Archive for March, 2004

A very interesting concept… I am always intrigued by what humans come up with in order to preserve their sanity in times of severe repression.

Why didn’t I know this before? Edward Gorey lived in Yarmouthport, Cape Cod for 25 years. The Edward Gorey House, where he lived, has exhibitions of his work. A book called The Elephant House (not sure why) has photos of the house taken just after he passed away and gives insight into how he lived. So now I have a non-beach attraction for everyone who comes to visit!

… your nose and eat it? It might actually be good for you if you do. The best quote in this article is “…people who pick their nose and eat it get a natural boost to their immune system for free.”

Hmmm, I don’t think I’m ready for this one yet…

I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose both parents in the space of a few weeks. Its heartwarming to hear stories like this one that really show that a community can come together when a family is in need.

In the same vein, I’ve recently become entranced by the series, Extreme Home Makeover. Although it sounds like a chainsaw-wielding home improvement story, its actually a concept much like Habitat for Humanity. They profile a family that has a significant need in their lives, such as more space for new triplets or an upgrade to the existing house that’s falling apart. Most of these people are struggling to make ends meet, and all of them seem to be very active in giving to thier community. Check it out if you get the chance. Its definitely a program that will make you want to volunteer your time to help others like the participants on the show.

Hot off the presses! I added a few short videos of Nathaniel making sounds from a few minutes ago: Wed, Mar 24, 8pm. He’s been doing it for the last few days now consistently. Videos

Maggie and I have been enjoying “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger. The story is about Henry, a twenty-something librarian who has Chrono-Displacement Disorder that comes on somewhat like epilepsy, and Clare, a paper-making artist who has to endure long periods of waiting as well as a lot of surprises. Maggie was wondering if the author wrote anything else so I Googled her and found out more about her. Looks like she based the character of Clare on a lot of the things she knows about. I found an interview: Audrey Niffenegger: Woman on the edge of time, her art at a gallery, and in this photo you can see she resembles the main character.

The workers have started painting the walls, so it’s time I shared the plan and some pictures. Basement photos

Nathaniel had some fish tonight, and it went well! Maggie’s food book said he can have it, so Sophie poached some cod in water. The recipe said you can put in peppercorns but she stayed with just fish. Then after dinner Maggie put it and some carrots and some breast milk into the blender cup and used the hand blender to puree it. It didn’t smell fishy at all. I took on the task of feeding it to him so that I could have a positive face when he ate it, and not get thrown by someone having a yuck-face. He liked it just fine. I’m sure it tasted familiar, since he eats a lot of carrots. We had to stop after a while, to make sure he still gets his vitamins from actual breast milk.

After that he was very energetic, almost hyper. Upstairs, since he wasn’t cooperating with feeding time, we put him on the carpet and he explored, very curious as to what could be under the bed. I crawled around and it almost seemed like he was playing peek-a-boo with me instead of the other way around. Quite happy this evening, even though unruly.

Nathaniel has been keeping us awake at night, waking less than every couple of hours. This has been going on for a couple of months. Some could be teething, which will take another year and a half to get through. But it could be separation anxiety which starts to hit at 9 months.

Kerry has a major issue coming up with the Catholic Church. He’s pro-abortion and pro-gay unions… Both stances the church is against, and yet he plans to use the religion card to reinforce his campaign and gain supporters. With renewed focus in the US Catholic Bishops councils to address these conflicts in politicians, I wonder how long it is before they decide to take public action, such as deny him communion or other sacraments?

Sadly, I know my whole family will find this pretty interesting… Its actually pretty funny. My favorite was ‘larNYX’, otherwise known as ‘larYNX’. My 7th grade teacher had the worst problem with this and the class would get so irritated that we we would all correct her when she screwed up.. geeks, all… I tell you…