The best of Mark My Words

Two years ago today, I started this blog!

A year ago, in honor of my anniversary, I made a post describing each of my posts from the previous year.

But I don't feel like doing that today. Instead, I will describe what may be the top ten of my posts over the past two years. These ratings are totally subjective, but I'm basing them on my own opinions and on the amount and type of feedback I got for them. They are here presented in the order I wrote them.


The REAL most wonderful time of the year, November 6, 2011. I expressed my happiness at the new Thanksgiving season and my annoyance at early Christmas stuff. My friend David Christensen even quoted my closing paragraph as his Facebook status.

The most overhyped pointless day of the year, March 18, 2011. I recounted my experience going to the Salt Lake City St. Patrick's Day parade, even though I'm quite cynical about both St. Patrick's Day and parades. I got a few comments about how entertaining this post was. I even unwittingly took a picture of Peter Moosman (standing in the back right with the green and black shirt)! 

Global Warming, April 13, 2012. I'm politically unafilliated, but I get so annoyed when Republicans put their fingers in their ears and say that global warming doesn't exist or that it isn't caused by humans. I can think of no motivation for scientists to say there is a problem if there isn't one, but I can think of plenty of motivation for people to deny the problem exists. 

A year of holiday memories, published April 22, 2012. I include this not because it's particularly good or because I recommend you read it. In fact, I recommend that you don't read it. But it is the longest post I have ever done. It took me days. It was also the last memory post I made on this blog before creating the Mark Remembers blog. I talked about running a 5k on the Fourth of July, having an awkward devotional at work on Halloween, going to my grandparents' for Thanksgiving, being disappointed at a Christmas sacrament meeting, spending New Year's with my nephews, taking a sedimentary rock quiz on Valentine's Day, attending the temple with roommates on St. Patrick's Day, and eating lots of Easter candy.

What a weirdo, part 2, June 10, 2012. I formally wrote down my rules for eating seasonal desserts and candies. Shortly after I wrote this, some friends invited me on a picnic, and one of them wrote about the picnic on her blog. She provided a link to this post to explain my eating habits. I would post a link to her blog, but there are pictures on there of me with a really ugly hairdo. (They invited me on the picnic before I had showered for the day, and apparently I didn't even comb my hair. But I hate talking about my hair.) 

Why I hate politics, October 21, 2012. Two weeks before the election, I expressed my disgust at party politics. I generalize Republicans as being ignorant, and I generalize Democrats as being intolerant by saying others are intolerant. When I posted this on Facebook, I got several likes and comments. 

Death Valley Days, November 11, 2012. I described my Geomorphology field trip to Death Valley and the geology we observed there. My favorite part was the Racetrack, where rocks moved themselves along the ground.

I usually think of vacation posts as boring, but I got a few comments on this one. My sister said she didn't understand what I was saying but said it looked cool, my brother tried to convince me to be a scientist, and my cousins commented about how I lick rocks.

My annual rant, November 18, 2012. Once again, I expressed my disdain at Christmas before Thanksgiving, but this time I went into more depth. I keep Thanksgiving in its proper time frame and Christmas in its proper time frame out of respect for both holidays.

My thoughts on gun control, February 10, 2013. I've wanted to repost this after the disappointing defeat of Obama's gun plan. I think people opposed it, either consciously or subconsciously, simply because it was Obama who presented it, not because they actually objected to it. Why on earth would you object to background checks? I'm going to go ahead and say it. If you object to background checks, you're a moron. I also got some comments and likes from this post. 

It Passes All My Understanding, April 7, 2013. Learning about and believing in science, including such topics as evolution and the Big Bang, actually strengthens my belief in God instead of diminishing it. Cherie Call's song says it well. I had debated making this post, but general conference convinced me to do it.

Thanks to those of you who keep reading this blog! Starting year three!