Kyra Moon

The other day, I read an article about how Taylor Swift transformed herself from being one of the most hated celebrities to one of the most loved. It's not really worth linking here, but the basic gist I got out of it was that a large part of her success was due to a change in narrative. She used to write songs where "other women" were the enemy, stealing boyfriends and whatnot. But now, both her songs and her personal life suggest that women can be friends. It's pretty simple logic, actually. If you are alienating your fan base because they are, by definition, "other women," then they probably won't connect to you (despite them connecting to your songs and thus giving you lots of money). But if you act like women are your friends, then we're all friends with Taylor Swift, which makes us feel great! It made me think of two friends of mine. Friend 1 had some incredibly negative experiences with girls early on which have haunted her ever since. Growing...

On December 16th, 2010, we along with some of our neighbors were out delivering secret Santa presents to families in another part of Provo. (5 years is a good statute of limitations for admitting something like this, right?) As we drove down University Avenue, we saw a few large vans by Center Street with people unloading equipment into the Provo Tabernacle, presumably for a concert. The next morning, the tabernacle was engulfed in flames. It was unbelievable. I had gone there a few times for concerts and stake conferences, and now it was gone. The fire was so huge that we went to a wedding reception in Mendon, went to a wedding in Manti, and drove back to Provo on the Center Street exit that night, and we could still see the lapping flames through what used to be the windows. The whole city was in mourning. This story has a happy ending. It began when President Monson announced that the tabernacle would be rebuilt as a temple. My heart has been happy seeing the pictures of the exteri...