Proposition 8

A hot political topic going into next month's election is Proposition 8.  Now I'm no political guru and I don't claim to be.  However, this issue has caught my attention.  Should same-sex marriage be legal?

Personally, I'm torn on the matter.  What I think isn't going to make a difference anyway, at least in this election because I'm not a resident of California.  You might be asking yourself "why is Hannah blogging about a political issue that she isn't even decided on?"  Well, I'm blogging about it to express my surprise in the LDS church's involvement in the issue.  The LDS church has always stayed passionately neutral in every political issue that I can remember.  So when the brethren came out and actively supported proposition 8 (to make same-sex marriage illegal again) I was naturally interested.  On one hand, I really don't care if homosexuals get married.  They're people too and they have rights.  On the other hand, I'm an active member of the LDS church and it just doesn't feel right to go against what the leaders are saying.  In all of my confusion, my Dad showed me this article by Robert Kirby, humor columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune.  I think this article is hilarious and I agree with a lot of Kirby's points of view.  So, for your enjoyment, here it is.  Let me know what you think.

Kirby: I don't care if gays get married

A couple of years ago, I wrote a column in which I announced my official position on gay marriage. Basically, I don't care. 
    Not only do I not care if gays get married, it is none of my business. As a flaming heterosexual, it's a full-time job for me just to keep my thoughts clean in church. I don't have the energy to fret about somebody else's libido. 
    The column must have resurfaced on the Internet. I'm getting mail again telling me what a failure I am as a Mormon because I'm not solidly behind Proposition 8. As I understand it, the California ballot item would prevent the domestication of homosexuals. Or something like that. 
    Here are just a few of the attempts to get me to see reason. 
    "Are you a member or not? Do you want gays to get married in the temple? Please follow the brotheren's [sic] council [sic] on Proposition 8. This is a important gospel principal [sic]." G., e-mail. 
    "No unclean thing can enter the house of the Lord. Gays are unclean because of the Scriptures. You have to be hot or cold about it or the Lord will spat you out." T., e-mail. 
    "Were you listening in church when the letter was read from the First Presidency about supporting proposition eight?" R.Y., e-mail. 
    "Get with Prop 8 or your [sic] a homo." Anonymous, letter.

 Hard as it is to counter such brilliant logic, my position hasn't changed. The only serious concern I have about gays getting married is that they'll register someplace pricey. 

    The church is serious about the sanctity of marriage. I get that. But aren't more potentially "dangerous" marriages already being performed out there? 
    For example, I hear in church all the time about marriage being ordained of God. But I also hear about how the glory of God is intelligence. 
    Shouldn't it be against the law for stupid people to get married? What's more harmful to society - two well-dressed men getting married and settling down, or two idiots tying the knot and cranking out any number of additional idiots? 
    You should have to pass a harder test to get married than the one we currently have. Essentially, there are but two questions: "How old are you?" and "Is that your sister?" Hell, you could pass this test just by guessing. 
    There are drawbacks. Most people get married when hormones and youth make them about as dumb as they'll ever be. So, even a relatively easy test would by default raise the age limit to about 40. 
    With an increased marriage age limit, there would be fewer births. Genealogy would become easier to do. With fewer births, there would be fewer children born gay. Hey, isn't that what Heavenly Father would want? 
    OK, I was just kidding about that. But if you're really serious about putting a stop to gay sex, let them get married. 
    
    rkirby@sltrib.com

School

It's that time of the semester. Everyone across campus is starting to get burned out. I for one, consider myself to be pretty studious. I study like crazy for tests, turn in my homework on time, and never miss class. However, I have been having a super hard time staying focused these past couple of weeks. I can't seem to figure out what my problem is and I don't think I'm alone in this predicament. Tons of people are absent in each of my classes every day and I'm 99% sure that it's for the same reason that I have been thinking about sluffing class: we're flat-out sick of school.

I realize that I shouldn't be complaining. I'm pretty darn lucky to be getting a quality college education, but why is it so hard to stay focused? I know it'll all be worth it once I graduate and have a sweet job, but why is it so hard to keep that final goal in mind instead of focusing on the drudgery that is daily class? I think the key to being a successful student is managing your time. I don't care what professors say, iPods and Guitar Hero are NOT the devil (I totally aced my last anatomy test and every second I spent studying, I had headphones on). Taking free time for yourself to do whatever you like to do is a critical part of being a college student. When you've been studying your brains out all day, take some time to have fun. Go snowboarding, ride your bike, see a movie, take a nap, or do whatever you like to do because if you don't, more studying won't do you any good because you won't be able to focus anyway. Also, always keep your final goal in mind. When you're buried up to your eyeballs in homework, just think about how awesome it's going to feel when you finally graduate and you never have to go to school again. When that day finally comes, it will all be worth it.

Wisdom Teeth

Today I got my wisdom teeth removed and I'm not going to lie, it hasn't been nearly as bad as I expected.  At 7:30 my dad and I left Manti to drive to Sandy for my appointment.  The Dentist who did it is named Creed Haymond.  He was a rad guy and I'm related to him somehow, hence the last name.  

I went into the office, filled out the paper work, got some x-rays, and had to watch a short little movie about what to expect.  Then they asked me if I wanted to be asleep or awake during the procedure.  Of course I chose to be  asleep.  It was the coolest thing ever.  I have never had surgery of any kind.  Heck, I've never even been hospitalized, so I had no idea what to expect.  It was super easy actually.  They just give you an IV, which doesn't hurt at all, pump some antibiotics into your arm, and then give you the anesthetic.  I went right to sleep and I don't remember anything else until I got to the parking lot.  

On the way home, I ate some Mac and Cheese from KFC, had a slurpee, and slept the rest of the way home.  It wasn't bad at all.  After hearing everyone's horror stories, my experience was a walk in the park.  Maybe I shouldn't speak so soon though, I'll probably be super swollen tomorrow.  I'm not too worried about the pain though.  I've got a nice big bottle of Loritab for whenever I feel the need.  

The moral of the story is, don't be too freaked out if you have to get your wisdom teeth out.  Make sure you go to an oral surgeon so you can just snooze right through it, and just utilize your pain pills.

*   *   *

In other news, did everyone watch the Red Sox game last night?  Wow, that was awesome.  They came back from 7 to 0 in the 7th inning and won.  That was the biggest deficit a team has overcome in the playoffs since like 1925 or something.  It was incredible.  The series is now at 3-2 for the Rays and they're heading back to St. Petersburg for tomorrow's game (I wrote in my last post that game 5 would be in St. Petersburg.  I was mistaken).  I would just like to say that lately, the Sox never cease to amaze me.  They have had their backs against the wall so many times, and every time they find some way to come out of it.  I'm looking forward to seeing what happens tomorrow night.  Hopefully they'll keep this comeback going.  

Son of a .....

Right now, as I type, my beloved Red Sox are getting absolutely demolished by none other than the Tampa Bay Rays.  By losing this game, they will go down 3 games to 1 in the ALCS.  As you might imagine, I am pretty upset.  

The Sox were in this exact situation last year.  They were down 3 games to 1 against the Cleveland Indians.  Facing elimination, game 5 was do or die for the Sox, just like it is going into Thursday's matchup in St. Petersburg.  The difference between last year and this year though, is big.  Last year the Sox had the postseason immortal Josh Beckett going to the mound for game 5.  This year, Josh Beckett is not looking so immortal and the usually explosive offense is looking like a bunch of little leaguers.  

Aside from the lackluster pitching and complete lack of offense, injuries are playing a big part in Boston's struggles.  Now I'm not usually one to make excuses but, honestly, I don't think the Sox would be in this situation with a completely healthy Big Papi, Josh Beckett, and Mike Lowell.  Papi's wrist has been bothering him since a torn tendon sheath earlier in the season.  Word just came out today that Lowell will have major surgery on monday, and even though Beckett says he's fine, everyone with a brain in their head knows that either his elbow or strained oblique is still bothering him.  

As bad as everything is looking right now, I can't bring myself to lose my faith that they could make a comeback.  They've done it twice before in recent memory.  They did it last year, and who can forget the mind-blowing turn of events in 2004's ALCS?  With all of the great players they've got, they still have a shot, even though it might be a long one.

WEEZER

On tuesday night I went to the Weezer concert in Salt Lake City and wow, was it awesome.  The opening band was supposed to be a band called Tokyo Police Club but for some reason it was a different band that I can't remember the name of.  They were alright, but nothing too exciting.  Next up was Angels & Airwaves.  I consider myself a pretty big AVA fan so I was pretty stoked to see them.  As usual, they didn't disappoint. Their use of lights and lasers was super rad.  They always put on a good show by building up to the more exciting parts.  Even if you're not a big fan of AVA, it's still cool to see Tom DeLonge (formerly of a little band called blink-182).  As enjoyable as Angels & Airwaves was, they were nothing in comparison to Weezer.  They opened up with the classic  "My Name is Jonas" and had a great set with a pleasing mixture of old and new songs such as "Pink Triangle," "Undone (the sweater song)," "Buddy Holly," "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived," "Pork and Beans," and tons more.  Something that was really cool that I have never seen before at a concert was they brought up a whole bunch of people onto the stage with all different kinds of instruments.  There were a bunch of guitars, a saxophone, a cello, a violin, an accordion, a trumpet, a trombone, and a few instruments that I don't even know the names of.  Then they had everyone play "Island in the Sun" and "Beverly Hills".  It was pretty cool.  Mostly I was just really jealous of all the people on stage that got to talk to Rivers.  When all was said and done, my friends and I had been on our feet for 5 hours straight and most of us had a 2 hour drive ahead of us.  After stopping to eat, we got home at about 3:15 am and I had class at 8:30.  Needless to say, wednesday was a pretty long day for me.  It was totally and completely worth it though.  If you ever get the chance to see Weezer in concert, you would have to be a complete retard to pass it up.