weapons of massdistraction

The weather was so mild last night that I busted out a light coat, one I’d picked up last fall at a neighborhood thrift store and not had much opportunity to wear. It came as a pleasant surprise to read an inner tag for the first time, instructing me to “wear in good health”. After I put it on the husband informed me I looked like Madeline, though my coat is a much paler shade of blue. Sadly I was unable to say goodbye to the little man before leaving. I’d anticipated a major guy night going on after my departure, replete with PS2 playing and junk food eating, but the poor boy fell asleep before I’d even gotten dressed to go out. This was at 6pm. I worried that he’d wake up in the middle of the night, or early early morning, but he slept straight through to his usual…6:30am. Guess he had a serious sleep debt to pay off…the past week being so intense and all. I headed out thinking that it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to curl up and turn in early as well, but I wanted to see the ladies (and the one token boy). The birthday girl had chosen a suburban eatery, in a ‘burb I’m not terribly familiar with, so I carpooled with Zophia (thanks for driving, lady). I’d had my doubts about the restaurant but was pleasantly surprised…and amused that five folks, in our group of nine, ordered the coconut curry vegetables with fried tofu (myself included). Between the appetizers and entrees the birthday girl tore into her gifts. She was glowing, and not just because of my camera’s obnoxious flash. She scored some serious swag, and it was fun to photograph her in the process as she’s so animated and photogenic. Some of the photos didn’t turn out too well, though, as she had me laughing too much while attempting to hold the camera steady. Afterwards the kidless were going on to knock back a few at Nye’s Polonaise. It was a tempting thought, to indulge in some fancy umbrella-laden virgin drink, but it was past my bedtime. So me and the other two moms headed back to our respective homes. When I got to mine the husband was inexplicably watching Pumping Iron, which he compared to a train wreck. A strange ending to a rather strange, but enjoyable day.

Well, we went for it. But not via any bus. I drove us to the Minnesota State Capitol and hoped for the best. We managed to find a meter that wasn’t too far away, and thankfully it’s quite mild out. But once we got to the rally we were enveloped by utter chaos. There were people crammed into every nook and cranny, with small children popping up and out of the strangest places. Though I couldn’t spot our classmates anywhere. Naturally the little man didn’t want to sit still, but preferred to go exploring. Who can blame him…it’s an interesting old building. And I couldn’t hear a thing anyway. Whatever came out of the loudspeakers was all muddled sounding, like when the grownups speak in the Peanuts cartoons. We headed for home after a few rounds of going up and up and up the stairs then down and down and down again. Sadly we didn’t make it on to the news this time…though I’m told we aired on Channel 11 last night, and were rebroadcast early this morning.
update: Three more folks have weighed in, stating they saw us on the Fox 9 news, rather than Kare 11. Either way, I’m not shelling out $30 or so for a copy of it.

Well, another big day for our little crew. Looked at the morning paper, online, of course, to discover that the Ice Palace would be coming under the wrecking ball at 9:45am this morning. Turns out that was a figure of speech, unfortunately. I took the little man down to the bus stop for his first city bus ride, just the day after his monumental first school bus ride, and headed downtown for the blessed event (he thoroughly enjoyed the ride, but was befuddled by the lack of safety belts). We arrived rather early, but a crowd started forming before too long. Including a select group of schoolchildren there for a photo op with the mayor. Though 9:45am seems to have been just an approximate time. Naturally the politicos were running late, but still took advantage of the opportunity to shill…both about the potential use of the site for a baseball stadium (complete with mascot guy walking around with a giant baseball mask), and to promote an upcoming Children’s Festival. Admittedly there will be some cool events to look forward to with the latter. Especially performances by the New Shanghai Circus. But still. We’d been standing around in the (mild) cold for over half an hour and we wanted to see some destruction, dammit. Oh, I was also interviewed by a cameraman…but I don’t know for what channel. Should have asked, I guess, but I was cold. Hopefully I won’t come off sounding like an idjit. Eventually the ceremonial schlock began winding down and the key players moved into place. But no wrecking ball. Just a lousy little backhoe. And they didn’t even let into it with that. Oh no, they had to take turns. First letting one of the Vulcans have a go, and then I think the mayor too. So no wanton destruction for us to witness. We had a bus to catch. At least we had ourselves a little adventure. But soon it will be time to catch other buses, to work and to school.

My pretty baby has his first official pre-school class this afternoon. I say “official” as this marks his entrance into the public school system. Until now the little man has either been at a private facility, home with me, or accompanying me to once a week ECFE classes. The big day would have been yesterday, but he had a school holiday before he even started. He’ll appreciate that when he’s older, but I think he was a bit disappointed. He’s already itching to get on the bus and get going…but I’m happy that we have a couple more hours together. Even though they’ll most likely be spent continuing the search for the mysteriously missing Toy Story 2 Leappad book (it’s got to be around here somewhere). Unfortunately I have to leave for work just before the little man departs. I’m thinking of leaving my camera behind…so that the husband can photograph the lad as he gets on the school bus for the first time. But something about that makes me even more sad that I’ll be missing this milestone.

Oh Joss, how could they do this to us?
In less heartbroken news…our “weekend of romance” has been pretty low-key. The husband and I don’t celebrate V-Day (though I did send him a card from the Fuck Hallmark collection, courtesy of You, Yes You). The charms of our relationship are encompassed within our daily routine. Friday night we collaborated on the creation of a tofu pot pie, and jointly viewed some Cowboy Bebop. Man, I love the swanky theme music. We’ve been revisiting this series, but rationing it out…only allowing ourselves three sessions per day. Friday included the My Funny Valentine episode, but that was strictly coincidental.
Speaking of theme music, yesterday morning I caught the beginning of Teen Titans for the first time. Was pleasantly surprised to find the music was done by Puffy AmiYumi. It sure got the little man grooving. But he quickly went from content to cranky and confused. We left the house, to pick my folks up in the burbs (I don’t think he’s seen them anywhere but their house), then head to the city. When we arrived at our friends’ house my folks stayed in the car as I escorted the little man up the walkway. He was greeted by one half of the couple…who then led the little man away from the house (the other half was giving a piano lesson inside) and around the corner to the Tea Garden. I bade them farewell, then taxied the remainder of our entourage over to the Lagoon Cinema. Zophia made me promise to not give away any details about the feature film, other than it was most excellent, so I’ll mention the trailers instead. The German film, Good bye Lenin!, looks intriguing. This film seems to have it all…mother/son dramedy, American globalization, heartfelt European humanism, absurdist farce. I’ll be looking forward to its release stateside. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind piqued my interest as well. But, as the husband remarked, it’s hard to tell indie from Hollywood films these days…what with actors such as Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet and Kirsten Dunst taking on roles that, in the past, would have gone to lesser knowns.
This afternoon Neil Gaiman is discussing his book, Coraline, over at the Fitzgerald Theater. I wouldn’t mind attending, but the husband and I already witnessed the man read the book aloud, in its entirety, at the Chicago Humanities Festival in 2002. Any mention of the four plus hour event will now induce severe cringing in the husband, and/or his eyes to glaze over. Besides, I have a million and one things to take care of today, to prepare our launch into the upcoming week of chaos. I should probably start by putting some clothes on.