We got up at 1:30 am to watch the eclipse. It was really cold out! We mostly stayed in, just going out to check every 10 or 15 minutes. We watched until it reached totality, around 3am, then went back to bed because we had to get back up at 7 to go for kidlet's eye appt. We're POOPED today. But it was cool. He and his older brother are so different. I tried the staying up late or getting up in the middle of the night thing with older son a few times, when he was young, and it never worked - he just couldn't be woken up or stay up and stay happy - he'd be so cranky, everyone would be miserable along with him. I think he's grown out of that. :) Kidlet is just ridiculously cheerful - even when I went in at 1:30, I just started talking to him about the moon, and he half woke up and said "loon", which was a reference to the book he just read, Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. It was fun - we chatted and read our books and cruised TV a bit - found a documentary on South Africa and talked apartheid at 2 in the morning.
The cat thought we were crazy.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
Every morning my new espresso maker reenacts the first line of Gravity's Rainbow. I may need ear protection.
Watched Notes on a Scandal last night with the Ws. A thoroughly depressing movie about despicable behavior. I wouldn't mind such a terrible depiction of an older woman if there were more positive images in the general media. Instead of invisibility or caricature.
The Ws have 4 cats now. They also have a rope pull for the doorbell. One of the cats has learned to pull the rope and ring the bell when he wants to come in. He's polite about it, he just rings once and waits patiently. I bet they could teach him to use the toilet, he'd enjoy the flushing.
I'm working on figuring out how to teach Kidlet about electricity, enough so he can start making some of the things he sees in Make. Which means I have to learn myself. The learning tools and books are frustrating - the kits sometimes have "black boxes" where miracles occur, but we certainly don't know what they are. Or they have you connect A to B, but don't explain what A and B are. The books are either too simplistic, or they assume you are starting from farther along than we are. I think I'm going to try to put some things together that take you along the learning curve with small projects that illustrate the concepts. People I've talked to seem to have learned this stuff from their dads, enough to get them started in that circular learning process, where you go forward and then go back and the earlier stuff makes more sense. I find the whole concept of electricity so bizarre, it's hard to think about it. The key is for me to let go of wanting to understand what it really IS, and learn about how it behaves. I got stuck like that with light a while back - is it a wave, or a particle? Part of me wants to know before I can learn more. One of those things that is basically un-understandable, really.
Watched Notes on a Scandal last night with the Ws. A thoroughly depressing movie about despicable behavior. I wouldn't mind such a terrible depiction of an older woman if there were more positive images in the general media. Instead of invisibility or caricature.
The Ws have 4 cats now. They also have a rope pull for the doorbell. One of the cats has learned to pull the rope and ring the bell when he wants to come in. He's polite about it, he just rings once and waits patiently. I bet they could teach him to use the toilet, he'd enjoy the flushing.
I'm working on figuring out how to teach Kidlet about electricity, enough so he can start making some of the things he sees in Make. Which means I have to learn myself. The learning tools and books are frustrating - the kits sometimes have "black boxes" where miracles occur, but we certainly don't know what they are. Or they have you connect A to B, but don't explain what A and B are. The books are either too simplistic, or they assume you are starting from farther along than we are. I think I'm going to try to put some things together that take you along the learning curve with small projects that illustrate the concepts. People I've talked to seem to have learned this stuff from their dads, enough to get them started in that circular learning process, where you go forward and then go back and the earlier stuff makes more sense. I find the whole concept of electricity so bizarre, it's hard to think about it. The key is for me to let go of wanting to understand what it really IS, and learn about how it behaves. I got stuck like that with light a while back - is it a wave, or a particle? Part of me wants to know before I can learn more. One of those things that is basically un-understandable, really.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
I've not been keeping up with this blog very well. Busy life, but not a lot going on that's very interesting. Kid health issues lately, and cat health issues, and I'm working like mad - working on wrapping up a long term contract and keeping up my freelance contacts (which are MUCH more fun).
We watched Tideland last night. It's a wonderful, disturbing movie. The interviews with Gilliam were interesting. He was bemoaning the fact that we're all so concerned about pedophilia, seeing the world as such a dangerous place for our children. He seemed kind of naive about it to me. I think part of the current concern about it comes from our exposure to the underside of people through the internet - in the past, our neighbor's thoughts were kept to themselves - now we have the shock of finding out what some of them are thinking, and it wasn't what we expected.
We watched Tideland last night. It's a wonderful, disturbing movie. The interviews with Gilliam were interesting. He was bemoaning the fact that we're all so concerned about pedophilia, seeing the world as such a dangerous place for our children. He seemed kind of naive about it to me. I think part of the current concern about it comes from our exposure to the underside of people through the internet - in the past, our neighbor's thoughts were kept to themselves - now we have the shock of finding out what some of them are thinking, and it wasn't what we expected.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Wonderful maths
For 3 months next year, I will be twice the age of my older son, and he will be twice the age of my younger son. That is so cool. :)
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Parsons Dance Company
We saw Parsons Dance Company tonight - they did the most amazine piece, Caught, with music by Robert Fripp. It was all one dancer - they used strobe lights to catch moments of the dance, perfectly timed - he would be here, then there, then there - beautiful leaps, bouncing around the stage, with the lights catching him so he looked like he was moving around the whole stage in mid-air, never touching the ground. Amazing timing, amazing music.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Happy Valentine's Day
Amazon has a list of Bad Valentine's Day gifts, but I covet many of them. Bad is obviously in the eye of the beholder.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/gift-central/gift-guides/rc/R1I2DZ5AIZKU9C/ref=amb_link_4290972_5/102-7283051-9595332
Praying mantid egg cases? Zombie fangs??? *swoons*
http://www.amazon.com/gp/gift-central/gift-guides/rc/R1I2DZ5AIZKU9C/ref=amb_link_4290972_5/102-7283051-9595332
Praying mantid egg cases? Zombie fangs??? *swoons*
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
Recycling - Wicked
I’ve been re-reading Wicked, by Gregory Maguire. He recently wrote a sequel. I do have to confess to a book addiction – I’d rather read than do just about anything else. I’m not much of a shopper or a clothes horse, but I have to be careful in the bookstore or on Amazon. I really wish I could figure out how to read and knit at the same time – but I can only knit and watch TV, not read. And sometimes only knit, if it’s complicated. Can’t listen to music and work, which is horrifying.
Anyway, Wicked. I read it years ago, and wanted to remind myself of the original story before I read the sequel. Maguire has retold a number of old tales, and I’m so charmed by his writing. Wicked is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. He has a totally different take on the story than the movie does – he imagined a real world, not a light fantasy. It’s really a dense book, with politics, tyranny, revolution, class issues, parenting, good and evil, self-doubt, beauty, corruption, ambition, prejudice, religious fundamentalism, sin, forgiveness. There is a sad feeling throughout the whole thing because, of course, we know how it will all end. I think Maguire must have read a lot of the Oz books and created a whole concordance for himself before he wrote this one – it’s very rich and wonderful. Not a light read, really, but you can get lost in it. He’s one of my favorite writers – he’s written some really delightful books for kids, too.
Anyway, Wicked. I read it years ago, and wanted to remind myself of the original story before I read the sequel. Maguire has retold a number of old tales, and I’m so charmed by his writing. Wicked is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. He has a totally different take on the story than the movie does – he imagined a real world, not a light fantasy. It’s really a dense book, with politics, tyranny, revolution, class issues, parenting, good and evil, self-doubt, beauty, corruption, ambition, prejudice, religious fundamentalism, sin, forgiveness. There is a sad feeling throughout the whole thing because, of course, we know how it will all end. I think Maguire must have read a lot of the Oz books and created a whole concordance for himself before he wrote this one – it’s very rich and wonderful. Not a light read, really, but you can get lost in it. He’s one of my favorite writers – he’s written some really delightful books for kids, too.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Recycling - Teflon
I'm going to throw up a couple of my old posts that have held up, just to keep myself amused.
I just read something about Dale Hauk yarn. I find the idea of it mystifying. Not even addressing the idea of calling a yarn by a name that sounds like that when you attempt to pronounce it, why would someone put Teflon on yarn??? Has anyone ever felt this stuff? What does it feel like? I imagine it to be kind of weirdly greasy feeling – not the lanolin greasy feeling, but – just ew. Why Teflon on yarn? Why not Gore-Tex? Oh! Guess what! Gore-Tex IS Teflon.
The really weird synchronicity (there’s an ear worm for you) part of this, is that Kidlet and I just got a book called They All Laughed . . ., by Ira Flatow, lately of NPR fame. You might remember him from a PBS show called Newton’s Apple. This book is about inventions, and the first section we read was about – yep, Teflon. Teflon was one of those lucky accident type of inventions – in 1938, Roy Plunkett and Jack Rebok (aren’t those great names?) were trying to come up with a non-toxic refrigerant. They had mixed up a batch of Freon gas, and when they opened the canister, nothing came out. But the canister still weighed the same as it would if it were full of Freon. When they cut open the canister, it contained a white powder – after they messed with it for a while, they figured out it was the slipperiest stuff on earth. It was a military secret until 1948 – they used it to make gaskets for nuclear bombs. The name came from the chemists’ nickname for tetrafluoroethyline (Freon), which was tef, combined with Du Pont’s favorite suffix, lon. (Ny-lon, Or-lon – if it’s something totally unnatural that ends in lon, it’s probably made by Du Pont) It was used for lots of stuff, but fast-forwarding to 1957, Du Pont lost interest in it, and Wilbert Gore, with his son Bill, figured out how to make a fabric out of it, and Gore-Tex was born. So there’s your science for the day.
I just read something about Dale Hauk yarn. I find the idea of it mystifying. Not even addressing the idea of calling a yarn by a name that sounds like that when you attempt to pronounce it, why would someone put Teflon on yarn??? Has anyone ever felt this stuff? What does it feel like? I imagine it to be kind of weirdly greasy feeling – not the lanolin greasy feeling, but – just ew. Why Teflon on yarn? Why not Gore-Tex? Oh! Guess what! Gore-Tex IS Teflon.
The really weird synchronicity (there’s an ear worm for you) part of this, is that Kidlet and I just got a book called They All Laughed . . ., by Ira Flatow, lately of NPR fame. You might remember him from a PBS show called Newton’s Apple. This book is about inventions, and the first section we read was about – yep, Teflon. Teflon was one of those lucky accident type of inventions – in 1938, Roy Plunkett and Jack Rebok (aren’t those great names?) were trying to come up with a non-toxic refrigerant. They had mixed up a batch of Freon gas, and when they opened the canister, nothing came out. But the canister still weighed the same as it would if it were full of Freon. When they cut open the canister, it contained a white powder – after they messed with it for a while, they figured out it was the slipperiest stuff on earth. It was a military secret until 1948 – they used it to make gaskets for nuclear bombs. The name came from the chemists’ nickname for tetrafluoroethyline (Freon), which was tef, combined with Du Pont’s favorite suffix, lon. (Ny-lon, Or-lon – if it’s something totally unnatural that ends in lon, it’s probably made by Du Pont) It was used for lots of stuff, but fast-forwarding to 1957, Du Pont lost interest in it, and Wilbert Gore, with his son Bill, figured out how to make a fabric out of it, and Gore-Tex was born. So there’s your science for the day.
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