No, I haven't joined Facebook, don't get excited. I'm still holding fast to my refusal to get involved. I just think it's so dumb! I realize that Facebook and Twitter have been used to bring the world together, helped facilitate the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street and all that, and that's wonderful, but Facebook is still really really dumb and I don't want to do it. Someday if I ever publish anything for real I'm going to HAVE to go on Facebook, because that's what authors do these days, and that's reason enough just to keep all my manuscripts locked in a drawer forevermore.
Rocket Boy feels the same way I do about FB, with one exception: he's on it. He almost never checks in, maybe every 3 months or so, so when he does, it's a marathon session, all that catching up to do. He puzzles over the "friend" requests -- "Who is so-and-so?" -- but accepts them all dutifully. Since he never posts anything on FB, no one gets anything out of being his friend.
Rocket Boy has a second cousin in Germany with whom he's very close, Andreas, and Andreas has two children, now young adults really -- I think they're 21 and 15. And of course they're both on Facebook. So Rocket Boy likes to check in on them, since he's sort of their uncle. (They're the twins' 3rd cousins -- isn't that an odd thought?)
Tonight he found a posting from Julia, the 15-year-old (who was a flower girl at our wedding, when she was 6), and after laboriously translating her slangy, abbreviated German, decided that she was getting something pierced! And whatever it was, her mother was not allowing her to "stretch" it, and Julia was angry about that. We worried for a while about what body part she might be putting a hole in (remember, this is our FLOWER GIRL we're talking about), but then RB found a response post from a friend of hers asking "Wie ist das Ohr?" so fortunately it was her ear. Rocket Boy posted a message in response, something brilliant like "Are you getting something pierced?" (in German, so who knows whether that's what it really says) and we had a good laugh over how that's going to go over with Julia, not to mention her friends. Like a lead balloon.
Then RB checked in with Julia's older brother Sebastian, with whom he has more of a relationship (i.e., they email each other twice a year). On Sebastian's Wall (am I using the terms right? I'm so out of it), he had posted that he had visited, mm, something called a Kinky Discotheque? We were quite shocked -- I know, he's an adult, but the last time we saw him he was 12 or 13. And then, here's the kicker, it said "3 people Like this." Oh stupid Facebook. Then something popped up, some young woman had just become Sebastian's friend and the box seemed to be indicating that Rocket Boy might want to be her friend too, because they had a mutual friend in Sebastian. "Should I click on it?" Rocket Boy asked me. "Ha ha ha," I replied politely.
Rocket Boy said to me, didn't you do things like that when you were their age? And I said, of course I did, but I didn't POST vivid descriptions of what I did in places where my UNCLES could read them! Keep in mind that both Julia and Sebastian ASKED Rocket Boy to be their friend. Or should that be Friend?
We figure after that dumb message to Julia, she's going to unFriend him.
I'm still not signing up.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
I've been reading lately
That's the title of a blog I follow, actually my favorite blog that I follow, though I'd be the first to admit that I don't follow a LOT of blogs. Mostly just a few friends' blogs and a couple of others. But this one I love: http://ivebeenreadinglately.blogspot.com/ I think of Levi, the blogger, as sort of like me, except much smarter and much more literate, and with NO TODDLER TWINS. He even refers to his significant other as "rocketlass." I agree with practically everything Levi says about books I've read, and thus I use him for recommendations, confident that much of what he likes, I'll like too.
Anyway, for the past few days I've been reading something that Levi didn't recommend, Stephen King's On Writing (though Levi does enjoy Stephen King's novels). I've been wanting to read this for a while, but didn't want to pay full price for it -- I figure Stephen King has PLENTY of money and doesn't need mine too. Finally last week I found it at Red Rock Books, so I've been dipping into it ever since.
It has some good stuff, some not so good. I get so tired of people telling other people that they shouldn't use the passive voice. As one of my grad school professors used to say, English NEEDS the passive. It has a purpose, otherwise it wouldn't be part of the language. You use the passive when the patient is more important than the agent. In the sentence, "Mary was bitten by a black widow spider," Mary is more important to us than the spider, whose name we don't know, who probably didn't even HAVE a name. Just a dumb spider. The sentence is NOT any better when written "A black widow spider, who shall remain nameless, bit Mary." It's just not. OK, anyway...
I was more taken with his recommendations on work schedules. King says, "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." By "a lot" he means four to six hours a day, every day. He goes on to describe his own schedule: writing in the morning, naps and letters in the afternoon, reading and family in the evening.
No mention of when you're supposed to do the laundry. Or make dinner. Or wipe bottoms and clean potties. His kids are grown, of course, but I kind of wonder whether maybe Tabitha didn't do most of the work when they were little.
I've been doing pretty well with my own schedule recently, spending 2 hours 4 days a week on my writing, and maybe an hour in the evenings on my reading. More than that, and we'd have to eat out every night.
Someday when I'm a millionaire we can hire a cook and a laundress. (The kids'll be grown by then, so no need for a nanny.) Until then, I think I'm doing OK.
Anyway, for the past few days I've been reading something that Levi didn't recommend, Stephen King's On Writing (though Levi does enjoy Stephen King's novels). I've been wanting to read this for a while, but didn't want to pay full price for it -- I figure Stephen King has PLENTY of money and doesn't need mine too. Finally last week I found it at Red Rock Books, so I've been dipping into it ever since.
It has some good stuff, some not so good. I get so tired of people telling other people that they shouldn't use the passive voice. As one of my grad school professors used to say, English NEEDS the passive. It has a purpose, otherwise it wouldn't be part of the language. You use the passive when the patient is more important than the agent. In the sentence, "Mary was bitten by a black widow spider," Mary is more important to us than the spider, whose name we don't know, who probably didn't even HAVE a name. Just a dumb spider. The sentence is NOT any better when written "A black widow spider, who shall remain nameless, bit Mary." It's just not. OK, anyway...
I was more taken with his recommendations on work schedules. King says, "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." By "a lot" he means four to six hours a day, every day. He goes on to describe his own schedule: writing in the morning, naps and letters in the afternoon, reading and family in the evening.
No mention of when you're supposed to do the laundry. Or make dinner. Or wipe bottoms and clean potties. His kids are grown, of course, but I kind of wonder whether maybe Tabitha didn't do most of the work when they were little.
I've been doing pretty well with my own schedule recently, spending 2 hours 4 days a week on my writing, and maybe an hour in the evenings on my reading. More than that, and we'd have to eat out every night.
Someday when I'm a millionaire we can hire a cook and a laundress. (The kids'll be grown by then, so no need for a nanny.) Until then, I think I'm doing OK.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Shopping in Ridgecrest
Last Saturday we decided to go shoe-shopping. Baby B owns two pairs of shoes that he can fit into (not counting sandals, for which it has grown too cold), but one pair is getting AWFULLY small and the other pair (purchased at Target a few months ago) already has a hole in the sole of one shoe, so he won't wear them. So I said, we MUST buy him shoes, which means we need to go to Palmdale.
Rocket Boy said, how about if we buy them in Ridgcrest? Where in Ridgecrest, I said, I won't buy shoes at Wal-Mart or K-Mart. Rocket Boy suggested Corny's Shoes, which has been here since the beginning of time. I've heard many people say their parents always bought them shoes at Corny's.
Significantly, I've never heard anyone say they bought their OWN kids shoes at Corny's. When we four walked into the store, on China Lake Boulevard, the first thing I noticed was that there were no small shoes on display. We walked all around the small store -- no small shoes. Rocket Boy asked the man at the counter whether he carried kids' shoes and without looking up the man said no, he did a long time ago, but not now.
So we all got back in the car and headed in the direction of Palmdale. But as we were driving, I said, what about that sporting goods store, Big 5? Maybe they would have kids' shoes, and Rocket Boy agreed that that was a good idea. So I turned the car around and we drove there.
We all got out of the car and went into Big 5. We walked to the back wall, where the shoes are, and we walked all along the wall, looking at all the shoes: women's shoes, men's shoes... and no kids' shoes. Rocket Boy asked a salesperson and she said no, sorry, no kids' shoes. Rocket Boy asked her whether there were any stores in town that carry kids' shoes and she said Wal-Mart and K-Mart.
I felt a rage bubbling up in me, and I said, I won't buy my kids shoes at Wal-Mart or K-Mart. I don't know why I was so angry. Ridgecrest is a small town in the middle of nowhere. It has limitations. But I think actually I was angry at all the people who live here and buy their children shoes at Wal-Mart and K-Mart, as if there were nothing wrong with it.
The salesperson looked unhappy, but then she said that there was another place in town that sold kids' shoes: Kool Threadz. You're kidding, I said. I thought that was a skateboard store. No, she said, they have nice shoes. Kind of pricey, but nice.
So we went to Kool Threadz, which IS a skateboard store, on Balsam Street in downtown Ridgecrest, but oddly enough they had some kids' shoes. Little baby Vans, which are of course skateboard shoes. Fussy Baby B tried on a pair and didn't like them. He tried on another pair and didn't like them. That should have been our signal to go.
But I couldn't. I couldn't walk out of the only store in Ridgecrest that sells kids' shoes other than Wal-Mart and K-Mart without buying any shoes. So I bought Baby B a pair of cute black and white Vans for about $25. Which he won't even try on again.
Today I offered them to Baby A instead, but he won't try them on because they belong to Baby B.
Eventually I'll give them to the Salvation Army.
In the afternoon we went to a salon on Ridgecrest Boulevard and all got haircuts (except Rocket Boy, who got his hair cut there a few weeks ago). Very nice haircuts, I might add.
And maybe next weekend we'll drive 90 miles to Palmdale and buy shoes.
Rocket Boy said, how about if we buy them in Ridgcrest? Where in Ridgecrest, I said, I won't buy shoes at Wal-Mart or K-Mart. Rocket Boy suggested Corny's Shoes, which has been here since the beginning of time. I've heard many people say their parents always bought them shoes at Corny's.
Significantly, I've never heard anyone say they bought their OWN kids shoes at Corny's. When we four walked into the store, on China Lake Boulevard, the first thing I noticed was that there were no small shoes on display. We walked all around the small store -- no small shoes. Rocket Boy asked the man at the counter whether he carried kids' shoes and without looking up the man said no, he did a long time ago, but not now.
So we all got back in the car and headed in the direction of Palmdale. But as we were driving, I said, what about that sporting goods store, Big 5? Maybe they would have kids' shoes, and Rocket Boy agreed that that was a good idea. So I turned the car around and we drove there.
We all got out of the car and went into Big 5. We walked to the back wall, where the shoes are, and we walked all along the wall, looking at all the shoes: women's shoes, men's shoes... and no kids' shoes. Rocket Boy asked a salesperson and she said no, sorry, no kids' shoes. Rocket Boy asked her whether there were any stores in town that carry kids' shoes and she said Wal-Mart and K-Mart.
I felt a rage bubbling up in me, and I said, I won't buy my kids shoes at Wal-Mart or K-Mart. I don't know why I was so angry. Ridgecrest is a small town in the middle of nowhere. It has limitations. But I think actually I was angry at all the people who live here and buy their children shoes at Wal-Mart and K-Mart, as if there were nothing wrong with it.
The salesperson looked unhappy, but then she said that there was another place in town that sold kids' shoes: Kool Threadz. You're kidding, I said. I thought that was a skateboard store. No, she said, they have nice shoes. Kind of pricey, but nice.
So we went to Kool Threadz, which IS a skateboard store, on Balsam Street in downtown Ridgecrest, but oddly enough they had some kids' shoes. Little baby Vans, which are of course skateboard shoes. Fussy Baby B tried on a pair and didn't like them. He tried on another pair and didn't like them. That should have been our signal to go.
But I couldn't. I couldn't walk out of the only store in Ridgecrest that sells kids' shoes other than Wal-Mart and K-Mart without buying any shoes. So I bought Baby B a pair of cute black and white Vans for about $25. Which he won't even try on again.
Today I offered them to Baby A instead, but he won't try them on because they belong to Baby B.
Eventually I'll give them to the Salvation Army.
In the afternoon we went to a salon on Ridgecrest Boulevard and all got haircuts (except Rocket Boy, who got his hair cut there a few weeks ago). Very nice haircuts, I might add.
And maybe next weekend we'll drive 90 miles to Palmdale and buy shoes.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
The other shoe
So, as many of you know, the other shoe did drop, earlier this week. On Halloween, to be exact. I wonder how many people had eviction notices taped to their front doors on Halloween this year. With the help of my wonderful attorney niece, we are attempting to fight the eviction (by convincing the bank's attorneys that we are legal renters of this house, in which case we get 90 more days). Sometimes I think this will work, sometimes I think it won't.
I keep reminding myself that we're really not in bad shape here, it's not like losing a house you own (sort of) to foreclosure. But I'm still pretty stressed.
This is what happens when you leave pomegranates on the tree for one day too long: they POP, and then these odd, slow-moving bugs climb into them. This is what happens in Ridgecrest in the fall.
We also lost a tortoise this week -- she seems to have wandered away. I feel that this is almost entirely the fault of DEUTSCHE BANK, because if we could have left her in her pen to hibernate normally this wouldn't have happened. Of course, I suppose it's really the fault of our former landlord, for not paying the mortgage, or maybe it's even our fault for not moving out as soon as we knew we were going to have to. Hmm.
Anyway, she's gone. We've put "Lost Tortoise" signs up around the neighborhood, but no one in the tortoise club seems too concerned -- apparently this happens a lot with desert tortoises. It happened with both of my family's desert tortoises when I was growing up. They just wander away -- into someone else's yard or maybe back into the wild. The wild is just about a block away from our house, so maybe that's where she is.
I think we're going to let the other tortoise go to someone else's house where she can burrow down for the winter, rather than risk losing her too.
Also there was an earthquake this week, about half a mile from Rocket Boy's office.
Despite the eviction notice, Halloween was nice. Here's a photo of the boos trick-or-treating:
At each house I would say to them "Remember to say trick-or-treat" and they would say, obediently, "Trick-or-treat!" -- except that the door wasn't open yet. When the door opened, they would stand there staring at the person holding a bag of candy. After they got their candy, I would hiss at them, "Say thank you! Say thank you! Say thank you!" but mostly they didn't. It was very sweet.
And now it is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and I'm trying to find the oomph to write another novel. Not so easy -- I'm a little lacking in oomph.
Someday this will all be over.
I keep reminding myself that we're really not in bad shape here, it's not like losing a house you own (sort of) to foreclosure. But I'm still pretty stressed.
This is what happens when you leave pomegranates on the tree for one day too long: they POP, and then these odd, slow-moving bugs climb into them. This is what happens in Ridgecrest in the fall.
We also lost a tortoise this week -- she seems to have wandered away. I feel that this is almost entirely the fault of DEUTSCHE BANK, because if we could have left her in her pen to hibernate normally this wouldn't have happened. Of course, I suppose it's really the fault of our former landlord, for not paying the mortgage, or maybe it's even our fault for not moving out as soon as we knew we were going to have to. Hmm.
Anyway, she's gone. We've put "Lost Tortoise" signs up around the neighborhood, but no one in the tortoise club seems too concerned -- apparently this happens a lot with desert tortoises. It happened with both of my family's desert tortoises when I was growing up. They just wander away -- into someone else's yard or maybe back into the wild. The wild is just about a block away from our house, so maybe that's where she is.
I think we're going to let the other tortoise go to someone else's house where she can burrow down for the winter, rather than risk losing her too.
Also there was an earthquake this week, about half a mile from Rocket Boy's office.
Despite the eviction notice, Halloween was nice. Here's a photo of the boos trick-or-treating:
At each house I would say to them "Remember to say trick-or-treat" and they would say, obediently, "Trick-or-treat!" -- except that the door wasn't open yet. When the door opened, they would stand there staring at the person holding a bag of candy. After they got their candy, I would hiss at them, "Say thank you! Say thank you! Say thank you!" but mostly they didn't. It was very sweet.
And now it is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and I'm trying to find the oomph to write another novel. Not so easy -- I'm a little lacking in oomph.
Someday this will all be over.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)