Anyhoo:
Is this all I get???
Taking the direct approach:
You're actually letting me use my hands?
It's kinda squooshy -- anyone got a spoon?
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Lazarus' birthday pictures (finally)!
Here are some pictures from Lazarus' birthday -- sorry for the delay. I just finished a really big job that had me tearing my hair out at times because... well... I had to sit at my desk and work on it every day (and into the night, actually) for two weeks, right after finishing an edit with a tight schedule. I know, my life is so rough.
Anyhoo:
Is this all I get???
Taking the direct approach:
You're actually letting me use my hands?
It's kinda squooshy -- anyone got a spoon?
Anyhoo:
Is this all I get???
Taking the direct approach:
You're actually letting me use my hands?
It's kinda squooshy -- anyone got a spoon?
Saturday, May 24, 2003
Spiders and centipedes and scorpions, oh my!
With a new habitat come new critters. I've seen (and heard) many different kinds of birds, rabbits, a coyote, antelope, elk, deer, lizards, and, most recently, some of these:
Lucky me -- some people pay good money for them; I get them running in my back door, right onto the carpet Lazarus and I (used to) sit on to relax and play. The dog wants to play with them but they run too fast.
"Scorpions are nocturnal, predatory animals that feed on a variety of insects, spiders, centipedes, and other scorpions. The larger scorpions occasionally feed on vertebrates, such as smaller lizards, snakes, and mice. Prey are located primarily by sensing vibrations. The pedipalps have an array of fine sensory hairs called trichobothria that sense air-borne vibrations; the tips of the legs have small organs that detect vibrations in the ground."
That explains why the little suckers race into the back room every time I open the sliding door after dark.
"The average scorpion probably lives three to five years, but some species undoubtedly live at least 10-15 years."
I guess that means the one that darted into the laundry room last night is there to stay. Wonderful.
"Despite their bad reputation, only one species in the U.S. and about 20 others worldwide have venom potent enough to be considered dangerous to humans. The US species, Centruroides exilicauda (formerly called C. sculpturatus), is found over much of Arizona. A small population occurs in extreme southeastern California, and a few records exist for southern Utah. The venom of this scorpion may produce severe pain and swelling at the site of the sting, numbness, frothing at the mouth, difficulties in breathing (including respiratory paralysis), muscle twitching, and convulsions. Death is rare, especially in more recent times. An antivenom is available for severe cases."
They didn't mention New Mexico. Then again, most of the US population thinks New Mexico is Arizona, or in Arizona.
"Scorpions are difficult to control with insecticides alone. Therefore, the first control strategy is to modify the area surrounding a house. Remove all trash, logs, boards, stones, bricks and other objects from around the home...."
I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow during my work breaks. During daylight. With gloves on. Shoes, too. Sheesh. But if that doesn't work, well, lucky for me, the wonders of e-commerce will bring a solution right to my doorstep.
I can take (small, shy) spiders, and lizards, and even snakes. But these suckers creep me out.
Lucky me -- some people pay good money for them; I get them running in my back door, right onto the carpet Lazarus and I (used to) sit on to relax and play. The dog wants to play with them but they run too fast.
"Scorpions are nocturnal, predatory animals that feed on a variety of insects, spiders, centipedes, and other scorpions. The larger scorpions occasionally feed on vertebrates, such as smaller lizards, snakes, and mice. Prey are located primarily by sensing vibrations. The pedipalps have an array of fine sensory hairs called trichobothria that sense air-borne vibrations; the tips of the legs have small organs that detect vibrations in the ground."
That explains why the little suckers race into the back room every time I open the sliding door after dark.
"The average scorpion probably lives three to five years, but some species undoubtedly live at least 10-15 years."
I guess that means the one that darted into the laundry room last night is there to stay. Wonderful.
"Despite their bad reputation, only one species in the U.S. and about 20 others worldwide have venom potent enough to be considered dangerous to humans. The US species, Centruroides exilicauda (formerly called C. sculpturatus), is found over much of Arizona. A small population occurs in extreme southeastern California, and a few records exist for southern Utah. The venom of this scorpion may produce severe pain and swelling at the site of the sting, numbness, frothing at the mouth, difficulties in breathing (including respiratory paralysis), muscle twitching, and convulsions. Death is rare, especially in more recent times. An antivenom is available for severe cases."
They didn't mention New Mexico. Then again, most of the US population thinks New Mexico is Arizona, or in Arizona.
"Scorpions are difficult to control with insecticides alone. Therefore, the first control strategy is to modify the area surrounding a house. Remove all trash, logs, boards, stones, bricks and other objects from around the home...."
I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow during my work breaks. During daylight. With gloves on. Shoes, too. Sheesh. But if that doesn't work, well, lucky for me, the wonders of e-commerce will bring a solution right to my doorstep.
I can take (small, shy) spiders, and lizards, and even snakes. But these suckers creep me out.
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Oh, mama, can we keep her???
Antonio found a great present for Lazarus -- she needed a home and Laz needed a buddy, so here she is:
Happy first birthday, Lazarus!!!!
Several months before I became pregnant with Lazarus, I had the first in a long series of dreams in which I found hidden spare rooms in our house. In most of the dreams, I felt satisfied with the house as it was but then experienced a strange, almost fearful exultation when I discovered a whole new addition, or attic, or guesthouse that I just hadn't noticed before. In some cases the rooms were in need of some repair, but only because of benign neglect over time, and I could see the great possibilities the new space afforded us.
This dream recurred many times, often several nights in a row, well into my pregnancy. Now I think I know what they meant. Having Lazarus has, in a way, opened up an entirely new "chamber" of my heart, one I had no idea could possibly exist. I've loved and been loved in my life, but never like this. Call it instinctual, hormonal, just another mother gushing over her babe, whatever you want, I still think it's amazing. Thank you, Lazarus, for bringing this to me, and happy birthday.
This dream recurred many times, often several nights in a row, well into my pregnancy. Now I think I know what they meant. Having Lazarus has, in a way, opened up an entirely new "chamber" of my heart, one I had no idea could possibly exist. I've loved and been loved in my life, but never like this. Call it instinctual, hormonal, just another mother gushing over her babe, whatever you want, I still think it's amazing. Thank you, Lazarus, for bringing this to me, and happy birthday.
Sunday, May 18, 2003
Adjusting (again), and remembering things past
Okay, I'm not so mad at the world anymore. I'm feeling more at home here in Magdalena -- my mom helped me clear all the boxes out of the back room so we have a comfortable living space (and so Antonio can watch movies at 2 a.m. back there without waking me up and pissing me off), and I've gotten some garden space planted, and I finally have my satellite Internet so I can browse the Web at leisure instead of over long-distance dial-up at 7 cents a minute. Word to the wise: when you move out to the middle of nowhere, you can still get (fairly) high-speed Internet, but it might take a while because the provider knows you have no other options.
It helps that I'm getting outside more. In Denver I was practically a hermit, both because it was winter (real winter, which I kind of forgot how to deal with and hadn't missed at all the seven years I was in California) and because I was too depressed to do much of anything. I had a pretty basic routine there: get up with Lazarus, make coffee, drink two big cups with Coffeemate fat-free hazelnut creamer and eat a bowl of cereal, surf the Web and answer email while Laz watched Sesame Street, go downstairs and give Laz his breakfast and greet grampa, watch the second half of JAG and then The Practice with him, and finally look at the clock and think, well, if I don't get a shower before 1:00 I might as well not bother. I had work now and then, and I had errands to run now and then, and once in a while I'd just take Laz out for a drive, but I had to make a real effort to get out of the house instead of retreating back upstairs with Lazarus after lunch. I kept making plans to take Lazarus to the zoo, to museums, to parks, but I just couldn't manage to follow through.
I still have to make an effort to get out of the house -- I always have -- but now it's my home again, and I have plenty here to keep me happy. This evening I planted most of my veggie seedlings, and watered the tiny flower seedlings just starting to come up in front. Lazarus has been sick the past few days, which makes me sad because I miss my sunny little buddy, but I'm hoping he'll be better soon... by his birthday, maybe, which is Tuesday. My little guy is almost a year old -- one year ago today I was lying on the bed wondering how many more weeks I could stand being huge and achey and immobile and fog-brained and throwing up every damn morning. Two days later, I held this creature in my arms:
This has been, far and away, the best year of my life. So far.
It helps that I'm getting outside more. In Denver I was practically a hermit, both because it was winter (real winter, which I kind of forgot how to deal with and hadn't missed at all the seven years I was in California) and because I was too depressed to do much of anything. I had a pretty basic routine there: get up with Lazarus, make coffee, drink two big cups with Coffeemate fat-free hazelnut creamer and eat a bowl of cereal, surf the Web and answer email while Laz watched Sesame Street, go downstairs and give Laz his breakfast and greet grampa, watch the second half of JAG and then The Practice with him, and finally look at the clock and think, well, if I don't get a shower before 1:00 I might as well not bother. I had work now and then, and I had errands to run now and then, and once in a while I'd just take Laz out for a drive, but I had to make a real effort to get out of the house instead of retreating back upstairs with Lazarus after lunch. I kept making plans to take Lazarus to the zoo, to museums, to parks, but I just couldn't manage to follow through.
I still have to make an effort to get out of the house -- I always have -- but now it's my home again, and I have plenty here to keep me happy. This evening I planted most of my veggie seedlings, and watered the tiny flower seedlings just starting to come up in front. Lazarus has been sick the past few days, which makes me sad because I miss my sunny little buddy, but I'm hoping he'll be better soon... by his birthday, maybe, which is Tuesday. My little guy is almost a year old -- one year ago today I was lying on the bed wondering how many more weeks I could stand being huge and achey and immobile and fog-brained and throwing up every damn morning. Two days later, I held this creature in my arms:
This has been, far and away, the best year of my life. So far.
Thursday, May 01, 2003
Rant (no pictures)
This was published today. Not May 1, 1953 but May 1, 2003. Today, in the great U.S. of A., and it's not a nostalgic look back at our storied history but a current events news report. A taste:
"...Juniors are in charge of planning the prom each year and last year they decided to have just one dance — the first integrated prom in 31 years in the rural Georgia county 150 miles south of Atlanta.
"Until then, parents and students organized separate proms for whites and blacks after school officials stopped sponsoring dances, in part because they wanted to avoid problems arising from interracial dating.
"This year, a small number of white juniors decided they wanted a separate prom...."
Holy crap. I shouldn't be reading this stuff (I snagged the link from jhames, who snagged it from some other enlightened soul) -- I'm mad enough at the world as it is.
"...Juniors are in charge of planning the prom each year and last year they decided to have just one dance — the first integrated prom in 31 years in the rural Georgia county 150 miles south of Atlanta.
"Until then, parents and students organized separate proms for whites and blacks after school officials stopped sponsoring dances, in part because they wanted to avoid problems arising from interracial dating.
"This year, a small number of white juniors decided they wanted a separate prom...."
Holy crap. I shouldn't be reading this stuff (I snagged the link from jhames, who snagged it from some other enlightened soul) -- I'm mad enough at the world as it is.
Rubber ducky (/fish/frog/turtle), you're the one, you make tubby time so much fun...
First, let me apologize for not updating my weblog. See, I don't have high-speed Internet out here in the sticks, and instead of signing up for YET another ISP and email address I'm just hanging with my AT&T service... which means I have to dial long-distance into Albuquerque every time I want to connect. Absurd and highly impractical, I know, but I thought I'd have the satellite Internet service by now. Of course, I haven't yet received the check from my last gig, which was going to cover it, so everything works out in a way. Except that I'm Net-deprived, and my mom is Lazarus-deprived... guess I'll make that phone call today.
Speaking of Lazarus, here he is in all his bathing glory:
fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads...
... eat 'em up -- BLECCHHHHH
what's this stuff and why can't I grab it and jam it in my mouth to chomp on it?
the amazing frog boy:
I'll put up more pix later; I took some over the weekend during our trip to Denver -- we took the scenic route, which was by far the best part of the trip, and Lazarus was, as always, a pleasant roadtrip companion. Denver looks a lot better now in the spring than it did when I arrived late last November, when it was grey and cold and the trees were bare. I remember driving in from Grand Junction (where Laz and I stayed for a week or so after leaving California), and thinking Oh shit, what the hell did I do??? I pulled the car up to the back of the house from the alley and had to sit there and cry for a few minutes. The place just looked cold, grey, grubby and completely foreign, my gardens and comfort far behind me. Spring definitely spruces the town up, but I'm still happy to have left Denver for the not-quite-as-green expanse of southwestern New Mexico. Driving back down here yesterday, I felt increasingly happy the closer we got to home, and when I emerged from the Glorieta Pass and saw the Magdalena Mountains way in the distance, my heart leapt. And coming up the hill towards those mountains, night upon us, I thrilled to see the stars all around me, Orion straight ahead as if beckoning me home.
And home I am, puttering around and winding my way through towers of boxes and trying to figure out where to put anything, let alone everything. It's a good thing we have a store so we can start unloading all this stuff... The seeds I planted a few weeks ago have sprouted, and now my windowsills are filled with leggy green plants straining towards the sun. I think I can plant them now, but I'll wait to see if we get any more frost over the next few nights before putting them out.
Speaking of Lazarus, here he is in all his bathing glory:
fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads...
... eat 'em up -- BLECCHHHHH
what's this stuff and why can't I grab it and jam it in my mouth to chomp on it?
the amazing frog boy:
I'll put up more pix later; I took some over the weekend during our trip to Denver -- we took the scenic route, which was by far the best part of the trip, and Lazarus was, as always, a pleasant roadtrip companion. Denver looks a lot better now in the spring than it did when I arrived late last November, when it was grey and cold and the trees were bare. I remember driving in from Grand Junction (where Laz and I stayed for a week or so after leaving California), and thinking Oh shit, what the hell did I do??? I pulled the car up to the back of the house from the alley and had to sit there and cry for a few minutes. The place just looked cold, grey, grubby and completely foreign, my gardens and comfort far behind me. Spring definitely spruces the town up, but I'm still happy to have left Denver for the not-quite-as-green expanse of southwestern New Mexico. Driving back down here yesterday, I felt increasingly happy the closer we got to home, and when I emerged from the Glorieta Pass and saw the Magdalena Mountains way in the distance, my heart leapt. And coming up the hill towards those mountains, night upon us, I thrilled to see the stars all around me, Orion straight ahead as if beckoning me home.
And home I am, puttering around and winding my way through towers of boxes and trying to figure out where to put anything, let alone everything. It's a good thing we have a store so we can start unloading all this stuff... The seeds I planted a few weeks ago have sprouted, and now my windowsills are filled with leggy green plants straining towards the sun. I think I can plant them now, but I'll wait to see if we get any more frost over the next few nights before putting them out.
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