Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Well, the boy’s school year is off to a stunningly bad start. Last week’s bus route hiccups were only the beginning. Parenting a special needs student is full of bonus hassles and hurdles and jargon but never have I had to deal with so many dropped balls. I have a phone call scheduled for tomorrow with his case manager, to try to get to the bottom of this, but I’m not holding my breath. Instead I will try some deep breathing to relax and point out a slew of perfectly fine happy distractions:
Other real life highlights in the last week included a portrait photo shoot with a co-worker and her adorable family. A friend’s birthday party where a flaming arrow was used to ignite a pinata. The Mount Eerie show at CO Exhibitions. Modern Radio Night at the Kitty Cat Klub. And the Totally Gross National Party 2012 at The Icehouse.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Oof. Rough first day of school. For me, anyhow. The kid seems fine. All summer I had so much anxiety about this school year. Especially the thought of him riding the general ed school bus. Staff at his old school gave me dire warnings about it (concerned he’d get his ass kicked on the bus). But they didn’t think he’d be able to get special ed transportation at the new school so I’d resigned myself to driving the boy both ways. At the eleventh hour I found out he *does* qualify for the special ed bus. But that would pick him up at 6:30am. Too early! Compromise. Driving him to school in the morning (giving us a precious half hour more of sleep) and having him take the bus back in the afternoon. Only this afternoon the bus was nearly AN HOUR late. Because the alternator went out. And they had to wait for a spare bus. Things I only found out after he made it home. Oh, and this morning he asked me to drop him off away from the entrance so he could walk in on his own. And so it begins.
In happier news…five good things:
After a hectic long weekend we had an incredibly quiet Labor Day, which was a-ok by me. Never left the house, except to sit in the backyard with friends for a bit. Mostly labored on Labor Day. Laundry, cooking, cleaning, photo editing. And watched some more episodes of our beloved Adventure Time. The downtime was greatly appreciated.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Oh Amazon Instant. It’s far too easy to buy season passes and sit back to let the Adventure Time episodes roll over us. Seems to be my current coping mechanism, to deal with the seasonal allergies that threaten to DESTROY ME. And my son is just down with some chill down time, after a hectic summer of camp and vacations. Moving his annual trip to North Carolina up a week this year seems to have done the trick. This was his first visit with his grandparents that did not involve A HURRICANE. But now that he’s home there is a hurricane in the area.
Today we have five…things. I’ll let you insert your own adjective.
Last night the lad and I decided, on a whim, to have dinner at the Minnesota State Fair. There’s a free park & ride stop not far from home and it didn’t take long to get there. But the boyfriend was still at work far far away and couldn’t join us so I didn’t have anyone to split food stuffs with. Parker is so picky he stuck to his basics - corn on the cob, onion rings, sno-cone, and the like. I got full at my first stop. Curse you Giggles’ Campfire Grill! I didn’t even have any cheese curds. Hoping to return sometime this weekend, and get to the Luminarium, among other things. I was pleased that we did make it to the 4-H Llama Costume Contest though. And not at all surprised by the number of friends and acquaintances I ran into there. Like-minded oddballs.
Oh the joys of adult life. Taking a little time off shouldn’t be so stress inducing. But I feel like I’ve fallen behind IN ALL THINGS. Photo editing. Taking care of things around the house. Cooking good food. Making appointments for my son and myself and the car. Back to school stuff. Hanging out with my Dad. Being a good cat mom. Yesterday I attempted to make up for lost time by cuddling with the cats in between bursts of productivity. I tackled laundry and cleaned and made some experimental baked goods and re-arranged the living room. Making progress feels good but there’s much more to be done. Still, I allowed myself a break last night to get to the annual Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival at Como (I hadn’t attended in four years). Excellent people watching. And some decent food stand options from Masu, United Noodles and more. Caught a taiko drumming performance and some very silly martial arts demonstrations (blindfolded people whacking at watermelons with wooden swords).
Five good things for this getting back into the swing of things Monday:
- Today I’m streaming the new Swans album, The Seer, thanks to the fine folks at NPR. Looking forward to their show here next month.
- Before sinking into Swans, this Erasure remix was my Monday morning jam. Better than coffee.
- We headed up North last Wednesday (photos to come) and came back a little early, Friday night, so we could catch the return appearance of Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, from Baltimore, and Detroit’s Child Bite at the Turf Club. So good! But sadly underattended. Maybe everyone else was still up North.
- Saturday I got to catch up with some seriously overdue hanging out time with my good friends, at their yard sale. And I walked away with a bunch of their stuff. A working turntable, a book, two jackets, a skirt and several shirts for me and a couple of things for the kid too. And we spent some time listening to 90s era hardcore and math rock on vinyl. Just what I needed.
- This is just so weird it’s almost good. Skyrim / Morrowind Medley (Electric Harp Duet). Their herky-jerky over the top mannerisms kill me. Of course reading follow up information about the twins didn’t help much. “Camille and Kennerly are Third Degree Black Belts in Tae Kwon Do and are former Tae Kwon Do instructors.” So ridiculous.
The boy returns Saturday, from his ten day trip with his grandparents. I miss him but this annual trip always does us good. And I have plenty to keep me busy before he comes back. And then we will have much busy-ness together when he is back (as always). But tonight? I will relax to the sounds of Brute Heart performing the score to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Should be lovely.
Coming back from vacations can be a tricky business to begin with. But over this past long weekend we packed in lots of fun, and soon the kid is flying off again for an extended visit with the grandparents. And while he’s away I’ve got a little trip to take up North, a pizza cruise happy hour on the Mississippi, a stack of books to read and more. And we’ll hit up the State Fair together, for sure. We won’t be getting to get back into the normal swing of things until after Labor Day, when school starts. And that is ok.
Five fun things:
- Thursday night we took the kid to a performance of Showdown at Circus Juventas (we all enjoyed it despite it being 3+ hours long). Performers start training there as children and many go on to the Cirque de Soleil.
- Friday night the boyfriend and I saw a band called Nü Sensae at the Turf Club. They were wonderful (download a free song here). But after watching their video for I’m a Body I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at peanut butter and jelly in the same way again.
- Saturday we attended the Square Lake Festival. I hadn’t been since 2006! I didn’t get to stay until the end this time around because the boy was tired. But we stayed for International Novelty Gamelan performing the score for Lotte Reiniger’s Adventures of Prince Achmed (which we had seen once before, years ago, at the Walker). Today a friend just posted her animation of Cinderella. Neat.
- Yesterday we walked down to the neighborhood movie theater to catch a screening of The Bourne Legacy. It was a little slow to start but Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz were great, and once the action scenes kicked in I was hooked. Plus, how awesome is it that I have a movie theater within walking distance? Life is so much better now than it was just a year ago.
- Speaking of movies, the valtari mystery film project is really cool: “sigur rós have given a dozen film makers the same modest budget and asked them to create whatever comes into their head when they listen to songs from the band’s new album valtari. the idea is to bypass the usual artistic approval process and allow people utmost creative freedom. among the filmmakers are ramin bahrani, alma har’el and john cameron mitchell.”
Huh. “Insert Coins, video-game-themed nightclub, coming to Minneapolis.” This sounds like something I would enjoy, in theory. Playing video games and drinking. But the location means it’s likely to attract the sort of crowd that would annoy me. I’ll stick to Rusty Quarters Retro Arcade instead. And that reminds me, I should probably reserve it for my son’s birthday party. My boy will be thirteen next month already!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
We survived our trip to California (and I don’t just mean because Los Angeles was rattled by two 4.5 quakes within ten hours, right after we left). Our interpersonal relationships are intact. The three of us spent an awful lot of time together in confined spaces and all is still well. We had many adventures - some well documented, others not - and the bulk of the trip photos are up on flickr here (I have yet to finish editing the family wedding photos). I plan to post a more thorough trip round up on my photography blog. Soon.
Five good things:
Five terrifying or creepy things:
- Food for thought: How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking
- File under NOT IF YOU PAID ME - “Animatronic Hillbilly Family Musicians“
- I’ve been to Iceland twice but only just learned about the Icelandic Phallological Museum. There’s even a documentary about it called The Final Member. Oof.
- This, so totally this: Glass-Bottom Pool Hangs Over Side Of 24-Story Hotel - “Admittedly, that is pretty cool, I just don’t know if I could brave it. The truth is, I’m scared of heights. And drowning. And, since we’re on the subject, ghosts. Also, things that are unusually compartmentalized on the inside like honeycombs and pomegranates. No word how often they have to close the pool for cleaning because somebody shat in it.”
- Also from Geekologie - “The Octopus is a product design from AtelierBLINK, a two-woman creative team out of France. The chair is made out of recycled jeans that can be buttoned together in a number of different forms, to ensure that your living room will look as ridiculous as you want it to. It’s filled with polystyrene balls and looks scary, which make it the Octopus Beanbag Chair Of Death. It nonchalantly wraps its Levi 32″ tentacles around you until you’re immobile, then releases a school of dreaded trouser eels to finish you off.”
The beautiful and talented Dum Dum Girls are playing at the Triple Rock tonight. I hope to make it, if I’ve gotten caught up enough on my To Do list. Tomorrow night we attend a Circus Juventas performance. Friday night there’s a family game night at work and about a bajillion good shows are happening. And Saturday I’m most likely dragging my son out to the Square Lake Festival. Next week he’s back to the airport and off for an extended visit with the grandparents. And in just a few more weeks we’ll settle into a whole new routine, with the beginning of the school year and a much earlier start than we’ve ever had. Life being change and all.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Seems like on the eve of every trip to Los Angeles, some Hollywood personality shuffles off this mortal coil. One time it was Michael Jackson (and also Farah Fawcett on the same day - my birthday). This time it was Gore Vidal.
Five random items to kick off this vacay:
This morning we two wheeled it over to our neighborhood salon - me on my low rider and the boy on his razor scooter - and got his moptop trimmed up for the trip. And when we got back I made him bathe and change into fresh clothes, to get all of the little leftover prickly hairs off. And then the packing frenzy ensued. And now the countdown has begun. And no, I will not be bringing a laptop along with me this time. Eep!
I feel like it would take until next year for me to catch up with the coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics. I haven’t even seen the opening ceremonies yet! I’ve been too busy with trip planning mode. And we have no cable service or any sort of television reception to speak of. I have seen some excellent photos though.
Five good things for this pre-vacation Monday:
Speaking of cardboard contraptions…I do hope we can get to Caine’s Arcade on this trip. I’ll be traveling with my son and my boyfriend. I’ve been to Los Angeles many times before, but not with either of them. I’m attempting to line up visits to places all three of us may enjoy. Like Giant Robot, Griffith Observatory, the La Brea tar pits, LACMA and the Fairfax Farmers Market. But I’m open to any other suggestions for the Los Angeles / Pasadena area!
The great debate…which electronic devices to bring along on our trip? I’d like my smartphone to be enough but will I go through withdrawal if I leave my laptop at home? Does my son need his tablet and his Nintendo DS? Oh this modern life.
Five fun or funny or futuristic things for this Friday:
- A good tie-in with the intrusion of technology into our lives…this short futuristic film called Sight. Wow. Chilling.
- I know the kid would enjoy this (he’s down with dogs more than I am) - tonight it’s the annual Dog Parade in NE Minneapolis. It “winds through the neighborhood with dog-themed prizes, refreshments, & giveaways.” Maybe. The boyfriend would rather go see Dr. Dog in the main room. Meh-aybe.
- I’m more compelled by tomorrow night’s activities in North Minneapolis. Join The World’s Longest Soul Train! - “Obsidian Arts invites you and your organization to join the Minneapolis-Saint Paul community in its effort to break the Guinness World Record for the Longest Soul Train Line. On Saturday July 28, 2012 we will take over an eight-block stretch of West Broadway Avenue for this purpose.” Heck yeah.
- The weather is finally giving us another little breather (I’m even wearing socks today!) so it’s time to explore the newest patios in town. Here’s a nice round-up.
- Seems like autism is always in the news lately. Most recently? An io9.com story about “How Autism is Changing the World for Everybody” and locally about creating a future for autistic adults. That is particularly relevant to me, as my son is quickly becoming a young man.
Oh, I talked to my Dad the other day. He’s tickled that I’ve begun transcribing his dreams! And he has more to hand off to me. You can read what I’ve got so far over here, at Deep Thoughts With Werewolf Cop.
It’s been another busy week, at work and in my personal life. Monday night I caught about half of the Handmade Music performances at the Hack Factory, which was lovely. Tuesday I enjoyed guitarist Chris Forsyth’s set at Madame. Last night we visited with a friend who was in town to take the bar exam. And after stopped by Icehouse for Body Omara, with amazing guest vocalist Mankwe Ndosi. Tonight I plan to stay put. Home is good. With the kid and the cats. And in less than a week we take our trip to LaLa land. My brain is puzzling out logistics. Mostly related to camera equipment and carry on luggage.
Five fine things for this Thursday:
- Speaking of travel, this video - The (Secret) City of London Part 1: History - makes me want to get back to England asap and go exploring. Le sigh.
- Recently an acquaintance noticed that one of my photos is being used by This American Life, on the web page for one of their podcasts. I’ve had a long-term love affair with the show. The episodes make me laugh and cry and think. I consider it a pretty significant relationship, honestly. But TAL is branching out. They’ve made a movie! Called Sleepwalk With Me. And it’s not like the TV version of their radio show. It’s fiction. But the trailer was moving. Watch it here.
- Holy crap I love this short by Japanese animator Toru Hayai called Not Over, Til It’s Over, of a giant stuffed bear on an epic quest. Watch it.
- Formerly located on the West Bank of Minneapolis, Bedlam Theater has been homeless for a while now. But it looks like they’ve secured a space in St. Paul’s Lowertown. This is great news!
- ZOMG New Order to tour North America for the first time in seven years! But the closest they’re getting to Minneapolis is Chicago. Though it sounds like it might not be worth the road trip to see them without Peter Hook. Oh well.
Attention cat lovers! My wonderful friend Kjrsten rescued some stray cats (a mama cat and her two kittens) recently. She is having all three spayed or neutered soon. If any Twin Cities locals are interested in adopting, photos and more info here.
