An Extraordinary Machine

 

Ronin has not shut up for the past hour . . . literally . . . he is just talking and talking and talking . . . asking questions and talking some more.  If I don't answer fast enough, it's "Mommy, I'm talking to you!!!!"  If he's talking to the dog, he has to come back and immediately tell me what he said. 

He spent most of the ride home trying to figure out how some people we met at a party last year were related to one another . . . and of course, didn't believe me when I told him, because he's 3 and 3 year olds?  They know it all.  

He's hilarious and I love him to pieces but OMG child you can't possibly have anything left to say!!!  

Now he wants to hunt monsters with our new flashlights.  I'm off. 

I need to take better pics, but in the meantime, heeeeeeeeeeeere's Misfit!

So I'm looking at the google analytics for my website, which I do periodically . . . usually when I am a combination of bored and noticing increased traffic/emails/etc.  

And one of the referring sites led me to a board where this little gem was posted by someone going by the user id HeartofaHippy (who bills herself as a fosterer . . . if I bothered to go through one of the recent adoption threads on booju, I could tell you who it is . . . I'm not that bored):

She chats on another parenting community about all her sexual partners and about her and her main partner looking for people to add to their mix. She also wonders why fathers in her play group have reservations about her main male partner hanging out with their wives and children for play dates. Her claim is that they haven't told them they want to have sex with them so they shouldn't have any reservations!

and

The women in in a multi-partner relationship with both men and women. Not that it makes anyone a bad parent, but I can't see how inviting both Dick & Jane into your bedroom is a healthy example for your kids.

I seriously burst out laughing.  I chat about all my sexual partners?  Please tell me where I can read all about it because it might just be more exciting (and less embarrassing) then the pathetic, one-partner-and-was-a-virgin-til-21 reality that I've posted about openly on LJ and elsewhere.  

Can't wait to tell Mike about this exciting life we're having in someone's imagination!!   A multi-partner relationship with both men and women . . . sounds like our bedroom is a full-on circus!!

Picture post from our adventures at my mom's friend's house today . . .

( Click if you like cute kids and cool birds!! )

I wasn't fast enough to catch the embarrassed look as she stood up and hobbled away, but Mike and I are planning to get some videos soon.  

I assume you're supposed to bold the nominated movies you've seen from each year.  I am just doing this to prove how terrible my taste in movies really is . . . we go to/rent/watch a LOT of movies, and most of them do not come anywhere near garnering the attention of the academy. 

1980. Ordinary People, Coal Miner's Daughter, The Elephant Man, Raging Bull, Tess

1981. Chariots of Fire, Reds, Atlantic City, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark

1982. Gandhi, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Missing, Tootsie, The Verdict

1983. Terms of Endearment, The Big Chill, The Dresser, The Right Stuff, Tender Mercies

1984. Amadeus, The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, Places in the Heart, A Soldier's Story

1985. Out of Africa, The Color Purple, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Prizzi's Honor, Witness

1986. Platoon, Children of a Lesser God, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Mission, A Room with a View

1987. The Last Emperor, Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, Moonstruck

1988. Rain Man, The Accidental Tourist, Dangerous Liaisons, Mississippi Burning, Working Girl

1989. Driving Miss Daisy, Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot

1990. Dances with Wolves, Awakenings, Ghost, The Godfather Part III, Goodfellas

1991. The Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, JFK, The Prince of Tides

1992. Unforgiven, The Crying Game, A Few Good Men, Howards End, Scent of a Woman

1993. Schindler's List, The Fugitive, In the Name of the Father, The Piano, The Remains of the Day

1994. Forrest Gump, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption

1995. Braveheart, Apollo 13, Babe, Il Postino (The Postman), Sense and Sensibility

1996. The English Patient, Fargo, Jerry Maguire, Secrets & Lies, Shine

1997. Titanic (and can I just say how much I LOATHED this movie . . . each of the THREE times my ex took me to see it), As Good as It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential

1998. Shakespeare in Love, Elizabeth, Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella), Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line

1999. American Beauty, The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, The Sixth Sense

2000. Gladiator, Chocolat, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Traffic

2001. A Beautiful Mind, Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Moulin Rouge!

2002. Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist

2003. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, Seabiscuit

2004. Million Dollar Baby, The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways

2005. Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich

2006. The Departed, Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen

2007. No Country for Old Men, Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood

2008. Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader

OMG, I need to get over my fear of sweaters and make this.  I'm dying, it's so cute!!

Happy birthday, Jenna!!!!!!  I hope you have a great day!

My last public post must have gotten sent out through google blog alerts or something because I ended up coming home to a zillion anonymous comments on various past entries.  They started out hilarious (accusing me of separating our goats and piglets from their mamas, hehe) but since they were the same thing over and over, I was bored by the time I was done reading them.  

People who are too afraid to say what they want to say without hiding beyond anonymity are really pathetic.  And apparently, not all that creative, either.     

I wanted to post last night about our trip yesterday, but I was way too tired to put any words together. 

We left at 1am, as planned.  Rylie was excited to count cars on the road at that time of day -- there weren't many of them for the first hour or so that we drove.  Our roads were still wet and a bit snowy, and the GPS took me through some strange back roads, but we got to the highway without any problems.  After an hour or so, Rylie fell back to sleep for a little while. 

We got into Rockville around 5am, got on the metro very quickly -- there were some other people waiting but no crowds yet.  Rylie wanted to stand, so we did.  By the time the train made it into the city, we were packed in like sardines. 

In Washington, we walked for a little while and then found a (crowded) cafe where we were able to use the bathroom and get some breakfast.  Despite the crowds, everyone was friendly.  There wasn't any pushing or rudeness, and that was true for the rest of the day, too.

After breakfast (around 6:30am), we found the line for the "Purple Tickets."  It wrapped around a couple blocks and deep into the Rt. 355 tunnel.  Walking through, the end of the line seemed never to be coming -- it was really incredible how many people had come out for the day.  At least we were relatively warm down there.  At 9am, the line started moving  at a snail's pace, and we were out by 11am, all of us at that point crossing our fingers and wondering if we'd even get close enough to hear, let alone see, the inauguration. 

We didn't.  We got up to the gates, but security had shut them (I still don't know why, I'm watching the news this morning since my mom said they mentioned the thousands of purple ticket holders who were closed out).  We couldn't hear, and we couldn't see, and we were packed even tighter together than we had been on the subway.  But we were there, and when the canons fired and the news that he'd taken the oath spread back through the crowd, the energy was great -- Rylie cheered and I cried. 

It was disappointing not to see what (and WHO) we'd come to see, but ultimately, I'm glad we went.  We were there, we got to feel and see the excitement first hand, and it was a tremendous thing just to be a part of it in some small way.  Rylie was excited to see the Capitol Building, and she wants to go back in the summer so that we can tour the White House.  I'm glad we went.

I know the sentiment among black people (brown people, Rylie says) is that it is incredible to see a president who looks like them -- and I really get that.  But I also feel like, we have a president who looks like us on the inside, as far as many of his values are concerned, and that thrills me.  We've not had a president like that in my lifetime, and I have been trying to stress that to Rylie.  Someone on my friendslist (from Canada) has mentioned being concerned that her son will never see the people who share their values winning an election, and she doesn't want him to think that their values are just a dream.  Reading that really struck me, and I feel so lucky to have a president who DOES share our committment to reproductive freedom, and peace, and the environment -- who believes in the value of activism and community, and who thinks individuals can make a difference.  That's huge.  

I used my list from last year, but if anyone else wants an xmas card from me, comment here.

unconformed , undestiny , and moira_aoibheane , y'all have moved since last year and I need your addresses if you want cards.

Also, if you did the holiday meme, comment with your link here if you haven't already sent it to me!

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I finished knitting the kids' xmas snakes just now.  They still need to be stuffed and have their button eyes sewn on, but they are mostly stitched up and ready to go.  Yay!!

Now I can get to work on the three (or four) other knitting projects I need to start and finish before xmas.  I think I might just get them all done!

I am not a sap.  I'm not particularly sensitive. 

But I'm crying tears of joy. 

Ronin just shut off my computer because "'Cain was on it and I don't want see him!"  Rylie says there was a picture of McCain up on the screen.

LOL

My Alice . . . she is really coming around and getting friendly. 



One of ten so far . . . doesn't it just make you feel like spring?

My chicks are hatching!!!  I was sauteeing mushrooms in the kitchen a few minutes ago, and all of a sudden I heard "peep peep peep" from the incubator. 

I can't see anything except a few cracks here and there, and one egg that's moving around . . . but yay!!  I'm going to have chickens in the morning!!