Saying yes...

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And that's why they pay him the big bucks

Gov Sanford! Stop reading from you Hello Kitty diary!!

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Sculpted by the Seasons

I grew up loving winter, loving bountiful snow, which is a good thing considering I grew up in an area referred to as "The Buckle on the Snowbelt". When the first big snow would fall, usually in early November, I would be giddy with delight. My mother would respond with, "Wait until you have kids... and places to drive." I didn't think that would harsh my snow-mellow and until last year, it didn't.

Last winter was harsh on an existential level. It was one of those that grabbed hold of your vulnerable spots, made you drop to your knees and cry, "UNCLE!!!" I don't even think I realized how bad it was until we moved into a truly miserable spring and there was no mental reserve left, just raw nerves and angst.

It was with these memories so fresh in my mind, that we moved into yet another cold, unyielding season. The snow has been overly-generous, the cold, cold enough to remind you that most of what we call, cold, is really not cold at all. The fluctuations we've experienced are wide enough to remind you that we're all walking on the edge of bipolar, weather included. But even for all of this ratcheting up, this winter has not been as dark as last winter. This winter has instead been a curiosity, inviting my observing eyes and my sense of intrigue. Yes, there have been highs and lows, but lows are tolerable.... as long as you don't have to stay there.

This morning, as I was returning from driving Grizzled to the train, I was amazed at what was going on outside. It's snowing like mad, the temperature is plummeting and I felt very in tune with it and was thinking I was thankful, in some odd way, that it was here. I've never wanted to live in a 2 season place for two long. There are days in March that this sounds attractive, oh hell, I usually hate March all together, but for the majority of the time, I love the changes and the extremes a season can bring... even gray, damp, chilly March. I would be a more boring person if my personality were only defined by summer. I would be more insane if my personality were only defined by winter. I like the fact that I'm being formed by them all. I'm also thankful that during this winter, I am able to take the ride it's offering and not be swept away to scary places by its undertow.

What?? Snacktator's not good enough for G-Rod???

Snackie is miffed. Snackie is perplexed. Here he is, the most powerful snack cake in the world and yet did he get a call from Blagojevich?? Was he offered a Senate seat?? Hellz no! Maybe Snackie doesn't have enough hair... Maybe G-Rod forgot that it's Snackie's world and he just lives in it. That's ok. Snackie will continue to rule while G-Rod gives up thoughts of the White House and moves into the big house.

Baby Showers, Books, and Blackouts

As most people know, Brando and TLB are expecting TBD in a mere matter of weeks... we're in the midst of trying to nail down a time for a blog baby shower. I'll post as soon as a mutual time is decided upon. I've got a fair amount of responses, but no time has been settled on as of yet, so if you want to weigh in, now is the time to do it.

We've been hit with intense storms which are not only causing sporadic blackouts, but are also messing with my already feeble computer. Blogging could become even more random than it's been. A new computer is waiting in the wings, but we need to salvage numerous things from this one before putting it out to pasture. Unfortunately, this one is not recognizing out f-drive where all things were stored for safe keeping currently reside.

One thing that I did manage to save and retrieve was a post I had started last week... I'm putting it up now in unedited form for fear that if I take the time to edit, we'll have another blackout and it will be lost... Without further ado and without further editing or blackouts, here it is.

My eldest lamblet asked me not to long ago if she could read To Kill a Mockingbird. She had spied my copy on the shelf and said she had heard about it and was curious. My initial answer was a yes, she’s a mature reader. I then caught myself and had to think back to exactly what went on… even if you’re a mature reader, you’re not always ready for everything. I finally said it was ok.  It got me thinking though, I was definitely NOT asking my parents what I could read at this age (my eldest lamblet just finished the 6^th grade). I recall reading select parts of the Godfather at her age. I usually read pretty safe stuff, but there were also 4 children who came before me and 2 parents who were all leaving their reading material around. I read what I wanted… which leads me to ask, why is she asking? I’m not a very controlling parent. I am concerned with kids getting too much too soon, but also realize that finding out the ways of the world from a good book is a very good way to expand ones view.

So… why did she ask? I often know what she’s reading since I walk past her as she’s reading and see it, or I ask her what she’s reading or I have to help her locate the book, but I can’t think of one time when I said no to what she had. The only time I checked (aside from this) on the appropriateness of a book was when she was reading a series and her teacher had said to the class that they may want to wait a year or so before reading the 3^rd installment. I emailed the teacher to see what the worry was about and to ask if reading it with my lamblet would be ok (she really liked the series and wanted to read the 3^rd book). The teacher said it would be no problem for the lamblet so I still don’t know what the issue was.

My youngest daughter will probably not ask so maybe it’s just a personality thing. My eldest lamblet is much more of a rule-follower. Or course my youngest lamblet probably won’t give a hoot about what books are about. Getting her to read it would be like asking her to sit still. I fear that with her I’ll be saying no to other activities like driving a vehicle before she hits double digits or deciding since the garage roof is flat, it would be a nice place to hang out.

But back to the reading selection du jour… my eldest lamblet was about 30 pages in when she said, “What a cool book!” She’s right. I can’t remember all of it I’m ashamed to say. I haven’t read it in nearly 30 years, but I do remember plowing through it. I remember where I was sitting and remember reading it in one day. One of the reasons I read it in one day was because I had to read it for Lit class and had put it off. The other reason was that I didn’t want to put it down.

Even if I re-read the book and got more from it than I did the first time, I’ll never read it the same way again. I’m feeling almost envious of all the books the lamblet has to discover. I’ve re-read many favorites over the years and have found that time and experience has added to my appreciation, but still, there’s nothing like the first time with permission or without.

 Ah yes, as if on cue... more thunder...

I felt the earth move...

... and it wasn't due to Grizzled. A little after 4:30 this morning, I heard the apothecary jar where he keeps his spare change, start to rattle. I also heard the floorboards start to creak. I thought he had gotten up, but no, he was lying beside me. He was awake and had heard the glass lid on his change jar rattling as well. I then thought it was one of our daughters coming in after a bad dream. I called out, nope, no child. I then thought it was the dog, but that was when the dog came bursting into the room as though something had pinched his behind.

Of course the thought of burglars is never far from my paranoid mind, but the dog wasn't barking. The items on the top of the dresser stopped shaking, the floor stopped creaking and the dog plopped down. I put it out of my mind and went back to sleep. About 90 minutes later, Grizzled woke me up to tell me the cause of the rumbling. It was one of those rare Midwestern earthquakes. The New Madrid fault was making some adjustments. The real action happened downstate where they experienced a 5.4 earthquake.

BG and BP- they said it could be felt in portions of Ohio and Wisconsin as well? Did your earth move this morning?

Certain things just shouldn't be dissected

Grizzled, the lamblets and I went to see the Homer/Hopper exhibit yesterday. I have been waiting for this for almost a year. While I respect and love Homer, Hopper was the part of the duo that had me all in a tizzy. I was going to see Hopper upon Hopper upon Hopper all in one small area.

The exhibit started off with Homer. I knew it would. Homer was going to be the vegetable you needed to eat before you got to the dessert. Homer's portion of the exhibit consisted mainly of watercolors. They were fabulous, they were breathtaking, there were many. I really tried to give them my full focus, but was fully conscious of the Hopper carrot that was dangling at the end of the stick. I wanted that carrot. Still, the Homer exhibit was enlightening. I knew some about Homer, but there was still plenty left to glean. There were some oils interspersed with the watercolors and seeing The Herring Net is always a treat. I tried to keep my mind where I was, tried to not get ahead of myself and take it all in... but still... a bounty of Hoppers was a mere room away.

In between the Homer and Hopper exhibits was a vestibule where you could take a break and cleanse your visual palate so to speak. The lamblets wanted to sit on the benches for a bit. Grizzled wanted to check in with work. He had taken the day off, but it was a crazed day and his office was slightly understaffed. I didn't want to wait... I could see the self-portraits of Hopper peaking out through the entryway, but I paced. I looked at the large blow-ups of Hopper and his studio and I waited.

After what seemed like an eternity, I couldn't stand it anymore. I said they could catch up with me, but damn it, I was going in! The entry was filled with many Hopper watercolors, but by the time I hit the first oil done in classic Hopper colors, I was a goner. I did not read anything, having read most of this before. I rarely looked at the titles, having known those too. I merely stood before them and took them in.

I am one of those people who loves Hopper. I know he is far from the best, I know many consider him trite, but there is something in his work that for me, transcends all of that and here I was, standing in the middle of room after room of works I had only seen before on the printed page. Nothing can top seeing an oil painting in person and then to see so many of them. I was speechless. I did not want to talk. I did not want to dissect. I did not care about the method. I just wanted to soak them in. It was an unending display of famous Hopper after famous Hopper... when walking into one room that held 4 of my favorites right next to each other, I gasped. Grizzled asked me what was up and I said I felt like I was watching the finale of a fireworks show, one huge display followed by another followed by another. It was heaven and my insides were singing. I could have stayed there all day. Ideally, I would have been able to stay all night as well with no other people milling about. Frankly, I was surprised there was so much milling. I felt frozen on the outside while my insides were buzzing. It was that beautiful and elusive combo of feeling completely still while also feeling incredibly alive and alert... but I really don't want to dissect it. I just want it to be what it is and what it is, is fabulous.

If anyone is a Hopper fan, I highly suggest seeing trying to see this exhibit as it tours.

Project Runway finale

You know you want to be there, you know you can't stay away. You know you want to see who wins the fight to the finish. Project Runway live-blogging ends tonight over at newcritics.

Thank you, Claire for getting a post up. I had planned on doing it earlier, but my old ladies keep arriving at class earlier and leaving later. They thought I was worried about my lamblets getting home before me. Little did they know there was live-blogging prep to tend to!!!

Yes, come hell or high kilowatt rates, live-blogging will come to a tension-filled end this evening.

Thar be whales!

I had the nice surprise of being able to spend my morning with one of my nieces. I got to see her at work. The Today Show was doing a remote broadcast from the Georgia Aquarium where my lovely niece is a whale biologist. My niece is on the left. That's Meredith Vieira on the right and that's either Nico or Maris in the water.

I was able to see my niece in person and in action on the opening day of the aquarium. It was awesome seeing her dive. It was wonderful to watch her interact with the whales. They love her. Who wouldn't??

I'm also amazed at how fearless she is around these huge yet gentle creatures. She's also seems fearless when she dives. She had the privilege of going to Taiwan when the aquarium acquired more whale sharks. (The sharks were taken out of the allotment that the Taiwanese normally use for human consumption.) She talked about how awesome it was being in the ocean with these gentle creatures as well.

Yes, I am amazed. I still so vividly remember the little girl who would run at the sight of a small lizard. Come to think of it, she still runs at the sight of a small lizard, but whales are a different story.

It was nice spending the morning with you, E! Your aunt is proud (she's proud of all of her nieces and nephews). More important, your aunt is so very happy you're doing what you love. Of course, your aunt would be happier if you did what you loved closer to her....

I voted for women

Blue Girl has an interesting post up today. She starts it off in her usual funny manner, but ultimately she reveals her serious point. There is a woman running for the office of President of the United States. A woman who, love her or hate her, has a very strong chance of becoming President. That is amazing. It is a truly historic moment and yet instead of focusing on this, the mainstream media is focusing on her baggage, whether real or imagined.

Yesterday, when in the voting booth, I did what I thought I'd never do. I voted with a gut reflex. I did the very thing I chided the soccer moms for doing. I'd like to console myself that what I did was more important. I did not vote out of fear, I voted because for once in my lifetime, there is a serious female contender for President.

When my oldest daughter was 5, someone gave her a book of American Presidents. She loved history from an early age and was enjoying the book. After leafing through a few times she asked me where the section was that had the women!?! We had a long chat, as long as you can have with a 5 yr-old, about rights hard won.

I am amazed that more people are not amazed that we are at such a momentous point in history.  Maybe it's because there are so many younger people who never knew a woman who was alive at a time when she couldn't vote. I'd like to think it is because we are so evolved that the fact that woman is running doesn't matter, but I know better. This is a momentous occasion and brushing it off as us being so beyond that is bullshit.

When at the booth yesterday, I had to pick the woman.