The Adventures of a Friendly French-American ExMormon Atheist Mom Living in Switzerland!!!
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Carnivals!!!
Wow, it seems like I haven't written anything about atheism lately. Too busy drawing illustrations, thinking of ways to draw more illustrations, typesetting, and writing about politics and Mormonism. I guess my blog is currently going through the constellation of Mormonism and Exmormonism. Fortunately, others out there are still on the job -- we've got two carnival's worth of lovable god-free thought on The Carnival of the Godless (War on Valentine's Day edition) and The Humanist Symposium!!! Also, a funny bonus piece shooting fish in a barrel snarking some poor fool's search for the remains of Noah's Ark.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Warning for "Orem High"
I'm afraid this next segment (Orem High, beginning this Tuesday!) is probably the section that most needs a disclaimer. I'll divide the warning into two parts: (1) the name, and (2) the sex.
the name
Why did I call this segment "Orem High"? I've never been there -- I've never even seen the building.
I called it "Orem High" because all of the segments of the novel Exmormon are about typical Mormon life experiences (like attending Youth Conference or going on a mission). This one is about attending high school in the heart of Mormondom, and I think the title "Orem High" evokes that.
At the same time, all of the various fun facts about Mormonism and place details in the book are real. So it would be a little odd -- after having Lynn pick up her BYU mail in the Cannon Center -- if these characters were attending a fictional high school, given that we all know they live in Orem. So I asked a guy from Orem which high school these kids would be attending (given where they live with respect to other stuff in Utah Valley), and he said it would be Orem High. So there you have it.
The one thing I'm most concerned about is that faithful Mormons who are current or former students there might google the name of their school and be annoyed to find a story in which one of the naughtier students throws a party involving, well, drinking and sex. If you, dear reader, are one of those people -- and you're annoyed right now -- then please leave a comment and we can discuss it. That said, I don't think I'm going out on a limb to suggest that there are teenagers all over who will throw questionable parties, even in Orem.
the sex
As with the other two sex scenes, I've been careful to include only as much detail as I think is necessary to understand the story. That may be too much for some, so if you're one of those people, just read the chapter titles and you can probably guess which one to skip. In some ways this sex scene may be more controversial than the others, in some ways it may be less, but since nobody complained about the other ones, I don't anticipate having any problems with this one.
So enjoy, and read responsibly! :D
cross-posted on Main Street Plaza.
the name
Why did I call this segment "Orem High"? I've never been there -- I've never even seen the building.
I called it "Orem High" because all of the segments of the novel Exmormon are about typical Mormon life experiences (like attending Youth Conference or going on a mission). This one is about attending high school in the heart of Mormondom, and I think the title "Orem High" evokes that.
At the same time, all of the various fun facts about Mormonism and place details in the book are real. So it would be a little odd -- after having Lynn pick up her BYU mail in the Cannon Center -- if these characters were attending a fictional high school, given that we all know they live in Orem. So I asked a guy from Orem which high school these kids would be attending (given where they live with respect to other stuff in Utah Valley), and he said it would be Orem High. So there you have it.
The one thing I'm most concerned about is that faithful Mormons who are current or former students there might google the name of their school and be annoyed to find a story in which one of the naughtier students throws a party involving, well, drinking and sex. If you, dear reader, are one of those people -- and you're annoyed right now -- then please leave a comment and we can discuss it. That said, I don't think I'm going out on a limb to suggest that there are teenagers all over who will throw questionable parties, even in Orem.
the sex
As with the other two sex scenes, I've been careful to include only as much detail as I think is necessary to understand the story. That may be too much for some, so if you're one of those people, just read the chapter titles and you can probably guess which one to skip. In some ways this sex scene may be more controversial than the others, in some ways it may be less, but since nobody complained about the other ones, I don't anticipate having any problems with this one.
So enjoy, and read responsibly! :D
cross-posted on Main Street Plaza.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Kids and the Internet!
My kids (ages 7 and 5) have a computer in their room that's hooked up to the Internet. And they're now capable of navigating around the Internet on their own -- on Wikipedia, Google image search, and YouTube.
On the one hand, I think it's amazingly cool that they can take the initiative when exploring subjects that interest them. For example, Nico is really interested in astronomy, and he found some cool videos that we had fun watching together, such as the song Poor Pluto (which we're now singing all the time at our house), and another great video that gives a fun and clear explanation of the history of why Pluto isn't a planet anymore. On the other hand, there's a lot of PG+ stuff on the Internet, including (as I talked about here on Rational Moms) a weird conspiracy theory movie that Nico found all on his own and thought was a real science movie.
My personal inclination is to continue to let them explore on their own, and just check on them periodically, take an interest in what they're interested in, and offer advice/instruction based on what they discover. I know the Mormons advise keeping any computer with the Internet in a "high traffic area" of the house. Well, we have a small enough apartment that their room actually is a high traffic area.
Any other parents out there have opinions on this, or stories of what you've done with your kids? Is it irresponsible to let such small kids explore the Internet? We're the first generation of parents to even deal with this question, and I'm not sure if there's any consensus on it...
On the one hand, I think it's amazingly cool that they can take the initiative when exploring subjects that interest them. For example, Nico is really interested in astronomy, and he found some cool videos that we had fun watching together, such as the song Poor Pluto (which we're now singing all the time at our house), and another great video that gives a fun and clear explanation of the history of why Pluto isn't a planet anymore. On the other hand, there's a lot of PG+ stuff on the Internet, including (as I talked about here on Rational Moms) a weird conspiracy theory movie that Nico found all on his own and thought was a real science movie.
My personal inclination is to continue to let them explore on their own, and just check on them periodically, take an interest in what they're interested in, and offer advice/instruction based on what they discover. I know the Mormons advise keeping any computer with the Internet in a "high traffic area" of the house. Well, we have a small enough apartment that their room actually is a high traffic area.
Any other parents out there have opinions on this, or stories of what you've done with your kids? Is it irresponsible to let such small kids explore the Internet? We're the first generation of parents to even deal with this question, and I'm not sure if there's any consensus on it...
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