Posts

So, remember how the mister bailed his friend M out of jail a couple of months ago?  Well, M died thursday night. 

He was a major alcoholic (the mister bailed him out of jail for a DUI in July, actually).  Apparently he was out Thursday drinking and made it home.  No call, no show, at work on Friday.  His girlfriend went over and broke into his house and found him in his car in the garage with the garage door closed.  So it looks like carbon monoxide is the likely culprit.  But we're unclear whether he was drunk and made it home and passed out in the car and forgot to turn off the engine or if he did it deliberately.  Really, it could be either situation.  He was 29.  Incredible. 

So that's where we are at the moment.  I had major issues with him but it's just very sad to me.  And makes me think a lot about my naivete about other people.  My cluelessness about how messed up people are, what they can and can't handle, and the assumptions I make about them.  And about being a parent and trying to take care of your children so that they live beyond 30. 

I keep not believing that it's real.  Doubting.

People just can't seem to grasp that I don't watch tv.  We haven't had cable for 12 years now.  We don't miss it.  I watch the daily show on the interwebs, the mister scans all of his news blogs too, and the only one who watches anything are the two boys and they only watch pbs and dvds.  We have netflix and watch all kinds of obscure weird shit that no one else I know cares about or would be interested in watching. 

Nonetheless, even people I know kind of pretty well insist on talking to me about stupid shit they watch on tv.  Look, I'm not judging you, really.  You can watch it, go ahead.  But I don't.  And I don't want to.  And I don't give a shit about the latest reality tv show nonsense or some other sensational scandalous garbage of nothingness.  So, when you make a cultural reference and I don't get it, you can just stop there.  I don't need to know it.  Really.

I remember that this used to happen a lot to me when Seinfeld was big and I was a grad student.  People would say, Did you see that Seinfeld episode, and I would say, No, I don't watch tv, and then they would go on and on explaining it to me.  I don't watch it because I am not interested in it and you don't need to waste your breath talking to me about it.  (I have seen a bunch of Seinfeld reruns, actually.)

I don't make people engage with me about the books I'm reading or the other articles I've read.  Sure, I send people links to stuff, but it's always stuff that is about them, not me.  And I don't tell them about the French flick we watched or the documentary we watched last week about Helvetica (which was fascinating btw). 

Okay, I feel better now.  Thanks.

If everything is going right then Monkey should get his cast off next Wednesday.  We'll see.  I hope so.  It'll be 6 weeks in the cast and almost 7 since he broke it.  It's been both fast and slow but we're ready to move on.  I want to see his little body in the bathtub again!

been busy.  monkey broke his leg the friday morning before the long labor day weekend.  we had to wait until the following wednesday to see a bone doctor.  we were all traumatized.  my mom flew in on the spot and helped and hung out with me and monkey all last week at home.  he's now in a cast and will be for the next 5 weeks.  he's doing much, much better now and isn't in pain anymore. 

that's the short version.  all will be well.

the mister has been really busy and preoccupied not only with monkey but also with his book release party, which was last night.  his second book of poetry.  it's awesome.  the event went really well.  so we've been through that now as well.

my mom left this morning.  so now i'm by myself a bit again, which is good.  i have a lot of work to do and haven't been able to concentrate for 2 weeks now since monkey got hurt. 

okay, so that's the short story.  going to try to update again soon.  now i'm off to pick up the little dudes at daycare.  i miss them. 

I am on a not very forceful quest for a small loveseat for my office.  I am not making any progress.  I don't want to spend any actual money is the main problem.  I need to be very cheap.  I did look on Craig's list and immediately got overwhelmed and didn't want to do it.  Ugh.  Today I went to a furniture store across the street from campus.  Nope.  then I went downtown to a central street that has a bunch of shitty, seedy mueblerias and furniture stores.  I parked and walked about 4 or 5 blocks down the street.  I realized that I kind of looked like a working girl walking down the street in my relatively short skirt with my bra strap hanging out and my hobo bag over my shoulder.  Not really, but a couple of times I caught my reflection in those dirty, worn out and abandoned store windows and thought, what is she doing down here?  I went in to almost all of them and found nothing. 

At the very end of my walk in the hot, hot sun I came upon Hollywood something or other at Main and California.  I walked by once and glanced in the windows.  It looked kind of closed but I wasn't sure.  Seemed to have some interesting stuff in there.  So I walked back to the door and it was locked but I could see someone in the back sitting at a desk.  Okay then.  So I kept going north and walked past it and the next store was empty so I turned around again and walked past the same store again on my way to the car.  I pass the door and am about 10 steps away and it opens and some big dude with a cigarette says, what are you looking for?  I say, a loveseat, and take several steps towards him and the door.  He doesn't move as if to let me in.  He stands with the door propped open and him in it.  He says, what kind?  I say, small, you know, something...He cuts me off and says, I know what a loveseat it.  I said, well, a small loveseat...Cuts me off again, made out of what?  You want leather, velor?  I say, uh, well..He says, what price range?  I say, uh, not very...Cuts me off, because I'm expensive, that's what high end is.  I say, well, I guess I'll keep walking.  Asshole.  Don't go there! 

Listening to Swell Season's tiny desk concert on npr.  Nice

about that whole ed hardy tshirt problem...check this out.

The mister to the boys: "Okay, I want everyone naked and in the pool.  No ifs, ands, just BUTTS!"

What a good dad.

My far away friend A said that she checked my blog the other day.  Hi A!  Thanks!  I didn't know who or whether anyone was reading this thing.  Nice.

I spent a lot of time on the phone today with E, then C, and finally and hour and a half with A on skype from the office.  I guess there was a lot of catching up to do.

Thank godot for Alfredo.  He came today and cleaned.  What would I do without him to come and do the floors at the very least--not to mention all the rest that he cleans.  So now I'm sitting in a clean house, by myself.  I like this moment and am relishing being able to walk around without having random debris sticking to my feet and almost breaking my neck tripping over cars and train tracks. 

Lunch with the mister was really nice too.  We went to the fake italian place in the hotel where he works.  Watching the tourists walk by is kind of depressing.  A whole lot of round meatheads.  And what is going on with this Ed Hardy guy?  Has he singlehandedly ruined t-shirt design forever?  Everyone is wearing these ugly shirts with all kind of swirly lines on them and half metallic designs.  A lot of them aren't actually EH but knock-offs.  Regardless the whole thing is really ugly and unflattering.  Ugh. 

My shoulders are bugging me.  I think that they're tight from yoga yesterday.  I guess I better do some yoga now to try to fix them.  Especially since I've got clean floors at the moment! 

yea.  i went to yoga today.  it was good.  came home and made my favorite salad for lunch.  it was good too. 

tired though.  babies were up early this morning.  good thing they're so cute.

xo