An Open Letter to Pixar

Dear Pixar,

I really like your movies. I remember watching Toy Story when it was in theaters with my family. I liked Monsters, Inc. so much that I saw it twice in theaters (a rarity for me). I enjoyed The Incredibles so much that I bought it (I own about 7 DVDs). And Wall-E shows what can be done with a minimum of dialogue and Ratatouille was such a simple story that was told very well. I have fond memories of nearly all of your films.

Nearly. Up was a mess. You captured our hearts in the first five minutes of the film and before the story had even started, I felt a deep connection with the protagonist. That's amazing storytelling. But when you get down to the main plot, things go south. I'm guessing you wanted to be sure that the story was intense enough for young boys (I assume that was the target demographic) stayed interested in a story about an old man, but you don't let the audience breathe. The story ends without any real catharsis and feels like the story ran out. I'm not suggesting that your characters should not face peril, but it should be properly balanced with the humor and heart that made your earlier films so great.

Toy Story 3 went even further. You didn't have work to make a connection with the audience because we already knew all the characters. Unfortunately, when you decided to show how much peril the characters could face, you really pushed the envelope. Who approved the rating for this film? How did it manage to get a G rating? The climatic scene has the main characters joining hands and accept their fiery doom as they slowly descend into the bowls of an incinerator. Yes, they're saved at the last moment, but how could that have been intended for kids?

Pixar, I'm not asking you to stop making films. I still respect what you do, but, please, stop breaking my heart.

Yours,

Jordan

With Great Facial Hair Comes Great Responsibility

Clearly, I have great responsibilities ...

... because this is one great beard.

Pleasant Accident

So, Sunday is Laundry day in our home. It's also the day that I call various members of the family and do my best to keep in touch. Because I'm such a popular fellow, I try to rotate from week to week who I call. Since I called Oceanside last week, I called Utah.

No answer.

So I called Hawaii.

No answer (which is to be expected, what with Baby Henry being hospitalized).

So, I called Oceanside again. Isaac picked up. I was surprised because I was expecting to talk to Mom and Dad, but I'm not against speaking to my baby brother.

The conversation was led by the boy and it was definitely focused on the gospel, but I must say, it was what I needed. It's no secret that life is not always easy and right now there are extra struggles that Allison and I are facing, so having a gospel-based conversation was really uplifting.

But that's not all. Isaac and I haven't always had the best relationship. To put it bluntly, I beat him up a lot when we were younger. I mentioned this at one point during the conversation and apologized for the way that I had treated him. He has every right to hold that against me, but his response was a simple, "You know I love you, right?" It was humbling and I have to say that I'm surprised at the great guy he's grown into. I was happy that I called and that we had the chance to better get to know each other.

So, two posts in a row about how I have awesome family members. Will you be next?

Profile: Dad

So, I interviewed Dad for an assignment for one of my classes. I was supposed to interview someone in the profession that I plan on entering, so interviewing the man that inspired me to be a writer was the best fit. It was interesting and fun, but there were things I didn't know. I thought I'd share them.

• Dad got his first job as a tech writer before he had even completed his Bachelor's degree. It was only by about two months, but the man at Burrows was so impressed that not having a degree wasn't enough of a setback.
• Part of the reason Dad was so impressive was that he had worked with computers, which made him like a sort of wizard. Seriously, this is the era of punch card programming, so the fact that he was excited to work with computers made him a desirable employee.
• In college, he produced a pamphlet on improving one's interviewing skills and tried to market it to nearby employment agencies (sadly, no one was interested).
• While the writing was fun, the deadlines weren't. He didn't say this, but I got the impression that since he was recognized as a skilled writer (even won awards for the work that he produced), he was given more work.
• His past work as a tech writer has uniquely prepared him for language pathology (he understands language, he knows how to draw information out of someone, he knows how to use words or illustrations to his best advantage, he understands the importance of the order in which to present information, etc.).
• As a technical writer, he never got credit for what he wrote (I've got to admit, I took that one hard. I should have realized that that was the case, but it was humbling. You have to work hard and make something as clear as possible and in the end, the only thing it says is the company's name).
• He compared technical writers to artisans and creative writers to artists. In that sense, it can be art, but it has to be useful first.

So, those are some things that I didn't know about (but probably should have) about the single person who has had the biggest impact on my own writing and communication style (Allison said that Dad and I speak in the same rhythm). Did anybody else learns something here?

Swears

At work, when things don't go my way or I'm annoyed at something, sometimes I swear. But while my coworkers might say [expletive] or [expletive], I keep things a bit less explicit. In fact, sometimes I'm teased because of the words I use as swears. I thought I'd share some.

• Crap-in-a-hat (this is used when "crap" won't suffice)
• Crapola (slightly less emphatic then the above swear)
  
• Dagnabit
• Great Googily Moogily
• Poot
• Harupmh

If anyone has any more fun (family friendly) swears, leave them in the comments.