Basically, just another blog
If you saw “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” you’ll recognize this song. Heck, maybe even if you didn’t.
The band is Icelandic. The title of the song means “staring elf.” Seriously. There’s a rough translation of the lyrics here. Basically the song is about going to bed at night, when “a little elf stares at me,” and then waking up the next day, and finding “still there is something missing.”
“Starálfur,” by Sigur Rós:
I wrote a new post on potty training today, over on my mommy blog, and while I won’t bore you with the pee-soaked details (you’re welcome), it did get me thinking. We started the whole potty training thing in earnest in early August. Now, it’s nearly the end of September. What the heck happened to the end of summer? Things I never would have believed, if you’d told me before I had a child:
1. That we would spend over two months potty training said child, and still feel like not much progress had been made.
2. That two months of dreary underwear washing would fly by as fast as these two months have.
3. That I would seriously consider hiring, bribing, or blackmailing someone to TEACH MY KID NOT TO PEE IN HER PANTS!
Oh well. Becoming a parent changes everything, doesn’t it?
There will definitely be more posting this week. I have promised myself and my readers (all three of you).
I have no time to post. Seriously: No. Time. To post. Work just kicks my ass all day every day (it gets like that from time to time, but luckily not all the time) and then I come home and I try to deal with the Bean and then I pass out. I’m very, very tired all the time!
This weekend I could have posted (before now) except I was doing all kinds of laundry and housework and trying to deal (again) with THE BEAN. My darling Bean is going through a ‘stage’ right now, the stage where every time she opens her mouth a whine (or a scream) comes out, for no good reason. And also, she’s experimenting with lying and has learned an annoying new facet of mimicry: turning things around on us. Typical exchange:
Me: Ow! Veronica, please don’t kick me.
Bean: Don’t you kick me!
Me: I didn’t kick you.
Bean: YES YOU DID!
Me: No, you kicked ME!
Bean: NO I NOT!!
And….scene. Usually this is where she runs upstairs, screaming. If she could formulate the phrase “I hate you and I’m running away,” I’m sure she’d hurl that at me on the way. Lucky (?) for me, she’s only 3.
What does it all mean? Maybe we’ve warped her irreparably and this is just the first sign of all the emotional damage that having us as parents has caused her. Or, perhaps she’s just a toddler. Perhaps if we continue to practice positive parenting, have patience, provide a good example by modelling acceptable behavior, discipline firmly but fairly, and challenge/stimulate her intellectually, she’ll outgrow it and turn out just perfect.
Yeah, right.
I have to admit that to me, almost all of Fujiya & Miyagi’s songs sound pretty much the same. That being said, I kind of love them anyway. This is Knickerbocker:
Haven’t been blogging much, not even to post my outfits or songs regularly. I’ve actually been busy, busy, busy. My project at work is picking up, and will keep me very distracted for at least the next six weeks.
The weather here is in that transitional state where it’s gray, damp, and 70 (but feels like 60) one day; then sunny and 85 (but feels like 90) the next. The only thing that’s consistent is my office is always too cold now! So I’ve hauled out my space heater. I put it on low/oscillate, and let it run pretty much all day. It does a pretty good job of warming up at least my own cubicle. The big drawback to the varying weather is when the pressure changes so much, it tends to give me headaches. Also, my allergies have started acting up again. But hey, that’s what chemistry is for. Thank you Excedrin/Aleve/Zyrtec/Zantac!
I need to take the Bean shopping this weekend. She needs a new coat, because she’s had a tremendous growth spurt since last winter. She also told me she wants “slippers and purple pants.” It’s interesting that she’d have such specific requests, but I’ll do my best. Luckily, the shoppers’ mecca of Costco/Target/Kohl’s is right around the corner from our house, and she loves to go shopping. So I guess I know what we’ll be doing tomorrow!
I’m completely avoiding the topic of politics. Ordinarily, I’d have plenty to say about the things that have been going on. But I’m starting to feel kind of burnt out on it all. I’ve found, actually, that my blood pressure stays lower the less I subject myself to cable news, talking heads, and sound bites. So instead of CNN, I’ve been watching re-runs of CSI during dinner. Stomach-churning? Yes, but so is politics. At least CSI is also entertaining, and I can always remind myself that it’s fiction.
Serenity now, my friends. Serenity now.
