A Presidents' Day petition

Officially this day is in celebration of one our greatest founding fathers and our very first president George Washington. It is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of February, but was originally meant to be celebrated on his birthday which falls on the 22nd. Since it never lands on the 22nd, "Washington's Birthday" in some sense is a misnomer. Now it's chiefly regarded as Presidents' Day, a day to honor and remember past presidents.

I'm angry that hardly anyone gets the day off to celebrate me

We do not give enough credit to certain presidents and that is why we should have presidents day off. Like Memorial day, it would only make sense to pay our respects on the day that was set aside for them. Here is a list of some reasons as to why all employers should consider giving their employees the day off for Presidents' Day.

• We wouldn't have a holiday off until May otherwise. That's 5 months without a holiday off. The waiting time to next holiday could be reduced to 2 months instead. 

• Employers who have rested employees means more productivity, right?

• Without presidents we wouldn't have a nation and we wouldn't have jobs to go to. Therefore, let's have this day off because of that fact.

• Presidents are celebrities and many admire celebrities, so we should have the day off to celebrate them. 

• Or, if you don't like presidents in general, then you ought to get the day off and especially if the current president doesn't appeal to you. 

• This would be a good day to hold a protest against a president you don't particularly like. Since protesting is a favorite American past time, this would greatly reinforce the idea of actually having this day off to participate in such activities. 

• Washington is almost like a super hero which is reason enough to justify a day off.

George mad! Boat crowded!

• It should be used as a mental day off for things presidents screw up. For example, like a president putting the country in an absurd amount of debt.

• Some people will take it off anyway. Why not grant this to everybody and not make those poor employees use up their precious paid time off. 

• Some school kids get this day off, so why not the rest of us? They get the summer off and Presidents' Day? That's so unfair.

• Car dealerships would be in favor of this holiday being granted as time off because people would be more likely to spend more time on their lots looking for cars.

• In general, people would shop more given that they have more time to do so, thus strengthening the economy. The incumbent president would definitely be in favor of this idea for sure. A crappy economy doesn't go over well with people when the president is trying to get re-elected.

Among other valid reasons not mentioned above, these particular reasons make a great case here. This day should be considered by all business owners as an official day off from work for themselves and their employees. Okay, given the current soft economy, I doubt this would happen. Even in good times, it still wouldn't happen. This is just wishful thinking. I know. But I can only dream of it.

Hey, why is my light saber so much smaller than everyone else's?

Sunday parameters

 My name is John Hillstead and I'm co-hosting Seth's blog this week.  Make no mistake that this is entirely Seth's blog, but I earned the privilege of guest writing by posting hilarious comments on his board.  I can't guarantee that you'll ever get to be a guest writer here, but if you actually make comments on the board, you too could get the right to make a contribution on "entertaining ramblings."  So keep reading and start posting comments.  Between Seth and I we hope to gain at least five people that will faithfully follow this blog. (Excluding immediate family members who already read it out of obligation).

         The subject for my post came about a month ago when a few of our friends were trying to agree on a date when could all go snowboarding together.  Long story short we were having trouble coordinating our schedules so that we all could go together.  After two failed attempts it looked like we would never find a night that would work for all four of us.  We were about to jettison the idea altogether when I threw out the possibility of going boarding on a Sunday, because it might be the only day of the week that would work for all of us.

   Ok, so before you think that I am a complete reprobate for suggesting it, let me assure you that I didn't expect any of my friends to agree to Sunday snowboarding. And sure enough they all respectfully informed me that they wouldn't participate in a recreational activity on the Sabbath, even if it was the only day we could all go together.  I didn't push the issue, in fact, I applauded them for adhering to their conviction to keep the sabbath day holy.  As you are well aware,  we were finally able to find a day that would work for all of us and we had a good time snowboarding without breaking the sabbath(See Seth's blog entitled "snowboarding.")

       The whole incident got me thinking about how we as Latter Day Saints observe the sabbath.  It seems like one of those commandments that is open to a wide array of interpretations.  Most of my friends and family try to observe the sabbath, but it seems they all do it in a different way.  Now bear in mind I'm not calling anybody a hypocrit here, just making observations on how different people observe to keep the sabbath day holy.

      Sunday of course is a big day in the world of sports entertainment.  Most members I know would never attend a sporting event in person on Sunday (with the exception of my friend Doug, see Seth's blog entitled "Doug"). They also would never participate in a sport activity on Sunday.  However, nobody I know seems to have any qualms about watching sporting events on television on Sunday.  My dad in particular enjoys watching pro football after he attends his meetings.  He also relishes the opportunnity to watch the superbowl with his family every year.  In fact, everybody I know watches the superbowl, even those that claim they have no interest in football.   The event itself has transcended the world of sports and has become an unofficial national holiday which will always fall on Sunday.

         Some members view sabbath observance more stringently.  For instance, they refrain from watching television and doing homework on Sunday.  I think they must be the exception because I currently don't know  anybody who refrains from tv on Sunday.  In fact I think we watch an awful lot of tv on Sunday (but only after we attend our meetings of course).  We even watch movies on Sunday, either on our cable tv packages or on dvd.  Generally speaking nobody goes out to the movie theaters to see a movie on Sunday.  One time I was contemplating going to the cinema on the sabbath (ok now you really think I am a reprobate) my brother James admonished me not to go.  I rationalized by saying that we already watch movies at home on Sunday so why couldn't we go to the theater?  His response was that when we go to the theater, we are making somebody else work on Sunday.  I didn't end up going to the movie but I thought about his response.  Under that logic, can we rent a movie from redbox or download one from our netflix account?  What if I did go to the movie on Sunday but bought a ticket from the kiosk vender instead of the person at the box office?  That way I wouldn't be making anybody work on Sunday (at least not as many).

          Finally, as a general rule we reserve party's and get-togethers for other days of the week outside Sunday.  But there are a lot of exceptions to to that.  For instance if your birthday falls on Sunday we usually celebrate it.  Even if it doesn't, Sunday is a good day to have your birthday party because family and friends can celebrate with you.  I think we also have other partyesque activities on Sunday that we don't necessarily call parties.  For example in a former singles ward of mine a group gathered together every Sunday night after family home evening to have a "game night."  They would play get-together games card games and bring food.  I've known other singles wards to have "movie nights," where a circle of friends gather every Sunday to watch an old movie on DVD at somebody's house (see paragraph #4).   Some of you may even be old enough to remember the days when we had missionary farewells and homecomings.  The missionaries family would host an "open house" where members of his ward would leave church early to eat lunch buffet style and congratulate the departing missionary or welcome him home.  It wasn't called a "going away party" or a "welcome back party," we called it an "open house."  But of course the church came out and advised against those in 2002,  maybe because they looked too much like a party.  I'm just saying.  There are other examples of things we in the church do that look like parties but you get the idea.

              So there are just a few observations on how we as members of the church observe the sabbath.  But I want to know what you think. How do you as members of the church obey the sabbath?  Do you think we sometimes rationalize our sabbath activities like I did?  Or is it that sabbath day observation is really up to the individual and his family, i.e. many different ways to look at it?  I guess the most important question is how do you keep somebody like me from persuading you to do something you know you shouldn't be doing on the sabbath?  I think that is a post for another day.

V-day

Well, another Valentines day has come and gone and many of us are even glad that is finally over. Some of us never really gave it a second thought while others were fretting over every detail of the occasion. It is hard for some people to accept the holiday as a happy occasion. For them, they would rather not be reminded of how alone they are. My heart goes out to them and wish them future happiness with a possible soul mate. Also, I would like to impart some wisdom for these special individuals so that they will have better luck with their love lives in the future.

C-3po (from Star Wars)

Wow, you need a lot of help here. First of all, you need to lose that creepy stare. This doesn't help you when you arrive at the door to pick up your date. Loose the accent while you're at it. You're not using the correct British accent that melts a woman's heart. Also a big turn off is the wussy tone you use when the slightest bit of danger comes your way. Take a page out of Han Solo's book because he obviously knows what he's doing.


Ludo (from Labyrinth)

Okay, women appreciate a nice guy to a certain extent, but common Ludo who are you kidding? Also, you  might want to expand your social horizons and not just talk to rocks. Women also enjoy a good conversation. Saying "friend?" all the time doesn't get you past the first date as far as I remember. Also, just forgo any compliment concerning how she smells unless you are into women hitting you.

Muno (from Yo Gabba Gabba)

Muno, you got an uphill battle of the bulge here, pal. Not too many women are into the whole one-eyed, oh never mind. You might want to lay off shaving your whole body, seriously. Streaking might be your favorite past time, but not everyone appreciates it. It may very well land you in jail. Also, the obvious huge gap in your mouth might lead them to think you have a nasty case of halitosis from the dereliction of the simple duty to brush your teeth. The only redeeming characteristic you have is that you could tell them you're a new-age vampire to suck their love. On second thought, scratch that.




Spaghetti Cat (from The Soup)

I think you have something here. Women like cats, at least, most of them I think. One problem here is that you stare into space as if your regular cat brain was removed and replaced with a mentally retarded cat brain. Last time I checked, women want men who are slightly smarter than them. Oh, wait, you're not man. You're a cat! What am I talking about?




Masturbating Bear (From Conan O'brien)
All I have to say is that you need more hobbies. Go pick up hang gliding or learn how to juggle. Something.












Doug (No actual photo available)

First of all. You just need to make an attempt. You need some form of motivation. Something! Combine your love of sports with a woman. It's one of the oldest inventions known to man as far back as the invention of the wheel. It's called dating or mating I forget which. As far as I know, women also enjoy sports. On second thought, as they say, don't mix business (women) with pleasure (sports). Yeah, maybe you should stick to going to sporting events by yourself. I give up.

That's super

Well it's super bowl time again. I guess I've never really been a consistent fan of the Super Bowl. To be honest, I've never really followed what was going on in football let alone the Super Bowl. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against watching or even participating in sports. It's just that I've never truly cared about what is going on half as much as the true sports fanatic. Occasionally, I will indulge in the whole viewing frenzy, but I really don't understand how some people have to follow every little statistic about every player of every team across multiple sports. I do try to keep up with the major news in sports, but that's mostly it.

My idea of the fun around the Super Bowl in general is the opportunity to get together with a group of friends and enjoy the event as a whole. In other words, I enjoy the whole experience like the food, the entertainment and the funny/clever commercials throughout the game among other social aspects that come along with it. I really just see the Super Bowl as another excuse to have some friends over to have a party. Or, if maybe you're single you perhaps enjoy the company of strangers at a sports pub or bar or whatever. One aspect of the occasion I like especially are the ads.

Here's an ad that you might like, emphasis on might.


Football to the groin. Or, in this case a little person's head to the groin. Whatever, it's all the same to me. Football, or head. Bravo Doritos. I will now go to the store to pick up a bag to reward you for making me laugh. Okay, maybe not.