wheels on the bus

Wheels-on-the-Bus-9780517709986 Since we have young children, we sing “Wheels on the Bus” ad nauseum. The Twins are getting the hang of all the gestures that go with each line, including the single digit to the lips for the line “the mommies on the bus go shh-shh-shh.” Every time my daughter sings that line, she gives me the Finger. Don’t think I didn’t notice.

knee-how? knee-wow!

page3_blog_entry1324_1 I was on the train platform, waiting for my parents, when these two young girls shouted “nee-how!” to me from the other side. And I responded, “Hey! What’s up! Are you in high school?” They squealed and hid behind the pillars, so I continued shouting, “No don’t be scared, I’m just being friendly!” til they relaxed and a train arrived, blocking our connection. It was one of my stress-free race run-ins, because….I don’t know. Look at images of Asians in society. I saw a poster of the four lead NBC sitcoms on the subway and it was four posters of white people hugging white people. There are no images of Asians just going “hey What Up people.” (Racism really works!) Or maybe I was in a particularly magnanimous mood. This was the same rush hour commute that began with a bird pooping on me, which would have disturbed me years before I had children. But as it is, sadly, the odor of poop and dealing with poop is routine.

decisions

download (2)download (1) Decisions
These are two books I read this year that I enjoyed tremendously – Fools by Joan Silber (with whom I had my first workshop at SLC, the nicest person ever and rock solid writer) and Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (whom I’ve never met and who is English. [You’re welcome.]). In a sense, they are both about how the small decisions effect the course of your life in ways you cannot foresee. I think about this concept a lot. I pray, as an atheist, that I am making the right ones.

dig deep

M_Id_392082_Serena_Williams2013-03-18T023525Z_1_CBRE92H077900_RTROPTP_3_SPORTS-US-TENNIS-INDIAN-MEN-NADAL-MIAMI_JPG_475x310_q85 (1) This is the only sport I care about — tennis. I watched the final woman’s match with Serena Williams. Even when the match tilted toward her opponent, she didn’t get distracted. That woman’s ability to focus and desire to win is so freaking impressive. When things look bad, you can see how she digs deep inside to overcome odds and make a comeback. That amazes me. I sometimes dig deep, but it is just to stay awake. I didn’t see Nadal’s final match, but he is an animal. What an amazing athlete and what an amazingly different existence.

Toys, Deadly

MrPotatoHead_09 Let me tell you something obvious: when you step on plastic, hard toys, it really, really hurts. We have a few toys with multiple, distinct parts that seem destined to never stay where they belong in their cases. They remain hidden in your carpet, long after clean-up, and in the middle of the night, when you’re going to get a glass of water or something – BAM – it finds you. Some of these toys have jagged edges, like this egg puzzle that the kids love or the Thomas the Steam engine the stinker trains, which seem engineered to specifically to elicit a maximum of excruciating agony when stepped on. It’s almost like these toys know how to hone in on the accupressure points of the foot. I want to dump a bucket of all these toy pieces to fill up the floor, turn off the light, and make the toy inventor walk across the room. Thank you.

The Harry Potter Magic of the Security Blanket

download In the past two months, Wonder Twins have identified a white, Carter’s hooded towel with blue trimming as the security blanket. Luckily, I have two, which greatly minimizes the head slapping (of each other, not themselves). The whole process is totally like when a wand chooses a wizard in Harry Potter. Out of all the soft blankets we have in the house, really? You gravitate towward the secondhand ratty towels? Nice.

broadchurch

images I’m watching this dark child-murder-mysteries-mini-series on BBC America starring my boyfriend Doctor Who, a.k.a. David Tennant. It’s not a bad show, kind of predictable. What I’m really enjoying is the depictions of food. You know, the way they talk about how good a cup tea is, I’m like, I really want to try your tea! Or there’s a scene with David Tennant and his boss walking with one of those vanilla cones with a stick of Cadbury flake sticks that I remember from living in Ireland for a month when I was 15. I want one!

Can someone invent a television that serves the snacks that the characters are eating? Or maybe I should just do that in a show? Create a script where the characters are periodically snacking and then organize a crew to help hand out the snacks to the audience for simultaneous, instant gratification. People have done this before, of course, full-course meals, but I just want teeny snacks and beverages.

Bucket list!