Number of Views: 11
Two days ago I was preparing to shave in our bathroom while Debi showered. Toren was sitting on the mat outside the bathroom playing with toys. This is a pretty common scenario around here these days. I was keeping an eye on Toren while I lathered on the shaving cream. When I was ready to start shaving, I looked at Toren and he was facing away from the shower playing with some blocks. I turned to the mirror and passed the razor across my neck a couple times, then looked back toward Toren and…
He had turned toward the shower (180 degree turn), inched over to the small barrier into the shower that is about a foot high, and had pulled himself to a standing position. He was just getting ready to reach for the shower curtain when I saw him.
Granted, Toren was fine. He had not slipped or fallen. He wasn’t in any serious danger – though the shower is tile and the top of the barrier into the shower is marble, which would not have made for a pleasant fall if he did fall. I was just astonished at how fast he can move now: from sitting to standing in what had to have been less than 10 seconds. Scary!
Number of Views: 19
I don’t typically mention my publications on this blog, but this is one about which I am particularly proud. I think it is a significant contribution not only to the study of Mormonism but also to theory in the Sociology of Religion as well. I’m also proud of it because of the amount of time that went into it. I’m guessing that this article took me close to 1,000 hours to produce (that’s about 41 days). It started as a class project in graduate school, probably around 2003 or 2004. It then turned into a series of conference presentations, was submitted to three different journals, all of which rejected it but provided useful feedback. Eventually I decided that the article needed to aim larger than just Mormons, so I included Adventists and Witnesses and invited Ron Lawson to help me (he’s an expert on Adventists and Witnesses). Anyway, here’s a link to the article:
The Secular Transition: The Worldwide Growth of Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Seventh-day Adventists
If you’re really geeky and want to read the article but don’t have access to the journal via a university subscription, let me know and I can send you a copy of the article.