oppressors, part of a never-ending cycle. This book makes racism and blind hatred seem really stupid. The U.S. at the time refused to acknowledge the genocide. It’s frustrating because the only lesson we could glean from the WWII Jewish Holocaust was “never again,” yet it still happens.

Just to nitpick about the Bible, Immaculée refers to a psalm that she felt was an answer to a prayer. She wasn’t reading in English, but the book cited the Contemporary English Version. Compare that to the King James Version—isn’t KJV so much more poetical and powerful?

Psalm 91
King James Version
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Contemporary English Version
2 Then you will say to the Lord, “You are my fortress, my place of safety; you are my God, and I trust you.”
3 The Lord will keep you safe from secret traps and deadly diseases.
4 He will spread his wings over you and keep you secure. His faithfulness is like a shield or a city wall.
5 You won’t need to worry about dangers at night or arrows during the day.
6 And you won’t fear diseases that strike in the dark or sudden disaster at noon.
7 You will not be harmed, though thousands fall all around you.

* * *

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
It’s best to go into this blind, but I don’t know if that’s possible with a movie out there and all. Teddy is a US marshal come to investigate an escaped patient from an asylum for the criminally insane. He keeps getting stonewalled, and things get a little weird.

There’s some meandering, some filler, in the first half. Then the second half is pretty good and the last bit pretty exciting. It’s a fun mystery/psychological thriller.

I listened to this on a road trip and got home with only 30 seconds left in the book.

* * *

Dragon Rider (Dragon Rider #1) by Cornelia Funke
I didn’t realize that this is written by a German author and was translated into English. So, cool.

The story is a journey/quest involving a few humans and a few magical creatures. It’s very simple and straightforward. The characters are often immature and bicker in a way that young kids love, though adults may find it annoying. The story is perfect for ages 8-10. As an adult I was a bit bored. It’s also way too long for most 8-year-olds at over 500 pages.

Brendan Fraser is a remarkable narrator; he does a whole range of completely different voices amazingly. He sounds like he’s reading a bedtime story. He includes the whole range of sounds (giggling, sneezing, chewing, etc.), which may put off some listeners.

* * *

Thomas Destiny by Jason King and John Grundvig
This is fun, slightly goofy adventure story perfect for kids 10 and up. It’s also great if you’re trying to get your young boys to read. It’s got a big of a Percy Jackson vibe and a bit of a Monsters Vs. Aliens vibe. Basically, it’s up to the universe’s biggest losers to save the world.

There are a lot of typos here — a total lack of comma knowledge, mostly, and some weird formatting, like a page number occasionally in a different font. I think I have the most recent edition.

I think I won this in a drawing, and I have met Jason King a couple times.

Shower Problems

I had the craziest time taking a shower the night we arrived in Colfax for the wedding. (We were staying in the guest house, originally built for Grandma and Grandpa Hammer.) 

Usually the house runs out of towels with so many people, so I bought some cheap but fluffy towels in Reno. I put them in the bathroom and needed to take off the price tags. Ripping them still left the plastic thingies on. I looked for scissors, but as we were in the guest house, utensils and tools were limited. I found a weird serrated knife in the kitchen and sawed the plastic thingies off. 

I got all my shower stuff ready and turned on the water and waited for it to warm up. And waited. I tried the sinks. No hot water there, either. I got re-dressed, gathered all my shampoo and towels, and walked over to the main house and asked about hot water. Fatherin-in-law said, “Oh, yeah” and went over to switch it on. Meanwhile I decided I’d be better off taking a shower at the main house. 

I set new clothes and jammies and towels on the counter. I turned on the water but couldn’t figure out how to make it come out the showerhead. It didn’t have a little pull knob thing on the faucet. So I went out wearing a towel and asked Mother-in-law how it worked. It’s a very subtle design, it turned out. 

So the shower was finally going fine, but the tub was filling up pretty quickly. I wasn’t sure which way the bottom knob needed to point to drain the tub. I eventually realized that I need the downward position, but it kept drifting back up. I had to hold it down with a toe while I finish the shower. 

When the shower was done, I reached across the toilet to grab a towel from the counter … and it fell into the toilet. Why did I leave the lid up? I knew this was going to happen. I got dressed (in jammies) and went back to the guest house.