Hello!

*Ding dong*

Hello! My name is Elder Llewellyn, and I'd like to share with you the most amazing book! (From the opening song, but with my name place in it).

Back in May, I went to see The Book of Mormon. I'd like to say that I absolutely loved it! I know that a lot of people in the LDS community have said some awful things about it, but I'd like to say that they have inflated their opinions to extreme views. Also, I highly doubt many of the critics have seen the show.

There were some aspects that I didn't like of the show. They all were around the vulgarity of some of the characters and songs. I felt that some of the things said or sang could have had the poor language taken out. That being said, I can see why the language was in there. People do a lot of swearing and for some it is just a part of their vocabulary. So it seems to me that the writers were staying true to the "missionary" experience. I've never served a mission, but I'm sure that some people who missionaries try to visit have run into many people with colorful language.

Now, here is why I liked it and why I differ from most of the LDS critics. It's true that the writers poked fun at our quirkiness (they also poked fun of a lot of sensitive issues), but we do the same with movies like Singles Ward. The truth is that we make fun of ourselves in the same way as they were poking fun at us. I don't see anything wrong with this because I was taught growing up that we, Mormons, are queer folks that are different from the rest of the world. It's ok that we are different and it's ok to poke fun at our quirkiness. The writers were trying to portray Mormons as a unique group of people and they were able to accomplish this, but it wasn't in a demeaning fashion. I thought that they portrayed the LDS Church in an excellent light.

Many people have said that they do a bad portrayal of the Church, but I disagree. The writers showed that missionaries, while they may be innocent, are going out to places like Uganda to try to better the lives of and to give hope to many people. Throughout the musical, it shows the progression of how the missionaries are changing the lives of a town. The people are no longer dismal and angry; they transform into a people full of hope of a better life and they are striving to better their lives. Isn't that what missionary work is all about? I'd say that these missionaries did a wonderful job doing it.

Other critics have said that missionaries aren't as innocent as was portrayed in the musical. I'd like to say that they are. I'm sure when missionaries are going through the MTC that there is some education of the area, culture, and "trials" that people face, but learning about them is completely different than actually experiencing them, especially when you come from the homogeneous state known as Utah or Idaho and the surrounding states. When the missionaries arrived in Uganda, they were completely horrified at the situation--they couldn't believe what was going on. The missionaries that were already there had lost hope in spreading the Gospel and were waiting until their two years were over. Soon the newbies had experiences that caused them to question what they were doing there. Each situation caused one to lose more and more faith because he didn't realize that the world was unfair. He seemed to imagine the whole world to be like the US, specifically Orlando. It took him a long time to realize that the world is not all butterflies, unicorns, and rainbows. Eventually, his mission companion helped him realize that the world is not always fair and that they can actually change the lives of a whole town for the better.

Finally, a lot of people have said that they don't show the correct doctrine. While this is partially true, most of what they say is true. The writers had to change a few doctrines so that people of other beliefs could relate and understand; however, these changes were not so far away from the actual doctrine. Imagine trying to teach someone who has no knowledge about the Church everything in a couple hours. Can you do that? Of course you can't. That is why they changed a few things to make it more "mainstream" Christianity.

Overall, I absolutely loved the play and I have bought the soundtrack. It always makes me smile. Also, I think that this musical and the current Mormon.org (I think) ads in NYC is giving the Church a lot of publicity, which could in turn cause more people to be interested in learning more about the Church.

PS There will be more to come on my thoughts about the gay missionary in the musical.

Amusing

I found this amusing.

http://www.clusterflock.org/2009/11/i-thirst.html

Awesome!

This is awesome! I want to do this sometime...

http://splashnewsonline.celebuzz.com/2009/09/video-flash-mob-madonna-tokyo.html

Engaged? Married? Gay?

I have had so many adventures in just one day! I can't believe it. Seriously... It is such a good day because of all of my adventures even though I have a lot of school work, research, work, medical school applications, and everything else going on!

The first adventure came when I ran into someone from my freshman ward. He served a mission and now he is home, obviously. This guy I for sure know is gay. My gaydar went off from the moment I met him and he continued to set it off the more that I interacted with him. My interactions with him today set it off all over again. Today he had a pastel purple shirt on (lilac) and he recently had his hair done with highlights. He was wearing tight jeans and amazing shoes (I want his shoes really bad). As we talked and caught up a little bit, he suddenly says that he has to introduce his fiance to me. I was caught really off guard! He has only been home for three months and he is already getting married! What the crap?!?! This is not right. I wanted to tell him that it's ok to be gay and accept yourself before you get into a marriage, but I held my tongue. His fiance seems really nice and innocent... I believe she is a sophomore that he met in class--making her 19 or 20. Sigh... I hope it works out for them.

My next adventure came when I ran into one of my old friends from high school. I hadn't seen her in ages and we spent some time catching up. I guess that there are some rumors going around the Timpview High School class of 2006 that I am engaged or married. Seriously... I want to know who is spreading those rumors around! hahaha! I have only had one girlfriend in my life and now she is just one of my good friends. I don't know where people are getting these things. I find it highly amusing. Then to add to this adventure, another person from my graduating class said the same thing! I heard it from two mouths and now I guess I only need a third to make the rumor to be legit. I wonder where everybody is getting it from.

My third adventure was in my Immunology class. My professor was talking about "promiscuous" MHCs and she said a lot of things that could be taken the wrong way. The whole time I was stifling laughs. She had no idea what she was saying. Then out of the blue, a really annoying kid in the back of the class says, "Do you think that MHC II DM knocks up MHC Class II?" because she kind of said something similar. Everybody got a good chuckle out of that joke and then she was watching what she was saying for the rest of time. It was a let down... oh well, such is life sometimes.

My last adventure, so far, was with the guy who stares as me on campus. I saw him yet again today. Well, I did see him yesterday too. He was definitely staring at me and so instead of ignoring him this time, I stared right back. I think I freaked him out because he quickly stopped staring. He then quickly packed his bag and then left. My guess is that he doesn't read my blog, that he is gay, and that he is my secret admirer/stalker... I'll have to see if he stays on the same route as me and continue to stare.

That's about it for right now. I may post a few more adventures if they come up today because toady is an adventurous day!

I kind of feel like Dora the Explorer for say that...

Bus Ride Fail

This is so funny! I just about died laughing!

Jordanelle Triathlon!

Yesterday, I competed in the Jordanelle Olympic Triathlon and it was pretty much amazing! I absolutely LOVED it! It was definitely one of the hardest things that I have ever done in under three hours, but so worth it. For those of you who don't know, it is a 1K Swim, a 40K Bike, and a 10K Run. I did that just under 3 hours with a time of 2:58.15. I was hoping to be under 3 hours and I accomplished my goal. I placed 8th in the 20-24 age group, 93rd out of the men, and 135 overall. I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment. I was also one of the first people out of the water (only about a minute behind the leader). It is something that I definitely want to do again or possibly an Ironman. I've always wanted to do an Ironman, but I know that I won't have much time in medical school and after that so it will have to be in the next year. We'll see if that happens. Here are some pictures of me competing...

Humanthesizer

One word... AWESOME!

400 Free Relay

This is the 400 Free Relay that I also competed in last week. This was an awesome race and close until the very end. I was the last swimmer to swim and as you can see, I was behind and caught up to out-touch the guy next to me! This was so much fun! :)

200 Free Relay

This is the 200 Free Relay that I competed in last week, when I was semi-healthier than I am now. I'm the last one to go... Enjoy! :)

Swine Flu

I just might have the swine flu... ugh! I'm going to the doctor today to find out if I do or not, but whatever I've had sucks a lemon hard! Even better news, I've read that the nation/world is out of Tamiflu so the only treatment they have for me is staying at home away from everybody for two weeks... FML

Meet Andy...

Meet Andy/Andrew McMahon...

He is the lead singer of Jack's Mannequin and Something Corporate...

This is him playing the piano...

He is an amazing singer, songwriter, and pianist...

He is my celebrity crush right now...

I met him last night...

I was able to chat with him for a while, get his autograph, and a hug from him!

It was a good night! :)

Did I mention that he also survived acute lymphoblastic leukemia?

Lesbians Think I'm Cute

Here is an adventure that I had recently. I went out dancing to have a good time with some friends and there was a lesbian couple who came up to me. They told me that I was cute and a cute dancer. They then smacked my butt which then caused them to comment on how small and cute it was. They then asked me to join them in their dancing. I did and it was fun! Lesbians are fun and enjoyable! :)

Camille = Amazing! :)

Here is Camille's report for the BYU news for the marriage equality rally the other day for the BYU News. I'm surprised that they aired it! Way to go Camille! :)

The Gayface

This is an interesting article I read today and thought I would share it with you all. Enjoy! :)

If William Shakespeare were alive today, a couple of things would be certain. Gawker commenters would be linking his name with gossip-column blind items ("What married wordsmith was seen canoodling with another man at The Box?"). And Perez Hilton would be scrawling pearl necklaces onto his paparazzi shots. Not just because of his famously homoerotic sonnets but because Shakespeare seems to have had—let's be blunt here—a serious case of gayface.

We have this from no less an authority than the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England, which in March unveiled a newly discovered portrait some historians think might be of the Bard. "This Shakespeare is handsome and glamorous, so how does this change the way we think about him . . . and his sexuality?" wondered a statement from the trust to the press. In other words: "Gayface!" (the new way of saying "Dude looks totally gay!"). Which suggests that the contemporary compulsion to pin down sexual identity has no limits, not even the grave. Because somehow it's important to us to think we "can just tell" that even guys who have been dead for 400 years were gay.

Outing historical creative figures might be the only reliably entertaining social sport we've got left. A gay rumor about the deceased is a gossip gift that keeps on giving, especially now that living celebrities have pretty much sucked all the fun out of our collective speculation, since they tend to semi-casually wander out of the closet when the sexual-orientation rumor mill heats up (see: Neil Patrick Harris, T.R. Knight, Lance Bass).

The Bard is a rather obvious magnet for gay rumors—and not just because he wore tights and was in the theater. There is the matter of his queer circle, says London gay-culture historian Rictor Norton: "If Shakespeare was as good-looking as this portrait demonstrates, then it is easy to see why he attracted the attention of his first patron, Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton"—a reputed dabbler in manly hookups. But, Norton adds, "we should not read the subject of the portrait as gay because of a certain softness about the eyes or whatever."

Or wait—maybe we should. "It appears that Shakespeare's eyebrows are higher here than in others of his portraits," says Nicholas Rule, a researcher at Tufts University's Interpersonal Perception & Communication Lab. "Women have a greater distance between their eyes and brows than men do"—and on a guy, those lofty brows might be subconsciously perceived as "gay." (Quick, somebody measure Ryan Seacrest's brow rise!) Rule adds that "the corners of his mouth are not turned down, as in some other portraits of him, which gives the hint of a smile." And subtly smiley portraits—think the Mona Lisa—suggest femininity. (Attention Zac Efron: Wipe that sly grin off your face!) Factor in Shakespeare's lace collar, and Jack Bauer he's not.

Rule confesses that his own gaydar is jammed when it comes to what might be Shakespeare's "new" portrait but notes, "Our research suggests that sexual orientation is processed automatically." In fact, last year Rule and Tufts psychology professor Nalini Ambady were surprised to discover that gayface may be a reliable indicator. They recorded the reactions of Tufts students to a sample of 90 male faces culled from online personals—half gay, half straight—and found that 70 percent of the time, people guessed right. Even when shown the images for as little as 33 milliseconds.

"In our studies we have not yet found full agreement for the sexual orientation of any one person," Rule cautions. In other words, someone always gets it wrong. Of course, we can hold out hope that Hollywood will get it right when casting a gayfaced actor to play Queer Shakespeare in the biopic. Hey, Chace Crawford? Gus Van Sant is on the line.

So what do you all think? Is this a myth or do you think it is a possibility?

Random Thoughts

I haven't posted in a very long time because I have been super busy with the craziness that is my life. These are some of my thoughts over the past couple of weeks and I might expound on them in later blogs.

1. I love swimming! I have started swimming again because the season is over. Try to go as much as I can and I love it! :)
2. Dating is really fun, even if it is with a woman.
3. I love playing Where's Waldo and Waldina in the mall.
4. Going clubbing is always an adventure and there are always amazing stories to tell afterwards.
5. I enjoying playing Hand and Foot and can play it for many hours (almost half of the day).
6. There are usually a few really good looking guys at clubs and I sometimes want to dance up on them even though they are straight just to see their response.
7. I love my MCAT class and preparing for the MCAT. It brings me a sense of purpose and duty in life.
8. I want to help people change their lives whether it be through healing them or some other means.
9. My teacher of said MCAT class is gay. He is very attractive and he always wears amazing clothes.
10. I wonder if said teacher knows that I'm gay.
11. I felt like I failed two of my midterms because I was average on them.
12. I have a male best friend.
13. Said best also loves to swim! :)
14. Said best friend is also straight! :)
15. I hate it when people cancel or change their plans and ruin your evening because of it.
16. I love to buy really expensive clothing.
17. I have to buy something whenever I walk into the mall. Because of this, I try to stay away from it.
    
18. Sometimes people are so funny at BYU because of their awkwardness.
19. Most Mormons can't dance.
20. Most Mormons when throwing a dance party bring out their "Bad"/party mix that has tons of rap and actually no really good dancing songs.
21. Stupid girls in red at Mormon dance parties change your iPOD out of the speaker system and put their crappy "bad" mix on that was made "especially" for the party.
22. After the crappy "bad" mix came on, most Mormons left the dance party because they music sucked and like the music that was on before much much better.
23. Eyeliner on guys is sometimes very attractive.
24. I love DI and want to go play there. Does anyone want to go with me?
25. I love baking and making dinner, especially for others.
26. I miss my swimmers and coaching.
27. I'm getting a free championship ring since my swimmers won state! Way to go girls!
    
28. I think IBS is a cop out for other bigger problems.
29. I hate elder's quorum now that my only two friends got other callings in the ward.
30. I got a couple of Madonna posters from a good friend and they totally made my day my life, and my room so much better.
    

That's about all that has been happening in my life lately. Feel free to respond to any of these and if you would like me to expound on the randomness leave me a comment so I can write future blogs on them.

That is all.

Peace, love, and happiness! :)

Madonna Is Back!

I was recently thinking last night that I haven't professed my love of Madonna on this blog lately. I was thinking about posting a movie or commenting on a couple of things that she has done recently. Then in my reader feed I get the best news I have ever heard in my life! Madonna is hitting the road again and extending her "Sticky 'n Sweet" tour. I am so freaking excited! Yes, there aren't going to be any concerts in the US, but they are going to be in Europe and I have been dying to go to Europe and travel. What else could be better than touring Europe and seeing Madonna? NOTHING!!!!! The problem is money. Well, not really because I have a lot saved up but all of that is for medical school. This probably isn't going to stop me though. I have been looking at my budget and I have free money from BYU from my scholarship (I found out today that they didn't give me all of my text book money so I am getting some more money soon). I think that if I save twenty-five dollars of each pay check (I get six a month), I could totally pay for a trip this summer!

The question is now, does anyone want to go with me?

Christmas Spirit

I found this little treasure online today. This man sure found a way to show the true meaning of Christmas in this Santa Claus race in Paris, France.