Decades ago my grandmother had an art buddy, a lady with whom she shared many of her learning and painting and selling adventures. Connie was attractive with strawberry blonde hair. Where my grandmother had borne five children, Connie had no children.

Because my grandmother shared far more information with us than the average grandmother might (artist, don’t you know), I was told about Connie’s marriage.

Connie had two beaus at the time she decided to marry. One was a widower with several children. He was not well-to-do, but when they embraced, Connie’s blood sang.

Connie’s other suitor was a complete gentleman. He was well-to-do and nattily dressed. He had never been married. When Connie was with this suitor, she felt like a princess.

Connie followed her head rather than her heart and married the man who made her feel like a princess. It was only after the wedding that she realized the man had no intention of consummating their marriage. He showered her with gifts and all the outward trappings of love. But in the bedroom nothing happened. Continue reading →

Book Review: Saints, Slaves & Blacks – The Changing Place of Black People Within Mormonism, 2^nd Edition, by Newell G. Bringhurst

I joined the LDS Church at the age of 16 in 1975 in Western Montana. For me, the Civil Rights protests were important, but were as far away as the struggle in Vietnam. I didn’t know any black people, and knew few of other minority races. To me, they were just people like I was. The Civil War was not big history for us, because Montana wasn’t involved in slavery nor abolitionism. Our history was about cowboys and Indians, vigilantes, and mountain men.

June 8, 1978, I was waiting for a LDS friend of mine to pick me up to see a movie, when he told me about the announcement on the priesthood revelation. Continue reading →

Today Bill Cosby was found guilty on all three counts associated with his interactions with Andrea Constand.

Mark Makela/Getty Images

The furor over the Cosby situation may explain why the LDS Church released a statement today regarding how they dealt with a predator in 2014: Mission President Misconduct in 2014

Sometimes there’s a predator in our midst. When it is clear cut, as in the 2014 case, reaction is swift and comprehensive.

There are other times when the case is not as clear cut, for any of a number of reasons.

We’ve already commented ad nauseum about the issue of abuse. So comments on this post will be moderated to keep comments down to real gems.

Every once in a while I pop my head out of my obscure isolation and wonder at what I see.

Today, I noticed a number of articles about the fact that there was a pay gap between the two actors on The Crown playing Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.

Everyone is outraged that Claire Foy, whose realization of the young Queen Elizabeth is brilliant, received less per episode than Matt Smith, who sometimes wandered on screen and realized the role of Prince Phillip.

It would be brilliant if we could be paid for our great performance. Claire Foy is amazing in that mini-series. I recommend it (but skip the episode about Princess Margaret’s polyamorous husband-to-be if you don’t want to see actors’ bodies without clothing – a bit of art that is far less pornographic than the reality, but pornographic nonetheless).

Back to the pay gap.

Here’s the thing. Matt Smith had become a very well-known actor prior to accepting the role in The Crown. Matt wasn’t being paid for what he was doing on The Crown, per se, but to secure his talents given the high demand warranted by his prior work. Continue reading →