Far from Miserable

For last night's FHE, my ward went to see Les Misérables at my alma mater, Bountiful High School. Though I first heard the songs a few years ago, it was my first time seeing this musical performed live. As far as high school musicals go, it was one of the better ones I have seen.

My Improvables colleague, Kevin Johnson, stole the show - in my opinion - with his enthusiastic portrayal of the Thenardier/the priest. I already knew that this kid was talented, but I learned that he can sing, too. The actresses who portrayed Cosette, Eponine, and Fantine all have excellent singing voices, to boot. Props also go to my neighbor Alma Smoot, who was the conniving Javert.

As someone who has performed in community theater, I hope that you get the chance to see and support this show during the next two weeks (if you live in or near the Davis County area, of course).

The Tractor Beam, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Jane Austen

Anyone who has seen the Star Wars movies knows about the Death Star's tractor beam. This device, which could pull aircraft as large as the Millennium Falcon into the Death Star, could also do it from a considerable distance.

Though a tractor beam has the strength to pull in large aircraft, I have learned that it has no effect - like some Jedi mind tricks - on pulling women into the world of the galaxy far, far away. In layman's terms, girls (generally speaking) don't like Star Wars.

I recently learned that some of my female friends in our ward had never seen even one of the seven Star Wars films.

So, we determined that a "Star Wars Induction" must be held as soon as possible. Nick volunteered to host it, organized everything, and sent out invitations.

We did have a handful of girls at our party last week. But all of those who came had seen Star Wars before. Not a single one of the "uninducted" showed up to be inducted.

Well, we will keep working on them. They will feel the power of the Force at some point, or my Star Wars name isn't Plojo Atyps.

Yes, it doesn't have the appeal of a Jane Austen adaptation. But in many ways, Han's and Leia's love story really isn't all that different from the love story in Pride & Prejudice.

Sorry if this sounds at all proud or prejudiced. It's just the opinion of one scruffy-looking nerf herder.

Jumping Onto the Bandwagon

I have always had a hard time keeping up with technology.

My family didn't get a computer until my senior year of high school. Until then, I had to go to my friends' houses or stay after school to print out papers. I got my first CD burner only a few years ago thanks to my good friend, Pepe.

I didn't get my first cassette tape player until I was 11. (Good times, those.) And, after that, I didn't get my first CD player until the mid-'90s.

When I came home from my mission, everybody had and used the Internet. (It was completely non-existent before. Of course, I had been living in the third world for two years, so everything old seemed new again.)

I was the last person in my family to get a cell phone and, even then, it is one of the oldest models you can get.

Now that everybody and his dog has their own blog - yes, I have actually seen blog sites belonging to pets - I suppose it is time for me to give it a try.

Well, here goes.