Hum. And drum.

Y’all know that I read, and enjoy, Movie Mom. I like her take on life. Recently she posted links to a program for writing screenplays. In that post she also linked to an essay quoting Kurt Vonnegut. I read a lot of Vonnegut in my 20’s, one of the blessings of being the younger sister of a woman who reads even more prodigiously than I used to. (Nowadays, I mostly read while on the recumbent bike, or while eating my lunch. If I’m sitting, I’m knitting.)

Here is that link. I agree with much of what Vonnegut posits, and I think it explains a lot. When I was young, I wanted that first diagram. While I was married to the children’s father, my life resembled the second one. Now that the nest is empty and I am writing the script (or kid myself that I am), my life is a lot like the third one.

Oh, how I cherish the life described by that third diagram!

So it goes...

“Food” review: the Lean Cuisine Orange Chicken will sustain life. It’s not fiery enough for orange chicken, and not flavorful enough for sweet and sour. I will continue to get my orange chicken from Panda Express; I just won’t get it very often. I’m still waiting to find a sweet and sour chicken that I like as much as the one I used to get at the late, lamented Egg Roll Express in Arlington.

Ward conference was amazing. The music was inspired. The choir sounded great (go, us!). And mercifully, the fumes from the cultural hall (gym) were sufficiently abated that I lasted through all of our meetings. I got home around 7:00pm, ravenous in spite of the snacks that had been thoughtfully provided for us by the activities committee in our ward (co-chaired by a former RS president).

The Relief Society lesson was taught by the stake RS secretary, drawing from three recent General Conference addresses:

“Mothers and Daughters” – Elder M. Russell Ballard- Ensign May 2010 pg.18
“And upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit” - Julie B. Beck Ensign May 2010 pg. 10
“Mother Told Me” –Elder Bradley D. Foster Ensign May 2010 pg.98

We paid particular attention to Pauls letter to Timothy, describing humanity in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Selfish
Covetous
Boasters
Proud
Blasphemers
Disobedient
Unthankful
Unholy
Without natural affection
Trucebreakers
False accusers
Incontinent
Fierce
Despisers of those who are good
Traitors
Heady
High-minded
Lovers of pleasure
Having a form of godliness
Denying the power of God

She also quoted 2 Nephi 2:11. She had made two charts listing the character qualities he cited and posted the first one on our whiteboard, encouraging us to come up with opposite, positive character qualities, which she wrote on the board. She then took down the poster and covered what she had just written with the other poster. We came up with antithetical qualities to those. Then she took down the second poster, and we looked at two columns of Christlike qualities we would do well to emulate.

What follows, is a list approximating the one we came up with. I remembered some of them precisely; with others I did the best I could.

Generous
Content
Humble
Modest
Reverent
Obedient
Grateful
Reverent
Loving
Having integrity
Honest
Disciplined
Meek
Supportive
Loyal
Patient
Faithful
Chaste
Consecrated
Submissive

I created and unsuccessfully tried to insert a table. So you will just have to scroll up and down. Sorry. [Builds character.]