Editor's Note

I was reading Words of Mormon today, and I realized that the profession I'm preparing for is one that many many great people belong to. Mormon edited the Book of Mormon, and he succeeded in editing it into the most correct book on the earth. Wow.

Think of all the anthologies or compilations you've read. Those were all put together by editors. Editors have been around for a LONG time. Ever since there was text to produce, someone probably looked over it for typographical and design errors. How fun to join in a profession that boasts such a rich historical line of people!

On Books and Babies

In my Artist Book class today, my teacher shared an interesting philosophy:

"In my home, books are sacred. I let my children hold babies before I let them hold books. In many ways, babies are more resilient than books..."

How would it be if...

• Your desk at work was right next to John Bytheway's?
• You met the man in charge of all Deseret Book's sales in the elevator?
• People around you refer to one of your idols as just "Sheri"? Example: "Oh, I just need to run these journals down to Sheri..."
• Your supervisor participated in Deseret Book's annual Christmas book signing event?
• You spent two days source-checking the 100s of scriptural references in the work of one of your favorite speaker/authors?
• You spent a day combing through quotations from the volumes of Journal of Discourses, History of the Church, Doctrines of Salvation, and Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith? And how would it be to recognize each of those by their acronyms - JD, HC, DS, and TPJS?

Let me tell you: It would be pretty great. Intimidating, yes. But mostly fantastic.

JB X 2

It was a beautiful day. Miss JKM became Mrs. JKMB, JB smiled a lot, and the day was not over before most Mangum men wore fake mustaches.

It was cold,

 

but JKMB didn’t mind.

Reception guests were greeted by a (hopefully) warm smile and two old machines. Most of the older guests approached the machines with confidence, and younger ones were afraid to touch anything that lacked a working backspace key. Nevertheless, the guest list was compiled successfully.

All in all, the typewriters were a big hit. And all in all, the bride and groom were very very happy, if not tired.

…and beautiful. Don’t you agree?

Deseret Book Company: Bringing Values Home

One morning last Spring, I walked with my good friend Jared Reid towards the baptistry door of the Salt Lake Temple. I lifted my eyes from the spring blooms gracing the grounds of temple square to glance up at the City Creek skyline. My gaze caught on the Deseret Book Company sign bordering the top of the Deseret Book tower, and I sighed. Basking in the sign's serif-fonted glory, I said with a hopeful air, "Jared, I want to work there someday." He smiled over at me and tried to offer encouragement. "Yeah...maybe someday."

Today's email from Sis. Barker of Deseret Book Company Human Resources:

Kathryn,

Thank you for coming in again on Monday to interview for our publishing internship. Suzanne and Lisa were very impressed with you during the interview, and I'm happy to report that you have been selected for our 2011 spring semester internship! 

If you'd like to accept the internship (and we hope you do!) please let me know if the time frame I've presented will work for you, and if you have any questions I can answer. Thank you so much for considering Deseret Book--we look forward to having you join us in January!

Little did I know that day last spring that less than a year later that I'd be walking through the big, beautiful glass doors of Deseret Book to start my first day there. Little did my teenage self know as she browsed for hours through the fiction section of the Cottonwood Mall Deseret Book that she would one day be closely-editing the front and back cover flaps of the books I held.

Deseret Book Company, here I come.

Thanksgiving Week, Day 1:

I am grateful for a guy who:

• draws incredible Liberty Jail and shell-shaped Community of Christ temple pictures on a banner
• likes to see plays with me
• likes to sing with me
• loves Sherlock Holmes as much as I do
• can banter with and understand me like no one else
• drives down from Bountiful in the snow to see me
• discusses C. S. Lewis with me
• likes Truman G. Madsen talks just as much as I do
• listens to Josh Groban with me (albeit begrudgingly at times)
• loves taking pictures even more than I do
• takes much better pictures than I do
• patiently teaches me how to take amazing pictures and lets me use his camera
• loves all things London like I do
• takes me out to eat Japanese food, cooks Japanese food for me, and teaches me how to make my favorite Japanese food
• knows many of the same old movies I know
• gets excited to take English classes
• is one of the most attractive guys I've ever met
• discusses gospel principles with me
• teaches me how to be calm in stressful situations
• loves his family like nothing else
• gave me a blue box full of office supplies when I got a job
• brings me quality gerber daisies out of the blue
• reads Children's books with me
• seems to be delighted with every new thing he learns about me
• surprises me every day with something fun I didn't know about him
• inspires me to do better
• is usually more interested in talking to me than in eating his food
• has more patience than anyone I know
• and knows me better than anyone ever could.

Michael Wesley Olson, you're amazing.

Oh, the cleverness of me!

Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens, London.

My mom recently reminded me one of my second-grade teacher's great qualities. My mom noticed that after my teacher handled a particularly sticky situation, she started to give herself positive reinforcement. Saying things like "Wow. I handled that really well! Good job, me!", my teacher complimented herself on her resourcefulness. This is the same teacher who went student to student with a jar of M&Ms, shook each student's hand, and asked her about her day or how she was feeling. This is the same teacher who had regular interviews with her students and asked each one to share a few things they were good at. If we were hesitant to say anything, she wouldn't hesitate to fill in the gaps.

My teacher was (and I'm sure she continues to be) one of the most confident people I know. When she was my teacher, she was a single mom with no spouse to celebrate her successes or compliment her ideas. But she worked with what she had - herself. Like Peter Pan, she said, in effect, "Oh, the cleverness of me!"

Our cleverness ought to be recognized, nay, demands recognition. Not everyone, especially adult women, receives recognition for what they do. This fact is to be expected, but not necessarily left unaltered. We are just as good at complimenting ourselves as anyone else. Working hard can be rewarded and encouraged by the little things we tell ourselves. Thinking "I started my day of so well by exercising! Good for me!" is much more motivating than "He doesn't even know how hard I worked this morning to look like this" or "I wonder if all the other people here know what I've been through." I'm no psychology academic, but I know from experience that our mental workings are crucial to our inertia. Go team!