I felt sucker-punched by The Book of Mormon. I was expecting a clever if irreverent take down of Mormonism; I got that, but I had to choke it down with a big bucket of humor at the expense of blacks on stage and in the audience. For what it’s worth, I’m a Mormon who was … [Read more…]
I’m an adult. I’ve been adulting for ENTIRE DECADES. Being a data person, I wondered if there were numbers that might show how well I’ve been adulting all this time. Enter the United States Social Security Administration. [CUE SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC: DUN DUN DUN!] Every year or two, the helpful folks at Social Security send me … [Read more…]
For every gun shop in America, there are about one and a half K-12 schools. If you live in an average American community and count up about how many elementary, middle, and high schools there are around you, there should be two-thirds as many gun retailers. (This includes pawn shops licensed to sell firearms.) Of course, … [Read more…]
…Thou shalt always start thy bar chart at zero. This Fox News example is infamous–the internet backlash forced them to apologize and share a corrected version: But what do you do when it could be helpful to show only the top of the bars–for example, the several pound fluctuation every time you step on the scales? … [Read more…]
I ran into this headline today: “PEW POLL: 63 MILLION MUSLIMS SUPPORT ISIS IN ELEVEN COUNTRIES” I won’t link to the article, but you can probably find this site through a quick search. My first thought was that this number seemed small–I was pretty sure that there were over a billion Muslims in the world. Sure enough, … [Read more…]
Number of people killed in the U.S. since the 9/11 attacks by: Muslim extremists: 26 Right-Wing extremists: 51 #dailydatastory Source
As usual, I’m late, but as usual, I’m having a blast picking out Secret Santa gifties for someone I don’t know that I don’t actually have to give! Over at Shadow Manor, the Caretaker organizes an annual “gift swap” that involves unlimited budgets and lots of images but no actual exchange. It’s perfect. This year, … [Read more…]
With Mormon excommunication threats in the news again, I want to share links to my own experience of excommunication for apostasy. Five years ago, when I received a letter very similar to the ones that John Dehlin and Kate Kelly received, I wrote that: I feel compelled to document all of this, because I’m a … [Read more…]
This is one of my fundamental problems with bodily resurrection (or even some kind of spiritual resurrection where you still look like yourself): what do you look like when you’re bodily resurrected or spiritually residing in heaven? I only knew my grandmother when she was my grandmother: short, white hair, friendly hugs, matriarch…but when I … [Read more…]
I am a massive fan of Sweet Dreams remixes. The original is a darkly upbeat jam with lyrics that are pretty creepy, if you think about it. Of course, it’s a classic, and Annie Lennox’s shoes are not easy ones to fill. And speaking of classics, Marilyn Manson’s is a classic alt-version with a slower … [Read more…]
This is one of my favorite times of year: the virtual gift-exchange that the Caretaker over at Shadowmanor organizes. If nothing else, it’s a reminder of how infrequently a blog… The rules are simple: what would I give to my Secret Santa (wait, I’m the Secret Santa, my secret…naughty child…?) if I had endless time, … [Read more…]
I’ve been thinking recently about the closets☯ that we inhabit. Specifically with regard to my beliefs. I’m an atheist, a humanist, a pagan, awestruck by the majesty of mountains, the simple clarity of the moon, the taste of night on my tongue, the smell of winter… And of course, some of these things are utterly … [Read more…]