Various and sundry
1. It’s been weird not to post here daily, but so many other things have been going on that blogging feels like an indulgence. That said, I am ever-thankful to capital-B Bloggers who hold it down daily, cut through the bs, and help keep me informed. (Thanks, Tami!)
2. Parenting is really hard work. Just thinking about the many, many years of it to come makes me tired.
3. Like a lot of follks, I’m campaign-weary and am ready to just vote already. A buddy of mine at the local paper wrote an article about campaign-fatigue. My ex and one of my neighbors are quoted.
4. BabyGirl and I spent a few days in NYC recently. Caught “The Lion King” which is just stunning. We’ve had the soundtrack in heavy rotation ever since.
5. It’s weird looking at NYC through the eyes of a young child. Her take: lots and lots of people, too many of them smoking, and really, really, really tall buildings.
6. While in NYC, we were treated to lunch and then dinner by two friends of mine. Lunch Friend may just be the quintessential bachelor, and it was fun to watch him engage Peyton–with varying degrees of success. Dinner Friend, who will become a dad for the first time any day now, somehow knew that mostly ignoring BabyGirl would ultimately endear him to her. It’s an odd counter-intuitive thing; both of my kids are like that. Cheers to both gentleman for the great meals and wonderful company, as always.
7. Why is it that whenever I travel to or from JFK or La Guardia, without fail, I get at least one chatty cabby? I try to look like I don’t want to be bothered, and yet I’m subjected to their views on everything from the election to the new stadium in Brooklyn to how everyone is on crack to the rising cost of figs (true story).
8. Every cab we rode in had a TV in it. Why????
9. The wax figures at Madame Tussaud’s weird me out. They really do look like they are following you with their fake eyes. My heart rejoiced when BabyGirl said she wanted to take a picture with the wax incarnation of “Luther King” (MLK). I wasn’t sure if there was one, but when we entered the Hall of Famous Political Figures (or whatever it’s called), she made a bee line right to him. Now, I wasn’t all that impressed, especially since some of the other figures were eerily lifelike. But there was enough of his “Luther King”-ness present to make BabyGirl happy, so…
10. The wax figure of my secret crush Morgan Freeman was my personal “Luther King.” I asked a staff person to take my picture with him. <giggle>
11. We could have skipped the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum. But I did learn, step-by-step, how to shrink the heads of my enemies.
12. Why am I reading multiple books right now? Restlessness, maybe. Picked up Mat Johnson’s Great Negro Plot again. Had misplaced Anne Lamott’s Grace (Eventually), but then found it. Almost done with Lori Tharps’s Kinky Gazpacho, but since I was too lazy to get it from downstairs, I grabbed Michael Thomas’s Man Gone Down which has been collecting dust on my proverbial nighstand for a while now–and wow! Love his style. Can’t wait to see where the story goes.
13. Still working on my own novel. Working out some kinks, absorbing some stuff from writers that I admire to help with my pacing and focus. I’m having fun with it.
14. The girls andI are going to plant a garden. Mini-me and I did it many moons ago when she was two or three. We called it our spaghetti garden because most of the stuff we planted, vegetables and herbs, could be used to make spaghetti sauce. I really don’t know what I’m doing, and I try not to be all Type-A about it (which is a bad habit of mine). As long as we have good soil and water and time the planting right, things should turn out fine. They did before. Everything just kind of grew together and looked very lush and tasty.
15. I’m also looking forward to bike-riding with the girls as it gets warmer. The city has some nice trails, and we’ve only ever taken advantage of one of them so far.
16. Glad to see Al Sharpton got his mind right. But, alas, Kwame Kilpatrick still refuses to do so.
17. What goes well with Indian food, beer, and white wine? The hilarious documentary “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.”
18. Please do celebrate Earth Hour tonight.
March 29th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Deesha - our favorite bike trails have been great fun. The Yough trail, along the river is fantastic to do early on a Sunday morning. We saw MUCH wildlife in late spring, early summer. Snakes, rodents of all sizes, some bigger things. The earlier you go, the more you are likely to encounter. We got on the trail near Elizabeth. There is a little ice cream place where you can get a burger or hot dog too, on your way back. Depending on how long you ride. The other great trail has been the one starting at Washington’s Landing. You can go beyond the Science Center if you’re daring, and get to the West End! Every year it goes a little farther. WYEP sometimes has music festivals near the stadiums, and if you let your kids bring aqua socks they can wade in the fountain near PNC Park. When it’s full, it’s lots of fun. Riding along the South Side, entering at the parking lot behind the Works, the trails were not as well connected as I would have wanted, but the kids got to see lots of waterfowl.
The Jail Trail, I mean, ‘The Eliza Furnace Trail’
is more tame, but fun if you have some biking and some roller blading.
Just thought I’d share.
March 29th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Christine, thanks for the tips! We’ll check out those trails.
So far, we’ve only done the Jail Trail (lol!). Aside: A friend visiting from London commented on what a great looking jail we have here. !!!!
We (minus BabyGirl) low-leveled rafted down the Yough river once. FUN!