The Magic Position

I've had a migraine for seven days straight. A new personal best! One of the things that helps when the drugs don't is hanging out in what I've come to refer to as The Magic Position. I stole the name from Patrick Wolf. I don't really like his song, but appropriating for my own purpose amuses me.
The Magic Position's real name is the Static Back position, and I got it out of a book by Pete Egoscue. I would post a picture of what it looks like, but then it wouldn't really be magic anymore, would it?

Patrick Wolf - "The Magic Position"

I'm already looking forward to Autumn

And no it's not because I can't stand stand the heat.

According to Pitchfork, Of Montreal is scheduled to play a show at The Tralf on October 10!

One of my favorite bands, in Buffalo's only semi-historic venue (with seats!). What could be better.

My Brother the Robot

1. Coming off a night of brutal insomnia. The last time I looked at the clock it was 1:45 a.m.

2. When Lucy woke up, she trotted off to the potty like a good little girl, but she spotted something she wanted out of the trashcan. She stood up so abruptly that the potty chair stuck to her legs. Pee was everywhere. (I didn't actually let her get what she wanted from the trash either --used dental floss!)

3. Before we even left the house Henry and Lucy were locked in the throes of a vicious argument over whether or not Henry was a robot. The more Henry denied it, the more tenaciously Lucy insisted it must be true.

Fortunately for me coffee, the gym, and the half price perennial sale at my favorite local garden center can fix practically anything.

Two points about better music

1. This year's Rockin' at the Knox bill is truly appealing. Now I just have to start scheming so I have proper babysitting. If my kids were just a tiny bit older I would bring them along -- Lucy digs those Feist videos with all the people dancing.

If you are unfamiliar with the premise of Rockin' at the Knox, once a year for the last three years there is an outdoor concert on the grounds of Buffalo's amazing art museum. Previous bills included Wilco and Blondie.

2. I have another review up on Venuszine. You can read it here.

New dumb things

1. I left the water running on the hose that runs from inside the garage. I rest the sprayer on top of a storage unit where I keep gardening gloves, tools, plant food etc. As I was rushing Henry off to soccer yesterday I noticed that area seemed wet. The hose had flooded the entire area. I made time to turn to hose off, and curse. But I haven't made time to clean up the gardening debris that's sitting in a huge puddle. Not too sure when I am going to get around to it either. But I completely forgot about it until today when I went to water my plants again. How long will it take to evaporate?

2. I am incapable of buying a week's worth of groceries, or keeping appropriate staples on hand, but that doesn't stop me from trying. I ran out to the Italian grocery for meatballs earlier in the day, but didn't discover that I didn't have any Spaghetti sauce (or the constituents to make it) until the water was boiling for the pasta and the meatballs were browning. Since Cary is still recovering from having a wisdom tooth removed (and was sleeping at the time) I had to take both kids with me back to the same grocery -- Henry was already in his pajamas -- and buy some sauce. But I was rewarded for my efforts because Lucy ate a meatball!

Two points about bad music

1. Let me be the last person on Earth to weigh in on Live Earth. Cary had the bright idea of recording it on TiVo. We sped through two different largish chunks of recordings of bad, bad performances in under two hours. Billy Corgan looks like he just escaped from a cult. I did enjoy seeing who had been exiled to play at the smaller stages, like Snoop Dog in Munich, and Lenny Kravitz in Rio. And Cary and I were both perplexed about the Police-John Mayer-Kanye West performance of "Message in the Bottle." It didn't quite translate from the planning committee's vision into another "We are the World Moment."

2. Another review up on Venuszine. Check it out here.

At least it wasn't a dead cricket

I found a hunk of wood in my salad today. Actually it was more like a wood chip. I thought it was a crouton until I realized that I hadn't put croutons in the salad. Unfortunately this was the third lunchtime salad I had made from this particular bag of lettuce. But I think the worst part was that I felt obliged to throw out my lunch when I really wanted to keep eating. What harm could a wood chip do? It's not like the time we lived in Watertown and our next door neighbor found a dead cricket in her bag of salad. That made the nightly news.

Bad Mama Files

A new blog featurette where I reveal a questionable parenting decision
(It's like the Rockford Files, but without the ex-cons and the Firebird...)

Last weekend I discovered a caterpillar clinging to my Helenium. I had visions of the entire plant being devoured by morning. So I decided that instead of disposing of the insect it would be fun to put it into a jar and watch it turn into a butterfly. Needless to say everything I know about this process comes from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Henry and Lucy were excited by the prospect, so we found an old salsa jar, and some maple leaves. Cary said, "If you want it to turn into a Butterfly you need a stick." So we added a stick. I dutifully pounded some holes in the top with a nail and waited for the childhood memories to take hold.

After a couple of days we added some more leaves, and Henry and I agreed that the caterpillar looked bigger to us. It had definitely eaten some of the maple leaves. We managed to keep Lucy from shaking the jar like a snow globe. So far so good.

But by yesterday I noticed that its size had shrunk considerably. It had a dark sticky spot on its side. Preparation for the chrysalis? Nope. It needed water desperately. By the time I figured this out it lay at the bottom of the jar. I added some water, and man did the poor little shrinking caterpillar drink. When it climbed up back onto one of the maple leaves I held out a sliver of hope. Half an hour later it was shriveled on the floor of its jar, a dessicated hairy spiral.

I didn't know exactly how to handle it with the kids. Henry still hasn't asked to see it but we're having friends over for dinner so I felt compelled to dispose of the remains. Lucy asked to see it this morning and it turns out that she enjoyed the dead caterpillar just as much as the living one. I said to her, "Honey, the caterpillar isn't ever going to turn into a butterfly." "OK," she replied, and danced off to grab a toy pony.

So if I see another caterpillar, am I going to try it again? Probably. Maybe with some instructions this time. I really want to see a newly hatched butterfly.

You see there's nothing that's behind me; I'm already a has been.

Henry's at camp. Lucy's asleep. It's the perfect time to do some writing, only I don't have any to do. Which leaves only housework.

Here's a favorite track from my high school years that sums it up.

The Buzzcocks - "Boredom"

I Broke My Crown

1. The kittens finally have names my dad can remember. Kitten number one is now Teddy, and kitten number two remains Twoey. My mom has suggested that she might name them Tedric and Toulouse, but use the other names all the time. If that happens I don't think anyone but the Vet's office will know about it.

2. It looks like my Croscosmia Lucifer is going to bloom for the first time ever. This is the third year I have had it but the deer ate it, and it has taken awhile to bounce back. One of my Canna Lillies also has a very large unopened bloom on it. If either of these plants look good at some point I will post pictures. I am sure you are all waiting expectantly.

3. Most of Cary's family got together yesterday. His parents, 6 (out of 8) siblings, 5 spouses/boyfriends, and 15 (out of 17) grandkids. Nothing went wrong; it was really fun. My kids had a great time with their cousins. The cupcakes that were intended for dessert were gone by 3:30.

My father-in-law staged a wine tasting that included some red wine from India. We all concluded it was horrible! Not even safe to add to your curry.

Although at one point Lucy tripped and fell. My father-in-law started reciting Jack and Jill to her while my Mother-in-law went to grab a band aid. Now she will look at me gravely at random intervals and say, "Mommy, I broke my crown."