It's a good day

 Today was a good day. I was in a very pleasant mood in part because of all the gratitude posts on Facebook this week. They were so pleasant to read! I was also in a happy mood because last night we had our first ever Family Game Night via Zoom, with all of our children. That made me so happy, to see all of them together. Even after first Bruce, and then me, left the "room" they stayed and chatted with each other for like an hour. That was such a high for me, since we have not had all our children together in one place since 2001!! February 2001. So, even though we are scattered around in different places and countries, it was so great to be together. I love them all so much, and even more for gathering last night and spending happy hours together. Abra took a picture of the six of them together:

We are hoping to do this again in December. I am hoping to try to get them all together once a month--or at least once a quarter, or something. Some of them really need the connection. 

So, then I woke up to Bruce in the shower repeatedly trying to turn the water off. Off--then on--off--then on--repeated many times. Oh no! I knew the shower handle was going, but it sounded like it was gone. I had actually tried to make contact with a plumber (repeated many times) in recent weeks without success. I have used Told Plumbing before and liked them, so I even filled in their on-line form, listing all the plumbing issues that we need to have fixed. I am hoping that the fact that I tried, and they didn't contact me back like their website promises, might result in an ever so slight discount from the emergency price.

But I don't even mind the emergency price because it happened when we were home, so that it didn't turn itself back on and empty gallons of water down the drain to make an astronomical water bill. And it is a relief to know it is fixed.

I got the mail, and there was a refund check from the dentist. Not a lot compared to how much we spent to get four implants for Bruce, but enough to make the difference between a regular plumber's hour and an emergency plumber's hour.

Not to be outdone by the shower, the washer decided it needed a rest. I have been very thankful for my washer, and have been thinking a lot about how dependable it has been for the last 17-18 years. Never a problem. (I guess I should have complimented it out loud, and not just in my head!) When the washer we inherited with Judy's house gave out, it did so with a full tub of water, and it was a pain to get the clothes out. Had that happened in this house, it would have been easier because we have a laundry tub beside the washer. However, this really great, stupendous washer was kinder than that: It gave out after the spin cycle that followed the wash cycle. So the clothes were clean and wet but not soaking wet, and they just needed a rinse and then I could dry them in my lovely new dryer.

So I went to my friend Janice's house (she of the Mexican, Caucasian, East Indian heritage) and she has a cool space age washer that rinsed the clothes super fast, and I bundled the damp clothes back in their bag (which was really a fitted sheet) and trundled them home to dry. Nobody even knew I was gone, it was that fast.

And I can call someone about the washer on Monday. It was not an emergency--I had already washed mine and Bruce's clothes. And all Josie's darks got washed, plus all her masks. So she is good, too.

So, even though there were a few set-backs today, overall it was a good day. It was really nice to stay calm during the storms of today, feeling still very happy because it really was not that bad. I am thankful to be able to say that. I can remember when a day like today would have made me feel like I was falling apart. So, I am glad to feel like it was a good day.

Neurodiversity

Wow, sometimes you would think I never have something to say on my own, but that I am always just saving on my blog the words of other people. And this is one of those sometimes.

My friend James Goldberg, who is an amazing author of books and poetry and plays, is about the age of my son David. He is also my friend Janice's nephew, and since he is from her family, that means he is a poster child for racial diversity just given his own genetic mix of  Caucasian, Mexican, Indian (Sikh, from the Punjab region) and in his case, Jewish, which Janice lacks because James gets that from his father's side. In this post, he speaks of neurodiversity, another kind of diversity that perhaps is undervalued.

"I want to talk today about neurodiversity. 

Liji and Leif [James' two sons] love playing with each other. They’re two grades apart in school, but Leif used to spend his first few minutes of recess waiting for Liji to come out and they’d play together every day. At home, they’re constantly creating worlds together. The only times they don’t talk or play or squabble are early in the morning or late at night. They have shared toys and candy and ideas, but never shared a sleep schedule. 

Leif naturally wakes up between five and seven every day. Getting Liji out of bed at eight sometimes takes significant coaxing (which can devolve into shouted threats). Liji can easily still be up hours after bedtime. Leif zonks out almost comically fast. There are nights when I feel his body go heavy while he leans on me during prayers. 

There used to be some fights over this. Sometimes Leif would get lonely early and pester Liji to get up and play. That seldom went well. Sometimes Liji would be really into an evening conversation and feel neglected when Leif abruptly dropped his end of the discussion--for the rest of the night.

 
But then, last year, they talked about it and decided that if they lived in the wild, it would be a huge advantage to have Leif alert to watch for threats early, and Liji alert well into the night. Since living in the wild is their favorite fantasy, that settled it. They neither see each other as quite so defective, because they see how their individual differences could serve the group. 

Our brains are all different. Some people, for example, seem to specialize in responding to suboptimal conditions. For a group as a whole, it’s easy to see how it could be helpful to have someone who is good at discontent, who can serve as a catalyst for change. It’s also not hard to see why it might be useful for that person to sleep a lot in the winter and only push for migration come spring. 

For a group, it also seems really useful to have a few individuals who fixate on certain specific problems or challenges. It’s honestly an added bonus if their brains are built to insulate them from other people’s obvious lack of interest in their obsessions. We benefit as a whole if some people march to a different drummers’ beat and are totally mystified at what the rest of us are doing. 

It makes sense to have people whose brains make wild and unusual connections, people with imaginations so vivid it’s hard to tell their inner world and the outer world apart. It makes sense to have people who are extremely conscious of moral or physical dangers, who over-anticipate consequences and can give the rest of us warning—just as it makes sense to have some people who are reckless and able to take huge risks because their brains have a different way of processing fear. 

In practice, of course, navigating a world with so many different kinds of brains can be complicated. A lot of our systems are designed with one sort of brain in mind, and that can put huge strain on others. And I’m not convinced that better systems will ever solve things. Some brain differences will create relationship complications under almost any conditions. Navigating the things we call mental illness can be a staggering challenge and heartbreaking drain for everyone involved. 

I don’t want to say this is easy. I’ve read research that suggests schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and autism spectrum disorders may share closely related genetic roots. In my family, we’ve had all of them: I am a witness to four generations of struggle with some intense neurological difference from the human norm. It’s been rough sometimes. I have not always handled the tumult in my own mind or the minds of people I love with grace. 

But I’m also a huge beneficiary of that loaded genetic inheritance. And so are you. We all live in a world that is better because of the things difficult minds saw that others never would have on their own.
Sometimes gratitude is a feeling. Sometimes gratitude is a hard-earned insight. 

I am grateful for neurodiversity."

I loved that--the insight of his two young sons that their differences are beneficial!  Oh, how we need this insight in our world of division! 

Scammed

 Seems to be a good season for scamming. Bruce's debit card number was used in Ohio one day this week while he was sleeping. His bank caught it and quickly stopped the card. He had to get a new card, but no financial damage was done.

Josie's entire Disney account was switched over to an email address that was not hers. She had to call them and get that straightened out. And I think that was one of three scams for her in recent days.

Today, I got an email that I thought was from Amazon, only it was telling me about the order for a TV purchased for someone named David Kohler in Eureka, California for $696. I checked my Amazon account, and there was no such order there. Josie suggested I check our bank accounts, and there were no matching payments.

So then I was stupid--I called the number they gave in the email. I was on hold for a looooong time. (I just put the phone on speaker phone while I waited.) Then the guy got on the phone. He said, okay I have your phone number here 801-422-4334, in case we get cut off. Is that correct? I said it was. Then he asked for my name, which I gave to him. And then he asked me to give him the long number for the order, which I did. He said, "This order is for a TV (described in more detail but I don't want to type it all here) and is going to David Kohler at this address (he said it) in Eureka, California."

I said, "Yes, that is what this message says, but I have no idea who David Kohler is, so why did I get this message?"

He said, "I will have to check on that for you. How strange. So, let me verify where you are. I have you at zip code 84057, in Orem, Utah. Is that correct?"

And THAT is finally when the alarm bells went off for me, and I looked more closely at the email address for Amazon -- it had .co instead of .com for one--and I realized that I HAD FALLEN FOR THE SCAM BY CALLING THE NUMBER. I felt so stupid!! I don't know why I thought it was actually Amazon's number.

I HAD looked for a way to contact Amazon, but only had found less than helpful help on their help screen, as is often the case.

But I said to the guy, "You know, I think THIS is the scam!! I am going to hang up now."

So I hung up, googled Amazon instead of looking on Amazon's own page through my account, which I had done before. I got their 888 number, called them. I reported the scam. They sent me an email that instructed me how to send them the phishing email, which I did. They also asked me to report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission, which I did. And, since the email came through BYU's server, I also sent the phishing report to BYU's online security people.

So. In the end, I saved myself, but at first I was taken in. Which is embarrassing, but I am so glad that I had the alarm bells go off.

Per Amazon's instructions, I changed my account name--which I didn't even know you could do--and password. So I think I am safe, until the next scam comes along. Which, judging from this week at our house, might happen sooner rather than later. Hopefully I will be even more vigilant!!

Voter Fraud NOT

Media literacy: Post-election news roundup, 11/11/2020 from Mormon Women for Ethical Government

Now that we are past the election, we want to continue to provide you with a compilation of news articles from reliable sources to help you navigate the transition period. Our focus will be on the transition and ethical issues. This is by no means meant to be an authoritative list of important news. Please feel free to post in the comments any articles from reliable sources that you think we may have missed.

The New York Times has reported that it contacted election officials in 45 states, and all of them agreed: there was no widespread voter fraud in this election. Here is part of the story:

“Top election officials across the country said in interviews and statements that the process had been a remarkable success despite record turnout and the complications of a dangerous pandemic.
‘There’s a great human capacity for inventing things that aren’t true about elections,’ said Frank LaRose, a Republican who serves as Ohio’s secretary of state. ‘The conspiracy theories and rumors and all those things run rampant. For some reason, elections breed that type of mythology.’
Steve Simon, a Democrat who is Minnesota’s secretary of state, said: ‘I don’t know of a single case where someone argued that a vote counted when it shouldn’t have or didn’t count when it should. There was no fraud.’”

This is a testament to our country, its election processes, and our election workers.
Info:
The president and his allies have baselessly claimed that rampant voter fraud stole victory from him. Officials contacted by The Times said that there were no irregularities that affected the outcome. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/us/politics/voting-fraud.html?referringSource=articleShare
AP Explains: Election's validity intact despite Trump claims
https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-virus-outbreak-elections-courts-f67b847f656e08a6019dcb308f2b4451
Here are the GOP and Trump campaign’s allegations of election irregularities. So far, none has been proved.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-election-irregularities-claims/2020/11/08/8f704e6c-2141-11eb-ba21-f2f001f0554b_story.html
EXPLAINER: Why do the media call races in US elections?
https://apnews.com/article/why-does-media-call-races-us-elections-20e9b5688aa0b7404648ea74b1c2f4dc
'There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,' Pompeo claims
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/there-will-be-smooth-transition-second-trump-administration-claims-pompeo-n1247309
Trump fundraising for new 'Save America' PAC while still contesting election results
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-fundraising-save-america-pac-contesting-election-results/story?id=74128659
Trump campaign sues Michigan to prevent certification of Biden win
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-legal-challenges-michiga/trump-campaign-sues-michigan-to-prevent-certification-of-biden-win-idUSKBN27R2AT?il=0
Georgia to conduct a full recount of election ballots
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-georgia-recount/georgia-to-conduct-a-full-recount-of-election-ballots-idUSKBN27R2B9?il=0
Election breathes new life into false ‘dead voter’ claims
https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-pennsylvania-media-michigan-fc7ba254fd37059f63ea764c18c2a4cb
GOP senator says Trump should cooperate on transition
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/525428-gop-senator-says-trump-should-cooperate-on-transition#.X6tDl6RUjWs.facebook
Posts falsify ties between election tech firm and Democrats
https://apnews.com/.../election-2020-joe-biden-us-news...

Thank you to Wendy Dennehy, Danica Baird, Kaitlyn Brower Dressman, Sarah Broat, and Jennifer Akerman Sall for helping compile these articles.


Also this, from the CBC:

Is there any evidence of voter fraud?

The president's accusations of widespread voter fraud in key battleground states has some CBC readers wondering if there is any merit to them.

The experts say no.

The head of an international delegation monitoring the U.S. election said his team has no evidence to support Trump's claims about alleged fraud involving mail-in ballots.

Michael Georg Link, a German lawmaker who heads an observer mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), told German public broadcaster rbb that "on the election day itself, we couldn't see any violations" at U.S. polling places they visited.

Link said he was "very surprised" by Trump's claims about postal ballot fraud because the United States has a long history of this method of voting going back to the 19th century. The Vienna-based OSCE, of which the U.S. is a member, conducts observer missions at major elections in all of its member countries.

"We looked into this," Link told the German broadcaster. "We found no violations of the rules whatsoever." This is from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/ask-us-election-presidential-powers-1.5793057?fbclid=IwAR2mxFfNRRs5ccYoBU4Qqc0mV6gp2umyCht7NWDunwIlb49avWgbBgTvDbk

And the full report from the OSCE observers: https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/9/6/469437.pdf 

To give or not to give...that is the irony

 In the past, it was very typical for the music library to get large gifts of someone else's books and scores--retiring professors or other professionals would want their massive collections to go to good use. As the years have gone by, there has been more and more rigidity in this process, which means we say no to many collections.

Recently, we have been allowed to accept up to 60 items without having to seek permission. I usually always Just Say No. But a few things have snuck in. I have two small piles on my desk that have been there for almost a year. I don't know what I have been waiting for, but taking care of them did not seem very pressing.

Today, Janet and I arranged with Debbie Bagley to get scans of her grandmother's manuscripts to put in an envelope and put in Special Collections. That is only about 8 or so pieces of paper. So not a big gift. And then, I got an email from David Day asking me if I could go to a storage unit and look at some dance books that came with a big LP collection. He is passing the collection on to Internet Archive, but he thought I might want to look at the books. I should have just said no!!! 

David appeared in the library and brought me a box of books from long retired Dr. Powley--probably 30-40 books. Like, today of all days!

And then I went to the storage unit and chose about 15 books, and quickly drove back to the library to make a Zoom appointment I had with a student. I left the books in the car so I could hurry. (I was still late!)

When I checked my email after the appointment, I noticed that I had an email from Frank Asper, asking me if we would consider taking his father's library of music--he sent me an inventory list which is really rare and very helpful.

And then I had a meeting with my student Abby, and after that, we all got an email from the university librarian that, effective immediately, ALL GIFTS HAVE TO BE APPROVED BY HIM. Not his idea--a mandate from above this head.

And I was just like--Really? TODAY? When all these gifts have come out of nowhere, on this day, that mandate?

I emailed my immediate supervisor, who told me that the things I already had could be processed under the old rules. Since I told him about the 15 books that were still in my car, I thought I had better run out and get them, so at least they were in the building. I left via my left-hand door, and was gone 5 minutes. Ten minutes top.

When I got back, I kid you not, there were FOUR boxes of books piled at my door!!!!! Like, why?!!! Who???? Where did they come from???? Oh, the irony of MORE gifts appearing on today, of all days!!! 

Serendipity

 So, I have been busy this year writing encyclopedia entries for the Mormon Arts Encyclopedia, which they (Glen Nelson and Richard Bushman in NYC) have been trying to figure out how to rename it after President Nelson's church name advice--when the scholarly community has Mormon Studies as a thing (chairs bear that name in various universities, like University of Virginia, Claremont Graduate University, etc.) and so they are used to using Mormon. The Library of Congress has subject headings and call numbers that are Mormon. What to do? It's a puzzlement. 

Nevertheless, I have been writing entries. I wrote the first one, about Bob McMullin, in 2018, after I had written other articles about him. Because why not? I had already done the research. And then I did Newel Kay Brown because I was friends with him--made friends with him over a little harp and flute piece that was performed at one of my concerts. He is my friend Emily Brown's father-in-law, so I connected with him, and ended up buying lots of his music for the library, and had numerous phone conversations with him, so why not do an article about him?

So, then I researched Mildred Tanner Pettit, because I couldn't BELIEVE there wasn't an article about her! She is iconic in our church--"I am a child of God" is such a sung song!! She was so interesting that I got sidetracked from writing the encyclopedia entry about her because DANCE! Who knew that she wrote dance music and choreography that was used in church festivals for decades? That was news to me! And also--she was Virginia Tanner's sister, and in the dance world, Virginia Tanner is a Known Name. So I ended up doing a poster session about the sisters at Utah Dance Educator's conference last fall, and then I finally finished the encyclopedia entry, but then the site was broken so even though I submitted it in January, nothing happened with it.

And so I moved on to Marie Manwaring Anderson. I chose her because there was a super short entry for her, but it was under TERESA Marie Anderson, and who even is that? She never used her first name. Arlene and Marie and I used to sing her song, The Temple of the Father, at wedding reception sometimes, so she was familiar to me. 

I should add that part of the fun for me was connecting with families! Like, I have corresponded with Bob McMullin's daughter Pat for years, and think of her as a friend. I could not have found Pat without Mary Rose McMullin in Raymond, who I have known for years, and who is married to Bob's nephew. For Mildred TP, I somehow found her daughter-in-law Betty, who is a very old lady herself now, and who I was planning to take for lunch at the Sky Room until COVID-19 happened. Betty is the only one of that generation left in Mildred's family. For Marie MA, I somehow found her daughter Beth Hulet (I usually find people's family through obituaries, honestly) and I thought Beth lived back east, but turns out she and her husband retired to Utah. So it has been easy to talk to her. 

After Marie, I somehow decided to research N. Lorenzo Mitchell, and I don't even remember what about him tweaked my interest...I think it was the Tooth Bugs song in the 1939 Primary Song Book. And then surprise--he lived in Raymond for about 16 years, and was Uncle Alma's music teacher at the Knight Academy. By the time our mother came along (since she was born several years after her brother finished high school) the Knight Academy was no more--purchased by the province, turned into Raymond High School, and no more orchestra classes. Not ever since. (I always wondered how Uncle Alma was so lucky to play the violin, when our mother never had that opportunity.) I got kind of caught up in "Snow" Mitchell's (that was his life-long nickname) family history because he has this sister, Peggy, who was quite the actress at the University of Utah in her day, and she is so much younger than the rest of the kids that it is pretty unbelievable that she is their sister. AND YET the census records side with me. I added her on Family Search to the children, and someone removed her!!! I am going to have to re-remember her husband's name so I can find her and put her back into her family. Like, there are newspaper articles about when she was living in San Diego with her niece who is older than her. I guess that seems fishy to some people, but not to us, right? Because that is normal, right? 

And then I did Georgia W. Bello, because of Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree. I didn't have to contact any of her family because that song is popular enough that there were plenty of articles about it to draw on for the article.

Now I am writing about Irene Ellen Nelson Christopherson Tempest. And I had a hard time figuring out who she was with all those names, but I found her on family search, and then I found one of her grandchildren  because she was the one who posted Primary Penny March on Family Search, and I have been having a delightful time getting to know Debbie Bagley, her granddaughter. We are related to the Tempests, a long ways back, but the "show your relationship" feature revealed to me our very distant cousin relationship. Irene only wrote three songs that were published, but the Primary Penny March was apparently sung every week in Primary, and children would march to it! Until 1949, when the first birthday song was introduced. (I guess the emphasis started to shift from GIVING your pennies to GETTING your birthday recognized.)

I have had great moments of serendipitously finding things. Like, when I got to "know" Irene, it became pretty clear to me that her marriage to Dr. Christopherson, who was 26 years older and a Very Important Person, was super unhappy. And that her marriage to Golden Tempest (what a name, eh?!) was super happy! And I felt bad for her that all her music was published under Christopherson, because she thought of herself as Tempest. And then somehow I found one song published under TEMPEST. I don't even remember how I found it! But it made me so happy--also it made her granddaughter happy!! (All her grandchildren are from Tempest.)

On Sunday, Debbie Bagley was playing the Primary Penny March for her son and he said "Wouldn't it be cool if we could get some primary children to sing this song and record it, so we would always have it the way grandma Irene wanted it to be sung?" And on Wednesday, I was eying the record that has the Tempe Stake Primary Children of about 1965 singing that song (among others) and decided to get one of the students to record that track, and so I did!

You see, there are no other examples of Irene's music to listen to. I don't know yet if the Mormon Arts Encyclopedia can attach a sound file--I hope so--but I thought, at least I can share it with Debbie. And so I did, and she was like--"We were just talking about wanting a recording on Sunday!!" So. That was a very cool moment of serendipity.

You can find all of my published articles through this index, if interested. http://www.mormonartwiki.org/index.php?title=Category:Mormon_Composers

Books Read October 2020

 Made it to five books this month!

1. I finally finished a non-fiction book that I have been reading slowly for months: Religion of a different color: Race and the Mormon struggle for whiteness by W. Paul Reeve. This book was recommended to me by David and Donna Dalton. It was not an easy read, but it was an interesting and informative read. Though it puts the Mormon prohibition on the priesthood for blacks into context, and shows how protectionist policy played into that, it also looks at all races and how they were treated by and within the church. People sure make a lot of mistakes, was my take-away. A very well-researched book written by Dr. Reeve, who is a history professor at the University of Utah, this book won multiple awards.

2. Hurray! A new Vanderbeekers book! The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue by Karina Yan Glaser was delightful, as I knew it would be. This time, the children make a royal mess of things for their mother, both literally and figuratively--and their rescue attempts often fall flat (or make things worse) but in the end, they do rescue their mother's business from disaster. Now it will be a long time until there is another Vanderbeekers book, since this one was only recently published.

3. Then I read the first in Michael Buckley's NYT Best selling book series about the Sisters Grimm. He does tell his stories well AND he leaves each book with a cliff-hanger so you feel like you NEED to read the next one. So this one was The Fairy Tale Detectives.

4. And this one was The Unusual Suspects

5. And the last book I read, just finishing it yesterday on Halloween, was The Problem Child.

And now I feel like I need to hop right on to Book 4  There are something like 9 or 11 books in the series...(but I am reading a different book right now, because of course, I do not have Book 4!)