Welcome to the world Calvin! I hope you like it here. We've been waiting for you and your arrival thrills so many of us. You change the world just by your presence.
____________________________________________________
I've been reading a book, written by a friend of mine, that has achieved a good deal of success. It is, quite frankly, scaring the crap out of me. I used to be able to read good horror fiction any time of the day or night. I can't pick up this book once the sun goes down. So I get through maybe three or four pages a day. It's good, in a very creepy way.
The coolest thing about this book, World War Z, by Max Brooks, pick it up literally anywhere books are sold, is that he gives me a little shout out in the book by mentioning Dax, my Dalmatian whom we had during my grad school days. I am tickled, thrilled, giggly and amused. Fantastic. Thanks man. You made my month.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Hi. Remember Me?
If any of you are out there, still checking in, I haven't disappeared completely. I actually have a couple of writing projects I'm working on and all my free time has gone there. The one I can talk about is a little bit of an article that's going to appear in Chesapeake Family Magazine in June. It's my first article so I'm a bit nervous, but excited too. Yeah me!
The other thing- well, I'm not ready to talk about it yet. It's going well though, and I'll speak more of it later this spring.
By the way, I saw Anne Lamott speak this past week. She read from her newest book and then took questions and just spoke. Teaghan's middle name is Annie- after her. She was lovely and funny and relaxed and listening to her was like sitting with an old friend. I could have sat and listened to her all night. I had never seen her live before and she was everything I could have hoped for. I was a little afraid to go see her, in case she wasn't as if I imagined her to be. But she was great.
So I'll see you all back here real soon. Hang in there with me. I'll try and poke my head in a little more often.
The other thing- well, I'm not ready to talk about it yet. It's going well though, and I'll speak more of it later this spring.
By the way, I saw Anne Lamott speak this past week. She read from her newest book and then took questions and just spoke. Teaghan's middle name is Annie- after her. She was lovely and funny and relaxed and listening to her was like sitting with an old friend. I could have sat and listened to her all night. I had never seen her live before and she was everything I could have hoped for. I was a little afraid to go see her, in case she wasn't as if I imagined her to be. But she was great.
So I'll see you all back here real soon. Hang in there with me. I'll try and poke my head in a little more often.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Blame It On The Chicks
I read this blog entry today over at Breed 'Em and Weep. It's like she crawled inside my brain and scraped out everything that's going on inside there. It's a veritable "Being Reg Malkovich." It hurt to read the rawness of the post and my visceral reaction was to cry and hyperventilate and feel outed and freed all at the same time. There is a small moment of healing when you realize that your silent pain, your moments of secret desperation are experienced down to the minute detail by others.
February was a hard month for me. I expect March will be similar.
If we talk and I'm hoarse, you can blame it on the Dixie Chicks.
February was a hard month for me. I expect March will be similar.
If we talk and I'm hoarse, you can blame it on the Dixie Chicks.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Oh The Places You'll Go
"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose...
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too...
You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure where you step.
Step with great care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left."
Happy Birthday Theodore!
And Erica!
And me.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose...
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too...
You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure where you step.
Step with great care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left."
Happy Birthday Theodore!
And Erica!
And me.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Shhhh...
No one's home- I have the place to myself. I'm supposed to be working. But I just had to share this story with you:
This morning, for reasons that I won't go into detail about, I put myself into a time out. For the record, I had not done anything wrong, but before I completely blew my cool, I thought I would step outside for a few minutes and breathe deeply. I headed down the stairs off my deck so I wouldn't see the two little pouting faces wondering where I was going without them and sat on the bottom step overlooking my yard and the field and woods behind our house.
In the five minutes that I sat there, I saw:
Four bright red male Cardinals
A party of five Blue Jays (so much cheerier than a murder of crows)
Various and sundry sparrows and chickadees
A Great Blue Heron flying overhead towards the river
Two Turkey Vultures soaring in the wind
A little Red Fox who has built a den in the scrub I think
And A sharp-shinned hawk who flew into the view, causing the jays to lose their minds. He sat in the tree watching the fox and then followed her closely in case she left some food behind somewhere.
I had a National Geographic special in my own backyard.
Ok I gotta get back to work.
This morning, for reasons that I won't go into detail about, I put myself into a time out. For the record, I had not done anything wrong, but before I completely blew my cool, I thought I would step outside for a few minutes and breathe deeply. I headed down the stairs off my deck so I wouldn't see the two little pouting faces wondering where I was going without them and sat on the bottom step overlooking my yard and the field and woods behind our house.
In the five minutes that I sat there, I saw:
Four bright red male Cardinals
A party of five Blue Jays (so much cheerier than a murder of crows)
Various and sundry sparrows and chickadees
A Great Blue Heron flying overhead towards the river
Two Turkey Vultures soaring in the wind
A little Red Fox who has built a den in the scrub I think
And A sharp-shinned hawk who flew into the view, causing the jays to lose their minds. He sat in the tree watching the fox and then followed her closely in case she left some food behind somewhere.
I had a National Geographic special in my own backyard.
Ok I gotta get back to work.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Lend Me A Tenor
Apparently, this is old news (circa 1993) but this is the first time I've read this:
Scientists have determined that Black Holes sing in the key of B flat.
57 Octaves below Middle C.
You can return to your life now.
Scientists have determined that Black Holes sing in the key of B flat.
57 Octaves below Middle C.
You can return to your life now.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Excuse me, there's a dinosaur in my soup
Over the past few days, a baby pterodactyl has moved into our house. She spends her days shadowing me, following close behind with her little, stompy, lilting gate, wings dragging behind her, shrieking her non-verbal demands. It’s not that she’s particularly upset- although the shrieks do get louder as her frustration level increases; it’s just that delightful stage of toddlerhood where they recognize that they can actually manipulate the world around them through verbal communication. Of course it has now backfired on her. On the first day, I would come running every time the shrieking started because I was sure she had somehow managed to climb her way onto the kitchen counter and cut off her own toes with a knife. Now, as she stands on a stool announcing herself and pronouncing whatever point she is trying to make over and over again, I just go about my day. When she feels like she has said enough, she gets down off the stool and follows me around again until some new thought occurs to her and the shrieking begins anew. If it weren’t for the sheer continual repetition of the noise, she is actually quite adorable as far as baby pterodactyls go.
She sounds a little like this.
Pickle had a very short pterodactyl phase if I remember correctly- maybe a couple of days. I don’t think that’s going to be the case with the Pepper.
Pickles and Peppers are not the same vegetable.
Pickle was a very laid-back, take in the world kind of kid. She was, and still is, extremely cautious about new situations. It takes her about twenty minutes to warm up to anything new at all – once she does, she heads into it full of confidence and understanding. And although you’d never know it now by the fact that her personal volume is set at eleven, she’s actually quite sensitive to noise and stimulation.
Pepper on the other hand is very, very busy. She is total kinetic energy. She moves and climbs and dances and flops and falls and runs and twirls through her day. She acts first then thinks about her plan if it doesn’t work. She is the physical manifestation of impulse. Pepper thrives on activity and noise.
The real issue, besides the non-stop splitting headache, is that it makes any contact with the outside world a little shaky. People at the grocery store come whipping around the corner into my aisle, relieved to see that I am not actually repeatedly running over my daughter with my grocery cart. And I can tell the moms who’ve been there. When they see me, they have the telltale “I’ve been there. Boy am I glad that phase is over” smile on their faces. And of course, it’s virtually impossible to make any sort of phone calls. No one quite believes me when they hear her and I explain that she isn’t in distress. To be fair, it does sound as if a snapping turtle has her by the leg as she is trying to take flight. But really, there’s nothing wrong. She’s just testing and enjoying the power of her own voice- and as much as I can stand it, I’m inclined to let her figure out that her voice is a powerful tool. She’ll need to know that later on in life. So if I owe you a phone call, remember, it’s not you, it’s me.
She sounds a little like this.
Pickle had a very short pterodactyl phase if I remember correctly- maybe a couple of days. I don’t think that’s going to be the case with the Pepper.
Pickles and Peppers are not the same vegetable.
Pickle was a very laid-back, take in the world kind of kid. She was, and still is, extremely cautious about new situations. It takes her about twenty minutes to warm up to anything new at all – once she does, she heads into it full of confidence and understanding. And although you’d never know it now by the fact that her personal volume is set at eleven, she’s actually quite sensitive to noise and stimulation.
Pepper on the other hand is very, very busy. She is total kinetic energy. She moves and climbs and dances and flops and falls and runs and twirls through her day. She acts first then thinks about her plan if it doesn’t work. She is the physical manifestation of impulse. Pepper thrives on activity and noise.
The real issue, besides the non-stop splitting headache, is that it makes any contact with the outside world a little shaky. People at the grocery store come whipping around the corner into my aisle, relieved to see that I am not actually repeatedly running over my daughter with my grocery cart. And I can tell the moms who’ve been there. When they see me, they have the telltale “I’ve been there. Boy am I glad that phase is over” smile on their faces. And of course, it’s virtually impossible to make any sort of phone calls. No one quite believes me when they hear her and I explain that she isn’t in distress. To be fair, it does sound as if a snapping turtle has her by the leg as she is trying to take flight. But really, there’s nothing wrong. She’s just testing and enjoying the power of her own voice- and as much as I can stand it, I’m inclined to let her figure out that her voice is a powerful tool. She’ll need to know that later on in life. So if I owe you a phone call, remember, it’s not you, it’s me.
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