Trying New Things

I had my first fondant experience today. For those of you who don't know what fondant is, basically it is a type of frosting used by cake decorators on wedding cakes and other highly decorated cakes. Fondant can be rolled out and shaped and manipulated into all kinds of different stuff. The downside is that fondant tastes terrible (which is why you'll want real frosting in between the layers of your cake). For my friend's birthday party on Saturday night, I was assigned to bring the cake, and since I had Friday off I decided to make it a good one. The theme was books and chocolate. Can you guess what shape my cake was in?

To start with, I baked a yummy chocolate cake (well, multiple cakes - you'll see). Here is a four layer cake, with fluffy white frosting in-between:

Then I cut out fondant for the outside of the cake, this involved a rolling pin, rulers, and a pizza cutter:

To make it clear that this was a birthday cake, you need a message, obviously:
Overall, it turned out pretty well, hopefully you can guess what it's supposed to look like?


While I like trying new things, this was definitely an exhausting exercise - perhaps not to be repeated.

Zero Opposition

Frankly I've found most of the "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy a bit baffling (as almost everything is, which in any way involves Sarah Palin). The mosque is not being built ON Ground Zero, or even within view of it. Another mosque has been near the site since the 70's. While some of those involved are undoubtedly good-hearted, others (mostly politicians) are using it to drum up hatred and anger.

I believe that at the heart of the controversy lies a fundamental misconception. All of the opposition somehow equates those Muslims who are building the mosque with the Muslims who perverted Islam and flew planes into the world trade center, murdering thousands of innocent people. This to me seems as incoherent as it would be to hold me responsible for the acts of some crazy extremist who happens to be Mormon. Why should we punish those who are not responsible for the attacks by restricting their free exercise of religion? Some would argue that Islam is inherently violent and preaches death to unbelievers, however, as an excellent article by Robert Wright in the New York Times points out, similar passages exist in the bible. I think that even the people who are sincerely opposed to the Mosque for non-political reasons are falling prey to this logical fallacy of equating Muslim extremists with all Muslims.

As Mormons, "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may." This is part of the Articles of Faith, succinct statements of our fundamental beliefs. It specificially says that we believe all mankind should be able to worship God WHEREVER they desire to. Shouldn't this include a location in New York City of Muslims' own choosing? Why should loud angry people decide where others practice their religion? Isn't that the beginning of tyranny?

Also, as a nicer way to oppose the Mosque, some have said that "Sure, they have the right to build the Mosque, but they aren't being "sensitive" to the emotions it creates." Well, leaving aside the fact that someone will always be offended by religious practice, this creates a world where we don't have true freedom of religion. Instead we have freedom of religion as long as the majority approves of your religion. Again, this goes back to the automatic assumption that all Muslims are terrorists. This is simply FALSE, and punishes the innocent for the sins of the truly guilty.

I thought this was an excellent post breaking down the logical fallacy behind opposing the Ground Zero Mosque: http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/59155/ (note: Sauron is not the LOTR Sauron, it's someone's pen name on the site)

So, I have zero opposition to the mosque in downtown NYC. I hope it is built and becomes a refuge of peace for those seeking to worship God.

Remember Remember the 15th of September!

For most of you, September 15th is just another day. However, if you are a tax accountant who works on corporate and/or partnership returns, September 15th is D-Day (only slightly less bloody). The 15th is the due date set by the magnanimous IRS for corporations and partnerships to file their annual returns. So in the days leading up to the Big Day, I had a countdown going on in my g-chat status, set to the tune of "12 Days of Christmas." Consider it my one burst of creativity during accounting busy season. I thought I would explain the various phrases, and hopefully put you all to sleep so you can have a nice nap.

12 Deductions drumming (deductions = expenses in tax-speak)
11 Pro-rata allocations piping (allocations are how income is assigned to partners in a partnership)
10 LLCs a-leaping (Limited Liability Companies, aka LLCs, are a way to organize a business)
9 Tax credits dancing (tax credits are applied against a corporation's tax liability to reduce it)
8 Exceptions a milking (All rules, especially tax rules, have exceptions. Then there are the exceptions to the exceptions! That's a tax accountant's bread and butter)
7 Sections skimming (Each part of the internal revenue code is called a "section" - for giggles, there is a part of each section described as "flush language.")
6 Returns e-filing (Many large corporations are required to file their tax returns electronically, thus saving the planet - see #1)
5 Golden refunds (Corporations are required to pay estimated tax throughout the year - most choose to overpay because you're never sure what you tax liability will work out to, thus leaving you with a refund at the end of the year)
4 Calling conferences (Conference calls, the bane of my existence)
3 Faulty pens (Somehow, whenever I reach for a pen, it is dead)
2 Snail mails (Returns do not actually have to arrive at the IRS office by the 15th, they just have to be postmarked by the 15th)
And 1 ream of paper from a tree (this is how much paper it takes to print returns. I was working on a "simple" Federal return, which ended up weighing in at 75 pages including statements. Not to mention state returns!)

After the countdown, it's time for the end of busy season party and post-deadline lull, in which little work occurs!

Ideas ARE Like Stars

In Middle School and High School, I listened to a lot of Mary Chapin Carpenter music. Generally I don't like country music, but most of her songs are pretty "bluegrass." Recently when I moved, I rediscovered some of her CDs. She has a song that I love, "Ideas are like stars." The chorus is:

Ideas are Like Stars
They fall from the sky, they run round your head
They litter your sleep as they beckon
They'd teach you to fly without wires or thread
They promise if only you'd let them

Creativity, or new ideas, is one of the best parts of America, I think - the love of the new idea or new way of doing things. It's a recreation of the American experience. I don't generally think of myself as creative - but I do love the phrase "ideas are like stars" - the beautiful imagery of stars dancing around your head as you come up with thoughts never thought before. I love also this video about creativity from Mormon Messages:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k
One of the ways I'm creative is baking - I love to bake new things and try new recipes. It gives me joy to taste yummy food that I have made from scratch.

So, how are you able to work creativity in your life? How do you create things never there before?

Health Care, Part II: Sort of

I fooled around on the internet this evening and put up a new template on the website (kind of has a summery feel to it!). As no one commented on my original post on health care (here), I figured that no one was really interested in part two. If you do want a good summary of the constitutional issues, I read one in a tax journal and it's rather lengthy, so I can email it to you. It's by a conservative and I don't agree with all his points but it's a good summary of the pros and cons. Go Health Care!

Stuff: To Have, To Hold, To Cherish

During a semester in college, I worked as a research assistant for a political science professor studying the history of currency. It was fascinating to study why people assign value to certain things - cowrie shells, shiny metal (versus other types of shiny metal), or certain glittery rocks. At its heart, this is somewhat arbitrary and becomes an "emperor's new clothes" type experiment. If everyone else assigns value to something, you begin to assign value to it too. Today this is even more bizarre - why do we assign such value to little pieces of paper and ink with the US seal on them? Humans seem to have a tendency towards accumulation of "valuables" and stuff. Why do we care so much about stuff? Beyond a certain basic level of need, stuff isn't necessary for survival.

People like stuff. They like acquiring more and more of it. What can we do to combat this? We live in a society where life is about 'consuming' - using up resources. I think that can replace the more important, and more lasting, things in life. While moving, I realized I have fallen victim to this - I have lots of stuff, too many clothes, and after I moved I bought more furniture.

So, how do we combat this tendency to accumulate stuff? (assuming we should?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUeMVt3stAo

Will.(Power).I.Am

Time to chase the dust bunnies off the old blog (again). Sorry I haven't been posting much. I could blame moving, but as that happened over a month ago, it's kind of a lame excuse.

Today's post has nothing to do with politics, really. I just want to write this post because I'm frustrated with myself. Recently I heard/read some off-hand comments of "Just pray about it, and everything will work out." Like most things I took it too personally and got discouraged. Something I've been praying about for a really long time seems just as far off and unobtainable as ever.* It struck me that sometimes we view prayer as our own personal ATM, receiving free blessings without ever having to deposit anything.

Sometimes our desires are beyond our control, and it's not in God's timing to answer them. In looking at verses on prayer, I like this promise from the Doctrine and Covenants: "Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof" (D&C 19:38). Notice that this verse doesn't say you'll have everything you ever wanted (i.e. the treasures of the earth) - it promises that you will have the Spirit. Mormons believe that the Spirit, or Holy Ghost, will guide us in paths that are right. Given that gift, we can understand God's answers even if they're not what we expect.

I think, too, sometimes answers to our prayers require our own willpower. We have to do things beyond our comfort zone, beyond what we would normally do, to stretch ourselves and try to create opportunities for our prayers to be answered. Not everything depends on us, but as we have the spirit, we can see what we can do, and perform some self-mastery to really TRY. It's my firm belief that through the enabling power of God's grace our efforts will be magnified.

I hope this post doesn't come across as disparaging of prayer. Prayer is an important component of my inner religious life, and some sacred and personal experiences with prayer have taught me that we have a loving Heavenly Father who cares about hearing our thoughts. So, I'll try to dust off my willpower along with this blog, and stop being discouraged.

*Disclaimer: not marriage. Just in case you were thinking it, 'cause I'm getting up there in years. (Tangent off my tangent: I was thinking a great theme song for singles wards would be U2's "I Still Haven't Found what I'm Looking For")