The joyous, the sad, and the soon to be cleaner

Three things happened today that marked the end of my childhood. Or forced me to acknowlege that, oh yeah, it's over.

1. My friend Steph had her first baby. He's healthy and she's doing well. She's also 37 and probably the last of my friends to take the plunge into motherhood. I have to fight the impulse to shower her with gifts she doesn't want and advice she probably doesn't need.

2. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died. Of course, you knew this, but my kids have no idea who either of them were and there's no way I can explain it to them. I wasn't a huge fan of either, but both were such specific cultural markers.

Farrah: I was five, living in Eagle Heights when an episode of Charlie's Angels scared the bejeezus out of me. The killer left clown dolls at the crime scene. Shiver.
Michael Jackson: I was twelve, listening to "Billie Jean" in Sonia Jun's basement. I never had a sparkly glove, but I did have a pair of silver, sparkly socks.

3. I bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner. My stairs are clean and my lampshades are dust free. I've never been more excited about a domestic purchase, probably ever.

Hello, is this thing on?

This blog has been horribly neglected lately. Mainly this is because I'm avoiding the computer because it hurts my back, so I don't end up deciding to post.

But yesterday had some WWW moments. Henry performed in his 2nd grade play as Uncle Henry in a loose adaptation of the Wizard of Oz. He also had his unofficial violin debut, since Uncle Henry played a version of "Old Joe Clark."

But that's not what went wrong. It's more about how we got to that point.
1. Henry had hassled a neighbor on the bus because they both wanted to sit with the same kid. Then he ran away and burst into tears when I tried to discuss it with him.
2. Lucy emerged from the bathroom with a clump of poo stuck to the back of her skirt. I discovered this just as she was about to climb up in my lap. So, we both needed to bathe before we could go to the play.
3. Right before we were supposed to leave I dropped a recycling bin on my toe. It was still bleeding throughout the performance.

But while there is a certain amount of comic ridiculousness in those events, mostly I will remember how excited Henry was to be in the play. I'm stunned by the amount of work the teachers put in to get 100 plus second graders to pull it off.




And I've got three new reviews to share on Donnybrook:
Miss Kittin and the Hacker Two: http://godonnybrook.com/home/?p=3089
John Vanderslice Romanian Names: http://godonnybrook.com/home/?p=3059
Black Moth Super Rainbow Eating Us: http://godonnybrook.com/home/?p=3116

Plus my interview with Annie Clark (St. Vincent) is available in the Summer issue of Venuszine. On sale now, yo.

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Now playing: Deerhunter - Vox Celeste

Not much to report

I realized that my kids are old enough now that stuff is not going wrong at every turn. Sure, I'm still doing some things I'd prefer not to for them, such as cleaning dried blood off the carpet when one of them has a nosebleed (which has been about every night of late), but it seems as if we no longer create an entertaining barrage of foibles and missteps. But that's good, right? Right?

I've been busy getting the garden ready for summer, and have been spending less time on the computer. As fascinating as this type of material is for you all, dear readers, I've not been too motivated to share anything.

Thought I am almost done with the baby blanket that sent me to Physical Therapy. Maybe I'll even post a picture or two.

I've got a couple things up on Donnybrook: Jarvis Cocker's Further Complications and Akron/Family's Set 'Em Wild Set 'Em Free.

Illness, be gone. You are not welcome here.

1. Henry is still sick. At bedtime last night I was so sure he would go to school today until he woke up with a fever, again. Now he's on amoxicillin for a sinus infection.

2. I forgot that Lucy had Spanish this morning, so she missed the last class. And the pinata.

3. I made three separate stops to repair, and deliver Cary's eyeglasses.

4. I spilled coffee grounds all over the floor.

5. I had a migraine.

But there have been a few bright spots.

1. The bird feeder has been loaded with Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. I saw an Eastern Bluebird today too.

2. My review of the latest St. Vincent record is up at Donnybrook. See also my review of the Pink Mountaintops, also at Donnybrook.

3. Plus Henry decided on his own to take a two hour nap this afternoon, so at least I was spared from having to listen to my kids bicker during that time. And, as a bonus, he seems to be feeling better. I really hope he can go to school on Friday.

I traded my plot of land for a plane to anywhere

Henry made it to sleep tonight without choking on his own mucus. I'm sure that's success by any estimation, but I still feel really low.

I tried to work through the trough by actually working. I edged the flower beds and power washed the deck. I procured a dessert for the dinner that Henry and I had to miss. While Lucy and Cary were at our friend's house for dinner Henry ate Lipton chicken noodle soup and I had a Lean Cuisine.

Hope things look up next week.

No body, no blood, no machine

I'm supposed to be at the Thermals show right now. Instead I just finished cleaning up a vomit-splattered sink. Henry's allergies are so bad that he is running a fever and puking from the post nasal drip. Or he's just sick.

Even though I thought Now We Can See was kind of a snooze, I'm still a huge fan of The Body, The Blood, The Machine. Plus they were the first entry I wrote for Trouser Press. I figured they'd be pretty great live, but not only could I not leave Henry here with a sitter, I can't imagine I'd enjoy a show if I knew my little boy was miserable at home without me.

Here's a video from my favorite song by the Thermals, "Returning to the Fold:"
How cute is Hutch in his little rugby? Too cute!

Welcome to my world

Cautiously optimistic

So we're on spring break. So far we don't have any big plans, but I will say that the first two days have not been completely dominated by the children's misbehavior and hijinx. We were desperately ready for Cary to come home by dinner today, but there were moments yesterday where Henry and Lucy played together with an uneasy peace. Henry organized an impromptu limbo contest, during which Lucy fell to her knees in the mud. But nobody called me! I continued to prepare the flower beds for new growth -- without interruption.

And I've got another Donnybrook review -- Winter Gloves about a girl.

I'm also completely obsessed with Emily Wells. Check it. And Lucy thinks you should check out Fantasies, the new Metric album featuring "her Emily." It's available as a digital download right now.

There are so many Emilys now, I'm not sure what to do!

I can't see the future but I know it's got big plans for me.

Got to interview another musician yesterday -- very exciting! But it looks like the write up will have to wait.

I'm listening to the sounds of Lucy and a friend throwing a succession of birthday parties for Lucy's stuffed animals. There is much negotiation of what age each animal will turn ("9" "No, how about 10.") and exclamations that the pretend gifts are "just what I always wanted." Plus the stuffed animals keep needing to go potty.

Now they are off to play the honeybee hop.

I have a million things that I should be doing, but I can't really reconcile the check book while keeping half an eye on the children.

My latest Donnybrook review: The 1990s

Am I glad today is almost over!

1. Forgot to set my alarm. Not a great way to start the day.

2. Cary left for a camping trip with his friends today. There's no school for Henry tomorrow, so I'm dreading this particular long weekend more than usual.

3. Henry got off the bus with a hang dog look. Five kids on the bus had been hassling him. One of whom is a repeat offender by anyone's definition. I don't understand why the school doesn't do more to intervene. I just got off the phone with the vice-principal and was told the repeat offender would likely spend two weeks in the front seat, at which point he will resume hassling my son again.

4. I spent the afternoon driving across town to take Henry to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's, but at least I didn't have to stay for the party, or drag Lucy with me.

5. But here's the kicker: I spent two hours on the phone with my insurance company, pharmacy provider, and doctor's office trying to establish whether my insurance covers a medication. All three places told me something different, and the doctor's office would not believe me when I said I had coverage. This has been going on for about a month. I finally got the insurance company to call the doctor's office while I was on the line, and they agree to believe me, but reminded me that "all charges are still my responsibility" if and when the insurer doesn't pay them. Thank god this wasn't a life or death decision because I would be dead by now.

Reasons to be cheerful. One, two, three...

I'm feeling a little better than I did yesterday. But I've really only got two reasons to be cheerful:

First: I found my clip on sunglasses! They had fallen into the reusable shopping bags that I keep in the car and flew out today when I was paying for my groceries. Now if only I can find my health insurance card.

Second: I went to see the cranial sacral therapist and for the first time in about three weeks my back pain is non-existent. I'm a little worried what going to PT will do to my new found equilibrium.

Tomorrow I'm volunteering in Lucy's Spanish class, then I'm off to the dentist and to register Lucy for Kindergarten. Pain and paperwork, here I come!

What not to lose. What not to buy.

1. I recently loss my clip sunglasses and now I can't find my health insurance card. The worst part about both is that I suspect the clips are in the car and the card is in the house, and yet I am no closer to finding either.

2. Lucy has spent the last two days playing with her birthday presents. This sounds good, right? But that means I have spent two days freeing miniature my little ponies from the stranglehold of twist ties and littlest pet shop pets from invisible rubber bands.

But the worst, by far was a package of Crayola ReColoritz. They are black glossy pictures of Disney princesses that you color with greasy crayons. It sounds OK , but they are impossible to clean. Lucy smeared greasy crayon all over her new pink dress yesterday. Today she left a trail of yellow on her work table and the kitchen counter. The crayons break off in sticky little chunks that adhere to pretty much anything. I don't blame the gift giver; I thought this sounded fine when she opened it.

She also got some Pixos which are labeled 4+. There was no part of the project she could do herself, so I spent a good chunk of the afternoon fighting with them. She was thrilled to get them, though after the Aquadots scandal I would never buy them for her myself. They are a huge pain. The two things we made were difficult to assemble and did not stick together. Plus we were pretty careful, but they are so easy to spill.

Happy Birthday, Lucy

We celebrated Lucy's 5th birthday today. It isn't her actual birthday, but close enough.

I am so tired that I can barely type. We invited all of the girls in her pre-school class (though a few couldn't make it), the usual family friends, and my parents.

We painted faces and made magnets with each girls photo. Lucy's Honeybee Hop was a huge hit. Did I mention how exhausted I am?

Nothing really went wrong, though it was way more work than Henry's Chuck E. Cheese party.

Now that my youngest is five, I must face the inevitable: soon my children will roll their eyes at me and detest even my smallest idiosyncrasies. Then I will start waiting for grandchildren.

Actually, that joke is still pretty funny

Cary and I went to see Morrissey last night.

Ultimately I think it will go down as one of those shows I remember more for what happened around the performance than for the performance itself.

Jen14221 was complaining she had to attend, then announcing via Twitter that it was fabulous. My pregnant pal Kate was walking briskly up the stairs to pee and call the sitter throughout the night. And I musn't forget the precious superfan couple who sat in front of us -- too young to remember the Smiths, but they still knew all the lyrics to "How Soon is Now." But apparently the night would have been incomplete without the Morrissey gropers. The first guy who tried to hug him on stage seemed sincere, but after that all these people were looking at the crowd with an expression that said, "I too am hugging Morrissey" as security gingerly hauled them off stage.

Try as I might, I can't begin to forget Morrissey's slightly disturbing heart-shaped back sweat, or the way he threw not one, but two shirts into the audience. His voice has lost nothing, yet at nearly 50 he is more Tom Jones than Mick Jones.

But I digress, because it's really all about Morrissey and me. I first heard the Smiths as a high school freshman -- "Please, please let me get what I want" from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack, to be exact. I had yet to learn that compilations often host a band's throwaway tracks, but whatever, I was enthralled. The following Christmas I got The Queen is Dead on LP. At that moment, no piece of music meant more to me. Then the Smiths broke up my junior year of high school and I was bereft.

So there was a lot riding on last night's performance. And while I wasn't at all disappointed, alot has changed since 1987.

Morrissey would be nothing without his backing band. Even if he sculpts their artistic decisions, he feeds on their vitality -- you could practically see a pulse beating through the veins beneath their matching Tour of Refusal t-shirts. Morrissey may have once defined youthful malaise, but now it is his band that keeps him from sounding stale.

I tried to imagine what it would be like if I'd seen Morrissey, Marr, and Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce. I don't think it would have been as good.

For me the best part of last night was not that I finally saw one of my icons perform live, but that I realize that Morrissey is better off post-Smiths, and so am I.

Update: a picture of the heart-shaped back sweat! Thanks, Jen14221 and WhippetGood

Newsy!

We've been busy around here for once. (I wrote about some of this stuff on facebook, but until LHM sees fit to join I must repeat myself here too.)

1. Cary wrote a book! It's called Don't Swear with Your Mouth Full! I'm really biased but I think it's great and could really help parents with difficult children. His approach has helped our family a lot.

2. I interviewed Emily Haines from Metric for VenusZine. The issue will be on sale until June, but it isn't on the web. I made her promise to play a show in Buffalo. I hope she doesn't let me down.

3. In more regularly scheduled news, I reviewed Mirah, Mazes, the Drones, Matt & Kim, and AC Newman at Donnybrook, and Faunts for Venus. I actually liked almost all of these records, except for Faunts, but Mazes was a particular favorite.

More dumb things: the lost hour edition

Each year daylight savings is a bit tougher for me. Yesterday was bad, but today was worse.

1. I fed the cat and put the remaining cat food away in the cupboard instead of the refrigerator.
2. I dropped half the stack of plastic cups on my head when I was getting one for Henry's juice.
3. I put Henry's bagel into the toaster oven, when it dinged I discovered instead of toasting I was cooking it at 400 degrees.

Eight years!

Henry turned eight today. Sniff. He has grown up so much during the last year which makes me very happy, but it's hard to see him get so big.

His (very kind and skilled) teacher had his entire class make him birthday cards which he brought home in a big manila envelope. Very sweet. We're taking him to Grover's for dinner so he can get a giant cheeseburger.

At the moment he's getting whupped by Lucy at Mario Cart. But she can't stop asking: "Why I'm not the oldest, Mama?" "Why I can't be big already? I hate being little."

Brand New Dumb Things!

1. I was looking for a hooded sweatshirt in Lucy's closet this morning when I discovered a brand new pair of girl's Lands End snow boots in her current size that I had forgotten about. Lucy has been in need of a new pair of boots since mid-January and I didn't buy new ones because I thought we'd just make due. At least I didn't cave in and buy a second new pair this season.

2. When Lucy and I came home from pre-school today I helped her inside, and then got distracted sorting laundry and checking e-mail. Half an hour later the mailman rang the doorbell (bringing me my new Atlas of Bird Migration!) and said, "you know your car door is open, right?" I had forgotten to bring in the rest of our stuff from the car, including my purse! At least I didn't leave the car running -- hope the battery is not dead.

On an unrelated note, it dawned on me that Henry is now old enough that I no longer feel the need to enforce things like our "no cheesy t-shirt policy" and our absolute refusal to allow toy guns in the house. He got a combo gun/light saber thing for his birthday as well as a Pokemon t-shirt. He loves both so much. I hope we're not making a mistake by giving in. The next thing I know my kids will repeal the "no eating ice cream sold from trucks" rule and summer will be a series of ruined dinners and frantic searches for pocket change.

What's going to happen when she can actually drive?

Lucy just got a remote control car tangled in the hair at the crown of her head.

I was able to free her without using scissors.

That is all.

The popping, the dripping, the staining...

1. Last night at dinner I was making Yellowfin tuna salad from this month's Cooking Light when the rice mix that I was microwaving exploded. There were tiny little multigrains everywhere.

2. Henry had a sesame bagel with butter and grape jelly for breakfast. When the time came to don his boots and coat I noticed that he had gotten globs of grape jelly all over his pants. Not just one little spot, but three quarter-sized spots that were sticky to the touch. It was too late for him to change, so I just sent him off to school like that.

3. Lucy has had a cold since Friday, which I now have as well. I was pretty much hell-bent on sending her to school today since she has had a week off, she is mostly recovered, and I need the break. But she is still asleep! She has been up really early every day of vacation.