Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Yesterday we were granted another fine Fall day. That made for two days, in a row, of bright blue sky (the weeks of dreary gray had been getting me down). When we weren’t outside I persuaded the husband to make some snickerdoodles, and I whipped up a batch of curried squash wild rice soup. I know, it might sound sort of iffy, but it turned out pretty tasty. Sadly today it’s back to blah indefinitely. But all things bright and beautiful can be found on the internets. I plan to try my hand at more crafting and knitting (another lesson Zophia?) over the long winter. Speaking of which, somehow or other I stumbled upon Diva Muffin (the youngest spawn of Frank) Zappa’s site. Nice knitting, I thought, until the sticker shock hit. $275 for the hat, and $500 for the scarf. Yee-ouch!
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Yesterday was an off-day. Most it was spent in a fog, with me thinking it was already Sunday. Upon figuring out that it wasn’t I was instead convinced that it was time to Fall Back. Wrong again. That’s next weekend, just in time for Halloween. Thankfully today has gotten off to a better start. Whipped up some blueberry pancakes before our little family went out together, to run an extremely geeky errand. We arrived at General Nanosystems just as the doors were opening to the geeks who had gotten there ahead of us. Our objectives were clear. An ethernet cable for me (to get the new addition to the family, my PowerBook, on the home network). And for the husband, to pick up parts for a small contract job (a wireless router and another ethernet cable, for a client’s laptop). Mission accomplished. Though I don’t want to get too used to internet access on my laptop, as next month I’ll be using it strictly for writing, and not for my usual goofing off. The husband and I made a few other acquisitions today. The intersection of our musical (and other) tastes seems to be shrinking these days, but there are some artists we still agree to agree over. One, Neko Case, now with a new live album called The Tigers Have Spoken. Been meaning to give it a good listen, but I’ve gotten sidetracked by Mirah’s mesmerizing C’mon Miracle, which isn’t exactly new (having been released back in May) but is new to us. And ever so fabulous.
Bonus: MickeyTosh needs you…to join the gang (via Veer).
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Saturday, October 23, 2004
Back in the old days, when the husband was working just one overnight part-time job, it was like we were playing host to a crew of magical house-elves. I would often wake to a sparkling clean house, with the dishes washed, the floors swept and mopped, and sometimes even find fresh baked goods (such as apple galettes) waiting for me. Now that he’s working two overnight part-time jobs it’s another story. If I wash all of the dishes before I go to bed, inevitably I’ll wake to find every glass and pan in the house is magically filthy again. Hopefully times will change. Again. For the better.
You know what a pair of winter boots for the little man cost me? $11.55, plus my first piece of negative feedback on ebay. Sigh. The seller had nothing to complain about. I paid her immediately after I won the auction, but now I’ll be paying even longer…with my rating dropping from 100% positive to 97.6%. After four days I had not received the item, or an email from the seller, so I took the initiave and contacted her. In return I received a rude response. But a day later the boots arrived, as described. So I left her a neutral feedback, mentioning that it hadn’t been the best transaction. How did she respond? By retracting the positive feedback she had already given me, and changing it to negative. People are people, I guess.
Continuing with the cantankerous news, I just found out what I’m missing. First, Bollywood Hungama, a screening of three Bollywood hits: Mohra, Munnabhai MBBS and Sholay took place this afternoon. And this evening, Palestinian-American comedienne Maysoon Zayid was at The Loft. Ignorance would have been bliss.
But in better news, the Upper Midwest Blog Managers Association is proud to announce that our very own Starfire, aka Scott Lunt, is definitely the best of the runner ups…in Coudal’s One Day Crash Ballet Contest. Compare the edits for yourself.
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For the second Friday in a row the UPS guy has delivered us new toys (but we’d best not make a habit of it or we’ll be totally broke). Today saw the delivery of the husband’s new faux leather workboots from Pangea (the last Vegetarian Shoes pair held up for many years but were in sorry shape). Ah, compassionate consumerism. And the arrival of my new used laptop. It is absolutely lovely and everything is running perfectly. But. The husband had a great “I Told You So” moment not long after I’d received it. A new posting appeared on the Minneapolis craiglist just today…for a reasonably priced and slightly better G3 Powerbook. Could have been mine, if I’d only waited. Doh! But I love my baby just the same, and it came from a seller with a good track record, rather than this unknown entity. And more importantly…I have mine in my hot little hands, right this red hot minute, and have already been loading up the old iTunes. Yeah.
In other news, I received the most random piece of mail today…a postcard inviting me, and a guest,
to the suburban Southdale Cinema on Monday night. For a special preview screening of, get this, a television show. It’s called House M.D., the title character touted with “solving medical mysteries like Sherlock Holmes with a stethoscope.” Uh, yeah. But it does star Hugh Laurie, an actor I adored back in the day from Jeeves and Wooster (but who the little man recognizes from Stuart Little). And stranger still, it is directed by Bryan Singer. Of The Usual Suspects and X-Men movie fame. I don’t get that. I heard he pulled out of X-Men III because he doesn’t have time, what with working on Superman Returns and all. But he does have time to direct a weekly television program? Go figure.
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I take straightening my hair very seriously. If I could afford a Japanese thermal perm, I’d do it. In the mean time, I spend far too much of my time taking a hairdryer and flat iron to my hair, and often injuries are sustained. For instance, the carpal tunnel in my right wrist is severely aggravated by both appliances, but I’ve actually been burned by the latter. On the forehead, the cheek, and, last week, on my left wrist…where two shiny pink welts remain. I mention all this as mother nature has defeated me, yet again. This morning I got ready, in a time-consuming manner as I often do, before heading out for our morning constitutional. The little man rode in the wagon as we headed to the library to return the Returner DVD. On the way I discovered that, while I had brought the case along, I’d managed to leave the DVD itself at home. Doh! No matter, it’s not due just yet, and we still had a hold item to retrieve. And it was a nice morning for a stroll, despite the misty almost-drizzle. But I could feel the weather working its change. Though it wasn’t until we returned home that I caught a glimpse of my reflection. And the giant wavy puffball that is my hair, looking like I’ve sprouted Dandelion fluff all over my head.
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I’m still feeling suboptimal, but the cold seems to be just hovering, poised to strike when I least expect it. Or something. It hasn’t gone into full-blown mode yet (and hopefully will decide not to). So yesterday I was sort of zoning out, pondering what to do to keep the little man occupied. We’d already engaged in some low-key activities like painting, and obtaining the materials to create his Halloween costume. I was saved by the bell when our neighbor called. She’d taken time off from work to spend with her daughter over MEA, and wanted to know if we’d care to join them…for a visit to Lookout Ridge, an indoor playground in the burbs. I was a little leery. It’s a place we enjoy, but was bound to be packed. Suprisingly it wasn’t nearly as crowded as I’d expected. And the kids had a blast, running around full-bore for an hour-and-a-half, until they were looking pretty worn out. They got their second winds, though, when we popped into an upscale grocery store on the way home. The place had an abundance of kid-sized grocery carts, but when our kids put them to use we were subjected to many a raised eyebrow and more than a few dirty looks. Stupid suburbs. Thankfully the kids didn’t notice and had almost as much fun there as they’d had at the playground. With his energy reserves well spent, the little man and I had a quiet enough evening, but for some reason he didn’t sleep well last night. He woke up several times in the night. It used to be I could put him back to sleep by rubbing his back, or, if need be, by taking him into my bed and that would be that. Times have changed. Last night he stumbled into the computer room, fell onto the futon, and demanded that I pull up a web page I’d showed him earlier in the day. A product of his environment? Hmmm. The web page in question was full of photos of…a chihauhau. A dog he’d no doubt be allergic to in real life (as he is allergic to many dogs) but can admire from afar, on mommy’s computer, in the middle of the night.
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Thursday, October 21, 2004
I am totally getting sick, and possibly hallucinating, because, my hand to god, Dave Eggers was sitting next to us at dinner last night. What he would be doing in St. Paul, I do not know, especially with yesterday’s special sneak peek of The Incredibles happening at Pixar Headquarters, to benefit 826 Valencia. I would have been all over that myself. But I swear, if it wasn’t him it was a mighty convincing doppelganger. First, there was the hair. And I overheard snippets of credible conversation (I wasn’t eavesdropping, it’s a very crowded and cramped restaurant). For instance, at one point he was talking about living in San Francisco, and comparing the fog there to Hong Kong’s. I toyed with the idea of just outright asking him, but figured we’d gotten on his nerves enough. The little man was in rare form last night. The acoustics of the place are such that he was very obviously overstimulated for the duration of the meal. The poor kid could not sit still to save his life, was frequently rolling around on the floor, running laps around our table, squealing, and pinching our extended family members (we were out to eat with the in-laws, to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday). So rather than interrupting the man sitting less than a foot from us who was most likely Dave Eggers, I chose to collect my child and his belongings from the floor, and attempt to exit as quietly and gracefully as possible. I’m sure everyone in the place breathed a collective sigh of relief…as soon as we were out of earshot.
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Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Oh crap oh crap oh crap. I think I’m coming down with a cold. Another one. Just in time for MEA. Growing up those three letters strung together got me all kinds of excited, but this year I’m filled with dread. Because this year it means feeling suboptimal while having a whole extra day of one-on-one time with the energetic little man. I don’t want the poor kid to be bored out of his mind while mommy has some serious one-on-one time with the comfy chair. But maybe it will be ok. Maybe this will blow over and I’ll feel fine tomorrow morning. Yeah, right. And just maybe I’ll win the lottery. Or maybe VOTE or NOT’s $100,000. Definitely maybe.
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Wednesday, October 20, 2004
I’ve long been a fan of photoblogs, and of good radio, but I never thought to marry the two. The very idea, radio, with visuals, well, it feels counterintuitive. But that’s what the web (via Kemp) is for. In other visual news: Mitsubishi to ship four megapixel CCD modules in November
I want, I want. But I cannot have. Unless we come into some money. That is where you, gentle reader, come in. The husband forwarded this email to me yesterday:
The US election registration deadline for Minnesota is November 02.
In case you haven’t heard already, there’s a website called VOTE or NOT that is trying to get people to register to vote before the November elections. The 2000 election was decided by only about 500 votes- This year’s election may be just as close, so all our votes matter!
To get the word out about registering, VOTE or NOT is offering a $100,000 sweepstakes. They will also give the person who referred the winner $100,000, so if you sign up through my referral link below, we can both win!
http://sm12gh1.VOTEorNOT.org
It’s important you sign up now, since the voter registration deadlines are coming up really soon.
No, seriously, come on, do it. Do it.
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Wednesday, October 20, 2004
So I missed Interpol’s show last night. No big shocker there. Me, out on a weeknight? Yeah, right. Another good weeknight line-up I’ll be missing…Wilco, with Deerhoof. And they’re playing here two nights in a row (at $32 a pop, ouch). I’ll be missing twice the fun. But I will be getting a new used laptop. Soon. Very soon.
In other news…recently I’ve made some rather poor mothering missteps. Went online to the library’s web site to reserve a Caillou video for the little man. I thought I’d reserved the one about trains. What we wound up with was the one about freaking holidays. Bad move #1. Upon returning home I let the little man watch it. Bad move #2. Now the boy is talking incessantly about Santa and dreidels and presents and Christmas cards and menorahs and about how we are all going to go get a christmas tree together (that’ll be the day). The poor boy has received too many mixed messages. The occupants of this household are not at all christian, or affiliated with any organized or disorganized religion whatsoever…but we have taken him to visit various relatives over holiday seasons past. Relatives who are either strongly religious or, in some cases, weakly religious. Sadly, I think the damage is done and doubt he’ll forget about this any time soon. But I’m hoping Halloween will provide a sufficient distraction. In the mean time I had the husband return the offending DVD to the library (as I should have done immediately), under the cover of darkness. Good move #1.
Bonus: In case you haven’t already seen it, Reasonably Clever’s Mini-Mizer: Render yourself (or others) in Lego-esque 3-D (via Coudal).
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