A Lesson In Ice Cream

We had our friends the Kjelstroms over for dinner last night. For dessert, I took John with me to the Ralph's across the street to buy some ice cream. This is one of the rare weeks at Ralphs when all of the different brands of ice cream are on sale for $3 a half gallon. This creates a rather serious potential dilemma for ice cream enthusiasts like myself.

The almost universal first rule of ice cream selection is that it has to be on sale to be considered. Rare indeed is the occassion when I'm willing to pay full price for a half gallon.

If price isn't a consideration, however, then the selection obviously comes down to taste. As we stood in front of the ice cream, I couldn't help but note to John the difficulty of the situation.

You see, with all brands of ice cream on sale that meant that the Private Selection Moose Tracks would be on sale. (For the uninitiated, Moose Tracks is a vanilla based ice cream packed with Chocolate Fudge Swirls and Miniature Peanut Butter Cups. In short, it's delicious.) On any other night I'd have been delighted to purchase it.

The sale also meant, though, that all flavors of Breyer's Ice Cream were on sale as well. You see, Breyers is a higher form of ice cream. It needs no mix-ins or toppings to provide a pleasurable experience. Whereas lesser ice creams, like the Private Selection (generic) brand, require mix-ins to be palatable at all, Breyer's unabashedly stands alone. You buy other ice creams for what's added to the ice cream, or what you can top them with. You buy Breyer's ice cream for the ice cream itself--and the simple pleasure of letting it melt in your mouth.

So how does one decide? Well, on this particular evening there really was no dilemma since I'd been given explicit instructions to get the Moose Tracks. It seemed like a sacrilege, though, to give Breyer's so little consideration. That's probably why I felt compelled to explain all this to John as we stood in front of the ice cream freezers--to soothe my guilt-ridden conscience. The second rule of ice cream buying until then had been to buy Breyer's when it's on sale. Now my world was being turned upside down.

John's response to my oratory, unfortunately, resembled more the dismissive humoring of a talkative grandparent than of appreciation. I wasn't sure any of it had sunk in.

Once home with the Moose Tracks, I told our wives that I'd shared with John all my knowledge on ice cream selection. I then looked to John expectantly, hoping for some affirmation that the lesson had not been in vain. Seeing that I was looking for a reaction, John noted "Oh yeah, Breyer's ice cream doesn't need any mix-ins to taste good."

I was so proud, it almost made me forget we'd passed up Breyers.

Jared The Genius

My 19 month old son Jared is special.

Of course, these kinds of admissions are not uncommon from a child's parents, but I have proof.

For instance, he's been walking since 8 1/2 months, started talking before 12, and has long been insisting that his father share a pot of oatmeal with him just about every morning. He also loves to watch basketball games, and insists on helping me "pay" video games when he sees a controller in my hand. Plus, he's a terrific dancer.

Yes, yes. You've heard these sort of things before. You know lots of kids who started talking early, walking early, and eating an entire bowl of oatmeal (with a spoon) at 18 months. But, do you know any 18 month old who can pick out all of the members of the First Presidency (for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) from a lineup, as well as most of the Apostles (including the very difficult to pronounce Dieter F. Uchtdorf), and even several members of the Presidency of the Seventy (his favorites are Earl C. Tingey and John H. Groberg). In fact, one of his favorite activities is sitting with me or Michelle with an open Ensign (a church magazine) and pointing out the headshots of the people he recognizes.

This past week, Michelle told me that while she and Jared were in AZ visiting family, Jared provided the dinner table entertainment by one by one pointing out and naming his aunt, uncle, and numerous cousins--none of whom he'd met before that evening.

Of course, I wasn't even surprised. Even after having been home a few days, he's still asking regularly for his cousins by name and talking about the toys he wasn't allowed to play with there.

We have some friends with an 18 month old son of their own who told me the other day that they're convinced Jared has a photographic memory. Given what I've mentioned above, am I that far off in being inclined to agree?

The Baker's Dozen

Owing the the increased popularity of blogs among my friends, I've been tempted lately to create one of my own. I initially dismissed any such inklings as nothing more than a desire for attention, but the notion continued. So with the bar exam behind me I've decided to dabble a little in blogging myself. I expect it'll take some time before this website and my contributions to it are something I feel good about, but now seems as good a time to start as ever. Hopefully I can at least put something together that's readable, perhaps even sprinkled with a bit of humor or wit.

With that said, I bid you all welcome to the Forbidden Donut, where no donuts are unwelcome (except maybe the ones with lemon filling).