Recent Entries
Why Are Mormon Church Meetings So Dull?: A Response (Part 5)
August 31st, 2010
This is a continuation of my response to Jana Reiss's article "Why Are Mormon Church Meetings So Dull?" (See Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four.) This is Part 5 of 5. The end! Image...
Why Are Mormon Church Meetings So Dull?: A Response (Part 4)
August 30th, 2010
This is a continuation of my response to Jana Reiss's article "Why Are Mormon Church Meetings So Dull?" (See Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.) This is Part 4 of 5. The fourth reason church is...
Why Are Mormon Church Meetings So Dull?: A Response (Part 3)
August 29th, 2010
This is a continuation of my response to Jana Reiss's article "Why Are Mormon Church Meetings So Dull?" (See Part One and Part Two.) This is Part 3 of 5. This image is from a series of Mormonad...
Why Are Mormon Church Meetings So Dull?: A Response (Part 2)
August 28th, 2010
This is a continuation of my response to Jana Reiss's article "Why Are Mormon Church Meetings So Dull?" This is Part 2 of 5. The second reason our church meetings are boring, according to Reiss,...
Why Are Mormon Church Meetings So Dull?: A Response (Part 1)
August 27th, 2010
A month or so ago, Jana Reiss wrote a provocative essay entitled "Why Are Mormon Church Meetings So Dull?" that generated a lot of discussion on the bloggernacle. Reading the essay, I found that I...
Top 5 Most Frequent Things Chris and Alyssa Say to Each Other
August 14th, 2010
According to three full back-breaking minutes of Internet research, the 6th anniversary is the iron anniversary. Yesterday was our 6th anniversary so I snatched this little picture from one of my...
Motherhood Feminism
July 24th, 2010
NOTE: This is the last entry in my series about feminism. Also, this blog entry warrants a heavy, heavy disclaimer at the outset. Although in this entry I will be discussing some of the...
Marriage in the 21st Century
July 22nd, 2010
Back in May, I attended a mother's retreat organized by one of my fellow ward members. Some of the presenters at the retreat were informative and helpful, but there was one speaker whose message I...
Post Script
July 20th, 2010
I received a loving but concerned email from a loved one about yesterday's blog entry and I thought I would post my response to clear up any misconceptions other people might have about where I stand...
I'm a Feminist, Ask Me Why
July 19th, 2010
NOTE: I began writing today's blog entry back in March, but I delayed posting it because I was worried that I would offend some of my more conservative readers. I've decided to just go ahead and post...
That is SO FAKE
June 13th, 2010
'Tis the season for season/series finales and it's admittedly left me a little disgruntled. The finales for Lost and Glee both had childbirth scenes in them. And I gotta tell you: TV and movie...
I can't quite explain why, but it's true...
May 26th, 2010
(Click to view full size.) ...
Why Speed When There's No Need?
May 6th, 2010
Anecdote #1: Recently, Ethan wanted to go for a drive as a family because he felt like listening to some music in the car. So we took a quick little trip to see the windmills at the mouth of...
Home-school Divided
April 26th, 2010
I'd say the average person has a knee-jerk negative reaction when you bring up the subject of home-schooling. The instant you mention it, most people start talking about how they knew some...
The Liahona vs. The Iron Rod
March 25th, 2010
In this blog entry I want to address something that I consider to be one of the fundamental tensions involved with membership in the church: the importance of listening to and obeying our church...
"You Like Me! You Really Like Me!": The 2009 Whippy Awards
March 7th, 2010
Since there's a quiet, little awards show going on tonight, I thought I'd take a moment to give out my own awards for the best of 2009. I call it the Whippy Awards (based on my maiden name,...
Preaching to the Choir
February 23rd, 2010
This week there was a minor difference of opinion about where the ward choir should meet. Because I have a tendency to stick my nose where it doesn't belong in choir matters (I'm not the choir...
Where Have All the Blog Entries Gone?
February 12th, 2010
You've probably noticed that I haven't written a blog entry in a pretty long while. I went from doing a blog entry once a week, then downshifting to once a month, and now to never. There's a few...
Why Liberalism? (Part Five)
September 30th, 2009
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit....
If I Ever Lose My Faith in You
August 13th, 2009
This picture is entitled "Leap of Faith." A few years ago, I began keeping a list of the key spiritual moments that inform my faith---moments in which I could clearly see the influence of God's...
Know Your Calling
June 29th, 2009
Looks like it's time for my monthly blog post. I'm not done with my Why Liberalism? series yet. There's still a lot more to say, but I'm going to come back to it later. I was the substitute...
Because Not All Realtors Are Created Equal
May 11th, 2009
Today we signed on the dotted line and officially became the owners of our first home. In our original plans for the future, we hadn't intended to become homeowners for another couple of years. But...
Why Liberalism? (Part Four)
April 16th, 2009
This blog entry is a continuation of my series entitled "Why Liberalism?" Feel free to read my earlier entries: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three. In Part Two of my series, I had mentioned that...
Why Liberalism? (Part Three)
March 2nd, 2009
Looks like I'm averaging one post a month these days. At this rate, it will take me a whole year to finish this blog series. Oh well. Today is the continuation of my series entitled Why Liberalism?...
Why Liberalism? (Part Two)
February 9th, 2009
Chris and I saw this on a bumper sticker in Colorado once and we got a good laugh out of it: This blog entry is a continuation of my series entitled Why Liberalism. When you ask Mormons why they...
Why Liberalism? (Part One)
January 27th, 2009
About a year ago I "came out of the closet" and admitted I was a liberal on our website. I'm intentionally invoking the closet imagery here because there are many members of the larger LDS culture...
All Dogs Go to Heaven
January 7th, 2009
Wow... It's been almost a month since I posted a blog entry. I've literally been swamped with work from my job at UVU. First there was all the end-of-semester grading I had to do. Then I spent the...
Three Men and a Little Lady
December 11th, 2008
We just got our ultrasound a few days ago and it looks like Rock #2 is going to be a boy! We're excited! There are lots of great things about having a boy. For one, I think Ethan might enjoy having...
Belated Review: October Scare Fest
November 15th, 2008
This is a joint blog being written by Chris and me. Check out Chris's reviews too. Chris and I have a tradition of watching scary-esque movies all during the month of October. I say...
Deeply Conflicted
November 14th, 2008
I swear this Proposition 8 thing is going to make my head explode. I thought I was having a hard enough time with this issue before the election, but it's only gotten worse since the 4th. As a...
FYI, I hate the word "preggo"
October 21st, 2008
In case you missed Chris's subtle announcement a few days ago, we're having a second baby April 28th. For some reason, this pregnancy has been harder than Ethan's was. I've felt a little more...
Choose the Right
October 7th, 2008
.stevequote { margin-left:30px; margin-right:30px; } I've recently become a Steve groupie. Steve is a BYU science professor who writes a great blog called The Mormon Organon, which is mostly...
Truth With a Capital T and that Rhymes with P and that Stands for Pool
September 27th, 2008
.facebook { margin-left:30px; margin-right:30px; background-color:#ccc; } .facebook a { color:#000; } .facebookfriend { margin-left:30px; margin-right:30px; background-color:#fc9; } For those...
So Much to Say, So Little Time
September 5th, 2008
I used to always write a blog post pretty religiously once a week every weekend. That's pretty much gone by the wayside over the last few months. Lately it hasn't been for a lack of things to say....
I can't BELIEVE I'm about to admit this publicly
August 20th, 2008
I used to suffer very badly from insomnia. Ever since I was a tween until the tail end of my college years, I had a lot of difficulty convincing myself to fall asleep. (For some reason, student...
Mmmm... Silky Anniversary
August 15th, 2008
According to Wikipedia, the 4th Wedding Anniversary is the Silk or Linen Anniversary. We just had ours yesterday. We took Ethan out to eat with us to the Macaroni Grill. And, thanks to our awesome...
Visiting Teaching Rant
August 4th, 2008
Why do visiting teachers feel like they have to bring a gift when they come and visit me? My visiting teachers came by a few days ago and brought me a scented candle. Don't get me wrong: it was a...
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
July 27th, 2008
I've been getting really bored with the haircut I've had for the last ten years. My sister Noelle recently graduated from beauty school, so I asked her to give me something new yesterday. Scroll over...
Deleted
July 16th, 2008
As any stay-at-home Mom will tell you, naptimes are a sacred. They are a time of personal freedom and renewal. Today I chose to spend naptime composing a blog entry... only to have the...
Well, if Chris won't post this, I WILL
July 8th, 2008
"It's funny that pirates were always going around searching for treasure, and they never realized that the real treasure was the fond memories they were creating." --Jack Handey's Deep...
Twitter: Hot... Blogging: Not
July 1st, 2008
That's how I personally feel right now, anyway. I'm just having a hard time coming up with anything interesting to say that could fill a whole blog---which is why my usual weekly entries have been so...
Put Down the Credit Card and No One Will Get Hurt
June 24th, 2008
As a good liberal, I pride myself on being an anti-consumerist. It's fairly easy to do since I strongly dislike shopping. (Maybe I should just go ahead and say that I hate shopping. After all, part...
College Level Writing: My Teaching Philosophy
June 17th, 2008
I'm warning you that this blog entry is going to be pretty boring. I wrote out my teaching philosophy this week because I was interviewing to be a writing instructor at UVSC. This document was also...
Mormon Cinema in Three Lines or Less
June 9th, 2008
I absolutely loved this piece called "Film School in Three Lines or Less" on McSweeney's a few months ago. This week I felt inspired to make my own---Mormon movie style. Hope you like it. (Consider...
Why I didn't post last week...
June 1st, 2008
This picture just made me laugh so hard today... I turned another year older on Monday and I gotta tell you... I dread my birthdays. It's not because I don't like getting older or anything like...
Back on the Soap Box... Again
May 20th, 2008
It's been a little while since I put up a post about the environment, so I figured it was about time. I want to get on my soap box and talk about two great environmentally-friendly things that I've...
Perspectives on Inactive Single LDS Women
May 12th, 2008
This week's photo comes from a set of Flickr images from the Cans Festival, a graffiti event in London. I've been meaning to write on today's blog topic for a long time, but the hiccups with our...
Ira Glass is My Hero
May 4th, 2008
Chris and I have been fans of the radio show This American Life for a very long time. (If you're unfamiliar with the show, I recommend checking out Episode #226 - Reruns as a good starter.) So,...
What Alyssa Will Miss About California
April 29th, 2008
Yay! The Rocks are FINALLY back online. Sorry we weren't able to update in a while. We had some technical difficulties on our website that made it so we couldn't login and update our site. Plus,...
Late Night Conversations With Chris
April 7th, 2008
Chris: What should I have for dinner tomorrow when I go to school? Me: I don't know. Is there anything we need to get rid of? Chris: Ramen. We have a ton of it. Enough to fill a swimming...
Happy Blogiversary to Me!
March 30th, 2008
I too am not a bit tamed---I too am untranslatable; I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world. --Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass blockquote.yawp { margin-left: auto; ...
The Dark Side of the Internet
March 23rd, 2008
This is a pic of the Easter Gnomes I painstakingly made to give to the Beehives today. The worst part is: I forgot to give them out at the end of the lesson! Curses!!! Hopefully I'll remember to...
When I'm 64---Errr, I Mean, 18???
March 16th, 2008
So, my good friend Kathryn tagged me a little while ago. Since it was a new blog tag thing that I haven't done, I figured I'd respond to the call. My task was to come up with a list of Six...
A Happening, Busy Kind of Week
March 9th, 2008
Unlike Chris's brother Nathan who has the most uncanny luck of anyone we have ever known, I don't win contests or drawings very often. But this week, I won a seriously cool prize: an autographed...
Ask the Readers: Does Rich Equal Righteous?
March 3rd, 2008
From a book called Incredible Optical Illusions given to me by a friend: I've been having a discussion with a friend of mine about the status of wealthy people within Mormon culture. My friend...
The Truth About Economic Mobility
February 24th, 2008
A few weeks ago, Chris and I got into an online debate with our well-meaning fellow ward members about the virtue of paying taxes for public education. As a home-schooling family, they felt that it...
A Lovely Visit From Grandma - A Photoblog/Travelogue
February 17th, 2008
I have this little application on my computer called Ding! that lets me know about cheap flights on Southwest. A couple of weeks ago, Ding! came up with a great deal: Salt Lake City to San Jose...
I finally have some real news to report!
February 12th, 2008
Looks like I'm one of the lucky thousand whose number got picked. Yep. I got laid off at Yahoo today. Even though I kind of had a hunch that this was coming, it's still been a pretty emotional...
Valentimes
February 10th, 2008
Latest rumor on the Yahoo-Microsoft deal: Yahoo expected to say "no deal" on Monday. From Frazz this week: This comic really spoke to me. I think that in every relationship, there are many...
Some news to report, still more rumors
February 3rd, 2008
Proof that Yahoo's home page is increasingly relevant: Not sure if that was someone at Yahoo's idea of a joke, but it seemed a little too funny not to share. In case you hadn't heard, Yahoo...
No definite news to report, only rumors
January 27th, 2008
From the Onion this week: One of the main editors/writers for the Onion has a brother who works for Yahoo, so he's probably naturally concerned. * Well, just to set the record straight,...
Is this too much to ask?
January 20th, 2008
Even with his big win in Michigan, I'm still confident in my original prediction that Mitt Romney is not going to make it past the primaries. And to be honest with you, I won't be all that upset...
Marathon Man
January 13th, 2008
This week's photo is of art being drawn by trees: So... you'd think that after 3 years of marriage that you'd pretty much know everything about a person, right? Apparently not. I just...
Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends
January 6th, 2008
This week's picture is a little older, but I thought it was appropriate given the common New Year's Resolution to lose weight. It's entitled "Only in America": As for me, I have two ambitious...
"You've Been Razzed!"
December 30th, 2007
As I mentioned in my Christmas post last year, my family has a tradition of giving each other "Razzie gifts." Every year we draw names out of a hat and give our assigned family member a Razzie....
Pic Tac Toe Winners!
December 30th, 2007
SPOILERS ALERT! If you are still trying to figure out the answers to the Pic Tac Toe I posted last week, this blog entry contains the answers. Top row: Green Middle row: Beetles/Beatles (I would...
A Christmas Puzzle: Pic Tac Toe
December 20th, 2007
As part of our family's Christmas traditions, my parents always put together a jigsaw puzzle every December 25th+. In honor of that tradition, I thought I'd post a fun "puzzle" that I made... I'm an...
Musings on Men's Journal
December 17th, 2007
So, this December hopefully marks the last issue of Men's Journal that we're going to receive. Why do we get Men's Journal? Well, last December two enterprising, charismatic and yet utterly evil high...
Nothing to Say...
December 9th, 2007
This is a sculpture by Kacey Wong entitled "Writer's Block." And, incidentally, that's what I have this week, so... I'll see you next week instead! ...
I pity those poor reindeer that have to play Monopoly
December 2nd, 2007
Another funny t-shirt from Despair.com: Chris and I are writing joint blogs this week about Christmas music. So, I've developed a theory about the reason people like Christmas music. I came up...
I'm Thankful for the Internet. No, Seriously, I Am.
November 25th, 2007
I just found the perfect t-shirt for me from Despair.com: So, I love Instant Messaging. I've been regularly chatting with friends since 1998. IM is probably my favorite way to communicate with...
The Beatles Cover Project
November 18th, 2007
I was in high school when the Beatles Anthology came out. It caused a renewed interest in the Beatles (especially among the younger generation). My high school friends caught the Beatles fever and...
Little Known Facts
November 11th, 2007
My friend Lori tagged me last week, so I'm going to answer the call... Here are the rules which must be posted on your blog if you are tagged: Link to your tagger and post these rules. Share 7...
I Often Go Walking
November 4th, 2007
This cartoon by Matt Groening pretty much sums up my week... But I don't want to dwell on negative things, so I'd like to write my blog this week about something that is a source of happiness and...
Is My Vote For Sale?
October 18th, 2007
Ha ha ha... Halloween is still funny... So, as promised, this is my follow-up to my previous blog entry: I've thought about it long and hard. I think I would never, ever sell my vote for an...
Is Your Vote For Sale?
October 14th, 2007
Ha ha ha... Halloween is funny. I run my home precisely on schedule At 6:01, I march through my door My slippers, sherry, and pipe are due at 6:02 Consistent is the life I lead!... It's 6:03...
A Conference-Inspired Memory
October 7th, 2007
Photo entitled "Conference Sunday Flower," pilfered from Gwilmore. People often associate Conference Weekend with flowers. I think I can see why... Prior to the weekend, I felt like I was a wilted...
This Monkey's Gone to Heaven
September 30th, 2007
Photo pilfered from The Felt Mouse who makes cool stuff. Do you find that when you know someone long enough, you begin to develop your own language that is specific to the two of you? Like a...
Just Another "Meh, Meh" Monday
September 24th, 2007
The beautiful blog entry that I had planned for this weekend just isn't going to happen. We stayed out a little late with friends last night, so my blog didn't get written. I was going to do it...
Month Five
September 16th, 2007
I regularly read a blog by dooce. Every month where she writes a letter to her 3-year-old daughter.* I think I'm going to try doing this for Ethan, so here's my first stab at it. Dear Ethan, This...
Roll the Bones
September 9th, 2007
Wednesday I felt inspired to go to the Young Women's activity. (It's optional for those of us who are advisors, so I don't always make it.) I was running a little late, but I figured I should go...
Love on a tin can string telephone
September 2nd, 2007
Gentleman, progress has never been a bargain. You've got to pay for it. Sometimes I think there's a man behind a counter who says, "All right, you can have a telephone; but you'll have to give up...
The Cost of Bringing Up Baby
August 26th, 2007
Happy New Year, everyone! This weekend marked the end of our fiscal year. That's when I get all freaky with the spreadsheets and make a very detailed analysis of how we spent our income over the...
Many Me's
August 19th, 2007
I just got back from a four day trip to Milwaukee for Destination Imagination. It was really hard to be away from Chris and Ethan. I missed them so much. It's good to be home. Due to the trip, I...
Today's Blog is Brought to You by the Number 1,537,920
August 13th, 2007
Why 1,537,920? That's the number of minutes Chris and I will have been married at 9:30 PST (10:30 Utah time) tomorrow, August 13th. ("1,537,920 minutes" just sounds cooler than "3 years.") THAT WAS...
Envrion-mental
August 5th, 2007
It's been a while since Chris and I wrote a joint blog (a blog where we both write about the same subject), so we thought we'd do it again. This blog's topic: a hodge-podge of my recent thoughts...
It Took Me a Whole Week to Finish Harry Potter... Sheesh.
July 29th, 2007
But now I'm finally done! I enjoyed the last installment immensely. Did you? A while back, Chris's mom gave us an LDS-themed card game called "Split the Ward" because she knows we collect novelty...
Can't Blog... Reading
July 22nd, 2007
This week's image is the Yahoo Hawk. Last Wednesday I was walking back to my desk from the cafeteria when I noticed a bunch of people were milling about watching something. I looked and saw that...
Parent Envy
July 15th, 2007
It hasn't been quite as easy as I thought it would be to just get up at 5 a.m. to exercise for an hour every day. I'm going to have to figure something else out. Revised Post Pregnancy Goals: Lose...
Some Weeks Are Like That
July 8th, 2007
Throughout each week I usually think of several different topics that I could potentially write my blog about on the weekend. Well, this week I'm feeling kind of exhausted. So, rather than write an...
This One's for Ammon
July 1st, 2007
So, on this 4th of July week, I want to dedicate this week's blog to my brother-in-law Ammon who is serving in Iraq right now. We all miss him a lot, especially my sister Marin. I knew Ammon many...
Alyssa to the Internet: Stop Being So Interesting!
June 25th, 2007
A brief follow-up to last week's blog is in order... Some of you may have heard that Yahoo's CEO resigned the day after my last blog entry (written on Sunday). So here's the way the Yahoo chain of...
Utahoma!
June 17th, 2007
So, remember how a month ago I was talking about how the changes at Yahoo were making me nervous? Uhhh... unfortunately, things have gotten worse. In December, our COO resigned. Just before I left...
My Evil Twin
June 7th, 2007
So, we've been in Utah for a few weeks (which is why we haven't been updating our website very frequently). We came for my sister Noelle's marriage to the wonderful Clayton Toone + we blessed Ethan...
Bad Timing
May 21st, 2007
The year was 1997. The British returned Hong Kong to China. Princess Di was in a fatal car accident. Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to win the Masters. And I graduated from high...
Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence
May 14th, 2007
On Yahoo's main intranet, there's a place where employees can post Yahoo-related photos. This one was the photo of the week the first week I worked at Yahoo. Speaking of Yahoo, I was feeling...
The Answers, My Friend, Are Blowin' in the Wind
May 7th, 2007
I used to always use this photo on the syllabi for my film classes. It's a picture of Louis Lumiere, the inventor of the cinematographe, the first motion picture camera: Here's the answers to the...
Like Asking Me to Choose My Favorite Child...
April 30th, 2007
A deliberate joke at Yahoo's expense or mere coincidence? Yahoo is 404 feet from the home plate: Alrighty, for this week's blog I'm totally going to borrow from a fun blog entry that my friend...
Labor Dabor
April 22nd, 2007
This poster was hanging in every room of the hospital where I delivered Ethan. It was kind of funny to me because it was the first thing I would see whenever I got out of my hospital bed to walk...
A Visit to El Camino Hospital: Sorry, No Baby Yet
April 8th, 2007
It's nice to know our competitors aren't perfect all the time: On Thursday we went in for the routine weekly doctor's visit. It wasn't with my normal OB/GYN because he was out of town all week....
Provo Temple Liftoff Successful
April 1st, 2007
In honor of April Fool's Day, here's a picture of one of my favorite images from an article in The Sugar Beet, a satirical newspaper (in the style of The Onion) about Mormon culture. Unfortunately,...
PhD: Please Hire. Desperate.
March 25th, 2007
This is from a comic called Piled Higher and Deeper about being a PhD student: This comic was apropos this week. I got a call a little while ago from Brad Barber, a friend I knew from Tennessee...
Keith Merrill Is Stalking Me!
March 16th, 2007
This photo is entirely irrelevant to my blog topic today. This was the Yahoo Employee photo of the day yesterday and I just thought that anyone who has such strong nostalgia for Sesame Street as I...
IDODI
March 12th, 2007
We had our Destination Imagination (DI) tournament in my region on Saturday. (That's the reason why this blog is a little late in coming. I was just too tired to write.) For those of you who don't...
What's Up? Docs. (Conclusion)
March 5th, 2007
Before reading this entry, check out What's Up? Docs - Part One. This is a poster advertising a mockumentary about the Mormon filmmaking process. At the end of the day, it's not a very great film,...
What's Up? Docs. (Part Three)
March 1st, 2007
The above is a series of images from two of the films in the Fit For the Kingdom project. This is a project run by my friend Ben Ungren. FFK distributes short documentary films via the web about...
What's Up? Docs. (Part Two)
February 28th, 2007
This is a flash Chris made while he was developing a website for a recent LDS documentary entitled "Sisterz in Zion." It's a wonderful documentary about the clash of cultures when several young women...
What's Up? Docs.
February 25th, 2007
Apparently there's supposed to be some huge, prestigious film event tonight. Something about giving away a few big awards or something. So, I figured maybe I'd write about a film topic today. I...
Anecdote of the Jar
February 19th, 2007
This is just an interesting photograph I found of a wedding in the 1920s. I just think it's fun to look at old wedding photographs. To see more wedding photographs from the nineteenth and twentieth...
The Sealed Portion of the California Driver's Handbook
February 12th, 2007
When you move to California you have to read the Driver's Handbook and pass a written test. (Incidentally, I passed with flying colors, only missing one question---a random one about whether it's...
Toilet Humor
February 4th, 2007
With Sincerest Regrets by Russell Edson Like a white snail the toilet slides into the living room, demanding to be loved. It is impossible, and we tender our sincerest regrets. In the book of...
Happy Groundhog Day - A Quick Post
February 2nd, 2007
A.O. Scott of the New York Times is my favorite movie critic. (And, incidentally, Manhola Dargis of the NYTimes is my least favorite.) Anyhow, today in one of his reviews, Scott wrote: "[I]t is a...
Welcome to My New Blog!
January 29th, 2007
Hi everyone! Up until today my blog used to exist on my Yahoo! 360 page: http://360.yahoo.com/barbaricyawps. But now, I've officially transferred my blog over to our family website, caferock.org....
Going Retro
January 22nd, 2007
I don't have anything terribly brilliant to say this week, so I thought I would pull out a few interesting/humorous tidbits from the ghost of journals past. Today's selections will be coming from a...
Don't Call Us, We'll Call You
January 14th, 2007
This is a picture of a painting that is hanging in the entryway to the building where Yahoo's cafe is. Apparently, the following conversation was reported on Overheard in the...
Vox Populi, Vox Dei
January 7th, 2007
I wanted to put up a more detailed picture of one of the prints we used in Lindsey’s banana shrine that I mentioned in my blog last week. Chris serendipitously found this awesome little picture...
A Very Razzie Christmas
January 1st, 2007
This Christmas was an omen of Christmases to come. The baby got a TON of presents this year. Check out the baby's Christmas haul: Now compare that to Chris and Alyssa's presents combined: Yeah....
A Cool Gift
December 26th, 2006
I'll post a more substantial blog about Christmas a little bit later, but for now I'll just say that I thought that Yahoo's employee gift for Christmas this year was really great. David Filo and...
Friends Are Calling
December 17th, 2006
Chris and I finished our Theme CDs for December this weekend. (If you don't know what I'm talking about when I say that, check out our website caferock.org for more details.) I buy extra tracks for...
Insert Witty Blog Title Here
December 10th, 2006
We had a company all-hands this week. The Executive team wanted to assure us that, despite recent rumors, employees weren't getting laid off from Yahoo. They announced they were just reorganizing...
Take a look, it's in a book, a reading rainbow!
December 3rd, 2006
A few weeks ago Chris and I bought a really nice set of bookshelves from Ikea. We scoped out the perfect bookshelves back when we moved here to California in July. We calculated how much it would...
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
November 26th, 2006
A clever picture, I thought. This is what happens when I play chess with Chris---I'm brutally massacred. :P So, I suffered from insomnia for a long time. When I was younger, I would try blocking...
Kid Rock
November 21st, 2006
We had our ultrasound today and Mom wins the guessing contest: it's a boy! Hooray! We're both really excited---especially me. I couldn't sleep very well last night (or the night before) because I...
Why We Fight
November 19th, 2006
Chris and I are trying an experiment for this week's blog. We're each writing about this topic... So, you can read this blog entry to get my point of view and then read Chris's blog to get his...
Absotively Posolutely
November 12th, 2006
This picture made me laugh. It reminds me the Karl G. Maeser statue at BYU. Speaking of statue funniness, for those of you who get BYU inside jokes: one April Fool's Day, someone had drawn a chalk...
"Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart."
November 5th, 2006
Okay, so this picture doesn't really match my blog title or topic, but here's that Wooly Willy costume that I mentioned in my previous blog. Cool. Well, Autumn is the time for quiet...
You Can't Reason With a Headless Man
November 1st, 2006
Just a quick mid-week blog to post the pic of my pumpkin from this year. Since I did Gromit last year, I figured I should do Wallace this year to match. Funnity fun. I dressed up as a nun this...
The Truth About Cats and Dogs
October 29th, 2006
What's up with me and the Halloween animal pics lately? I'm sorry. I just can't help it for some reason. This cat's fur is painted, btw. I recommend checking out Why Paint Cats at the bookstore for...
"A PBS mind in an MTV world" ---on a bumper sticker I saw recently
October 22nd, 2006
I couldn't resist posting yet another pic of a cute but ridiculous Halloween dog costume. (This week's runner up pic: Hello Kitty dog.) But I daresay this picture is relevant to my blog this week...
Ooo Ooh, This is Halloween
October 15th, 2006
This picture reminds me of Otto. He has a hot dog costume that he wears for Halloween. He looks even better in it than these dogs since he's an actual dachsund. Mom makes him wear it on Halloween...
Heigh Ho Heigh Ho
October 8th, 2006
This is a somewhat blurry picture of a drawing that I put on the whiteboard of my office cube one Friday about a month ago. It happened to be the end of a particularly long week. So, the job at...
Family 2.0 (No, we're so above that: we're more like Family Candle + Monkey)
September 30th, 2006
This is a picture of a statue called "Family Tree" by Michael Speller. Last month I got roped into doing the family newsletter for my extended family (on my dad's side). But it's okay because I...
This Telestial Life: Uncensored Musings About Church
September 24th, 2006
This picture is entitled "Die Hard Mormon." I got a new calling earlier this week. I called my mom from the office the next day to tell her about it. I kept thinking how odd it would sound to a...
The Electric Mayhem
September 16th, 2006
I've always said that Murphy's Law applies most consistently when technology is involved. This week seems to be evidence of that truth. It all started when I realized that the ringtones on my...
Possible Stork Sightings
September 9th, 2006
An exclusive interview with Alyssa D.W. Rock, conducted by Alyssa Rock (AR) on Sept. 9, 2006. AR: So, Alyssa, is there any particular reason why didn't you write a blog last week?Alyssa: Yes,...
Let's Spend It, Lend It, Send It Rolling Along
August 28th, 2006
Addendum to the previous blog: Chris and I listened to the voice of the people and got ourselves a cheap cell phone---even though Chris himself was one of the two people who voted against the...
Call Connected Thru the NSA
August 20th, 2006
So, like most people, back in the late nineties I used to think that cell phones were the ultimate symbol of the degredation of our society. I just felt like the people who owned them were so...
The Best Two Years
August 12th, 2006
This weekend is our 2nd Anniversary. Yay!!! To celebrate, we went and got our picture drawn by an street artist on Fisherman's Wharf in SF. It's a pretty good drawing, but just FYI my hair isn't...
Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Earn
August 4th, 2006
Hello Darthy isn't related to the topic of this blog. I just really think it's funny. :) So, lots of people are asking me what it's like to work at Yahoo. Well, if you want to take a video tour...
Shake Your Bushy Tail
July 30th, 2006
This is a picture of a squirrel eating nuts on our back patio. If we leave nuts out, a squirrel will show up and eat them within a few minutes. It's pretty cute. Well, I'm happy to report that...
Addendum to the Previous Blog
July 25th, 2006
Something interesting I forgot to mention... While we were moving in, a car in the carport close to ours was being towed. Since I was outside waiting to direct movers where to put boxes as they...
They're Everywhere! They're Everywhere!
July 23rd, 2006
This week we've been having (cough, cough) fun with our new apartment. We're paying exactly twice what we paid in Kansas for 300 square feet less. And every day seems to bring interesting new...
The Rocks Are Back Online
July 15th, 2006
Yay! I'm finally connected to the Internet again and I have some free time to write a blog entry. Wow... as could be expected, a lot has happened over the last two weeks. Let's start by talking...
Goodbye to Kansas
June 24th, 2006
"Like a family, it provided a way to fit into the world, to place yourself inside a small and sometimes crowded and sometimes bickering circle, and that circle would be surrounded by a bigger...
Getting Impatient
June 20th, 2006
I haven't been writing in my blog for the last few Mondays like I usually do. Total writer's block.... Life's just been fairly uneventful these days. These flowers are called "impatients." I...
That's gotta hurt
May 26th, 2006
I forgot my own birthday this year, so I suppose I shouldn't get too mad if anyone else forgot it too. You may be wondering how a person can forget their own birthday... Well, it's all my mom's...
Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch Changes
May 15th, 2006
Well, it's official. Yahoo called today and made me an offer. They want me to be a technical writer for Network Engineering. Looks like I'll be learning a whole lot more about Unix/Linux...
"I'm straight, but not narrow" --bumper sticker I saw this weekend
May 8th, 2006
This graphic comes from http://bancomicsans.com, which I highly recommend perusing. This weekend I saw way too much comic sans on websites, in Hallmark stores, and in shop windows. Not to mention...
I've been around this great, big internet of ours a few times, so I know what I'm talking about
May 1st, 2006
Chris and I are really making some progress with "Caferock.org," our soon-to-be website. And we've learned so much about programming in the interim. Last night, for example, I learned how to use...
Think globally, act locally
April 24th, 2006
This picture is called "Have an open mind." I pilfered it from the Massachussetts Destination Imagination website. Chris and I joined my parents in Nashsville, Tennessee this weekend to help Mom...
"Shopping is more American than thinking." --Andy Warhol
April 17th, 2006
And deep down I'm just as American as the next guy. A few years ago I read a great book called The Gospel According to Larry. It was about a teenager who runs a really popular website in which he...
For the love of Chris
April 10th, 2006
It was Chris's birthday Saturday. As an added bonus, I let Chris have his way all day. With the exception of one activity that I had made a promise to help out with, I let him make all the...
Am I paranoid?
March 31st, 2006
This photograph is entitled "self-conscious parking meter." I'm feeling self-conscious at the end of this week. I feel like people are deliberately trying to avoid me or ignore me or something. I...
Deep Thoughts
March 27th, 2006
In case anyone actually views this blog, the reason I didn't write anything last week was because Chris and I were in Colorado for Spring Break. Funnity fun. Well, one of the nice things about...
Dust in the Wind
March 13th, 2006
We're true Kansans now. Yesterday at about 8 a.m. Chris and I were awoken by a pretty violent storm. We looked at our window and saw lots of debris flying by---such as a plastic swimming pool,...
Am I out of touch?!
March 6th, 2006
The title of this cartoon is "What one does with 11 Oscars." Yeah, so Chris and I went over to our neighbors to watch the Oscars last night. It was really embarrassing to me. I hadn't seen any...
Brand New Day
March 1st, 2006
See that little yellow guy in the upper left corner? That's what I have. I have this strange cough that won't go away. It gets really bad at night---makes it so that I can't talk enough to read...
Just Say No
February 21st, 2006
I've been sucked into the "church volunteering" vortex. Now that the word has gotten around that I have a (cough) flexible schedule, people are constantly asking me to do some sort of church...
Am I a hypocrite?
February 15th, 2006
A nice person from my ward invited me over to her house yesterday. She's been wanting me to come hang out with her for a while because she "likes movies." I'm trying to be a little more social...
Memoirs of a Desk Potato
February 10th, 2006
So... I don't know what it is, but I'm becoming even more socially phobic. With my new "job" situation, I'm basically working from home. So, I don't really get a lot of interaction with anyone...
Not to be!
January 10th, 2006
That's right. I tendered my letter of resignation today. (Well, actually, just a leave of absence for the semester, but that's how it feels mentally.) This has been a hard decision, but it...
To be or not to be?
January 6th, 2006
I was depressed last week to find out that the job at BYU I thought would be there suddenly won't be there when I graduate. They might not have an opening for another 8-10 years. Then I read that...
Me and My Little Panda Problem
December 10th, 2005
This picture is of my early Christmas present. It arrived in the mail today and Chris couldn't wait to give it to me, so he did. I love it! I should explain a little bit... I'm obsessed with Tai...
Movin' On Up
December 1st, 2005
So, as you know, I'm very much involved with the organization known as Destination Imagaination. Well, I've just been invited to be the Affiliate Director for the state of Kansas. Talk about a big...
Carved Pumpkins
October 30th, 2005
Chris and I carved pumpkins tonight. Lotsa fun. I made my pumpkin Gromit from Wallace and Gromit. I'm pretty proud of it. Here it is. :) If he just had shorter ears, he could be Otto. ...
Game over, man!!!
September 7th, 2005
Is anybody else as freaked out about the economy as I am? This Katrina thing is another huge dent in a series of huge dents ever since Bush got elected.... Iraq War, 9/11, etc. The deficit is...
Long time, me no writey
September 1st, 2005
Well, Chris and I are here in Kansas and things are officially under way. I suddenly find myself incredibly busy with school. With the return of school has come the return of my self-doubts about...
Moving to the country, gonna eat me a lot of peaches
August 6th, 2005
So, Chris is in Kansas right now, while I'm here in Utah. He had to go out early for work and I needed to stay behind for work. I head off next week. In the meantime, Chris sent me a bunch of...
If I could put time in a bottle...
June 16th, 2005
Chris and I went to Borders on Monday. I have a $25 birthday card to spend and I wanted to see if they had one of those rare DVD gems I'm always looking for. Now, I suppose I need to give a little...
Eat, Drink and Be Merry for Tomorrow we DI
May 30th, 2005
Last week I was in Knoxville, Tennessee for Destination ImagiNation. I go there every year to work as an appraiser for the Instant Challenge portion of their competition. Quick explanation:...
Oh, the crazy month of May
May 17th, 2005
This May feels like Christmas: we're spending tons of money on gifts for people and we're seeing a lot of family members. Part of it is that everyone and their dog has a birthday in May when it...
Only papers remain
April 27th, 2005
Classes officially concluded today. Now there are only final papers left. For my post-colonial theory course, I'm writing a paper about cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare's plays in former...
I Did Survive
April 11th, 2005
As of ten minutes ago, I officially finished the American Studies MA Exam. Holy canolies, that was not fun. The part of the test I was most worried about, the four hour essay test, turned out to...
Hand Me Downs
April 5th, 2005
When we went to Idaho, our car came back about twice as full as it was when we left. We inherited a lot of stuff that both Grandma and Cammie/Curtis didn't want. Things like an obnoxiously loud...
April Fool's
April 4th, 2005
Usually April Fool's is a holiday that comes and goes without much ado. I usually forget about it completely. This year, I was the brunt of a few April Fool's jokes to boot. Homestarrunner.com. ...
Chris and Alyssa's Current Projects
March 31st, 2005
Chris and I are working on two projects for fun right now... A computer game --- I'm doing the programming and Chris is doing the graphic design. It's going to take us awhile, but we'll let you know...
Big Exam Coming Up
March 31st, 2005
In other news, I have a huge exam coming up next week. If I don't pass it, I don't graduate---oh, yeah, and then my life is over. No pressure, right? Everybody wish me good luck. ...
There's no place like home...
March 31st, 2005
Chris and I are most likely going to end up in Kansas for the Fall of '05. I'm going to be starting their PhD Film Studies program. Cool cool. It's not a "for sure" yet because we still need to...