Mid January Fun

We've had a busy week:
Monday. We celebrated Mark's birthday. (The real event was on Friday, but Mary was out of town--Vegas with DC-- so Paul and I just took Mark to lunch.) On Monday, thanks to MLK, we had a Holiday and the Lymans could come down and everything. We order Mexican food from the "personal chef" who lives around the corner and it was delicious and fun. As the Lymans arrived Eden leaped into Mark's arms exclaiming, "Mark! It's your birthday!" And Sam made a wonderful card for Mark that said: "This happy holiday comes just once a year so happy birthday Mark, Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Mark."

Tuesday. I had my book club meeting. We read a memoir/autobiography by Ling Ling, a famous concert pianist who is only about 28. He is from mainland china and he told how his parents made him practice 8 hours a day at least from time he was a toddler. But he said he liked it. It is quite a window into the Chinese drive to be "Number 1." His parents were both musicians who were not able to perform because of the Cultural Revolution--they put all their ambitions onto him, their only son. But, Ling Ling seems like a nice guy. And he's an amazing musician.

Thursday. Mark's film "Sundance Skippy" was shown at the LDS Film Festival. It was a real thrill to see the movie on the huge screen in the Scera Grand Theater. There was a good audience and they really loved the movie--lots of laughter at all the right places. Paul and I loved seeing it. Mark has worked so very hard on this film--it was wonderful to see an audience respond to it so favorably. After the film, Mark and Skippy himself had time on the stage to answer questions. Skippy kept saying how much he appreciated all Mark's work on the film, and even gave him a trophy-the 2010 "Skippy" for best director. That was nice of him. Afterward we went to dinner at Bajio. Erin, a nice girl Mark met through Skippy (she's in the movie) came with us.

Friday. Back to the Scera and the Festival for the screening of Mark's other film--this one made from the "Mormons" project. Mark took the photos from the book and played the interviews as a voice over. The film is really very moving. There are three sections: 1)Preaching the gospel, with interviews of missionaries; 2) Perfecting the saints, with interviews of members--a bishop, RS president, Primary president, a dad; and 3) Redeeming the dead, with an interview of a man who does family history work (Evan Eastley). Mark did a really good job of selecting the photos and timing them so they work very well with the narration.

Saturday. I spent the morning at BYU, teaching our big TA Workshop on Evaluating Writing. We had over 100 there--the logistics are a little crazy because we do breakfast and snacks. Lauren Johnson helped teach it, and we had a good time. The TAs were very appreciative, and several came up afterward to express thanks. Whew! One even came up to ask who did the fine photographs in the Brief Guide to WRiting at BYU--of course the photographer was none other than our own Mark! In the afternoon Paul and I went to the temple--so nice.

Now Mark has gone up to Park City to enjoy Sundance. He is going to stay with friends up there for a few days. It's a bit quiet here, but we're glad everyone is doing so well.