We couldn't figure out how the timer worked or how to position the camera, so our first problem is that we don't have a photo of the whole family together. Maybe we need to choose four and do a grid? Which ones would you choose? (Click to enlarge.)
It's Day Way Too Many of the new exercise and diet program, an effort to get rid of the baby weight. Weirdly, over the past couple of days I have developed an intense interest in perfume, something I've never had much time for. I think it must have something to do with sensual deprivation -- food was my go-to for gratification before and now I need something else. (And please don't suggest sex. Clearly, sex can be very fattening -- it is responsible for this baby weight in the first place.)
Parque Gulliver in Valencia, Spain (inspired, of course, by Gulliver's Travels) is featured on a terrific blog about playground design, Playscapes. Via @andevers.
Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez perform his hit song.
Luke and his dad saw the movie on Sunday. They loved it. We finished the book
(wow, check out that price) last night. We loved it. Now we're in search of more, more, more. I'm really excited about the fact we were able to read a novel together at bedtime -- and open to suggestions for the next one we should try.
Luke has added a Wild Things stuffed animal to his Christmas list. He wants Alexander, the goat boy creature. Unfortunately, I don't think that there is such a thing. The child is very persistent in these matters, insisting that, if I would just agree to telephone Santa and ask nicely, surely he would direct his elves to make one.
Annie Leibovitz does a series of Hansel and Gretel photographs for Vogue. Lady Gaga is the witch. Via Marina Tatar's blog Breezes from Wonderland.
And, speaking of Wonderland, here are some amazing posters from Tim Burton's movie version of the classic. Alice has inspired so many beautiful images, I have half a mind to start collecting both the books and the films.
Yay! The Kindle is now available in Canada! I've been annoyed with Amazon ever since the e-reader came out because it wasn't available here. And now it is. Jeff Bezos may think he invented this thing but I thought it up in the late 90s. And on Christmas day I expect to finally hold it in my hot little hands. Come to me, my preciousssssss.
This poster (via BB-Blog) puts me right back in the family car with my mom and younger brother, all of us belting out John Denver songs. I do an especially dramatic rendition of the one that goes "I am the EAGLE, I live in high country... I am the HAWK and there's BLOOD on my feathers but time is still turning, they soon will be dry-y-y!" If you're lucky, maybe I'll do a video and post it. (And by "lucky" I mean "unfortunate.")
My Parents Were Awesome, a site featuring photos of people's parents when they were younger, looks like fun. I have some good pictures around here I could submit. Although my parents are still awesome. (Hi Mom!)
Okay, so mostly I just wanted to post these pictures of Sylvie in this new hat. (It's a sickness, I tell you, this constant putting-of-things-on-one's-children's-heads as a form of entertainment.) But for the past couple of nights after Sylvie has fallen asleep, Luke and I have been cuddling up and reading The Wild Things. In the past he's often asked me to read aloud whatever book I happen to be engrossed in to help him drift off to sleep. This is the first time one of these "books without pictures" has kept him awake. Thinking it'd be too advanced for Luke, I'd purchased it to read myself, not expecting much -- I never do, when a writer tries to put his or her own spin on a classic -- but this is good, really good. Eggers has perfectly captured that kind of impulsive wildness that you often see in kids, particularly boys. And the conversations Max has with the monsters -- they're funny and very childlike in a realistically childlike way, not in that fake and sentimentally childlike way kids often converse in, in books. It's difficult to put your finger on the difference, but they say the kinds of things you'd hear kids say to one another if you followed some around for a little while and actually listened to them.* Max's thoughts ring similarly true.
Since I'm reading the book with the boy, his dad gets to take him to see the movie this weekend. I'm jealous. (One of us has to stay with Sylvie.)
*Disclaimer: I do not advise picking a group of children at random and then following them around to test this theory. You might get arrested.
Alas, these firescreens featuring Rome and London burning are only prototypes, not yet for sale. Via BB-blog.
Speaking of Rome burning, I ordered a bunch of Horrible Histories, ostensibly for Luke and Sylvie for Christmas. Really, until they're old enough, they're for me. I was inspired by When We Were Romans, one of the library books I picked up a few days ago. I can't recommend When We Were Romans enough -- written from the point of view of a nine-year-old boy, it belongs on my list of the best books that evoke childhood for adults.
Jarbas Agnelli saw a newspaper photograph of birds on wires and decided to compose music based on the birds' position. Lovely and haunting. I also enjoy Agnelli's short films about his baby daughter, The Mini Adventures of Nina 1, 2, and 3.
This is neat: apparently phantom places, mostly streets but in this case a whole town, sometimes appear on maps. The town of Argleton in Lancashire appears only on Google maps. I can relate to the guy who felt compelled to walk to where it's supposed to be. That's exactly what I'd do:
"I started to weave this amazing fantasy about the place, an alternative
universe, a Narnia-like world. I was really fascinated by the appearance of
a non-existent place that the internet had the power to make real and give a
semi-existence."
When Mr Bayfield reached Argleton – which appears on Google Maps between
Aughton and Aughton Park – he found just acres of green, empty fields.
So although I did my best with Luke, he just informed me that he intends to be a video game designer/tv show writer when he grows up. In the above video, taken when Luke was maybe two, I see now that instead of inspiring him, I was torturing the child with the profession I'd prefer he choose.
Some mothers might think twice. But not I. No, instead I got pregnant twice. Sylvie is the perfect opportunity to try again.
See how I'm already making better progress. She doesn't mind the hat at all. (Please ignore the hideous wallpaper in the background. I haven't torn it down yet as I'm holding out for a full kitchen reno. The ugly wallpaper in the video is now gone, gone, gone.)
Plus, although this might sound sexist, nowadays it seems as if doctoring (as the old folks around here call it) is a profession often better suited to women anyway, especially if bedside manner matters to you. All of our doctors (our family doctor, Luke's pediatrician, his gastroenterologist, all the fertility specialists we saw, and the ob-gyns who delivered both children) are women. Our family doctor is a plump, white-haired woman in her sixties. When Luke was just starting to talk, every time he saw a grandmotherly-looking woman he said, "Look, a doct-ah!" Which I just loved. (Do you remember that old riddle about the boy who was injured in a car accident with his father, who was also severely injured? The surgeon enters the operating room and exclaims, "I can't operate on this boy! He's my son!" and you're supposed to figure out how that's possible. We were told that one in grade three -- and I remember being stumped.)
(Note: In a later post I shall discuss my strange penchant for photographing my children with hats, wigs, and a variety of household objects on their heads. For now I will say only this: I blame my mother.)
Happily, Sylvie is still too little to tell me what she wants for Christmas. Therefore this year I have free rein to purchase mainly medical-themed toys for my potential neurosurgeon:
A giant plush neuron is actually something she could cuddle up with now. The red blood cell also looks kind of cuddly. I'll probably get Luke the giant dust mite --he's put stuffed animals on his list against the recommendation of his allergist. (Two others that interest me personally are thebookworm and the swine flu.) Sylvie will also be able to wear these tiny scrubs right away. And this plastic doctor setwill have to do for now -- she's liable to bash herself in the head with real metal pieces. And while a trip to the ER would certainly be educational, I don't want to risk the loss of any brain cells.
I like these 3-D anatomical puzzles so much I'd happily display them in my living room: thishuman muscle and skeleton model, this Bio Signs brain & skull and this
frog-- they're a lot more visually appealing than a pile of Fisher-Price and Hot Wheels crap.
And last but not least, Operation. (While I was browsing the board games, I found a new one called Infection -- it doesn't look all that snazzy but the concept is great. And timely.)
I've got my eye on two new-ish books featuring paper artists. Here are some photographs of the incredible work found in the pages of Papercraft: Design and Art With Paper. The book comes with a DVD of some of the best stop-motion animation and some printable templates for making your own paper toys. You can view a video about the book here.