Cultural and Culinary Arts Festival

Hugh Nibley was one weird nut but we benefit from him!

Saturday,2/11/17 Good Morning Brandon, I love you. I think you are wonderful. Our ward has a Cultural and Culinary Arts Festival each year.  That means 1- Visual Arts, 2- Performing Arts, 3- Food.  There is also a video for anyone who wants to display other talents. It was held last night and I participated and attended. Three nights of socializing in a row!  It is interesting how when that becomes a goal, the opportunities are all around. Just a reminder, from mark clayton I learned there are 6 techniques for fighting depression. Sunshine, Nutrition, Therapy, Socializing, Medication, Physical Exercise. Many of us don’t realize how helpful socializing is! In fact many of us avoid public and social, lumping them together. @The bishopric did not like saying the long title of the name so they started just saying the letters, as if we are going to know what in the world they were talking about! Silly huh! The whole point was to invite us not stupefy us. CCAF. As I listened to each announcement and held the gold sign-up paper in my hand in EQ, I asked myself is there anyway I can support this festival? Are there any talents I can display? I consider my postcards to you a talent very few people in the world can perform Brandon. I always print twice. Once to make sure it will be right and once on heavy paper for your postcard. That meant I wouldn’t even have to try to have all the materials I would want to display. They are already here in my orange folder. I have to empty it when it gets too heavy and too thick. A reminder was taped to all our doors this week and so it/CCAF has been on my radar more than usual. As I worked in the Training room at FS I saw a big white board and a stand/easel at the front of the room that is used less than once a month. I borrowed them and at 5 pm drove straight to the ward. I got some clear tape from the library and started posting them. How could I tie it all together? What about verses 6 & 7 of my favorite hymn? I printed them and used them as the border around the whiteboard.
6. In pris'n I saw him next, condemned
To meet a traitor's doom at morn.
The tide of lying tongues I stemmed,
And honored him 'mid shame and scorn.
My friendship's utmost zeal to try,
He asked if I for him would die.
The flesh was weak; my blood ran chill,
But my free spirit cried, "I will!"
7. Then in a moment to my view
The stranger started from disguise.
The tokens in his hands I knew;
The Savior stood before mine eyes.
He spake, and my poor name he named,
"Of me thou hast not been ashamed.
These deeds shall thy memorial be;
Fear not, thou didst them unto me."

AS you know I sing this to myself multiple times a week to clear my mind for sleep and to lift my spirit. I memorized it in Guatemala and my memorizer only works 10% as well as  yours, bps. Your trial has been these last 2 weeks. You have been front page in the Spectrum. You are referred to as a resident of Bloomington Hills. And if the truth were known, a member of the BH2nd Ward. That residency may be 6 years old but that is what the paper’s say. So you belong to us! @ Thank heavens some of us have felt responsible to support you. Hughs and I. @ Your poster turned out absolutely fantastic! I went home and picked up 3 REJECTED Postcards ONLY letters from December’14 and taped them along the bottom so saints could see why the crazy microscopic postcards. I took them as visual aides to HT 2years ago and Bonnie and Quinn Carter each opened one. The third one is still sealed. Here I thought I had the jail beat when they said no more letters. And do you remember the fits I went through for the next few months trying to figure out how to keep you loaded with info and conference talks? Glued postcards were eventually rejected and returned etc. etc.. And then KJ said I could send an 8x10. And most recently I figured out how to include tiny pictures.  What an evolution we have been through. @ These are the reasons I created that display. 1- I wanted to support the ward, and it was one of only 10 or 12 visual arts so it is good I did! 2- I wanted to inspire others. 3- I wanted to show off. But after making the poster/disdplay I went home actually shaking. My hands were shaking. I was worried about public opinion. [Being Judged!] And as an addicted risk taker I got all kinds of adrenaline flowing last night! 4- I hoped to be admired and complimented. I was complimented a couple of times but in an underhanded way. EX: Frank n Shanna Haney were asked to be the MC’s for the performing arts programs. While cleaning up I flattered them as much as I could. You can see how nervous I was just displaying. Had I been the MC I would have been near a melt down! You wouldn’t think that of an old jr high science teacher would you? Anyway Shanna cut off our dialog to poke Bishop Quincy Adams and tell him she didn’t know quite how to take the comment he said about her last Sunday as he asked them to speak in sacrament meeting. “Shanna has the gift of gab.” Q- It is a compliment. Isn’t it Vern? Come on give me some support. V- It depends on the assignment. If it is to MC then that is a useful talent. [Shanna ignored me as I said that. She had intentions of just teasing the bishop, socializing and interacting.] Q- Sacrament meeting speakers perform better/benefit if they have the gift of gab. And if you hadn’t agreed I was going to ask Vern. @ And they continued teasing each other. As you know I spoke in November so he was just teasing/joking about me but. . . after seeing all my letters and postcards to you [your/my/our display] he had been reminded of a talent I have been sharing with you, bps, if no one else. @ Haney’s MC'd a number of riddles last night. Here’s one: What starts with and e and ends in an e and has one letter in it?  By that time I had moved from the back where I sat to begin with, to the 4th row so I could be more a part of things. F-What’s the answer Vern? I yelled out e! As did 10 or 20 others. Abby Bradley’12 yelled out eye! I really liked her answer.  I will tell you the answer later. But did you notice how he gave me, my name, as a hint to the answer?  SWK and his father in AZ used to write 4-5 letters some days to communicate. Who writes nowadays? Why would anyone need to write a letter? Are there people who die never having written a letter in the US? You get the idea. So as I watched for evidence for 2- inspire others, I did not see any last night. But I hope to as the weeks go by. That evidence I expect to be in tiny teeny ways. @ I asked for permission to clean up my poster/display the next day, Saturday. I just couldn’t bear the idea of preparing and planning and creating all that and then rip it down at 9pm. So I went this morning and took some pictures and cleaned it up. I took pictures last night of my favorites, but not my own[sort of a sense of shyness about my own work]. @ For some reason I can’t stand piano concertos. The shorter the better. Perhaps because my mother played and abused and lied and deceived. But I kept pianist/ability to play the piano as one of my top 10 characteristics/traits I wanted in my wife. Success: She could play and I could sing. It worked out perfect. And the money spent on piano lessons for my kids was money I endorsed. So as I listened to the piano performance from the RS room as I enjoyed the paintings and quilts etc. I was glad I did not have to sit through the piano numbers. In fact, to tell the truth I think short performances at a talent show are the best! @So Brandon, you were on display last night. If my letters and postcards to you represent even a small part of your sincere interests and personality then you were honored last night. @You are in a most difficult circumstance. I have been so curious about your crime and you for so many months and even years. I decided last Saturday when I prayed in the morning that the pit I felt in my stomach as I anticipated attending your trial was not something I had to do, not something I had to face. I decided my hours of writing you every week were a worthy offering instead. This is my reasonable best. Mark Clayton taught me about reasonable bests. To me, to do your best was to accomplish or die in the effort. When I planted my 4 almond trees it was a commitment to harvest respectfully every nut! We don’t have to be that hard on ourselves. We are allowed to be reasonable. Unreasonable commitments can be changed. For people like me who are do or die people, backing off is an important skill to learn. @ For people who change their minds willy nilly and don’t commit heart and soul to anything, the opposite would be appropriate! Those are the ones I believe the 15 apostles are trying to encourage and inspire and motivate. @ Do you remember the story of HNibley being asked to research something for David O McKay? After a year DOM asked him for an answer and HN said I’m not done researching it yet. After 2 years president Mckay said, Well just give me what you have!  Hugh Nibley had a hard time with reasonable best. :) @