After six or seven agonizing weeks of delay, tonight we watchers will finally be rewarded with the next tale. Scoff if you will…but I am very much looking forward to this evening.

Explore Erotic Power Exchange (BDSM)? Whah-huh? Further reinforcing my opinion that Neil Gaiman’s journal is not to be neglected, I nearly squirted beverage out of my nose when I came upon his most recent (April 28th) entry:
“I was amused, in a shaking-my-head sort of way, to hear that the Amazon.com: buying info: Coraline page, in the new SO YOU’D LIKE TO section, pushes a lengthy (and not at all me or Coraline-related) article on Serious Bondage, Fisting and so forth. Amazon has got Coraline listed as a children’s book, which means that it’s probably happening elsewhere on Amazon and they are probably getting lots of grumbles from people whose kids are hunting for Harry Potter on Amazon and coming back asking what BDSM stands for, and is an Erotic Power Exchange anything like a Super Power Exchange? Oh well. They’ll fix it soon enough, I expect.”

For the most part I’ve been relieved to have SpamAssasin installed. I’d grown weary of all the junkmail, from Nigerian Scams to “HOT TEEN HARDCORE XXX”, cluttering my inbox. Unfortunately I’d neglected to check the “caughtspam” folder for errant strays. Just now skimmed through it to discover a few non-spam messages, some time-sensitive, that I should have liked to have received. Especially the one informing me of the upcoming Damien Jurado show. That happened yesterday. Doh.

A decent weekend. Lots of good food and company. Mostly relaxing. Tried to avoid thinking of last week’s (ongoing) stresses. Was fairly successful, but not completely. Could still benefit from a vacation.
Friday: Dinner with the boyfriend’s family. Blueberry vegan ice cream for dessert. Yummy.
Saturday: A quiet day, but wacky evening…with weather turning from rain to hail to slushy snow. Would have stayed in, but the boyfriend and I were celebrating our first anniversary (at this time last year it was in the upper 70s/low 80s). We headed to bio-dad’s house to drop off the little man…who seemed especially unhappy about this arrangement. It was difficult to leave him in such a state, but we forged ahead. Along slippery roads to dine at our favorite Indian restaurant. Along the way we saw cars fishtailing and in ditches, and ambulances off to retrieve these hapless drivers and/or their passengers. We were relieved to arrive safely at our destination. The meal itself was uneventful, but odd…without having the little man around to feed and entertain and to keep from toppling the waiters (he’s taken to hugging the waiters there, which means grabbing them about the knees as they carry large trays that obstruct their view of the floor). Afterwards we prepared to drive back into the city. I suggested we take the long route, down Central Avenue, rather than travelling along the treacherous highways. It turned out to be a wise choice, and we were even a bit ahead of schedule. We had time enough to exchange gifts prior to the play, and still arrive at the theater early. Afterwards we swung by the video store. All copies of Metropolis were out, so I let the bf make an alternate selection. Then on to retrieve the little man, who was relieved to see us. Apparently he’d collapsed into a little heap after our departure and promptly fallen asleep. So while we were out he’d had a four hour nap. He perked right up when he saw us, and giggled all the way home…where he wanted to stay up all night shouting Woo-Hoo! Dang. I nearly nodded off on the couch, but managed to get myself up to get him settled in bed. Just before midnight! I don’t think he’s ever stayed up so late. Was ready to get to bed myself, but stayed awake to watch the video we’d picked up. Frequently I fall asleep during these, but this movie was so very bad that it kept me alert. If only to turn to the bf in disgust, pointing out the plot holes and grumbling about the dreadful dialogue. Which was actually fun, in and of itself. Could have done without all the knives though.
Sunday: Lounging. Errand-running. More French toast w/smart bacon. More lounging. Another failed attempt to finish watching 2001 (we’ll get through it one of these days, I swear). Dinner with friends, at their place. The amply affectionate little man kept smooching with one of ‘em, which freaked out her husband. Heh.

Last night’s afterglow has burned out. Thanks to a cranky client and an exceptionally crappy week, overall. Replete with infuriating and exhausting lunch hour errands today. Dare I tempt fate by taking the little man to have his hair cut after work tonight? The last attempt turned him into a shrieking, writhing wreck. So perhaps not. I need to relax this weekend. Though it would take more than two days to fully recover from this week. Guess I’ll take what brief respite I can. Sigh.

That may very well have been the best show I have ever seen. To start with, I adore the smart and sassy siren Neko Case. Her voice sends chills down my spine (in a good way). But seeing her live…sigh. Now I have a huge crush on her. The evening would have been a success if I’d walked out after her set. But then Nick Cave claimed the stage. What an amazing entertainer. His presence, his stamina, his intensity. I was mesmerized. He had the entire audience enthralled, but energized. Wow. Not sure if anything can top that.

Ignorance can be blissful. Managed to have a lovely evening last night. Only to come in to work today to find that it could have been otherwise. Apparently I’d left just in time to miss the maelstrom. The client(s) changed their mind(s) at the last minute. And demanded all sorts of time-consuming modifications. A hapless co-worker was charged with these chores. I feel badly…but I so needed the break.

Speaking of breaks…tonight the little man is home with the boyfriend while I take a much-deserved one. First to dinner with a friend, then on to the long-anticipated Nick Cave show. Woo-hoo!

Feeling better today. Planning to get more sleep tonight, and a real dinner. Been listening to Low to restore calm. The car is driveable, for now. The project I’m working on is nearly finished. The client even remarked about it “Hot Damn! You guys kick ass”. Heh. Looks like I’ll be able to leave work on time today. Maybe even early. And I just discovered garden monorailing. Nothing like a good dose of absurdity to put me in a better mood. But now I’m thinking I should purchase the vacant lot next door. Hmmm.

{lengthy}
Things could be worse. Compared to a lot of single moms in the U.S., I’m doing quite well. Compared with most people on this planet, really, I have a good life. But yesterday was one of those rare days I did not want to be me. The cursed car started to break down (after having just shelled out $500+ to have it fixed) on the way to daycare. Managed to get us there, via side roads. Didn’t pull over as I no longer have a cell phone, and didn’t want to be stranded. Puttered on instead. Hopefully didn’t do permanent damage to the little man’s hearing, or to mine. Frantically arranged to have the car taken in (with a roomful of screaming toddlers in the background, clamoring to get to their breakfasts). Then I had to figure out a way to get myself to work (woke up the boyfriend). Once at work I had an ever-changing deadline breathing down my neck…while I had difficulty breathing, along with my various other ailments. Each of which are fairly insignificant, but combined had a synergy to be reckoned with. After ten non-stop hours I found myself at the end an extra-long work day…only to head out to other side of town. To retrieve my patched-up and still noisy-shaky car. On the journey home I stopped to do some grocery shopping. While hungry, of course. Made some random/unwise selections (several vegan frozen pizzas, soy delicious, coleslaw mix, tangerine juice). When we finally got home we’d missed the opportunity to play outside, in the gorgeous weather, and dinner was very late. I scarfed down some Amy’s frozen toaster tarts. The little man also had breakfast for dinner. Doubt it’ll hurt him if it doesn’t occur regularly. Tried to get him back into his nightly groove, but I was so out of mine. Bathtime and bedtime went fairly well. Afterwards I was still very wound up and in need of some serious relaxation. The boyfriend had picked up some videos, one which I had been wanting to watch for a while. Alas, it was a poor choice for the evening. “Moulin Rouge” was interesting, at times. I like the actors. The sets were spectacular. But overall it was too much like a two-hour music video. The frenzied, hyperkinetic pace left me on edge. Would have preferred something like the languid and lovely “In the Mood for Love“. Next time, I guess. But hopefully I won’t have a day like that again. For some time, at least.

That’s right folks, turn off the idiot box this week. Easy enough for me to say. Before I had my son I watched too much TV. Was hooked on the X-Files (before Duchovny left) and a few other shows, like The Simpsons and Xena. Would probably be watching Freaks and Geeks if it hadn’t been canceled. And Junkyard Wars, if I had cable. With the little man in my life, though, I’ve been TV-free most of the time. But was letting him watch videos too frequently. While I was in the shower, cooking dinner, doing laundry, etc. It became too much of a crutch and he started requesting/demanding videos all the time. So a couple months back I implemented a Monday-Friday no TV/no videos policy. It has been working out well. We’ve been playing outside more, working on art projects together, and just having fun hanging out. It’s worth it, even if the housework suffers.

My one M-F exception/weakness is Buffy the Vampire Slayer…but it’s been in repeats for weeks! When a new episode finally airs (April 30th) the little man will be spending the evening home with my boyfriend, while I go watch the episode with friends who share my Buffy addiction.