kitler

So I was looking at NPR's list of signs from the Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear and I saw this one: "Kitlers Against Hitler Analogies." I didn't know what a kitler is, so I asked the google, and it turns out that this is a kitler:





Haha! Did you all know such a thing existed?!

some snapshots

when i'm feeling rather brave, i open a random box in our basement and find all sorts of treasures from the past. here are some pictures that were unearthed a coupla days ago. thought you might laugh at some of them.

ambf, david gray, and me. david and i were playing a trick on anne marie by not smiling.

annie @ my sister's house.

violet at 1.

with jenny (sieler) noble at great harvest bread company. i was the baker. she did the sweets. and notice the sweatshirt, darci?! the one i stole from you and you eventually gave it to me? ("can't fight the the sieler"...sing it with me)

annabelle and linus hanging out at our old house on 48th avenue.

slight of frame person sitting in between two dogs that are enormous=funny.

ma'am darling

So on my recent drive to and from D.C., I got by with a little help from NPR. "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me" was especially good for staying awake, having a laugh, and...even learning stuff! The funniest thing I learned was that the late Princess Margaret, sister to Queen Elizabeth II, "insisted everyone address her as 'ma'am' except for her closest friends who were generously permitted to call her 'ma'am darling.'" Hehehe. You can listen to the episode if you click the link in the title, and if you want to know more about "ma'am darling," you can click here. Oh, NPR. I love you so.

I think this is my most favorite Billy Collins poem.

(I know it looks long, but it is worth the read!)


Tension

Suddenly, you were planting some yellow petunias

outside in the garden,

and suddenly I was in the study

looking up the word oligarchy for the thirty-seventh time.



When suddenly, without warning,

you planted the last petunia in the flat,

and I suddenly closed the dictionary

now that I was reminded of that vile form of governance.



A moment later, we found ourselves

standing suddenly in the kitchen

where you suddenly opened a can of cat food

and I just as suddenly watched you doing that.



I observed a window of leafy activity

and, beyond that, a bird perched on the edge

of the stone birdbath

when suddenly you announced you were leaving



to pick up a few things at the market

and I stunned you by impulsively

pointing out that we were getting low on butter

and another case of wine would not be a bad idea.



Who could tell what the next moment would hold?

Another drip from the faucet?

Another little spasm of the second hand?

Would the painting of a bowl of pears continue



to hang on the wall from that nail?

Would the heavy anthologies remain on their shelves?

Would the stove hold its position?

Suddenly, it was anyone’s guess.



The sun rose ever higher.

The state capitals remained motionless on the wall map

when suddenly I found myself lying on a couch

where I closed my eyes and without any warning



began to picture the Andes, of all places,

and a path that led over the mountain to another country

with strange customs and eye-catching hats

suddenly fringed with little colorful, dangling balls.

Thanks, Daphne and Caleb!

random bullets

• i've been enjoying the matt & kim station on pandora -and- karen elson's music quite a bit.
• i took a long walk yesterday. upon returning home i found 2 friends waiting for me outside. and as i went inside to get some money for ice cream, i found jason playing JUST DANCE 2 all by himself. ALL BY HIMSELF!! when the kids were in bed, jay promptly turned the game station on and handed me a controller...and soundly whooped my butt on all 5 songs. my arm hurts today.
• at 6:30am i said to jay, "isn't it time for you to go to work?". my arm was hurting and i was mad at him for making me play a dancing game (and he won?!).
• my 7 yr. old daughter informed me that she has a boyfriend. when i asked what she liked about the fella, she said, "he is so fun. he likes to play with legos, star wars, and build forts!".
• the kids and i constructed a fire pit in our backyard on saturday. i feel like i've turned a corner. maybe some of you non-nebraska folks have felt a similar feeling when you caved & became husker fans. why resist? soon we will have a couch and clothing rack on our front porch. and an old car hangin on the side yard. why not--you already know that we have a framed tree stump in the front and use our garage as an office/lumber yard.
• i spilled coffee on myself this morning. it was hot. dramatically i threw the quilt down the stairs and said "this is the worst day EVER!". jay would not stop laughing about it. i said it for effect, partially.

i hope your monday is starting off better than mine. i hate being crabby on mondays. it sucks. i'm fighting fire with fire here...crabby with crabby...and crabby is winning! much angry love to you.

off to nowhere

i always feel like my brain is getting fat when i start to watch tv regularly. that said, i never quite watch in moderation (go figure). so lately i've been gorging on episodes of HOARDERS, ever since i discovered it on watch instantly for netflix. it's a dangerous thing because my kids are playing together a lot. they don't really care if i join their play or not (believe me, i'm NOT complaining). and so the amount of time i have to think about those episodes, consider the implications of no order, contemplate over the denial/acceptance each person exhibits...it seems a little excessive...like these people actually exist in my life!

i usually listen to internet radio on our ipod (app: pocket tunes). my latest favorite station can be streamed from your laptop, ipod, droid, etc. try it here. there's also a cool "big band swing" station.

i get pretty sentimental when fall comes around. the phantom cloves in the air. the ghosts of days past. miss you cuckoos.

save the date!

Just announced last night - Trader Joe's at One Pacific Place is set to open on Friday, November 12th!

Let's organize a Whocares shopping trip - sans kids if you can swing it. Anybody available the week after opening weekend?