Friday Video: Kick His Ask

She is, quite literally, my hero.

In Case You Hadn't Heard - Because I'm So Shy And Quiet About It...

(The frozen expression on my face totally makes me giggle.)

Check out the official website: I Am An Ex-Mormon.

Friday Video: 3 Year Old Jonathan Conducting Beethoven

Talk about being Freak of Nature Talented. Oh, the rapture...

Remember when life was like this? When you experienced the things you loved, and were good at, this vibrantly? This completely? This blissfully?

No? Please try.

When was the last time you threw yourself into something you enjoy this much with all your heart and, when you were done, threw yourself on the floor and laughed out loud in complete and utter satisfaction and joy?

How about today?

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Related Links
Friday Video: Jessica's Daily Affirmation

Friday Video: Oh, The Wonder

Okay, this is one of my all time favorite things. My friend R. (of the saga of the tormenting beeps ) and I watch this together on occasion. We snort, scream with laughter, pee - then rewind and repeat nearly a dozen times.

Check out Debra Winger as Drusilla - Wonder Woman's little sister! Yep, Academy Award winner Debra Winger (Terms of Endearment, Urban Cowboy, An Officer and a Gentleman) has one of TV's most beautifully ridiculous moments ever captured in the first fifteen seconds of this video.

Remember how HOT Linda Carter was? Remember how svelte and goddess-like and worship-inducing she was? Remember how incredible she looked as she took off her glasses and spun with the grace of a ballerina - transforming herself into Wonder Woman? (Wanna guess how many hours I spent as a little girl doing that in front of my bedroom mirror?)

CHECK OUT DEBRA WINGER'S WONDER GIRL TRANSFORMATION!!!

Oh, Mighty Isis - the swinging of the arms, the magical flying off of the hair bows, the pumping her leg like she is on a scooter and the most awkward spin I have ever seen in my life. This fills me with such glee that I can hardly contain myself.

Apparently she spent every dime she made on that show to get herself out of her contract. I don't blame her.

But, for this, I will bless her name forever more.

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Related Posts
Please Help Me
Sweet, Sweet Silence

It's Fun To Stay At The...

So, last night I went to watch my son in the Spring Dance Recital at the Jr High my kids attend. Ballroom dance would have been a seriously shame-based activity in CA when I was in Jr High in the early 80's but now, here, it is a cause for much student body rejoicing.

In the middle of the 2 hour long festival of mid-pubescent movement, the lights dimly came up on 5 silhouettes. I instantly knew what I was looking at but could scarcely believe it was real. "Noooo..." I thought, "It can't be. I'm not that lucky..." Oh, but hot damn ladies and gentlemen, as it turns out - I AM That Lucky!!!

The soundtrack of my childhood suddenly blasted through the sound system and the blinding lights came up on a Construction Worker, Policeman, Army-dude, Indian and Cowboy gettin' their serious boogie on. I was so overcome with celestial glee that I didn't even care that they left out the Harley Leather Dude. Last night, a Jr. High School in Salt Lake City, Utah paid homage to The Village People. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And a God. And they Both Love Me!!!

Take Action - For Wesley

As many of you will remember, a few years ago my dear friend Reed Cowan lost his beautiful little son, Wesley. When I first met Wesley I thought, "Holy crap, it's the Little Prince!" And he was - both inside and out. An absolutely stunning child.

I received the following email from Reed a few days ago:

Hi friends! As many of you know, I lost my son three and a half years ago to a senseless backyard swing set accident. Wesley was playing on a swing set that should have been pulled from the market in the mid 1970's when the first injury was reported. Instead, swing set manufacturers (knowing the design was a risk to children) continued to market and perpetuate this design in to backyards all over the country. As a result, scores of children have had horrific injuries--and my son is dead.

I have fought my guts out--along with Wesley's mother and sister and our families--to get this design banned from the U.S. market. And we have prevailed. Never again will the design be made. The fight was horrible. Swing set manufacturers (including the manufacturer who provided the Obama children with their new Whitehouse lawn swing set) fought us with personal attacks and campaigns that were tremendously painful--all for money.

We won. But it cost us much.

But there's another phase in the fight. A crucial phase. And I need you to join with me in helping me.

While we were successful in the ban--the truth remains that TENS OF THOUSANDS OF THE SAME TYPE OF SWING SETS that killed our Wesley still remain in backyards all over the country.

That means that children are still at risk. And the CONSUMER PRODUCTS SAFETY COMMISSION refuses to issue a nation-wide warning so that parents who have this design in their back yards can make the necessary modifications to protect their children.

THE CPSC IS DROPPING THE BALL and WE MUST DEMAND THEY DO THEIR JOB AND ISSUE AN ALERT. Even when I first called the CPSC days after Wesley's accident, I got a shove-off and a huge reluctance to even look in to this case. I simply will NOT take no for an answer. No grieving parent would or should.

For more information PLEASE READ HERE.

Watch the latest TV report about this and GO VIRAL WITH IT. PLEASE--IN THE NAME OF MY BEAUTIFUL SON WESLEY--FORWARD THIS E MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. PLEASE. GO VIRAL in emails and on your Facebook pages. TWITTER the WSVN LINK. IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE TO HELP. ASK EVERYONE TO CONTACT THE CPSC AND ASK THEM TO ISSUE A NATIONWIDE ALERT TO PARENTS.

WHEN YOU CONTACT THE CPSC-- GO TO: INFO@CPSC.GOV

FLOOD THEM. THEY ARE FAILING IN THIS INSTANCE. REMIND THEM THAT IN THEIR VERY OWN BI-LAWS--THEIR VERY EXISTENCE AND PURPOSE IS TO WARN THE PUBLIC. My son has been gone three and a half years. It's HIGH TIME the warning happen.

If they do not do this soon---I will hold a national press conference to say that the CPSC is dropping the ball here. Their credibility is on the line. Remind them to reclaim it.


Internetland, please take a moment to cut-n-paste, send emails, spread the word. There is absolutely no reason for one more child to be hurt and one more parent to suffer a loss like Reed has. No reason.

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On a blissfully happy note: Reed and his partner Greg were just granted the legal adoption of gorgeous twin boys. Such lucky babies. Congratulations to the Papas!

The Postum Never Returns Twice

When I was a little Mormon girl living in Provo, Utah there were four foods that I hated with every breath of my body. Avocados, curry, Tapioca pudding, and Postum. Oh, but I hated the Postum. It was the nastiest thing I could ever imagine putting my mouth. Clearly I didn't get out much. But, back then, I was baffled as to how my parents could sit around drinking cups of death, while playing the card game "Authors," with actual smiles on their faces.

Postum, was created as a healthy alternative to coffee in 1895 by C.W. Post, a student of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg who believed caffeine to be unhealthy. At some point it was adopted as the only true alternative to coffee by good Mormon folk, who believed caffeine to be evil. Most mainstream Mormons today will drink Coke, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper and other only slightly naughty caffeinated beverages with no consequence whatsoever. Caffeine has become one of the lightest of sins - kind of like playing ball, watching TV or doing anything other than playing the piano, napping or studying scriptures on Sunday. And oral sex.

(I do have to say, though, there was nothing - and I mean nothing - like coming home from three hours of church to the smell of Sunday dinner. There was no bliss like the feeling of peeling off those freaking panty hose that my garments were bunched up under, eating roast and mashed potatoes and rolls smothered in butter and raspberry jam then crawling into bed for the best nap EVER. Seriously, I need to give myself a good old fashioned Mormon-ish dinner / nap one of these days. Anyway...)

I have always loved the smell of coffee. It reminds me of breakfast at my grandparents who were no longer Mormon. But back when I was a member, coffee was for smelling NOT for drinking. And, somewhere long the way I discovered that Postum was not the source of all evil. That is was actually yummy and, indeed, a great alternative warm beverage. And bonus, it even came in a version that was coffee flavored. Drank it every morning. All was well.

And then I hopped the fence into the land of No Longer Mormon and discovered that while my nose and mouth really love coffee, the rest of my body can only take so much before it starts to twitch. So mixing a little of it into my daily Postum was perfection. Heaven. Bliss.

And then one day I reached for it at the grocery store on the same shelf that it had been forever and it was gone. Not sold out - GONE. Kraft Foods had discontinued it. How could they DO that? Not only did they take away a highly enjoyed daily ritual but a huge connection to my childhood. Mr. Rogers is dead. Disneyland has updated, thus destroyed, most of my favorite attractions. Did they really have to kill my Postum?

Last year my mom came to visit bringing with her two, count them - TWO, actual jars of real live Postum that she still had in her pantry. Postum was back in my life! I was over the moon. I have rationed and only used the smallest necessary amount in order to make them last as long as they could. And yesterday I finally ran out. For good. Postum is officially gone. I had been told that Pero is a great substitute so I bought some. I sit here at my computer sipping what can only be described as a cup off ass and I want to cry. I know, there are a million teas and lattes out there, and there is still coffee in manageable amounts, but my Postum is gone. Just like Sonny & Cher, my first kitten and Dawn Dolls.

I think I'm going to go stick a slab of meat in the crock pot, play with my kids Lite Brite and Shrinky Dinks and then take a long nap.