So I took M to the lecture! What a great time, what a wonderful experience! He got to meet , talk to and get his book signed by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I was so proud of him. He was not shy about going up and getting the book signed and asking him a question. He asked him about the shape of the universe of course . He is still talking about the lecture every day and how happy he is to have met a famous astrophysicist. This made a very strong impact on him , you can tell by the way he brings it up at random times. It was just really important to the little guy and Tyson , I can't say this enough, but I think that he is a wonderful role model for young people. Anyway.
M is doing well w/ school. He is working on Latin and Greek roots and his math. We are also doing much more geography and he is enjoying that.
Also we have started to read Moby Dick! I am reading the real version and I read him an abridged antique version at night. It is quite a nice version and really doesn't leave much out as far as depth and the poetic nature of the writing remains at least, partially, intact. But being abridged it is far easier for him to recall and follow along. His favorite character thus far is Queequeg. Just two days ago I was laying down with the regular book clutched against my chest when M comes up and takes it , saying : "Me Steal-ee Book-eee". I almost died laughing haha.
As for the real version , I have to say I am thoroughly ashamed that I am 25 and this is the first time I am reading this absolute genius of a novel. I keep a pencil on hand to underline and highlight all the memorable poetic lines which it is so full of , that when I am done I will probably end up with a pile of graphite instead of a book!!! But it's genius, pure genius. Anyone that has not read it I encourage you to pick it up now.
Well I should stop this entry seeing as how I need to get up for Soccer early w/ M. But I will update again soon and probably ramble more about Moby Dick. The. Greatest. Book. Ever.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
The books....Did not come
Soooooooooooooooooooo....The company apparently halted shipping for two weeks. I suspect this was just to annoy me. I REALLY wanted those books sooner rather than later .
I am just elated that the holidays are over. Not that they weren't fun but it gets disruptive after a while . All these things to do and people to visit and gifts to buy. Enough was enough.
So we are slowly getting back to our routine.
We are going to go see Neil DeGrasse Tyson in February in NYC . It will be M's first science lecture. I think he will really enjoy the topics. Space and black holes are something that he is really interested in, on top of that he knows Tyson from watching NOVA on PBS so it will be familiar and enjoyable for him I think.
Well I am tired and will keep it short. That is all from here...for now...
I am just elated that the holidays are over. Not that they weren't fun but it gets disruptive after a while . All these things to do and people to visit and gifts to buy. Enough was enough.
So we are slowly getting back to our routine.
We are going to go see Neil DeGrasse Tyson in February in NYC . It will be M's first science lecture. I think he will really enjoy the topics. Space and black holes are something that he is really interested in, on top of that he knows Tyson from watching NOVA on PBS so it will be familiar and enjoyable for him I think.
Well I am tired and will keep it short. That is all from here...for now...
Thursday, December 21, 2006
The Books are coming the Books are Coming!!!!
Tomorrow our new school books arrive. M knows this. But I asked him " M a package comes tomorrow with our books , do you want them tomorrow or for Christmas? He said " Hmmm, I want my math book on Christmas, I want a fresh new book , all clean that I can write in " . So cute. I think I am just going to go ahead and wrap that one and the book on the atom but the rest I am going to get into tomorrow.
We are getting a science book and a Latin book as well as one on ancient history. As far as toys. I think he is going to like what he is getting. He is getting Dread Pirate the board game, a Chia pet, Huge amount of Lord Of the Rings action figures, a remote control car, A Dali print(for Russian Christmas) and I am going to try and pick up the Cybertron Transformer for him this week. He isn't getting a lot but I think he is getting some nice things that he will really get enjoyment from.
I told him this year we weren't getting bunches of things but that they would be all the things that he asked for.
We got a tree the other night. It is nice. M literally adores it so I am just so glad it makes him happy.The funniest thing...We have a gandalf figurine on it as well as a Star Trek enterprise figurine. Nerds much ...Yes much....
We are getting a science book and a Latin book as well as one on ancient history. As far as toys. I think he is going to like what he is getting. He is getting Dread Pirate the board game, a Chia pet, Huge amount of Lord Of the Rings action figures, a remote control car, A Dali print(for Russian Christmas) and I am going to try and pick up the Cybertron Transformer for him this week. He isn't getting a lot but I think he is getting some nice things that he will really get enjoyment from.
I told him this year we weren't getting bunches of things but that they would be all the things that he asked for.
We got a tree the other night. It is nice. M literally adores it so I am just so glad it makes him happy.The funniest thing...We have a gandalf figurine on it as well as a Star Trek enterprise figurine. Nerds much ...Yes much....
Monday, December 11, 2006
Culinary Failure.....
These week , I am going to come right out and say it....This week my desserts have been awful. The pumpkin pie, I left the foil on the edge of the crust too long and it didn't brown properly, My sweet yeast bread cinnamon Buns.FAILURE. I don't know where I failed there because these are fail proof buns but I failed. It was terrible. They just weren't quite ''right''
The squirrels even snubbed them this morning. But my hunger for desserts prevails. Ok I did succeed with one thing this week and that was a meat loaf recipe that came out so surprisingly well my son said that he LOVED it and wanted me to make it ALL the time:) I made it with Whole Wheat Nut Bread instead of bread crumbs and I also made my own Barbecue sauce for it. Whatever it was it did the trick.
Ok back to desserts! So I am guilty. I went out tonight and got boxed Carrot cake and pre-made frosting. I am going to mix the Dunkin Hines Frosting with a half a package of cream cheese because the pre-made Cream Cheese Frosting never tastes like homemade with the tang of the cream cheese. I don't know why that is but I am going to try throwing the cream cheese in with it to see how that goes.
So I am ashamed of my boxed cake but I won't be ashamed to scarf down a labor free Carrot Cake with loads of frosting.
I just don't know why my desserts are failures lately. Actually I know. It is always some little thing. I gave my pie away. It is edible. Someone else might even say it was good , but it just wasn't good *enough.
So out of sweet tooth desperation I have resorted , this week anyway , to boxed cake.
But next week I return....Martha Stewart's Cream Cheese Pound Cake is going to be my birthday cake. I'm making it...I don't care...It is some good cake. Seriously good cake.
The squirrels even snubbed them this morning. But my hunger for desserts prevails. Ok I did succeed with one thing this week and that was a meat loaf recipe that came out so surprisingly well my son said that he LOVED it and wanted me to make it ALL the time:) I made it with Whole Wheat Nut Bread instead of bread crumbs and I also made my own Barbecue sauce for it. Whatever it was it did the trick.
Ok back to desserts! So I am guilty. I went out tonight and got boxed Carrot cake and pre-made frosting. I am going to mix the Dunkin Hines Frosting with a half a package of cream cheese because the pre-made Cream Cheese Frosting never tastes like homemade with the tang of the cream cheese. I don't know why that is but I am going to try throwing the cream cheese in with it to see how that goes.
So I am ashamed of my boxed cake but I won't be ashamed to scarf down a labor free Carrot Cake with loads of frosting.
I just don't know why my desserts are failures lately. Actually I know. It is always some little thing. I gave my pie away. It is edible. Someone else might even say it was good , but it just wasn't good *enough.
So out of sweet tooth desperation I have resorted , this week anyway , to boxed cake.
But next week I return....Martha Stewart's Cream Cheese Pound Cake is going to be my birthday cake. I'm making it...I don't care...It is some good cake. Seriously good cake.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Local Violence
So the day after the trip to New York I woke up in the middle of the night and proceeded to go downstairs for some soup. My grandmother was up. This is not unusual. I run into her occasionally on my kitchen midnight snack raids.
We got to talking about a town commotion I had heard a rumor about earlier in the evening.
I find out from her that near by a mother of a 6 year old girl had been killed by an abusive , and estranged ex-husband. Chills up my spine. The latter part was not yet known by me. All I knew was that a mother had been killed.
I think it's normal in these days of constant fear to think of yourself in a similar position. As a woman what would happen if I or anyone of my ''sisters'' was subject to a random act of violence.
I do not have an abusive ex husband but still. Before I knew the issue had been domestic I opted not to go out with my son to the library that day. Even after I found out it was domestic and not a stranger who had killed this woman I still opted not to go out. It felt to near to my heart. I also considered the size of the town and that undoubtably I had probably seen this woman and her child , maybe walking or talking, maybe at some function but I didn't know her .
The more I found out, the more I was troubled. She worked at the school near by, and even though a restraining order was in effect , her husband still had visitation rights with the daughter. A fact that I just found out today. A fact that made me sick to my stomach. The woman dropped her daughter off twice a week at the children's room in the library so this man could collect the child. I thought about the way that woman must have felt having a court order to do this, while knowing this man was unstable. And I can't help but wonder about her last moments as a victim of this monster and the mental anguish of her final hour.
It has just disturbed me deeply. Knowing that I have crossed the path of this woman in the past and that we shared a common thread of motherhood. My brain frequently considers the plight of a family sharing custody of a child. Some negotiations and plans are done amicably and without fear. think that this is wonderful. But of course then you have situations like the above (which I am not claiming to know all the details ), but where a woman is forced to share custody with someone who has a criminal and troubled recent past.
How many alarms go off in these woman's minds. How many courts won't allow woman to flee at the sounds of these alarms due to a ''custody negotiation''. I don't have an answer to that. But I know the answer is probably too many.
We got to talking about a town commotion I had heard a rumor about earlier in the evening.
I find out from her that near by a mother of a 6 year old girl had been killed by an abusive , and estranged ex-husband. Chills up my spine. The latter part was not yet known by me. All I knew was that a mother had been killed.
I think it's normal in these days of constant fear to think of yourself in a similar position. As a woman what would happen if I or anyone of my ''sisters'' was subject to a random act of violence.
I do not have an abusive ex husband but still. Before I knew the issue had been domestic I opted not to go out with my son to the library that day. Even after I found out it was domestic and not a stranger who had killed this woman I still opted not to go out. It felt to near to my heart. I also considered the size of the town and that undoubtably I had probably seen this woman and her child , maybe walking or talking, maybe at some function but I didn't know her .
The more I found out, the more I was troubled. She worked at the school near by, and even though a restraining order was in effect , her husband still had visitation rights with the daughter. A fact that I just found out today. A fact that made me sick to my stomach. The woman dropped her daughter off twice a week at the children's room in the library so this man could collect the child. I thought about the way that woman must have felt having a court order to do this, while knowing this man was unstable. And I can't help but wonder about her last moments as a victim of this monster and the mental anguish of her final hour.
It has just disturbed me deeply. Knowing that I have crossed the path of this woman in the past and that we shared a common thread of motherhood. My brain frequently considers the plight of a family sharing custody of a child. Some negotiations and plans are done amicably and without fear. think that this is wonderful. But of course then you have situations like the above (which I am not claiming to know all the details ), but where a woman is forced to share custody with someone who has a criminal and troubled recent past.
How many alarms go off in these woman's minds. How many courts won't allow woman to flee at the sounds of these alarms due to a ''custody negotiation''. I don't have an answer to that. But I know the answer is probably too many.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
A full day
We were in the city again today. I took M
to the ballet with a HS group. It was really nice. I love being able to do these things with my son. I love being able to meet other HS'ers finally.
It was cold today, and I did not get enough sleep last night. Every time I have to go somewhere the next day I have this internal alarm clock that wakes me up too early . So I must admit that today I was quite sleepy but that's ok.
We also went to the toy store. M and I road the Ferris Wheel inside which I think rocked his world haha. He bought a Transformer and a stuffed kitty. He LOVES stuffed animals. They had a lot there at reasonable prices. I was pleasently surprised.
My partner and I were talking tonight and he said it was so funny because even though we have a small place and we aren't wealthy we manage to really enrich my little one's life. We do some things on a shoestring and manage to get him out of the house, interested and interacting with the world around him.
It's exiting to see "M" so environmental too. It is something he talks about and questions often. Today on the bus he was talking with me about population and we had a discussion about terraforming. He does math problems on the bus. He extends further and further the fibonacci numbers. He is an interesting kid. I sometimes wonder what he will become. Before it was a vet, then he said he wants to work for GreenPeace. I have a sneaking suspicion he might end up working with numbers in some capacity , or maybe he will become a teacher. He is only 6 who knows. When I was 6 I wanted to become a botanist a writer and a singer. But I always loved entomology.
Right now I am on again off again reading a book about insect/arthropod chemical defense. It is really interesting. The internal structure of these insects , amazing. It is all so complex for such small creatures. It makes me want the spring back so I can sit in the yard for hours looking under logs and underneath the ivy for spiders, moths and what M and I call ''Erm the Worm" haha. I miss the woods by my old house. I don't miss it consciously during the day but I dream about it a lot. I dream often about forests, and rain, and grass and the things I don't feel as connected to where I am.
It's why I make sure "M " understands science and environmentalism. The environment in which I grew up, I had that built in inclination toward a bond with Earth. In an Urban Fringe I would hate for him to lack understanding about the natural world and nature. I would hate for him to become plugged in and tuned out to the natural world. It's a problem I think with today's youth. That plugged-in mind set.
Lark Song
to the ballet with a HS group. It was really nice. I love being able to do these things with my son. I love being able to meet other HS'ers finally.
It was cold today, and I did not get enough sleep last night. Every time I have to go somewhere the next day I have this internal alarm clock that wakes me up too early . So I must admit that today I was quite sleepy but that's ok.
We also went to the toy store. M and I road the Ferris Wheel inside which I think rocked his world haha. He bought a Transformer and a stuffed kitty. He LOVES stuffed animals. They had a lot there at reasonable prices. I was pleasently surprised.
My partner and I were talking tonight and he said it was so funny because even though we have a small place and we aren't wealthy we manage to really enrich my little one's life. We do some things on a shoestring and manage to get him out of the house, interested and interacting with the world around him.
It's exiting to see "M" so environmental too. It is something he talks about and questions often. Today on the bus he was talking with me about population and we had a discussion about terraforming. He does math problems on the bus. He extends further and further the fibonacci numbers. He is an interesting kid. I sometimes wonder what he will become. Before it was a vet, then he said he wants to work for GreenPeace. I have a sneaking suspicion he might end up working with numbers in some capacity , or maybe he will become a teacher. He is only 6 who knows. When I was 6 I wanted to become a botanist a writer and a singer. But I always loved entomology.
Right now I am on again off again reading a book about insect/arthropod chemical defense. It is really interesting. The internal structure of these insects , amazing. It is all so complex for such small creatures. It makes me want the spring back so I can sit in the yard for hours looking under logs and underneath the ivy for spiders, moths and what M and I call ''Erm the Worm" haha. I miss the woods by my old house. I don't miss it consciously during the day but I dream about it a lot. I dream often about forests, and rain, and grass and the things I don't feel as connected to where I am.
It's why I make sure "M " understands science and environmentalism. The environment in which I grew up, I had that built in inclination toward a bond with Earth. In an Urban Fringe I would hate for him to lack understanding about the natural world and nature. I would hate for him to become plugged in and tuned out to the natural world. It's a problem I think with today's youth. That plugged-in mind set.
Lark Song
A Dream About a Girl Who Drew Diagrams
In the rain
Everything was final
The words fell
Catastrophe
All that I feel
And she said to me
That parts of the universe
Were smaller still then myself
They didn’t feel
Or breathe or believe
They didn’t trouble themselves
Over my tragedies
She drew them out
In points of black
Clusters of star dust
Resembling galaxies
Resembling microbes
Resembling things
That makes up the parts of me
I had to abide by these truths
I had to abide by what makes up the parts of me
By Lark Song
Everything was final
The words fell
Catastrophe
All that I feel
And she said to me
That parts of the universe
Were smaller still then myself
They didn’t feel
Or breathe or believe
They didn’t trouble themselves
Over my tragedies
She drew them out
In points of black
Clusters of star dust
Resembling galaxies
Resembling microbes
Resembling things
That makes up the parts of me
I had to abide by these truths
I had to abide by what makes up the parts of me
By Lark Song
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