Random thoughts on the economy, sports, blogging…and a movie review.

So…I have been thinking a lot about the economy lately. Who hasn’t, right? But my thought is this - except for some small things we can do at home, like budgeting better, cutting back on expenses, and stocking up on food storage – there isn’t anything we can really do on a personal level about the global economy right now. So why dwell on it. Sure I can spend every day fretting over whether I will keep my job or not, but truth be told even if you are a good worker you can still get laid off. And part of being a good worker is knowing how to strategize your career, so when it’s all said and done what is going to happen is probably going to happen. And I know that it’s the Holiday season as well, and times are tight. But what if we all just committed to giving some money or some of our personal time, any amount, to a group or person in need this year? I think we would all feel better, I truly do. It doesn’t have to be a large amount, maybe all you can afford is 5 dollars. That’s ok, because it truly is the thought that counts. So in the spirit of that thought, here are some organizations or people that I think could use some holiday cheer.

http://www.fmsc.org/ - I found out about ‘Feed my Starving Children’ through my good friend Lori’s blog - http://countdowntohomecoming.blogspot.com/. They are “a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding God’s starving children hungry in body and spirit.” Lori has been involved with them through her quest to adopt in Haiti. Read more about the plight of the Haitian’s and especially their sweet little ones on her blog.

http://www.madebynikki.blogspot.com/ - I love my blog design and I would love to take credit for it, but I can’t. I found Nikki through someone else’s blog and was impressed with her enthusiasm for humanitarian work. She truly represents one of my favorite quotes which is – “You must be the change you wish to see in the world. - Gandhi”. She is presently raising money to travel to Ethiopia (February) and the Dominican Republic (May and June) to do volunteer/humanitarian aid work. If you need a new blog header or just want to donate to her cause, check out her site.

http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=COGP_CA_LosAngls_main - If you are interested in donating to the Red Cross, this is a good link where you can either donate to the general disaster relief fund or specifically to the Greater Los Angeles relief fund in order to help out with the disaster relief from the wildfires of the past few weeks.

http://web.me.com/andrewtbagley/NieRecovery/About.html - This site was setup for donations to help with the recovery efforts of Stephanie and Christian Nielson who were in a fatal plane crash in August. Stephanie was burned over 80 % of her body, and is expected to have a long and painful recovery. Stephanie and Christian are the parents of four young children, and with hospital bills in the millions of dollars, I am sure they can use our help. I don’t know them personally, but I do know some of their extended family members though and this is how I found out about their story. If you want to know more, read http://blog.cjanerun.com/ and http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/.

In Utah, you can donate to http://www.rescuesaltlake.org/ and http://www.utahhumane.org/ (I am particularly found of the people at the Humane Society because when Sally died I sent them a donation in her name, and they responded with a very nice letter thanking me for my donation and naming Sally in the letter. It was only $25 dollars, so it was very kind of them to bother.)

http://www.lds.org/library/page/display/0,7098,6433-1-3298-1,00.html – this site lists some of the ways the L.D.S. church suggests that we can donate our time and money as well.

Anyway, my just a thought turned out to be kind of long one. The point is that if you are so inclined there are many ways that you can make a difference this holiday season.

Now on to more frivolous ramblings…

How about those Utes? I know the BYU/Utah rivalry isn’t considered to be one of the great rivalries in all sports, but it’s HUGE around here, so a 48-24 Ute win is not too shabby. I try not to get too excited about sporting events anymore because well frankly what’s the point. (Except the Olympics of course!) But it is pretty cool that the University of Utah has done so well this season. And since I did graduate from there, I thought I would give them a shout out.

And finally, a movie review of Twilight. Yes I braved the throngs of tween girls to see Twilight on its opening weekend. I admit I loved the book, so I too was just as excited. I however, did not love the movie. It was semi-satisfying, so I wouldn’t say I hated it, but it definitely was not on the level that I was craving. The actors are decent, and the movie is certainly filled with all of the teen angst that the book delivers. But the directing style left something to be desired and don’t get me started on some of the special effects. I don’t want to go into too much detail in case I taint your desire to see the movie. Believe me if it was horrible, I would warn you, but it’s not. It’s probably right on the cusp of a B-/C+ movie in my opinion. So please do go and see it for yourself and then let me know what you thought.


P.S. I am sorry for being a slacker blogger lately. I think the problem is that I spend all day working on a computer for work, and sometimes also nights and weekends. So there are times when the LAST thing in the world that I want to do is look at or touch a computer. I will be posting some pictures of my recent trip in the next week or so and there are some really cute photos, so don’t give up on me yet.