verbatim

Belated Seder Report

Rachel mentioned in a comment that I neglected to upload a Passover post, and she's right. We got home late-ish on Monday, and I was so cooked that I went to bed without blogging. Bad blogger, bad! So I will tell you now that we went to Lauren's, we managed to fit 23 around the table, and we had a great seder. I know there are families who can't get together for Passover (or don't wish to get together for Passover), and that means that we are very lucky. We read, we prayed, we sang, we drank, we ate, we did all the right stuff, but most of all, we were together for yet another seder together. We mentioned Gram a million times, and it felt happy instead of sad.

I made the matzoh meal rolls again, and was horrified to discover that the last 4 batches were made with medium eggs instead of large—as if they're not dry enough already! But they turned out fine, and no one was the wiser (or the impoliter). There was chicken and brisket and asparagus and matzoh kugel and on and on, then macaroons and chocolate matzoh brickle and fruit.... And then we all fell over into a big tired, full heap. Happy Passover!

Things Other People Love That I Just Don't Get

TwoBusy says it's time for another one of those memes that we pass around. Here's my take on the above topic:

Reality TV: Let's see, I could either settle in for the latest Coen brothers movie on DVD or watch a young woman get scolded for not wearing the latest fashions. I could either read the latest Ann Patchett novel or watch a couple bicker while taking care of their sextuplets. I could either sit and stare at the geometric patterns on my wallpaper or watch a bunch of dim-witted gold-diggers try to get a bazillionaire to fall in love with them in one weekend. I just don't get the appeal. Oh, and plus? It's all so damned scripted. P.S. This includes "American Idol."

Football: Oh, look! He ran 3 whole yards before all those other guys knocked him down! Woo-hoo! And now he just ran another 3 yards before they knocked him down again! Unbelievable! Pass the nachos! Please, give me baseball or basketball or even, heaven help me, hockey, but please, a game where something actually happens.

Celebrity Gossip: He slept with her?! She has a tattoo of that on her what?! They said what to each other? I can't describe adequately how little I care about what famous people are doing in their personal lives. It's true, when I found out that Mel Gibson was an anti-semitic homophobic shithead, I stopped going to his movies (fortunately, it was just around the time he got jowly and gross), but for the most part, I'm not interested in the private lives of public figures. Do the job you were hired for, and the rest matters to me not one whit.

Exercise: I wish I knew what it felt like to get IN THE ZONE, but I don't. I've tried, really! I have. For me, exercise always has been and always will be a dreaded chore that is to be avoided whenever possible. I get no pleasure out of it at all. Let's put it this way: If it turned out that exercise was bad for you, you would not find me sneaking out for a quick spin on the stationary bike just for the buzz.

Sandra Bullock: Not only don't I think she's luscious, I find her downright ugly. The first time I saw her was in "Speed," and I said to Andy, "You just watch. This girl is going nowhere fast. Mark my words." See?

Sushi: OK, you can add this to the long list of ingestibles that most people would kill loved ones for and that I wish didn't even exist (mustard, scotch, coffee, cilantro, tunafish, hard-boiled eggs, chopped liver, lox, etc.). You see, when I don't like a food, I really don't like it. I gag at the thought of bringing it near my face. And sushi is right up there at the top. Want some raw eel wrapped in seaweed? Nah, but thanks for asking. (Yes, I know not all sushi is raw fish. I'm talking about the raw fish kind. Sashimi? Whatever.)

Matthew McConaughey: Op. cit., Sandra Bullock.

Run

At first I wasn't going to read Ann Patchett's latest novel, Run, because I'd heard it wasn't as good as Bel Canto or The Magician's Assistant or all the others, and I didn't want to be disappointed. Then it occurred to me that even a lesser novel by Patchett is better than most everything out there (yes, I've said the same thing about Richard Russo—it's true!).

No, Run is not Bel Canto, but it's still a thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing read. This time we're in Boston, and former mayor Bernard Doyle has lost his wife to cancer, leaving him with their two adopted black sons, Tip and Teddy (of course). Oh, and there's also Sullivan, Doyle's oldest son, who is the black sheep of the family and is ... well, who knows where he is these days? Doyle daydreams that one of his sons will follow in his footsteps, but so far Sullivan is a lost cause, Tip is completely wrapped up in his ichthyology studies, and Teddy just might be thinking about joining the priesthood. One snowy night Doyle drags Tip and Teddy out to hear Jesse Jackson speak, and afterward a black woman also walking out of the speech pushes Tip out of the way of a speeding SUV and is hit herself. Her young daughter is left on the side of the road wondering what just happened. This event sets in motion a series of revelations that will bring many changes to the Doyle family. Without giving anything away, I found the plot at once contrived and believable. Patchett is that good.

So, no, I wasn't swept away by this book, but neither was I willing to put it down until I'd reached the conclusion (a completely satisfying if unsurprising one). Patchett writes with such grace and heart that it's just pure pleasure to read what she has to say about families and politics and race and class and loyalty and doing the right thing.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. The Last Train to Clarksville - The Monkees
2. Rosalita - Bruce Springsteen
3. Wagon Wheel (live) - Old Crow Medicine Show
4. This Is My Favorite Cage - Joe Henry
5. The Finer Things - Steve Winwood
6. Louisiana 1927 - Randy Newman
7. Surfer Girl - Dave Alvin
8. Sailing to Philadelphia - Mark Knopfler
9. At Last - Neko Case
10. A Good Year for the Roses - Elvis Costello

Through the Night, With the Light from a Bulb*

*Was that misheard lyric from Ramona the Pest or my own childhood?

Here's another great product I got to try in exchange for a review: Sylvania’s new halogen Super Saver light bulbs. I had never tried any energy-saving light bulbs before, and I'd never bought halogen either. Indeed, I've been using the same old incandescent light bulbs that have been around forever. So here's the stats:

These 43-watt halogen bulbs replace standard 60-watt incandescent bulbs, which is a 28% energy savings. They produce nearly the same amount of light (785 lumens versus 850 lumens, whatever that means). And they're also mercury free, unlike compact fluorescent lights, so disposal is not an issue.

They're a little smaller than incandescent bulbs, but the base is the same, so they can still screw into all your existing fixtures:

As far as the light goes, I honestly couldn't tell the difference between these and my usual 60-watt bulbs. These photos aren't that great, but here's my bathroom with my old incandescent bulb on the left and the new halogen bulb on the right:

And here's my office light, with all incandescents except for the second from the left, which is halogen:

These photos aren't really doing the trick, are they? Well, anyhow, I assure you that I can't distinguish between the two. What is even more interesting is that I didn't notice a change in color. You see, years ago I switched from regular "yellow light" incandescent bulbs to GE Reveal, which are pinkish and give a more "white light," which I prefer. (You can see in the top photo that the incandescent bulb on the left looks slightly pinkish.) But these new ones don't seem terribly yellow. Indeed, the package touts their "vivid color," and from a little Googling I learned that halogen bulbs emit the "whitest" light because they produce light of a higher color temperature than incandescents. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but they do seem "whiter" than the old "yellow" incandescents I used to use years ago.

Anyhow, incandescent bulbs are being phased out over the next few years in accordance with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Specifically, this bill requires roughly 25% greater efficiency for light bulbs between 2012 and 2014 and roughly 200% greater efficiency for light bulbs by 2020. So incandescent bulbs are pretty much history, which leaves the door wide open for these new halogens and compact fluorescent lights. As I mentioned above, being mercury-free is a big plus for halogen. I was unable to find any information that directly compares the lifetime cost (purchase + energy use) for incandescent, halogen, and fluorescent bulbs, but I do think that this must be at least a small, good step in the right direction to "going green."

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign
by Mom Central on behalf of SYLVANIA and received products
necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, I received
a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Loyal Verbatim reader Elena wanted to know if everything's OK here—she was surprised that I hadn't mentioned the healthcare reform bill on my blog. Everything's fine (if a bit hectic), but she's right to point out that I neglected to write about something so important.

I've had emails from readers in other countries congratulating me on this momentous occasion for our nation! Imagine that! It must be impossible for them to fathom how the mighty U. S. of A. can possibly have gone this far without ensuring such a basic necessity to millions of our citizens.

I for one am very much looking forward to being able to buy health insurance at the same rate that big companies do, even though Andy and I are both self-employed. We spend a bundle on health insurance for our family now, and it's never been something I'm willing to skimp on. (This "exchange" program won't be available until 2014, but at least it's in the works.) And no, we won't be paying any extra taxes for this. You can use the widget here to figure out how you'll be affected.

Here are just a few of the other provisions that'll be rolled out over the next 10 years:

• Provides a $250 rebate to Medicare prescription drug plan beneficiaries whose initial benefits run out.
• Provides immediate access to high-risk pools for people who have no insurance because of preexisting conditions.
• Bars insurers from denying people coverage when they get sick.
• Bars insurers from denying coverage to children who have preexisting conditions.
• Bars insurers from imposing lifetime caps on coverage.

These all seem like really reasonable provisions, don't you think? I can't imagine what everyone's all in a tizzy about. Indeed, "tizzy" may be the kindest way to describe what's going on over there on the right:

• 67 percent of Republicans believe that Obama is a socialist.
• 57 percent of Republicans believe that Obama is a Muslim.
• 45 percent of Republicans believe that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president"
• 38 percent of Republicans say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did"
• 24 percent of Republicans say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."

(Found here, via Scott.) I mean, really, Hitler?? The Antichrist?? What planet are these people from??

I urge you to read Bob Herbert's op-ed in the Times the other day. He's right: "At some point, we have to decide as a country that we just can’t have this." I have no problem with vigorous debate about issues and programs. But this virulent hate-spewing has gone way over the line.

iPhone Tips

You know how some mistyped words with contractions don't get auto-corrected because the spelling without an apostrophe is also a word? That is, if you want the word "we'll" and instead type "well," it assumes you wanted "well." Same for "it's" and "its." So here's a hack from Lifehacker that solves that problem (and also saves you from having to flip back to the punctuation screen for that apostrophe). If you want "we'll," type "welll" (yes, that's three L's at the end there) and it will auto-correct to "we'll." Similarly, if you want "it's," type "itss." It also seems to work for "shelll" and "she'll," but only sometimes for "helll" and "he'll." (I hope you all know that when an auto-correction is suggested, you accept it by just continuing to type; you reject it by tapping the little X on the word.)

Meanwhile, speaking of flipping back to the screen that has all the numbers and punctuation, did you know that if you let your finger linger for a second on the ".?123" square, the other keyboard screen will appear and then you can then just slide your finger up to the character you need? Then, when you let go, you're still on the alphabet screen! Very convenient! (This works between any two keyboard screens.)

And I hope you all know that two taps of the space bar will give you a period followed by a space and a capital letter ready to begin your next sentence.

Here's a trick that has been very useful to me: If you frequently want to type in all caps, go to Settings --> General --> Keyboard and then slide the Enable Caps Lock switch to On. Now when you double-click the shift arrow for caps, you'll get all caps (the shift arrow turns blue) until you double-click again to turn it off.

You've probably already figured out that holding down the .com key when entering a Web address or email address will give you the options of .net, edu., and .gov:

 

Well, there are also options available for accented letters (for instance, hold down the E to get accented E's)

or the $ key for different currency symbols, the ?/! symbols for upside-down ?/! symbols, and more. Play around and you're sure to find more!

And in case you're wondering how I got all these iPhone screen shots, you just hold down the power button at the top and then press the circular home key once. A screen shot will be saved to your photo library. Awesome, eh?

In Living Color

Some people have asked to see more photos from Steph's Bat Mitzvah reception; today I'm going to show you the decorations. As I mentioned, the room itself is very plain and needed lots of color to jazz it up, so color is what we gave it! Here's what the room looked like before we all got there:

The adults' tables had floral centerpieces:

 

The kids' tables had these magnificent balloons:

 

Here are those Spritinis I told you about (tinted Sprite served in tinted sugar–rimmed martini glasses):

Remember the M&M favors I splurged on? Steph's friends had some fun making this design for her on one of the tables (utilizing one of the multicolored S-shaped sugar cookies served at dessert):

A World of Pain

Last night I watched "The Hurt Locker." I can't say whether I think it deserved the Oscar it won for Best Picture, because I've seen only two of the other contenders, "A Serious Man" and "Up" (both of which I liked—click the titles to see my reviews). I did think it was well done, but it somehow didn't feel like a "best picture" to me.

The story and plot are very intriguing: We follow a bomb defusing squad on their daily missions for the last month of their tour in Iraq in 2004. When all the other soldiers clear out, they go in to try to find and dismantle an explosive. The main guy is played by Jeremy Renner, and he's such a cowboy that I wonder whether the real guys who do this job were angered by his performance. He not only does foolhardy things that put himself in danger, but he also endangers the lives of his team members. He's a loose cannon except when he's doing what he does best: following wires and then snipping the right one. I know they were trying to get at the fact that this is the only thing that this guy does that makes him feel alive and worthy, but it seemed too serious a job to allow any non-seriousness to creep in. I don't recall ever seeing Renner before, but he was just right for this role.

The fear, tedium, stress, and anger of the soldiers is portrayed very credibly. You want to just let them relax and have a decent shower and not have to be scanning the rooftops for snipers. I wasn't surprised to learn that the screenplay was written by a journalist (Mark Boal) embedded with troops in Iraq. It seemed very realistic to me, and not in the least bit sugar-coated or glorified.

The meaning of the title is never explained in the movie, but I found this at the BBC:

"If a bomb goes off, you're going to be in the hurt locker. That's how they used it in Baghdad," Mark Boal told the New Yorker. "It means slightly different things to different people, but all the definitions point to the same idea. It's somewhere you don't want to be."

Although American sports writers have used the phrase for at least two decades— to refer to injured players, or a team languishing in the league—the Oxford English Dictionary's first recorded example dates from 1966, says Fiona McPherson, senior editor of the OED's new words group.

"It's from a Texas newspaper and it says 'If an army marches on its stomach, Old Charlie is in the hurt locker.' Old Charlie is the Viet Cong. It is similar to the phrases 'world of hurt' or 'world of pain.'

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Cryin' Shame - Lyle Lovett
2. Freedom of the Road (live) - Martin Sexton
3. One Kiss - John Hiatt
4. I Know We Could Be So Happy Baby (If We Wanted To Be) - Jeff Buckley 
5. I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow - The Soggy Bottom Boys
6. Jambalaya - Lucinda Williams
7. Road to Kaintuck - Billy Bob Thornton & the Peasall Sisters
8. Free Up - Los Lobos
9. Across the Universe - Rufus Wainwright 
10. The Sudbury Nickel - John Doe & The Sadies

That's My Governor!

During an online chat held yesterday by my governor, Deval Patrick, someone complained about the governor's responses: 

"everything is spelt perfectly and he is always address correctly ... this is not how bloggers ask questions .... we don't conform to punctuation or grammer..."

Patrick shot back:

"I was an English major, so I can't help but try to get the punctuation and grammar right. Deal with it."

That's going to be my new grammar mantra: "I was an English major. Deal with it!"

They Clean Up Nice

Back in the Dark Ages, when Andy and I got married, the photographer took photos at the wedding, and then we waited some ungodly amount of time (8 weeks? 12 weeks?) to see "proofs," which were unfinished prints that had a watermark across them so we wouldn't be tempted to make our own copies. Then we chose the ones we liked, had a formal album made up, and that was the end of that. If our wedding album is ever lost or destroyed, there won't be any way to recover those photos.

But now in the digital age, it's all different. Steph's Bat Mitzvah photographer sent us a CD containing 655 photos, plus an album (not a fancy one, just the kind that holds 4x6 prints in plastic sleeves) of the best 300. She also threw in a few enlargements just for fun. We own all the digital images; if we want to, we can order a formal album, more enlargements, or whatever else we want.

It's great fun looking through the photos, even the outtakes. Here's my kids in the morning, before services:

 

and again, a few minutes later (needing little urging to ham it up for the camera):

I promise not to bore you with lots of photos, but I would like to share some of the best ones in future posts.

MyMac

Yesterday:

So that's my old setup: MacBook Pro on the left, which handled 99.9% of everything, and the old iMac on the right for those occasions when I really needed more monitor space. (And that's all the crap all over my desk that I keep meaning to tend to.)

Today:

Voilà!* Ain't she sweet? I haven't yet migrated everything over yet (but thanks to Rebecca for lending me her super-duper high-speed FireWire cable!), but it will hold ONE TERABYTE, which may as well be a GAZILLIONOBYTE as far as I'm concerned. I'm still getting used to the Magic Mouse, and there's still a whole lot of crap all over my desk (and now floor) that I ought to tend to, but I am one happy camper.

*No, it's not that dark in my office; the first photo was taken with sunshine—yes, sunshine, after all that rain!—streaming through the window; this one after dark. Both with iPhone (thus no flash).

iGot iMac

I do all my work—as well as maintain my Online Lifestyle—exclusively on my beat-up old MacBook Pro, and it has always done me justice. Yes, the letters are all rubbed off the keys; yes, it frequently sounds like an airplane taking off; yes, it has a trackpad; yes, it's still running Tiger (gasp!). But I love it. Lately, though, I've been thinking that I could be working a lot more efficiently if I could comfortably have two (or sometimes even three) documents lined up side by side at once—for instance, if I'm proofing a page in Acrobat against the original manuscript in Word. Sometimes I've gone so far as to fire up the old iMac (you know, the original one that looks like a lamp?) for that purpose.

I did a little research, and yesterday I went to the Apple Store fully intending to purchase the gorgeous, awesome 21.5" iMac. And then I saw the even more gorgeous, even more awesome 27" iMac. Wowee. The top-of-the-line 21.5" iMac and the bottom-of-the-line 27" iMac are identical in every way (memory, processor, graphics card, etc.) except for monitor size, and for that you pay only $200. The salesclerk warned me that as huge as these monitors look in the store, they look even bigger at home. I couldn't decide if I should spring for the giant monitor, which I was lusting after in a big way but don't really "need." The store was very crowded, so I figured I'd go home and sleep on it and make my mind up in the morning.

Today I drove straight to the Apple Store and bought the 27" iMac. (You knew I would, didn't you?) They were also giving a $100 rebate on a $100 HP printer (a no-brainer, although they said that some people don't take it! Couldn't they just give it to a charity or a school? Sheesh.). They were also offering the latest Microsoft Office suite for $150, which I have been desperately needing for a long time but have been too stingy to buy, because I thought I had to get the business version, which is $400! So I've been suffering with the painfully slow old version of Word for way too long.

And then ... I brought it home, where it is still sitting in its box! First I had a mammogram, then I had to get the kids at school and drive them to/from their various activities, then I had to finish up some work that's due tomorrow, then I had to help with homework and make dinner, blahblahblah. I also have to clear a big area of my desk to fit it on! So you will have to wait until tomorrow to see it in all its glory. If I were a better photographer, I'd show you proof that it's so big that a second-grader (and two cats) can easily hide behind the box. Trust me.

The Blogginator, or Bloggenater, or ...

Last week I was editing a Grade 4 science program that included a test question about "pollenation." I knew it should be "pollination," but that made me wonder how "pollen" with an "e" becomes "pollination" with an "i." (Those of you who tune in here regularly for recipes, cute anecdotes about my kids and cats, and movie reviews might want to go check your email or see what's up on Facebook right about now.)

It's a wonder to me that anyone ever learns English as a second language. English is loaded with irregular spellings, and there's no rhyme or reason to how endings go. Why does "ring" change to "rang" but "bring" changes to "brought"? Who can explain "deceive/deception/deceit" and "receive/reception/receipt"? Probably someone, but not me.

I suspect that a lot of English's strange spellings stem from pronunciation. For instance, "absorb" probably becomes "absorption" because "absorbtion" sounds like "absorption" anyhow—so somewhere along the way, the spelling caught up with the pronunciation. (Etymologists among my readership are welcome to chime in here!)

English contains countless examples of strange spelling changes, like "fly/flown" and "break/broke," but what interests me are the ones like "pollen/pollination"—the ones where just one or two letters change, for no apparent reason. I put the question to my Twitter pals and got tons of replies. Here are some of the most interesting:

pronounce --> pronunciation
float --> flotation
religious --> sacrilegious
enemy --> inimical
empire --> imperial
governor --> gubernatorial
fire --> fiery

It's amazing enough that any of us learn to be good spellers, but to imagine an English learner coming from a language with strict spelling rules (like Italian), it must be a daunting task indeed.

Many thanks to EditorMark, GrammarGirl, sethlipkin, 4ndyman, stevebwriter, and all the others who contributed ideas for this post.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Born at the Right Time - Paul Simon
2. Fat Man in the Bathtub (live) - Little Feat 
3. Statesboro Blues/Church Bell Blues (live) - David Bromberg 
4. Angeline - Martin Sexton
5. Shine Your Light - Robbie Robertson
6. How Much I Lied - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
7. Come on in My Kitchen - Cat Power
8. John Henry - Bruce Springsteen
9. Monday, Monday - The Mamas and the Papas
10. Is That Love (live) - Squeeze

Miscellany

1. Check out Jimmy Kimmel's "Handsome Men's Club." Very funny, and loaded with (handsome) stars.

2. On behalf of Bob (hubby of my pal califmom), we the Internet tell cancer to fuck off. (You can see me and Andy in the bottom third, middle-ish.)

3. I spent a solid hour on the phone today with Linksys for my router and adapter problems. The customer service rep started the call by saying, "Oh, Karen is my name too!" and then proceeded to call me Kathy about 50 times. Through gritted teeth, I kept saying, "It's Karen!" and she'd say, "Oh, I'm sorry Karen!" and then 30 seconds later, "Now Kathy, you want to click on that icon...." We ended up disconnecting everything and reconnecting it all, to no avail. The call ended with the other Karen (or Kathy?) saying, "Is there anything else I can help you with today?" No, thanks, I think I can waste an hour on my own next time the mood strikes me. Oh, and initially I accidentally dialed the shipping department instead of tech support and got a dominatrix chat line! Turns out the guy who gave me the number last time said "800" instead of "877" (or I misheard and wrote it down wrong)! Whoops.

5. On an unrelated note, will someone please remind me to get my car inspected tomorrow? I'm nearly two weeks overdue. (And don't mention it to my father-in-law; this sort of thing makes him nuts.) Thanks, Internet.

Baltimore Recap

Baltimore already feels like a hundred years ago, but I did promise you a brief synopsis of our visit, didn't I? Let's see what I can remember.

Steph and I and Steph's friend Rachel flew AirTran down on Friday afternoon, then took a cab to the new Baltimore Waterfront Marriott (not to be confused with the nearby old Marriott at the ballpark). It is gorgeous. By the time we got in, we had just enough time to grab a bite and see another girl and her mom for a bit before we hit the sack. I let the girls take the beds and I took the cot, because I wanted them to get a good night's sleep before their big day, and I knew that they'd be spending the next night on a floor while I had both beds (and the cot) to choose from!

The next morning we had breakfast in the hotel and met up with the other girls and their moms. The Bat Mitzvah girl's family sent a van to pick up the 5 girls and take them to the temple, then brought them back to the hotel after the luncheon. In the meantime, I lounged a bit and then walked around the harbor area with another mom, and we ate lunch at a noodle place.

That afternoon the weather was spectacular (for March!), so we all walked around downtown, poking into the little shops and getting gelato. It was a really nice afternoon. When we got back, the last girl and her mom arrived (she'd had another Bat Mitzvah to go to at home in New Jersey, then they drove down). Her mom and I went to camp together back in the '70s!

The hotel was hosting a huge convention of anxiety disorder professionals, so the place was teeming with therapists, social workers, and so on. I joked with some of them in the elevator that if they saw me freaking out in the lobby, they shouldn't think they needed to restrain me—I was just traveling with two 13-year-old girls!

Then the girls got all fancied up for the big party, and the van came to pick them up with their overnight bags and whisk them away. While we were waiting in the lobby, the other camp mom spotted another former camp pal who happened to be attending the convention! Neither of us had seen her in a couple of decades—what are the odds? Then the moms all went out to dinner at an Irish pub nearby, which was just about the right speed for us. And then I collapsed into one of the big beds and fell deeply asleep—until my iPhone scared the crap out of me at 1:21am with a text message from Steph saying that they'd just arrived at their friend's house.

So, next morning the moms headed out to the house for a brunch. Soon enough I had to take Steph and Rachel to the airport, and we were back home in the middle of the afternoon. It was a whirlwind weekend, and I'm glad we did it.

J-U-L-I-E

Every morning on the way to school, Julie asks me to quiz her on spelling words. "Chance," I say. "C-H-A-N-C-E," Julie says. "Happiness," I say. "H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S," Julie says. And so on, all the way to school. And again on the way home. "Jungle," I say. "J-U-N-G-L-E," Julie says. All of this practice was leading up to last night's all-city spelling bee.

Guess who was the winner of the grade 2 competition?

 

She started off easy, with "pound," and moved on to harder words like "might" and "quilt." She won on the word "basketball," but as far as I was concerned, she had already won it earlier in the round on "science." That's hard!

In the photo above, she's holding her certificate of merit and her goodie bag (pencil, lollipop, etc.), both of which everyone in the bee got, plus the grand prize: a gift certificate to Learning Express, our favorite toy store!

On the way out, an older woman stopped us to congratulate Julie. She said, "I had her pegged as the winner right from the start." We asked why, and she said, "I taught for 45 years, and I could just tell immediately that she had it." She sure did! I can't describe how proud I was last night. She was really nervous, but she got up there and nailed it. Maybe I've got a budding copyeditor in my midst!

Sing a Song of Six

Six years ago today, I typed "testing, testing" and published my very first blog post. I don't know what exactly prompted me to do it that day, but I'm sure glad I did. Through this blog, I have "met" so many interesting and bright and thoughtful and funny and caring people that I otherwise would never have come across. I do it all for you, dear readers, because otherwise I'd just scribble all this stuff in a notebook and keep it in my bottom drawer. I treasure the connections I've made through this blog, and I hope you'll all stick around for another six years.

Travel Agent

I want to tell you all about my weekend in Baltimore, but I'm too tired! For now I'll just say that I think travel brings out the neuroses in me (and perhaps in all of us). I've always known that I'm a Checker, but I'm really a Checker when I travel. Is my phone in my pocket? Is my phone in my pocket? Is my phone in my pocket? Do I have my room key? Do I have my room key? Do I have my room key? Is my suitcase zipped? Is my suitcase zipped? Is my suitcase zipped? I'm sure there are people who don't worry about anything when they travel, but I am not one of those people. Also, this was my first time traveling alone with my child and my child's friend, so that added to the anxiety.

I used to be a real pro at traveling, but that was long before I had kids, and even longer before 9/11. In fact, this was only the second time I'd flown since 9/11 (the first was our Disney trip back in '06). So I'm still a newbie to the world of 3-ounce liquids in a quart-size zip-lock bag and all that other fun stuff. Of course everything turned out just fine, and I did indeed have my phone in my pocket, as well as my room key, and my suitcase remained zipped at all times.

I enjoyed being alone in a fancy-shmancy hotel room (especially after the girls left) and was not at all nervous about that. I always get a kick out of trying out the shampoo and lotion, seeing what's in the desk drawers, looking at the room service menu, and all that. I think if I traveled more often, I probably wouldn't worry about the details, but you never know. Perhaps a Checker is a Checker no matter what.

Good Morning, Baltimore!

This is not only the first time I'm blogging from Baltimore but also my first time blogging from my iPhone. Steph and I are having a great weekend here, but I'm eager to get back home tomorrow. We are staying at the Baltimore Waterfront Marriott, and this is the beautiful view from our window. The weather has been gorgeous too! More details tomorrow, when I get back to my beloved MacBookPro. Oh yeah, and husband and other kids.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Odessa - Sam Baker
2. National Steel - Kathleen Edwards
3. Hard Core Troubadour - Steve Earle
4. Windfall (live) - Son Volt
5. I Dreamed of My Old Lover - Elvis Costello
6. The Tide Is High - Blondie
7. Truck Drivin' Man (live) - Uncle Tupelo
8. Cassady (live) - Grateful Dead
9. Cynical Girl (live) - Marshall Crenshaw
10. Too Hot to Sleep - Eilen Jewell

Incoming!

Yesterday I volunteered to help out with the screening process for next fall's Kindergarteners. Here's how it works. I or another PTO volunteer greet the family and give the kid a name tag, then take a photo of the kid wearing said name tag. Then a teacher takes the parent(s) off for a brief interview, followed by a quick meeting with the nurse and the school secretary about city-wide requirements. Meanwhile the kid goes with a teacher to do stuff like stack blocks, stand on one foot, draw a person, and so on. It's not to see whether the kids are ready for Kindergarten—you just have to be 5 years old by September 1 and you're in—it's more to see which kids might need special services (speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc.) and to try to balance the classes so you don't have all the readers in one class or whatever. Then, if the kid is done before the parent(s), we play with them in the library for a little while, letting them color or look at books or play with building toys. When they leave they get a goodie bag (pencil, eraser, sharpener, play-doh, stickers) in a bag decorated by the fifth graders. It's not a terribly demanding gig, and I think it's fun.

I have almost more fun watching the parents than the kids. You see the whole gamut: Both parents with their only child. A mom with her oldest, with a toddler and an infant in tow. A mom with the youngest of her four kids. And so on. For the most part, the new parents are nervous and excited and overwhelmed, just as you'd expect—and just as I was when I brought Stephanie way back when. The experienced parents are predictably more jaded and less nervous. (I remember when I brought Julie, I was so blasé that I couldn't even find her birth certificate or remember when she said her first word!) I did  see one set of parents who were getting a little bit emotional about bringing their youngest one through those doors. I guess it's a mix of emotions for everyone.

Still in the Tech Vortex

I saw a friend at school pickup today. He looked at me warily and said, "Do I want to ask why a Comcast truck was at your house at 7:40 last night?" No, you don't. The truth is that Justin had everything up and running last night, but this morning we had no picture in the kitchen again. I called this evening, cocktail firmly in hand, and was delighted to learn that there was a quick fix for this problem (unplug and replug adapter box). Who knew? Thanks, Comcast!

Then I decided to push my luck and try Linksys. Not only do I have the previously mentioned Samuel Garcia problem with my router, but the wireless adapter they sold me isn't working on Andy's Windows machine. First I got a woman who said that she would call me back in 2 minutes. I waited a half hour and then tried again. This time I got a guy who was rather impatient with me and my problems. He said that the Samuel Garcia thing was a known problem and would be fixed "soon." As for the adapter, that's also a known problem and would be fixed "soon." I asked them why they sold me these items if there were known problems with them, but he did not have an answer for me.

I told Andy we should offer free room and board to some IT guy who can fix all this stuff without thinking twice. I'm fairly tech-savvy, but enough is enough.

Analog Brain

Remember my problems upgrading to digital cable TV? Well, I've spent the last two weeks on the phone with Comcast, trying various solutions (buying new cables, reconnecting the TV, resetting the cable box, etc.). Finally I had the living room TV working on all the fancy channels but none of the basic ones, like regular old ABC. And still nothing in the basement. Finally tonight Comcast sent Justin over to the house, and he spent two full hours getting us hooked up. It was not easy, and I am very grateful that I finally got someone who knows what he's doing.

The next new tech headache to come my way: Every time I try to load Facebook to play Scrabble, I type in "facebook.com" as usual (or hit my bookmark), and I'm suddenly taken to the MySpace page of someone named Samuel Garcia! The weirdest thing is that the URL bar at the top still says "facebook.com"! Luckily, my Twitter pal @rossruns pointed me to a site that explains that it's all because of my new router. (I was having a similar problem a few days ago; every time I tried to type in a twitter.com address, I got redirected to blogger.com. I'm sure it was all related.) I'm too tired and tech'd out to deal with it now, so tomorrow I expect to spend all day on the phone with Linksys instead of Comcast for a change. (Yes, that web site explains what to do, but I don't really understand the whole DNS thing, so I'll let the nice guys in Mumbai walk me through it.)

A Healthy Choice

Sometimes when Andy is away overnight, I just nosh all evening instead of having a proper dinner. A handful of nuts, some cheese and crackers, maybe the last few bites of whatever's on the kids' plates. Other times I really feel like having something, but I generally don't feel like making something. So I was happy when Mom Central asked me to sample a couple of Healthy Choice frozen entrees—delivered right to my door in a freezer pack!

The Healthy Choice entrees I received are from the new "All Natural" line. They contain no preservatives and are made from ingredients like whole-grain pasta and extra-virgin olive oil. Last week when Andy was out one night, the kids and I tried them out. The first one was something I would never have bought on my own, Roasted Red Pepper Marinara. It's just not my favorite flavor, so, predictably, I didn't love it. However, Julie sure did! She ate most of it for her dinner. The other one was more my speed (and Pete's!): Creamy Basil Pesto. It had broccoli and tomatoes in a lightly creamy pesto cheese sauce. Delicious! Both were made with 9-grain cavatappi pasta. (NINE grains?! Yes, NINE grains!! Wheat, barley, rye, oats, amaranth, quinoa, millet, sorghum, and teff.)

The two entrees I tried had 250/270 calories, and 7/6 grams of fat, with 10 grams of protein. They were lowish in sodium (450/580 mg) too. I think I will seek out these products next time I'm at the market, so that I can have something on hand whenever I want a quick but hearty meal. I'm interested in trying some of the other varieties, like Lobster Ravioli and Sweet Asian Potstickers.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Healthy Choice and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.