2020 Birthday CD

Yeah, I know my sister subscribes to a music streaming service. But she still has a CD player in her car, and as long as that's true, I'm making a CD for her.

1) Don't Stop Me Now: Queen
2) Automatic: The Pointer Sisters--probably my favorite song on this year's CD. One of my kids pointed out part of the background music sounds like Mario Kart; it totally does
3) Why Did You Do That?: Lady Gaga--from the soundtrack for A Star Is Born, a movie I really liked. This and the other Lady Gaga song at #10 are her crappy sell-out pop songs in the movie, yet they are the ones I like best 
4) Stressed Out: twenty one pilots
5) Rewind: Craig David--"Craig David all over your (boink)" 2nd Brother sings that a lot.
6) Pick U Up: Foster the People--credit to my husband
7) Creep: TLC
8) bad guy: Billie Eilish
9) Look What You Made Me Do: Taylor Swift
10) Hair Body Face: Lady Gaga
11) Rosalinda's Eyes: Billy Joel--from a great scene in Freaks and Geeks
12) You Got To Me: Neil Diamond--I got to watching a YouTube clip from American Bandstand where they played this song while some couples participated in a dance contest. How had I not heard it before? It's very good.
13) Vowels: Capital Cities--credit to my husband
14) I Like It: Cardi B
15) DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love: Usher--my kids have been back into the video game Minecraft recently, and they like a parody version of this song where the chorus says, "the Creeper's trying to steal our stuff again."
16) Fireball: Pitbull--was originally higher on the track listing but got moved down because I think my sister will be embarrassed by it
17) Panini: Lil Nas X--credit to 1st Brother
18) On Melancholy Hill: Gorillaz--credit to my husband
19) You Got It All: The Jets--a group of eight Mormon Polynesian siblings who had NINE younger brothers and sisters. As in 17 kids total!
20) Freeway of Love: Aretha Franklin--my dad played this song so much for a time while I was growing up. I especially remember him singing the line, "how'd you get you pants so tight?" 

2019 Favorite Quotes

I’ve been keeping a list of quotes I like in my phone for a few years now. Here are some favorites I came across in 2019:

“All I know is that I know nothing.” -Socrates

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” -Simone Weil via Pepper on FB 

"[Henry David Thoreau] chose to be rich by making his wants few and supplying them himself."

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” -Maya Angelou

“Fred Rogers has been doing the same small good thing for a very long time.” -Tom Junod in his Esquire magazine article about Mr. Rogers

“You’re not allowed to complain about not getting what you didn’t ask for” -Gottman Institute

"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." -Henry Ford

"Smart people learn from their mistakes; wise people learn from others’ mistakes" -on a grave in Oakwood cemetery

"My ultimate authority is the divine voice in my own soul. Period." -Sue Monk Kidd via Pepper on FB

"The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit"-via Carolyn on Instagram

"I am convinced both by faith and experience that to maintain one’s self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime if we will live simply and wisely." -Henry David Thoreau

"Do you know what that means, to forgive? It’s a decision we make to release someone from the feelings of anger we have toward them" -From Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers in the movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

"Maturity is the prize of learning to live with ambiguity." (probably via the Armstrong & Getty Show podcast; but I didn't write the source down)

"Home is where people notice if you’re not there." -Bosnian writer Alexander Haman via the Armchair Expert podcast

"Small seeds of gratitude will produce a harvest of hope." -card at Trader Joe's

"When people are presented with the alternatives of hating themselves for their failures or hating others for their successes, they seldom choose to hate themselves." -Thomas Sowell

"Life should be divided into three stages: education, making money, and giving all the money away." Andrew Carnegie

"Nearly all men can stand adversity; if you want to test a man’s character, give him power." --Abraham Lincoln

"Even bad times are full of good times, and great times." -from the book Bridge of Clay

"A million times a day you complete tasks that everyone takes for granted. The scheduling, planning, and worrying that would never occur to anyone else, the constant noise, the slow grating of nerves, the indescribable relentlessness, the isolating exhaustion." -via scary mommy on Instagram about being a mom

"It seemed to take a very long time; everything took so long these days. No one warned you about that when you were younger, no one told you how slow you would become and how bored you would be by your slowness." -from the book Into the Water

"Nothing is any fun if you can get as much of it as you want. Especially money." -"Henry Sugar" short story by Roald Dahl

"Sometimes you need to fail in life. Because you’re not that special. Besides, failure makes for good stories." -odd1sout Book

Think “good episode” when you have a bad day. -from comedian Pete Holmes

“M.R.S. I.C.K.” acronym for stuff a couple should talk about before marriage. Money, Religion, Sex, In-laws, Career, Kids

"If you think everyone hates you, you probably need sleep. If you think you hate everyone, you probably need to eat." -Jean Yang via Instagram

“There can be no independence without a large share of self dependence and this virtue cannot be bestowed it must be developed from within.” -Frederick Douglass

“Conscience is, to the individual soul, and to society, what the law of gravitation is to the universe. It holds society together; it is the basis of all trust and confidence; it is the pillar of all moral rectitude. Without it, suspicion would take the place of trust; vice would be more than a match for virtue; men would prey upon each other, like the wild beasts of the desert; and earth would become a hell." -Frederick Douglass

"[Frederick Douglass] had little patience for fashionable nostrums that offered fantasies of revolutionary transformation or utopia or promised to relieve people of the burden of making themselves." -Tim Sandefur in the book Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man

From Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck: 

“Out of some deep pouch in his soul, [he] drew kindness that renewed itself by withdrawal.”

(About an old toothless grandma who lived with and helped care for her daughter’s eight kids): “in [her daughter’s] house there were creepers, crawlers, tumblers, shriekers, cat-killers, fallers-out-of-trees; and each one of these charges could be trusted to be ravenous every two hours. Is it any wonder she had a remote soul and nerves of steel? Any other kind would have gone screaming out of her body like little skyrockets.”

From Cannery Row by John Steinbeck:

“Men in fear and hunger destroy their stomachs in the fight to secure certain food...what can it profit a man to gain the whole world and to come to his property with a gastric ulcer, a blown prostate and bifocals? Mack and the boys avoid the trap while a generation of trapped, poisoned, and trussed up men scream at them and call them no-goods, come-to-bad-ends, blots-on-the-town, thieves, rascals, bums.”

“In a time where people tear themselves to pieces with ambition and nervousness and covetousness, they are relaxed. All of our so called successful men are sick men with bad stomachs and bad souls, but Mack and the boys are healthy and curiously clean.”

From Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck:

"When people change direction it is a rare one who does not spend the first half of his journey looking back over his shoulder."

"It’s always hard to start to concentrate. The mind darts like a chicken, trying to escape thinking even though thinking is the most rewarding function of man."

"Nobody don’t give a particular damn about you one way or the other. It’s hard to get them thinking about you because they’re too busy thinking about themselves. There’s a couple ways to get their attention: talk about them. If you see something nice or good or pretty, tell them. Don’t make it a fake though. Now, when you got their attention, first thing they want is to do something for you. Let them. Don’t get proud and say you don’t need it or want it. Thing people like most in the world is to give you something and have you like it and need it."

"But it was Fauna’s conviction, born out of long experience, that most people, one, did not know what they wanted; two, did not know how to go about getting it; and three, didn’t know when they had it."

From Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury:

"Was there, then, no strength in growing up? No solace in being an adult?... He realized that all men were like this; that each person was to himself one alone. One oneness, a unit in a society, but always afraid...He must accept being alone and work on from there." 

(Man wants to plant grass that doesn’t need to be trimmed), grandpa says, "All the things in life that were put here to savor, you eliminate...When you’re my age, you’ll find out it’s the little savors and little things that count more than big ones...If you had your way you’d pass a law to abolish all the little jobs, the little things. But then you’d leave yourself nothing to do between the big jobs and you’d have a devil of a time thinking of things to do so you wouldn’t go crazy... lilacs, dandelions and devil grass are better than orchids. Why? Because they bend you over and turn you away from all the people in the town for a little while and sweat you and get you down where you remember you got a nose again."

(Man who built happiness machine): “the first thing you learn in life is you’re a fool. The last thing you learn in life is you’re the same fool...you want to see the real happiness machine? The one they patented a couple thousand years ago, it still runs, not good all the time, no! but it runs...(sees his family in evening through front window of the house)

"He slipped his brittle ivory legs down from the bed, marveling at their desiccation. They seemed to be things which had been fastened to his body while he slept one night, while his younger legs were taken off and burned in the cellar furnace. Over the years, they had destroyed all of him, removing hands, arms, and legs and leaving him with substitutes as delicate and useless as chess pieces."

When Douglas is being negative, grandpa says, “Now upstairs, run three times around the block, do 5 somersets, six push-ups, climb 2 trees, and you’ll be concertmaster instead of chief mourner. Get!” 

"It is the privilege of old people to seem to know everything. But it’s an act and a mask...Between ourselves, we old ones wink at each other and smile saying, how do you like my mask, my act, my certainty? Isn’t life a play? Don’t I play it well?"

"[Great grandma’s ailment] could not be seen in any microscope; it was a mild but ever-deepening tiredness, a dim weighing of her sparrow body; sleepy, sleepier, sleepiest."

Death registers with Douglas, runs to restroom sick after seeing cowboy killed in a movie. “No, they can’t kill me! Yes, said a voice, yes, any time they want to they can, no matter how you kick or scream, they just put a big hand over you and you’re still...I don’t want to die! You’ll have to anyway, said the voice, you’ll have to anyway...” 

"Some people turn sad awfully young. No special reason, it seems, but they seem almost to be born that way. They bruise easier, tire faster, cry quicker, remember longer and, as I say, get sadder younger than anyone else in the world I know, for I’m one of them."

Church quotes:

"So often what people need so much is to be sheltered from the storms of life in the sanctuary of belonging." -Elder Neal A. Maxwell

"Sometimes we can learn, study, and know, and sometimes we have to believe, trust, and hope." -To whom shall we go? Elder M. Russell Ballard Oct. 2016 talk 

"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you." -1 Peter 4:12

"I think it’s important that we eliminate the weakness of one standing alone and substitute for it the strength of people working together” -Thomas S. Monson

"Although we must forgive a neighbor who injures us, we should still work constructively to prevent that injury from being repeated." -David E. Sorensen

Mary and Martha story—Mary is serving by being an attentive listener and learning

"As disciples of Jesus Christ, we strongly reject the notion that our lives are all about ourselves." --Elder Neil Andersen

"Schedule time when your technology is intentionally not accessible." -Neil Andersen

We can heal like Christ by healing others’ loneliness, boredom, depression, etc.  -Merrilee Boyack Ensign article

Hearts will not change if love is not present

"Stay true in the dark and humble in the spotlight." -Harold B Lee

Faith=Confidence that what we hope for will actually happen (new translation of the Bible)

"First I obey; them I understand." -Marjorie Hinckley

"We become more substantive as we serve others—indeed, it is easier to find ourselves because there is so much more of us to find." -Pres. Spencer W. Kimball, quoted in July 2019 Ensign

Bryant Jensen July 2019 Ensign article:

-Christ’s version of unity is about togetherness, not sameness

-Within the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no norm, other than a unified desire to follow the Savior

-Listening closely to and learning from the perspectives and experiences of others can be uncomfortable. However, doing so helps us realize just how much we see the world as we are rather than as it is. Develop meekness as an antidote to pride

-The Lord identified himself as our advocate with the Father and expects us to advocate in Christlike ways on behalf of our sisters and brothers.

"It’s hard until you decide it isn’t." -young adult advice from Ensign article

"Serving a mission is like taking advanced classes in diligence and patience." -Lynn G. Robbins

"In my study of the Scriptures I have noted that most revelation to the children of God comes when they are on the move, not when they’re sitting back in their habitation waiting for the Lord to tell them the first step to take." -Elder Dallin H. Oaks

“We make a very serious mistake when we compare our lives with those who have much wealth, forgetting that most of us have already prospered in the land. Please be content and enjoy the blessings you have already received instead of becoming a slave to unwise use of consumer debt." -Elder M. Russell Ballard

"The Spirit most often communicates as a feeling. You feel it in words that are familiar to you that makes sense to you. These feelings are gentle, a nudge to act, to do something, to say something, to respond in a certain way." -Elder Ronald A. Rasband

"Attempt to be creative, even if the results are modest… Creativity can engender a spirit of gratitude for life." -Elder Richard G. Scott

[Satan] is the master of distraction and author of procrastination.

"Never underestimate the strength that comes from gathering with others who are also trying to be strong." -Stephen Owen

Moses, Nephi and Brother of Jared all had to cross large bodies of water, but each got different direction from God on how to do that—walk through on dry land, build a boat, built barges that were tight like a dish. Like each of us receiving personal revelation just for us -Michelle Craig

God often reveals himself “to individuals in private, in their chamber; in the wilderness or fields, and generally without noise or tumult” -Joseph Smith

"We can serve others, the finest exercise for the heart ever prescribed." -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

"You can’t tell the character of an individual  by the way he does his daily work. Watch him when his work is done. Watch where he goes. Note the companions he seeks and the things he does when he can do as he pleases. Then you can tell his true character." -Gordon B. Hinckley via FB

"To rule children by force is the technique of Satan, not of the Savior. No, we don’t own our children. Our parental privilege is to love them, to lead them and to let them go." -Pres. Russell M. Nelson via FB

"When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power." -Ezra Taft Benson via Jody on FB

"Faith isn’t having everything figured out. Faith is acknowledging that there are things you don’t know or understand. Continuing to come to church when there are things you don’t understand, disagree with, or don’t like is pretty bad-ass faithful if you ask me. -(something) Card of the QMore podcast via SL Tribune article

Theme for 2020

Library smells

I’m pretty sure this new note on our branch library door means they don’t want people wearing heavy perfume or cologne, but that ain’t the smell coming from the not-recently-showered dudes who use the computers. I’m very tempted to tape up a little sign that says, “including the fragrances of b.o. and alcohol.”