a quote found when packing

"I grew up with gangster people... they're not that scary- they all love me!" -Roo

and a note to those of who who actually read my blog: i finally approved peoples' comments! even though it's been like... 5 months for some of them haha.

Ryanair and pornography

Ryanair, a european airline company known for cheap airline tickets, just announced that they will provide a new in-flight app that will allow passengers to view pornography during flights. Customers could simply log into a Ryanair app using their iPads or smartphones and then pay to gamble, play games or view sex scenes.

As a professional airline business, Ryanair's decision to promote pornography is a surprise to me. It is not professional for a CEO or employee of any company to view pornography while at work and it certainly wouldn't be professional to provide pornographic material for the employee break room. Providing pornography on its flights will degrade Ryanair's professional integrity as well as its public image.

Pornography is a degrading business for both men and women. It glorifies violence and abuse of women and casts us as a human race in a role less than that of the animals- for animals mate to reproduce in response to their natural urges. What the pornography industry distributes is an image of sex which is anything but natural. It is not reflective of how kind, successful, civilized people show affection and love and it certainly is no reflection of how a man in love truly treats his partner. Instead, pornography casts men in the role of soulless, hungry animals without any modicum of self-restraint and women in the role of play things, slaves, who must not only endure some of the worst forms of abuse but act as if they truly enjoy it.

The truth is that many pornography workers have sexually transmitted infections, drug and alcohol addictions, massive debt, depression, panic attacks, and chronically low self esteem. Women in the pornography and sex trafficking industries experience physical and sexual abuse routinely as a part of their job in ways that are not only emotionally damaging but often physically damaging as well. The aggressive and unnatural sex they participate in often leads to severe damage of a woman's reproductive system. Sexually Transmitted Infections are a frequent problem for sex workers. The profession puts women in situation where they are at high risk for developing gynecological and urinary problems. The multiple sex partners, the high likelihood of sexually transmitted diseases, and anatomy of a women's urological system makes urinary tract and bladder infections a serious concern. Lack of protection and contraction of HIV/AIDS, herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea, and other STI's drastically increase the chances of devoloping cervical cancer. Far from uncommon is a prolapsed uterus- caused by the damage of repeated, rough, hard sex. The muscles and tissues which hold the uterus in a womens's abdominal cavity are torn and weakened to the point that the uterus may actually fall down through the vaginal opening. Infections, hemorrhoids, and herniation involving the bladder and rectum are all possible complications.

Pornography is not glamorous. It is not a respectable industry. To protect the future of our society, we can not condone in any way the principles of violence, abuse, degradation, and objectification of self and fellow human beings. For your husband or wife, your children, your sacred honor, and the future of your country, please stand against pornography. Keep it out of our homes and away from our children.

For more information, including peer reviewed research, please visit the Pornography Harms website.

To participate in the effort to keep pornography off of Ryanair- and far away from other airlines, please go here to send a message to the Ryanair leaders.

"here we are and here we will stay"

Less than four days until I leave for my grand adventure to Guyana. As I finished filling out some insurance claims forms, I came across a quote from President Brigham Young I had carefully copied one day months ago during church. It's a beautiful quote and I felt it a shame to simply place it back inside my big notebook, to be forgotten about for a few more months. So I will share it here that not only may I have more opportunity to reflect on and remember it, but so that you (whoever you are) may enjoy it as well.

If you are LDS, you already know about Brother Brigham. If you are not, I will tell you the basics-- he was the second prophet after Christ's church was restored to this Earth. He is famous for leading the Mormons from Nauvoo, IL to middle-of-nowhere Utah. He was a pivotal person in the movement of people to the West. When he and the Saints first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, President Young declared, "this is the right place".

Life was hard in newly settled Utah, and some of the Saints wanted to journey out and find gold. What did Brigham tell them? (enter my awesome quote)

God has appointed this place for the gathering of his saints... Those who stop here and are faithful to God and his people will make more money and get richer than you that run after the god of this world.... We have been kicked out of the frying pan into the fire, out of the fire into the middle of the floor, and here we are and here we will stay. God has shown me that this is the spot to locate his people, and here is where they will prosper; he will temper the elements for the good of his Saints; he will rebuke the frost and the sterility of the soil, and the land shall become fruitful. Brethren, go to now, and plant out your fruit seeds. . . .

What does this mean to me? A lot. During the summer of 2010 I was praying about whether or not I should withdraw from BYU-Idaho and come home that fall. I fasted about it and went to the temple. On the way to the temple I passed by a fellow who was on the phone, reading his scriptures out loud. I heard him say, "go down into the valley which is northward". I was so astonished at this (for those of you who don't know, my home in Washington is in a valley-area... and WA is north of Idaho) that I turned around and asked the young man where he had been reading. He answered "Ether 1", the last two verses of which read

...thou shalt go at the head of them down into the valley which is northward. And there will I meet thee, and I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth. And there will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother, and they who shall go with thee, a great nation. And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed, upon all the face of the earth. And thus I will do unto thee because this long time ye have cried unto me.

Jesus Christ has a history of bringing his people away from their comfort zones into a land prepared for them. He led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt; he led Lehi and his family out of Jerusalem before it was destroyed; and in the above scripture, He is preparing the prophet and his brother, Jared, to lead their families and friends to the promised land. He led Christopher Columbus to discover the Americas! Christ prepares a beautiful land for his people to prosper, multiply, raise children, and grow in freedom as they worship Him. Was not the United States a nation formed by the hand of God?

Our great Captain (or Pilot) does not reserve His hand for mass exoduses. Instead, I believe that He guides us each to our own promised land- sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively. He literally led me back home to Washington and I believe "here [I am] and here [I] will stay" (for now... and except for my upcoming trip to Guyana ;) ). And what has He promised me if I am faithful to God, his people, and go to now and plant my seeds? He promises me that He will temper the elements for my good, He will rebuke the frost and sterility of the soil, and this land will become fruitful for me.

I know this is true and I know that this is what He is doing in my life now. I know that He is providing me rich opportunities now- right where I am in my life!-- to do and learn things to not only serve His children, but to also be prepared to be a mother to some of His sacred little ones who so desire to come to Earth and gain bodies. I'm excited (and a bit intimidated haha) to be a mother someday and I am grateful for the opportunities I am given now at my young age to build a foundation for not only my life, but for my future family and my children.

1. An account of the awesome life of Brigham Young is found here and here.
2. "Our Very Survival", a neat talk on prophets given by Elder Kevin R Duncan.
3. The speech, "These Noble Pioneers" (by the prophet Gordon B Hinckley) where this quote and the story surrounding it can be found in entirety.
4. "Christopher Columbus: Inspired Seaman". Written for children.

my camera. note to self.

why do i always feel embarrassed when professionals ask me what kind of camera i have? honestly, i love taking pictures, i like making money for it when i can, my camera was a very generous gift from my grandfather, photoshop was something my father was blessedly in the position to give, and someday (hopefully soon) i'll be able to start saving up for a nice canon or nikon body + lens, but in the meantime i'm totally privileged to associate with and learn from wonderful photographers!

so i need not have an inferiority complex when asked what kind of camera i have. so what if my camera isn't a DSLR, or i don't have a really cool f/1.8 lens (drool), or a telefoto lens (again, drool)? at very little cost to myself, i have the tools i need to develop photographic skill and that, in the long run, is extraordinarily valuable.

i feel like i'm fighting a cultural thing that teaches if you don't have the latest and greatest toy (piece of technology or whatever that "toy" be), you can't succeed. you must be competitive on every level as soon as possible and (here's the real kicker), if you have to go into debt for this, then do it.

i'm okay with taking the risk of calculated debt. that's what i'm doing for this guyana trip. but as things stand, i can't afford expensive camera equipment, and i have more important things to save up for in the meantime. so for now, i will drool over my friends' and peers' cameras and enjoy the wonderful camera and tools i have and use them to develop the best photography skill i can.

that is my reply to the "i should"s i have inside my brain that needed silencing.

the end.

this is crazy!

"i gotta share this on facebook, this is some crazy stuff!"

- what i would say about what i learn about occupy wallstreet, occupy seattle, etc.

- what my sister says about the newly discovered cyclops shark