Super Card Trick

If you know your audience, you can use your rate of speech to your advantage. The speed of your speech plays a part in how your message is received. Speaking at a comfortable pace with deliberate pauses gives your audience time to digest what they’ve heard. If they like what they hear, that works in your favor. But if the audience is neutral speaking too slowly can lose their attention. Worse, if the audience disagrees with you, speaking slowly gives them time to spot flaws in your argument and to form counterpoints. This must be why Harold Hill in The Music Man talks a mile a minute: “Mothers of River City, heed that warning before it's too late! Watch for the telltale signs of corruption! The minute your son leaves the house, does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee? Are certain words creeping into his conversation? Words like ‘swell’ and ‘so's your old man?’ Well, you got trouble!”

Double Star

In 1995, when The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain was released, we went to see it in the theater. We particularly enjoyed the soundtrack; so much so that we bought it. Huge mistake. Nearly every track on the CD sounded exactly alike. Somehow the music that had seemed so inspiring during the movie was unbelievably repetitive and boring on its own. On the other hand, I couldn’t wait to get home from the theater after seeing Guardians of the Galaxy so I could order that soundtrack. I’m saving that CD for our next road trip. The other movie soundtracks that will be coming with us are You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, A Very Goofy Movie and Shrek. I’ve thought about ordering the soundtrack to American Graffiti to keep them company. I may bring one or two more; it’s a long trip. Do you have any suggestions?

Better Than Ice Cream

That week, after the girls teased me in school, I wrote in my diary every day. Then I cried into my pink hankie. On Saturday Mommy, Daddy, Peter and I went to get ice cream to cheer me up. “Pinkalicious, what would you like?” asked Mr. Swizzle. “Magenta Mint Mango, or perhaps you would enjoy Pink Passion Fruit Paradise? Today’s special flavor is Pleasing Pomegranate Punch.”

“No thanks. I’ll just have . . . um . . . vanilla.” I sighed, looking around to see who might see me from my school.

“How about you, Peter? Would you like your usual, Plum Pink Perfection?”

“Yes! Yes, thank you!” said Peter.

“You’re such a baby, Peter. Pink ice cream is for sissies!” I said.

“Pinkalicious, aren’t you going to eat your ice cream?” asked Mommy.

“Well, I’m actually not that hungry.” The ice cream tasted bland to me. I couldn’t possibly eat it. – from the picture book Purplicious by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann

Framed Diamond

We saw the movie The Giver last night, and for the most part, we enjoyed it. I’d recommend it to you, but I really think you should read the book first. If it has been more than a few years since you read it, you should crack it open again. Lois Lowry won a Newbery Award in 1994 for this book, and in her acceptance speech she said, “The man that I named The Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history, memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in the hands of a child, you do the same thing. It is very risky. But each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere. It gives him choices. It gives him freedom. Those are magnificent, wonderfully unsafe things.”

Thirty-Six Bow Ties

How to Be a Superhero

Hold open the door for the person behind you.

Write a thank-you note.

Give a sincere compliment.

Make your bed. Then go and make someone else’s.

Clean out your closet and donate the items you’re not using.

Write a letter to your grandparents, a missionary, or someone serving in the military.

Make a batch of cookies; then go surprise someone with them.

Give up your seat to someone who needs it more than you do.

Do yard work for a neighbor who is ill or out of town.

Pick up trash in a park or schoolyard, or along a roadside.

Forgive someone who has hurt you.

Become involved with FamilySearch indexing.

Start a conversation with someone you don’t know.

Volunteer at a soup kitchen.

Remember those in need in your prayers.

Read stories to children in a library, day care center or hospital.

Donate blood.

Share a smile.

Front Porch Card Trick

“Broken minds can be healed just the way broken bones and broken hearts are healed. While God is at work making those repairs, the rest of us can help by being merciful, nonjudgmental, and kind. I testify of the holy Resurrection, that unspeakable cornerstone gift in the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ! With the Apostle Paul, I testify that that which was sown in corruption will one day be raised in incorruption and that which was sown in weakness will ultimately be raised in power. I bear witness of that day when loved ones whom we knew to have disabilities in mortality will stand before us glorified and grand, breathtakingly perfect in body and mind. What a thrilling moment that will be! I do not know whether we will be happier for ourselves that we have witnessed such a miracle or happier for them that they are fully perfect and finally free at last.”  - Jeffrey R. Holland