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, Whipple). These awards go out to random things or people that I thought were "the best" in 2009.

Best Blog Entry by a Friend in 2009

NOMINEES

• Kathryn's The Most Embarrassing Thing... Ever (or the Best Seat in the House). You'd think a stay-at-home mom with three kids lives a fairly quiet and uneventful life. Not so! Some of the craziest, jaw-dropping stories tend to happen to my friend Kathryn and her little family. In this blog entry, Kathryn describes how her 5 year old daughter accidentally became a guest vocalist at a private Indian celebration in Salt Lake City.
• Lori's Head Gear. If I ever wanted to convince someone that being a mom can be a lot of fun, I'd send them to Lori's blog. Lori has 5 kids. She's probably going to think it's random that I picked this particular blog entry as the most memorable, but this one made me laugh really hard and it has stuck in my memory since then. It involves a hat made by Emma (her oldest) for Afton (the new baby). (If I were picking a runner-up blog entry, it would be this recent photo entry.)
• Maryanne's The Best Thing Ever. Maryanne is the Young Women's President in my ward back in California and she wrote this marvelous blog entry about a Young Women lesson that made an impression on the girls (and me!).
• Stephanie's Cookies Are Harmless. A fascinating story about how one stranger chewed her out for doing a good deed for another stranger. The nerve of some people! I couldn't stop grousing about this blog entry for weeks.
• Susie's Mormon Women Can Do It All---In Sequence. Susie didn't actually compose this blog entry per se. It's kind of the blog version of a re-tweet, but this particular blog entry really moved me. If I remember correctly, I shared it with both of my sisters, who became new moms this year and are experiencing that "mom guilt" for the first time.

AND THE WHIPPY GOES TO... Maryanne! I liked this blog entry so much that I read it out loud in one of my Relief Society lessons, which was about the importance of friendship. (Did I mention I eventually got called to be the RS teacher? Awesome.) A few of the women came up and thanked me for the lesson--especially the message about "baking good bread."

NOTE: There were other really great blog entries written by other friends, but some of them dealt with really personal stuff and I didn't think it would be appropriate to link to that in my blog. Just know that I love you and your blog!

Annual Achievement Award for Best Blog by a Friend in 2009

This goes to my friend MBC's blog Slanted. I cannot sing enough praises to MBC's blog. Her blog is so witty and entertaining. I especially love the different blog entry genres she invents. And, by golly, her life is just so interesting. I can't wait to read the next chapter of her new life in Scotland. :)

Best Podcast Episode in 2009

NOMINEES

• The Dinner Party Download - Billy Bragg, Short-Lived Millionaires, and Deep Fried Butter. This bi-weekly podcast gives you tips on how to win your next dinner party. They start out with a joke you can use to break the ice, then they give you random and funny news that happened in the last few weeks that you can chat about with your guests, and a bunch of other great stuff. The hosts of the podcast, Brandon Francis Newman and Rico Gagliano, are really, really funny. In this episode, you learn how to cheat on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and you can drool over a fine Texas carnival delicacy: deep-fried butter on a stick. Mmmmm.
• NPR's All Songs Considered - Mono or Stereo: Which Beatles Box Is Better? NPR's All Songs Considered is a weekly podcast that is devoted to showcasing interesting and noteworthy songs, albums and music news. (I've spent much of my hard-earned money at iTunes downloading songs as a result of listening to this podcast.) In this episode, Beatles historian Kevin Howlett finally explains the difference between mono and stereo versions of Beatles songs. And he's right; there is a difference!
• This American Life - More Is Less and Someone Else's Money. This American Life is a weekly podcast that brings you several stories about a central theme that changes from week to week. In this two-part episode, NPR's Planet Money team gives an in-depth look at some of the issues surrounding the health care debate. I learned so much from these two episodes!
• The Tobolowsky Files - Local Hero. I've listened to this podcast since it began airing in 2009. It features character actor Stephen Tobolowsky (the guy who plays Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day) telling stories about life, love, and the filmmaking industry. He is a phenomenal storyteller and this was the second episode aired. I knew when I finished it that this was going to be one of my favorite podcasts. (Runner up goes to A Wager With Freddie, but be warned this has some salty language.)

AND THE WHIPPY GOES TO... The Tobolowsky Files for Local Hero. I seriously loved this episode. You should go and download all the past episodes of this podcast AND go watch Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party right now.

Annual Achievement Award for Best Podcast in 2009

This award goes to Radiolab. In 2009, I realized that Radiolab was my all-time favorite podcast. I'm not entirely sure how to describe what Radiolab is, so I'll just steal the description from their website: "Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. Bring your curiosity, and we'll feed it with possibility." The Radiolab team puts out a full hour-long show approximately once a month and a few short shows every other week or so. All of the full shows this year were amazing (Stochasticity, After Life, Parasites, New Normal, and Numbers.) And my favorite shorts were: The Obama Effect, In Silence, all the "After Life" follow-ups, Blink, In C, and my all-time favorite Mischel's Marshmallows, which had me thinking about my lack of will-power for weeks.

Best Use of Twitter or Facebook in 2009

NOMINEES

• Bruce said: "ok seriously, what's up with meetings from 11-1 that don't include lunch?" and I replied: "I ask myself that about church ALL the time. :)" (I had to feature this one since it was probably the only joke I told all year that was actually funny.)
• Despairwear's Ignore, Social Media Venn Diagram, and One Random Thing (which was in honor of last year's "25 Things About Me" Facebook meme).
• The Home Alone Twitter Project - In an amazing feat of coordination, a group of people set up Twitter accounts for every character in Home Alone last December. All the characters tweeted the entire movie as though it had happened in real time in the days before Christmas. Holy amazing.
• Wendy's Facebook status on December 12: "If you don't know, as of today, Facebook will automatically start plunging the Earth into the Sun. To change this option, go to Settings --> Planetary Settings --> Trajectory then UN-CLICK the box that says 'Apocalypse.' Facebook kept this one quiet. Copy and paste onto your status for all to see."

AND THE WHIPPY GOES TO... The Home Alone Twitter Project! (Okay, really this whole category ended up being a way for me to tell people about the HAT project because it was so amazing. But seriously, next year, I'll do a better job of remembering funny tweets or Facebook statuses so that I can give out better Whippies next year.)

And the final category is...

YouTube Videos Ethan Became Obsessed With in 2009

NOMINEES

• Grocery Store Wars. This video is a little old, but Ethan went through a major Star Wars phase this year and he LOVES this. (His favorite character is "Chewbroccoli.")
• Jerry Needs No Help Playing With His Ball. Also a little old, Ethan is fascinated with this video because it reminds him of Grandma's dachshund Otto.
• Metronomy's A Thing For Me. The song is a little weird, but it's a pretty cool concept for a video. (Incidentally, Ethan has absolutely no interest in OK GO videos.)
• They Might Be Giants' Meet the Elements. From their latest album Here Comes Science. We've watched this video a gazillion times. Catchy tune.
• Watashi no Kimochi Vol. 6. This clip is taken from a Japanese children's television show about a paper cup who's shtick is that he teaches kids about expressing emotions (I guess). Ethan likes this video about the cup getting tickled by grass and playing hide-and-seek.

AND THE WHIPPY GOES TO... none of them. I'm pretty much sick of them all.

Well that wraps up this year's Whippy awards. Congratulations to all the winners---but remember that it's an honor just to be nominated. Good night, everyone!

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 director, just an unassuming soprano), I ended up getting into an email conversation about the issue with some of my fellow choir members and the director. Eventually the conversation topic shifted a little bit and we started talking about our motivations for singing in choir. It got me thinking about my own motivations, so I decided to blog about them. (P.S. Thank you all for your encouragement on my previous blog entry. You've made me decide to blog more regularly.)

1. I blame it all on Jim Kasen

How many choir directors does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Nobody knows because nobody ever watches the choir director.

When I lived in the Centennial apartments at BYU, my stake had an amazing choir under the direction of Jim Kasen. My first semester in the apartments, my roommates all joined the choir. Despite the fact that they constantly goaded me to come, I decided not to join the choir because I didn't want to take up another hour of my Sunday doing church things. When I attended our stake's Thanksgiving musical program at the end of the semester, I was stunned by how beautiful the music was and how amazing the choir sounded. I actually started to cry as I was sitting in the congregation because I suddenly wanted so badly to be up there singing in that incredible choir with all of my roommates. I resolved to join the choir the very next semester and I continued to sing in the stake choir for the next three years until I moved out of the stake.

That choir was a really spiritual experience. Jim always shared a spiritual thought in the middle of each practice that moved me and made me think more deeply about the meaning of the lyrics we were singing. Whenever we would sing at a stake meeting, Jim would remind us to "connect our voices with our hearts and our minds" so that the spirit would be in our music. We also came fasting to every stake meeting where we sang. And when we would sing... wow. I can remember how strongly I felt the spirit each time we sang. It was such a privilege to be in that choir.

So, I've pretty much been hooked on church choir ever since then. Even though my experiences singing in choir since then have not always been as spiritually fulfilling as the stake choir was (occasionally church choirs test my patience and require me to re-learn the importance of charity), Jim Kasen showed me what a church choir can be when it is at its best. And I continue to have hope in and work for that ideal.

2. You shouldn't hide your light under a bushel

For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

--Matthew 25:29 (from The Parable of the Talents)

I think my main reason for coming is that choir improves my singing voice. I enjoy singing, but choir is really the only opportunity I have to give my voice some exercise. I've noticed that if there's a space of time when I'm not in choir, I can't hit the high notes that I used to be able to hit and I can't sustain notes as long as I normally could. My voice just doesn't sound as good.

For example, when we moved to California, I decided not to sing in our choir. Later on that year, my grandfather died and I was asked to sing a duet with my mom at his Catholic funeral. It was a song that I had sung when my grandparents had renewed their wedding vows a few years earlier. When I had sung it the first time at their renewal ceremony, my voice had been getting plenty of practice through my stake and ward choirs and it sounded great. This time when I sang it, it really didn't sound as good as it could have been. I felt like I was reaching for the high notes and that my voice lacked power. I remember feeling really sad that I couldn't honor my grandfather's memory through my singing voice. The meaning of the parable of the talents definitely came to mind. When I use my voice in service to the church, it's really me who gets the blessing from it because my voice is a lot better.

3. I feel needed

The tenors are spoiled. That's all there is to it. For one thing, there are never enough of them, and choir directors would rather sell their souls than let a halfway decent tenor quit, while they're always ready to unload a few altos at half price.

--from The Young Person's Guide to Choir

I think that everyone is needed in a ward choir. Everyone who joins the choir adds something to it. In my current choir, we don't have a lot of sopranos and I've kind of become the unofficial section leader, so I'm definitely needed. I resist the temptation to miss practices and I make a special effort to come when we're singing in church because I know that it makes a difference when I'm there.

4. I just enjoy choir music

Sire, only opera can do this. In a play if more than one person speaks at the same time, it's just noise, no one can understand a word. But with opera, with music... with music you can have twenty individuals all talking at the same time, and it's not noise, it's a perfect harmony!

--Mozart speaking in the film Amadeus

Some people have singing voices that were built to sing jazz or pop or folk or things like that. My voice was built for a choir. Plus, I really enjoy singing choir music.

Not only do I think it's beautiful, but I think it's a perfect metaphor for ward unity. That’s one of the amazing things about hymns and choir music. If each one of us were to get up and start speaking about the gospel out loud right this instant, it would be really noisy and difficult to feel the Spirit. But when we are singing hymns, all of our different voices come together in harmony to express a single, clear statement about the gospel.

Our voices are all very different. Some of us have high soprano voices, some of us are deep baritones. But we each add our own unique sound to the overall music, creating a deeply enriched harmony. Because unity doesn’t necessarily mean that we all act or think or sound the same; unity means that we each add our own individual talents and unique flavor to the mix, so that "all can be profited thereby" (D&C 46:12). With the exception of the sacrament itself, it is only when we are singing hymns that each and every member of the congregation is actively participating in the meeting and when each one of us is contributing something important to the Spirit which is in the room. And ward choir is a microcosm of that idea, a symbol of ward unity.

Anyhow, those are basically my reasons. What are yours?

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 reasons why...

1. Well, the most obvious excuse is that I've been busy and tired...

I know it's a cliche to say that I've been busy, but I have. Ever since I became the full-time mom in our household and started teaching night classes, I really have been pretty busy. Even though UVU only pays me for 8 hours a week (6 hours of class time and 2 hours of prep time), most weeks I definitely clock in more hours than that. I'd roughly estimate that I spend an average of 3 additional hours a week on slow weeks. But some really busy weeks such as when I have heavy grading to do or when I'm meeting with all my students, I can clock up to 10 additional hours a week. And when Alex was born, my free time REALLY dried up. When I do get free time, it's usually at night---at which time I'm usually too tired to want to do anything besides hang out with Chris. I barely have time to read blogs, let alone write them.

2. The best blogs are short, sweet and funny... and mine aren't.

I'll be the first to admit that the Internet is a place created for people with limited attention spans. Perhaps it's because it's not physically comfortable to read something on a screen while sitting at a computer desk. Perhaps it's because there really is an ADD plague surging through our communities. Whatever the reason, with some rare exceptions, the best blogs are those that keep it brief and simple---and usually entertaining. Unfortunately, I'm just not capable of writing those kinds of blogs. Besides not being a terribly funny person, I suffer horribly from the Ent mindset ("We never say anything unless it takes a long time to say"). If I'm going to write something, it's going to have some substance to it. And that usually requires me to make it lengthier than the blog format unofficially allows.

3. I suffer from a debilitating case of comment envy.

I'm going to shock you all by admitting that I'm an introvert. (WHAT?!?) While I do crave the feeling of being connected to other people and to my larger community, I want those connections to be meaningful and significant, to have depth. The Internet holds an illusory appeal for introverts like me who have difficulty connecting to other people. I think at one time I really believed that I could stay connected with the people from my past through my blog or through social networks like Facebook, that I could share my thoughts and have meaningful conversations with people about them. But... well... that hasn't been the case. It kinda makes me feel sad because, as I said, I suffer from comment envy. It seems like everyone else's blogs have really cool and interesting comments on them. (Some of mine do, but not always the ones that I expect.) The only way I know if someone is reading is if they leave a comment or talk to me about it, so I just have to assume no one is reading... Connection lost...

4. Blogs are a liability in today's world...

It kinda freaks me out that a potential employer could read my blog and choose not to hire me because they don't like what I have to say as a person. Or that I could lose a job that way. (Not likely to happen with my current job where critical thinking and writing is applauded---and where they are kind of a bunch of Luddites, but you know...)

5. My need to write is fulfilled by my journal right now.

I unofficially resolved not to blog any more back in November last year. Since that time I've been writing fairly regularly in my personal journal again. It's been nice. I miss the polish that I put into the writing I do for blogs (audiences help that way), but I enjoy the freedom from self-censorship that my journal affords me. It leads to a more meaningful relationship with my own self. Connection gained...

Conclusion

I don't know if I'm ready to say that I'm done with blogging. I've come close to taking my blog down a couple of times, but it's hard for me to pull the plug because of all the time and interest I put into it in the past. I may possibly pick it up again in the future, but I don't really know when or how much or anything else like that. I regularly come up with ideas about things to blog, but I usually just end up turning them into journal entries instead. Who knows...

Munchkin Impossible

Alyssa has wanted this ever since we played it with our friends in CA, the Snells.

The Gist of the Game - Just your regular Munchkin-type game. Players draw a card and try to defeat it if it's an enemy, going up a level if they do. First player to level 10 is the winner.

The Good - One of the better Munchkin variations. The spy theme really fits the gameplay well. Fun to play as a filler.

The Bad - Just another Munchkin game. Highly luck based.

The Verdict - I would rather have this one than Super Munchkin, but it's not at the top of our "Love to Play" list.

Hive

I picked up this gem while I was in a science-y phase.

The Gist of the Game - Players take turns placing or moving tiles of different bugs, attempting to surround the other player's Queen Bee. Each type of piece has its own unique movements and abilities.

The Good - This game is a contender for "Most Portable"--the pieces are sturdy and the playing space required is minimal. I really enjoy the theme of this game and each piece's representation matches with its movement (grasshoppers can jump, ants move quickly, etc.) The game is also really easy to learn.

The Bad - It's only two player. Also, once you start to get good, it gets easier to win. You can balancing this by handicapping yourself a couple of pieces though.

The Verdict - Love it. Wish I could play it more often. Great for anyone who likes strategy games like Chess (or bugs).

Ingenious

Got this for a birthday present for my in-laws. Yay!

The Gist of the Game - Players draw domino-like tiles of different colors. Placement on the board will score different points for different colors, but you're final score is based on the amount of points earned for the colors with the fewest points, so you'll need to develop evenly between the colors.

The Good - Quick and easy to learn. Not complicated with extra stuff--a fun abstract.

The Bad - Being an luck-based abstract, there's not a ton to compel me.

The Verdict - I should probably play this more, but it's been overshadowed by other games.

Ticket to Ride - Switzerland Expansion

For shame! We've had this game for forever and we've never played it! I enjoy Ticket to Ride, and this is supposed to be great for two players, so we really should, but we haven't. Consequently, I don't have anything to say about it.

Red November

Got this after playing it once with Marin and Ammon.

The Gist of the Game - The submarine is sinking! You need to run around the sub fixing any problems that comes up and survive long enough for rescue. As time passes, more problems come up. Spending more time on a problem increases the chance on fixing it, but the more time you spend, the more problems could come up.

The Good - For some reason I have a fascination with cooperative games, and this one is pretty good. The theme is unique and interesting. It was also pretty inexpensive for a game.

The Bad - Teeny tiny board! Also can suffers the problem of many cooperative games in that bossy players could suggest and direct a milder player into disengagement. Although exciting for the first few times, this game also gets a little old after a few plays as the ideal moves become more obvious.

Yinsh

The first game I bought after moving to Springville. Introduced to me by Anton, a regular attendee of our game nights.

The Gist of the Game - Players try to get 5 tokens in a row by placing and moving rings, which affect the placement of tokens on the board. But the tokens placed can be flipped over to your opponents color if you jump over them with a ring.

The Good - This is one of the best abstract games I've ever played. It's really easy to learn and I've seen beginning players beat seasoned players, which is always nice.

The Bad - Only two players, although Alyssa likes this one more than most other abstract strategy games (mostly because she beats me regularly).

The Verdict - This is part of a set of abstract games called the Gipf project. It's generally regarded as the best of the set, so maybe I'm not missing out on much. Games are quick and I'd happily play this any time.

Dominion

The clerk at Board Game Revolution talked me into this one when I fully intended to get another game in the Gipf series (see Yinsh above).

The Gist of the Game - Players start with a few coin cards, then use them to buy more cards--more coins, action cards, or victory points. As their deck increases, gameplay gets a little more complicated and interesting. Player with the most victory points at the end wins.

The Good - Easy to learn and pretty fun to play. There are a number of different combinations of action cards that can be played for variation on gameplay.

The Bad - Lots of shuffling as you refresh your draw deck with the discards. Also, there's not a ton of interaction between players, and it can feel a little like 4-person solitaire at times.

The Verdict - Although this has been a really popular game lately, it didn't really grab me the first time I played it. There was hardly any interaction between players and it seemed a little boring. But it's gotten better with more plays and seems to play better with 4 players (Alyssa and I tried it with 2 the first time). It might be more interesting with different action card decks (we used the recommended-for-first-time-players setup). Once you understand the game, it also goes a little faster, which helps. Definitely needs more plays.

Pandemic

Christmas present from my parents. Yay!

The Gist of the Game - Diseases are spreading throughout the globe and the players need to apply the special abilities to control and cure the diseases.

The Good - The best cooperative game I've ever played. Keeps all players engaged by giving them unique roles and the turns move quickly. Also play surprisingly well as a two-player game. Adjustable difficulty level.

The Bad - Only four players. Kind of hard, especially as you increase the difficulty level. I also hear that the game gets a little old after a few plays (although the expansion pack definitely helps, see below).

The Verdict - I had so much fun playing this the first time (and we even lost). The game creates a nice tension. The theme really engages me and I totally feel immersed in the game.

Pandemic: On the Brink

An expansion for Pandemic that I went and got this the day after I played the base game (see above).

The Gist of the Game - Same as pandemic, but it adds new twists like more roles, a mutating virus, a virulent strain, and the possibility for a player to play against everyone else as a bio-terroist.

As a bonus, you got some improvements to the pieces of the original game: small pawns, and improved role, and petri dish containers for the disease cubes.

We haven't really played much with the expansion, so I can't say much, good or bad, about it, but I am looking forward to some of the possibilities.

Jambo: Expansion 2

I hadn't even heard of this until I saw it in the game store, but knew I had to get it.

Jambo is a perennial favorite--probably one of our most commonly played games. This expansion pack balances out the previous one, which allows us to use all the cards (see "The Bad" on my review of the first expansion). It add a few new interesting aspects, such as carpet cards, on which each player controls a side, but that can be rotated to switch the sides. Also new cards, which seem interesting.

For some reason, we didn't play very many games when we lived in Orem. I guess the real reason was that we didn't really have another gaming couple in our ward. So for a good part of the past 7 months since my last entry, we hardly played any board games.

However since we moved to Springville, we've set up a regular gaming group (every other Friday--contact us if you want to come!) and that's increased my exposure to new games--leading me to want to buy them.

I've also started listening to Board Game podcasts. The one I like the best is The Dice Tower. I get the lastest news in board games that way and find out about new and interesting games.

The problem I'm noticing is that I have a ton of games that we hardly play anymore. This list has a lot of games that need more plays, but are getting pushed out by newer games. So I need to play more games, or buy fewer games.

These were made using software called "Autotune." Normally, Autotune is used to correct singers who sing a little off key. You can see how Autotune works here. This is a pretty creative use of Autotune, using it to take normal speech and convert it into songs. Some people have done it with news stories as well (check out our favorite example).