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Misc Thoughts…
I don’t have a central theme today…just thought I would pass on some things I have heard about, that may be of interest. 1. I was listening to the ever-beloved iPod this morning, to a podcast of To the Best of Our Knowledge, and one thing they mentioned in passing was these genetically modified flowers that have been developed in Denmark. Not so hot on the genetically modified agriculture, but these are good in a way that few things in this world are good. What do they do? You take the seeds to a country that has been at war, like, say, Afghanistan or Iraq, and you plant them in…
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Testing…
Today is the day that the 4th graders in our district (maybe the whole state?) take their writing test, to make sure no child is being left behind or anything like that. While I was taking Maya to school this morning, I asked her what she thought about the test. She said, “I hope we get to do personal narrative”. I love that kid. Love that she doesn’t get stressed out, just goes with the flow. A BIG part of that is the school. She goes to a public Montessori school (you read that right…public = free), and they have to do all of the testing that everyone else has…
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Best to NOT be Poor. Remember that.
I have a cousin, K, who is poor. She has made a lot of mistakes in her life, stupid decisions, and is stuck with the consequences. So she finds herself the single mother of four young children, trying to get off of welfare, two dead-beat dads, etc. (One may pay some child support, I’m not sure.) How to get out of this situation, you may ask? Well, let’s assume that education is the way to go. So, she goes to the local community college to take classes to get into nursing school. What about the 4 kids? Who takes care of them while she’s in class? My grandmother, who is…
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Monday Already?
How does this happen? I’m just starting to feel like I am getting all relaxed and have enough sleep and wine and time with the family, and BAM, it’s Monday again. Sigh. Anyway, a fun weekend was had, definately. Friday we went to a birthday party for Ted’s sister, and everyone dressed up like characters from Sci-Fi’s series, Battlestar Galactica. I know, we’re dorks. But it’s fun. 🙂 Best Dressed, Sister and Mom, as the President and someone else. I know…I’m not even a good dork, because I don’t know the character’s names. It’s a great show, but Ted and Maya are definately more into it than I am. So…
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Bubble
So last night we finally sat down and watched Bubble, which is the movie I told you about in January. We Netflixed it, and it took awhile to come, but it finally made its way into our DVD player. Summary? Worth a rental. It’s an interesting experiment, and amazing to know that the people in the film are not actors. None of them, I don’t think. Yet, they do a good job of conveying the desperation, or perhaps the boredom, of everyday life, and of how difficult it can be to escape from that. Not that everyone’s life is that boring, but theirs certainly is, and it seems like the…
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Do you ever wonder…
Have you ever been walking along on a sunny morning, maybe with your dog, maybe the kid, maybe both, and you’re maybe walking through a parking lot or something, and you see a used condom sitting there? Of course you ignore it, and if the dog is with you, you make sure they don’t do something gross like eat it or whatever. But then later, you wonder…this is a very intimate thing, it was, literally, the only thing between two people…and here it is, in this very public place…how does that happen? Ever wonder that? No, me neither. But, as I was coming home from walking Genevieve the dog last…
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I Heart Jon Carroll…
Why? Because he writes so well. He and Adair Lara made me want to be a newspaper columnist for awhile. I gave that idea up years ago, but I still like to read his column. Today’s is great. Apologetically, but honestly, I have to say that these are the lyrics that are going through my head after reading this column: “My hands are small, i know, but they’re not yours they are my own but they’re not yours they are my own and I am never broken In the end only kindness matters In the end only kindness matters” I know. It’s Jewel. So sue me.
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In Case You’re Wondering…
Maya came home safe, sound, and happy from her overnight trip to Hidden Villa, in Los Altos Hills…(See, I didn’t say WHERE she was going before, in case some mad fucker was reading my blog and decided to go get her! But she’s home safe now, so I can say it.) She had a wonderful time: saw TONS of stars, took long hikes, made friends with a 3-week-old baby goat (kid) named Rosemary, had Frosted Flakes for breakfast, gave herself a sponge bath because she wanted to be clean but they weren’t taking showers, made a camp fire, learned a new camp-fire song about baby sharks and decomposing bodies and…
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Car Shopping & Left Bank
Last night, since Maya was out of town on business, Ted and I decided to go crazy and do those things we can’t do when she’s around…that’s right, we went car shopping and then to dinner. 🙂 We are a two car family, one of which is a 2005 Camry, complete with car payments, while the other is a 1986 Volvo (It’s a classic, right? At 20 years, it’s a classic? Why would anyone call a Volvo a classic? It’s a box!) Anyway, we went looking at cars to perhaps replace the Volvo. Sigh. It’s probably a good idea, because the car is wearing out. But we went from no…
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Car Shopping & Left Bank
Last night, since Maya was out of town on business, Ted and I decided to go crazy and do those things we can’t do when she’s around…that’s right, we went car shopping and then to dinner. 🙂 We are a two car family, one of which is a 2005 Camry, complete with car payments, while the other is a 1986 Volvo (It’s a classic, right? At 20 years, it’s a classic? Why would anyone call a Volvo a classic? It’s a box!) Anyway, we went looking at cars to perhaps replace the Volvo. Sigh. It’s probably a good idea, because the car is wearing out. But we went from no…
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Pining….
Maya left this morning for an overnight ‘camping’ field trip with her class. I say ‘camping’ in quotes, because they get to sleep in heated cabins. That’s MY kind of ‘camping’ too, by the way. I remember going to science camp when I was in 6th grade, which was a 1 week camp that all of the school kids went to. It was SO FUN, perhaps the most fun legally allowed for kids who haven’t gone through puberty yet. So I’m sure she is going to have a GREAT time, hiking and singing around the camp fire (if they don’t get rained on…storm scheduled for tonight or tomorrow early), giggling…
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I noticed on my blogger dashboard that yesterday’s post was post #99, which would make this one post #100! Wow, who knew. I didn’t really know how much I would enjoy blogging, how freeing it would feel to just write whatever I feel like writing, whenever I feel like writing it, and to not really worry much about whether it’s good or not. Amazing what a difference that makes, that worry about whether someone will like it or not. But hey, I’m not getting graded, I’m not getting paid, it’s just something that I do for me, so I can write whatever I want. I like that. So I’m thinking…
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Communication 101
I was sitting on our beautiful new sofa last night, having a glass of wine, and trying to get sucked into my book. It wasn’t working so much last night, and there was nothing on TV, and Ted and Maya were already snoozing, so I was a bit bored. I started going through a drawer, and I found a series of notes between Maya and myself from sometime last year, maybe the year before, I’m not sure. Here’s what I remember. I told her to go to bed, and she ignored me. I asked again, and she ignored me. We got in a big fight about it. I told (yelled…
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Yoga thoughts…
A few months ago, during my yoga class, my teacher talked about a philosophy that kind of threw me for a loop. This was before I started my blog, so I didn’t write about it then…you all know I can’t have a thought without writing these days…and since I have no new thoughts today (outside of sorting girl scout cookies and what’s for dinner), I thought I would try to bring some of those lost yogi thoughts back to my conscious mind. Now, I don’t know what any of these philosophies were CALLED, because I was doing yoga, not taking notes. So don’t ask me. But…here it is…a lot of…
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Where’s Tonya Harding when we NEED her?
And no, I’m not actually talking about the olympics. I’m talking about the evil-one-who-must-not-be-named-but-surely-stays-sickeningly-thin-by-injecting-herself-with-her-own-urine. Read on for choice quotes like these: “I think we should have saved the ushers some time and just removed all the ugly people” and “”You don’t want the Republicans in power, does that mean you want a dictatorship, gay boy?” Very nice. I try not to let her get to me, because she’s just stupid and not worth it, but it would be easier if she would STOP OPENING HER STUPID MOUTH. I SO want Tonya to take out the evil-one’s knee cap.