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Who You Were
I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am that I’m not who I was as a teenager. Sure, I have many things in common with that girl, but frankly I don’t think I’d want to be stuck on an elevator with her. She was so dramatic it exhausts me to think about…
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My 1000th Blog Entry
Whoa. This is an entry I never expected to be writing. It boggles my mind that I’ve come up with a thousand things to say to you. I must be an interesting person. So why doesn’t anyone ever ask me out? Seriously. I’m fairly sure I could hold up my end of a conversation. Egotistical…
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Thomas Midgley, Jr.
If you did a random survey of 100 people and asked, “Who was the most destructive man in history?” you’d get a variety of answers, I’m sure. Adolf Hitler. Pol Pot. The guy who invented Twinkies. But I’d be shocked if any of those people would even know Thomas Midgley’s name, let alone the havoc…
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Breaking the Cycle
I know someone who is a chronic worrier. She comes by it honestly. Everyone in her family is a chronic worrier. Just being around them makes your stress level go up. It makes me wonder if this is genetic or behavioral or a combination of both. Anxiety disorders can definitely run in families. But you…
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Naming Yourself
I have never really related to my own first name. And my middle name? It feels downright foreign. If I could have named myself, I would be Serenity. I’d actually legally change it tomorrow if I didn’t think I’d be laughed out of my family. It’s the name I chose for myself in the virtual…
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What Are You Leaving Behind?
Somewhere in America, God only knows where, there are about 50 boxes of books that belong to me. They were left to me in my sister’s will. I’m sure she meant well. She knew how I love to read. But the last thing I need is her hoard of books. If anything, as much as…
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Sealed Without Your Consent–Mormon Ordinances by Proxy
The LDS Church performs a wide variety of ordinances, some of which are called saving ordinances, which they believe are required for salvation. One such ordinance is called sealing, and it seals you to spouses and other family members for all eternity. Fine and dandy and more power to them, I say. Everyone is entitled…
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Speaking Ill of the Dead
I was chatting with a coworker when he received a text message. “Whoa. My cousin just died.” I told him I was sorry for his loss, as you do. “Don’t be,” he said. “She was mean as a snake and hated my guts.” Once upon a time I might have been shocked by that response.…
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Yes, it’s the Anniversary of 9/11. Can we Please Talk About Something Else?
My mother once wrote me a letter dated December 7th and below the date she wrote “I remember Pearl Harbor.” And it is important to remember those tragic moments in history so that we may learn from them, heal together, and never repeat them. I get that. But. I strongly suspect that I will dread…