So Churchy. Beware.

It may surprise you to know that I am an avid follower of celebrity gossip. I mean, I am so classy and busy and perfect--how do I find the time to read Us Weekly, um, weekly? But I do. It is all about priorities, people. And how you spend your time.

The problem with celebrities (aside from the fact that most of them have absolutely no scandals, and so how I am supposed to be interested in them without scandals) is that many of them are so ridiculous. You know the ones I am talking about. The ones that weigh thirty pounds and don't actually have jobs. Or the ones who wear metal claw gloves. Or the ones with eight children. Those ones. The ridiculous ones. The ones who think that they are owed things by the cosmos.I see this attitude becoming more and more prevalent within society at large, especially among the youth (it IS Quincenera time here in the EP, you know) and it horrifies me. Because feeling entitled gets you nowhere.

I was contemplating this attitude early this morning when I couldn't sleep because Jooj's feet were in my throat, and it hit me that entitlement is a much larger problem than the foolishness of celebrities--it is absolutely deadly when we take this mindset within the gospel.

We have an acquaintance who is "struggling" with some life choices. The quotes are there, in my mind, because she is not struggling with what to choose, but with the way to best blame someone or something else for her laziness/refusal to commit/irritating-ness. Everyone is out to get her, from friends, to family, ecclesiastical leaders, to God. The reason she feels so victimized? She is owed, and no one is coughing up her prizes.

The thing she doesn't understand is that there are only a handful of things that we, as children of God in this mortal existence, are owed. Three things, actually, are all I can come up with and, from my vantage point, none of us are even remotely deserving of such awesomeness:

No matter what we do, we are guaranteed eternal life
We also get to use the Atonement
Finally, we get the unwavering love from our Father, no matter our situations or circumstances

That's it. That is all we are owed. Every single other thing we are promised in the scriptures or in the temple comes through hard work, faithfulness, and commitment on our part.

But this attitude of entitlement--it is a terrible blight on the spirit. To waste time being angry on what we deserve takes away from the blessings we would actually receive if we were better focused on serving others. Instead of fighting against a bishop who is following the teachings of the prophets, we can seek to gain knowledge and then qualify for the blessings and spiritual enlightenment that for which our souls so desperately cry out. Rather than being furious that we have no man/baby/money/job/etc. when we so obviously deserve them, we can concentrate on understanding the will of the Lord, and begin to understand that His time line is not something that we are going to alter through petulance.

/rant.

What do you think? Am I off base? What are YOU owed?

Stuff and Nonsense

With W gone all of the freaking time, and Jooj being the two-year old she is, I have been staying up later and later at night tooling around on the interweb. Here are some things I like:

Woot
I used to woot all of the time, and I forgot how much fun it is. Essentially, they sell one item a day, until it is gone. Sometimes it is awesome, sometimes it sucks. But it is kind of fun to see. To add on to woot is my new obsession, Shirt.Woot. They have a contest for shirt design, a bunch of nerds and graphic designers and graphic designer nerds submit their entries. Then we get to vote on them. The winning entries get shirts made with the designs on them, and I can buy them for $10. So far, W is getting this one any day now. But don't tell him--it is a surprise.

Games
I love computer games. I don't like the kind with platforms and jumping and grabbing coins and vines and things--they make me anxious. I do like games that are completely mindless. I get my games from Big Fish Games--they have new ones every day, so there is no reason for me to ever do any late night cleaning.
Currently I am enjoying
The 80's Game with Martha Quinn
SafeCracker
Lottso Deluxe
any hidden object games--I like the goofy mysteries.
W is also bringing Zelda home. That will rule.

Etsy
I love looking at everything that people can make. And I am almost to the point where I am at peace with the fact that I cannot make any of those things. I really really like looking at this site, lately, and pretending my house is cool like dat.

What do you do when you can't face reality any longer?