On Mother’s Day several years ago, my then small sons brought home an art project from Sunday school. It was meant to be a sort of gift/card for me, the focus of their lesson. It consisted of two large circles placed one on top of the other and fastened by a brad in the middle. [...]
Archive for the ‘Offspring’ category
Boy, 6, drives car to school
On Tuesday, a six-year old boy drove a Ford Taurus ten miles to get to school before crashing into a utility pole. He was unharmed. He was six! He drove ten miles before crashing! He was not wearing a seat belt! How did he not die? How did he not cause a major pile-up? You [...]
Thursday Playlist: Superheroes
We kind of skipped out on the whole kids’ music scene, and now that our son Jasper is approaching five it looks like we’ve left it behind. I know kids’ music has gotten much better in the past ten years, what with all the aging B- and C-list recording artists starting second careers once they [...]
On nature, nests and Bryan’s Brussels sprouts
I was getting into my car for work a few mornings ago when another car pulled into my driveway. It was my oldest son’s carpool ride. I waved and proceeded to put my bag in the backseat. The mom who was driving leaped out of her car and ran up to me. This woman is [...]
Thursday open thread: Citrus edition
I have been saving this for you for weeks and weeks. Bonus: The installation of a couple of the pieces in the Richard Serra retrospective at MoMA. It closes next Monday; if you haven’t seen it, it’s worth making an effort. I recommend the free audio guide — Serra is unusually lucid about his work.
SPAM key circa 1971
Sweat rolls down my cheeks and my hair is laced with spider webs and dried flies. I am filthy from the attic. I have been rummaging long enough to be light-headed from the trapped heat, probably over a hundred and ten degrees. I have worked hard to retrieve a box. The packing tape on the [...]
In da (mother)’hood
This might be my favorite cover of a song, ever. Top 5 at least. Love how a white girl transforms an angry rap song into a lullaby. The words, “When I’m called off, I got a sawed off, squeeze the trigger, and bodies are hauled off,” never sounded so sweet, so soothing. I listen to [...]
Sex talk
Guy I work with has a son named Jack. Good kid. Solid. 8-years-old. Asked his dad the other day where babies come from. Guy suspected his son already knew and was testing his dad to see how much truth dad would tell. Guy tells the truth, the graphic truth – penis this, vagina that. Jack [...]
Hogwarts Square diary entry (no spoilers!)
My favorite part of the Harry Potter series has always been its attention to media and memory — gadgets and goodies like Dumbledore’s Pensieve, the Marauder’s Map, owl-delivered letters (some of which actually scream at you if you’ve been bad), text books on Monsters that are themselves eager to bite you, memory charms, photos that wave to [...]
