Daughter's middle school music concert was tonight. I am awful about these things. I just cry too easily. Even when it's someone else's kids. I get all proud and tender and boom! I thought we were safe, buried in the middle of the crowd where I could look at shoes and exit signs and stuff if I started to feel gushy, but when I went to gab with some neighbours my husband switched us to the front row, bang in front of the choir within spitting distance of our daughter who has already told me not to laugh or cry so that anyone notices because IT'S TOOOO EMBARRRASSING!
So they sang 7 songs in all, in between crashing and booming by the band (which never makes me cry - even when our son played in it). Four were snap-poppy toe-tappy things so I was okay, but the other three, oh my... So here are things that moms do not to cry when their daughters are looking at them and telepathing "Do not make me embarrassed."
1. Bit your lip really hard.
2. Watch one singer and listen to hear just her voice, separate from the others (hint: don't pick your own kid).
3. Look at shoes and exit signs.
4. Count to ten silently in all of the languages you can think of.
Phew! I made it! They did sing very beautifully enough to skewer my heart, but my eyes stayed dry and my face bright but not too exuberantly happy, because that's embarrassing too.
Driving home our daughter said, "You know when we sang Hero? Ms. Kitzinger (the vice principal) was crying." But that's okay, as long as it's not your mom.
question: right?
mompoet - stoic on the outside, blubber-facey on the inside and also very proud
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Sunday, June 12, 2005
ps
do you think I will be sued for using the words "Robert DeNiro" in my blog without permission?
question: DeNiro?
DemompoetNiro - DeNiro DeNiro DeNiro DeNiro er Rupert Donairo I mean
question: DeNiro?
DemompoetNiro - DeNiro DeNiro DeNiro DeNiro er Rupert Donairo I mean
How to catch up to Michael Caine
To understand this post you have to read the one from earlier this morning first (see below).
Here is my dad's reckoning. We have adjusted the "movies made" figure to the ones actually released, because the career-starting movies were based on release dates.
Here is my dad's reckoning. We have adjusted the "movies made" figure to the ones actually released, because the career-starting movies were based on release dates.
Begin with 116 movies for MC in 49 years. How many would MC have made in just 45 years?
116 x (45/49) = 106.5306122...
If by five years from now, i.e. after 45 years of making movies, RDN will have made as many movies as MC would have made in 45 years, then RDN will also have made 106.5306122... movies by then, which is to say he would have to make 37.5306122... new movies in these next 5 years, so he'd better make 38, which is 7.6 movies per year.
I also must point out that we are not actually looking for Robert De Niro to reach a point where he has made exactly the same number of movies as Michael Caine. What we're looking for is an identical rate, so at a given point in De Niro's career he will have made the same number of movies as Michael Caine had made at that same point. As my dad also pointed out,
Sometimes the question you first ask is not the one you really want to answer. I said "a right thing" and not "the right thing" since it can be done the hard way too, but mathematicians are so lazy that they'll think long and hard if necessary to figure out an easier way to do something. Figuring out that it was a right thing to calculate took me about a second, finding the calculator took about two seconds, and punching the buttons took a couple of seconds.
And there's the answer to my question about Dad's rate of figuring too.
So now I am looking forward to watching the .5306122 movie when Robert De Niro makes it. We wouldn't want him to exceed Michael Caine's rate or we might have to do more math.
Thanks Dad, I get the math. I'm glad you did it. My considerable brain power was focused today on more mundane but essential matters.
question: What's your favourite Robert De Niro movie, and do you have any suggestions for movies that he could make quickly enough to catch up with Michael Caine?
mompoet - enjoying the luxury of pointless speculation
I also must point out that we are not actually looking for Robert De Niro to reach a point where he has made exactly the same number of movies as Michael Caine. What we're looking for is an identical rate, so at a given point in De Niro's career he will have made the same number of movies as Michael Caine had made at that same point. As my dad also pointed out,
Sometimes the question you first ask is not the one you really want to answer. I said "a right thing" and not "the right thing" since it can be done the hard way too, but mathematicians are so lazy that they'll think long and hard if necessary to figure out an easier way to do something. Figuring out that it was a right thing to calculate took me about a second, finding the calculator took about two seconds, and punching the buttons took a couple of seconds.
And there's the answer to my question about Dad's rate of figuring too.
So now I am looking forward to watching the .5306122 movie when Robert De Niro makes it. We wouldn't want him to exceed Michael Caine's rate or we might have to do more math.
Thanks Dad, I get the math. I'm glad you did it. My considerable brain power was focused today on more mundane but essential matters.
question: What's your favourite Robert De Niro movie, and do you have any suggestions for movies that he could make quickly enough to catch up with Michael Caine?
mompoet - enjoying the luxury of pointless speculation
michael caine vs robert deniro
My husband got so tired watching me make jam last night that we stayed home instead of going to the movies. No, I'm just kidding (about the jam I mean). Was the bundt cake that bad that he could not get off the couch? Maybe he was afraid that I intended to go out in public in my jam shirt and barrettes? hmmmm...
Anyway, we stayed home and watched The Mission. I like Robert De Niro a lot, but I liked Jeremy Irons even better in this movie. I liked the movie a whole lot. But this post is not about Jeremy Irons. I'll do that another day. This is about Robert De Niro, and Michael Caine, who is not in the The Mission.
When I looked up the list of movies in which Robert De Niro has acted, I was impressed. He's made more than one major feature per year for a lot of years. I have always thought of Michael Caine as
THE MOST PROLIFIC ACTOR IN THE WORLD but De Niro gives him a run for his money. Here's how they stack up:
Age: RDN is 61 - born August 17 1943
MC is 72 - born March 14 1933
Number of Movies Acted-In: RDN 71
MC 117
First Movie (as listed on the 100% reliable internet...phhehhh!)
RDN 1965 Trois Chambres a Manhattan He was 22 years old
MC 1956 Sailor Beware He was 23 years old
I think these are the release dates, so they were probably a year or two younger when they made them, but they also cranked out movies faster those days I think - no three years in post production while we figure out what to do with this turkey, just sell the show (ahem. sorry)
Avg. # of Movies/Year during career:
RDN 1.8 movies per year (including 2 currently in production)
MC 2.4 movies per year (including one completed but not yet released)
So Michael Caine is more prolific. But they're both good and make mostly good movies. But that's not what this post is about.
Could Robert De Niro Catch up? What if Michael Caine continued to make movies at the same rate indefinitely, and Robert De Niro decided he wanted to match Michael Caine's movie per year rate in say, 5 years. How many movies would Robert De Niro need to make by 2010 if Michael Caine kept going at his established rate, for them to have equal rates by that time.
I won't answer that. I'm just a movie geek, not a math geek.
Dad, let me know. And tell me how fast it took you to figure it out. Your rate of solution is also of interest.
And mom, I put in a couple of dangling participles for you, because a good mom is a mom you can joke with.
So in conclusion, but unrelated to much I have said so far, I think we should delete We're No Angels from Robert De Niro's list because it was such a terrible movie. But we should give double credit for Cape Fear. I loved that one. So it does not affect his rate at all.
Oh yeah, and we should give bonus points for This Boy's Life. A good movie, with Robert De Niro, actually made locally. Which is really a good balance-out for We're No Angels - local stinker.
question: who cares?
mompoet - I know, Shut your pie hole
Anyway, we stayed home and watched The Mission. I like Robert De Niro a lot, but I liked Jeremy Irons even better in this movie. I liked the movie a whole lot. But this post is not about Jeremy Irons. I'll do that another day. This is about Robert De Niro, and Michael Caine, who is not in the The Mission.
When I looked up the list of movies in which Robert De Niro has acted, I was impressed. He's made more than one major feature per year for a lot of years. I have always thought of Michael Caine as
THE MOST PROLIFIC ACTOR IN THE WORLD but De Niro gives him a run for his money. Here's how they stack up:
Age: RDN is 61 - born August 17 1943
MC is 72 - born March 14 1933
Number of Movies Acted-In: RDN 71
MC 117
First Movie (as listed on the 100% reliable internet...phhehhh!)
RDN 1965 Trois Chambres a Manhattan He was 22 years old
MC 1956 Sailor Beware He was 23 years old
I think these are the release dates, so they were probably a year or two younger when they made them, but they also cranked out movies faster those days I think - no three years in post production while we figure out what to do with this turkey, just sell the show (ahem. sorry)
Avg. # of Movies/Year during career:
RDN 1.8 movies per year (including 2 currently in production)
MC 2.4 movies per year (including one completed but not yet released)
So Michael Caine is more prolific. But they're both good and make mostly good movies. But that's not what this post is about.
Could Robert De Niro Catch up? What if Michael Caine continued to make movies at the same rate indefinitely, and Robert De Niro decided he wanted to match Michael Caine's movie per year rate in say, 5 years. How many movies would Robert De Niro need to make by 2010 if Michael Caine kept going at his established rate, for them to have equal rates by that time.
I won't answer that. I'm just a movie geek, not a math geek.
Dad, let me know. And tell me how fast it took you to figure it out. Your rate of solution is also of interest.
And mom, I put in a couple of dangling participles for you, because a good mom is a mom you can joke with.
So in conclusion, but unrelated to much I have said so far, I think we should delete We're No Angels from Robert De Niro's list because it was such a terrible movie. But we should give double credit for Cape Fear. I loved that one. So it does not affect his rate at all.
Oh yeah, and we should give bonus points for This Boy's Life. A good movie, with Robert De Niro, actually made locally. Which is really a good balance-out for We're No Angels - local stinker.
question: who cares?
mompoet - I know, Shut your pie hole
Saturday, June 11, 2005
berries, yurts and other stuff
Storytime went just fine. Marya is a remarkable storyteller, and the people at Lougheed Town Centre are spectacular. I hate the mall, can't stand shopping, detest the idea of commerce as entertainment but the mall admin people at Lougheed are good stuff. Sure all of the malls are doing community things to pull in customers and polish their images as good corporate citizens, but the ladies who run this mall admin office keep inventing new things to do and new ways to get involved in the neighbourhood. Still, I am staying out of WalMart for good. Nobody can clean the hands of that monster.
Anyway, the kids had a great time and the moms got to relax. A dozen daycamp leaders came over from the community school to warm up the audience with storybooks and to promote their camp registration which starts next week. It was fun meeting them. They're all university students, employed on an HRDC grant. I'll see them again because they'll come to our staff training later this month. We do a lot of stuff in cooperation with the community schools. It's also fun because I worked on that grant project in 1984, as the project manager. I met my best friend Robin that summer. She was the preschool teacher. I also graduated from SFU and got married that summer (cooked Saturday, married Sunday, took Monday off for a honeymoon - WOO-HOO!) then back to work at the community school daycamp. Seeing the leaders so bright and talented and having fun working together and getting to know each other made me feel very happy.
After work (I love that kind of work) I did some necessary but fast shopping then drove our daughter to tap dance lessons and took our son to the bank. He is determined to be a millionaire. Despite having a debit card for 3 years he still deposits more than he spends or withdraws. In fact I don't think I've ever seen him withdraw anything. Anyway, today he surpassed 1 kilobuck in his savings account. He is very proud and happy. I talked to him about volunteering this summer and he agreed to go to the Volunteer Centre next week to find a job. That way he'll get some experience so maybe someone will pay him to work next summer. Then he'll really be a millionaire.
Picked daughter up from dance and took her to a friend's house for a sleepover birthday party. She was out last night too, but we allowed only a late-over. That's a neighbourhood invention to save sanity and ensure our kids get some sleep. At a late-over you act like it's a sleepover - pjs, chips, music, movies, whatever...but you come home to your own bed at 10pm. All the fun and none of the staying up all night and being a junior grizzly bear the next day. Anyway, last night's lateover was in a yurt. Daughter took the cardboard from the IKEA bed boxes and built a box fort in the neighbour's carport. I'm tickled that the girls are almost 12 and they still think this is cool. They spent all afternoon after school building it, then late-overed in it from 8-10:30. They had flashlights, an MP3 player and home-made ice cream cookie sandwiches. They snuggled up in their duvets and watched out the window of their fort and yelled "DUDE" when someone walked down the road. I called their fort a yurt because that's what it looked like. A roofless yurt, actually.
While the girls were building the yurt I made labels on the computer and labelled and put away about 40 bottles of wine that I bottled last weekend. Now I'm stocked up again with red, but I need to make some white. And some more red for when this stuff is all consumed. It's hard to keep up, what with parties and suppers and giving it away all the time, which I like to do.
So this afternoon after the sleepover drop-off and big bank deposit I picked up 32 pounds of strawberries and brought them home. We have eaten a couple of pounds or maybe more. The local berries are like nothing else - sweet and flavourful, red to the centre and so juicy. They last for a heartbeat and must be enjoyed as soon as they are picked. So I have about 20 jars of jam now ready to go in the freezer, and a bundt cake ready to cut and serve with piles of berries. Then Andy and I will go to the movie. I hope I can keep my eyes open. This has been a busy weekend so far.
Tomorrow two of the kids from my Sunday school class are serving communion, and all of the other Sunday School teachers except my partner Greg have taken off for the weekend. Luckily they took their kids with them, so Greg and I will have probably about 12 maximum to do something with, but they will range from 2 years to 16 years, which will be fun. What's the common denominator I wonder? We'll work something out.
Some weekends have one big highlight or accomplishment. This is more of a laundry list weekend, but lots of good laundry. I hope I'll find myself on Monday morning encouraged by all that got done and happy to have had some fun with Andy and the kids too.
question: is a yurt a yurt without a roof?
mompoet - jam dandy
Anyway, the kids had a great time and the moms got to relax. A dozen daycamp leaders came over from the community school to warm up the audience with storybooks and to promote their camp registration which starts next week. It was fun meeting them. They're all university students, employed on an HRDC grant. I'll see them again because they'll come to our staff training later this month. We do a lot of stuff in cooperation with the community schools. It's also fun because I worked on that grant project in 1984, as the project manager. I met my best friend Robin that summer. She was the preschool teacher. I also graduated from SFU and got married that summer (cooked Saturday, married Sunday, took Monday off for a honeymoon - WOO-HOO!) then back to work at the community school daycamp. Seeing the leaders so bright and talented and having fun working together and getting to know each other made me feel very happy.
After work (I love that kind of work) I did some necessary but fast shopping then drove our daughter to tap dance lessons and took our son to the bank. He is determined to be a millionaire. Despite having a debit card for 3 years he still deposits more than he spends or withdraws. In fact I don't think I've ever seen him withdraw anything. Anyway, today he surpassed 1 kilobuck in his savings account. He is very proud and happy. I talked to him about volunteering this summer and he agreed to go to the Volunteer Centre next week to find a job. That way he'll get some experience so maybe someone will pay him to work next summer. Then he'll really be a millionaire.
Picked daughter up from dance and took her to a friend's house for a sleepover birthday party. She was out last night too, but we allowed only a late-over. That's a neighbourhood invention to save sanity and ensure our kids get some sleep. At a late-over you act like it's a sleepover - pjs, chips, music, movies, whatever...but you come home to your own bed at 10pm. All the fun and none of the staying up all night and being a junior grizzly bear the next day. Anyway, last night's lateover was in a yurt. Daughter took the cardboard from the IKEA bed boxes and built a box fort in the neighbour's carport. I'm tickled that the girls are almost 12 and they still think this is cool. They spent all afternoon after school building it, then late-overed in it from 8-10:30. They had flashlights, an MP3 player and home-made ice cream cookie sandwiches. They snuggled up in their duvets and watched out the window of their fort and yelled "DUDE" when someone walked down the road. I called their fort a yurt because that's what it looked like. A roofless yurt, actually.
While the girls were building the yurt I made labels on the computer and labelled and put away about 40 bottles of wine that I bottled last weekend. Now I'm stocked up again with red, but I need to make some white. And some more red for when this stuff is all consumed. It's hard to keep up, what with parties and suppers and giving it away all the time, which I like to do.
So this afternoon after the sleepover drop-off and big bank deposit I picked up 32 pounds of strawberries and brought them home. We have eaten a couple of pounds or maybe more. The local berries are like nothing else - sweet and flavourful, red to the centre and so juicy. They last for a heartbeat and must be enjoyed as soon as they are picked. So I have about 20 jars of jam now ready to go in the freezer, and a bundt cake ready to cut and serve with piles of berries. Then Andy and I will go to the movie. I hope I can keep my eyes open. This has been a busy weekend so far.
Tomorrow two of the kids from my Sunday school class are serving communion, and all of the other Sunday School teachers except my partner Greg have taken off for the weekend. Luckily they took their kids with them, so Greg and I will have probably about 12 maximum to do something with, but they will range from 2 years to 16 years, which will be fun. What's the common denominator I wonder? We'll work something out.
Some weekends have one big highlight or accomplishment. This is more of a laundry list weekend, but lots of good laundry. I hope I'll find myself on Monday morning encouraged by all that got done and happy to have had some fun with Andy and the kids too.
question: is a yurt a yurt without a roof?
mompoet - jam dandy
Friday, June 10, 2005
defective yeti - It's Business Time
I read Defective Yeti - the blog of Matthew Baldwin, just about every day. I found it by accident when I was researching information about yetis for a bad poem. This is a very good blog.
Matthew's June 8 post features an MP3 file by a New Zealand duo called The Flight of the Conchord. Their song "It's Business Time," is very good. So please go read the yeti blog and listen to the song.
question: yeti yet?
mompoet - yup yup
Matthew's June 8 post features an MP3 file by a New Zealand duo called The Flight of the Conchord. Their song "It's Business Time," is very good. So please go read the yeti blog and listen to the song.
question: yeti yet?
mompoet - yup yup
in the place where the pens with ink and the other socks live
there are also all of the regular-sized forks that were once in the kitchen drawer at our house. At one time we had 16 forks. Now we have 3. I felt like hammy paws tonight eating supper with a dainty dessert fork.
Where are the forks??? I guess when I find them, I will also find the socks and the pens that work.
question: where are they? Did they gallop away on their clickety little tines? Have they been modified to be used as drug paraphenalia? Did they join a cult of forks who believe they can be used to eat soup if they just believe in their essential integrity????
mompoet - forking mystified
Where are the forks??? I guess when I find them, I will also find the socks and the pens that work.
question: where are they? Did they gallop away on their clickety little tines? Have they been modified to be used as drug paraphenalia? Did they join a cult of forks who believe they can be used to eat soup if they just believe in their essential integrity????
mompoet - forking mystified
appreciation is good
I had a day off work today. I got today off because I'm working Saturday morning at the mall for Story Time. It's lots of fun. We have a wonderful storyteller, Marya Gadison, and community readers and a book draw. Mostly preschool kids and their parents come. My job is to set up, welcome people, answer questions, solve problems, make sure things run smoothly, say thank you and pack things away. Most of the time that is my job, facilitate the party.
So I spent my day off work helping with something that is peculiarly like my job. I helped with the staff appreciation lunch at the secondary school. It was organized by some of the parents from the PAC (Parent Advisory Council). I just showed up to help. I think we served lunch to about 80 people - teachers, secretaries, janitors and the ladies who run the cafeteria. The school is so full that there's no common lunch break. So some of the teachers were in class for the whole 3 1/2 hours we were set up and serving. The PAC ladies had organized so these teachers had lunches delivered to their classrooms by student volunteers. I think that was very sweet. A lot of the teachers were at Awards Night Thursday, so they were back on Friday after a long haul the day before. They all seemed very pleased to be treated to a nice sit-down hot lunch. There were tablecloths, flowers and candles, so the staff room looked very beautiful. The Vice Principal said that most of the time the teachers eat in their classrooms or on the run while they are photocopying or trying to meet students or other teachers between classes. Some of the teachers asked if we would serve lunch every Friday. I wish we could!
So anyway, I took off for half an hour between lunch rushes to get my eyebrows hedge-trimmed and on the way, our son's resource teacher phones me on my cell to touch base about his course selection and schedule for grade 10 and also to say that she wants to kick his butt a bit next fall and get him to put more thought and effort into his writing, and would that be okay with us - do we think he can handle it because she does. She is phenomenal. She spends an hour and a quarter every day with our boy and about 15 other students, who all take different classes. She has helped him with his math, studying for tests, taking tests, writing essays and preparing an oral presentation. Her energy, dedication and love for our kid are remarkable. So anyway, I tell her I think that's a great idea, but I have to go because it's time for my appointment at the aesthetician and she starts laughing and says, "Well, the aesthetician!" Like it's some lah-di-da thing. Then she says, "I would like to get a pedicure one day." So now I know what to get her for a thank you gift. Along with my usual thank you card I'll give her a certificate for a pedicure at the aesthetician - LAH-DI-DAH to you too! Ms Morgan we love you, we do!
Question: who knew that triple scoops of serendipity were available on a regular basis?
mompoet - holding a waffle cone
So I spent my day off work helping with something that is peculiarly like my job. I helped with the staff appreciation lunch at the secondary school. It was organized by some of the parents from the PAC (Parent Advisory Council). I just showed up to help. I think we served lunch to about 80 people - teachers, secretaries, janitors and the ladies who run the cafeteria. The school is so full that there's no common lunch break. So some of the teachers were in class for the whole 3 1/2 hours we were set up and serving. The PAC ladies had organized so these teachers had lunches delivered to their classrooms by student volunteers. I think that was very sweet. A lot of the teachers were at Awards Night Thursday, so they were back on Friday after a long haul the day before. They all seemed very pleased to be treated to a nice sit-down hot lunch. There were tablecloths, flowers and candles, so the staff room looked very beautiful. The Vice Principal said that most of the time the teachers eat in their classrooms or on the run while they are photocopying or trying to meet students or other teachers between classes. Some of the teachers asked if we would serve lunch every Friday. I wish we could!
So anyway, I took off for half an hour between lunch rushes to get my eyebrows hedge-trimmed and on the way, our son's resource teacher phones me on my cell to touch base about his course selection and schedule for grade 10 and also to say that she wants to kick his butt a bit next fall and get him to put more thought and effort into his writing, and would that be okay with us - do we think he can handle it because she does. She is phenomenal. She spends an hour and a quarter every day with our boy and about 15 other students, who all take different classes. She has helped him with his math, studying for tests, taking tests, writing essays and preparing an oral presentation. Her energy, dedication and love for our kid are remarkable. So anyway, I tell her I think that's a great idea, but I have to go because it's time for my appointment at the aesthetician and she starts laughing and says, "Well, the aesthetician!" Like it's some lah-di-da thing. Then she says, "I would like to get a pedicure one day." So now I know what to get her for a thank you gift. Along with my usual thank you card I'll give her a certificate for a pedicure at the aesthetician - LAH-DI-DAH to you too! Ms Morgan we love you, we do!
Question: who knew that triple scoops of serendipity were available on a regular basis?
mompoet - holding a waffle cone
recognition is good
Andy and I went to the secondary school awards night last night with our son. Grade 9 has been an incredible year for him. He's blossoming in all ways. Still pretty much his own cat, but he's sticking with karate and participated all year in the Third World Awareness group. Academically he has excelled. We always knew he was smart. It's like the secondary environment allowed him to be offically recognized for it.
The school is liberal with awards. Out of 1750 students, 1110 received awards. About 400 kids actually showed up. Our boy won three awards: service, work habits and honour roll. He felt really proud. So did we. He knows we're proud of him everyday, whether he gets an award or not, but getting the awards is pretty special and feels very good.
We saw some amazing high achievers - kids with 99.6% averages in International Baccalaureate programs, grade 12s with scholarships (Harvard, Berkeley School of Music). I think part of our son's success this year is that our local school is an IB school, and attracts smart, non-typical kids from far and wide. The environment is less cliquey and more accommodating of kids who march to the beat of their own drummer. Last night it felt like being smart is actually cool. In secondary I struggled with being smart and even did some things of which I am not proud. (eg I skipped school the afternoon of the awards assembly in grade 12 and was noticeably absent when awarded the top academic student award for the school. I felt so bad I apologized to the principal the next day but still I think about it.) Anyway, I'm glad that so many kids are smart and good workers, and our kid is one of them, and at least 400 of them think that smart is cool and awards are not too geeky to accept.
Daughter's awards assemblies are next week - one for athletics, one for academic/service. She knows she's getting an athletic pin, and I'm pretty sure she's on the smart list.
We're pretty lucky - smart kids well-served by good schools. We show up for the awards. Recognition is good.
Question: 99.6%???
mompoet - 100% happy
The school is liberal with awards. Out of 1750 students, 1110 received awards. About 400 kids actually showed up. Our boy won three awards: service, work habits and honour roll. He felt really proud. So did we. He knows we're proud of him everyday, whether he gets an award or not, but getting the awards is pretty special and feels very good.
We saw some amazing high achievers - kids with 99.6% averages in International Baccalaureate programs, grade 12s with scholarships (Harvard, Berkeley School of Music). I think part of our son's success this year is that our local school is an IB school, and attracts smart, non-typical kids from far and wide. The environment is less cliquey and more accommodating of kids who march to the beat of their own drummer. Last night it felt like being smart is actually cool. In secondary I struggled with being smart and even did some things of which I am not proud. (eg I skipped school the afternoon of the awards assembly in grade 12 and was noticeably absent when awarded the top academic student award for the school. I felt so bad I apologized to the principal the next day but still I think about it.) Anyway, I'm glad that so many kids are smart and good workers, and our kid is one of them, and at least 400 of them think that smart is cool and awards are not too geeky to accept.
Daughter's awards assemblies are next week - one for athletics, one for academic/service. She knows she's getting an athletic pin, and I'm pretty sure she's on the smart list.
We're pretty lucky - smart kids well-served by good schools. We show up for the awards. Recognition is good.
Question: 99.6%???
mompoet - 100% happy
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
things I am glad about today
in random order
mompoet - gladder 'n glad
- purple petunias (the trailing kind)
- poems about trains
- daughter made it into the PNE Star Search - a new experience awaits!
- friend Cathy won a prize for that papaya salsa I blogged last month
- strawberry rhubarb muffins
- Andy helped me put the IKEA bed together - it took us 97 minutes and cost a fingernail or two but the boy loves it
- the dog slept 2 nights without pajamas and didn't chew her butt
- strawberries are ripe
- I didn't have to go to aircare (thank you wonderful husband)
- the tetanus shot didn't hurt at all
- the head gash is healed
- no industrial accidents in 5 days
- cats shed only for a week or so
- Natalie Merchant
- dental plans for orthodontic work
- we have more towels downstairs
- wine corks
- the boy who helps with the wine-corker
- 4 more days of secondary school then 2 exams
- 10 more days of middle school, including exams
- the NDP guy hung up when I told him we were assembling an IKEA bed so is this an emergency?
- ladeez in the hood weekend coming soon
- summer dreams
- really blonde but still smart
- new poems in development
- mom's home from Missouri
- uncle Rene got an iBook
- did I mention purple petunias
mompoet - gladder 'n glad
Monday, June 06, 2005
cookie dough
Our son made cookies tonight. He used the big bag of chocolate easter eggs that I forgot to bring to Cranbrook. Somehow we got the idea that it would be better to use this surplus chocolate for cookies than it would be just to eat it. More healthy somehow. But guess what's in the cookies? Butter, sugar, sugar, eggs and white flour. So we're just making more goo. But it is good goo. As good as the cookies taste when made with chocolate chips, they are even better made with chopped up eggs or bunny chunks.
I helped unwrap the eggs and chop them into big bits. It is necessary for me to be part of the cookie-making because I am the magic maker of chocolate chip cookies. Ever since my mom turned me loose in the kitchen to cook on a step stool when I was 5 years old I have made the absolutely best chocolate chip cookies in the world. People ask me to marry and/or adopt them when they taste these cookies. I can get anyone to do anything by offering a cookie as payment. Now my young ones are learning the magic. Just following the recipe does not work. You have to diverge from the recipe just right - like Luke Skywalker learned to use the force. In time they will make the cookies when I am far away. For now, I must be in the room or they are just cookies. When we make them together they have secret powers.
I am not exaggerating. Ask anyone who knows these cookies.
question: right?
mompoet - trust the force, Luke
I helped unwrap the eggs and chop them into big bits. It is necessary for me to be part of the cookie-making because I am the magic maker of chocolate chip cookies. Ever since my mom turned me loose in the kitchen to cook on a step stool when I was 5 years old I have made the absolutely best chocolate chip cookies in the world. People ask me to marry and/or adopt them when they taste these cookies. I can get anyone to do anything by offering a cookie as payment. Now my young ones are learning the magic. Just following the recipe does not work. You have to diverge from the recipe just right - like Luke Skywalker learned to use the force. In time they will make the cookies when I am far away. For now, I must be in the room or they are just cookies. When we make them together they have secret powers.
I am not exaggerating. Ask anyone who knows these cookies.
question: right?
mompoet - trust the force, Luke
fate again
I mean it about events conspiring to change the path of daily living...
Andy moved my car last night and noticed a slow leak in one of my tires. So this morning, instead of going to the gym at 8, I'm going down to the tire store at 9. Something is keeping me away from the gym.
Maybe it's my guardian angel. Maybe it's the goddess of voluptuous abdominal amplitude. Who knows. I go with it. It's happened too many times before that I have been glad that inconvenience has put me out of harms way.
I know, I'm a fruitcake. So far it has kept me off the rocks, so I like it.
question: the power of fate?
mompoet - you know, the one with the built-in horseshoe?
Andy moved my car last night and noticed a slow leak in one of my tires. So this morning, instead of going to the gym at 8, I'm going down to the tire store at 9. Something is keeping me away from the gym.
Maybe it's my guardian angel. Maybe it's the goddess of voluptuous abdominal amplitude. Who knows. I go with it. It's happened too many times before that I have been glad that inconvenience has put me out of harms way.
I know, I'm a fruitcake. So far it has kept me off the rocks, so I like it.
question: the power of fate?
mompoet - you know, the one with the built-in horseshoe?
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Shinzen Jiai
Our son participated in his annual "friendly match" for Shintokukai Karate-do, his karate school. We spent Saturday afternoon in a middle school gym watching karate kids and their teachers demonstrate kata and sparring. We've been to a few of these. Our boy started karate when he was 8 and has stayed with this same school all of these years. It was fun to see the tiny little ones just 6 years old and remember when our boy's white belt days.
Our fifteen year old green belt did a fine job. He looked so smart, and performed his kata very crisply. He's still somewhat tentative in sparring, but he has come a long way, especially in his stance and balance. He didn't match his opponents for kicks and blows, but he was solid and very good defensively. And he looked great, although I think we'll have to buy him a new gi for September. He's almost as tall as his dad now.
We spend hours at our daughter's performances, but relatively little time watching the karate boy. I try to arrive early to pick him up from practice, so I can watch for a few minutes, but mostly he's pretty independent about it, and certainly doesn't want any spectators when he practises at home. We're proud of him when we see him demonstrate his skills. He has put in hours of work to get to where he is today. I'm grateful for the opportunity to celebrate this.
question: how did he grow up so fast?
mompoet - filled with wonder
Our fifteen year old green belt did a fine job. He looked so smart, and performed his kata very crisply. He's still somewhat tentative in sparring, but he has come a long way, especially in his stance and balance. He didn't match his opponents for kicks and blows, but he was solid and very good defensively. And he looked great, although I think we'll have to buy him a new gi for September. He's almost as tall as his dad now.
We spend hours at our daughter's performances, but relatively little time watching the karate boy. I try to arrive early to pick him up from practice, so I can watch for a few minutes, but mostly he's pretty independent about it, and certainly doesn't want any spectators when he practises at home. We're proud of him when we see him demonstrate his skills. He has put in hours of work to get to where he is today. I'm grateful for the opportunity to celebrate this.
question: how did he grow up so fast?
mompoet - filled with wonder
random or reasoned?
I'm bumpity-bumping through this weekend, thinking over and over: is this random or do things happen for a reason?
Friday morning at 6:30 I had finished my breakfast. The dog was lying under the dining room table making appealing and sympathetic noises. I bent down to pet her and whacked my head on the computer desk in the corner. I saw stars for a minute, then I realised I had split the skin on my brow. I cleaned it up and hitched the sides of the cut together with a bandaid. I saw the family doctor a couple of hours later. He said that it was healing already and didn't need stitches - just taped it up with some steri-strips that will come off in a couple days and I should be good as new. I felt embarassed for my carelessness, relieved it wasn't worse (thank goodness for brow bones or I would have damaged my eye most likely) and also annoyed that I missed my morning workout because I had to go to the doctor's office instead.
A friend of mine whacked her van into a couple of those yellow posts in a parking lot the other day. As she drove home she noticed that one of the wheels was making a strange noise. It turns out that the axle was bent in two places as a result of what seemed like a minor, low-speed jolt. Repairs are in the works (luckily her husband can do the work, and has found most of the parts at good prices). The van should be in good shape in time for their departure on a lengthy road trip coming up in a few weeks.
So were these random bits of bad luck? Or relatively minor incidents that happened in order to jolt us off a track that might have led to worse? Of course it's rare that we ever know for sure, but I tend to believe the latter. What if that axle had failed while they were driving through the rockies? What if Friday was the day that I would have hurt myself at the gym? Whether or not God or fate or some other force plays a hand in these events, I'm always grateful when they happen in recoverable ways. I didn't split my head open on the picnic table while we were camping in the woods somewhere. The van got damaged a few blocks from home. Recovery is safe and easy. I think of these as happy mishaps. We all fall down. It is fortunate when we fall into soft arms.
question: reason or random?
mompoet - pondering
Friday morning at 6:30 I had finished my breakfast. The dog was lying under the dining room table making appealing and sympathetic noises. I bent down to pet her and whacked my head on the computer desk in the corner. I saw stars for a minute, then I realised I had split the skin on my brow. I cleaned it up and hitched the sides of the cut together with a bandaid. I saw the family doctor a couple of hours later. He said that it was healing already and didn't need stitches - just taped it up with some steri-strips that will come off in a couple days and I should be good as new. I felt embarassed for my carelessness, relieved it wasn't worse (thank goodness for brow bones or I would have damaged my eye most likely) and also annoyed that I missed my morning workout because I had to go to the doctor's office instead.
A friend of mine whacked her van into a couple of those yellow posts in a parking lot the other day. As she drove home she noticed that one of the wheels was making a strange noise. It turns out that the axle was bent in two places as a result of what seemed like a minor, low-speed jolt. Repairs are in the works (luckily her husband can do the work, and has found most of the parts at good prices). The van should be in good shape in time for their departure on a lengthy road trip coming up in a few weeks.
So were these random bits of bad luck? Or relatively minor incidents that happened in order to jolt us off a track that might have led to worse? Of course it's rare that we ever know for sure, but I tend to believe the latter. What if that axle had failed while they were driving through the rockies? What if Friday was the day that I would have hurt myself at the gym? Whether or not God or fate or some other force plays a hand in these events, I'm always grateful when they happen in recoverable ways. I didn't split my head open on the picnic table while we were camping in the woods somewhere. The van got damaged a few blocks from home. Recovery is safe and easy. I think of these as happy mishaps. We all fall down. It is fortunate when we fall into soft arms.
question: reason or random?
mompoet - pondering
Saturday, June 04, 2005
They walked to the wedding
First wedding on Mt. Everest took place this week. I like that they got to the top on their own steam. I guess it's okay to get married on Mt. Everest if you climb it yourself (rather than getting plopped on top by a helicopter). Of course, that's assuming that I get to decide which Mount Everest weddings are okay and which are not.
Question: I don't get to, do I?
mompoet - well, thank goodness it's just an opinion
Question: I don't get to, do I?
mompoet - well, thank goodness it's just an opinion
Friday, June 03, 2005
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Why I am a Mean Mother
or should I say meeeeeeeeeen mothrrrrrrrrrrrr?
I had lunch with two friends yesterday. The szechuan was so spicy our eyes and noses were streaming. We were gulping water, gobbling rice and laughing fire-breath laughter as we traded stories of why our daughters have declared each of us MEAN MOTHERS!
Here is a partial list of our meannesses:
And one day, they will be moms, and they will be as mean as us. Please pass the peppers - GRRRRROOOOOORRRR!
question: me mean?
mompoet - When I have to be
I had lunch with two friends yesterday. The szechuan was so spicy our eyes and noses were streaming. We were gulping water, gobbling rice and laughing fire-breath laughter as we traded stories of why our daughters have declared each of us MEAN MOTHERS!
Here is a partial list of our meannesses:
- We cannot find clothes that our daughters like. Even when we take them to the mall with us. Nothing fits or feels good and it is all our fault.
- We will not let our actor children perform in 2 shows at a time. Sure this would mean that we would have to drive to rehearsals every night of the week. But Geez Mom, there is Sunday!
- We think everyone does not really have an IPOD. We are old-fashioned.
- We say "No MSN when you have homework. All the other families let their kids use MSN continuously, even during supper.
- We wear dorky clothes and embarras them. We should be stylish, like other moms.
- We make them eat vegetables. Vegetables are gross.
And one day, they will be moms, and they will be as mean as us. Please pass the peppers - GRRRRROOOOOORRRR!
question: me mean?
mompoet - When I have to be
The helicopter
It landed on the top of Mount Everest on May 14. When I saw the video I thought it was a hoax. What do you think?
Then I thought, "Nope, it really happened, but it's actually pretty sad." There should be some places in the world you have to work to get to. It's great that high altitude rescues will be aided by machines like this but it also opens up the ultimate in fat cat tourism, helicopter picnics at the peak of Everest? Top of the world wedding ceremonies? Awful!
Then I did a bit of reading and it turns out the whole thing is a publicity grab for this fine company that built the beast.
Enough said. Except
question: isn't anything just safe and clean and good anymore?
mompoet - wishing for better for the world
Then I thought, "Nope, it really happened, but it's actually pretty sad." There should be some places in the world you have to work to get to. It's great that high altitude rescues will be aided by machines like this but it also opens up the ultimate in fat cat tourism, helicopter picnics at the peak of Everest? Top of the world wedding ceremonies? Awful!
Then I did a bit of reading and it turns out the whole thing is a publicity grab for this fine company that built the beast.
Enough said. Except
question: isn't anything just safe and clean and good anymore?
mompoet - wishing for better for the world
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Looking for boing
oooo what I would give for some springiness right now. Nothing is the matter, just feeling flat. Oh well, I'm going to make a nice salad and read something then go pick up the girl from rehearsal. Tomorrow I will get my hair shortened, rearranged and camouflaged. Maybe that will help.
question: why does nobody play the drums in the doldrums?
mompoet - rum pa pum pum
question: why does nobody play the drums in the doldrums?
mompoet - rum pa pum pum
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