Thank You Ancestors

Seve and I spent a lovely Thanksgiving with Simon's uncle listening to Indian flute music, cooking a whole chicken in a wok, stomping around a Christmas tree farm, napping in book stores, and eating scones at a local Mom'n'Pop breakfast joint instead of shopping on Black Friday. We apparently missed the Occupy Boise "consumer zombies" limping around the local mall. Bummer.

Happy Thanksgiving! Here's Wednesday Addams

and the Blood I Bleed

When I first heard this Animal Collective cover, I thought it was cute, but wasn't eager to download it. But now that life is a happy mix of just me and "my boys," I love to sing it to Simon as a lullaby. The cover is by Taken by Trees, the solo project of Victoria Bergsman (that girl who sang about not caring about the young folks with Peter Bjorn and John).

I know that for some, Animal Collective is that band with the freaky alien music video, but their latest album had a lot of beautiful lyrics, including this song about putting aside materialism, providing for your loved ones, and realizing what really matters in life and what you really need.

There isn't much that I feel I need
A solid soul and the blood I bleed
With a little Guy, and by my spouse
I only want a proper house


I don't care for fancy things
Or to take part in the freshest wave
But to provide for mine who ask
I will, with heart, on my father's grave


I don't mean to seem like I care about material things
Like a social status
I just want four walls and adobe slats for my boys

Yesteryear Demons

My mother-in-law recently left town and I miss her very much.

I always forget to take pictures of my outings, like Simon's first trip to the zoo and the so-so vegan restaurant Seve and I went to over the weekend (the smoothies were lukewarm. Like the Bible verse, I wanted to spit). But here's some shots of Simon's first bookstore, the Yesteryear Shoppe in downtown. We've been a few more times since and I'm quite sure he doesn't like it - he always fusses when we go, and instead seems to prefer the bookstore next door, Twice Told Tales. Perhaps there are demons in Yesteryear that only a keen innocent soul can sense? Or maybe it's just smelly.

On a not-related note, I'm finally getting a DSLR. Good friends, what cameras do you use, and are you happy with them? I'm buying used and currently looking at the entry level Nikon D3000 and a 50 mm f/1.8 lens. Thoughts? I want fuzzier backgrounds.

Sleepyhead

Today was exhausting.

How about you?

Reddy Freddy

Seve and I can always tell whose soda is whose because mine's the one with lipstick all over it. I know the blogger's red lipstick of choice is MAC's Ruby Woo, but I prefer red-orange to red-pink so I'm all about MAC's So Chaud. Also, my search for the perfect red nail lacquer has finally come to a delightful end: Nina Ultra Pro's Red Fox.

Also, has anyone seen The Red Shoes? Great film.

It's Never Too Early to Introduce Your Son to Neil Gaiman

Simon and I just finished The Graveyard Book, his very first novel. Of course I also have some picture books lined up for him, Where the Wild Things Are and whatnot, but I was excited for this particular book to be his first read, or "read to by his mother," to be accurate.

Simon's other firsts:

First song: "True Love Will Find You In The End," Daniel Johnston
First movie: Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog (that he seemed to watch, anyway . . . the first movie put on our television after he was born was Overboard)
First store: Target (yeah.)
First restaurant: A&W (root beer YUM . . . maybe this doesn't count until he eats at the restaurant?)
First laugh: playing with Uncle Ben
First time to roll over: Last Thursday while I was trying to get a picture of him in his bear hat that's so large on him it looks more like a viking hat
First smile: At the hospital (Doctors say it's just gas but I say NO)
First illness: Staph infection at 2 weeks old . . . awful

Also, on a reading related note: is it cool to hate reading now? With the kids, I mean? Seve says more than half of the students he works with have declared a hatred for reading. I understand that sometimes when a kid struggles with reading it's easy to just say you hate it, but it seems I'm running into kids who are embarrassed to admit they read and that it's uncool to read at all. My niece is hesitant to admit she reads anything outside of a school assignment. When I was a youngin' it was cool to say that you could spend "hours at Barnes & Noble" whether you enjoyed reading or not, because appearing smart was the way to be. Is it lame to be smart these days? If so, then I hope Simon will be mega lame.

Writing that last paragraph suddenly made me feel very old.

The Six-Stride Living Room

I have yet to blog about our new place. Seve and I were so batty about our old one we were convinced this one would only be subpar, but that's because we were so pretentiously in love with our 100-yr-old building, rock wall, balcony, and sage green paint job with black wood paneling. Our new place is one of those white paint with white wall-to-wall carpet affairs, a kind of place I never wanted to live in.  "Too cookie-cutter," I said. But then I was introduced to the six-stride living room.

Our old place had a two-to-three-stride living room, depending on how long your legs were. It took you less than two seconds to be in the kitchen from the couch because the quarters were so cramped, and if you were ambitious a giant leap would have you in front of the oven from the loveseat in no time. We had no room for a coffee table, and when we added our bookcase the room suddenly resembled a storage unit.

Our new place requires quite the journey to get from one end to the other. We have room for three coffee tables if we really wanted to be impractical and revel in the new amount of space we own. I often walk back and forth making wide circles in our living room and enjoy the rigorous workout it gives me. I never knew how much happiness a pile of empty, clean space could give me. Vacuuming has suddenly become a real chore and the cord isn't long enough to take care of the whole room, I have to move from one outlet to another to completely suck the dust and dead skin cells that have accumulated in our six-stride living room. Which often isn't much because there isn't enough Seve and Jules and Simon to dirty up the place. Making a mess that would completely cover the floor area would require me to dump our entire bookshelf onto the floor. In fact, we've purchased a second bookshelf and  a TV stand to ensure messes are properly made when things tumble over and no part of the six-stride living room is left untouched. We even have an entry table.

We also have a laundry room. A separate entity from the rest of the apartment with its own four walls and entryway just across from the bathroom with a washer and dryer in it. With a washer and dryer in it. That's pure poetry right there, no quarters required.