This is just to say

that I have no clever plans to spoof William Carlos Williams, like, say, Kenneth Koch once did.

But I wanted to mention that Lucy got me out of bed at 11:14 p.m. from a deep sleep because she needed a drink of water, and wanted me "to check her to see if she needed medicine." I decided that some benadryl was in order. I wasn't being cruel either. I think she has allergies, and in my sleepy state I was unsure if I could give her Claritin.

Anyway, an hour and fifteen minutes later she is soundly asleep and I am not.

I could post about a variety of things, like the chummy visit I had with the neuro and two Pharmacy interns today, or the bad name that Henry called me when I got frustrated with him for removing all of the batteries from their packaging and scattering them throughout the junk drawer, or how I briefly considered giving up coffee because of its potential effect on my headaches. But I think I should just try to go to sleep.

Good pine trees make good fences

Our next door neighbors must have tired of the gaping hole left along the property line where the October storm destroyed their fledgling lilac bushes because they just hired a local nursery company to plant three full-grown Blue Spruce trees in their place.

Either that or they can't stand the sight of us.

More Dumb Things

1. I devoted a great deal of time fulfilling the requirements of Henry's school supply list this year. I knew that his elementary school had a program where they buy the supplies for you, but details were sketchy, so I didn't sign up. Today as I was weeding through his Kindergarten papers, deciding what we would save, and what we could part with, I found the flier regarding the "School supplying school supplies program." All of the instructions, including a detailed list of what they would buy for me were there -- all I had to do was flip over the page. I hope they do it next year. I'm totally signing up. We went to four stores looking for plastic folders with three prongs in red, blue, yellow, green and purple.

2. On the way home from PT today the brake light and two other nasty little indicator lights went on. After consulting the manual which said something like, "get your car to the dealer immediately, and don't forget your check book, you fool!" we headed out to get the van checked out. $90 later, we learned that it was just a "random computer glitch." Oh well, I needed my oil changed anyway.

Tomorrow is another day. Another day where more things can go wrong!

All things Anne

My friend ECK just had a baby, and from her lovely online photos I learned that anne is Turkish for mother. (She married a Turk. While her photo captions are delightful she doesn't usually pepper them with random linguistic trivia.)

In further celebration of my good friend, Anne, here are two songs by St. Vincent, a.k.a. Annie Clark, that I have enjoyed of late.

St. Vincent -- "Marry Me"
(It's the title track to her new CD, and I couldn't resist the tie in).

St. Vincent -- "Jesus Saves I Spend"
(Anne, you need to start your own blog, and this is what you should call it!)

Advice to my favorite anonymous commenter

who is not really anonymous, she just doesn't have an account.

Yay, more wedding-related stuff from me, the person whose own wedding kinda just passed her by. (I heard the food was good).

Anyway, here is my plea to Anne, when she does decide to tie the knot someday. Please, don't do this.

If you're too lazy to click on the link, it's just a bunch of references to people using an iPod as the sole source of musical entertainment at their wedding. I cannot believe I am advocating spending any more money when weddings are out of control, but please, please if you can't afford a band, at least shell out for a DJ, and preferably one that won't introduce you as "Mr. and Mrs. Blahbityblah" and have you both run through the entranceway while your guests applaud.

PS: I promise this will be my final wedding-related post. It'll be back to the standards for me: migraines, music, and my crazy kids.

Hooray, Hooray.

Another odd, wedding-related tidbit.

The new Rilo Kiley video for "Silver Lining" -- just to show it's not all happy endings...

Best use of the NYT Vows Section

Now I know why The Wire always seemed so real. Thanks to my Mom for the tip.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/fashion/weddings/19VOWS.html?ex=13452624

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/us/09baltimore.html?ex=1345176000&en=454a2117c99007b2&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Adding insult to near injury

1. I spent yesterday morning at the park with my kids, catching up with a friend and her little daughter who were visiting from out of town. On our way out, while I was busy rinsing sand out of Lucy's mouth at the restroom sink Henry took it upon himself to pick up the hose that was available to clean up with, and (possibly accidentally) hit a grown man square in the chest with a full stream of water. The man took it better than I did.

2. Over the last two weeks both kids had a cold, which I caught. My symptoms were pretty mild until we returned from Toronto and I woke up Sunday morning with my left eyelid crusted shut. By Monday I decided I had a sinus infection. A quick trip to the doctor confirmed that I did, and I had given myself pinkeye.

3. I went to pick up the prescriptions from Target, and as I was paying for them at 5:02 p.m., the pharmacist realized that the Physician's Assistant had failed to tell me how many times a day to take the eye drops. So I had to wait while they paged my Dr. (the office closed at 5:00). This took 30 additional minutes. My mom had the kids, but I felt bad that I took an even bigger chunk out of her afternoon.

4. I came home to find that our modem had died.

5. This morning Lucy and I set out to replace the modem. After I installed it I still couldn't get reliable internet service. It turns out that we were also experiencing sporadic service outages in my neighborhood. What are the chances. But as I type all seems to be well. Sweet elixir of 1s and 0s, I cannot live without you!

6. Our day was capped off by the sound of shattering glass, just as we were corralling the kids upstairs for bed. It turns out the light bulb above our sink just fell and broke into a million pieces for no apparent reason. Thank god I had finished doing the dishes or it would have fallen directly on my head.

7. Plus I had a piece of writing rejected from a magazine that would have sent me a paycheck. Oh well. At least they cared enough to say they weren't interested.

No Blood No Beer: Go Thermal or Make Love Alone

Way back when, long before the internet made music criticism accessible at hyperspeed, I spent a great deal of time reading the Trouser Press, reading those entries marked by the book's editor [iar] with particular interest. It was meaningful then, educating me about bands like the Virgin Prunes (trivial, but what a name!) or helping me decide which Cocteau Twins LP I should spend my limited income on.

But the site has new meaning for me today since I have recently completed an entry on the Thermals, one of my favorite bands. I had help and encouragement from some great friends with eagle eyes, and yet I don't think I have ever troubled over 800 words so much in my life. (Update: forgot to link to it directly -- find it here.)

And, there's another Venuszine review up too, right over here.

Secretly Canadian

We just returned from spending a couple of days in Toronto, and while our trip was much more enjoyable than last year, there were still a number of remarkable things that went wrong:

1. Henry coughed his way through the entire first day of the trip. It was tolerable but noisy on the car trip up. Then on the harbor boat tour (just us and bus load of senior citizens) it was unbearable because they all kept looking at us like we had dragged along Typhoid Mary. I could just explain, "He gets like this at the end of a cold when he has post nasal drip" to everyone within ear shot. At Terroni's (for pizza), it was so noisy at least no one could hear him. But the worst came at King's Noodle in Chinatown for dinner when the cough became, um, productive. As I escorted him to the ladies room for the second time we encountered, to our surprise, another man -- dressed in striped pants and a flowered shirt no less -- washing his hands in the sink. The man said calmly, "I'm almost done, just give me a minute." So that's what we did.

2. The next day Henry was much, much better. We headed to the Toronto Zoo. Soon after our arrival Lucy started to whimper and cry. Since both kids are recovering from colds we initially thought she might still be a little sick. Two hours later I discovered she had sunscreen in her eye. After a not so quick trip to the first aid tent she was like a new child, and our little vacation could begin in earnest now that it was half-way over.

3. I think we did all enjoy ourselves, particularly Henry, who cried real tears, with his lip a quiver, when it was time check out of the hotel. In particular Henry was fond of the bunk beds where he and Lucy slept during our stay. And I found Toronto to be pretty much everything I want in a big city: a good music scene, incredible gardens, nonchalant diversity, and good beer. Though I wasn't crying when we left I think I might be secretly Canadian.

Not my favorite way to start the day...

1. Henry has done it again. Last night he puked in his sleep. Although this time he woke me up at 4:20 a.m. to clean up the mess instead of waiting until morning. The poor child coughed until he vomited, and unfortunately his dinner was poorly chosen to begin with. Because Cary is not working this week we are doing some things to pretend we're on vacation, like going out for BBQ on a Monday night. Henry ordered "pizza logs" at One-Eyed Jacks. I expected a child-sized French bread Pizza, but instead they were more of a nasty cross between Geno's Pizza rolls and an egg roll. Not so pleasant to look at going down, and worse to clean up in the morning.

2. Not to be outdone, Lucy awoke with her face caked in dried blood. Her new bedding, only decent pair of PJs, and her beloved Mommy Kitty were also covered. I am not sure how, but she even had some on her feet.

3. After spending my morning cleaning the carpets and the bedding, I was heading out to the grocery store when I discovered last night's doggy bag still sitting in the front seat of the van. The smell alone made me nauseous as I dropped it into the trash and drove away with the windows open.

4. Then when I went to retrieve Henry's waterproof mattress pad cover from the dryer it was ripped beyond repair, so now I will be going back out before night fall to buy a new one, and laundering it before I can put his bed back together.

See a Let's French video before the band's inevitable demise...

Check out the first and only video from my brother-in-law Randy's band -- that's "Coco Randy" to Lucy. Too bad the band's members are scattering to four different countries come September.

Pieces of Crap and the Children who Love Them

1. When my children returned from their visit to my mother-in-law's today each of them was clutching a cheap personal fan that she purchased at a dollar store. She keeps a drawer full of prizes that the kids can choose from as they are leaving, and one disadvantage of not bringing them home myself is losing veto power over the prize. Henry's broke coming out of the package, so we never had to try and install its batteries. Lucy's was missing, so I thought it was left behind. 1 fan + 2 kids = a very long afternoon.

2. Henry and I discovered the second fan in the garage during Lucy's nap. I made good on my promise to install batteries, and actually let him use it. This was no mean feat considering the wires were falling out and the switches had to be put back in by hand. It worked for about three minutes and then the fan blade broke off leaving several shards of plastic behind. Then I had to convince him that it was necessary to remove the batteries, otherwise someone was bound to get hurt. "But I'll just use the light!" he protested. (No kidding, this thing claimed to be a light, a fan, and a pen!)

3. Later as we were getting Lucy up from her nap he informed me that the pen portion of Lucy's fan no longer worked.

This is why I always encourage them to choose the crayons from the prize drawer.

Bad Mama Files 2

1. Maybe this is more like lazy mama files, but I let Henry skip soccer tonight because it is 93 degrees and at least as humid here. He spent the day fighting with me over every little thing, and I couldn't bear to watch him get all sweaty on the field after 30 seconds, and then flatly refuse to participate.

2. I had another caterpillar, but I let him go. But I learned from my previous caterpillar to butterfly experience and gave this one some water. However, caterpillars poop a lot, and in captivity all that poop, mixed with water in a pickle jar gets disgusting pretty quickly. I didn't let the caterpillar go because of unsanitary conditions though; he just seemed so unhappy. After three of four days of eagerly devouring maple leaves the little guy just spent time near the air holes on the lid and refused to eat. But you can be sure that when I released him that I picked a spot far away from the garden.

3. I am shipping the kids to my mother-in-law's for the morning on Friday even though I don't have any major reason to do so. I just need a break from the constant bickering.

I thought only Kim Mitchell and the Tragically Hip played Buffalo

There's so much good music on the docket in the next three months!

I've already mentioned the Elvis Costello/Feist double bill and Of Montreal. Got our tickets and our babysitting lined up.

But in less than two weeks Cary and I have tickets for Band of Horses at the Tralf. Cary played Everything All the Time to death and sang it around the house constantly. To this day if a song from that record comes up on the iPod, Lucy will ask, "Daddy singing?" I am less excited about this particular show, but since they have a new record coming out this fall I can hope they will play some new material. Wonder what they'll close out the show with? I know I'll be ready for "The Funeral."

But, also, in addition to that, Cary, my Mom, and me all have tickets to see Andrew Bird play in Asbury Hall at The Church. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, without fact checking, that the venue was an old church that Ani DiFranco and Righteous Babe records saved from demolition. While I am no fan of Ani's music, (sorry, Auntlyh, but you already knew this) she still did a good thing for the area by saving the space. Plus it gave Hallwalls a permanent home too.

As if this was not enough, Metric is coming. I can hardly contain my excitement. My mom and I are both big fans. And as she said, "It's going to be their Grow Up and Blow Away Tour!" (Our favorite album). The show is at the Town Ballroom, my least favorite local venue (you guessed it -- no seats) but I don't think tickets have gone on sale yet.

Oh, and I've got another review up on Venuszine.com. You can read it here.